Chapter 42: Moxi Biotech, Seven Bytes

Lu Qinghuan took a breath of fresh air, gestured for Gu Ci to keep quiet with a “shh” motion, and lowered his voice. “Be careful, Ci, Chief Yuan lives in this neighborhood too!”

The location Gu Ci had sent him was right here—had he known she actually lived in this complex, he wouldn’t have come even if threatened with death!

But since he was already here, he had no choice but to brace himself and wait.

At the mention of “Chief Yuan,” Gu Ci didn’t bat an eye, remaining perfectly calm. “So what if he lives here? I’m on a legitimate leave, all right? Where are Radish and Dou Ding?”

Lu Qinghuan couldn’t help but admire her composure in the face of trouble. He pointed with his lips. “There, those two little rascals are in the car.”

He sighed. “You’re really something, Ci. If Chief hadn’t come to Songdu these last few days, I wouldn’t have dared bring them here at all!”

At that, Gu Ci’s eyelid twitched. “Where did you say Chief Yuan is?”

“Songdu,” Lu Qinghuan replied without pause. “I told you, he’s at Yushui Huating.”

Before he finished speaking, he watched in astonishment as Gu Ci swiftly donned a face mask and pulled the hood of her sports jacket over her head.

Lu Qinghuan was left gaping at her lightning-fast actions.

Clearing her throat as if nothing had happened, Gu Ci said, “All right, let’s get in the car. We’ll talk inside.”

She naturally helped Lu Qinghuan put his mask back on. “Wear your mask outside, boys need to know how to protect themselves.”

With that, she headed for the minivan.

The moment she opened the door, she saw a little cream kitten curled up on a seat, occupying it as if it owned the place.

Sensing her presence, the kitten opened its big, round eyes. Upon seeing her, it wrinkled its little pink nose and let out a babyish, fierce-sounding meow—though there was nothing intimidating about it.

Gu Ci expertly scratched under Dou Ding’s chin. “All right, baby, it’s my fault. I shouldn’t have left you at the lab for so long. I won’t do it again.”

Seeing her apologetic attitude, Dou Ding arrogantly wrinkled its nose again, still ignoring her.

Gu Ci chuckled. “It’s only been a few days, but you look even more pampered and well-off, little one.”

At her words, Dou Ding immediately sprang up and, with its short, nearly invisible legs, scampered over to her in delight.

Gu Ci caught it with practiced ease, then poked at a soft blob perched atop its little head.

At her touch, the blob—almost hidden in Dou Ding’s creamy fur—gave a little shiver, then curled up into a ball, presenting its backside to Gu Ci.

With a smile in her eyes, Gu Ci poked its tiny tail. “Radish, why are you ignoring me?”

“Chirp, chirp!” The little creature bristled in annoyance, spun around, and clamped its two paws around Gu Ci’s mischievous finger.

Despite its angry act, it was so adorable it could make anyone’s heart melt.

The little creature was none other than Radish the hamster, Gu Ci’s WeChat profile picture come to life.

Gu Ci conjured a round, pink treat from nowhere and offered it to Radish. The little hamster immediately flopped onto her palm, clutching the treat with its tiny paws and nibbling away happily.

Lu Qinghuan got in the car, watching Gu Ci effortlessly coax the two temperamental pets out of their sulks, and silently wiped away a bitter tear.

He’d spoiled these two for days with the best food and comfort, yet after Gu Ci’s sudden departure, they’d given him nothing but the cold shoulder. Now that she was back, all their dignity vanished in an instant!

…

The large tank Gu Ci had ordered earlier was for Radish. She’d already set it up with sand and wood shavings to simulate a natural ecosystem; the moment Radish entered, it began happily digging tunnels.

Dou Ding, meanwhile, was having the time of its life on the big cat tree Gu Ci had prepared.

Perhaps still haunted by being “abandoned,” however, both of them immediately followed her whenever she tried to leave. Radish scrambled up onto her head, Dou Ding clung to her shoulder.

Carrying the two little ones into the living room, Gu Ci’s clingy pets made Lu Qinghuan watch with a twinge of envy.

Gu Ci handed him a drink. “How long will you be staying in Songdu?”

Lu Qinghuan grinned. “I’ll be here for quite a while. There’s a bottleneck in the bioremediation research at one of the local institutes, so they requested staff on temporary assignment from our place. I came in response.”

Lu Qinghuan was sharp—he knew bringing Gu Ci’s little pets back to her would infuriate Chief Yuan, so he’d simply accepted the institute’s request to “borrow” personnel. Otherwise, if he’d had to face Chief Yuan’s wrath back home, he wouldn’t have dared help Gu Ci smuggle the two pets out.

He added, “By the way, Ci, didn’t you work on that project before?”

“Mm, you mean the Moxi Biological Research Institute? They sent me samples, but I haven’t had time to test them yet.”

Moxi had long collaborated with their institute on certain skincare branches: her team provided the core technology, while Moxi handled R&D and brought the products to market.

Recently, Moxi had applied to incorporate a new bioremediation technology into their products and was currently testing its integration. When they sent her some skincare products, they’d included a sample, hoping she’d have time to run an analysis.

If Lu Qinghuan hadn’t mentioned it, she might have forgotten all about it.

But… where had that sample ended up?

Gu Ci thought for a moment, then recalled the bottles that had been broken by Mrs. Wang back at the Gu house…

She paused for two seconds, then patted Lu Qinghuan on the shoulder. “I’m glad you’ve taken over.”

Lu Qinghuan, brimming with confidence, rubbed his hands together a bit sheepishly. “Hey, Ci, could I stay here for a few days?”

Of course, he could easily find a place to stay—if he wished, the Songdu institute would even provide him with a house.

But the important thing was Gu Ci herself. By living here, he could consult her about any problem at any time!

His calculations were clear as day, but Gu Ci was oblivious. She agreed readily, “Sure, as long as you don’t bring Chief Yuan here.”

Looking at his scruffy face, she said, “All right, go freshen up. Take any of the spare rooms you like.”

Lu Qinghuan cheered, his grin widening as he flashed an “OK” sign. “Don’t worry, Ci! I’ll never let Chief Yuan find out you’re here!”

With that, he went out to fetch his luggage.

Watching him come back loaded with bags, evidently well-prepared, Gu Ci began to suspect she’d been played…

She narrowed her eyes thoughtfully and returned to her own room.

From the drawer she took out the “Chao Yuan Manuscript” she’d borrowed from Principal Ji and opened it once more.

She’d already glanced through it when she first received it.

Just as Principal Ji had told her, the writing within belonged to no known script in recorded history—almost lost to time, with even the ciphered diagrams closely tied to the evolution of written civilization.

The first five pages introduced information about the very place she was seeking, but unfortunately, the text was indecipherable.

After that came seven drawn arrays and patterns, each accompanied by a page of textual explanation.

Even for Gu Ci, the meaning of the arrays was only partially comprehensible; she could only guess at the significance of some of the symbols in the explanatory text.

If she wanted to deduce and translate all its contents from this alone, the task would be monumental—perhaps even impossible.

At the very least, she needed translations of the seven key byte-symbols as a bridge.

Deep in thought, Gu Ci tapped her desk, and after some time, she managed to decipher the first three symbols.

Her gaze focused on one of them, and immediately, someone came to mind.

She opened her Rubik’s Cube notebook, navigated to a digital map on screen, and after a flurry of keystrokes, began to enter—