Genius Club

Chapter 152: Chapter 1 Happy New Year Chapter 152: Chapter 1 Happy New Year In the vast office of Miss Zhao Yingjun, silence reigned without a sound.

Lin Xian held the invitation from the Genius Club in his hands, unfolding it under the moonlight.

Dear Miss Zhao Yingjun:

You are cordially invited to…

view…

the launch of new products…

Below was a website link and a QR code.

He took out his phone and scanned it…

Sure enough, just as it stated above, it was the page for the Apple Company’s Spring 2023 product launch event.

Lin Xian cursed under his breath.

After going through such a convoluted process, making such a great effort, and finally managing to sneak into Zhao Yingjun’s office so quietly…

He could never have imagined that the invitation would turn out to be fake.

And ridiculously fake at that.

In the recent past, Lin Xian had frequently wondered why Zhao Yingjun would receive an invitation?

She qualified in no aspect, nor did she show any abnormalities usually.

And for an organization hidden in the annals of history for hundreds, or possibly even a thousand years, wasn’t the method of delivering the invitation a bit too outdated and unreliable?

He had doubted many things,

Doubted many details,

Doubted everything about the Genius Club…

[Yet he had never doubted that the invitation could actually be fake!]

This was utterly frustrating.

It almost made all of his previous deductions laughable, turning them into a joke.

That woman.

“Huang Que.”

Lin Xian softly pronounced this obviously fake name, but it didn’t matter since a name is, after all, just a marker, without regard to its authenticity.

By now Lin Xian had also analyzed it clearly.

The woman’s ostentatious purpose of delivering a fake invitation to Zhao Yingjun…

was simply to spark his own suspicion about the authenticity of the Dream World, and to stir his interest in the Genius Club.

So even if Zhao Yingjun told him the content of the invitation, even if Lin Xian himself had opened the invitation right there and then, to Huang Que it wouldn’t matter at all.

As long as Lin Xian saw the five words “Genius Club” appear in reality the day after dreaming about the club, this mysterious woman Huang Que’s goal would have been achieved.

But why would she do that?

She said she wasn’t his enemy.

Yet she hadn’t helped him in any tangible way, declaring she couldn’t tell him any information.

How could this be understood?

The most important question still remained…

[Who is this woman, actually?]

Lin Xian walked over to the sofa where she had sat, touched the leather, which still retained a hint of warmth.

This meant that the woman had indeed been sitting there for quite some time.

Honestly.

When he first glimpsed the woman amidst the flash of lightning, Lin Xian had actually mistaken her for Zhao Yingjun in that instant.

The two women looked similar, yet different.

It was an indescribable feeling.

Zhao Yingjun had the typical melon seed face, whereas this woman had a round face.

Zhao Yingjun had standard black pupils, but this woman had clear blue eyes, like a half-blood’s, yet her facial features were those of a typical Chinese person.

Then there was the issue of age: Zhao Yingjun had just celebrated her 24th birthday, while this woman appeared to be at least in her thirties, with a difference in demeanor, charm, and bodily curves quite evident when compared with Zhao Yingjun.

But that unique aura and feeling…

Lin Xian felt were so similar to Zhao Yingjun’s.

“So, who is this woman, really?”

Lin Xian furrowed his brows, utterly baffled.

Thinking carefully about the woman’s words…

there were still a few things that could be confirmed:

1.

She understood him very well, knew many of his secrets, including the Space-time Law he had formulated, and urged him to further his research.

2.

Although the invitation was fake, the seal carved onto the lacquer seal was probably genuine, as evidenced by the Black Hand on the eerie moon in the Dream World.

3.

The woman had said she would wait for Lin Xian inside the Genius Club, so she was most likely a member of the club.

4.

The woman didn’t harbor any overt malice towards him; if she wanted him dead, he would have died a long time ago.

Through deduction…

Lin Xian felt that perhaps the Genius Club wasn’t the one who killed Xu Yun either.

Since this woman was so acquainted with his background, she would definitely know it was he who gave Xu Yun the research materials.

If she was the murderer, it didn’t make sense that Xu Yun was dead and he was unharmed.

Could it be that the murderer was not from the Genius Club, but someone else?

Was the death of Big Face Cat’s father also unrelated to the Genius Club?

…

Lin Xian was annoyed.

He felt as if the thread of thought he had just straightened out was now completely jumbled again.

It was truly as if in an instant, nearly all the deductions about the Genius Club had to be overturned and started over.

“This is too hard…”

Lin Xian returned the fake invitation to Zhao Yingjun’s drawer.

“The main problem is that there are too few clues.

There are none in reality, none can be found in dreams, nobody knows when asked, and there are false leads everywhere.”

In this moment, Lin Xian somewhat agreed with what the self-proclaimed “Huang Que” woman had said—

“If you want to find all the answers…

the simplest method, is to obtain a real invitation to the Genius Club.”

Thud.

Closing the drawer, Lin Xian also put the Ferrari key inside before stepping out of the heavy password-protected door and looking back at the office desk bathed in moonlight, and the couch once occupied by the woman known as Huang Que…

Then he closed the door behind him.

