novelbin Chapter 179: Amulet
Chapter 179: Amulet
Still, he couldn’t help but ask one more question.
He didn’t care if his daughter was successful; he only cared that she was living freely and happily.
"Of course it’s true. I’ve worked it out. In a few years, both you and the entire country will need me to step up."
The sudden declaration left Ling Anxun stunned.
They looked at each other in silence, neither one speaking.
But in those few seconds, Ling Anxun saw the determination in his daughter’s eyes.
’Actually, Shanshan had been secretly charting the course of the future these past few days.’
’And just two days ago, she had finally gotten a clear picture.’
In a few years, the nation would face a once-in-a-century disaster, and its people would be in mortal peril.
Anomalous weather patterns would trigger a chain reaction, leading to crop failures, contaminated water sources, and a subsequent plague.
And Ling Anxun was fated to be on the front lines.
To be able to get involved legitimately and save those who weren’t supposed to die, she had to take this path.
Biomedical science was the only way she could get her foot in the door.
Only by controlling key technologies and medical resources could she gain access to the core decision-making circle when disaster struck.
She had run home because she hadn’t figured things out yet and wanted to lie low for a while, to escape the confusing cacophony of opinions.
Now that her mind was made up, she couldn’t afford to stay idle any longer.
She couldn’t let herself fall behind at the critical moment.
’He had thought he’d have a few more days with her.’
’At least he could see her off, watch her walk through the school gates before he left.’
But this time, there wasn’t even time to prepare. All he could do was watch as she packed her bags.
Shanshan took out a small, pre-prepared gift and handed it to him.
"Dad, don’t be sad. This is an Amulet I got for you."
Ling Anxun took the Jade Pendant and clutched it in his palm. It felt warm to the touch.
He glanced down at it, then looked back up at his daughter, a gentle smile slowly forming on his lips.
"Alright. I’ll wear it every day. Won’t take it off even if I tried."
"Aww, so obedient!"
Shanshan grinned, then suddenly leaned forward and gave his head a quick ruffle.
The next second, she ducked back into the car, rolling up the window as she urged the driver on.
"Go, go, go!"
Ling Anxun stood there shaking his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
He watched as the car shot off with a VROOM, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Two faint tire tracks were left on the road.
A gust of wind blew, and dust covered them, making the tracks disappear in an instant.
The TV was off and the lights were out. A sliver of sunlight pierced through a gap in the curtains.
He stood blankly by the door for a long while before finally coming to his senses.
He reached out and touched the sofa. It was still soft to the touch.
The cushion was still slightly indented, a clear sign that someone had only just left.
’He had been about to decide, ’Forget it, I’ll just clean up all this mess.’’
But then his fingers brushed against the corner of a throw pillow, and he silently pulled his hand back.
A small letter ’Y’ was embroidered there, something she had sewn on herself as a child.
He stared at it for a few seconds, but ultimately, he couldn’t bring himself to move it.
In the end, he didn’t move a thing, leaving everything as it was.
RING RING RING.
The sudden ringing of the phone pulled him back to reality.
He strode over and snatched up the receiver, his voice instantly calm and composed.
"Captain, we have a situation!"
"I’ll be there right away!"
Once work took over, there was no more time for idle thoughts.
Both of them were swamped with work.
On Ling Anxun’s end, a new lead they’d just uncovered pointed directly to Xiang Cailiang.
The investigation team had pulled several all-nighters, combing through files and retrieving communication records.
By cross-referencing financial flows, they finally locked onto an anomalous transaction.
While the evidence didn’t form a complete chain, it was more than enough to warrant serious attention.
But the man was too slippery. The moment word got out, someone was there to pave his escape route.
At the same time, he updated his personal social media account.
The accompanying photo showed him at an airport holding his passport, with a caption that read: "A new beginning."
The surveillance team returned, utterly dejected.
They had planned to tail him around the clock, working in shifts.
On the first day, they successfully captured footage of him entering and leaving a bank.
But by the second day, the target had vanished.
Residents in the complex where he’d been renting said he had moved out, and all his utilities had been disconnected.
The owner of his usual restaurant said he hadn’t been seen in days.
Even the plainclothes officers stationed near his office were repeatedly chased off by an unfamiliar vehicle.
"What happened? You lost him?"
Ling Anxun stood by the office window, a cigarette between his fingers, his eyes fixed on the black sedan parked downstairs.
He knew what this slip-up meant.
Not only was the lead now cold, but they had likely tipped him off.
"It’s worse than that..."
Hu Jun hung his head, looking like a drowned rat.
He had been full of confidence before they started, thinking it was just a routine surveillance job.
But they were spotted during the very first shift change on the first night.
He tried to salvage the situation and re-establish the tail, only to find the target seemed to have been one step ahead.
His routes were completely different, and his phone signal was being jammed.
"Captain, I screwed up."
After saying that, he couldn’t get another word out.
"What happened?"
Ling Anxun frowned, but just as he was about to ask, his phone rang.
The caller ID showed it was his superior’s private number.
He answered the call. The voice on the other end was low and impatient, immediately demanding to know why he had expanded the scope of the investigation without authorization.
It turned out their investigation had been too conspicuous and had spooked their target.
Far from being caught, their target had bitten back first.
Xiang Cailiang had been entrenched for years, with a network that ran both wide and deep.
There wasn’t a single word of comfort on the call, only accusations.
Less than two hours after the report was submitted, the disciplinary action was handed down.
Hu Jun and a few others tried to speak up for their captain, but they were shouted down the moment they opened their mouths.
Ling Anxun called them up to the rooftop and looked each of them in the eye as he spoke.
He clapped his subordinate firmly on the shoulder.
Hu Jun felt a sting in his nose, and his eyes immediately reddened.
Hu Jun lowered his head, biting his lip and desperately fighting back tears as he clutched the hem of his shirt.
"Captain, I’m sorry... We dragged you down with us."
He finally choked out, his voice trembling.
"As long as you know where you went wrong. Don’t ever let a screw-up like this happen again, understand?"
Ling Anxun’s tone softened a little.
This was a lesson, but it was also a chance to grow.
The group nodded, their eyes red.
Ling Anxun gave a few more instructions about continuing the surveillance covertly, then turned, packed his things, and left.
He unplugged his computer, switched off the lights, and walked out.
The corridor lights cast a dim yellow glow as his footsteps faded into the distance.
Meanwhile, Shanshan had thrown herself headfirst into her research.
She forgot to eat and begrudged the time spent sleeping.
Every day she was the first to arrive at the lab and the last to leave.
She got through her lunch breaks on nothing but bread and coffee.
She was trying to verify the reaction mechanism of a new catalyst, but she couldn’t consistently reproduce the experimental data.
Her reckless drive scared the daylights out of her lab mates.
Even her professor worried she might collapse in the lab one day.
"Shanshan, the professor has given an order. You’re not allowed in the lab today. You have to go home and rest for a few days."
"Senior, I’m really fine. I haven’t finished organizing the data. Please, just let me in."
Her senior snatched the thick stack of papers she was clutching.
A few pages scattered with a RUSTLE. Her senior quickly pinned them down, glaring at her breathlessly.
"Won’t you be happy until you’ve worked yourself to death?"
"For crying out loud, give the rest of us a break! You might not be tired, but you’re making us sick with this insane competition!"
Her senior clutched the files to her chest and took two steps back, blocking her from the access panel at all costs.
Two guys from her group also rushed forward to block her. One held the door handle shut while the other stood in her way.