Joe didnt see Eunices message immediately.
For two hours,two whole hours, he had been tied up contacting anyone that could be contacted, from port security logs, pet transshipment permits, passenger entry and exit records
Everything that could be unearthed through their informationwork, every backlogged surveince footage, every dynamic photo, and whatnothe wanted them all.
He never got off thems, hanging up on one and calling another with crity. In these two hours, his tongue had never stopped once, and he spoke so much that his lips turned chapped.
The director of the welfare institution watched him wide-eyed and ck-jawed, shooting a querying look at Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan.
Hes fine, Gu Yan nced in Joes direction, his voice muted, He just needs an outlet to vent.
At this time, they were no longer in the cramped archive room, but in a reception room next door. Ke Jin was quietly sitting on a sofa near the window. His gaze initially was fixed on the high branches outside the window, but with the greyfinch gone, he averted his gaze, staring vacantly into the void.
Joe had his back turned to everyone, standing in a corner while covering his forehead, speaking rapid-fire to the person on the other end of the line.
Yan Suizhis present identity restricted him to the sparse few names in his address book, and as such he didnt have anyone he could really contact.
On the other hand, Gu Yan found some trustworthy friends, including Laura, who had always been concerned about Ke Jins situation.
After finding out the gist of it, Laura exercised a lifetimes restraint yet still couldnt hold back the curse that leapt out. Thedy regained the fiery vivacity of her schooling days, dropping the words, Are you guys in Wine City? Im heading to the port right now!
Joes throat had gone hoarse from talking. Hearing this, his head whipped over to say to Gu Yan across the room, Laura? Is sheing over now? Its too rushed, theres actually no need to.
He actually lookedposed, unlike the mad that Eunice proimed him to be in exaggeration. The only tell-tale of his emotional state was a bloodshot ring of red around his irises.
His voice was picked up over the line and Laura said, What need to or dont need to. To be frank, Ive no idea what I can do there, but who cares. Im going to find you guys pronto! Even if its just to keep Ke Jinpany.
With that, she hung up on them.
Joe dialled a newms again, repeating the words he had said countless times over.
This went on until he flipped through his address book and found that everyone he could trust had already been contacted. There was no one else he could call. He lowered his head, looking through his address book from top to bottom a good many times before finally closing the screen.
Just like that, he stood facing the wall in silence for a while longer. Then, he took a deep breath, and he turned over, his gazending on Ke Jin.
Oblivious, Ke Jin was still in a daze.
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And Ke Jin, who had been in a trance all this while, finally, btedly, realised that there was an additional person in front of him.
Joe inclined his head, looking up at him, whereas Ke Jins head was ever so slightly lowered, his gaze cast down from beneath loweredshes, quietly looking at him. For that fleeting second, there was actually an illusion of utmost tenderness.
A gaze like this was exceptionally hard for people to withstand.
Joes lower jaw moved, as though grinding his mrs together before loosening. Then, in a low and hoarse voice, he said to Ke Jin, Im sorry
Sorry that I spent so long investigating, yet missed out on this detail
Sorry that I wasnt able to find out the truth earlier, while you waited in a silent world for so many years
Ke Jins gaze flickered, like his attention had gathered for a moment, but then scattered because of some overpowering biological force.
And so he gazed down at Joe in a daze like this, before a sound made him shift his gaze back out of the window.
It was just a simple act of shifting the gaze away, yet Joe lowered his head like he could no longer bear it, his eyes reddening. He frowned, closed his eyes, and pinched his nose bridge, squatting there for a long time, unable to form any words.
Yan Suizhi had only just dropped his gaze when he felt someone touch his face.
He turned his head and saw Gu Yan incline his head towards the door.
He started, then immediately after caught on and got up discreetly. The three people filed out of the reception room, closing the door behind them.
Have a seat. Ill get someone to bring some tea over.
Its fine, thank you..
No, Id like to. The old director insisted, ushering them into a vacant room nearby. Have a seat inside.
As he spoke, he nced askance once more at the room that Joe and Ke Jin were in, then sighed and walked away.
As the welfare institution was still under renovations, there was nock of empty rooms. The two of them had only just settled down in the room when the director really dide back with refreshments.
Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan got up to help him, cing the refreshments on the high table before sitting back down again.
When youre old, your body starts to feel ufortable when you go hungry for hardly any time, the old director mumbled. I left some tea for the two next door too. Ill have them eat a bit when theye out. Theirplexions dont look good.
Here, he lowered his head and sipped his tea.
Yan Suizhis gaze scanned his face and he said, Director, do you have something youd like to say?
The director faltered, and he slowly swallowed his tea. After a while, he said hesitantly, I do. But Im not sure if it will bring you trouble if I tell you this.
Yan Suizhi turned the cup in his hand, saying warmly to him, Go ahead. Its only after we hear it that we can tell if its any trouble.
