Chapter 194: Dream Multiplayer Mode

Following behind, Wen Xiao looked up and saw the fiery red signboard for “La Xiangxiang.” Her face, initially as rosy as an apple, instantly fell into a bitter pout.

She stopped in her tracks, looking at Yu Xian with utter grievance.

“What’s wrong?” Sensing her hesitation, Yu Xian looked down at her.

Wen Xiao leaned closer to him. Standing on her tiptoes, she whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear:

“My sister definitely picked this place… She’s loved spicy food since we were kids, but I can’t handle it at all. She always makes me eat more, saying it’s to build a chronic desensitization to capsaicin…”

Yu Xian quickened his pace, catching up to his cousin and tapping his shoulder from behind.

“Zhengze, wait a second.”

Yu Zhengze stopped and gestured for Wen Yu to go inside and find a table first. He glanced back at Yu Xian.

“What is it?”

“My stomach is a little upset today, and everything here is spicy. Could we switch to somewhere with milder food?” Yu Xian clutched his stomach.

Before Yu Zhengze could reply, a waitress enthusiastically walked up to greet them.

“Right this way, please! We just finished clearing a table for you!”

“Switch now?” Yu Zhengze looked at the queue number ticket he had just obtained. “You didn’t say anything while we were waiting in line. It’s the dinner rush right now; if we switch places, we’ll have to queue all over again. Come on, stop being fussy.”

Yu Xian was about to argue when someone gently tugged at his shirt hem.

He turned to see Wen Xiao shaking her head at him almost imperceptibly, blinking her big eyes.

“…Fine.” Yu Xian gave up and followed the waitress into the restaurant.

The air inside was sweltering, thick with the aroma of stir-fried chili peppers, and surrounded by the noisy chatter of diners.

Their table was an old-fashioned four-seater booth. Yu Zhengze naturally took the inner seat, and Yu Xian sat down next to him.

Across from them, Wen Yu took her seat gracefully, while Wen Xiao dawdled as she took off her coat before sitting directly opposite Yu Xian.

The waitress handed the menu to Wen Yu, who expertly checked off two dishes before pushing it toward the center of the table.

“Fish head with diced hot red peppers, stir-fried yellow beef… See if there’s anything else you guys want.”

Yu Zhengze glanced at Wen Xiao sitting across from Yu Xian, then turned to the waitress.

“Do you have anything that isn’t spicy?”

Hearing this, the waitress flashed a polite but slightly troubled smile.

“Sir, chili peppers are the soul of Hunan cuisine. Even for non-spicy dishes, we still add a little chili for color and to enhance the flavor.”

Yu Zhengze scanned the menu before passing it to Wen Xiao.

“Alright then, just try to use as little as possible. Make everything mild.” He then glanced at the others around the table and added, “And bring us three bottles of hot soy milk and a glass of ice water.”

“You got it, please wait a moment.” The waitress grabbed the menu and hurried off.

A short while later, the soy milk was served before any of the food arrived.

“The rain has let up over the past few days. Is the resumption of classes at the university going smoothly?” Yu Zhengze asked casually, holding his glass of ice water.

“Pretty smoothly, though some areas are still under repair,” Yu Xian replied perfunctorily as he sipped his soy milk, his mind busy calculating how to steer the conversation toward another topic.

Su Mingyuan.

Yu Xian weighed the matter repeatedly in his mind. His cousin had always been overly protective of him. Ever since the car accident that took his parents away ten years ago, in his cousin’s eyes, he had remained a child who needed to be sheltered from the storms of the world.

This protection was warm, but sometimes, it was also a restraint.

Take the TDI audio incident, for example. If his cousin found out that he had not only tested the dangerous audio himself, but also hidden a senior who stole lab secrets in an off-campus apartment, and even set up some Rabbit Hole network with a group of classmates, his cousin would probably restrict his movements for real.

But the series of events unfolding now had far exceeded the scope of what a few college students could handle.

The phone call on Friday had verified Professor Ning’s information. Su Mingyuan was undoubtedly one of the masterminds behind the scenes—the one responsible for the professors either dying or fleeing, and even the recent upheaval in the physics community.

Coupled with that “Great Flood” prophecy…

Perhaps his cousin’s side had already taken notice of Su Mingyuan?

