Chapter 70 Nowhere to Go

Chapter 70: With Nowhere to Go

"What the hell? Why am I the one sent out on field duty?"

Si Min came, grumbling and reluctant. Though he had said to travel light, he still carried himself with full ministerial pomp; a pile of sun protection gear occupied over half the table. He looked almost the same age as Chen Jiyan, which had a lot to do with his daily habits.

Chen Jiyan admired that attitude toward life, as his own work and life were now almost inseparable.

Si Min criticized Chen Jiyan for not taking any care of his skin at all.

"Xiao Chen, I have to say, such delicate, snow-white skin must be well cared for. Even if you don't care, I ache for You Jinhui, honestly."

Si Min was one of the few who still brought up You Jinhui's name in a normal, casual way. Chen Jiyan had inherited his position, his assets, and also his interpersonal relationships.

Fortunately, You Jinhui had poor social connections, hardly any friends, so maintaining them required little effort.

Thinking he should play host to his guest, Chen Jiyan briefly introduced the ruins before them.

Si Min waved a hand casually. "I'm familiar with Sang Xia'en. Let's go straight to the theater." He walked ahead to lead the way.

"You've been here?" Chen Jiyan's eyes held a question, which was met with a complex, fleeting smile.

"More than familiar," nightmares had been woven through half his early life. Even living in the same houses, wearing the same clothes, keeping the same hairstyle, receiving the same education, discrimination and comparison still bred. Even outright verbal abuse and unspoken social exclusion were considered the milder forms of bullying.

But Si Min didn't shatter Chen Jiyan's few warm memories of Sang Xia'en, downplaying it: "I inspected it before, caused quite a stir. It should have improved a lot later. You were only eight when you left, it's normal not to remember much."

"So that's how it was," Chen Jiyan nodded. "I only remember not lacking food or clothing." And that only time spent with Veta Star was happy. People always beautify memories; the brain's defense mechanism automatically filters out old pains.

"Any idiot could tell it was no paradise. Yet they were masters at painting it over—calling it a 'utopia,' 'the last pure land'..."

Chen Jiyan didn't know much about Sang Xia'en. Through Si Min, he learned that early on, they maintained low resistance through isolation, then set assessments at a certain age to increase mutation rates, ensuring a steady supply of expendable personnel for Ding Shu. Within this main framework, there were quite a few guardians like Veta Star who had other research projects, and even the 12-year-old mutation protocol was the most successful and stable among hundreds of early projects.

"Some early experiments would be considered criminal acts outside. Actually, even without them activating the self-destruct, Sang Xia'en was doomed from the start."

Chen Jiyan was curious. "Then why has the number of experimental subjects remained stable?"

"Many were born in Sang Xia'en, others were unwanted and sold in from outside, from all sorts of sources, through every channel imaginable." Si Min recalled reluctantly. "The auction house we saw in Man Du was just the tip of the iceberg."

The talk of the past cast a heavy, oppressive silence over them. Soon they arrived, and Si Min changed the subject.

"This is the spot? No specific coordinates?"

After Lin Fan was imprisoned, the CSA rooted out a group of people, now incorporated into the Education Department, going from a civilian group to an official government body. Lin Fan had bragged there were ways to restart some experiments because they had indeed found "good stuff" beneath the Sang Xia'en ruins. The military had excavated multiple times with little to show for it, only remnants of old equipment. However, Chen Jiyan detected FS particle fluctuations in those damaged instruments, so he requested equipment for an independent investigation. He had also enlisted technicians from Xu Hai to write a temporary program to help estimate the general location.

"Of course, they even *thoughtfully* provided the latitude, longitude, and depth, just like a GPS. They could write a fully automated locator in half a day—the future looks bright for them."

If such a thing really existed, they wouldn't waste manpower on-site surveying.

"Spending too much time with the old man, you're starting to talk like him too."

Si Min was rarely rendered speechless, feeling Chen Jiyan wasn't as cute as before. It was all You Jinhui's fault.

"By the way, I heard the Department of Justice demanded Roze Witt testify in court. How was that resolved?"

They had been investigating Ding Shu insiders colluding with the CSA, as Lin Fan was far too familiar with the internal workings. Xu Qingzhi was only a transactional partner and didn't know details. Chen Jiyan had planned to investigate one by one. Before even completing a round within the Finance Bureau, Roze suddenly showed up out of the blue and revealed the truth: the so-called mole was the husband of Councilor You Ting, who had long since left the Ding Shu system.

