Ye Huizhong's cold expression stiffened when he heard that. "And how did you know that? What makes you so sure?"
"I've never said I'm sure about this. I don't know much about it either," Li Caiyi rubbed her arms uncomfortably. She wished he would stop asking her because she wasn't sure whether it was okay to let him know about this.
"Tell me more about this organization then. Creating forced geniuses is a rather radical idea. What else do you know about this organization?"
"The first time I confronted Huang Zhen directly, he said I shouldn't poke my nose where it didn't belong. It could mean my involvement with Ye Wang, but I have a feeling that's not all."
Ye Huizhong blew his pipe with a deep frown on his face. "You are more uncooperative than I thought. Miss Li Caiyi, I know you are wary of me, but you will gain nothing by talking in a roundabout way like this. Believe it or not, I know more about you than you think, including the little investigation you are carrying on."
Li Caiyi: "!!!"
She couldn't hide her shock. "Did you investigate me?"
"Oh, I sure did. I thoroughly checked on you the second I found out that Zhiqiang has a girlfriend."
"But why did you do that?" Li Caiyi asked nervously. Her palm is clammy from sweat.
"We aren't talking about that right now. Please answer my question, and I will answer yours. It's a deal."
Li Caiyi still couldn't move on from the shock but realized that she couldn't hide anything from this person. He must have an extensive range of information networks and very paranoid if he even investigated someone like her.
Or perhaps he knew something more about this? Did he figure out beforehand that she would get involved somehow?
Li Caiyi quickly brushed off the thought. No matter how influential and powerful he was, Ye Huizhong couldn't possibly know about that. Unless he could see the future.
"My family…is related heavily to that organization."
"How so? Do you mean as a victim or as a perpetrator?"
She clenched the hem of her clothes. It felt like a rock was blocking her throat before opening her mouth again. "Both. My sister is one of their subjects' experiments. She consumes the drug produced by that organization without knowing….And my biological father is the one who administered the drug."
There was no change in Ye Huizhong's expression. He calmly blew on his pipe again as the room fell into silence. Li Caiyi felt extremely uncomfortable.
"If this matter is related to him, the fact that Huang Zhen threatened you to stop means that you are already very close to the truth, or you accidentally found out about something he didn't want you to know. Have you heard anything about this from your father?"
"No. He didn't know I already knew about his secret. No one in my family knew except me."
Ye Huizhong looked deep in thought. He stayed silent like that for some time before he stood up. "Thank you for this valuable information. I'm afraid it's time for me to leave."
"What?" Li Caiyi looked up in surprise. "Wait! This is different from what you said before. You promised me you would answer my question once I answered yours."
"I don't intend to break my promise. It just happened that I'm pretty busy right now and don't have time to chat." Ye Huizhong casually threw something at her, which she would have dropped if it weren't for her good reflexes.
"It's a pocket watch?"
"Keep it. My subordinates know it's mine. You can come back and ask me your question anytime."
Without waiting for her response, Ye Huizhong left the room briskly.
Li Caiyi lifted the pocket watch in her hand and curiously pressed a small button on top. The lid automatically opens, revealing a crack on the watch's surface. The hand clock was no longer moving too. But it was very clean, as if someone had taken good care of it.
"Why did he leave an important item like this to me?" Li Caiyi muttered in wonder.
***
"Caiyi, you are back!"
Dai Shenqiang rose from his seat and approached her as soon as he saw her. "Are you alright? They didn't do anything to you, right?"
Except for scaring her to death with his threat, she was fine. But there was no way she could tell him that.
Li Caiyi smiled weakly. "I'm fine. We only talk for a bit."
Dai Shenqiang's worried expression was quickly replaced by relief. "Thank goodness."
"I think it's about time I leave. I haven't returned home since yesterday, so my family is probably worried about me."
Besides, Li Caiyi also had something else to do.
Dai Shenqiang looked regretful, but he nodded in the end. "I understand. You should go now."
"I will visit you again later. As you said, your brother will return safely, so don't worry too much."
"En, I know. Take care, Caiyi."
He sent her off to the gate, and Li Caiyi quickly hailed a taxi to return home.
Once she arrived at the Li family's house, she unexpectedly ran into Li Junjie as he walked outside.
Li Caiyi subconsciously pulled her sleeve down to cover her bandaged hands, but it was too late.
Li Junjie quickly grabbed her arm and raised it to look closer. He frowned deeply once he saw her hand.
"What happened to you? Did those guys come again to assault you?"
Li Caiyi retracted her hand and hid it behind her back. "It's nothing like that. I fell and injured my hand a bit."
Li Junjie looked at her skeptically before opening the door behind him. "At any rate, come in first. Your complexion doesn't look good. Have you eaten breakfast yet?"
She only ate a bit of Meng Renshu's salty egg sandwich, so she indeed felt a bit hungry. However, she had no time to waste.
"I did. How about you, Brother Jie? Are you going somewhere?"
Li Junjie pursed his lips before answering. "Since you are here, then never mind."
Li Caiyi blinked her eyes a few times, a little surprised to see him withdraw his gaze awkwardly.
What did he mean by that? It couldn't be that he was concerned and about to check on her at Meng Renshu's house?
If yes, then Li Caiyi wouldn't know what to say. She wasn't used to receiving Li Junjie's care and kindness. Perhaps it'd be better if she pretended not to know.
"Brother, I still need to go out after this. I only came back to fetch something."
"Where are you going with your hand like that?"
"Just somewhere. I will go straight to the hospital after that to check on Xiaohua, so don't worry."
Li Junjie stared at her, retreating back skeptically. He had a feeling that Li Caiyi tried to hide something from him, and Meng Renshu helped her to cover for it.
If not, then there was no explanation for why she would stay at his place. And there was Meng Renshu's vague reason for that too. Everything about this was just suspicious.
Thinking back, Li Caiyi did act strangely sometimes. Previously, he let it go because he felt it wasn't his business, but after the last attack on their house last night, he dared not to be complacent again. He was convinced that Li Caiyi and Meng Renshu knew something he wasn't aware of.
Li Chunhua was already in that condition; he couldn't let Li Caiyi end up in a similar situation.
Oblivious to his complicated thoughts, Li Caiyi entered her room and quickly opened her desk drawer. Inside was a small box where she kept the necklace Dai Zhiqiang gave her.
Li Caiyi felt conflicted as she put it on again.
Last time, she acted stubbornly and refused to wear it. After getting captive in that abandoned factory, she decided to bring it with her as a precaution.
She fiddled with the pendant as she sighed. "Sure enough, it doesn't feel right, but I should bring it with me, just in case Zhiqiang searches for me."
Walking down the stairs again, Li Caiyi saw her brother standing near the door. "I will go now. See you later, Brother."
"Wait."
Li Caiyi stopped in her tracks when he called out to her. "What's wrong?"
"I'm coming with you."
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