Chapter 54 Memories (1) The First Encounter.
My earliest memories are of a huge factory filled with cold metal and the hum of instruments.
This place is sparsely populated and located in the wilderness.
She came alone to the only inhabited place nearby. Every day, the factory workers would bring out some garbage from the back door. Electronic waste would be taken away and destroyed by special vehicles. If she was lucky, she would find some leftover food from humans among the household garbage.
But in the last few days, a large number of people left the factory, and in the end, the trash cans became clean, without a single food scrap.
She's used up all her luck.
After several days of fruitless attempts to catch mice in the wild, the kitten was so hungry that its eyes were turning black, and the temperature plummeted with the arrival of autumn and winter.
"We can't wait any longer," the kitten thought, looking up at the giant building that gleamed coldly in the setting sun.
The nearest building was right in front of her; going anywhere else would require walking much further. Her honey-colored eyes hardened; she had to go in and see if there was any food inside.
As night fell, she used her small and agile body to squeeze through the broken gap in the ventilation duct.
Upon entering the building from the outside, the kitten discovered that it wasn't a production line workshop, but rather an extremely spacious area filled with various complex instruments and fiber optic cables.
A strange, cold smell filled the air.
This is not a factory, but a giant secret laboratory.
The computers, which should have been occupied by people working, were empty; there was no sound of people speaking, only screens on the wall displaying scrolling data.
The kitten jumped onto the seat, sniffing around in search of food, but unfortunately there wasn't a single edible smell. Its tail accidentally brushed against the table, causing the mouse to fall and make a soft clattering sound.
Who's there?
Footsteps and flashlight beams came from the end of the emergency exit, and the patrolling security guard spotted the kitten jumping off the table.
"Stop right there! This is not a place for you to come in!"
Seeing the human and the beam of light chasing after it at the same time, even their shadows looked ferocious, the kitten's heart almost stopped, and it ran out of the area in a panic.
She wandered aimlessly through the maze-like passages and staircases, running upwards in an attempt to shake off the humans chasing her.
The other party was determined to catch her and relentlessly pursued her. The kitten kept moving, dashing left and right in the stairwell, and went through the middle of an open safety door.
Upon arriving at an unusually quiet floor with a gleaming, reflective surface, the security guards chasing after her dared not shout at her anymore and even slowed their pace.
"Don't go that way, stop right there—"
Seeing that the other person was hesitant, the kitten finally distanced herself further from the human. She carefully walked along the shadows of the wall and stopped in front of a double metal door.
Just as the flashlight beam was about to follow, the kitten looked up and saw a glimmer of hope.
Because the ventilation system had been turned on and a skylight was open, she took a few steps back, leaped from the metal box next to her, gripped the windowsill tightly with her claws, and squeezed herself in little by little.
She crouched low in the ventilation duct, watching the security guard walk down to the other side of the corridor.
Just as the kitten was about to breathe a sigh of relief after finally escaping, it heard human voices coming from inside the house.
"Is this your reason for dismissing all the other researchers?"
A young male voice rang out, his tone carrying a clear suppressed anger.
"If a suitable energy core cannot be found, the quick travel system cannot be forcibly activated. Otherwise, there is a 5% chance that the user will suffer irreversible nerve shock. It is better to give up early and cut your losses in time."
The other voice was extremely low and faint, without any variation compared to the other.
"Stop the loss in time?"
The other party suddenly raised their voice: "Do you know how much resources and money we've invested in this system! We were about to succeed, and you're giving up because of this little problem?"
The kitten peered down through the gaps in the louvers of the air vent.
"The current energy core cannot sustain dimensional jumps for long. Until a more suitable alternative is found, it remains an unfinished product."
"That's enough."
A young man in a suit was waving his arms excitedly and shouting at the person in the wheelchair, "Do you know how many companies are eyeing us? If we sell to them, we can make five times, or even ten times, our initial investment..."
"elder brother."
Zhao Jiacheng softened his tone: "I know you don't like me calling you brother, but we at least share the same father. Are we just going to watch this plan fail and the lab and company go bankrupt? Put aside your principles and perfectionism."
Chi Yan simply sat there calmly, his handsome face expressionless, but his eyes turned cold.
His expression was cold and unyielding: "Using other people's lives to fill a bottomless pit is impossible. This system cannot be put into existence."
"Aren't you a developer? Then you should figure out how to solve this problem."
Zhao Jiacheng held up a number: "I'll give you three more months to find one, is that enough?"
"Six months?"
Chi Yan looked at the other person without saying a word.
A cold glint flashed in Zhao Jiacheng's eyes: "We can always find a substitute... We've come this far, I can't give up. It's just an energy core, I'll go find one for you!"
He turned around, his shoes making a heavy thud on the floor.