However, during Lin Fan's trial, Roze wouldn't agree to testify. Roze Witt also received a reduced sentence for turning himself in, sentenced to only ten years of rehabilitative labor.

Those with longer tenure in Ding Shu knew that the former Administrator's good-for-nothing father was a rebellious free spirit who played by his own rules, who thumbed his nose at laws and regulations.

"Not even you could get through to him, huh?" After all, even his own son couldn't persuade him.

"It's already resolved." Chen Jiyan had also been quite troubled for a while. Roze seemed easygoing but was actually impossible to persuade.

Roze only listened to one person. Chen Jiyan merely needed to be a messenger, casually mentioning that You Ting seemed to have found an expired document and was unsure how to handle it.

Roze caught wind and appeared at the Department of Justice with all his assets and complete documentation, declaring himself eager to help the government in any way he could.

"I didn't expect you to be more capable than You Jinhui."

Si Min genuinely praised him; the current Administrator was arguably the most popular in history.

"It wasn't me. Just fate, I suppose."

If he had to say what he did, it was merely during a visit to You Ting, expressing his confusion and wanting to know what avenues or certificates could increase his credibility. Ms. You was very willing to help, listing a long string of possibly useful awards.

Just as You Ting was about to leave the study, a dusty red certificate fell out from a stack of old files on the desk.

A marriage approaching its second seven-year itch seemed to have found a turning point.

Of course, Chen Jiyan later passed all those certificates requiring exams. He threw himself into fitting in.

"Is this the spot?" Over a dozen instruments cast red beams. The pattern on the stone floor shifted several times, with large gaps appearing in the center of the polygonal grid. The locations shifted several times before finally locking onto a single point. Then all the red lines converged at a single focal point, forming a circle about thirty centimeters in diameter.

"Let's begin then."

After setting up the detection equipment, all that remained was waiting. Once a sufficiently deep channel was excavated, micro-machines followed the beam's direction. The cameras connected to Chen Jiyan's system main panel. He found a stone wall with a light, uniform color to serve as the background.

The stone bench was too low; Si Min couldn't stretch his legs comfortably. Chen Jiyan didn't join him on the bench, leaning instead against a still-intact carved ivory pillar.

Si Min propped his head lazily, making small talk:

"I thought you would refuse this position." Even if accepted, he wouldn't last long.

Chen Jiyan had faced too much doubt, disdain, blame, perfunctory responses, and flattery; it was rare to hear an objective evaluation.

He remained calm, smiling as he asked why.

Si Min looked at the thin, pale face in the bright sunlight and said flatly, "You have not a shred of aggressiveness about you, neither foresight nor decisiveness. You're not suited to be Administrator."

It was the truth. Chen Jiyan was glad to hear it.

"You're worried I won't last long?"

"I want to say, You Jinhui is a scoundrel. Don't wait for him anymore."

That was unexpected.

"No need to guard anything for him, nor do what was originally his duty. Why make it so hard on yourself?" Si Min rarely had genuine feelings, but at this moment, a bit of conscience returned, and he was quite sincere.

A lamb raised in a greenhouse shouldn't have to face storms.

"I have a question," Chen Jiyan rarely heard heartfelt words from Si Min; even now, there was an underlying purpose. "You're not a good person, and we don't have deep ties. Why are you willing to say these things to me?"

At best, they were amicable colleagues. As for his friendship with You Jinhui, that fondness wouldn't extend to me like this.

"You remind me of... a deceased relative of mine." Rarely, he showed a nostalgic expression, his voice unconsciously softening.

Gentle, warm, compliant, yet exceptionally stubborn in certain aspects.

"I'm sorry." Sorry for making him recall a sad memory, and sorry for not being able to fulfill his wish.

"Alright, you really do have a widow's self-awareness."

The plan for promotion was delayed yet again. *Never thought that even after You Jinhui died, I still couldn't make it to chief—what a setback.*

"Widow?" Chen Jiyan smiled helplessly. "Hear that from Xisha again, did you?"

"What did they fish out? Why is it pitch black?" Si Min frowned at the live feed. "Looks quite heavy. I'll go down. Wouldn't want the machine to get banged up." Machines are more precious than people.

