Jiang Ce carried a small plate over to Jiang Nuan’s table.
The sweet potato cake on it had just come out of the pan. Its edges were lightly browned, and a sheen of oil still glistened across the surface.
“Fresh from the pan.” He set the plate beside Jiang Nuan’s hand. “I remembered you liked these.”
Jiang Nuan looked up at him, then at the sweet potato cake. Her eyes curved into a smile. “Thank you, Jiang Ce.”
“Don’t mention it.” Jiang Ce grinned and waved a hand.
The moment he stood beside the table, the space around it felt cramped.
He was just about to pull out the chair across from Jiang Nuan when someone dragged it away from the side.
Qinian walked over with a steamed bun in his mouth and pulled the chair out with practiced ease.
“Perfect timing. I was just—”
“Wait.”
Jiang Nuan swallowed the bun in her mouth and waved her palm lightly.
Qinian’s hand was still resting on the back of the chair, but he stopped pulling.
Jiang Nuan looked at him. “I want to finish talking with Sister Menglan. I’ll come find you later, all right?”
Jiang Ce did not ask any questions. He simply pushed the chair back into place. “Okay. Eat the sweet potato cake while it’s hot. The edges get hard once it cools.”
Jiang Nuan nodded. “Okay. I’ll eat it as soon as I can.”
Qinian raised an eyebrow and released the chair.
“I’m so hurt. Nuan Nuan has learned how to send people away.”
Before Jiang Nuan could say anything, he continued, “Fine. You two talk first.”
He had taken two steps away when he turned back. “Remember to come find me when you’re done.”
Jiang Nuan could not help laughing. “I know, I know.”
The two men walked back to their seats one after the other.
Jiang Nuan lowered her head and took a bite of the steamed bun, then broke off a piece of the sweet potato cake. The corners of her lips lifted.
This was good.
*
Breakfast was not over yet when Jiang Nuan’s terminal suddenly began to vibrate.
…The Bai family?
She got up and walked to a quiet corner by the cafeteria window before answering the call.
“Miss Jiang.”
The voice on the other end sounded slightly aged.
“I’m Steward Zhang of the Bai family. I’m very sorry to disturb you at this hour, but Mr. Bai Siyuan… has gone missing.”
Jiang Nuan’s heart began to race. “Gone missing?”
“Yes.” Steward Zhang’s voice grew heavy. “As of now, sir has been out of contact for nearly twenty-four hours.”
Bai Siyuan had disappeared inside the Bai family’s main residence.
One day earlier, an abnormal energy fluctuation had suddenly erupted in a region deep within the Bai family’s main residence, an area that had been sealed off for years.
A restricted zone had formed in a very short period of time.
After Bai Siyuan rushed to the area, he vanished without a trace.
The Federation had dispatched the Investigation Bureau immediately, sealing off the Bai residence. According to the initial test results, the restricted zone’s energy rating was A-class.
An A-class restricted zone was not the most difficult rating for Jiang Nuan.
The real problem was the exclusion rule at the entrance.
Every twenty-four hours counted as one cycle.
During each cycle, no more than three people were allowed to enter.
At the moment Bai Siyuan was swallowed by the restricted zone, he had already been counted as occupying one of those spots. During the first cycle, the Investigation Bureau could send only two members in to carry out the rescue.
But after those two went inside, they never sent back another message.
Nearly twenty-four hours had passed since their entry.
The next cycle was about to begin.
The call ended, and the terminal screen went dark.
Jiang Nuan stood by the window, the terminal’s screen reflected in the glass.
By normal outside-world time, she had only just left the Bai family’s main residence three days ago.
Three days earlier, Bai Siyuan had still been sitting across from her, pouring her water and asking whether she was settling in comfortably.
At the time, he had truly looked like an older brother who had just found his long-lost sister.
Now, his life or death was unknown.
The terminal vibrated again.
Steward Zhang had sent her an encrypted file.
The file had been authenticated by the Federation Notary Office and carried an extremely high security clearance. Only after Jiang Nuan verified her iris did the words at the top come into view.
