Alarmed

"I can't tell you... I can't tell you..."

Xu Jin muttered under his breath. Then he suddenly sprang to his feet and shouted:

"I can't tell you!"

"Shut up! Stop asking me!"

Every muscle in his body was taut. His fingers clenched so hard that his knuckles twisted and jutted out as he repeatedly slammed his fists against his own head.

Lin Xu was badly startled. He instinctively wanted to stop Xu Jin, but he had no idea where to begin.

He had seen videos online before of autistic people having meltdowns. Even through the screen, he could feel that helplessness and despair.

He had thought Xu Jin's Asperger's syndrome was different from those cases of low-functioning autism.

But now it seemed that when it came to "social difficulties" and "repetitive behaviors," autism was still autism!

Xu Jin's fists struck his head with dull thuds. Lin Xu rushed forward, pinned him down, and shouted:

"Calm down! Calm down!"

"If you want to go to Mars, you have to tell me why!"

"It's okay, it's okay!"

"Say it!"

"I won't tell anyone!"

"Come on, get close to me and tell me quietly!"

"Relax!"

Lin Xu did not back down.

He held Xu Jin tightly in place, paying no attention to the other man's struggles.

Xu Jin struggled harder and harder, drawing the attention of the other customers in the café.

Someone started walking toward them, and Lin Xu quickly raised a hand.

"Don't come over!"

"He has autism. He'll be fine in a moment!"

The person obediently backed away, his eyes carrying a trace of pity.

After at least five minutes of stalemate, Xu Jin finally ran out of strength.

He slumped down, gasping heavily, as though he had regained his reason.

"I'm better... I'm better..."

Lin Xu was drenched in sweat, and he had strained his arm as well.

Still, high-functioning autism like Asperger's syndrome was somewhat different from low-functioning autism after all.

Their emotions could still spiral out of control, but when their rationality was present, it could suppress those emotions.

Lin Xu panted as he sat back down on the sofa. The sudden incident had left him shaken.

"...You don't need to be so tense."

Lin Xu said:

"I only wanted to know why. If you really don't want to talk about it, then forget it."

"Zhurong."

Xu Jin grabbed at his own hair.

"Zhurong... I want to bring Zhurong back..."

"Bring Zhurong back?!"

Lin Xu froze.

"Why?"

"Do you want to bring Zhurong back, or do you want to bring back what Zhurong discovered?"

"Bring Zhurong back... bring Zhurong back..."

Xu Jin kept repeating those words. No matter how Lin Xu questioned him, he refused to say another word.

Lin Xu furrowed his brow.

"Does this have something to do with your father?"

"Is it because of your father that you want to bring Zhurong back?"

"Yes... no..."

Xu Jin seemed to have fallen into some kind of confusion. Lin Xu did not dare provoke him further and could only soothe him.

"Okay, okay."

"Let's stop here. We won't talk about this anymore."

"Look at the materials. Here, look at the information in these two documents."

"I have a lot of questions to discuss with you. Help me take a look, okay?"

The moment he finished speaking, Xu Jin's expression abruptly calmed.

He picked up the documents and said:

"These two documents are incomplete. I need a lot of equipment to conduct tests."

"The temperature-control process for liquid molding is a major issue. We need more precise temperature-control equipment."

"Oh, right. We should use fully automated production..."

Xu Jin instantly immersed himself in it.

Lin Xu breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, he still had ways to keep him under control.

Still, the collaboration ahead probably would not go so smoothly.

But it did not matter. As long as he held the largest share of the patents, he could at least get things started smoothly on Skyvault Technology's side...

Two hours later.

Lin Xu had finally finished discussing everything that needed to be discussed with Xu Jin, and the latter's emotions had stabilized as well.

After once again warning Xu Jin not to mention this meeting to anyone for the time being or disclose any information about the documents in advance, or he might bear legal liability, Lin Xu sent him back to the Jinling University campus.

Watching Xu Jin walk unsteadily toward the teaching building, Lin Xu finally relaxed.

His jinx of a mouth was truly something else.

Dealing with a genius like this was absolutely exhausting.

Maybe later, he really should consult a professional doctor and find out how to communicate with Xu Jin more efficiently.

Otherwise, if Xu Jin pulled something like this every time they met and Lin Xu asked a question he had not expected, there would be no way to get any work done.

Still, this conversation had yielded results.

Not only had they settled the contract and patent-rights issues, but he had also obtained a crucial piece of information.

