My childhood friend is in her mature, sophisticated form again today. - Chapter 16

Are you going to try it over there?

“No.”

“Then why does it vibrate on its own?”

Cheng Ran thought for a moment. “It might be you moving.”

“It vibrates when I touch it?”

“Your ability. It can sense even the slightest deformation that you are unaware of.”

Lin Jiqiu didn’t press the matter at the time. But later she noticed something—each time that irregular vibration occurred, it was usually when she was thinking. Not intentionally, but rather a thought would float through her mind, and her hand movements would change accordingly. Her fingers would curl slightly, her muscles would tighten slightly, and her skin would tremble slightly. She herself couldn’t feel it, but “Yin” could.

It was responding to her.

Cheng Ran said that things would be different once things were done well. She began to understand what “different” meant.

——

There has been new progress in Fang Xu’s case on Cheng Ran’s side.

“His cash flow isn’t limited to just that one sum.” Cheng Ran turned the screen to Lin Jiqiu. “Over the past six months, his wife’s account has received three large transfers from three different overseas accounts. Each account is registered in a different location, but the funds all ended up in the same pool—Mirror Technology.”

“It’s Mirror Technology again.” Lin Jiqiu leaned against the edge of the table. “Does Fang Xu even know who he’s doing business with?”

“He may know, or he may not.” Cheng Ran zoomed in on a screenshot. “This is another email between him and Xingyuan, that middleman. It mentions the word ‘organization’ but doesn’t specify.”

Lin Jiqiu looked at the email content on the screen.

“…Don’t worry, the organization will arrange everything. You just need to send over this week’s progress report.”

“Organization,” Lin Jiqiu repeated the word. “Didn’t Fang Xu ask what kind of organization it was?”

No. Either he knows, or he doesn’t want to know.

Where is his wife?

“His wife’s account was operated independently. The transfer records show that every time money was deposited, it would be transferred to another personal account on the same day—the account holder was Fang Xu himself. His wife may have just been a conduit and may not have known about it.”

Lin Jiqiu was silent for a few seconds. “We need more.”

“Give me two more days,” Cheng Ran said. “I’m pursuing a finance staff member at Mirror Technology. This person is responsible for liaising with Xingyuan, and his name is in the emails.”

“What’s your name?”

“Lin Ye. His identity information cannot be found, so it’s most likely fake. But his IP address is in China, so I’ll try to locate it.”

“Be careful. Don’t alert them.”

Cheng Ran nodded.

Lin Jiqiu straightened up and walked to the door. “By the way, should we send someone to keep an eye on Fang Xu?”

“Ahua has already gone.”

Lin Jiqiu was taken aback. “Ahua?”

“She came out with me this morning. I let her sit on the windowsill outside Fang Xu’s office. She’s a stray cat now, nobody will pay attention to her.”

Lin Jiqiu imagined Ahua perched on the twelfth-floor windowsill, her tail swishing back and forth, and a slight smile curved her lips. “She listens to you?”

“Your clones all obey my commands.”

Lin Jiqiu didn’t respond. She walked out and closed the door.

The “Yin” on her wrist vibrated. She knew Cheng Ran had just mentioned Ahua, who was her clone, and the clone obeyed him. This thought lingered in her mind, but she didn’t dwell on it. Yet, the “Yin” moved for her.

She raised her wrist and looked at the dark gray sphere.

“You’re even more sensitive than I am,” she said softly.

The sphere did not answer. But it vibrated again.

——

Ahua squatted outside Fang Xu’s office for a whole day.

She returned in the evening. She jumped in through the window, landed on Lin Jiqiu’s bed, and licked her paws.

Lin Jiqiu was lying in bed reading. She put down the book and looked at Ahua. “Did you find anything?”

Ahua meowed.

Lin Jiqiu closed his eyes and retrieved fragments of Ahua’s memories from that day. They weren’t continuous—Ahua’s consciousness was relatively simple, and she could only remember a limited amount. But some scenes were clear: Fang Xu hadn’t gone to the company today. He stayed home, received a phone call in the morning, went out in the afternoon to a coffee shop, and met a strange man.

The man was wearing a dark jacket and a hat, so his face was obscured. But they exchanged an envelope—Fang Xu handed it to him, and the other man accepted it.

Lin Jiqiu opened her eyes.

“Ahua, did you see that person’s face?”

Ahua tilted her head and meowed.

