Chapter 48 – Order to Leave

After lunch, Su Lifeng drove Jiang Yushi and Cheng Xiaomei to the lab. On the way, he stopped by his storage unit and took out a few “specimens,” then handed them to Cheng Xiaomei to carry. The thought that the bottle actually contained part of a corpse made Cheng Xiaomei want to cry. But then she remembered the resolve she had secretly made-not to be a burden anymore, and gritted her teeth as she held the bottle steady. She squeezed it so hard that the hand holding it even showed faint signs of mutating.

When they arrived at the lab, Su Lifeng was somewhat surprised to find Shen Fei already waiting at the entrance. Even more unexpected was the fact that Qiu Yuming had come with him.

The moment Su Lifeng got out of the car, Qiu Yuming immediately ran over and looked up at him with an odd expression. She seemed to want to smile, but her eyes had already started turning red.

Su Lifeng understood at once. This Junior Sister had confirmed that he was a survivor. As for who had told her, he did not even need to think about it…

“You’re here pretty early,” Su Lifeng said, greeting Shen Fei.

Shen Fei immediately walked over as well, wearing a slightly awkward, reserved expression. “Ahem… I came for work. And, uh, Junior Qiu said she wanted to come see your-no, my workplace. So I brought her along.”

Su Lifeng looked at Qiu Yuming, then gave her a faint smile. “It’s all in the past. No need to bring it up again. I’m perfectly fine now, aren’t I?”

“Mm…” Qiu Yuming wiped the corner of her eye, then lifted her gaze and secretly glanced at Jiang Yushi and Cheng Xiaomei. She had already seen Jiang Yushi from a distance once before. Now that she was looking at her up close, Jiang Yushi really did have an outstanding air about her. As for the girl walking beside her, the one carefully holding something as if it were a time bomb, she was sweet-looking too.

“That one is also a survivor. Her name is Cheng Xiaomei…” Shen Fei “secretly” introduced her to Qiu Yuming in a voice that was not low at all.

Cheng Xiaomei raised her head and forced a smile that looked worse than crying. “Hello. Please move aside…”

“Yushi, didn’t you say I could find an assistant? I chose Shen Fei. And this is a freshman this year, Qiu Yuming,” Su Lifeng introduced.

“Hello,” Qiu Yuming said shyly, reaching out her hand. “You’re so pretty…”

Jiang Yushi smiled as well and shook her hand with easy grace. “So are you.”

Shen Fei wanted to cut in, but he truly did not understand this sort of mutual admiration between one girl and another, so he could only turn to Su Lifeng and say, “When I first got here, there were two people inside. A man and a woman. That woman was really rude and asked us what we were doing here. After I said I was your assistant, she even cursed me out for no reason…”

“What?” Jiang Yushi’s brows immediately drew together, and a flash of anger crossed her face.

Seeing her walk into the lab with suppressed anger in her expression, Cheng Xiaomei, who was carefully carrying the specimen inside, quickly stepped aside.

“Let’s go in and take a look.” Su Lifeng had basically guessed what was going on. As he followed them inside, he asked Shen Fei, “By the way, Ye Nannan and Her Father, are they staying at your place?”

“Yeah,” Shen Fei answered casually, not suspecting anything. Right now, he was far more concerned with what Jiang Yushi was about to do.

“Then… do they, especially Ye Nannan, usually do anything kind of strange?” Su Lifeng asked, choosing his words carefully.

“Plenty. Actually, Ye Nannan isn’t too bad. I think Uncle Ye is the one who should see a psychologist,” Shen Fei said in a rush. “Sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night, I can still see light coming from his room. Tell me, what is that guy doing awake in the middle of the night? Then he gets up especially early during the day to make breakfast for Ye Nannan and acts like nothing happened…”

“The middle of the night?” Su Lifeng froze for a moment. Something suddenly stirred in his mind, and he asked, “Does Ye Long know how to use the internet? Does he have a computer in his room?”

“I think so. There’s a desktop, but I usually haven’t seen him use it. He probably doesn’t know how to go online,” Shen Fei said.

It was him!

Su Lifeng felt his head buzz. The person who had made that post… was Ye Long?

“So the one with the problem is actually Ye Long?” Su Lifeng suddenly felt as if another layer of fog had fallen over this father and daughter. But as long as they were still living at Shen Fei’s place, he would be able to find chances to make contact with them and learn about their every move.

“From now on, if anything happens with them, tell me,” Su Lifeng said.

Only then did Shen Fei react. “Why should I… No, I mean, why?”

“I’m conducting an observational study on post-traumatic stress responses. This kind of thing has to be done without the subjects knowing. You said it yourself-Ye Long should see a psychologist. If our research produces results, wouldn’t that help them?” Su Lifeng said.

Shen Fei thought about it, then nodded. “Yeah, that does make sense. Listen, have they already started arguing inside?”

Seeing Shen Fei’s expression instantly turn excited as he sped up without even looking back, Su Lifeng turned to glance at Qiu Yuming, who was listening to him with an interested look. He could not help shaking his head and thinking, with someone like Shen Fei… he really might as well give up on girls.