Xu Jin wanted to go to Mars, and it was definitely connected to Zhurong—perhaps to his father as well.

He had some special obsession with that Mars probe. If Lin Xu wanted to understand his motive, he would probably first have to learn more about Zhurong's design details.

I'll look up the information when I get back.

Lin Xu turned and got into the car that had come to pick him up, but he did not notice that Xu Jin, ahead of him, had not entered the teaching building...

Several hours later.

Zhongshan, Jinling Cadre Convalescent Hospital.

Xu Jin walked through the convalescent hospital's long corridor. Light of alternating brightness shone from windows concealed behind curtains, casting his blurred shadow onto the imitation Roman columns.

He took two hundred and forty-one steps before stopping in front of a door bearing a red character for good fortune.

Xu Jin's movements grew distorted again. He twisted his neck nervously, flexed his wrists, opened and closed his fingers, then reached up and grabbed his hair.

The string of movements revealed the anxiety in his heart. After hesitating for a long time, he finally pushed open the door, which had not been fully shut.

Inside the room, a caregiver in a plain-colored uniform sat beside the hospital bed. She carefully lifted the patient's thin arm and gently massaged the slackened muscles and skin on his back to prevent bedsores caused by prolonged confinement to bed.

Seeing Xu Jin enter, the caregiver nodded slightly at him and then said softly:

"Professor Xu is in very good condition today. All his vital signs have stabilized."

"He only just fell asleep, so I..."

"I'm still awake."

The man in the hospital bed suddenly opened his eyes. The instant he saw Xu Jin, a trace of gentleness appeared in his gaze.

"You're here?"

"How was school today?"

"...Very good, Dad."

Xu Jin lowered his head slightly and sat beside Xu Qianlin.

"I did the radio calisthenics and read books."

"I've received my acceptance notice from the Materials Research Institute. I'll be starting work there soon."

"And I'm planning to do something else too. There's been progress with those two materials I was researching before."

"Dad, I'll help the country build the rocket."

"Then we can go to Mars, and I'll bring Zhurong back..."

"Don't think about so much."

Xu Qianlin raised a hand and interrupted Xu Jin.

"Being able to launch it up there is already enough. Whether we can bring it back is not important."

"Dad is old, and my body is failing too."

"Dad stopped thinking about these things a long time ago. You can forget what Dad told you before."

"You need to live your own life well. Study hard and work hard."

"If you have the chance, remember to serve the country."

"Do you understand?"

"I understand."

Xu Jin nodded heavily.

Xu Qianlin caught his breath and continued:

"Zhurong is not that important. What happened to it may not necessarily be as meaningful as we think."

"The universe is too vast. There is still far too much we do not know."

"Maybe what it encountered was merely an accidental, random fluctuation."

"Just like when you were little, you did not know why wheels turned or why the wind blew. But as you grew up, you gradually came to understand."

"Time will give us the answers."

"Don't force it, understand?"

"...I understand."

Xu Jin nodded at first, but then he suddenly spoke again.

"But I want to try, Dad."

"You can, of course you can."

Xu Qianlin stroked Xu Jin's head.

"But take care of your health, and be careful to tell things apart. Don't let anyone deceive you."

"Okay, Dad needs to rest a little longer."

"Your mother is cooking in the kitchen. Go help her."

"Okay, Dad."

Xu Jin stood up and obediently walked out the door.

After the ward door closed, Xu Qianlin's gaze changed as well.

He beckoned the caregiver over, then said:

"Look into this child."

"Something was off about him today."

"Check whether he met anyone or came into contact with any prohibited information."

"Help me submit a request to the organization."

"Xu Jin's security protection level needs to be raised appropriately, and as soon as possible."

"When I still had the ability, I could watch over him myself."

"Now that I no longer can, the country will have to protect him."

"Understood."

The caregiver nodded.

"What do you think the issue might be? If I report it, it will help them quickly identify the problem and the security gap."

"I don't know."

Xu Qianlin shook his head.

"This child keeps talking about materials. It looks like he has made some progress."

"But I know my son. No matter how intelligent he is, his progress could not possibly have been that fast."

"Perhaps his work researching those two materials caught someone's attention, and they passed him some information."

"Maybe those people want to use this child... But at a time like this, anyone coming to his door is most likely a swindler."

"Go take a look."

"If they really are swindlers..."

"Arrest them at once, and make an example of them!"