Chapter 9

"Minus Two, what are you up to? Weren't you waiting for me to discuss restarting your brother's case? I just finished my meeting and came here to find you, but your room was empty. Didn't you say you were at the Star Alliance Hotel?"

In the deserted research building, Fu Luoyin's phone vibrated, receiving an audio message from Dong Shuoye.

Although Su Yu, Dong Shuoye, and their group of friends enjoyed clubbing to unwind, they were responsible individuals when it came to their duties. Dong Shuoye was the Deputy Director of the General Affairs Department in the Alliance Police, while Su Yu had climbed even higher, though he recently quit under pressure, planning to use his accumulated savings to start a small business.

Fu Luoyin glanced at the lit-up Quantum Analysis Laboratory from afar, then retraced his steps to check the message. He then dialed Dong Shuoye back. "I was taking a stroll after the meeting. I'll be right back."

"Where are you having fun?" Dong Shuoye asked. "If you don't return soon, I'll finish the grilled lobster and spicy skewers. I convinced their hotel chef with my charm to let me take them away. It wasn't easy. I'm waiting for you in Room 313, too lazy to climb up to your Seventh Bureau floor. It's too far."

"You eat, I'll have it later when someone gets home," Fu Luoyin said.

He glanced back at the lab lights, hesitated for a moment, and then left the research building.

Back at the hotel, Dong Shuoye said in a teasing tone, "I~ am~ waiting~ for~ someone~ to~ come~ home~ to~ eat~~ When Minus Two stops eating junk food with us, I know there's something going on."

Fu Luoyin shot him a sidelong glance.

Dong Shuoye gave him a half-smile and asked, "Probably went to see your little sweetheart at Star University, huh? The other day, Zhou Heng mentioned that you've been going straight there instead of home, only willing to eat meals cooked by your lover. I was wondering why you'd go for a midnight stroll."

Fu Luoyin said, "I've had a relapse of my stomach issues. I'm recuperating at his place."

Dong Shuoye clicked his tongue. "How nice of him? Speaking of... Minus Two."

Suddenly, his expression turned serious as he whispered, "Minus Two, it's been ten years. I've heard that Xia Ran might be coming back."

Fu Luoyin reached for water and paused slightly in his action.

"Do you know about that close female friend of his, Ou Qian? She studied abroad at Star University before and is now transferring back from the Eastern Hemisphere branch to pursue her postgraduate studies there. Rumor has it that Xia Ran might return to Star City with her," Dong Shuoye shared.

Taking a sip of warm water, Fu Luoyin's tone remained unchanged. "Is he still hanging out with those people?"

"Minus Two, don't... Don't get so sarcastic and confrontational whenever Xia Ran's mentioned. I did say that Xia Ran broke up with you, right? Yes, he broke up with you, isn't that so? Don't look at me like that. You think you were completely innocent, and he was the one who wronged you?"

Dong Shuoye looked at him, choosing his words carefully. "There's no need for you two to be at each other's throats. Didn't you argue all the time back then? Surely, you can sit down and have a proper conversation now?"

"I have no respect for any of the people around him. We fought over this matter back then, and we would do it even more now," Fu Luoyin placed the cup back on the table. "There's no point discussing the past. Let's talk about something more important. My brother's case, which was reopened, and I hope you'll take charge of the investigation."

...

At half past eleven in the evening, Lin Shuicheng rubbed his eyes and stood up to stretch.

Although he had requested to work overtime, he didn't actually need much more time; before midnight, he had finished everything.

Many people were dealing with similar datasets, so Lin Shuicheng efficiently sorted and categorized them, then wrote a small program to extract and run them individually. Their field, focused on social sciences and military applications, was semi-classified, and the resources they could access were unimaginable to others.

Unlike quantum analysts or typical commercial data scientists who relied on tools like SQL, SCALA, and Python crawlers, their PILI parsing system had automated these components, making it rare for anyone to learn the programming languages of the last century.

Lin Shuicheng knew a bit of everything, but mainly to be more efficient in his laziness; he wasn't exactly a model student.

As children, neither he nor Lin Deng had neat handwriting, so when they were punished by their grandfather to copy texts, his father secretly taught them how to use a pencil to create homemade carbon paper. Lin Deng dared not do this, but he directly 3D-printed over two dozen variously sized and intricately designed graphite rods that could be assembled into any character. After assembling the characters, they simply had to stamp them onto the paper.

