Genius Club

Chapter 56: Chapter 56 An Qing

“`

Putting everything else aside.

Just the fact of having long hair and a beard was something Lin Xian absolutely couldn’t accept.

“Could it be that the safe isn’t actually mine?”

Lin Xian rested his chin in his hand and pondered…

After so many attempts, he truly had tried every 8-digit password he could think of.

All the meaningful dates, the dream sequence time 26240828, numbers like 0042… he had tried them all, even inputting them in reverse or jumbled order, [ensuring that no possibility with dates was overlooked].

Passwords are such things.

People don’t set combinations they themselves can’t remember.

Especially with passwords made up solely of numbers, there has to be a special significance.

“If that safe really isn’t mine but belongs to someone else with the same name Lin Xian, then I’ll never be able to guess the password in this lifetime.”

Lin Xian yawned widely.

Days of consecutive overtime and staying up late had led to an exhaustion not easily remedied by a day or two of sleep.

Just now, Lin Xian had forced himself to sit up to sort out his thoughts.

The moment he stopped, drowsiness surged like a flood, and his eyelids became too heavy to lift:

“I should sleep first.”

“I’ll try to slack off and think about it when I’m at work tomorrow.”

…

The next day.

He went to work on time, doing his usual tasks.

The whole company was permeated with a festive atmosphere, akin to the New Year celebrations.

After the successful launch of the Rhein product line, MX Company’s various businesses had seen explosive growth, and everyone’s salaries were raised accordingly, naturally resulting in a time of prosperity and happiness.

These last few days, everyone had light workloads and were looking forward to the celebration banquet to be held at Victoria Hall on Saturday night.

Victoria Hall was one of the top banquet venues in Donghai City, and that “one of” held significant weight, definitely being in the top three.

Zhao Yingjun had booked the entire hall, inviting all employees of the Rhein Project to participate in this lavish celebration banquet.

The gesture was admirable.

But it was also within expectations.

Just with the pre-sales of the Rhein brand’s debut moisturizer, MX Company had already surpassed its goals for the first quarter of 2023… and this was before New Year’s Day, effectively reaching next year’s first-quarter targets, a feat that could only be described as fierce.

And Lin Xian, dubbed “Father of the Rhein Cat”, had briefly become an internet sensation.@@novelbin@@

But such attention was fleeting.

Next to the adorable Rhein Cat, who Lin Xian was didn’t matter at all, and no one paid attention, just as no one knows the designer of Hello Kitty.

He took the elevator.

Lin Xian pressed the button for the 20th floor.

The logistics department had completely tidied up his new office.

The elevator doors opened.

This floor was much quieter than the previous 17th floor.

It was generally only visited by subordinates reporting to the vice presidents.

Walking into his own office.

He was satisfied with the high-end decorations and layout.

Especially the generous space, with many more amenities for hosting guests. There were coffee machines, tea stations, potted plants, and more—all arranged nicely.

The rest area also now included a bed, with its high-quality mattress still wrapped in plastic, emitting a scent that was possibly formaldehyde.

“Better to air it out a bit more…”

Lin Xian fully opened the window in the rest area, then closed the door to the room, and settled into his brand-new executive chair.

“Nice.”

The leather-backed executive chair, more comfortable than any ergonomic chair he’d had before, was so cozy that he almost fell asleep as soon as he reclined. Truly a slacker’s dream.

After familiarizing himself with his new gadgets…

Lin Xian sat up straight, twirling a pen, and thought about the dream from yesterday.

Sometimes he wondered.

Was he overcomplicating things?

If that safe really wasn’t his, if CC was truly just a figment of split personality disorder.

Then.

Maybe none of this had anything to do with him at all, and he was just an outsider stirring the pot.

This was logically possible.

But there was one clue that Lin Xian found strange and couldn’t ignore:

“[CC’s voice, I’ve definitely heard it somewhere before; my voice, CC has also heard it in memory fragments.]”

“`

“Are these two incidents really just coincidental?”

Lin Xian couldn’t convince himself.

If only one person felt the voice was familiar, it would be one thing, but now both sides felt the voice was very familiar, and things definitely weren’t that simple.

Actually, it wasn’t so bad on CC’s end, at least she could accurately know what the middle-aged, bearded man, who had the same voice as hers, looked like.

As for himself…

He didn’t remember at all when, where, or from whom he had heard CC’s voice.

“Where on earth did I hear CC’s voice…”

Lin Xian closed his eyes, picked up a pencil, and spun it.

His mind conjured the last scene from his dream yesterday, where CC, unexpectedly, turned around and smiled.

He had thought this indifferent and ferocious female assassin would never smile.

But to his surprise, when she smiled, it was actually quite sweet.

Her eyes curved like crescent moons, adorable, and there were even two small dimples showing, which surprisingly quite fit Lin Xian’s aesthetic.

The pencil between Lin Xian’s fingertips stopped spinning.

As if possessed…

He set the pencil tip upright and started sketching on a piece of A4 paper on his desk.

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

Rustle, rustle, rustle…

He began with the contours of the face, the clear and bright jawline, and the small, rounded oval face.

The strands of hair beside the ears.

The long eyelashes.

The corners of the mouth lifted in a smile.

The curved, crescent eyes filled with laughter.

The two small dimples on the cheeks, faintly visible.

The details continually evolved on the paper.

The image of CC with a backward glance and a smile started to become clear.

As Lin Xian sketched, he marveled at how his skills hadn’t diminished… his level of sketching was still so high.

Back in the college entrance examination, he pursued an art-specific admission and ranked among the top in the province in sketching.

It was hard to say whether it was talent or effort.

Anyway, at that time, Lin Xian was so determined to improve his sketching skills that he would study in the studio during the day and find a place to practice even in his dreams at night, truly forsaking sleep and food for his art.

Rustle, rustle, rustle.

Lin Xian’s sketch was being completed.

The girl on the paper had her hair tied neatly behind her head, eyes shaped like crescent moons with a perfectly placed teardrop mole beside them, the delicate face paired with a charm-contributing smile, lively and adorable.

This sketch, so meticulously drawn by Lin Xian, looked as if it could rival a black and white photograph and even appeared more three-dimensional than the photo itself.

Bang!

The door to the office was pushed open:

“Lin Xian, take this invitation to the celebration banquet to Professor Xu Yun.”

Lin Xian looked up in bewilderment.

He saw it was Zhao Yingjun.

No wonder… she was the only one bold enough to enter anyone’s office without knocking.

“Oh, alright.”

Lin Xian stood up and took the red invitation.

Zhao Yingjun looked down.

She glanced at the sketch on the desk… and nodded:

“You drew it really well.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s almost identical to her.”

???

Lin Xian took a step back and looked at Zhao Yingjun:

“You know who I drew?”

Zhao Yingjun looked up:

“Are you joking, Lin Xian?”

“In the entire Donghai business circle, who doesn’t know who she is?”

She pointed at the paper with the girl whose smile was as blooming as a flower:

“Isn’t the girl you drew Chu Shanhe’s daughter…”

“Chu Anqing?”