“Zhengze.” Yu Xian put down his soy milk and took a deep breath. Deciding to test the waters, he feigned nonchalance and said, “Recently at our School of Physics, rumors about those professors have been spreading like wildfire.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard,” Yu Zhengze replied, taking a sip of his ice water. His tone was flat. “But stuff on the internet—just treat it as gossip. Don’t take it seriously.”

“Actually…” Yu Xian observed his cousin’s expression, carefully choosing his words. “A classmate told me that before those professors met their respective fates, it seemed like the same person had paid a visit to all of them.”

Yu Zhengze set down his glass and turned to look at Yu Xian beside him.

“Who?”

“Su Mingyuan,” Yu Xian said softly. “An author. A lot of people are saying that Su Mingyuan not only sought out Professor Ning, but also visited Professor Gao’s office right before his suicide.”

At this point, Yu Xian stopped.

He didn’t mention the Great Flood, nor did he bring up the warnings about the so-called “Torrential Calamity Waters.” Furthermore, he omitted the terrifying “reckoning” theory from Friday’s phone call.

He simply laid out the anomalous timeline. This angle was enough to arouse his cousin’s suspicion without sounding too absurd, and it wouldn’t expose Shao Yiyi’s identity either.

For his cousin, this information and these discrepancies would be enough to warrant digging deeper.

The atmosphere at the table stagnated. Wen Xiao chewed on her straw, keeping her head down to minimize her presence. Wen Yu also cast her gaze toward Yu Xian, frowning slightly.

Yu Zhengze spun his lighter on the table. For a man with such a heavy nicotine addiction, going an entire afternoon without a cigarette must have been torture.

“These matters,” Yu Zhengze began, his voice devoid of any discernible emotion. “Just treat them as idle gossip. Focus on your classes and having fun; stop trying to play detective all the time.”

As he finished speaking, his gaze swept over Wen Xiao, intentionally or otherwise.

His tone softened slightly as he added, “We have been keeping an eye on a lot of these things. You guys are still students; you haven’t entered society yet. For some commotions, it’s best to stay as far away as possible.”

Yu Zhengze picked up his water glass again and sighed. “The things involved in this… are far more complicated than you can imagine.”

Yu Xian’s heart sank.

Keeping an eye on them?

Far more complicated?

Had the police noticed Su Mingyuan a long time ago? Might they have even launched an investigation and put him under surveillance?

Then, his cousin’s tight-lipped dissuasion… Was it just to keep them from taking risks? Or could it be that the waters behind all this were truly so deep that even his cousin found it tricky—that it was an immovable force?

He thought again of the rumor that had been trending online for days, the swiftly rejected collider project approval, and the experimental equipment being loaded into box trucks at the JCU School of Physics…

The waitress walked over carrying a massive platter. The fish head was blanketed in a layer of red and yellow chili peppers, the aroma drawn out by sizzling hot oil relentlessly wafting into their noses.

“This is mild? Why are there still so many chilies?” Yu Zhengze picked up his chopsticks, breaking the stifling atmosphere as he beckoned the others. “Eat up, have it while it’s hot.”

Yu Xian asked the waitress for two empty bowls, poured some plain water into them, handed one to Wen Xiao, and kept the other for himself.

He picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, swished it around casually in the bowl of water, and then put it into his mouth.

Opposite him, Wen Xiao sneaked a glance at Wen Yu before mimicking Yu Xian’s method, rinsing her food in the plain water. She dunked it up and down rhythmically; anyone watching would have thought she was eating hot pot.

By the time the dinner concluded, night had fallen.

The wind whipped up the drizzle, splashing it wildly through the halos of neon lights. The puddles on the street reflected the prosperous, blurring lights of the city.

“How are you getting back?” Yu Zhengze asked as he stood at the entrance of the restaurant, zipping up his black jacket.

“The two of us… we’ll head back to campus.” Yu Xian glanced at Wen Xiao, who nodded in agreement.

They needed to study the “Co-op Dream” module and try to develop the safe version of the audio—the one containing the Logical Anchor Point and Time Compression. Time was tight; they had to get it done as soon as possible.

“Perfect.” Wen Yu jingled her car keys with a smile. “I’ll drop you two off. It’s on my way; I need to head over to the studio.”

“You still have work this late?” Yu Zhengze glanced at Wen Yu.

“Yes, I left some documents there,” Wen Yu explained nonchalantly before turning to Yu Xian and Wen Xiao. “Let’s go. Double-check that you have all your things; don’t leave anything behind.”

The two groups parted ways in the underground parking garage, and Yu Zhengze’s black SUV drove off into the distance.