When his grandfather found out, he scolded him playfully but never forced him to practice calligraphy again, instead focusing on pushing Lin Deng to improve.

Now, his handwriting was exquisite.

After submitting the data for Groups Two and Seven, he noticed that Ou Qian had sent him a message a few hours ago: "Lin Shuicheng, we finalized our group's task division in today's meeting. I'll be in charge of finding resources, Meng Yi and Lv Jian will handle the literature review, while you and Senior Xu Mengmeng will take care of organizing the remaining parts. Is that okay?"

Lin Shuicheng glanced at the message but didn't reply immediately. Instead, he opened Xu Mengmeng's chat window and sent a simple "1" first.

Xu Mengmeng hadn't yet retired for the night and swiftly replied, "Little Lin, Junior Brother, I've seen the division of tasks. The content we're to organize, I haven't perused it yet. I'm utterly exhausted; could we discuss it tomorrow when I come by?"

Lin Shuicheng said, "Go ahead and sleep. Send it to me first."

Xu Mengmeng swiftly shared a cloud storage link, and upon logging in, Lin Shuicheng downloaded the content and frowned upon perusing it.

He quickly scanned the content and sent a message: "Is this the research material and literature review they've compiled?"

On the other side, Xu Mengmeng was just about to fall asleep when his question startled her awake. She quickly opened it and read through it, then asked in confusion, "Is there a problem?"

"The algorithm examples referenced in the literature review don't align directly with our project, and the collected data was simply downloaded based on keywords without any categorization or filing. We need much more than this; it's completely irrelevant," Lin Shuicheng stated.

Xu Mengmeng also glanced at it and was equally stunned.

What Ou Qian referred to as "organization" was vague. The data collection was part of the initial groundwork, and the literature review had been hastily written beforehand. The core content of the thesis proposal – discussing the feasibility, practicality, and necessity of the project – was left entirely for them to "organize."

Xing University enforced strict supervision over such projects. Even for just the thesis proposal, the presentation would follow the most rigorous procedures, with the defense process recorded and preserved in their records.

"That means we have to do everything, doesn't it?" Xu Mengmeng said, disbelief tinged with anger, her sleepiness vanishing. "I'll call Ou Qian right now!"

"Never mind, I'll write it," Lin Shuicheng said. "Post-production adjustments can be quite troublesome, so it'd be better if I finalize the draft alone. If you have time, you can start on the PowerPoint presentation."

Xu Mengmeng asked, "Just you by yourself?"

"Mm-hmm, it'll be quicker that way," Lin Shuicheng replied. "If you're running short on time, you can run the data for me. Starting tomorrow, I'll allocate some time to work on this, and we can put others' data aside for now."

Lin Shuicheng patiently explained his reasoning.

He genuinely believed that working alone would be faster. His numerous experiences of organizing assignments since young had taught him this – he wasn't very suitable for teamwork; he preferred to work independently. Out of all the tasks involved in the proposal, he disliked making the PowerPoint the most, as it was tedious and didn't require much mental effort, merely wasting time.

Xu Mengmeng was stunned. "Are you sure you want to do it alone?"

Lin Shuicheng sent an emoji of a cute and obedient cat squatting – one from his own series of leader emojis – and said, "Trust me, it'll be fine."

Staring at the obedient yet enigmatic cream-colored cat on the emoji, Xu Mengmeng already imagined Little Lin's gentle gaze in her head.

Why did she find even Little Lin's emojis so charming? Was this the aura of a genius?

Lin Shuicheng searched for the necessary information himself and listed out what needed to be written in the proposal.

By the time he was done, it was only half past midnight.

He was a bit worried and felt a little sleepy. Although he couldn't tolerate Fu Luoyin being at home, he also found it hard to endure consecutive sleepless nights.

He was someone who required a lot of sleep, so sleeping in the lab would be even more uncomfortable.

Facing the empty computer desktop, Lin Shuicheng felt a bit troubled. After a while, an idea suddenly struck him, and he opened his phone to search for nearby hotels.

The military was visiting tomorrow, and there were several important meetings to attend. The hotels around Star University had been booked solid by various journalists. However, the Alliance Central Hotel located within the university usually reserved a few rooms for internal staff and certain prominent figures.

