Boundless – Chapter 52

After a while, the heartache subsided.

Lou Jiu took a tissue and wiped Wen Qianshu’s face clean.

Wen Qianshu sat on the chair, looking up at her.

Lou Jiu: “The captain is looking for us.”

“I told him I’ve already told you about it. He said, if you have anything you want to ask Jiang Yao, think about it first and ask later?”

Wen Qianshu nodded.

She roughly understood what Shang Ci meant—Jiang Yao’s mental state was very poor right now, and he didn’t want the two of them to meet and both break down.

Wen Qianshu smiled: “He actually hoped you would hide it from me, right?”

Lou Jiu didn’t deny it: “I just thought you should know.”

Wen Qianshu: “Mm.”

She tilted her head back, sniffled, and said to 2333 with a smile, “I really have no luck with parents.”

2333 was silent. It heard Wen Qianshu speak, as if explaining her earlier strange behavior, or perhaps just mentioning it casually, making it hard to tell if she was joking or being serious: “I finally met a good pair of parents, but I didn’t even get to see them.”

Lou Jiu looked at the sky outside. It was still raining, but much lighter.

She said: “Get up early tomorrow and go see Jiang Yao.”

“If you’re still sad—”

Wen Qianshu agreed: “Mm.”

“I’m okay.”

There was no TV in Lou Jiu’s room, and Wen Qianshu didn’t want to go to the living room, so she lay on the bed, took her tablet, and randomly found a show to watch. Lou Jiu sat at the desk, looking at the latest medical journals on her computer.

The two of them were quite quiet.

Wen Qianshu seemed boisterous on the surface, but was actually a prodigy who didn’t laugh at comedies or cry at tragedies, the type of audience all directors disliked. She casually clicked on a horror movie and started discussing it with 2333 as she watched.

“Why do you think she crawls out of a painting? What does she usually eat, paint?”

“She comes out every night in the middle of the night, will she go bald from staying up late?”

“This zombie hops with straight legs every day, will it get arthritis?”

“Forget it, I’m not watching anymore.” Wen Qianshu switched to something else. “This horror movie is weird.”

2333: “?”

2333: “I think you’re the one who’s weird.”

When Wen Qianshu got tired of watching, she closed the tablet, lay on her stomach on the bed, and turned her head to look at Lou Jiu.

The other person had turned off the computer, picked up a very thick book, and was writing something with her head lowered.

The warm yellow light shone on her side profile, enveloping her long eyelashes and casting a small shadow.

Wen Qianshu rested her head on her arm, burying the lower half of her face in the crook of her elbow, leaving only her eyes exposed.

The light sank into her eyes, making their color appear even deeper. It was impossible to know what the owner of those eyes was thinking.

The next day, Lou Jiu took Wen Qianshu out for breakfast.

The restaurant they went to looked quite expensive, magnificent and splendid, and they were even given a small private room for breakfast.

The breakfast at the restaurant was also delicious. The soy milk was rich, and the soup dumplings had thin skins and ample filling, with scalding hot broth. Wen Qianshu bit her chopsticks, eating one after another in silence. Then she heard the door open and saw Shang Ci sit down opposite her.

Inside the base, the safe zones didn’t mandate wearing field restraint devices, but it was still recommended to wear portable ones in public places.

The term “recommended” was a mandatory order for obedient people; for disobedient people, it was as good as farting.

The two people before her were a perfect illustration of this.

Shang Ci had his jacket open, a cigarette held between his lips, unlit, smiling as he looked at Wen Qianshu. Jiang Yao, on the other hand, wore a silver-wire mesh restraint device. This was a portable type that, apart from the ears, didn’t touch the facial skin. It wasn’t as heavy as the field restraints and wouldn’t cause heat rash or leave red marks.

Lou Jiu’s restraint device was similar to hers, also made of hollowed-out silver wire, but the pattern wasn’t a simple mesh. Instead, it was the Rod of Asclepius pattern, representing the medical school.

She had just finished breakfast and wasn’t in a hurry to put it on. She toyed with the strap of the restraint device in her hand and pushed the menu to Shang Ci.

Shang Ci: “I already ordered outside.”

He lifted his chin, using the cigarette to point at Wen Qianshu, who was focused on eating her soup dumplings: “When are you planning to take her to register?”

Lou Jiu: “We’ll go in a bit.”

Shang Ci nodded.

A waiter knocked on the door, brought in the breakfast, and left.

Shang Ci tapped the table with his finger, seemingly pondering how to start: “Gao Bai’s project has been approved.”

No one was surprised. After all, one of the leaders in charge was Shang Ci’s own mother.

Wen Qianshu remembered she was supposed to be an “ignorant” and “innocent little flower,” so she raised an eyebrow in surprise but said nothing.

Shang Ci: “But Leader Meng hopes we’ll keep it confidential. This matter can’t be publicized for now, for fear of causing a panic.”

