Chapter 46

Shen Qingming’s words in the ward had left Zhao Shuqing deeply concerned. She could sense that he had more to say to her, but whenever she tried to reach out over the past few days, Aunt Liu reported that Shen Qingming still wasn’t feeling well, and the doctors advised against visitors. Zhao Shuqing had no choice but to set it aside for now and follow her teacher’s advice by double-checking some of the data in her paper.

Lin Feng sat in her wheelchair as she returned to the original laboratory. She gazed at the ecological pool not far away, where a new giant octopus had appeared. The creature lay quietly curled up in the water, its tentacles tightly clinging to the artificial rock, utterly motionless.

It seemed a new colleague had arrived.

Lin Feng’s legs were still injured, so she couldn’t go into the water just yet. Besides, the giant octopus hadn’t completed its physical examination; it was radiating hostility and would spray ink at anyone who approached. It needed time in isolation.

After drawing Lin Feng’s blood, Zhao Shuqing peeled open a lollipop and popped it into her mouth. “I have to go take care of some things,” she said. “Can you stay here by yourself for a bit?”

Lin Feng nodded as she sucked on the candy.

Worried that she might get bored, Zhao Shuqing had also brought her a tablet. Ever since Gu Yao taught her how to play it, Lin Feng had become addicted to the matching puzzle game. She could sit there playing it all day, which gave Zhao Shuqing the perfect opportunity to compare the experimental results.

“Shuqing.”

Ye Xun, the head of the laboratory, walked over. She watched as Zhao Shuqing placed the freshly drawn mermaid blood into the analyzer and asked curiously, “Hasn’t the data already been confirmed? Why run it again?”

Zhao Shuqing smiled. “I spoke with my teacher a couple of days ago, and he suggested I verify it once more. I thought about it, and he’s right. This paper will be published without revisions, and it’ll serve as the foundational sample for countless studies. Better to be cautious.”

Ye Xun nodded. “That makes sense.”

Zhao Shuqing glanced at the giant octopus in the ecological pool and asked casually, “What’s the story with that octopus? It’s much bigger than any I’ve seen before. Did they just bring it in?”

Ye Xun looked over as well. “Yeah, the Antarctic Expedition Team returned with it a week ago. It’s adapting pretty well, so we’re thinking of sending it to the oceanarium. This is just an isolation check.”

“The oceanarium could definitely use more octopuses,” Zhao Shuqing remarked.

Ye Xun chatted with her a bit longer. Then one of the lab colleagues approached and said to Ye Xun, “Group Leader, Fang Wen is here. Should I bring her straight in?”

Ye Xun asked, “Is she feeling better?”

The colleague nodded, frowning. “She says she’s here to resign. She’s standing at the door and hasn’t come in yet.”

Ye Xun thought for a moment and nodded. “Got it. Have her wait in my office.”

Once the colleague had left, Zhao Shuqing asked, “Fang Wen’s resigning?”

Fang Wen was a recorder in the laboratory. A month ago, she had been assigned to the Antarctic Expedition Team and gone out to sea. Zhao Shuqing remembered her—a woman in her thirties, plain-looking, an ordinary recorder with a loving wife and a daughter they raised together.

Why would she suddenly resign out of the blue?

Ye Xun shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. Ever since she got back from Antarctica, she’s been off. She zones out a lot and keeps talking about quitting. Her condition seemed wrong, so I told her to rest for a week, but she’s still set on leaving.”

Zhao Shuqing frowned. “This started right after she came back?”

Ye Xun nodded. “At first, she was dazed and confused, like she didn’t even remember her own name. Sometimes I’d call her several times before she’d realize it was her. I figured it was her first sea voyage and she wasn’t adjusting well, so I sent her to the doctor and told her to rest at home. Not sure if it’s improved.”

Zhao Shuqing pondered this. “I see…”

Just then, Fang Wen walked in from outside. She wasn’t wearing the lab uniform but her own casual clothes. Zhao Shuqing frowned the moment she saw her outfit.

It was the heat of summer, yet Fang Wen had come out in a wool sweater. Her pants were wrinkled and unkempt, her shoes filthy, and Zhao Shuqing could vaguely make out that her socks were mismatched colors.

She moved like it was her first time in the laboratory, following the colleague ahead of her with wide-eyed wonder.

“Fang Wen.” Ye Xun beckoned her over, then turned to Zhao Shuqing. “I’ll go talk to her in my office. You keep working.”

Zhao Shuqing nodded and watched as Ye Xun said something to Fang Wen. Fang Wen smiled and followed her to the office.

Zhao Shuqing turned her attention back to the instruments in front of her, lost in thought for a moment.

Something felt off.

But she couldn’t quite pinpoint what.

Zhao Shuqing decided to put Fang Wen out of her mind for now. She wasn’t close to her, after all, and her resignation had nothing to do with her own work.

Ye Xun’s conversation with Fang Wen didn’t take long. Fang Wen insisted on leaving the laboratory, and Ye Xun couldn’t persuade her otherwise, so she approved the resignation.

As Fang Wen emerged from the office, she spotted Zhao Shuqing with her back turned, recording data.

She hesitated for a moment, then walked toward her.

“WIN~”

Lin Feng looked up after winning a round and froze upon seeing Fang Wen. Fang Wen sensed her gaze, paused, and looked back.

