Chapter 9: It’s time for you to find me some food.
The staff member frantically looked Cheng Ming up and down, a look of “I can’t believe it” on their face.
“Ah, about that…” It was a bit of a headache to explain. Cheng Ming tried to be as brief as possible. “My situation is a bit special. When I was three, I had a high fever that damaged my cranial nerves, and I became a vegetable. I was in a medical pod after that. There’s a completely blank period of twelve years.”
In such a condition, just staying alive was a luxury; growth and development were practically nonexistent.
Moreover, because of this, her constitution had always been relatively weak, and colds and fevers were common. This was probably why the institute wasn’t surprised when she later contracted a fungal infection. At least no one suspected it was anything other than an accident.
“Twelve years?”
Even though everyone present was well-informed, they couldn’t help but be shocked by this number.
For a person in a vegetative state to survive for so many years and wake up without any brain dysfunction, with an intelligence level that was not only undiminished but still higher than average, was a medical miracle, even with today’s technology.
But when they saw the resounding names “Cheng Ran” and “Cheng Jin” in the relatives column, they exchanged subtle glances and tacitly fell silent.
Without much fuss, the qualification review ended. After all the procedures were completed, Cheng Ming officially became a research assistant in Jiang Dexin’s research group.
The salary and benefits that ordinary people cared about were not within Cheng Ming’s consideration. The most gratifying thing was that her clearance level within the research institute had been further elevated.
Jiang Dexin specifically took the time to celebrate her promotion, treating her and a few girls she was familiar with from her previous lab to lunch. Then, she showed her around the new laboratory and workstation.
When they were about to part, Huang Chengcheng was particularly dramatic with her “crying.” “Wuwu, Senior Sister! Senior Sister, don’t go, how will we live without you, Senior Sister…”
“You’re the most mischievous one!” Jiang Dexin slapped each of them on the back of the head. “Study hard, get a master’s and a doctorate, and strive to be promoted directly to research assistant after graduation. Then you can work together again.”
“That’s not happening.” Huang Chengcheng immediately crossed her arms, looking like she was about to die. “Even if we can get in, by the time we come back, Senior Sister will probably be an associate researcher…”
“Exactly,” another girl chimed in. “It’s more reasonable for us to just apply directly under Senior Sister.”
Such a touching display of teacher-student affection. Old Dr. Jiang was so “moved” that she gave each of them an extra slap.
Cheng Ming watched them joke around with a helpless smile, her eyes curving slightly, a tolerant smile on her face, as if she was also reluctant to part. But a strange feeling welled up in her heart.
This feeling had actually started faintly a long time ago, but it was only now that she could no longer ignore it—she was having a little trouble empathizing with other people’s joys, sorrows, and anger.
She found everything before her very uninteresting. She could cooperate, she could feign a normal reaction, but it wasn’t genuine.
Cheng Ming’s mind wandered while she smiled, and a faint sense of horror seeped into her heart, silent and unnoticed.
The parasite was changing her nerves.
She had always worried that the monster would suddenly replace her one day, but she had never considered another possibility. Perhaps, she would gradually, step by step, become like the monster?
When she came back to her senses, the elevator had reached the 113th floor, opening up to a brand new environment.
Cheng Ming followed Jiang Dexin through a series of winding corridors. Beep. After an iris scan, the automatic glass doors slid open.
After walking into this sealed area, Cheng Ming discovered that the real scene was different from what she had just seen outside—the door behind them was fake glass, and the scene behind the door was a projection. It wasn’t actually transparent.
In short, this place was highly confidential.
There were several laboratories on both sides, which looked no different from the ones outside. But when one of them was opened, the lighting overhead was very dim. They put on protective clothing as required for a biosafety level 1 laboratory, passed through an air shower, and entered the innermost room in the dark. The view was even dimmer.
It was a darkroom.
“This walk is to give you time to adjust, and to remind you to remember not to bring in any lighting or even reflective equipment,” Jiang Dexin explained as they walked.