“Didn’t you see it?”

Ahua licked her paws.

Lin Jiqiu sat up and picked up her phone to send a message to Cheng Ran.

Fang Xu didn’t go to the company today. He met someone and exchanged envelopes. Ahua didn’t get a clear look at their face.

The reply was quick. [That coffee shop has security cameras. I’ll check them.]

Is it possible to adjust it?

Yes, it’s possible. But it will take time.

Lin Jiqiu put down his phone and looked at Ahua. Ahua was already curled up in a ball with her eyes closed.

“You’ve worked hard.” Lin Jiqiu reached out and scratched her chin. Ahua made gurgling sounds but didn’t open her eyes.

——

The next morning, Cheng Ran accessed the coffee shop’s surveillance footage.

The image was somewhat blurry, but the man’s silhouette was clear—of medium build, wearing a dark jacket, and his hat pulled low. He entered the café and sat down opposite Fang Xu. Without exchanging pleasantries, Fang Xu handed him an envelope. The man took it and put it in the inside pocket of his jacket.

“Didn’t they say anything?” Lin Jiqiu asked.

“The coffee shop was too noisy, I couldn’t hear him,” Cheng Ran said. “But I intercepted Fang Xu’s cell phone signal. He made a call before he left, and the call was very short, less than a minute.”

Who should I call?

“An unregistered number. I called back, but it was a disconnected number. A virtual number, used and then discarded.”

“They have a strong counter-surveillance awareness.”

“Hmm. Not your average corporate spy.”

Lin Jiqiu stared at the blurry figure on the screen. “Can you find out who this person is?”

“I’m still following him. After he came out of the coffee shop, he got into a taxi. I checked the surveillance footage of that section of the road to see if I could find where he got off.”

“How long will it take?”

“today.”

Lin Jiqiu nodded and turned to leave.

“Lin Jiqiu,” Cheng Ran called out to her.

“Um?”

“Should I personally keep an eye on Fang Xu’s situation?”

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “No need. Ah Hua, that’s enough. You focus on investigating that person.”

“good.”

Lin Jiqiu walked out of the studio, and the “Yin” on her wrist vibrated. She looked down at it but didn’t think much of it.

At 3 PM, Cheng Ran got the results.

“That person got off the bus in a residential area in the west of the city. He entered a building. I checked the resident information for that building, but there was no match for his physical characteristics. He might be a tenant or someone staying temporarily.”

Can you confirm which household it is?

“No. The elevator and stairwell surveillance cameras are in the community’s system. I hacked into them, but he didn’t appear in those images. He probably went through the fire escape.”

Lin Jiqiu sat on the sofa, looking at the documents spread out on the coffee table. Fang Xu’s photo, Xingyuan’s information, and the architecture diagram of Mirror Technology. All the clues were like a net, with more and more nodes, but the center remained unclear.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

“What do you think the Mirror Society really wants? Chip technology and brainwashing organizations are two completely unrelated things.”

“Perhaps it’s related,” Cheng Ran said. “Chips are tools. Controlling ideas is also a tool. What they might want isn’t the tools themselves, but rather what those tools can help them achieve.”

“for example?”

“For example…” Cheng Ran paused for a moment, “Information. Chips can process information, and brainwashing can control the people who receive information. If they can master both technology and people, they can control the flow of information. Whoever controls the information controls the rules.”

Lin Jiqiu remained silent for a long time.

“That’s the logic of stargazers.”

“Yes. That’s why I said that the Mirror Society and the Stargazers may have the same origin.”

Lin Jiqiu tapped his fingers lightly on his knee. “If this guess is correct, then Xingyuan is just the tip of the iceberg. They may also be making moves in other areas—energy, biology, finance…”

“So I need time,” Cheng Ran said. “The deeper you go, the more you’ll see.”

Lin Jiqiu stood up and walked to the window. The florist across the street was watering the flowers, and the cafe staff were moving chairs. Everything seemed normal.

But beneath the surface, undercurrents are surging.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

“Keep chasing.”

“good.”

Lin Jiqiu turned around and went upstairs.

The “yin” on my wrist vibrated, with a stronger force than usual.

She raised her wrist and looked at it.

Are you nervous too?

The sphere did not answer. But the vibration did not stop.

She held it in her hand, feeling its slight, pulse-like throbbing.

Then she let go, pushed open the door, and went into her room.