Cooking Gourmet Meals in the Apocalypse

Chapter 245: Chapter 242: The Worst Result

Upon entering the Li Family’s old residence, Lu Haoran bowed politely to Mr. Li before stating his purpose directly. ”I apologize for the presumptuous visit, but I’m here to see Chen Xing. I was wondering if I could speak with her alone?”

He addressed Mr. Li, but he knew getting past Song Yiguo would be the real challenge.

Everyone in the country knew Song Yiguo’s current attitude toward the Lu Family.

Song Yiguo hadn’t turned hostile on him, but only because he was the Lu Family’s adopted son and genuinely didn’t know where the other Lu Family members were.

He had been adopted by the Lu Family at the age of eight, a full twenty years ago.

Only now did he realize that his status in the Lu Family was little more than a public front, meant to attract attention.

Song Yiguo wished he could slaughter every last member of the Lu Family. The only reason he’d kept Lu Haoran around was in the hopes of finding them through him.

Lu Bingtian, despite being cold-blooded, was actually quite fond of his adopted son.

He wouldn’t have thrown Lu Haoran out into the open if his hand hadn’t been forced.

If the Lu Family wanted to maintain its standing, they needed someone to navigate the social and political circles on the outside.

For an event like Mr. Li’s birthday celebration, the Lu Family had to have someone in attendance, and the adopted son, Lu Haoran, was the obvious choice.

Presumably, Lu Bingtian wouldn’t let Lu Haoran fend for himself indefinitely.

Now, seeing that Lu Haoran was looking for Chen Xing, Song Yiguo didn’t stand in his way.

As for whether or not to talk to Lu Haoran, he left the decision to Chen Xing.

”Why should we do you any favors?” Li Feibai interjected, clearly displeased.

But Chen Xing stood up. ”Let’s go to my room.”

With that, she turned and led the way.

Inside the room, Lu Haoran leaned against the windowsill, his eyes clouded with confusion.

Chen Xing sat leaning against the edge of the desk, waiting for him to get to the point.

After a long silence, he finally spoke. ”Am I in your memories?” It was a strange question.

Chen Xing shook her head without hesitation.

’There’s no one in my memories!’

’Parents, relatives, friends... Not even memories of her days at the Research Institute.’

Lu Haoran’s brow furrowed tightly. The confusion in his eyes deepened as he asked in a pained voice, ”But... why do you seem so familiar to me?”

So familiar that it was starting to unnerve him.

But the most terrifying part was... she wasn’t in his memories at all.

He didn’t even know where this sense of familiarity came from.

”I feel like you’re a little familiar, too,” Chen Xing admitted, not hiding her own feelings.

’It was like with that Brother Jin; she’d felt a flicker of familiarity with him as well.’

But the feeling hadn’t been strong, so she had always dismissed it.

Lu Haoran’s eyes instantly lit up. He looked at Chen Xing curiously. ”Where do you think we could have met?”

”Are your memories complete?” Chen Xing didn’t rule out the possibility that Lu Haoran was also a test subject.

Lu Haoran looked at Chen Xing in surprise and nodded, not understanding why she would ask such a thing.

”You have them from childhood until now?”

Lu Haoran thought for a moment. ”My memories aren’t perfectly continuous, but yes, I have them from childhood to the present! Childhood memories are always a bit incomplete; that’s unavoidable.”

Chen Xing fell silent.

’If he has his memories, then he most likely wasn’t a test subject from the Research Institute.’

’Then where did her own sense of familiarity with him come from?’

’Could it be that he visited the Research Institute during the time she was being studied there?’

She immediately dismissed the thought.

’If Lu Haoran had gone to the Research Institute and seen her, there was no way he wouldn’t remember.’

The two were silent for a while longer. Finally, Lu Haoran got up to leave. Just before he walked out, he turned back to Chen Xing and said, ”You should probably keep your distance from Song Yiguo. There are too many people who want him dead right now.”

This time, no one wanted Song Yiguo to leave the south alive.

