Memories

The dead of night.

The small mountain village was especially quiet in the wilderness.

The patter of raindrops, and the north wind occasionally sweeping through the woods.

In a second-floor bedroom, Li Qingye lay half-reclined on the bed, eyes closed in thought beside a dim, yellow desk lamp.

The past was vivid in his mind.

His father...

His mother...

His elder brother...

One by one, their figures, page after page of fragments, echo after echo, filled his mind.

Near Jiangcheng University, Li Qingye had used the more than twenty million his mother had provided to set up a cosmetics company.

In reality, the company was little more than a brand. Li Qingye had established it merely as a front, so he could set up a research institute without running into the problems involved in applying to open a private biochemical laboratory.

Still, he had spent around 22 million yuan on the cosmetics company's laboratory, buying a large number of scientific instruments for biochemical research.

He had studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Jiangcheng University, completing his master's degree in 2015. After that, he had continued on to a PhD under the guidance of an advisor.

The laboratory had been his mother's graduation gift to him in 2015.

Afterward, he had worked toward his doctorate while conducting research on whatever interested him in his own lab, right up until July 2016.

An old classmate who had gone to the University of Copenhagen for a PhD sent him a gene-sequencing report. The sequence had been identified from a sample extracted from ancient human remains unearthed in an Alpine glacier.

Li Qingye was fascinated. Based on his analysis, the ancient human was very likely one of the Neanderthals.

In the midst of his obsessive research, inspiration suddenly struck. He took out the gene samples he had previously collected through free health checkups in nearby towns and villages, then analyzed the 300 samples he had on hand.

As he worked, he extracted every Neanderthal gene fragment from the samples.

After comparison and assembly, the Neanderthal fragments in those samples turned out to overlap extensively with the Neanderthal sequence his classmate had sent him.

Li Qingye was thrilled. If he recombined the assembled Neanderthal gene fragments, could he possibly recreate a Neanderthal?

As his research progressed, Li Qingye used gene-editing technology—the third-generation technique, CRISPR-Cas9—to insert the fragments into mouse stem cells, hoping the genes would combine.

But the gene-editing experiment proved far more difficult than he had imagined. The fragments of Neanderthal genes that remained in modern human genomes were simply too broken up and scarce.

Before long, the lab had run out of mouse stem cells.

With the experiment showing no progress, Li Qingye began to feel he had been too fanciful.

With no stem cells left, he could only choose other materials as a base, carrying out tedious and complicated gene-editing experiments on stem cells from more than a dozen animal species.

Time passed unnoticed, and October 2016 arrived.

As usual, the first thing he did each morning was check the edited animal stem cells. He had expected another fruitless day—until he looked at Culture Medium No. 57.

Under the microscope,

the stem cells of the Turritopsis dohrnii in Culture Medium No. 57 had actually developed back into a Hydra form. Even more surprisingly, the Hydra had undergone some changes.

After further testing and analysis, he discovered a new enzyme inside the Turritopsis dohrnii.

Li Qingye conducted repeat experiments while studying the enzyme.

A month later,

he watched hundreds of gene-edited Turritopsis dohrnii drifting slowly through the aquarium, and looked at the pale blue liquid in the test tube in his hand.

"This thing can turn some genes into pseudogenes. But..." Li Qingye looked at the several cages nearby, both startled and delighted.

Several domestic pigs were locked inside the iron cages. They were showing varying degrees of aging, organ disease, and hereditary disorders.

If that were all the enzyme could do, Li Qingye might not have been so interested in it. More importantly, it could also activate certain recessive genes.

"If this enzyme could be made more controllable, with fewer side effects, then perhaps..." He weighed its potential in his mind.

Thinking of the immense potential in the test tube, Li Qingye was so excited he couldn't sleep. He threw himself into studying the enzyme, while also trying to adjust the gene sequences used in the gene-editing process to see if he could synthesize new enzymes or compounds.

In truth, Li Qingye had deeply mixed feelings about his passion for scientific research.

He had grown up under his parents' protection, and his elder brother was exceptionally capable. Their parents had hoped he would study law at Beiping University and later take the Civil Servant Exam, while his brother continued to build his career in business. The two brothers could then support each other.

Unfortunately, Li Qingye had strongly resisted that arrangement.

The first time he defied his father's wishes, he enrolled in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Jiangcheng University to prove himself.

After all, in business, he might never be able to surpass his father and brother. And the scheming and backstabbing of officialdom made him loathe the idea and feel entirely unsuited to it.

After turning it over in his mind, he was left with only one choice: science.

Although he had his mother's help, talent and hard work were also crucial to success in science.

This unexpected discovery left Li Qingye exhilarated, because at last he could prove himself to everyone.

In his efforts to improve the special enzyme, he even skipped the 2017 New Year and didn't return to Pengcheng to see his parents. Instead, he stayed in his Jiangcheng lab, researching day and night.

Until...

One day, a phone call brought devastating news.

Grief overwhelmed him, and he couldn't stop the tears from streaming down his face.

At that moment, his life turned dark. Scientific achievements that would shock the world, milestones in human evolutionary history, proving himself to the world—all of it became meaningless.

If he could, he would have given up the discovery in exchange for his parents' safety.

Perhaps people were just like that.

They only learned to cherish something after they had lost it.

Like a walking corpse, Li Qingye returned to Pengcheng, only to find his parents' bodies cold. Remorse, despair, and grief crowded into his heart, leaving him feeling as if he had lost his soul.

The night deepened.

The raindrops outside the window stopped, and the north wind grew quieter.

Plagued by nightmares, Li Qingye slept through his exhaustion until noon the next day.

For half a month, apart from a village woman who brought him food, he saw no one. He shut himself away in the house.

Until the afternoon of April 13.

His advisor called. Li Qingye, unshaven and hollow-eyed, watched the phone ring again and again before answering listlessly:

"Hello..."

"Qingye, I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm planning an academic visit to America soon. Would you like to come along? A change of scenery might do you good."

But Li Qingye, his heart dead, had no intention of going abroad. "Professor, I'm thinking of withdrawing from my doctoral program..."

"What? Qingye, you're incredibly talented. It would be such a shame to give up. You need to think it through. You might regret it later." His advisor urged him with concern.

"No. Nothing matters anymore."

"..." The advisor fell silent for a moment, then continued, "How about this? You're still young. Take the next six months to rest and get your head straight, then decide what to do."

"Thank you. I'll think about it," Li Qingye replied perfunctorily. Then he hung up and prepared to lie back down.

Suddenly, a breaking-news alert popped up in his phone's browser.

He instinctively moved to clear it...

But the next second, Li Qingye froze, then tapped on the news story.

After reading it, he was shaken to the core. His expression shifted as his eyes flickered with uncertainty. "What's going on? Could it be... No, that's impossible..."

Still unable to believe it, Li Qingye searched online for related news. Before long, hundreds of reports appeared on his phone screen.

As he read through them one by one, his expression darkened. At the same time, a terrifying thought began to form in his mind.