Genius Club-Chapter 190 - 32 Zhou Duanyun

Lin Xian looked at the densely scribbled lines of reasoning on the white paper…

He couldn’t guarantee that all these subjective speculations were correct, after all, the answer to all this reasoning was based on a hypothetical premise—

"The death of Xu Yun was plotted with the participation of Ji Xinshui."

If this held true, then all his reasonings would stand.

But if it didn’t, then all his reasoning would be mere empty talk.

To prove this premise, there was one most direct breakthrough—

"As long as it can be proven that Zhou Duanyun and Ji Xinshui are closely related, it’s highly likely that the two are accomplices."

Because as it stands, Zhou Duanyun’s suspicions are definitely not going away. Therefore, whoever had relations with Zhou Duanyun was suspect.

"Investigating Ji Xinshui and Ji Lin directly is quite difficult, I don’t currently have the capacity to confront them head-on. By comparison, investigating Zhou Duanyun is much easier."

Lin Xian propped his chin and pondered…

After all, he was Zhou Duanyun’s classmate, and there are many in Hang City who know Zhou Duanyun through and through, making the investigation not challenging.

If his reasoning was correct, then right now whether it was Zhou Duanyun or Ji Lin, they were actually just pretending not to understand, all their apparent goodwill was just waiting for him to slip up.

Since he had already been targeted by the enemy, there was no need to continue hiding.

Objectively analyzing, he did have three advantages at the moment:

1. Since Ji Lin was going to great lengths to test him, it indicated that they did not possess conclusive evidence that he helped Xu Yun with the hibernation research, meaning he was safe for the time being.

2. He was quite clear that they would only kill using car accidents at 00:42. This strict method of murder was very easy to avoid, with caution, as all problems would be solved simply by not going out at night.

3. He currently still had a few good cards up his sleeve, whether it was the dreams from 600 years later, or the huge favor Chu Shanhe owed him. Finding the right opportunity at the crucial moment, these could all be used to turn the tables. The dragon doesn’t suppress the local snake; in the territory of East Sea, Chu Shanhe’s word was absolute, even someone as strong as Ji Xinshui would be powerless.

"After dealing with these people, I must develop my own forces as soon as possible."

Now.

Lin Xian had already formed a preliminary plan for the future in his heart.

To develop himself, ensure Liu Feng’s safe research on the universe’s constant 42, find a way to obtain an invitation to the Genius Club, leverage the continual exploration of dreams to gain more intelligence, and more initiative.

But to execute these strategies, he must first win in the extremely grim and urgent game of "Catch Me If You Can" at present.

His thoughts returned to the words Huang Que had said in Zhao Yingjun’s office that day…

She said she couldn’t tell Lin Xian how to get an invitation to the Genius Club.

Yet, she appeared at the perfect moment and even reminded him of the existence of "Catch Me If You Can." Perhaps... this game of "Catch Me If You Can" was the key to obtaining an invitation to the Genius Club!

"I must find a way to win this game."

Lin Xian took out a super-sized baking tray from the kitchen, then burned all the reasoning papers in it.

Flames spread and twisted among the papers.

Lin Xian felt as if he smelt the unique scorched odor of a crematorium…

It was a distaste imprinted in human genes, a mechanism of danger warning.

Yet within just two or three months, Lin Xian had smelt it twice.

When Tang Xin’s younger brother received the ashes from the funeral home staff, Lin Xian and Gao Yang stood by his side.

This was the first time Lin Xian had been in close contact with cremation in his life.

He had never imagined that the human body would need as long as two hours to be incinerated to ashes at such high temperatures.

Those two hours were agonizing, every minute and second were hard to endure.

A living classmate had thus turned into a half-jar of ashes.

For what reason did Zhou Duanyun give up their humanity to kill an old classmate and even premeditate the murder of another?

"Wait for me."

Within the blurring dance of flames, Tang Xin’s smiling face emerged.

Lin Xian pronounced every word:

"None of you will escape!"

…

The next day, after handling company affairs remotely, he returned directly to Hang City and went to the new campus of Hang City No. 1 High School to find his former high school teacher.

Five years had passed, and the teacher was still robust, as energetic and passionate as ever, leading a graduating class.

"Wow, Lin Xian! Of your year, I remember you the most vividly!"

The teacher laughed heartily, patting Lin Xian’s back:

"You won the city parkour championship three years in a row; your achievements are still talked about among the juniors and sisters. But what surprised me the most was your acceptance into East Sea University! Your grades were below average, and logically, you definitely couldn’t have gotten into such a prestigious university... Yet, your performance later improved dramatically; hard work really does pay off indeed!"

Lin Xian smiled faintly.

Indeed, studying by day and overtime in dreams at night, it wasn’t for nothing, right?

After some casual conversation, Lin Xian explained his visit:

"Teacher, I remember back then you shared the good news in our class group, saying all of us were admitted to universities, with none left behind. And you made a spreadsheet documenting which university each person was admitted to, do you still remember that?"