Bang!

…

The next day.

As the thick double-layered password door opened, Zhao Yingjun walked in, blinking her eyes and looking around the freshly tidied, pleasing office, and at Lin Xian, who was watering the potted plants:

“It’s astonishing…

Your efficiency is just too high,” she said.

Lin Xian smiled slightly and set the watering can down.

He had come to clean Zhao Yingjun’s office this early in the morning also to ensure no traces of last night were left behind, making sure nothing had been overlooked.

His own, that woman’s, Huang Que’s.

But there was nothing.

So Lin Xian simply gave Zhao Yingjun’s office a thorough cleaning.

After all, cleaning an office is quite convenient as it’s not a home — there is no cooking smoke, no messy dishes, and not that many miscellaneous items to deal with.

Basically, it involves mopping the floor, wiping down the desk, cleaning the glass, and sorting out some documents.

Quite easy indeed.

Regardless, since he was nominally a part-time secretary, he still had to do some work; he decided to think about the rest after the Chinese New Year passed.

“Do you still want these things?

If not, I’ll just throw them away as garbage.”

Lin Xian gestured toward a pile of miscellaneous items on the coffee table, on top of which lay that fake invitation to the Genius Club.

Zhao Yingjun glanced at it, flipped through it briefly, then shook her head:

“They are all useless, just deal with them as you see fit.

I trust your judgement and there’s no need to report every little detail.

The company officially starts the holiday today, so you should head back to your hometown early to avoid traffic.”

“Alright.”

When Lin Xian later disposed of the garbage, he still kept the fake invitation and brought it back home.

Even though it was fake.

It wasn’t entirely so after all.

Best to keep it for now.

…

At the high-speed train station, Lin Xian stretched his limbs.

Even though Donghai and Hang City were close by, it had been a year since he last visited home.

Upon arriving in Hang City, he had bought plenty of cigarettes, alcohol, and various gifts, bringing a lot of items for his mom and dad.

His parents were happy to see Lin Xian and asked about many aspects of his work and life.

Lin Xian told his parents that he had made quite a bit of money but didn’t specify how much…

Knowing his parents’ conservative mindset, letting them know he had so much money would probably leave them worried and unable to sleep well at night.

Lin Xian planned to buy his parents an apartment in the city for their retirement, but they refused, stating they had plenty of friends and relatives around and were comfortable where they were; the bank card he left for them, his mother hurriedly tucked away in the innermost drawer…

looking like she had no intention of spending it; his father also hid the fine tobacco and alcohol in the innermost part of the back room…

saying they would be used when Lin Xian got married.

Lin Xian saw all of this and just smiled with a sigh.

Perhaps this is just how Chinese parents are.

Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve and Lin Xian is helping the family prepare for the celebration; for the next two days, there’s no time to enter Dream World.

But during the festive period…

He should also take a few days off.

As long as he doesn’t trigger any strong butterfly effect, New Donghai City wouldn’t fly away; let Big Face Cat and CC continue their undercover drama.

Crackling and booming sounds filled the air—

Amid the noise of firecrackers and fireworks, as the TV countdown for the Spring Festival Gala reached its end, the Chinese traditional New Year officially arrived.

Ding-dong!

Just at midnight, Lin Xian’s phone rang.

He opened WeChat and saw a message from Zhao Yingjun:

“Happy New Year.”

A simple phrase, consisting of just four words.

Lin Xian, without overthinking, was about to reply—

But unexpectedly, the notification icon in the top left corner blew up!

In the “No Leader Small Group” chat of the design team, messages surged:

“Did you guys get it?

President Zhao actually sent me a Happy New Year personally!”

“It’s like the sun rising from the west!

I got one too!

And right at midnight!

President Zhao really put in so much effort!”

“That’s strange…

There was never such a tradition in past years, President Zhao is not someone who cares about these little details.

To get a New Year’s greeting from her is already good, but to send one out exactly at the turn of the year like today?”

“Yeah, I’ve been with the company for years, and President Zhao hardly reacted during holidays before.

Now, she actually sent everyone a New Year’s greeting right on time, that’s so considerate.”

…

So that’s how it is.

Lin Xian put down his phone, realizing he had read too much into it.

He had thought it was a personal message from Zhao Yingjun, but it turned out to be a mass text.

Was there any need to reply then?

After a moment’s thought, he decided to politely send one back anyhow.

“I also wish you a Happy New Year and may all your wishes come true!”

After sending the reply, Lin Xian put his phone down and went out to watch the fireworks.

This year, Hang City exceptionally lifted the ban on setting off fireworks and firecrackers during the Lunar New Year, and the sky was ablaze with a myriad of colors showcasing their magic.

Ding-dong.

The dim phone screen suddenly lit up, indicating an unread message from Zhao Yingjun.

But amid the flurry of fireworks, the ding-dong went unnoticed and stirred no ripples.

The illuminated screen stayed on for a few seconds…

Then gradually dimmed out.