The skinny guy was the second to arrive at the office.
He'd recovered his spirits and seemed to take his ability in stride, having completely put the whole thing out of his mind.
As soon as he entered the office, he started talking about the latest news on the epidemic.
"...Nobody has a clue right now. They can't figure out what's going on at all. Qi-ge, you've seen the news, right? Apparently, a research lab overseas wants to buy samples. Do you think there might be foreign experts too—cough, I mean experts like that old Taoist priest—who want to get their hands on some samples and study them?" the skinny guy asked solemnly.
I said helplessly, "You've got quite an imagination. Even if there are, what does that have to do with us?"
I glanced at the skinny guy again. "You're not scared anymore?"
The skinny guy immediately dropped his gossipy expression. After hesitating for a moment, he sighed. "There's no point being scared. Besides... Qi-ge, to be honest, I've been thinking about this a lot over the past few days. Not the way you think—I wasn't trying to figure out what to do next. I was just looking back on the past. That rich second-generation kid said he'd had his ability since he was little. When I thought about it, I realized I might have too."
These days, he sometimes called Nangong Yao "the rich second-generation kid."
"You had one too, when you were little?" I asked, startled.
"Yeah, but it wasn't obvious. I didn't notice it at all when I was a kid. My mom used to say that my grandma's things really worked. She was always praying to the gods and Buddha. Besides cooking, she loved burning incense and worshipping Buddha, and she'd ask for those blessed