Delayed pleasure
Yu Zou thought the first person he would see after his death would be a policeman, but he didn't expect it to be Li Kuo.
Li Kuo rubbed his temples and leaned back on the sofa. There were some wrinkles on the chest of his gray striped suit, and the carpet marks under his feet were of varying depths, indicating that he hadn't slept all night.
How was your honeymoon?
"It's fine, if this hadn't happened." Yu Zou sat down opposite Li Kuo, with Du Pianjian sitting next to him. The secretary came in and placed three cups of hot tea on the coffee table.
Li Kuo smiled silently, uttered a curse at Yu Zou, waved away the others in the room, and opened the screen to replay the surveillance footage. It was clear that the fight in the corridor hadn't ended after Du Pianjian left. The bodyguards were wearing the same uniforms, and it was obvious that two groups were clashing.
Yu Zou, unaware of the situation, guessed in the least likely direction: "Did your family have internal strife, and we were just caught in the crossfire?"
“Them? Even if they were reincarnated bears, they wouldn’t dare.” Li Kuo had several half-siblings, but none of them made a move. It seemed they had learned their lesson from the iron fist early on. “A spy infiltrated the area. After being undercover for so long, he was exposed just to catch him.”
Li Kuo raised his chin at Du Pianjian, but Du Pianjian didn't react and continued drinking his tea.
"Why?" Yu Zou asked seriously.
"If you're not going to talk, you must be acting under orders. What did you want from me yesterday?" Li Kuo picked up his teacup and took a sip. He had already watched the surveillance footage once and naturally saw Yu Zou and Tong Mu together, checking into a room. Before checking in, Yu Zou even called him. It was hard not to think that they wanted to destroy evidence.
"I saw Fang Bu working here."
“We’ve caught him.” Li Kuo pressed a few buttons, and another video unfolded. It was of an emergency room, and Fang Bu was wearing a breathing mask. He was in the very center of the video but furthest from life. “But he’s dying. He was injected with an overdose of addictive substances.”
Yu Zou looked reluctant, his hands clenched so tightly that veins stood out. He told Li Kuo about his conversation with Tong Mu. His men found the storage box, brought out a crossbody bag, and found a storage device in the chewing gum.
Here's another surveillance video.
In the ward of the Sixth Hospital, Fang Jin lay sleeping peacefully in bed, while Fang Bu stood guard by the bedside, holding his phone, seemingly lost in thought or waiting for something. Soon, a person walked into the ward, carrying a bunch of white hyacinths. He was dressed in all black, wearing a baseball cap with two rings on the black brim, casting shadows that obscured his eyebrows and eyes, making a small black mole under his red lips particularly noticeable.
Fang Bu looked up, stood up, and was too weak to be surprised: "Teacher Du."
"Is he alright? I'm a little worried because you didn't come to class."
"I'm not feeling well, thank you for visiting."
“I came here to say that you’ve heard the rumors about me, right? I recovered at the St. Hele Sanatorium, so if you want him to get better as soon as possible, it would be better for him to go there.”
Fang Bu hesitated slightly. Just then, Fang Jin groaned in pain, his hand unconsciously reaching out in the air. Fang Bu immediately grabbed his hand.
"Do you want him to feel better?" He took out a vial of pale red reagent and held it up to his eyes. "If he's in too much pain, give him this."
The video continued. Li Kuo suddenly stood up, and Yu Zou also stood up, blocking Du Pianjian's view and staring at him silently. Du Pianjian remained expressionless as he looked at the screen.
"What is this?" Fang Bu asked in the video.
"The epiphyllum blooms briefly and then vanishes in an instant, just like life. Don't let his life be lost because of your hesitation." He placed a business card and some reagents by the bedside, then turned and left the ward.
After a long while, Fang Bu finally picked up the two items, and the video ended the moment he did.
"Du Pianjian!"
“Li Kuo, there might be a misunderstanding.” Yu Zou stopped Li Kuo from pulling Du Pianjian up from the sofa.
"Misunderstanding! Do you know what that is? 'Epiphyllum indicum' is an addictive substance with a higher concentration and stronger potency than peach blossom extract. Just 5 grams can cause permanent addiction. Not to mention high-level Alphas and Omegas, even Betas with underdeveloped glands can become addicted. Get out of the way! Don't be out of your mind."
"No, I think you should calm down first. The video doesn't have a time or date; it's been edited."
"It wasn't me." Du Pianjian finally spoke, looking up to meet Yu Zou's eyes, and repeated, "It wasn't me."
