My childhood friend is in her mature, sophisticated form again today. - Chapter 63

“It’s that building again.” Lin Jiqiu looked at the registered address of Huayuan Technology on the screen.

“Hundreds of companies were registered in that building, most of them were shell companies. Huayuan Technology was just one of them, but it funded Song Zhiyuan’s laboratory with nearly two million yuan.”

“Two million. Does Song Zhiyuan know who paid for this?”

“They probably don’t know. On the surface, it’s Huayuan Technology, but behind it all is Beichen Zhiting. Song Zhiyuan only knows that he received funding, but he doesn’t know the real source of the money.”

Lin Jiqiu leaned back on the sofa, looking at Song Zhiyuan’s photo over and over again. An elderly man in his sixties, with gray hair and a gentle smile, didn’t seem like someone serving an ancient organization. But he was. He was developing new semiconductor materials for the Beichen Court; those materials were made into chips, and those chips were used in the Beichen Court’s communication system, which maintained a secret order that had existed for two thousand years. He probably didn’t know any of this. He was just doing research, writing papers, and mentoring students.

“Chengran, I want to see him.”

“In what capacity?”

“A colleague. A researcher interested in novel semiconductor materials.”

Cheng Ran thought for a moment. “What do I need to prepare?”

“A fake resume. A fake research direction. An abstract of an unpublished paper.”

“I’ll do it.”

Two days later, Lin Jiqiu stood downstairs at the School of Materials Science and Engineering of the provincial university. He was male, wearing a dark coat and carrying a briefcase, looking like a young researcher. The sunlight was bright, and the ginkgo leaves in front of the teaching building had turned yellow and fallen to the ground. He entered the building and found the floor where Song Zhiyuan’s laboratory was located.

The laboratory door was closed, with a sign on it that read, “Professor Song Zhiyuan’s Laboratory, No Entry Without Permission.” Lin Jiqiu knocked on the door.

A young student opened the door. “Who are you looking for?”

“Professor Song, I’m from out of province and would like to ask you some academic questions. We’ve contacted each other by email before.”

The student glanced back, then stepped aside. “Teacher Song is in her office. Go inside, it’s on her left.”

Song Zhiyuan’s office was small, with bookshelves lining two walls, crammed with professional books and journals. Several printed papers lay on the desk, next to a cup of cold tea. Song Zhiyuan sat behind the desk, wearing reading glasses, reviewing a project proposal. He looked up at Lin Jiqiu.

“Who are you–“

“Lin Qiu, from the Materials Science Department of L Province University. He sent you an email.”

Song Zhiyuan took off his reading glasses and thought for a moment. “Oh, right. You said you’re doing research on new semiconductor materials and wanted to discuss it with me. Please sit down.”

Lin Jiqiu sat down, took out a printed abstract of a paper from his briefcase, and handed it over. It was written by Cheng Ran, and the content was pieced together from Song Zhiyuan’s published papers; it seemed to be research in the same direction.

Song Zhiyuan took the book and read a few pages, his brow furrowing slightly. “Your approach is somewhat similar to a project we worked on before. But the results of that project weren’t published. How do you know that?”

Lin Jiqiu had already prepared the answer. “I saw some publicly available patent information online. Although it wasn’t directly related, it gave me some inspiration.”

Song Zhiyuan was silent for a few seconds. “That project was a collaboration with a company, and the results weren’t made public. The fact that you could deduce our ideas from the patent information shows you have a lot of ideas.” He put down the paper abstract. “What would you like to discuss?”

“I would like to ask about the industrialization path of new semiconductor materials. My research is still in the laboratory stage, and I don’t know how far it is from practical application.”

Song Zhiyuan picked up the cup of cold tea, took a sip, and put it down. “It depends on the application scenario. Some materials can be produced in the lab, but various problems arise when scaling up production. Stability, yield rate, and cost are all factors to consider. The project we worked on with Huayuan Technology encountered these problems before.”

“Huayuan Technology?”

“A technology company funded our lab for several years. Their technical requirements were very high, and we did several rounds of optimization before we met their standards.”

Lin Jiqiu nodded. “Where are their products used?”

Song Zhiyuan glanced at him. “This is a confidentiality agreement. I can’t say.”

Lin Jiqiu didn’t press further. “What about the production process? Do you have any experience to share?”

