Ye Muqing donated one million yuan to the orphanage. When the old director asked about it, she joked that she had won the lottery.
Since that was what she said, that was what the old director believed.
“But the orphanage can’t accept this money.”
The old director picked up the visitor log and showed her the most recent name in it.
“This person just donated one million yuan. That’s more than enough to cover the children’s medical treatment. Take your money back and live well.”
Ye Muqing stared at the name in surprise. The surname was Ye?
Ye Yuanshan.
Come to think of it, she had never asked where her own name came from.
“Grandma Chen, why did you give me a name like this?”
The old director chuckled and shook her head. “I didn’t give it to you. It was engraved on the back of the Longevity Lock you were wearing around your neck back then.”
The Longevity Lock?
Ye Muqing tilted her head. “Why don’t I remember it?”
“You, when you were little, got into a fight with some children from outside. Someone yanked the Longevity Lock so hard that it broke, and you cried for a long time. After that, you never wore it again.” A look of reminiscence appeared on the old director’s face.
Well, who would have thought this would dredge up one of her own shameful childhood incidents?
Ye Muqing coughed lightly and rubbed her nose, discreetly changing the subject. “I don’t remember it very well. Where is that Longevity Lock now?”
The old director stood up and took a small cardboard box out of the metal cabinet. “Everything you had on you when you were found is in here. When you came of age, I asked whether you wanted it, but you said you didn’t.”
Mentioning it brought the memory back to Ye Muqing. There really had been such a thing. Her reason for refusing it was actually very simple: she had been sulking.
After all those years, her biological parents had still never come looking for her, so she had decided not to look for them either.
Thinking about it now, not looking for them had truly been the right decision.
Otherwise, after Liu Yang had squeezed her dry, she would certainly have been abandoned again.
Wasn’t that exactly what had happened this time?
They had never looked for her in over twenty years when they didn’t need her, yet the moment they needed her to undergo a bone-marrow match and donate, they had found her so easily. Who would believe there wasn’t something wrong with that?
“Since you’re here this time, take it with you.”
Ye Muqing took the cardboard box with her, but left the money behind.
The children’s current treatment expenses were covered, but their subsequent rehabilitation and other costs would also be a considerable burden. She didn’t want to watch the old director, already nearly seventy, go around begging for donations.
At the words “for the sake of the children,” the old director fell silent and did not argue any further. She merely patted the back of Ye Muqing’s hand and let out a soft sigh.
After returning to her apartment, Ye Muqing took a comfortable hot shower before asking the system about the feedback on the holographic technology.
After learning that the other side had indeed attempted to trace the connection back, only to have every attempt intercepted by the system, she breathed a small sigh of relief.
“System, you’re amazing!”
【Thank you for the host’s praise. Host, you’re amazing too. Ha, ha, ha.】
Ye Muqing had barely taken a sip of water when the system’s utterly emotionless three “ha”s made her choke.
“Cough, cough… System, cough, are you infected with a virus?”
【No, host. The system wanted to express that it was very happy after receiving the host’s praise.】
After finally recovering, Ye Muqing spoke with utmost sincerity.
“That was a great laugh. Don’t laugh next time.”
【Understood, host.】
Ye Muqing let out a long breath. From the cardboard box, she dug out the Longevity Lock with its broken chain, but was somewhat surprised.
The Longevity Lock looked so exquisite. Would Liu Yang really have been willing to put it around her neck?
The three words “Ye Muqing” were indeed engraved on the back of the Longevity Lock. She gently ran her fingers over the engraved marks, and her suspicion grew even firmer.
This Longevity Lock definitely had nothing to do with Liu Yang. Having ruled out her biological mother, the only one left was her biological father.
Ye Muqing’s expression turned complicated. All kinds of tangled thoughts intertwined in her mind, making her unable to resist patting her head.
Forget it. Whatever happens, happens.
Time to sleep!
She slept quite soundly, but a certain confidential research institute thousands of miles away was brightly lit at that very moment.
An intruder of unknown origin had invaded their network and actually retreated unscathed! It hadn’t left behind even the slightest trace!
Everyone could not help feeling a chill run down their spines. If the other party was a foreign power, then all the efforts they had made up to now would go to waste.
In the silent conference room, an elderly voice rang out.
“So you’re saying that the other party gave us fully developed holographic technology for nothing?”
Everyone looked at one another. Although that was the objective truth, the matter was so outrageous that none of them dared nod and admit it.
“Let me put it another way. Do you think a person or organization like that exists in this world?”
The people in the conference room continued to remain silent. If they had heard this question before all this happened, they would have confidently and without hesitation said it was impossible.
But now, they had fallen into deep self-doubt. After all, the facts were right before them, and they could not simply pretend not to see them.
The old man sighed softly. “Verify whether the technology is feasible first. Let’s hope this isn’t some kind of prank.”
Sunlight slipped through the gap between the curtains into the bedroom. Ye Muqing, still groggy from sleep, was awakened by her phone ringing. With her hair sticking out in every direction, she burrowed out of the covers and reached for her phone.
“Hello…”
“Dear Miss Ye Muqing, do you know what time it is?”
Tao Qian’s gritted voice instantly woke Ye Muqing up. She glanced at the time on her phone and was dumbfounded.
Had she slept for almost twelve hours?
“Coming, coming!”
After hanging up, Ye Muqing hurriedly washed up, changed clothes, and left the apartment. The entire process took less than five minutes.
She really had been fast, but as a result, her brain had not yet finished rebooting. After pressing the elevator button, she couldn’t help standing there in a daze.
Even when the elevator doors opened, Ye Muqing did not react. If someone inside had not reminded her, she would probably have missed it.
“I’m sorry, I’m sor—…Yu Songjin?”
Ye Muqing looked in surprise at the person standing inside the elevator. He reached out to stop the elevator doors as they began to close and nodded with a smile.
Seeing what he had done, Ye Muqing hurried into the elevator and said, slightly embarrassed, “I’m really sorry. I was spacing out just now.”
Yu Songjin smiled gently. “It’s all right. Do you live here too?”
“Yes. I only moved in recently.”
The two exchanged a few brief words, and the elevator reached the first floor.
Ye Muqing exited before Yu Songjin, but the moment she stepped out of the apartment building, she backed inside again, her expression somewhat strange.
“There’s a…strange person outside.”
Before Yu Songjin could figure out what kind of strange person she meant, he saw Lu Huaining’s face, and the veins on his forehead immediately bulged.
“Don’t worry about him. You go ahead. He doesn’t bite.”
Hearing his tone, Ye Muqing roughly guessed that the strange man outside, leaning against a red supercar in a showy pose, was his friend. Her toes immediately curled against the floor in embarrassment.
“Well, then, I’ll be going first. See you!”
Ye Muqing spoke so quickly that the words nearly tumbled over one another. Yet the instant she turned around, the thought in her mind was: Could they perhaps never see each other again?
Too! Em! Barrassing!