Chapter 19 Chen Su, Speak

Chapter 19 Chen Su Speaks

Chen Su was stunned: "...Zhao Jinzong is here?"

Xiao Li worried Chen Su might be upset, and explained, "No, it was his driver—he just gave it to me and left."

"Just leave it there."

"Okay, I'm feeling much better now. I'm heading back to school tomorrow. The Building Mechanics and Structures exam is coming up. The teacher said after Chinese New Year, he might take a few students to see the Yancheng Art Museum..."

"If you're chosen, then go."

"I will! I will definitely get selected!" Xiao Li said confidently.

He was studying architecture in college. There were very few omegas, and no one wanted to team up with an omega who needed special handling. It wasn't until he ranked first in the department that people began to take this omega seriously.

Xiao Li loved architecture, but he was afraid of alphas. So he was always alone, very withdrawn. He didn't care about anything except his field and rarely communicated with others. But whenever architecture came up, he would become excited and happy.

After Xiao Li left, Chen Su opened the gift box.

Inside was an expensive, elegant belt.

Chen Su was puzzled and sent a message to Zhao Jinzong: "Why did you suddenly give me a gift?"

Zhao Jinzong: "Back home?"

Chen Su: "Mm."

Zhao Jinzong: "Get some rest early."

Chen Su's question was brushed off like that.

Chen Su put the gift away. The next day, he took it to the Drug Administration Bureau, intending to return it, but Zhao Jinzong wasn't there. He wasn't there for the next few days either; Chen Su heard he was on a business trip.

Chen Su had no choice but to keep the gift.

He kept working in the lab for several more nights straight. One night, Chen Su woke up in his hotel and went to the Bureau in the middle of the night. Under the streetlights, he saw two figures.

One was wearing a white lab coat, and the other was wearing black casual clothes. The person in black hoisted the other up with one hand, and the person on his shoulder struggled violently.

Chen Su made out the figure in black: it was Meng Suizhi...

Chen Su then looked at the person on Meng Suizhi's shoulder. He was wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and his face... was exactly like Meng Suizhi's—or rather, that was the real Meng Suizhi!

So they were twins?

This was Meng Suizhi's private matter. Chen Su didn't ask. He just continued his own research for a whole week.

On Friday night, Zhao Jinzong texted him: "Don't you ever rest?"

Chen Su didn't reply—he didn't know how, and he couldn't.

Late at night, Meng Suizhi, holding a cup with the Drug Administration Bureau logo, came to do his experiments as well. While waiting for the instrument to output data, he knocked on the door of Chen Su's lab. Chen Su checked the security feed, tidied up the table a bit, and opened the door.

Meng Suizhi raised an eyebrow. "Can I come in and sit for a bit?"

"Go ahead."

Each lab had two rooms. One room was the experiment area, requiring a sterile suit and disinfection before entering. The other was a small anteroom for changing clothes. There were shelves with coolers, file cabinets, and such.

Meng Suizhi and Chen Su sat down outside the experimental room.

Meng Suizhi spoke first. "I've looked at your profile. I heard you missed the Drug Administration Bureau's selection test, studied on your own for a year, and got into the Inspection Institute."

"Mm."

"A lot of people in that field study for ten years and still don't get in. How did you do it?"

"I studied twenty hours a day."

"…………" Meng Suizhi let out a sigh. "Crazy bastard."

Chen Su shrugged and smiled.

"I take back what I said earlier. You're more professional and driven than most people at the Bureau."

"If everyone at the Bureau were like me, maybe a few more omegas would still be alive."

Meng Suizhi shook his head. "After the Huai City omega human experimentation scandal broke, the entire Drug Administration Bureau, led by five of the most authoritative researchers in the industry, with a total of thirty professionals, worked together to find a lifeline for that group of experimental subjects."

"The first month, they got only four hours of sleep a day. By the second month, half were exhausted and fell ill. We added two hours of sleep, getting six hours a day. By the third month, one of the researchers died at his desk. By the fourth month, ten people had collapsed in succession... That kind of research went on for two years."

"Due to their different physical conditions, the omega experimental subjects died one by one. Do you know what that meant for the researchers? It meant that all our efforts, all our hard work, were a death warrant."

"No one could bear such a blow."

"For two whole years, the Drug Administration Bureau was nearly entirely focused on this experiment. Every time we left the ward, the mood was heavy... Chen Su, we tried."

"The results just weren't good."

Meng Suizhi's eyes welled up as he spoke. "My mother was also one of the experimental subjects. I saw her die right in front of me."

"If that subject had died, maybe I couldn't have held on either."

Meng Suizhi let out a soft sigh.

Chen Su said, "There's always a way."

There will always be a way.

Meng Suizhi changed the topic. "What've you been working on?"

"Differentiation agent."

"Wh-what?"

"Secondary differentiation agent."

"...?" Meng Suizhi was confused.

"I hope that at secondary differentiation, omegas can choose to become either an omega or an alpha."

"That sounds pretty crazy."

"Maybe."

"Sounds like there's a story behind this."

"I have an omega brother. He loves studying architecture. He's top of his major, but he's an omega. The dean calls him a genius, but he's an omega. He's won national scholarships, got a direct PhD spot, but he's an omega."

"Is it for him?"

"Not entirely."

Meng Suizhi paused for a moment. "You always seem to see things from an omega's point of view. That's not something an alpha would normally do."

"Before my second differentiation, I was an omega too."

"I see."

Meng Suizhi's alarm went off. He opened the door to head back to his lab, and as the door swung open, a dark silhouette fell over him.

Meng Suizhi adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, looked up, and said respectfully, "Director-General Zhao."

"Mm." Zhao Jinzong's gaze swept past Meng Suizhi to Chen Su. Meng Suizhi politely stepped aside and, as he left, closed the door behind him.

The moment he heard the words "Director-General Zhao," Chen Su's back stiffened. He turned to look—

Zhao Jinzong strode in, stopping in front of Chen Su. "Can't you rest?"

Zhao Jinzong's voice was no longer as gentle as before—heavy, cold, and he smelled strongly of tobacco.

"..."

Zhao Jinzong asked again, "Can't you rest?"

"..."

Chen Su, say something.