Song Zhiyuan thought for a moment. “The production process is a core secret of the company. We are only responsible for the initial material research and development. The specific production process is handled by Huayuan Technology itself.”

Does Huayuan Technology have a production base?

“Yes. In the north of the city. I haven’t been there yet, but their engineers have visited our lab a few times.”

North of the city. Fengyuan Agriculture is located in the north of the city. Huayuan Technology’s production base is Fengyuan Agriculture.

Lin Jiqiu asked a few more academic questions, and they chatted for about half an hour before he stood up to thank her.

“Professor Song, thank you for your guidance.”

Song Zhiyuan waved his hand. “It’s good that young people have ideas. But sometimes, having ideas alone isn’t enough to succeed in scientific research.”

Lin Jiqiu walked out of the office and went downstairs. Cheng Ran was waiting in the car.

“How about it?”

“He knew about Huayuan Technology, but he didn’t know that Huayuan Technology was just a shell for Beichen Zhiting. He thought he was doing academic research and serving the industry. In reality, he was developing technology for Beichen Zhiting.”

“Is he a member of the Northern Star Court?”

“No. He was just being used. Beichen Zhiting provided him with funding through Huayuan Technology, and he provided the technology. Beichen Zhiting then used the technology to make chips, which were then used in their own system.”

Cheng Ran wrote it down on the tablet. “Song Zhiyuan is not our target. He’s just an outsider.”

“Yes. But his technology is the core. Without his research, Fengyuan Agriculture’s production line wouldn’t be able to operate.”

“Therefore, the Court of the Northern Stars needs him.”

“We need his skills. We don’t necessarily need him as a person.” Lin Jiqiu leaned back in his chair, looking out the window. “If something happens to him, Beichen Zhiting can find another professor. They have plenty of money.”

“So this lead has gone cold?”

“No. Song Zhiyuan mentioned that Huayuan Technology’s production base is in the north of the city. That is, Fengyuan Agriculture. We already know that.” Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment, “But Song Zhiyuan said that their engineers have come to the laboratory to exchange ideas several times. Those engineers are from Fengyuan Agriculture. They have real faces and real identities.”

“The engineers’ photos are in the employee files.”

“Yes. We just need to find out who went to the lab.”

Cheng Ran’s fingers tapped rapidly on the tablet. “When we get back, retrieve the access records for Song Zhiyuan’s lab. If we can find a match—”

“This will allow us to identify who the key technical personnel are at Fengyuan Agriculture.”

The car drove out of the provincial university and headed towards the firm. Lin Jiqiu leaned back in his seat, Song Zhiyuan’s gentle face flashing through his mind. A man in his sixties, with gray hair, wearing reading glasses, and a gentle smile. He didn’t know he was being used. He thought he was doing scientific research, adding bricks to the frontiers of human knowledge. In reality, he was serving the Beichen Court. That’s what makes the Beichen Court so terrifying. They don’t need to force anyone; they just need to put the right people in the right positions doing what they’re good at. Those people don’t know whose chessboard they’re on.

Back at the office, Ah You had already prepared lunch: stir-fried vegetables, braised fish, and a bowl of winter melon soup. Lin Jiqiu sat down and picked up her chopsticks.

“Boss, how’s it going today?” Ah You asked while serving rice.

“We found a lead, but it’s not the person we’re looking for.”

“Should we continue the investigation?”

“Yes.” Lin Jiqiu picked up a piece of fish.

Cheng Ran sat down opposite him. “A Zuo went to retrieve the access records for Song Zhiyuan’s lab. If all goes well, we should have them this afternoon.”

Ayou placed a bowl of rice in front of Lin Jiqiu, and then another bowl in front of Cheng Ran. “Boss, is this Song Zhiyuan you’re talking about a good person or a bad person?”

Lin Jiqiu thought for a moment. “Not a good person, not a bad person. Someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing.”

Ah You didn’t ask any more questions and turned back to the kitchen.

In the afternoon, A-Zuo brought back a visitor log. It was a thick stack of visitor records for Song Zhiyuan’s lab from the past three years, including those of students, business people, and government officials. Lin Jiqiu and Cheng Ran flipped through the pages and found several visitor records for Huayuan Technology. There were three visitor names—Zhang Wen, Li Ming, and Wang Hua. Again, Zhang, Li, and Wang.

