Chapter 20

Doctor Zhen's solitary ways and germophobia stemmed from psychological trauma planted during his middle school years.

Doctor Zhen would not demand that others help him or anything like that, but he truly could not control his emotions. He had long since lost any sense of camaraderie with those so-called former classmates.

In fact, Doctor Zhen had studied day and night back then so that one day he could get into the best university in the country and cut all ties with the people at that school. Doctor Zhen could barely remember what he had gone through, because most of those memories had been unpleasant, save for an unfinished exchange written on a desk.

Chengnan No. 1 High School used a small-group approach for English classes. A class of forty students would be divided into two groups of twenty during English lessons. Half the students remained in the classroom, while the other half had to head to a dedicated English classroom.

But the English classrooms were essentially shared. One period might be used by half the students from Class One, and the next by half the students from Class Two, much like the computer lab or chemistry laboratory. When students lost focus in class, most liked to scribble or draw on the desktops, and the next group of students might see those creations.

You wrote one sentence, and they replied with another. Back and forth, a youthful story began.

Even in Doctor Zhen's lonely school life, there had once been such a dramatic, youthful story. However, they had not written on the desktops, but on the wall behind the radiator. It was well hidden, a secret that belonged only to the two of them.

The other person would probably never know that just a few simple words had given Doctor Zhen immense courage and allowed him to keep going.

However, for various reasons, Doctor Zhen had never managed to gather the courage to meet that person. By the time they reached their final year of high school, they had completely lost contact. Yet Doctor Zhen had never truly let them go. He would look at every person he met and involuntarily think, You're wonderful, but you're not them.

That was also why Doctor Zhen had initially agreed to attend the Class Reunion. Although he disliked his former classmates, he still wanted to find that person. It was not that he necessarily wanted anything to develop between them. He merely wanted to resolve a lingering knot in his heart.

Falling in love with someone did not necessarily mean they had to be especially beautiful or outstanding.

Perhaps it was only because they had appeared at exactly the right time.

When he needed them most.

Doctor Zhen had never previously suspected that this person was one of his own classmates, because theoretically, they could only have been a student from another class who came to the English classroom. But he had never found anyone who fit the criteria. Later, he obtained a few clues and narrowed the scope down to his own class.

Zhen Liu, meanwhile, had received a hint from the side quest: the person Doctor Zhen secretly loved was probably among the other four suspects.

Although Zhen Liu had rejected this love-struck task from the very beginning, he had still made a simple assessment of everyone present.

Back then, Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao had both been poor students, the sort who would never have gone to the English classroom. Basketball Qiao had spent most of his time chasing his basketball dreams, while Second-generation Zhao skipped school every few days and willingly served as an ATM out in society, surrounded by a group of little thugs who opened their mouths with "Young Master Zhao" and closed them with "brotherhood."

Therefore, the only likely candidates left were Lawyer Jin and Professor Lu.

And after Zhen Liu began to suspect that Professor Lu's side quest was connected to him, he felt the possibility that Doctor Zhen was secretly in love with Professor Lu had dropped to the absolute minimum.

After all, this was a game that needed to link every character together, wasn't it?

Doctor Zhen hated Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao, while Professor Lu was secretly in love with Doctor Zhen. Doctor Zhen only lacked a connection with Lawyer Jin. And that connection would most likely be filled by Doctor Zhen's secret love actually being Lawyer Jin. They could not really leave Lawyer Jin as an orphan card, could they?

Besides, only love and hate intertwined could explain the hesitation and choice in the side quest. The side quest let the player decide whether to protect the person they secretly loved at the end.

Pineapple Head, the player known as Student Zhen, had already made up his mind to give up on this relationship.

Over there, Lawyer Jin still knew nothing and was waiting for Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao to explain themselves.

"Yes, I do live here." Basketball Qiao admitted it openly. There was no point denying it anyway; Second-generation Zhao had already exposed him. However, this was not a secret he absolutely had to protect in his side quest. "But it wasn't Second-generation Zhao who provided the place. It was the victim. That was also why I had always been running errands for the victim. I needed a favor from him."

Lawyer Jin folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. Basketball Qiao's explanation did make sense, but: "Then why did Second-generation Zhao hide it for you, if the two of you had no connection?"

"How would I know?" Basketball Qiao's answer was extremely fitting for his character. He did not put much thought into things.

Second-generation Zhao had listened for a long while, apparently pondering something. Now, he finally managed to cut in. "Ying De had something on me and repeatedly threatened me. One of his demands was that I provide him with a place to stay. At the time, I didn't know what he wanted the place for. Of course, now I do. He wanted to use my family's villa to curry favor, while all the benefits, inside and out, went to him. I didn't want you to focus on Ying De threatening me, so I only concealed Basketball Qiao's situation."

"What kind of leverage could a rich Second Generation possibly have?"

Second-generation Zhao fell silent, wearing an expression that said, "If you can't find evidence, then I don't have to answer." Lawyer Jin could do nothing about him. Still, although Lawyer Jin had asked, he knew there were many ways to blackmail a wealthy Second Generation. Sex, gambling, and drugs were the most obvious ones.

After Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao, it was Professor Lu and Doctor Zhen's turn.

When Lawyer Jin faced Zhen Liu, his tone became somewhat more normal. After all, it was Zhen Liu who had proposed the theory that the killer had sabotaged things, and Lawyer Jin was grateful that Zhen Liu had kept him from completely losing his reason. "I haven't found much evidence regarding Doctor Zhen, but I suspect his leverage has something to do with a failed surgery or a doctor-patient relationship."