They both caught the scent of their own kind.

Fang Wen arched an eyebrow slightly and changed course toward Lin Feng.

Lin Feng clutched her tablet and looked up at her calmly, silent.

“You’re Lin Feng, right?” Fang Wen said with a smile, speaking in the mermaid language. “I’m Fang Wen. Nice to meet you.”

Lin Feng stared at her intently and assumed a defensive posture.

Fang Wen laughed. “No need to be so guarded. I don’t think we’ll see each other again after this.”

The mermaid language was incomprehensible and inaudible to humans, so Fang Wen could converse with Lin Feng freely.

Standing about ten meters away, she continued, “I like this identity. I have a lovely daughter and a wife who loves me. I never want to return to that cold deep sea. I bet you don’t either, do you?”

Lin Feng turned her head away and frowned. “But you’re not human, after all.”

Fang Wen shrugged lightly. “No one but our own kind will ever discover what I am. And as a fellow mermaid, you wouldn’t betray me, would you?”

Zhao Shuqing sensed something and turned around. She looked at Fang Wen standing nearby, then at Lin Feng a short distance ahead.

Had she just heard a sound?

“Fang Wen?”

Zhao Shuqing set down her pen and walked over. Fang Wen turned at the greeting and gave Zhao Shuqing a smile.

The smile didn’t reach her eyes—it was just her mouth curving up, while the rest of her expression remained oddly unchanged and strange.

Zhao Shuqing approached her. “I heard you’re resigning?”

“Yes.” Fang Wen nodded, switching to human language. “I want to spend more time with my wife and daughter. They always complain that I work too much. Besides, I’m planning to take a new job. I’m just here to handle the handover.”

“All right.” Zhao Shuqing patted her arm. “Take good care of your family. Let’s keep in touch.”

Fang Wen smiled back. “Sure thing, Dr. Zhao.”

Once Fang Wen had left, Zhao Shuqing turned to Lin Feng in her wheelchair. Her face had gone pale, so Zhao Shuqing walked over with concern. “What’s wrong? You look awful.”

Lin Feng shook her head. “When do we go home?”

“In a little while.” Zhao Shuqing knelt by the wheelchair and gently stroked her knee through the blanket. “Are you bored? The results will be out in about an hour, then we can head home, okay?”

Lin Feng thought it over reluctantly before nodding.

Seeing her unwillingness, Zhao Shuqing asked, “Want some milk tea? I’ll order you some.”

Lin Feng nodded eagerly this time. “Mango Pomelo Sago.” She added, “Large size.”

Zhao Shuqing chuckled helplessly. “Okay, large Mango Pomelo Sago it is. Let me ask the others what they want. Wait here a sec.”

With the promise of Mango Pomelo Sago, Lin Feng settled down. Zhao Shuqing recorded the final data point and compared it to the first test. The results were nearly identical.

Zhao Shuqing breathed a sigh of relief, set down the file, and turned to Lin Feng. “All done, Lin Feng. Let’s go home.”

In the Genetic Engineering Laboratory, Gu Yao was logging data and comparing it to the results from a couple of days ago. Switching directions in the experiment had clearly paid off.

“Looks like pushing forward in this direction gives the Double Cisgender Plan a very high chance of success,” a colleague said, leaning against Gu Yao’s workbench with a cup of coffee.

Gu Yao nodded. “The professor really knows her stuff. We’d never considered this angle. All that overtime was worth it.”

The breakthrough results had everyone excited. After weeks of intense overtime, the group leader decided to give them two days off.

“Gu Yao!”

A colleague called from the door. “Your delivery’s here.”

Gu Yao’s eyes lit up. “Great! Bring it in!”

The colleague raised an eyebrow and stepped aside. “Better let Group Leader Xu bring it over~”

Group Leader Xu?

Gu Yao blinked and saw Xu Tang walk in carrying a fish tank. Gu Yao’s eyes widened in surprise.

The group leader looked shocked too. “Group Leader Xu? What brings you to our Genetic Engineering Laboratory? Don’t tell me you’re delivering Gu Yao’s fish tank?”

Xu Tang smiled, her gaze on Gu Yao. “Not specifically. I ran into her in the stairwell, and since the boss was busy seeing off some folks from home, I offered to carry it up.”

She set the fish tank on Gu Yao’s desk and asked curiously, “What’s this? Never knew you were into fishkeeping.”

Gu Yao wasn’t sure why Xu Tang had suddenly shown up in their office. She remembered their private dinner, when Xu Tang mentioned having someone she liked—it was a gentle rejection. Gu Yao wasn’t the bold type, so she just felt awkward, lowered her head with a smile, and said nothing.

Xu Tang didn’t press and turned to the group leader. “I heard you had a major breakthrough. My project here is wrapping up too. Per the plan, shouldn’t our teams collaborate now?”

The group leader hesitated. “I’m not sure. The professor hasn’t mentioned it to us.”

Curious, Gu Yao looked up at Xu Tang. “Collaborate on what?”

They were working on the Double Cisgender Plan—figuring out how two eggs could nurture new life in humans. What did that have to do with Xu Tang’s marine biology?

Xu Tang glanced at Gu Yao and smiled lightly. “The Mermaid Dual-Female Plan, naturally.”