“The names are fake.” Cheng Ran looked at the three names.

“But the faces are real.” Lin Jiqiu pulled out the employee files of Fengyuan Agriculture and found the photos corresponding to Zhang Wen, Li Ming, and Wang Hua. Two were middle-aged, and one was young. In the employee files, their positions were all listed as “technical engineers.”

“That’s them. The technical engineers from Fengyuan Agriculture. They went to Song Zhiyuan’s lab to exchange technology.”

“With their faces, we can track their movements.”

Lin Jiqiu took out the photos of the three people separately and placed them on the coffee table. Three ordinary faces. They wouldn’t attract any attention in a crowd. But they possessed the core technology of Fengyuan Agriculture.

“Chengran, start keeping an eye on these three people tomorrow. See where they go after get off work and who they meet.”

“good.”

The next day, A-Zuo parked his car on a side road near Fengyuan Agriculture. Lin Jiqiu and Cheng Ran waited in the car. At five o’clock in the afternoon, the workers started leaving get off work. They saw Zhang Wen—the middle-aged man—wearing a gray jacket and carrying a briefcase, get into a black sedan. A-Zuo followed. The car drove for about twenty minutes and entered a residential area. The area was small, with only a few buildings and a security guard at the entrance. Zhang Wen parked his car in the underground garage and went upstairs.

A-Zuo parked the car outside the residential area. Lin Jiqiu got out of the car and walked to the entrance. The security guard looked up. “Hello, who are you looking for?”

“A friend lives here. I forgot which building, let me call and ask.” He took out his phone, pretended to dial a number, and stood at the door for a while. The security guard didn’t ask any questions and continued looking at his phone.

He walked into the residential complex, found Zhang Wen’s building, and went upstairs. Room 401. The door was closed, but light shone through the crack. He stood at the door for a while and listened—he could hear a television and people talking inside. He noted down the apartment number and went back downstairs.

“Zhang Wen lives here.” Lin Jiqiu got into the car and told Cheng Ran the address.

“Is it possible to find the homeowner?”

“able.”

A-Zuo started the car, turned it around, and drove towards the office. Lin Jiqiu leaned back in her seat, looking out the window. It was getting dark, and the streetlights were coming on one by one. Zhang Wen, a technical engineer at Fengyuan Agriculture, a cog in the machine of Beichen Zhiting. He lived in this ordinary neighborhood, leading an ordinary life. But he possessed the core technology of Originium. He was no ordinary person.

“Cheng Ran”.

“Um.”

“If Zhang Wen knew that he was working for the Beichen Court, would he tell us anything?”

“No. He doesn’t know more than we do. He only knows his small part, not the whole picture.”

“Then let him know.”

Cheng Ran looked at him. “You want to get close to him?”

“Not now. Wait until the time is right.”

Back at the office, Lin Jiqiu wrote Zhang Wen’s address in his notebook. Room 401. He imagined what that room would look like—probably no different from any other ordinary person’s home. Sofa, coffee table, television, refrigerator. But the place Zhang Wen went to every day was Fengyuan Agriculture’s production line, producing things that would change the world. He was unaware that the world was being changed. He only knew that he was going to work, earning money, and supporting his family.

Lin Jiqiu closed his notebook. “Chengran, continue keeping an eye on Li Ming and Wang Hua tomorrow. Find their addresses.”

“good.”

That night, Lin Jiqiu lay in bed, thinking about what Song Zhiyuan had said—”The path of scientific research isn’t always paved with just ideas.” His father had also been an idea man. He wanted to reveal the truth about Originium technology. Then he couldn’t make it happen.

Lin Jiqiu turned over and pulled the photograph from under his pillow. It was of his father’s face. “Did you ever look for Song Zhiyuan back then?” he asked softly. No one answered.

He put the photo back and closed his eyes. The sphere on his wrist vibrated slightly, in sync with her heartbeat. She placed her hand on the sphere, feeling its faint warmth.

“Cheng Ran”.

“exist.”

“I’ll go see Zhang Wen tomorrow.”

“Didn’t we say we’d wait until the time was right?”

“The time is almost right.”

Cheng Ran was silent for a few seconds. “I’ll go with you.”

“No need. Going alone won’t attract attention.”

“Then be careful.”

“good.”