Chapter 12: Believe me, they have a good relationship
“Xiao He.” Zhou Sheqing avoided the crowd and arrived at Su He’s office for their appointment. She had changed out of her uniform and into a long dress, and her tone and demeanor were much more relaxed compared to when she was in public.
Su He’s office had been cleared of everyone except for the two of them and a mutated silver wolf that was napping at Su He’s feet.
“It’s been a while since we last met; Xiao Ye seems to have grown a bit,” Zhou Sheqing said in a familiar tone.
The silver wolf looked up at her, and sensing the familiar presence, it didn’t show any signs of hostility, letting out a soft howl as a greeting.
Zhou Sheqing’s expression softened further: “It feels like Xiao Ye is becoming more and more human-like. Perhaps one day, Xiao He, you might really manage to upgrade it to S-level.”
“Absolutely, our Xiao Ye will become very powerful!” Su He poured her tea and added a pile of snacks.
Zhou Sheqing smiled with her lips pressed together: “If it becomes S-level, who knows, it might even turn into a boy with wolf ears.”
Su He immediately covered Xiao Ye’s large, upright ears: “Our Xiao Ye can’t stand such talk!”
The two were long-time friends, and they had always kept in touch privately. Zhou Sheqing had even helped Su He secretly when she joined the Fifth District Research Institute.
Otherwise, even if Su He had been exceptionally talented during her school years, without family support, she wouldn’t have been able to join the research institute at her age.
In today’s Human Federation, where politics and business are intertwined, the elite use genetic editing to create more “elite” children, continuing the glory of their families or groups, and completely monopolizing the advancement channels for ordinary people.
The Life Group and other similar groups controlled every aspect of human living areas.
The Zhou family, to which Zhou Sheqing belonged, was one of the families backing the Life Group, and they wielded significant influence in any district.
This was also the reason why Li Shang fawned over Zhou Sheqing so much; securing a connection with the Zhou family was akin to a meteoric rise.
However, Su He and Zhou Sheqing’s interactions were kept discreet, and few people knew of their close relationship.
“I suspect Senior Kang knows we’re acquainted,” Su He said.
Zhou Sheqing frowned, her delicate long brows knitting together: “You used to call him that p*rverted Kang, but now you’re calling him Senior?”
Su He, stroking the silver wolf’s soft fur, looked a bit embarrassed.
“He’s changed so much recently that I suspect he might have a split personality. This current one seems to be a new persona; otherwise, it’s hard to explain his drastic change in temperament.”
She had even secretly taken Kang Shi’s hair for biological verification, which confirmed that he was indeed the same Kang Shi.
“I don’t care if he has split personalities, as long as he doesn’t t*rture 012 like Zhou Xiangcheng did,” Zhou Sheqing said coldly.
Recalling the scene from the morning where 012 was t*rtured, Zhou Sheqing felt a deep sense of doubt. Even though Su He had explained it to her, she still couldn’t be entirely at ease.
A notorious mutant-hater like that couldn’t be expected to treat 012 well.
Two months ago, when Zhou Xiangcheng’s incident first occurred, Zhou Sheqing had already informed Su He that 012 was to be eliminated and reassigned. Su He had prepared to apply for 012 to come under her care, but at that time, Kang Shi had intervened.
Even within her family, Zhou Sheqing couldn’t always have her way, and with the factional struggles in the central research institute, they ultimately couldn’t achieve their goal, and 012 ended up in Kang Shi’s hands.
During this period, Su He’s attention to 012 had been heightened, partly due to her friend’s request.
Knowing what mattered most to her, Su He had come prepared and pulled out her terminal, displaying the recorded footage.
“Don’t worry. Look, I specially recorded 012 leaving the isolation room. He’s fine.”
Zhou Sheqing leaned closer, resting her chin on Su He’s shoulder as she watched.
In the footage, 012 was curled up inside the transparent isolation container used for transport. There were still traces of blood on him that hadn’t been wiped off, but the frightening scars visible in the isolation room had disappeared, and there were no signs of tampering on his head.
The container was delivered to his enclosure area and opened with a click. 012’s wings briefly spread out as he was lifted off the ground and landed beneath a nearby tree.
His silver-gray wings were still somewhat damaged, but they looked much better than before.
Sprinklers above the enclosure area began to work, releasing a mist of disinfectant water.
012 walked over and sat on a smooth artificial rock, using the mist to clean off the stubborn fake scars on his body.
He even tore off leaves from nearby grass to use for cleaning.