This was the purpose of Lin Xian’s visit to his high school teacher.

He wanted to know which university Zhou Duanyun was admitted to, and then he could investigate further at that university to find out why he chose to drop out midway and how he made so much money in just a year or two.

According to Zhou Duanyun, his life experiences over the past few years were enough to fill a book.

It began with a poor boy winning the lottery after graduation, swiftly rising to riches; followed by him, a not-so-stellar student, getting into a university, bringing pride to his face; and what was more impressive was him dropping out halfway to dive into business, soon driving a Rolls-Royce.

No one could have imagined that the self-conscious and impoverished high school boy could end up like this.

Such stories where "fortunes change over time, never underestimate the youth in poverty"...

[Doesn’t it bear an uncanny resemblance to Ji Xinshui’s life experience?]

Lin Xian wasn’t green with envy towards Zhou Duanyun.

But such a legendary life, if it wasn’t fabricated... there must be some protagonist’s halo or awakening system involved.

"Hehe, of course I remember! Your class brought honor to me!"

The class advisor chuckled, pulling out a file box from the drawer and started rummaging inside:

"The classes get worse every year, but your class was the one I’m proudest of! Just think about it, every single one of you got into a university, not a single dropout!"

Soon, the class advisor found the statistics chart, which had even been laminated.

Lin Xian picked up the chart and glanced at it, while the class advisor reminisced about the old days:

"I’ve kept a photograph of every one of you with your university admission notices! When I was collecting those photos one by one, and tallying the statistics, I was really happy for you all."

Lin Xian looked over them one by one:

"Everyone did quite well, the universities are all good ones."

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"Gao Yang made a mistake in his performance," the class advisor said with regret:

"Didn’t you two get along quite well? Gao Yang did a good job as class president, just that he didn’t perform well in the examinations, otherwise he could have gone to an undergraduate university."

Finally, Lin Xian noticed Zhou Duanyun’s name with Hunan University listed as the admitting school.

"Hunan University?" Lin Xian was somewhat surprised:

"Zhou Duanyun got into such a good school?"

Hunan University was one of the 985 and 211 universities!

Himself, a middling student, turning things around to get into East Sea University, a 211 university, was already considered an incredible achievement back then.

Given that Zhou Duanyun’s grades had always been steadily at the bottom of the class!

A bottom-ranked student, directly admitted into a 985 university, and that purely on academic tests, without taking any special talent paths...

This!

This was beyond the realms of ordinary ascension.

"Teacher, why didn’t you mention such an amazing thing back then!"

Lin Xian was surprised.

Given his class advisor’s personality, having taught such a gifted student, wouldn’t he have proudly engraved Zhou Duanyun’s name on the blackboard to showcase his own teaching prowess?

But whenever it was brought up, the class advisor would rather boast about his 211 East Sea University art student than mention Zhou Duanyun’s 985 Hunan University...

What was going on here?

The class advisor pursed his lips and said nothing.

He walked to the office window, opened it, and lit a cigarette.

After a few puffs, he flicked the ash outside the window, then, as if resolving himself, he sighed and said:

"Lin Xian... Since you’ve asked, I can’t lie. This matter has been weighing on my heart for a long time."

He turned around, looking at Lin Xian:

"You remember Zhou Duanyun, right? Always in worn clothes, his family very poor, his father had died young and his mother raised him by herself... And I’ve seen his mother bring blankets to Zhou Duanyun. She was a very thin rural woman who also suffered bullying in the village... Their mother and son were really pitiable."

Lin Xian nodded; he had heard about this.

But as far as he remembered, nobody in the class bullied Zhou Duanyun, everyone was quite friendly.

"The more such kids need face, the more they care about their dignity."

The class advisor took a drag from his cigarette and continued:

"When I was collecting everyone’s admission notices, Zhou Duanyun’s mother personally came to the school and handed me the admission notice from Hunan University."

"Because she didn’t know how to use a mobile phone, she especially took a very long bus ride to the school to find me... She even brought me a big bag of eggs and a sack of peanuts."

At this point, the class advisor’s cigarette trembled slightly:

"I still have no idea how such a thin rural woman managed to carry those two heavy bags so far... But at that moment, she was really happy, excited, and proud. She kept repeatedly mentioning Hunan University, saying that her son had finally made something of himself, that nobody in the village would bully them anymore."

Lin Xian listened quietly as the class advisor’s expression grew more and more somber, and extinguished his cigarette butt on the windowsill:

"I couldn’t say anything, and I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. Faced with such a mother who had single-handedly struggled to raise her child, who had endured so much hardship and was so caught up in excitement, I simply couldn’t tell her the truth."

"You mean..." Lin Xian choked up, as he seemed to have guessed the truth.

The class advisor turned around, looked at Lin Xian, and nodded:

"As class advisors, we learn your college entrance examination scores before you do."

"Zhou Duanyun’s score that year..."

"Was only a little over 300 points."