The end of the path suddenly opened up. Before them, huge, sealed glass tanks, like those used for breeding tropical fish in an aquarium, were arranged in a scattered manner, emitting a faint fluorescent glow.
As they got closer, the blue light crowded together, like dust forming clumps, nebulae floating in the universe, rising and falling in the transparent water.
It was as if one had stumbled into a vast sea of stars.
“Wave-Born Floating Flower Algaefungus. You already knew about it,” Jiang Dexin said, tapping lightly on the glass.
Thus, the agitated algaefungus drifted with the current, slightly accelerating its dance in the water, dragging a dazzling, brilliant tail of light, mesmerizing and beautiful.
It suddenly made one understand the meaning of “wave-born floating flower.”
Of course, Cheng Ming knew.
She had seen it in her mother’s manuscripts. She and Cheng Jin had been able to become founders of the research institute because they had discovered this algaefungus.
But what role did this algaefungus play?
Cheng Ming didn’t know.
But she really wanted to know.
She always had a faint feeling that this might be related to her parents’ disappearance.
So, when she was assigned to dispose of waste experimental materials that day and found that one of the labels was marked with the abbreviated scientific name of the Wave-Born Floating Flower Algaefungus, she tilted her head to look at the high-temperature, high-pressure sterilization equipment that was starting up, then glanced at the surveillance monitor in the corner, turned sideways, and threw her earring into the exhaust vent.
The equipment hummed with a malfunction. She put on gloves and carefully inspected it, “accidentally” knocking over the small bottle, then stepped aside and called for maintenance.
The entire operation was reasonable and compliant.
Even when she later privately took the half-deactivated vial of fungus to an empty laboratory, she only observed it after putting on protective gear.
However, she remembered the scattered records in her mother’s manuscript, that this fungus seemed to have a special reaction to living animal cells. After a moment’s hesitation, she went to the side, pricked her finger, and took 0.5ml of blood.
This was the so-called not-so-accidental accident. This was the “little experiment” she had told Qu Ying about.
It turned out that the experience of her predecessors was not entirely reliable. She didn’t get much useful information, and instead, lost more than she gained.
“There’s not much for you to do for now. Look at the previous data to familiarize yourself with your new ‘colleagues,’ and record their growth status every day… Hmm, these few tanks have just been changed, and they’ll probably grow for over a month. When they’re close to the K-value, call me, and I’ll teach you how to divide the tanks. Sometimes, other departments will come to purchase, and you’ll be responsible for uploading it to the system, handling the handover, and keeping records.”
Cheng Ming listened carefully, taking note of everything.
After explaining everything that needed to be explained, Jiang Dexin was in a hurry to go back and supervise the interns. Just as she was about to reach the door, she turned back and reminded her, “Don’t stay in here for too long. The break room is right next door.”
She subconsciously asked why, and the other woman smiled mysteriously. “Have you ever played a horror game? If you stay for too long, your SAN value will drop.”
Cheng Ming was pondering the deeper meaning behind this when she heard her beloved Teacher Jiang say with a chuckle, “Just kidding.”
She: “…” You’re too energetic.
In reality, it was for her physical safety. Although it was sealed and isolated by special materials, it was, after all, a creature that had once been directly soaked in nuclear wastewater. It was inevitable to worry about trace radiation leakage.
“Does it feel familiar?” After Jiang Dexin left, Cheng Ming asked a certain parasite inside her with an indescribable, teasing tone.
The room was dim and empty, and the blue algaefungus slowly roamed around her. She was like standing in the deep sea, peeking into the most mysterious corner of this planet.
She couldn’t be sure of the specific origin of this Fish-Fungus monster.
What experiments had those materials undergone before, were there other creatures in the vial at that time, or even, had she been quietly parasitized long ago like Wang Qi, to be completely replaced one day, and the substance she came into contact with was just a trigger… she couldn’t tell.
To be honest, with a little imagination, she felt that the latter was quite likely—she was first parasitized by a fish monster, but for some reason, it didn’t become active immediately, until it was awakened by a secondary parasitism by the algaefungus.
Xiao Ming: “It looks delicious.”