During his undergraduate studies, Lin Shuicheng often accompanied his mentor on trips, and it was always his responsibility as the junior student to book accommodations and arrange logistics. He vaguely knew these rules.

His mentor was a well-known figure, who once expressed that if Lin Shuicheng chose to continue studying chemistry after graduation, not only could he receive a special recommendation for postgraduate studies, but a direct doctoral program spot could also be reserved for him.

Unfortunately, when Lin Shuicheng graduated, his family encountered difficulties, prompting him to find work immediately to earn money. Two months later, he met Fu Luoyin, and he started preparing for graduate school, but this time, he switched to quantum analysis, parting ways with chemistry.

He opened his messaging app and sent a message to his mentor: "Professor, can I borrow your ID card number to book a room?"

Given the time difference, his mentor replied promptly: "Sure. When are you coming back to continue with chemistry? If you're returning, feel free to borrow it. If not, forget about it in the future."

Lin Shuicheng typed out a long message, only to delete it all in the end.

He said, "Soon, I promise. Thank you, Teacher."

At the hotel registration desk, the staff confirmed Lin Shuicheng's details. "The guest is Lin Shuicheng, and the recommender is Professor Yang, right? We've verified with Professor Yang. When would you like to check out?"

Lin Shuicheng replied, "7 AM tomorrow morning."

Someone nearby was checking out and raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "A student of Professor Yang Zhiwei? Can you get me an autograph?"

Lin Shuicheng was taken aback and turned around, realizing that he didn't recognize the person.

Strangely, the stranger seemed equally surprised upon seeing him.

The man was dressed in the standard overcoat of the Alliance Police's Administration Department. There were others in similar attire passing through the lobby, likely attending a conference.

Noticing Lin Shuicheng's confusion, the stranger smiled amicably. "Sorry if I startled you. Don't take it the wrong way, but I genuinely admire Professor Yang. Would it be possible to exchange contact information if it's not too much trouble?"

Lin Shuicheng smiled and shook his head. "It might not be convenient. Professor doesn't appreciate being disturbed."

"No problem, I'm glad to have met you too." The man approached and unhesitantly handed him a business card. He then leaned in to glance at Lin Shuicheng's registration information with a casual demeanor. "Lin Shuicheng, what a pleasant name. I'll remember that. See you next time."

As Lin Shuicheng watched the man's figure disappear, he noticed a new message on his phone: "Save this contact, my name is on the card."

Checking the timestamp, it was sent while they were still talking. This person had actually typed the message into their pocket without looking.

The receptionist, witnessing the entire scene, couldn't help but comment, "Smooth move!"

Lowering his head, Lin Shuicheng read the name on the card: "Dong Shuoye".

He frequently encountered people on the street trying to get his contact information and had seen all sorts of tactics. He didn't take it seriously and simply went upstairs.

...

"Dong Shuoye, have you left yet? If not, let me tell you, you might not need to anymore." Dong Shuoye left the hotel, fiddling with a small piece of paper in his hand. It contained Lin Shuicheng's name, phone number, room number, and ID card number – details he had quickly memorized upon glancing at them just now.

He possessed an extraordinary memory, able to remember anything he laid his eyes on. This was the skill that had allowed him to rise to the position of deputy section chief at such a young age.

Fu Luoyin asked, "What's going on?"

"I saw your little lover. He just checked into a room downstairs, and I bumped into him! It's a small world," Dong Shuoye said.

There was a brief pause on the other end. "Lin Shuicheng?"

"That's right. Su Yu showed me his picture, so I'd recognize him anywhere. That teardrop mole is too distinctive. Isn't this your harem burning down, minus two?" Dong Shuoye enjoyed stirring up trouble and lowered his voice. "Go straight to Room 607; you might catch them in the act."

"Focus on driving and stop talking nonsense," Fu Luoyin replied. "If that's all, I'll hang up."

...

Little Lin held the room card and tried to unlock the door to Room 607, but it wouldn't budge.

After several attempts, the card produced a beeping red warning, drawing curious glances from passersby.

Back at the front desk, the attendant apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry, sorry. There seems to be an issue with the system in Room 607. Would it be okay if I switch your room to 313 instead?"

Lin Shuicheng was only interested in getting some sleep at this point. He didn't mind the change. "Sure, no problem."

Author's Note: Dear Little Lin, your package has arrived at Room 313. Please collect [doge].