"It's no good," Si Min said, holding the machine with one hand and not coming up after ten minutes. "Those things are connected. I only picked up a part. The rest will have to be handled by the institute's excavation team."

"Thanks for the hard work. I've already notified the institute to come collect samples. We can hand it over once they arrive. Let's call it a day for now."

"Aren't you heading back?" The guy who's usually the first out the door isn't rushing to clock out today.

"I have a date. Field duty counts as OT, yeah? Remember, don't blow my cover."

"Alright," Chen Jiyan said understandingly. "Do you need me to approve a couple extra days off for you?"

After every date, Minister Si is always late or takes half a day off the next day.

"That would be perfect." He held a bouquet of flowers that seemed to appear out of nowhere, quickly changed into a clean, crisp trench coat, and even spritzed on some cologne before heading to his date.

They parted ways at Sangxia'en. Chen Jiyan returned to the office alone. After wrapping up today's work and planning tomorrow's meetings, he realized he had nowhere to go. He wasn't someone who particularly loved work; it was just that when he had free time, with nothing to do, the long-dormant loneliness was enough to overwhelm him. A hand-drawn postcard and a leaf bookmark fell out of a folder—left behind by Xisha.

"Too many memories will kill you."

Xisha said she had been suffering from an artist's block lately and needed to seek new inspiration. She abandoned writing for painting, creating many works that gained immense popularity upon release, only to be banned shortly after. She had no choice but to tearfully censor the inappropriate content. However, her account was suspended, requiring her to upload a certain number of wholesome works to lift the ban. So, she frantically painted landscapes, striving to leave traces of her reformed, proper self everywhere.

Si Min's comment on this was, "Great, the publicity team is short on someone skilled in both writing and painting." Meaning one person doing two jobs. Xisha flatly refused.

The Ding Shu and Ding Yu rains gradually lessened, and the landscape no longer looked lifeless.

Everyone kept telling him to let go of the past and embrace a new life.

Chen Jiyan also knew his state wasn't right, but once a habit forms, it's hard to change.

A person's life is always spent seeking outward—seeking from the future, seeking from the past, never satisfied. He felt he had finally reached a consensus with You Jinhui on one thing: waiting is long and torturous. Once you know someone will come for you, from the moment you receive the news, you've already begun your time together. From that moment on, every second becomes exceptionally long, yet exceptionally beautiful.

Just as he once said, they had known each other for a very, very long time. Long before either was aware, they had already staked a claim on a significant part of each other's future lives.

Chen Jiyan consciously reduced the frequency of his visits to Heng Mai. It went from three times a day initially, to once a day, then once every three days, and finally settled at twice a week.

"I went yesterday," he thought, looking out the window at the now completely dark sky. The institute must have knocked off, so he shouldn't disturb the staff on duty.

Another day where day and night were equal length—the Spring Equinox.

"The flowers probably need to be changed." In the blink of an eye, he found himself another reason.

Perhaps because the moonlight was exceptionally bright tonight, the lights at Heng Mai were barely on, with only a few sparse string lights working in the courtyard. The central tree had bloomed last week, and Ding Shu also experienced an unprecedented week of continuous sunny weather. It was a shame the usual resident couldn't appreciate the beautiful scenery.

Chen Jiyan came here on a whim. He didn't enter the observation room; in fact, he hadn't brought any flowers.

"Next time," he turned to leave, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the person who should have been lying on the bed wasn't there.

A realization was about to hit him. He tried his best to calm his emotions, avoiding excessive excitement, yet he still nearly tripped on the steps.

"Don't cry."

Chen Jiyan wasn't crying. He felt he was dreaming, even afraid to look back to see who was supporting him.

"Do you know how long you've been asleep?"

"I'm sorry."

"You Jinhui, you've missed another cycle of seasons."

The time apart had already grown longer than the time they had spent together.

"But you didn't lie to me," Chen Jiyan choked up.

"Mmm," You Jinhui gently brushed the fallen petals from his clothes.

The conversation before their separation still echoed in his ears.

"What a pity, I haven't seen the flowering tree at Heng Mai with you yet."

"I'll be back before spring ends in Ding Shu."

We will reunite in spring, just like our first meeting.

"End of Main Story"