But after taking a few steps forward and hearing the contents of the argument clearly, Su Lifeng frowned. He had originally assumed that since Jiang Yushi was President Jiang’s only daughter, the trouble she encountered would at most amount to people obeying her in public while undermining her in private. Only after hearing these words did he realize that someone was actually using such vicious language to mock Jiang Yushi.

“Haha, Sister Yushi, listen to yourself. What do you mean I shouldn’t insult people? Did I insult him? I was only telling the truth to that little assistant who hasn’t even been officially hired yet. What was his name again… oh, right, Su Lifeng?”

“That Su Lifeng came out of nowhere to begin with. You say he saved you, so you set up a laboratory for him, but no one saw what happened out at sea. Who knows whether what you’re saying is true or not? Hey, don’t get mad. I’m just saying, could it be that because you were both in the same boat at the time, you felt sorry for him and did something this foolish? Did you think I was saying you and he did something shameful out at sea? Sister Yushi, if that’s what you’re thinking, then you’ve got me all wrong. I’m not that kind of person…”

“You…”

Jiang Yushi nearly failed to catch her breath, but just then, a hand steadied her shoulder. Then she heard Su Lifeng’s icy voice ring out. “You can shut up now. Then get out.”

The two people in front of them had clearly already made a round through the laboratory. Jiang Qianqian was sitting on the lab bench, smiling as she prattled on and on. But the moment Su Lifeng cut her off, she froze completely. Her bright red lips hung open for a long while without closing.

The other person was a young man. He had not said a word the entire time and was currently holding up a test tube to examine it.

“What did you say? How dare you insult me?” Jiang Qianqian finally came back to herself. Especially when she heard Jiang Yushi softly call out, “Lifeng,” the anger in her heart exploded completely.

“You… you scheming poor brat, how dare you insult me? I…”

Su Lifeng stared at her in disgust, as if he were looking at an idiot, then raised a hand and pointed at a sign nearby.

Jiang Qianqian followed his finger and saw the words: “Please Keep Quiet.”

“I wasn’t insulting you,” Su Lifeng said, lowering his hand.

Jiang Qianqian’s face went pale for an instant, then flushed crimson. She had never been humiliated like this by a man before, especially not by an ordinary man with neither money nor power.

To make matters worse, Qiu Yuming could not help letting out a laugh…

“What right do you have to tell me to get out? This is our Jiang family’s property!” Jiang Qianqian snapped.

“Is it your property? If I remember correctly, the general manager is Jiang Yushi. What position do you hold here?” Su Lifeng calmly cut her off, then pointed toward another sign by the entrance: “Authorized Personnel Only.”

“You may leave now,” Su Lifeng said, issuing the Order to Leave.

Jiang Qianqian was practically mad with rage. She was about to say something else when the young man stopped her.

“Cousin, he’s just following the rules. You should go first,” he said, then lowered his voice and added a couple more words.

Jiang Qianqian glared hatefully at Su Lifeng. Then the corner of her mouth curled into a cold sneer, and she stormed off in a huff.

“Sorry about that. My cousin just has a sharp tongue. She’s actually kind at heart. My name is Zhu Hao. From now on, I’ll be the deputy manager here…” Compared to Jiang Qianqian, Zhu Hao’s attitude was impeccable.

But Su Lifeng immediately cut him off as well, his face expressionless. “I’m the person in charge here. What happens in this laboratory is up to me. Since you don’t do research, you shouldn’t be entering this place either. May I ask how you got the access card to this room?”

Zhu Hao’s smile stiffened. “It was from a professor who’s about to start working here…”

“Tell him he doesn’t need to come anymore. Deputy Manager Zhu, this way, please,” Su Lifeng said.

Zhu Hao froze for a moment, then smiled and nodded. “All right. In that case, I’ll leave the access card here as well.”

Then he walked past Shen Fei… Shen Fei raised his eyebrows at him in deep satisfaction, while also feeling a little shocked. Su Lifeng looked so refined, yet he handled things with absolutely no regard for anyone’s feelings?

After Zhu Hao walked out of the laboratory, the smile vanished from his face.

Jiang Qianqian was still waiting outside. The moment she saw him, she immediately came up, still fuming. “Well? … What, he kicked you out too? That poor brat. Give him a little sunshine and he forgets his own name!”

Zhu Hao patted her on the shoulder and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he suffers a little. Do you remember the person I told you about?”

“I remember, but you should stay away from that person. The way you described him sounded really scary.” Jiang Qianqian’s expression turned a little uncomfortable as she looked around and spoke.

Zhu Hao smiled, his gaze gradually turning sinister. “It’ll be fine. I trust that person. If I want to get ahead in the future, I’ll have to rely on him to help me. Besides, he can help you too, can’t he? Su Lifeng offended you. Don’t tell me you want him to have an easy time. Or do you want Jiang Yushi to have an easy time?”

“Then… then go ahead and do it.” At that, Jiang Qianqian tugged her coat tighter around herself, turned, and opened the car door. “In any case, I don’t know anything.”

“I understand, Cousin,” Zhu Hao said with a smile, watching Jiang Qianqian leave.