The metal door, bearing a sign that read "Core Research Lab - Unauthorized Personnel Prohibited," opened and closed, and the lab returned to silence, with only the low hum of computers running.
Chi Yan frowned as he watched the other person's departing figure.
"Gurgle..."
A sound, unusually clear in the silence, came from the ventilation duct.
After the tense escape, hunger surged up, and even the kitten's stomach was protesting.
Chi Yan raised his head, his dark eyes accurately locking onto the source of the sound.
A pair of round, cat-like eyes, honey-colored, cautiously peeked out from behind the louvers, filled with nervousness and helplessness.
Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Chichi was thinking of turning around and returning the way she came when, without her noticing, the other person pressed some button below, and the ventilation duct was opened. A strong gust of wind blew Chichi out of the ventilation duct and into the house.
The expected pain did not come. After a long delay, I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the other person's lap.
His dark eyes reflected the kitten's dirty fur. Looking at the kitten that had wandered into this place, Chi Yan remained silent for a moment before lifting it by the neck and putting it back on the ground.
The unopened bento boxes on the table emitted an enticing aroma of food.
The honey-eyed kitten swallowed hard, but still risked its life to jump onto the table and frantically pawed at the food container.
The rustling sounds continued unabated, and Chi Yan silently maneuvered his wheelchair closer to the table.
The kitten instinctively shrank back, letting out a weak, warning hiss, but the other person seemed not to hear it. Instead, they stretched out their long, slender hand, reaching past the kitten, and placed it on the knot of the rope outside the bento box.
With a few soft clicks, the box lid was opened.
The aroma was even more enticing, and the lunchbox contained tender chicken, glistening rice, eggs, and vegetables—an irresistible temptation for a hungry kitten.
Her honey-colored eyes widened even more, her initial wariness dispelled by the delicious food, leaving only her instinctive appetite.
She couldn't help but lean forward, her nose twitching and the tip of her tail swaying involuntarily.
After the humans opened the lunchbox, they neither stopped them nor approached; they simply watched quietly.
The kitten finally couldn't resist, stuck out its tongue to lick the juices off the chicken, and then plunged into the food container, chewing rapidly.
She was so hungry that she ate with such focus that she forgot about the dangerous place she was in and the strange human being watching her.
I don't know how much time passed, but all the food in the lunchbox, except for the vegetables, was completely eaten.
The kitten ate until its belly was round and full, then finally let out a few satisfied burps, licked its mouth and paws, lowered its guard against its surroundings, and began its post-meal cleaning.
She belatedly realized that there was another person in the room.
She looked up and met the pair of dark eyes that had been staring at her. The other person didn't move, nor did he shoo her away like a security guard. He sat quietly in his wheelchair, like a silhouette.
The kitten hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked to the table, moving closer to where the other person was.
She was much less wary than before, and tentatively called out to the other person.
The sound was very soft, carrying the friendliness of a kitten towards humans. Chi Yan looked at the kitten in front of him, who was full and no longer frightened, and remained silent for a moment before reaching out his hand to the kitten.
He doesn't interact much with creatures other than humans, and he's even less adept at handling kittens that are barely bigger than a lunchbox. Just like before, he awkwardly lifted the kitten by the scruff of its neck and carried it from the edge of the table to his lap.
Surprisingly, the kitten didn't seem scared, nor did it try to run away.
Instead, she leisurely squatted down, lay on the thin blanket on his lap, and watched him maneuver his wheelchair to the door and press the button.
The door opened, but the corridor outside was deserted.
The wheelchair entered the elevator lobby, and Chi Yan took the kitten down to the first floor. The security guard on duty was still sitting in the lobby. Seeing him come down, he quickly stopped him: "Mr. Chi, where are you going?"
"I'm going out for a bit."
The other person looked at the kitten on his lap and was surprised: "This cat actually ran to your place. Give it to me, I'll go throw it away."
"Zhao Jiacheng won't let you let me out, is that it?"
The security guard chuckled and said, "What are you saying? Mr. Zhao is just worried about you. The whole company is counting on you to handle the research and development. Your safety is the most important thing."
Chi Yan put the kitten, which was bristling at the security guard, on the ground and gently pushed it.
The kitten turned around and stared blankly at him, without moving forward. Chi Yan turned his wheelchair around and heard the kitten breathe a big breath on the security guard.
Seeing the security guard about to kick the kitten, Chi Yan said, "Don't worry about her, she'll walk away on her own."
The security guard's feet were dangling in mid-air, looking quite comical. The honey-eyed kitten scratched at the air twice as if in revenge, then ran away.
She couldn't help but turn back to look, but the person in the wheelchair had already left, leaving only a cold, indifferent back view.
It was as if the shadow of the entire building was pressing down on him alone.
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