It seemed to not understand human language.
It only urged Cheng Ming, “It’s time for you to find me some food.”
Cheng Ming: “…”
Since she couldn’t get anything out of it, she ignored it.
She gently took out the necklace from her chest and gazed at the seashell, which had changed color due to the different light. The room was filled with a shimmering glow, and amidst the clusters of marine fungi, it was as beautiful and ethereal as a dream.
She still couldn’t remember what had happened that night five years ago.
On her last birthday before she went to university, Cheng Jin had left the institute early and bought a cake.
But Cheng Ran had come back very late. She had almost thought her mother had forgotten, until she came in and took out the seashell pendant. Only then did she know that Cheng Ran had prepared this special gift for her, but because the procedures for traveling between different provinces and cities were stricter, her journey to retrieve it had been delayed.
The coffee table was low, and she knelt on the footstool in front of the sofa to make a wish.
She had grown up, but Cheng Ran was still used to squatting down and holding her in her arms, while Cheng Jin stood quietly behind them.
She laughed heartily, surrounded by her family. The cream cake exuded a nauseatingly sweet fragrance.
With a puff, the flame flickered.
The candle was extinguished.
Their faces also melted like wax, blurring with the memory of her home into a terrifying, unfamiliar mass.
When she woke up again, she had no mother, no father, no home.
Everything that happened after that was relayed to her by Qu Ying.
She was found unconscious by an Investigation Department patrol team less than two kilometers from the sea. Cheng Ran and Cheng Jin were gone.
There were records of their iris scans at the entry and exit gates.
No one knew what the two professors, with their sixteen-year-old daughter, were trying to do by using their authority to enter the restricted coastal area so late that day.
They had vanished into thin air. She had lain in the intensive care unit for forty-seven days, until her radiation index dropped to zero and she was allowed to return to a normal life.
The silver lining was that her body was not seriously damaged. Even her lost hair had grown back after five years of effort. The misfortune within the fortune… it was all for naught.
Cheng Ming stared at the seashell under the light of the algaefungus for a long time, her perception of time also worn away.
Finally, I’m one step closer to you… Mom.
She thought.
Suffocation and loneliness, like demons lurking in the darkness, clung to her throat like a shadow. It was especially so in this silence.
No wonder the regulations required not to stay for too long. It was not without reason to consider mental health.
But when she glanced at the “hair” that hung obediently against her cheek, and thought of another soul residing in this body—although she didn’t know if monsters could be said to have souls—Cheng Ming couldn’t help but feel a subtle, indescribable emotion.
Although she feared and loathed it, and wanted nothing more than to get rid of it, there were occasional moments, for a split second… when she would think that having its company wasn’t so bad.
Amidst the persistent voice of a certain Fish-Fungus asking “when are you going to find me some food,” Cheng Ming put away the pendant.
…
When Jiang Dexin went downstairs, she received a phone call.
Seeing the “299” prefix, she answered and waited patiently for instructions.
“How’s your new research assistant?”
It was a mature female voice, about the same age as Jiang Dexin, but with a more intellectual and gentle feel.
“I’ve handed over the Wave-Born Floating Flower Algaefungus to her. She’s very interested.”
“Mm.” Although the woman’s voice was soft, her tone carried the unapproachable authority of a superior. But after this indifferent sound, she added, “Don’t be too strict with her.”
“Alright.” Jiang Dexin was actually a little surprised.
She found it hard to describe the other’s tone. How should she put it, it was like she was treating a junior, or to be more exaggerated, as if that was her daughter… But given this person’s situation, it was impossible for her to have such a junior. And she was well aware of Cheng Ming’s background.
The next second, the other’s indifferent attitude made her dismiss this absurd thought—
“But don’t spoil her either. If it affects the progress of the experiment, you don’t have to protect her.”
…
At midnight, Cheng Ming, who had long since finished her day’s work, returned to the research institute.
Ever since she had this parasitic partner, it was like she had a difficult cat. She was either running around for its food or cleaning up the messes it made, never having a moment’s rest.