Regardless, he didn’t want Chen Xing to get caught in the crossfire. That was the main reason he had come to find her.

Chen Xing nodded and offered a piece of advice in return. ”You’d best not join their ranks, either. For Yan Junxi’s sake, Song Yiguo will do whatever it takes to stay alive.”

Song Yiguo might seem calm now, but he was like a pile of dry tinder, ready to ignite at the slightest spark.

Lu Haoran gave Chen Xing a grateful nod and left.

He had voiced his opposition to Lu Bingtian’s hunt for Song Yiguo, but why would Lu Bingtian ever listen to him?

Chen Xing stood at the window, watching Lu Haoran leave as that familiar feeling washed over her again.

Just then, her phone rang.

It was Vice General Du. When she answered, the first thing he asked was, ”Is Young Master Song with you?”

”No.”

Seeming to let out a breath of relief, Vice General Du then asked, ”How are things over there?”

Chen Xing explained Song Yiguo’s situation. ”He can’t find you, so he says he’s not going anywhere.”

”Yan Junxi ran off on his own!” Vice General Du’s head was throbbing.

Back in the hotel room, Yan Junxi had taken advantage of a moment of inattention and knocked him unconscious.

Fortunately, it was only for a moment.

In a daze, he saw Yan Junxi slip through the wall into the adjoining room and forced himself to follow.

After leaving the hotel, Yan Junxi didn’t go to meet anyone. Instead, he hid himself in another abandoned hotel not far away.

Vice General Du didn’t dare reveal himself, nor did he dare to leave, worried that something might happen to Yan Junxi.

He especially didn’t dare report the matter to Song Yiguo, so he had no choice but to turn off his phone.

Now that Yan Junxi was asleep, he had slipped away to call her. ”Just a little while ago, Yan Junxi made a phone call to someone. I only heard him grunting in reply, so I didn’t get any useful clues.”

He didn’t quite trust Yan Junxi, which was why he could only call Chen Xing.

He couldn’t even imagine the consequences of reporting this to Song Yiguo.

Chen Xing: ”...” ’The worst-case scenario.’

Sometimes, she felt like a jinx.

This situation was incredibly difficult to handle.

If she exposed Yan Junxi directly, Song Yiguo might not believe her.

Yan Junxi would also take the opportunity to turn the tables on Vice General Du.

If that happened, Vice General Du might not even make it out alive.

’So, say nothing?’

’Just find Yan Junxi and let him return to Song Yiguo’s side as if nothing happened?’

’That didn’t seem right, either.’

’Who knew if Yan Junxi was crazy enough to make a move against Song Yiguo in secret?’

”Until we think of a good plan, just keep your phone off and stay hidden,” Chen Xing said. But she knew that finding Yan Junxi was non-negotiable.

’Otherwise, Song Yiguo would go berserk.’

After hanging up, Chen Xing left her room.

Song Yiguo’s room was next to hers, and it sounded like he was constantly on the phone.

He seemed to be dispatching the Song Family Army from all over to gather in the south.

’It seemed that no matter what Yan Junxi was up to, they had to get him back first and deal with the rest later.’

’Otherwise, the entire south would descend into chaos.’

She knocked on Song Yiguo’s door. ”I have a lead on Yan Junxi’s whereabouts, but I can’t be sure yet. To avoid alerting anyone, I’ll go check it out first. You keep the Li Family occupied. If the information is real, I’ll contact you immediately.”

Not caring whether the lead was real or not, Song Yiguo immediately agreed. ”Alright!”

He dropped his phone and went to find Li Feibai and Mr. Li.

Chen Xing left the Li Family residence without any trouble.

The area outside the Li residence was crawling with the Song Family Army, so of course, she was allowed to pass.

Taking Meng Hu with her, Chen Xing wandered around outside for a while, and soon enough, a group of people began to tail her secretly.

Chen Xing deliberately led them to the outside of the hotel Vice General Du had told her about.

’Only... whoops. It seemed she had attracted a slightly larger crowd than intended.’