Above the big bed in the Splitter Chamber, several metal racks had been installed on the ceiling to hang IV bottles. Tang Shizhe had modified the setup because he'd found the original IV stand inconvenient, and now it came in handy for Tang Yi.
Tang Yi quickly hung the bottles of nutrient solution from the racks, then stripped Tang Shizhe and laid him flat on the big bed.
After carefully wiping Tang Shizhe's body clean with medical alcohol, Tang Yi inserted needles into the veins all over his body.
A few minutes later, Tang Shizhe was covered in needles, with more than a dozen transparent IV tubes hanging densely above him.
The high-nutrient solution for intravenous infusion began flowing from the racks through the tubes into Tang Shizhe's body. His body immediately converted it into energy and absorbed it, and large numbers of red tendrils began sprouting from him.
But the tendrils didn't tangle together beside Tang Shizhe to form a tumor and incubate a new splitter as they had before. Instead, they wrapped tightly around him like a cocoon, leaving only enough space for the IV tubes to pass through.
Tang Yi sat down nervously in the chair beside Tang Shizhe, watching his condition closely. He would eat, drink, and take care of his bodily needs in the Splitter Chamber from now on, so he could react immediately if anything went wrong. He had to ensure the Matriarch's absolute safety!
Because if the Matriarch died, the splitters would also disintegrate, eventually turning into gas and dissipating into the air!
In the North District of Jiaonan City, inside a large apartment on the top floor of an eighty-plus-story residential tower.
Yin Qi shook the water droplets from her feet and sat cross-legged on the sofa. Her white cat obediently curled up beside her.
She picked up the laptop from the table, flipped open the screen, and went straight to the word-processing program.
Yin Qi bit her lower lip and thought for a moment before her fingers began flying over the keyboard.
Line after line of text appeared on the screen, slowly filling the blank document.
"Mm~ I'm exhausted. I've finally finished today's writing. Why did I ever choose to become a writer?" Two hours later, after sitting motionless in the same position the whole time, Yin Qi stretched and muttered to herself.
She tilted her head, thought for a moment, then added a complaint to the end of the chapter:
"Your author is feeling very sad today. I'd wanted to come in first and take the result home to show my parents, but some lecher snatched first place away from me. I'm so sad I could cry, sob sob sob. \tear-wiping emoji"
She moved the mouse over the publish button and clicked. Her two latest chapters were posted.
"All done! Time to head out to work!" Yin Qi jumped off the sofa. She still had a part-time shift at KFC that afternoon, and if she was late, the manager would definitely chew her out.
Two hundred meters west of this apartment tower stood an identical sister building. In an ordinary, eighty-square-meter apartment there, Yan Yanran had just finished cleaning the house and sat down at her computer, looking tired.
One entire wall of the study, which was less than twenty square meters, was covered with LCD screens displaying all kinds of charts and news pages.
This room was where she "worked." She had earned the money to buy her car here, little by little.
In her spare time, she liked to unwind with movies and games.
Right now was when the latest chapter of a book she was following was due to be released.
Yan Yanran had been a fan of this author since the release of her first book.
She'd followed the author from that first book three years ago to the present, and this was already the author's fifth.
There was no denying that the author knew how to draw readers in. The characters and settings were vividly depicted, and the details were so well written that she couldn't put the book down.
A few minutes later, Yan Yanran finished reading the latest chapter, and the author's note at the end caught her eye.
"Your author is feeling very sad today. I'd wanted to come in first and take the result home to show my parents, but some lecher snatched first place away from me. I'm so sad I could cry, sob sob sob. \tear-wiping emoji"
Yan Yanran grew irritated when she read that. It reminded her of how Tang Shizhe had taken first place from her, and she suddenly felt as if she'd found someone who understood her!
"Author, I've been upset these past few days too. Someone I could almost call a friend took first place away from me, and now I can't even hold my head up in front of my family," Yan Yanran replied to the chapter with a pout.
Meanwhile, Tang Shizhe, the man both women resented, was still unconscious.
Didi, Didi. Tang Shizhe's phone suddenly vibrated, and Tang Yi picked it up in confusion.
The phone recognized Tang Shizhe's face and unlocked automatically. Tang Yi went straight to Tang Shizhe's WeChat page.
"Hey, Tang Shizhe, you took the first place that should've been mine. You should at least treat me to a meal to make it up to me." As Yin Qi walked to work, the author's note she'd just written reminded her of Tang Shizhe. She had this Friday off, so she was going to make him pay for it with a big meal!
Tang Yi stared blankly at Yin Qi's message on WeChat. Although splitters shared the Matriarch's memories when they were created—the Matriarch could choose which memories to share—once a splitter had fully formed and started acting independently, sharing memories required Tang Shizhe to do it himself.
Tang Yi had no right to demand access to the Matriarch's memories. So he knew nothing about Yin Qi or Yan Yanran, and had no idea what kind of relationship Tang Shizhe had with either of them.
Confusion bore a fruit on the tree of confusion; beneath that tree stood you and me.
Tang Yi didn't know what kind of relationship Yin Qi had with Tang Shizhe, but it wouldn't be good to leave her waiting too long. Besides, treating her to a meal wouldn't hurt!
Tang Yi promptly replied on Tang Shizhe's behalf: "No problem. Pick a time."
"Then let's do Friday at noon," Yin Qi replied. She hadn't expected Tang Shizhe to agree so readily.
"Okay. Let's meet at Thousand-Face Cuisine this Friday at noon." After replying to Yin Qi on WeChat, Tang Yi exited the app.
It was Wednesday, and the Matriarch had been unconscious for three days. Tang Yi guessed Tang Shizhe would finish evolving and wake up within the next day or two, so he wouldn't miss his date with Yin Qi. Even if Tang Shizhe was still asleep on Friday, Tang Yi could always find an excuse to cancel. So he didn't take the invitation to dinner seriously. As for pretending to be Tang Shizhe and going in his place, he wouldn't dare without Tang Shizhe's consent.
Another hour passed, and Tang Er appeared in the Splitter Chamber.
"I'm here to take over." Tang Er set the bag in his hand down nearby and spoke softly to Tang Yi.
"Okay. I'll leave the Matriarch in your hands." Tang Yi nodded and left the Splitter Chamber. He needed to hurry and take a shower. The Matriarch had been unconscious for three days, and he hadn't showered once during that time. He was starting to smell.
As soon as Tang Er sat down, Tang Shizhe's phone rang again.
Didi, Didi.
Tang Er had barely picked up the phone when facial recognition unlocked it automatically. The screen had already switched to the latest message.
"Classmate Tang Shizhe, you lied to me last time. Don't you owe me an apology dinner?" Yan Yanran had her long, fair legs propped up on the desk as her fingers flew over the phone's keyboard.
"Hmm? Yan Yanran?" Tang Er stared at the WeChat message from Yan Yanran in confusion. Like Tang Yi, he knew nothing about the Matriarch's romantic affairs. After all, they were merely tools, and had no right to concern themselves with the Matriarch's love life!
Before you continue