None of them seemed to have much of an appetite. Only Wen Qianshu finished her soup dumplings and found a napkin to wipe her hands.

“Alright, I’ve given you enough cover.” Shang Ci smiled. “Captain Jiang, you should explain things to us now. When did you start investigating, and why did you hide it from the base?”

Jiang Yao closed her eyes, as if having made up her mind: “A year ago.”

Shang Ci: “Oh? That early?”

“It wasn’t me who discovered something was wrong,” Jiang Yao said. “It was my twin sister, Jiang Yin. She’s a researcher.”

Shang Ci started to speak: “But, isn’t she?”

Jiang Yao knew what he was wondering: “Yes, she ‘passed away’ a year ago.”

Jiang Yao’s face was terribly pale. She said in anguish, “They discovered her, and they discovered that I knew. They coveted my position as captain of Team 1 and wanted to use Jiang Yin to control me, to make me induce more people at the base to become Believers.”

“They said if I didn’t obey, they would control Jiang Yin to kill people and then frame me for it.”

Jiang Yao: “I was terrified, so I didn’t dare tell anyone. I could only investigate on my own.”

Wen Qianshu stared at her, smiled, and said, “You’re lying.”

Jiang Yao froze and looked up at her.

Shang Ci also said: “Captain Jiang, full marks for the expression.”

“But everything else fails.”

Shang Ci: “It’s not like the base doesn’t know you have a twin sister. Besides—”

Shang Ci hesitated for a moment before saying tactfully, “Your sister has trouble with her legs. Although she looks just like you, there are still differences.”

“It would be very difficult for them to frame you.”

Lou Jiu looked up, her gaze cold as she looked at Jiang Yao’s tightly shut mouth. Lou Jiu had already put on her restraint device. The silver wire wrapped around the bridge of her nose and fastened behind her ears. The Rod of Asclepius pattern was cold and exquisite, faintly gleaming under the light.

Lou Jiu held a certain hostility towards Jiang Yao. It was faint and shallow, the kind of hostility that made her words less than polite. But for this emotion to appear on the usually emotionless Lou Jiu, it was very obvious: “Enough, Captain Jiang. If you continue like this, I will hand you over to the base and request a thorough investigation.”

Shang Ci chimed in, “That’s right, Captain Jiang. There’s no need to make things so ugly.”

Jiang Yao fell silent.

Her back was arched, her body tense. She covered the lower half of her face with her interlocked fingers, her elbows resting on her knees.

It was a defensive and distrustful posture, like a cornered beast.

The atmosphere was tense.

But Shang Ci seemed oblivious to the atmosphere and patiently asked again, “So, why did you hide it?”

“Why?” Jiang Yao repeated. She finally dropped her pained expression, and when she looked up, her face was almost gloomy. “Because they have Jiang Yin under their control, and I’m powerless.”

“If I reported it to the base, the moment the base took action, Jiang Yin would be dead! That’s why I’ve been cooperating with them, but secretly investigating, searching for an anti-‘Divine Light’ agent.”

Jiang Yao gritted her teeth and closed her eyes. “This was for my own selfish reasons.”

“That’s why I asked you, what if I’m not the same person I was back then—”

Shang Ci just looked at her without answering, so Jiang Yao continued, “Don’t worry. Once this is over, I’ll file a report with the base and request disciplinary action.”

“I will accept responsibility for any crimes I’ve committed,” Jiang Yao said. “But right now, I just want to find the anti-‘Divine Light’ agent. You want to save Gao Bai too, don’t you?”

Her eyes were dark and heavy, her gaze sharp as a knife.

That was the look a search team captain should have, filled with hostility, indifference, and pressure.

Shang Ci narrowed his eyes. He didn’t comment on her actions but continued to ask, “So, Captain Jiang, have you found anything in the past year?”

“I’ve found some things, but not much,” Jiang Yao said. “They’ve kept it under tight wraps.”

2333 was stunned by all this: “Is she crazy? How dare she hide something so huge? Does she think she can succeed all by herself?”

“She’s got a lot of nerve.” Wen Qianshu smiled. “Look, she’s still daring to lie.”

2333: “What?”

Wen Qianshu: “That’s right, she’s still lying. Her first lie had so many holes, wasn’t that just to throw them off, to hide the second one?”

“People tend to trust the ‘truth’ they see after exposing a lie a bit more, right?”

“Oh,” Wen Qianshu said. “I forgot you’re not a person.”

2333: “…”

Wen Qianshu glanced at Shang Ci. He was biting his cigarette with some force, his teeth almost snapping the butt—a habit of his when he was thinking. He didn’t probe any further, but nodded, looking as if he believed her.

“Looking” as if he believed her.

Wen Qianshu: “I suddenly feel a little bad for my Sister Lou. Of the four people in this room, three are no good.”

2333: “…”

Why do you always use scattershot when you curse people?

You’ve included yourself in that curse, you know?

