Reality Programming Association

Chapter 128: Chapter 53: The Evacuating Research Team

Monday, early morning.

It was a new week, and the rain outside the window continued to fall. The downpour showed no signs of stopping, hanging like an impenetrable veil of gray gauze.

Yu Xian woke up early. His blanket felt damp; simply being dry seemed to have become a luxury.

The master bedroom door was ajar. His cousin was sleeping soundly, the blanket only covering half of his body. Yu Xian hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided against going in to tuck him in. For someone like his cousin—a detective constantly in a state of high alert—even the slightest rustle nearby could instantly jolt him awake.

He decided to let him sleep a little longer. Over the past half month, this man had exhausted himself far too much—for Yu Xian, for the unknown victims, and for the city itself.

Yu Xian quickly washed up and tiptoed into the guest bedroom to pack his things. A few changes of clothes, toiletries, the bottle of melatonin his cousin had bought, his parents’ papers, and the laptop holding all the secrets were enough to stuff the black hiking backpack to the brim.

Walking over to the coffee table, Yu Xian left a note:

”Brother, classes resume today. I’m moving back to the dorm for a few days. Take care of yourself and stay safe.”

Finally, he took one last look around the slightly messy apartment that had given him endless warmth during this seemingly eternal rainy season.

”I’m leaving,” he said silently in his heart, gently closing the security door and locking the past two weeks of memories behind it.

At noon, Yu Xian walked out of the JCU South Gate subway station.

The rain was still falling. The wet asphalt reflected the gloomy sky, the droplets creating a continuous pitter-patter. Several Dongfeng and Jiefang transport trucks drove steadily by, escorted by military green pickup trucks at the front and back, casting a heavy, solemn atmosphere over the streets.

The mud on both sides of the road had been completely cleared away. Fallen trees had been sawed off and hauled off, leaving only abrupt, jagged stumps in their wake. On the main road, colorful umbrellas converged into a flowing river. Students walked in small groups, stepping through puddles that hadn’t completely receded while talking and laughing loudly.

”We can finally leave the dorms! I never want classes suspended ever again.”

This was a classic case of loving the idea of suspended classes but hating the reality.

”I heard a lot of shops on the South Gate commercial street are running discount promotions to celebrate classes resuming. Want to go out for lunch?”

”It’s all a gimmick. It looks like a discount, but they’ve actually raised the prices. Do the math, and it’s even more expensive than before.”

”So we aren’t going?”

”...We’re going!”

These were the foodies who believed that being unenthusiastic about meals was a fundamental character flaw.

”Hey, I managed to dig up a super intense audio clip last night. Took me ages to find it. I’ll share it with you later.”

This was... the Midnight Bus that managed to drive into every dark corner of the JCU campus.

Those young faces brimmed with excitement, even exhilaration. Their eyes were bright, and their steps were light. Yu Xian held up his umbrella, walking against the flow of the crowd toward the dormitory area.

”Attention, reversing. Attention, reversing.”

Passing by the School of Physics’s teaching and laboratory buildings, he had to stop to make way for a few reversing trucks. They were blue box trucks plastered with moving company advertisements.

A group of workers in gray uniforms hurried in and out. They carefully loaded tightly sealed black transit boxes, along with precision instruments wrapped in thick layers of bubble wrap and tarps, onto the trucks. Immediately after, another group of workers unloaded brand-new cardboard boxes from a different vehicle and rushed them into the teaching building. The boxes were already damp from the rain; they probably contained new desks, chairs, and equipment.

”Hurry up, hurry up! We still have a few more loads to haul this afternoon!” the foreman shouted his orders in the rain.

This was the scar left behind by that absurd rumor.

Most of the glass on the teaching building had been replaced with new panes, though a few scattered windows still bore official seal tape. It looked just like a brand-new Band-Aid slapped haphazardly over a festering wound. He lowered the brim of his umbrella, quickened his pace, and wove through the crowd to return to the South District Dormitory.

Pushing open his dorm room door, he found the room completely empty. The blankets on the beds were unmade, haphazardly bunched up into messy piles. It was Monday morning. Zhang Yang and the others had major-specific classes, so they were probably still over at the teaching building.

As for Shi Zuozhou...

According to their usual routine, he and Shi Zuozhou should have been in the lecture hall of the Second Main Building right now, listening to Professor Gao drone on about that obscure course, *High-Energy Astrophysics*. But now that the class was canceled, Shi Zuozhou had probably gone to the cafeteria to stuff his face, or perhaps he was out scouting locations for the Rabbit Hole.

Yu Xian locked his laptop and the research papers in his cabinet. He took out his few changes of clothes from the bag and was just about to hang them on the rack by his bed when the dorm door was pushed open with a loud BANG.

Shi Zuozhou squeezed his way inside, struggling under his own weight. He was carrying a boxed lunch in one hand, pinning an umbrella under his arm, and using his knee to hold the door open.

Looking up and seeing Yu Xian standing by his bed, he instantly froze in the doorway, nearly dropping the umbrella tucked under his arm.

”Holy shit! Old Yu?” Shi Zuozhou’s eyes went perfectly round. His shocked expression made it look as if he had just spotted an alien. ”At this hour... why are you in the dorm? Weren’t you at your relative’s place? Oh my, please forgive your humble servant for failing to roll out the red carpet! A crime truly worthy of a thousand deaths!”

Yu Xian ignored his dramatic flair. He calmly hung up his coat and smoothed out the wrinkles in the fabric.

Shi Zuozhou’s gaze followed Yu Xian’s movements. He looked at the neatly hung clothes, then at the freshly made bed, an expression of sheer disbelief creeping onto his face.

”No way...” He clutched his chest dramatically.