Chapter 85: Bai Siyan Is Fake

Chapter 85: Bai Siyan Is Fake

Wen Qi's promotional event for the drama wasn't the kind of all-day activity like an office walk-through.

The movie hadn't been released yet, but Director Shao, thanks to the popularity of male lead Li Chengge, had landed a collaboration with a similar xianxia game.

Wen Qi, as the second male lead, was called in to take a few promotional photos.

So it didn't take long.

By the time it was over, it was almost lunchtime.

Today was the weekend, so Bai Siyan didn't have to work. He should be up by now, having eaten the breakfast Wen Qi had prepared. He wondered what Bai Siyan was doing right now.

Wen Qi pulled out his phone, thinking about sending Bai Siyan a message. But after a moment's thought, he put the phone away and slipped into the nearby supermarket to buy ingredients for cooking.

If he asked first, Bai Siyan might say no, but if he bought groceries and showed up directly at Bai Siyan's apartment, he probably wouldn't get kicked out.

After all, he'd written a note before leaving—as long as Bai Siyan didn't message him, it meant he had the green light to come back.

As he was picking out groceries, Wen Qi realized he didn't actually know what dishes Bai Siyan liked.

He'd spent so much time with Bai Siyan and had never seen him be a picky eater, nor had he noticed him favoring any particular dish.

Wen Qi finally picked out a few common, crowd-pleasing staples.

But when he went to check out, he received a message from Bai Siyan:

"I'm heading out, I'm not home. Don't come over."

Bai Siyan had actually texted him first.

Except it was a rejection.

Wen Qi stared at the message, feeling equal parts annoyed and amused.

His fingers tapped on the screen, and in no time, a long string of half-whiny, half-pity-me text was composed.

Wen Qi sent it.

But after waiting several minutes, the message was still marked unread.

Bai Siyan hadn't even looked at his phone—he really wasn't home, he was out doing something.

Hadn't he handed off all his work for the variety show? Why was he still working on a weekend?

Wen Qi's mouth twitched, debating whether to go wait at the apartment door to score some loyalty points. Before he could even move, his phone rang again.

Wen Qi grabbed it to check.

It wasn't from Bai Siyan.

On the phone was a spam gambling ad from an unknown short code.

The content was like your typical spam ad, except the number sequence at the end of the link was different.

Wen Qi stared at the last few digits of the code, and his eyes narrowed instantly.

He ditched the groceries he'd just picked up, stood up from the chair he was resting in, and left. He found a payphone and dialed a number.

"Hello, Third Hospital, this is Ye Jun."

"It's me."

The second Wen Qi's voice came through, the on-duty doctor in a white coat, who'd been sitting, suddenly jumped up, scaring the assistant next to him.

Ye Jun gave the assistant an apologetic smile. "If anyone comes looking for me, cover for me. I need to take this call."

"Okay."

As the assistant watched, Ye Jun walked into the equipment room at the back.

Once the glass door closed, Ye Jun's voice was completely cut off inside the inner room.

Ye Jun turned, leaning against the door, and the gentle smile on his face vanished instantly. "You're really hard to get ahold of. I had to call Xin Ge just to get this number. It's just Bai Siyan—do you really need to be this paranoid? You've got like five phones."

"Get to the point. Cut the crap."

"Bottom line: it failed."

Worried Wen Qi wouldn't get it, Ye Jun pushed up his glasses and helpfully explained, "The cleaning lady at the ancestral estate tried this morning, but the RNA sequence from Bai Siyan's blood didn't unlock the bio-lock on the Bai family ancestral home. And our guy got made."

That was a lot to take in. Wen Qi furrowed his brows, quiet for a few seconds before zeroing in on the key point, "So what's your conclusion?"

"I don't doubt the blood is real—you drew it right in front of me. But if the blood is real and the unlocking method is real, then the only answer is that Bai Siyan himself is a fake."

Ye Jun paused here, then shook his head, "But when Bai Siyan was a month old, my dad went with the boss to his full-month banquet. And his appearance—he's the spitting image of his mother. There's no way he's a fake. So why won't it open?"

"Does a secondary differentiation of an Alpha change the RNA sequence?"

The moment Ye Jun finished speaking, Wen Qi suddenly asked this from the other end of the line.

"Under normal circumstances, it definitely can't. RNA involves genetic inheritance—how could it... but I can't rule out special gene mutation cases."

Ye Jun was rigorous when it came to academic research, and his initial denial eventually shifted.

It was also at this moment that he suddenly remembered what Wen Qi had told him back at the cabin.

"Hiss, I remember—when you gave me the blood, you told me not to use Bai Siyan's blood for other tests. And now you're asking about Alpha secondary differentiation. Wen Qi, do you know something you're not telling us?"

Wen Qi stayed silent on the other end.

After a few seconds of no response and no hang-up, Ye Jun rolled his eyes, his expression clearly turning exasperated and angry.

"Wen Qi, at this critical juncture, you're still hiding things? The Bai family has already discovered someone tampered with the lock. With Bai Shuchen's relationship with the Jiang family, Jiang Bingsheng will find out soon too. Once he gets on guard, the bio-lock plan is dead. Don't forget—at the end of the day, who are we doing all this for?!"

After being shouted at, Wen Qi finally spoke.

But he still didn't reveal that Bai Siyan's secondary differentiation had changed his attributes. He just clenched his jaw and promised, "I can handle the Bai family blood issue. Since Bai Siyan's blood won't work, I'll try to get the blood of the other two heirs of the Bai family."

"One Bai Siyan already took you this long. By the time you get the other two's blood, it'll be too late. Why don't I personally test Bai Siyan's blood for—"

"One week." Ye Jun's words were cut off by Wen Qi.

His tone was firm. "I already have a plan. And to avoid the problems from this time, I'll have the blood of the other two Bai heirs within one week. So don't touch Bai Siyan's blood. Provoking me won't do you any good."

"This is the second time you've threatened me over Bai Siyan."

"Yes. Hopefully there won't be a third."

"Tch." Ye Jun, irritated, yanked the pen from the chest pocket of his lab coat and snapped it open and shut. "Fine, one week. If the week's up and you fail, I'll release every reading I've taken from Bai Siyan's blood and find another way."

A brief silence on the other end, then the line went dead.

"Damn, rude much!"

Ye Jun chucked the pen in a rage.

---

Meanwhile, Bai Siyan's car pulled up outside a low-key bar within the Second Ring Road.

The entrance was tastefully done up, lined with evergreens. Inside the glass panels that served as walls, displayed flowers that could only survive in a greenhouse.

For a moment, through the glass, tough green leaves and fragile blooms existed side by side.

Outside of work, he rarely hit up places like this, whether classy or trashy.

Especially after his secondary differentiation.

Alcohol could cloud one's judgment, and crowds increased the risk of exposure.

Both were dangerous.

But this bar's design was unique, and Bai Siyan couldn't help but pause to take a second look. A server immediately came over and politely ushered him inside.

As soon as he stepped into the main hall, he spotted Jiang Nanchu at the bar, already quite tipsy.