Shang Ci told Jiang Yao to show him the “things she’d found” later.

Before leaving, they discussed and confirmed that Wen Qianshu would live with Lou Jiu.

Wen Qianshu had no problem with it. Shang Ci then asked Lou Jiu, “Is it convenient at your place?”

He vaguely knew that Lou Jiu’s family had some issues, and that the base was even giving her special consideration. But he wasn’t clear on the specific situation.

Lou Jiu: “It’s fine.”

Shang Ci: “As long as it’s fine.”

After leaving the breakfast shop, Lou Jiu took Wen Qianshu to register for the next training camp session, and then took her to buy daily necessities and clothes.

Lou Jiu had originally intended for Wen Qianshu to pick things out so she would like them. Who knew Wen Qianshu would be so casual, grabbing two items and heading into the fitting room to change.

Lou Jiu sat on the sofa waiting for her, her eyes lowered to an e-book on her phone. With a “swish,” the curtain was pulled open, and the sales associate’s voice rang out: “Oh my god, this fits you so well! Your back is gorgeous!”

Lou Jiu felt something was off about that comment. She looked up and saw a stretch of snow-white skin.

It was actually a backless short-sleeved top, connected only by a thin metal chain down the middle.

Wen Qianshu hooked the chain with her finger and said to the sales associate with a smile, “I like this chain.”

In this pose, the chain was hooked by her slender finger, pulling the fabric taut on one side and loosening it on the other, revealing half of her shoulder blade, now visible, now hidden.

She seemed to turn her head to glance at the chain, her red lips slightly parted, pearly teeth touching her tongue, her dark lashes half-closed, veiling her eyes. Her neck curved slightly to the side, the line connecting to her shoulder blade below, creating a beautiful arc.

It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Admiring flowers in the mist, gazing at the moon in the water, viewing a beauty under the lamp.

Things that are half-hidden have always been the most alluring.

Lou Jiu’s fingers paused. Then, she unconsciously pressed the screen, turning a page in her e-book, but she suddenly couldn’t remember what she had just been reading.

She heard other customers gasp.

She subconsciously felt they were looking at Qin Shu.

Lou Jiu stood up and put her phone in her pocket. “Change into something else.”

The sales associate said, “This one is really nice, very trendy.”

Lou Jiu said to Wen Qianshu, “It’s too dangerous. Zombies could sneak into the safe zone.”

The sales associate said, “Oh, that hasn’t happened in years. You’re being too cautious. A lot of young girls dress like this now. The young lady is so pretty, she’ll be so popular in this outfit! Look at that handsome young man over there, he’s been staring for a while—”

She didn’t finish her sentence, because Lou Jiu glanced at her.

Her gaze was very cold.

The sales associate was frightened and swallowed the rest of her words.

Lou Jiu looked back at Wen Qianshu, her hands in her pockets, her expression neutral. “Do you really like this one?”

“It’s just okay, actually.” Wen Qianshu let Lou Jiu look at her and even said innocently, “I just grabbed it randomly.”

2333: “…”

Bullshit. With Wen Qianshu’s observation skills, even “randomly grabbing” meant she had aimed for it.

Lou Jiu was silent for a moment, then said, “If you like it, buy it. But don’t wear it to the training camp. It’s not very safe there.”

Wen Qianshu smiled: “If you don’t think it’s good, I’ll change.”

Lou Jiu: “If I don’t think it’s good, you’ll change?”

“Of course.” Wen Qianshu smiled, her eyes meeting Lou Jiu’s, but her tone was as casual as if she were just mentioning it. “When have I ever not listened to you?”

Lou Jiu looked at her without moving, pursed her lips as if she wanted to ask something, but then stopped.

But Wen Qianshu didn’t wait for her. She pulled the fitting room curtain shut and went inside to change.

As she changed, she teased the system, seeming to be in a very good mood: “2333, do you know what we bad guys usually like to do?”

2333 was confused: “What?”

Wen Qianshu raised her eyes and looked at the person in the mirror—her eyes were deep and dark, exactly the same as when she had watched Lou Jiu pull off her clothes on the bed that day.

Wen Qianshu smiled: “We like to get revenge for every grievance, even if the other person didn’t mean it.”

2333: “?”

Wen Qianshu: “We also like to snatch whatever we see and want.”

“Of course,” Wen Qianshu said as she put on her own clothes, “if the two can be done together, that’s even better.”

If she forgot, she forgot. If I’m sad, I’m sad.

What else could it mean, other than that she cared about Lou Jiu more than she thought?

Since it hurts not to have her, I’ll just snatch her for myself.

At worst, you forget once, and I’ll make your heart flutter again.

However many times you forget, I’ll make you fall for me again that many times.

Just you wait—

Wen Qianshu pulled open the curtain, looked up at Lou Jiu, and smiled, “Sister, I’m ready.”

Even if I can’t hold onto you, you can’t escape.

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