Emergency Asset Disposal Authorization and Will.
…Bai Siyuan had prepared a will long ago.
One of the clauses was written clearly.
If he remained out of contact for more than twenty-four hours, Jiang Nuan would become Bai Siyuan’s sole emergency asset administrator.
If his death was ultimately confirmed, all the assets under his name would be inherited by Jiang Nuan.
Jiang Nuan stared at the absurdly long number at the bottom of the asset list without blinking for a long time.
The entirety of the wealth controlled by the Bai family’s current head could no longer be described simply as “money.”
Biopharmaceutical sales, shares in mining districts, shipping routes, private properties throughout the city, private research institutions, and a vast number of warehouses filled with supplies whose purposes had not been specified.
Jiang Nuan’s finger paused on the screen. It took two swipes to reach the end of the number.
It was enough to make anyone who had struggled through the apocalypse lose the ability to think, at least for a moment.
But that number did not remain in Jiang Nuan’s mind for long.
In the previous restricted zone, she had already all but confirmed one thing.
Number Zero, who had escaped from the laboratory and later encountered Bai Siyuan, had been her all along.
In those fragmented memories, beneath a bridge in a damp alley of the refugee district, a boy had broken off half a stale flatbread and given it to her.
“I’ve already eaten.” His stomach had rumbled as he said it.
On a freezing night, he had draped his only coat over her shoulders, then curled up in a corner himself, shivering through the entire night without sleeping.
In those memories, Bai Siyuan had been her only family.
He had also been the person who later sealed away her most important memories with his own hands.
Jiang Nuan slowly scrolled through the file.
The notarization date was very early.
It was dated before the time Bai Siyuan had “reunited” with her at the Bai family’s main residence.
In other words, he had not made this decision on a whim after the restricted zone appeared. He had written her into his will long ago.
…What had Bai Siyuan been thinking when he wrote Jiang Nuan into his will?
Was it because of the years they had depended on each other to survive?
Or because he had already calculated that, once the document reached her, she would never be able to truly stand aside?
She closed her hand around the terminal. Its edge dug painfully into her palm.
Jiang Nuan was not about to throw herself into a restricted zone of unknown circumstances over a few lines in a will.
But neither could she treat Bai Siyuan’s life or death as something that had nothing to do with her.
Bai Siyuan had saved her, and he had deceived her.
Neither fact could erase the other.
But until she confirmed that he truly deserved to die, she could not pretend that nothing had happened.
Jiang Nuan exited the document and opened the preliminary information on the restricted zone that Steward Zhang had sent.
She had not read for even two minutes before her brows drew together.
There was far too little information.
Why had the restricted zone formed precisely in an area of the Bai residence that had been sealed off for years?
Why had Bai Siyuan rushed there at the first opportunity?
After entering, had the two investigators merely lost contact with the outside world, or had they already met with an accident?
And then there was the will that had been prepared long in advance.
Had Bai Siyuan simply been planning ahead, or had he known all along what was hidden inside the Bai family’s main residence?
The last thing she should do was make this decision alone, driven by her old feelings and old grudges toward Bai Siyuan.
In certain matters, Lu Shiyan could indeed be overbearing enough to give her a headache.
But when it came to restricted zones, risks, and human nature, he was rarely wrong.
More importantly, he would not deliberately give her an emotional answer just because of her relationship with Bai Siyuan.
Jiang Nuan shut off the terminal and glanced back toward the cafeteria.
Jiang Ce was sitting not far away, seemingly keeping an eye on her the entire time. When their eyes met, he mouthed a silent question, asking whether she needed help.
Qinian looked over as well.
There had still been a smile on his face, but when he saw her troubled expression, the casual ease vanished.
Jiang Nuan shook her head at them and mouthed, “I’m fine.”
She tightened her grip on the terminal and turned to leave the cafeteria.
Before the entrance to the restricted zone opened for the next cycle, she had to find Lu Shiyan.