His actions amidst the mist, calm and serene, evoked images of undeveloped forests and freely living creatures.
Soon, another figure appeared in the footage, dressed in protective gear. With slightly disheveled black hair and a face obscured by the visor, the figure still had a distinguished look.
He approached 012 leisurely, carrying a bucket.
At first, 012 did not react, but when the person came within two meters of him, 012 suddenly looked up, threw the grass leaves in his hand at the newcomer, and then ripped flowers from the tree and hurled them as well.
This was a clear act of venting frustration, but the man with the bucket was not intimidated by the attack. He simply raised his hand to block the harmless projectiles and retrieved bathing supplies from the bucket, handing them to 012.
“The fake scars he drew on 012 can only be washed off with a special cleaning agent,” Su He explained.
Zhou Sheqing didn’t seem to notice what Su He said, her focus intensely fixed on the interaction between the two figures in the footage.
The man repeatedly placed the bathing supplies next to 012, who repeatedly picked them up and threw them at him. The man adeptly dodged each attack, and then the two faced off from a distance, beginning another round of throwing and dodging.
After several rounds, 012 stopped throwing and turned to wash himself.
At that point, the man in the protective suit moved closer with the bathing supplies and suddenly squeezed some of the cleaning solution onto 012’s back.
012’s folded wings flared open in surprise.
“Although it might look like they aren’t getting along very harmoniously right now, they actually get along pretty well most of the time. This Senior Kang just likes to joke around. Not only with 012 but also with other experimental subjects in the lab,” Su He chuckled nervously, hoping to reassure her friend that 012’s life wasn’t as difficult as it seemed.
Su He didn’t fully understand the dynamic between 012 and Senior Kang, but after the incident in the isolation room that morning, she had a faint sense that their relationship might be better than she initially thought.
Zhou Sheqing was stunned for a while.
Without needing Su He’s explanation, she could see that their relationship was more intimate than she had imagined.
No, she felt it even more deeply than Su He did.
This version of 012 was unfamiliar to Zhou Sheqing.
She had seen 012 at the central research institute when she was in her teens. At that time, 012 was a very typical experimental subject, with almost no human emotions, always looking at the people outside the glass with an impassive gaze.
No matter what they did to him, 012’s emotions remained largely unchanged. At first, he reacted only to pain, and later, even when the pain reached a certain threshold, he stopped reacting altogether.
Zhou Xiangcheng had tried to explore the part of 012 that connected with humanity, but his actions ultimately angered 012.
Having witnessed 012’s true anger, Zhou Sheqing now saw a kind of strange intimacy in the anger 012 was showing. It almost seemed like a form of closeness.
Zhou Sheqing stared at the footage. In it, 012’s head was soaked, his body dripping with water as he turned to look at the other person with a detached expression.
The man then pulled out a towel and tried to place it on 012’s head, but 012 avoided it.
When the man applied a lot of cleaning solution to the towel and attempted to clean 012, 012 evaded him several times before finally taking the towel and using it himself.
But when the man tried again to help him clean his hard-to-reach back, 012 didn’t move away.
…
The footage ended.
“See, 012 is fine now. Are you reassured?” Su He asked.
Zhou Sheqing was silent for a long time before suddenly saying, “I want to meet Kang Shi alone.”
Su He, focused on the research, replied, “You want to negotiate with Kang Shi? I think that’s feasible, as long as he continues to behave like this. Cooperation shouldn’t be a problem. We’re currently working on a joint study of the virus in 012, so you might have a chance to provide us with more relevant information.”
“Do you want to talk to him now?” Su He asked.
Zhou Sheqing shook her head, deep in thought. “Not now.”
Before leaving, Zhou Sheqing asked her friend, “Xiao He, do you like the current Kang Shi?”
Su He, rising to see her off, casually replied, “He’s more likable than before.”
Realizing what her friend meant, Su He almost had goosebumps and hugged her large wolf tightly. “Don’t misunderstand, I have no romantic interests!”
Besides, she thought Kang Shi didn’t seem like someone who had a woman in his heart—wasn’t research fun?
“I understand,” Zhou Sheqing said as she turned and left.
*
Yu Yan, who adhered to the principle of avoiding overtime whenever possible, left work promptly. Before heading out, he made sure to say goodbye to all the small animals in the research area, including the still-pouting 012, and gave the voracious dragon snapping turtle a late-night snack.
Upon returning home to enjoy the carefree life of a bachelor, he was interrupted by an unexpected communication.
“Third Brother, Dad wants you to come back to the main residence this week.”
