Chapter 43 Li Xiao's Independent Side Story - Obsession (Twenty-Eight)

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—Lin An.

"Hey classmate, wake up, we're here."

The car came to a stop amidst the bumps, and Lin An, feeling dizzy, looked up to meet the driver's concerned gaze.

"Ah, we're here. Where are we?" The boy asked, wiping his drool as he looked around in confusion.

"Of course, it's the final stop."

The driver seemed somewhat exasperated: "I'm not saying this to be mean, but young man, your motion sickness is really severe. It's so late at night, why would a kid like you come to a place like this? Didn't you even bring a family member with you—"

Seeing that the enthusiastic driver was about to start his incessant chatter typical of middle-aged people, Lin An immediately pretended to be in a hurry to meet the appointment.

"Oh, thank you, uncle. I understand. I had plans to go camping with my classmates. I'll be more careful next time."

Be careful not to take the same bus again.

Lin An silently added a sentence in his mind, and then hurriedly grabbed his bag and got off the bus under the driver's lingering, hesitant gaze.

Unfortunately, the driver's good intentions were wasted.

Although he looks like a middle school student, Lin An is actually over eighteen years old. He is not some kind of member of a horror movie cannon fodder group who would invite friends to go out into the wild to do something reckless during holidays.

If I had to put it simply, I'm just a miserable office worker who just finished his vacation... that's all.

The research institute where Lin An works is located nearby.

There was supposed to be a shuttle bus that went directly to the main entrance, if I hadn't overslept by turning off my alarm.

In short, it's all tears when I talk about it.

Looking at the overgrown weeds in the night, Lin An sighed and opened the internal navigation to find his way.

It was probably too late for a late-night snack, so Lin An just hoped to get back before curfew.

As the saying goes—

If you have a clear conscience, you have nothing to fear.

But in reality, at night, in the suburbs, alone... these elements combined make it scary whether there are ghosts or not.

In fact, if he had to run into something, Lin An felt that ghosts were more reliable than people.

After all, it's normal to see ghosts in the middle of nowhere at night.

However, under the same conditions, the probability of encountering criminals is obviously much higher than that of ordinary people.

—No, the more I think about it, the scarier it gets, what should I do?

Lin An scratched his head, deciding to think of something else to distract himself.

To be honest, he's been having dreams these past few days.

Of course, dreaming itself is nothing special.

Almost everyone dreams.

Strangely, Lin An had been having similar dreams for several days in a row.

It felt like a TV series, but when I woke up, I couldn't remember anything.

And every time he woke up he was extremely tired, as if he hadn't gone to sleep, but had gone to some shady construction site to carry bricks all night.

It was the kind of situation where, just before finishing up, some clueless person threw something from a high place and hit me on the head, causing me to instantly lose my memory...

--hateful.

I don't know if it's a lingering effect from the previous mission.

Considering the extent of the madness of those guys in the medical department, Lin An decisively gave up on the free medical assistance that was intended as an employee benefit.

However, Lin An had already submitted a report in advance, stating that he would not accept any similar jobs this time.

At worst, it'll just be a termination notice.

Lin An had already decided where to go on vacation with three months' salary as a minimum.

Unexpectedly, this time, the higher-ups surprisingly approved Lin An's request readily—perhaps because his attitude was particularly resolute.

This time, the task I received was supposedly to welcome the newlyweds.

[They transferred from Zone E.]

Ye Gui, acting as the liaison, said with a smile on the other end of the phone.

Lin An suspected that the other party was gloating.

[Sector E?]

He asked incredulously, "Are you sure you want me to take on a new person, and not a bunch of pre-packaged supplies?"

Immediately, a affected laugh came from the other end of the receiver.

【Oh dear~ Listen to what nonsense our young man is spouting. Is there some difference between the two you're talking about?】

[...]

Well, in a way, they are indeed quite similar.

Just look at Lin An himself and you'll know.

He rubbed his forehead in exasperation and asked the newcomer what his name was, only to be met with Ye Gui's exaggerated question.

[Good heavens! Did you take a vacation and end up losing part of your brain along with it, Lin An? Otherwise, how could you not even recognize Chinese characters anymore?]

[...]

Okay.

His question was unnecessary.

Lin An hung up the phone in frustration. More than the newcomer's information, he was curious about how such a sharp tongue had been assigned to the liaison position.

Lin An made a somewhat sinister guess that he was probably a masochist who didn't know how to behave properly.

The bright moon hangs high in the sky.

With the research institute's prison-like, electrified, and heightened walls almost in sight, Lin An simply turned off the navigation and pulled up the information Ye Gui had sent him.

"Hello, please show your pass..."

"Identification in progress, please wait..."

"Congratulations to employee Lin An, your identity verification has been successful, and you have successfully clocked in once... What a beautiful sunny day! Have a great day at work!" a sweet electronic voice cheerfully announced.

"Yes, I wish you a pleasant work experience as well."

Lin An waved to the flashing electronic eyes.

Although he never understood how the words "work" and "pleasure" were put together.

Although, behind that sweet, childlike voice, there's very likely a burly, bearded man...

The call came in at that moment. Lin An felt a headache coming on as soon as he saw the name on the screen. After a moment of hesitation, he resigned himself to pressing the answer button.

"Hello?"

"Silly Lin An, are you finally back from your wilderness adventure? Anyway, I've already brought you to the door, so I'm going to head back now."

"Thanks……"

"No need for thanks, but remember to treat me to a meal next time. If it's too cheap, I might just twist your head off!"

After saying that, the other end of the line hung up before Lin An could reply.

Lin An took a deep breath.

Well, with such excellent examples before us, the newcomers probably won't be too bad either. At least... we can appreciate the beauty of comparison, right?

As expected, following the location sent by Ye Gui, Lin An saw the person waiting there as soon as he turned the corner.

His unexpectedly upright posture gave him a sense of being somewhere between a teenager and a young adult.

strangeness--

I feel like I've seen that figure somewhere before.

But where could it be?

Returning to the data page, a string of characters immediately comes into view.

"Number E025...Name...Yu Qingzhou?"

As Lin An softly repeated the mantra to himself, he slowly walked towards the newlyweds, his steps keeping pace with the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Seemingly sensing his approach, the man suddenly turned around.

The moment their eyes met, a blinding white light exploded in Lin An's mind. It was as if the snow that had been hovering overhead had suddenly collapsed, and snowflakes were falling in a flurry.

Each piece was impactful and resounding.

You're back!

The time is almost up.

Then... go early and come back early...

A thousand emotions suddenly surged in Lin An's heart, ultimately culminating in a hesitant utterance—

"Have we... met somewhere before?"

Clichéd phrases are really lame when used in the initial approach phase.

Even Lin An himself felt somewhat embarrassed to blurt out such words.

But in the end, he still asked the question.

Why is that?

—There doesn't seem to be any reason why.

I simply felt that way, and I was simply so certain of it.

Regarding the matter that they must have met before...

-fin-