The three resounding words gave Yu Zou confidence. He turned around, pushed Li Kuo aside, and said, "There's definitely something wrong with the video. Find someone to analyze it."
Li Kuo sneered: "Can't you do it too?"
"I'm afraid you won't believe me," Yu replied.
Ultimately, Yu Zou and another technician analyzed the video separately, and their results coincidentally led to the same conclusion: the video was very continuous, simply enlarged without any insertions or cuts.
Li Kuo, suppressing his anger, asked, "What else do you have to say?"
Yu Zou looked at the video carefully. The face after zooming in and repairing was clearly visible, but the mole at the corner of the mouth still looked like several small pixels stacked together. He concluded: "Then this person is not Du Pianjian."
"Who else could it be? Tell me." Li Kuo had already seen through it all. Yu Zou was determined to stand with Du Pianjian. Even though he had cared about her so much back then, he had to put that aside now.
"He's impersonating you, pushing the addiction onto you, why?" Yu Zou muttered.
“You framed me.” Du Pianjian replied in the same volume as him, “I told you, even if I stay put, there will always be people who provoke me.”
“They might be in cahoots with the people chasing the car,” Yu Zou asked again. “What about the dashcam?”
“It’s damaged,” Du replied.
"It's okay if it's broken!" Yu Zou put away the light screen, stood up, and said, "I'll try to fix it."
Du Pianjian grabbed his hand, but before she could speak, the phone rang shrilly. It was the hospital's number. A weak face appeared on the screen; Fang Bu's eyes were lifeless, and he was barely breathing.
Yu Zou couldn't bear to ask any questions. Only after watching him breathe his last, as if a lamp had gone out, did Li Kuo say, "Fang Jin's body was found in a rented room the day before yesterday. The cause of death was suicide."
He turned to look at Yu Zou, his eyes flashing with cold light: "You really want to do this?"
Yu Zou's stiff hands slowly tightened, and he spoke clearly: "I can't control so much."
The two boarded their return flight that day.
On Yu Zou's screen were a series of experimental reports. The "failure" sign in the red square in the lower right corner had been flipped 27 times. The glacier model was on the screen closest to Du Pianjian, and he watched it rotate.
"Did the experiment not go well?" Du Pianjian asked.
"Yes, it didn't go well."
Do you want me to find some people for you?
Yu Zou compiled the experimental data into a line graph and asked with a smile, "Who is it?"
“I can persuade my cousin to mentor your project. Once she arrives, Du Pianren will also help.”
Yu Zou turned to look at him: "Who is your cousin?"
"Du Junmei".
"I meant her major, isn't it art?"
"No, both she and Du Pianren are majoring in materials chemistry."
Yu Zou suddenly felt a deep sense of respect. His university major was in a similar field. If what Du Pianjian said earlier was true, then these twins were geniuses among geniuses to have earned their doctorates at such a young age.
"If you can, this would be a great help." Yu Zou squeezed Du Pianjian's hand and then let go.
"How will you thank me?" Du Pianjian asked.
Yu Zou crossed his arms, knowing he would have to guess again, and thought to himself, "Tomorrow I will give you an even more handsome version of myself."
"Wow~" Du Pianjian smiled, "What's the use of that?"
You'll understand in time.
As they looked at each other, Du Pianjian said, "Now you have one thing that is useful to me."
"What?" Yu Zou's eyes suddenly lit up, a bright smile appeared on his lips, and his nerves were pounding with excitement.
"You'll find out when we get home."
A bright, sunny day, right at my doorstep.
Du Pianjian surveyed the first-floor decor, which was entirely in the style of Wangyuan. Yu Zou stood behind him, his fingers operating on the monitor by the wall. Blue light flowed from all sides to the center, and a display cabinet was carved out of the middle of the wall. The hyacinth on the screen of the life-size robot slowly opened, eventually transforming into a pair of eyes. It ran down the charging station and shouted, "Welcome home. Administrator Z and Instructor J."
Du Pianjian leaned down to look at it: "Am I Instructor J?"
"Yes, please guide my work. I am Ysion-910, a smart home system developed by Administrator Z, designed to create a better and more comfortable life for you two. You can entrust anything to me."
“That codename’s pretty cool, right? Yi Song, pack your clothes.” Yu Zou flicked his fingers like a gun twice, then pushed his suitcase past Du Pianjian toward the dressing room. Yi Song received the order, the robot body shut down, and a blue stream of information followed Yu Zou along the walls and ceiling.
“It’s much better than ‘What is this?’” Du Pianjian followed suit.
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