The light call from behind seemed to come from a young woman. Her voice was filled with intense delight, yet beneath that delight lay a trace of barely perceptible exhaustion.
He Ao turned around and looked behind him.
A girl around eighteen or nineteen stood behind him. She wore a long white dress, had short curly hair and slightly chubby cheeks, and looked sweet, well-behaved, and lovely as she gazed at him with surprise.
He Ao looked at the girl before him in confusion. He had no memory of her appearance; this was the first time he had met her.
However, the contours of her face felt somewhat familiar to him.
And judging from the way she addressed him, she should have been from the Research Institute.
Research Institute, South Capital, similar features...
That reminded He Ao of a certain memory.
A jumble of thoughts flashed through He Ao's mind in an instant, but his expression did not falter in the slightest. He looked at the girl and smiled. "You're from the Research Institute?"
Pedestrians passed by the two of them. The girl's shout had drawn some attention from the people around them, but they merely glanced over before looking away and hurrying on.
The girl seemed to notice that her voice had attracted attention. She looked at He Ao, quickly stepped closer, and lowered her voice as she explained, "Yes, but I'm not an official researcher yet."
Then she paused, unconsciously poking at her fingers as though considering how to explain her identity more politely.
Now that they were closer, He Ao could see the contours of her cheeks more clearly. He smiled. "You're Ye Yun's younger sister?"
"Huh?"
The girl, who had been deep in thought, stiffened. She raised her head in surprise and looked at He Ao.