Chapter 183: The Hibernation Lab (1/2)

The development of a new drug required a lot of manpower, material resources, financial resources and space. It would be nigh impossible for the rich lady to do it secretly, so she had to hide the tree in a forest and set up a cover project where she could obtain the resources she needed.

“That makes a lot of sense,” remarked Xiaotao after listening to my theory. “Why did she decide to lead us to this document, then?”

“Is it possible for us to trace back more information about this project?” I asked Director Wang.

“I’ll ask the HR department,” he replied.

Xiaotao suggested we go out and grab lunch now since it was probably going to be another long day of work ahead of us. During the meal, Dali pulled out a small notebook of English terms and phrases and began to memorize them.

“What an industrious student!” Xiaotao laughed and teased him.

“I’ve failed this exam multiple times, Xiaotao-jiejie!” Dali pouted. “I’ve got to work hard if I want to graduate!”

Xiaotao turned to me and asked, “What about you, Song Yang? Got good grades?”

“They’re just average,” I replied. “I’ll be happy if I pass all the exams.”

We went on to chat happily for a while, but at one point Xiaotao suddenly turned listless and unhappy. I asked her if something was troubling her and she replied with a simple “Yeah.” I asked if it had something to do with Wang Gongzi and she was surprised.

“How did you know?” she asked. “Are you the tapeworm that lives inside my stomach?”

I laughed. “You sighed heavily when that young couple entered the restaurant, so I guessed it might have something to do with this.”

“Amazing deduction, Detective Song!” she praised. “You can even read other people’s minds! At this rate you’ll surpass Sherlock Holmes soon!”

“I’ve still got a long way to go,” I humbly replied.

It turned out that after meeting Xiaotao at that party, Wang Gongzi was completely smitten with her beauty and her sexy figure and began to call her non-stop to ask her out for dinner. Last night, he even turned up near her apartment and pestered her about going on a date together, but Xiaotao kept insisting that she was not interested. After a while, the man finally relented and went home.

Because her father had set his eyes on Wang Gongzi to be his future son-in-law and the economic relationship between the two families, Xiaotao had to be careful not to offend Wang Gongzi too much. However, that only served to embolden him and made him even more annoying.

“Holy shit, Xiaotao-jiejie!” cried Dali. “I never thought arranged marriages would still be a thing in this day and age! This is simply feudalistic!”

Xiaotao sighed. “My family has always been very strict with rules. I can’t just marry anyone without my father’s consent. That’s why I’ve been troubled about this for days. I even had the idea that if my father forces me to marry this guy, I’d cheat on him just to embarrass my father!”

“You’re not serious, are you?” I asked.

Xiaotao laughed. “Would you like to join me in my plan to get back at my father?”

“I’m afraid I’m not very good at climbing down windows…”

“Here I am… Just being the third wheel again…” complained Dali.

We laughed and joked, but it was obvious that Xiaotao was still troubled by the matter, so I asked her, “Do you have any feelings for the guy?”

Xiaotao screwed up her face and replied, “Sure! Hatred! Disgust! Those are feelings too, right? Ugh, it’s like we don’t even speak the same language! We basically live on different planets!”

“Why don’t you sit down with him and spell it out clearly to him that there’s no chance you two are going to work?” I suggested. “Maybe that would discourage him. If that doesn’t work, then I can act as your boyfriend.”

“Yeah, about that,” said Xiaotao. “I don’t think your act was very convincing the other day.”

“I’m not that experienced in this matter, so…” I smiled wanly.

“Maybe we should practice going out together more so we’d look more convincing as a pair. Then perhaps that guy would just give it up.”