I heard quite a bit just now, and what was mentioned made me recall something I encountered before, the director said.
Actually, before this, he had avoided discussing certain topics.
But in the room just now, these young guests hadnt danced around him at all when making their calls. It spoke volumes of the absolute respect and trust that was afforded to him first.
As such, if he knew something but kept his mouth shut, it would be betraying the goodwill that these young men had shown him.
You should have been aware that this welfare home was closed years ago, right? the director said.
Yan Suizhi said, So Ive been told, but from what I heard, it was a temporary closure.
Which was why he had still written this home into his will.
The director nodded. Thats right. At that time, what wasmunicated to the public was that we would be closing the home temporarily due to a problem in management. However, in actuality, I had seriously considered not reopening it.
Why?
But the old director didnt speak directly of the reason. After tuning out for a moment, he said, You might not know this, but when I was young, I used to work for the alliance government, handling welfare institutions, orphanages, as well as some charity funds. Later on, I was transferred to Wine City. At that time, Wine City was even more chaotic than it is now. I despaired when I first came; I thought that Id waste my life away here. But by a stroke of luck, I happened to run into a benevolent consortium that wanted to work with the government of Wine City, giving this ce a push
At this, Yan Suizhis gaze jolted minutely, but he didnt speak.
Instead, it was Gu Yan who responded. Ive heard a little about it.
It was thanks to the support of that consortium that much of Wine Citys infrastructure was overhauled and upgraded, or else it would have been a veritable interster slum and dumping ground.
Actually, it wasnt really a consortium, but a joint sponsorship between two anonymous families. The director said, Very well-meaning people, and very kind. The initial funds were used here; you can tell just by looking at the infrastructure still in use around Wine City. But the good days didntst. Thereafter, it became increasingly unclear where the money was being channelled to. The waters were too murky. I was just transferred to Wine City and only had the title but no real power. I couldnt fix it even if I wanted to. Later, this work truly went against my principles, so I left my job and single-handedly set up this welfare home.
About a decade or so ago, there was a case at De Carma. the director recounted, The defendant was the deputy director of a hospital, whose primary responsibility was to set the R&D direction. He was used of conducting gic experiments on patients in the name of treatment and harming many. Oh, right, you might have heard of this case. Mr Yan was the one who took up this case; arent you his students?
Midway through his words, Yan Suizhi and Gu Yan had already begun to frown, but they swiftly straightened their expressions.
At the old directors question, they nodded. Yes, were familiar with it.
The defendant was acquitted when Mr Yan was hiswyer. But after that, he was taken to court again, and the punishment fit the crime. He deserved to go to jail, the director said. Actually, theres still some continuation to this case.
Yan Suizhi, A continuation?
Yes. Besides De Carma, the defendant had also conducted many gic experiments in Wine City. Furthermore, the scale was much bigger in Wine City than in De Carma. They covered it up under construction and operation expenses that were supposedly funded by the government, but actually used funding from that generous consortium, the director said. Because this matter mainly involved Wine Citys government, it was dealt with in secret to prevent further unrest in this area. People wouldnt be able to find anything out unless they were high up in the government. I only know some of this due to my previous job and contacts.
The old director sighed, saying, I was more rash back then. I threw a fit after I found out, sifting through all the information I had while I was in office and contributing some key evidence. This eventually resulted in a major turnover in Wine Citys government and the consortium cut its funding to Wine City. The downstream effects pushed the investigation to De Carma. Didnt De Carma have a reform many years ago where everyone had their personal records vetted and their residence address updated?
Yan Suizhi had a deep impression of that reform, because when registering his principal residence, the system had rippled for ages, before finally determining that his most frequent location was the long-distance space shuttle.
The director went on. In truth, it was tob through De Carma, purportedly spurred by the consortium that had been done a bad turn in Wine City. I heard from my friends in government that they did manage to ferret out quite a number of people. The sewer rats were forced to move in haste if they didnt want to be apprehended.
As the saying went, dont bite off more than you can chew. The old director had offended some due to this series of events, and the welfare institution was forced to shut down.
At one point, he felt that the troubles guing him were giving him a migraine. He really wanted to stay far away from all of it, do some gardening, and pay no heed to loss of lives.
It was only recently that he changed his mind, moved when he received assets distributed from Yan Suizhis will.
The reason I think this might be relevant to you is that when I was checked into some key evidence, as well as after the welfare home was forced to shut down, I had noticed the herdingbird you are looking for, the director said. But at that time, I just thought it was an umon bird and didnt think too much of it.
Gu Yans brows furrowed in thought. He asked, Who are the anonymous sponsors behind the consortium in question?
Someone able to push the investigation from Wine City to De Carma must have had some means, and also be in possession of vital information.