Abnormal brain waves

Little Lin Xingye took out the small scissors he had salvaged from his little backpack and, with Bo Xi guiding and helping him, cut and untied the ropes binding him.

Soon, they had helped untie everyone else as well.

Little Lin Xingye pulled the stolen key and the wire he had picked up out of his pocket and handed them to Cheng Yu.

He had been locked up elsewhere with the other children. Their guard had been too lax-or rather, he hadn't taken them seriously because they were children-and had even dozed off while watching them.

Little Lin Xingye had quietly wriggled free of his loosely tied ropes, stolen the key, and let the other children escape.

Everyone had slipped out through the back because they heard those people apparently talking to their parents, who were locked in a standoff with them outside.

They had been brought in through the front door. At the back, there was only a moderately sized hole, too small for adults to squeeze through but big enough for children, and no one had noticed it.

Little Lin Xingye had shown them the way, and they had all taken off. He had meant to leave too, but he still didn't know where his younger sister, little Bo Xi, or the others were.

He had run back inside and discovered many small, interconnected holes. He didn't know how they had come to be there, but he happened to fit through them.

So he told little Cheng Yu that he didn't know whether the key would open the door, but he remembered that little Cheng Yu was very clever and had secretly taught himself how to pick locks with wire.

Little Cheng Yu: ...I only learned that to show off.

Little Cheng Yu had even demonstrated it for them before, so he believed little Cheng Yu could get everyone out.

But there were still a lot of people outside. He walked over to the little hole and said he would lure them away. Little Bo Xi objected, but he and the others were already too tall at the time to squeeze through it.

And none of the other children dared to go.

Smiling, little Lin Xingye placed his sobbing sister's hand in little Bo Xi's. "Xixi, protect my sister for me. I'll protect all of you!"

With that, he charged through the little hole without looking back.

He succeeded. All the other children escaped, but he was caught. Unable to find anyone else, the furious kidnapper hurled him away.

His head slammed hard into the wall. It hurt terribly, and he couldn't remember anything after that.

When he woke up again, he had lost his memory.

After that incident, all the children whose families could afford it were sent abroad by their parents.

Apparently, several of the kidnappers had escaped, and their parents feared they would return and take revenge on the children.

He didn't know whether they had ever been caught.

Why had I suddenly remembered something from my childhood...?

Had I hit my head again? Oh, right. I think I was in a car accident.

"Ah..."

The nurse checking his blood pressure heard him and hurried to call the doctor.

"Lin Xingye! Are you all right? Do you recognize me?" An Shi hadn't left the hospital since the surgery, staying on duty the entire time.

Lin Xingye couldn't quite make out his face, but he heard his voice clearly. "Where's Qi Sijing?"

An Shi turned his face away, a little annoyed. "Is he all you care about? If it weren't for him, you wouldn't even have..."

[It had nothing to do with him. It was clearly Qin Ke.]

An Shi's complaint stopped short. This incident had something to do with Qin Ke too?

Could his reach really extend this far?

Never mind whether he had anything to do with it-no one would have even thought to connect him to it.

An Shi stroked his head. "Don't think about that now. You're not feeling uncomfortable anywhere, are you?"

He gave a small shake of his head.

An Shi said, "Good. Once the observation period is over in a few hours, we'll transfer you to a regular ward."

None of the others had left after the surgery ended last night. They had only agreed to go home once they were told everything was stable for now.

And sure enough, the moment An Shi came out, he saw that they had all returned first thing in the morning, carrying breakfast.

Seeing the anxiety still written all over their faces, An Shi went over and told them, "They're both awake. Don't worry. We'll move them out in a few hours."

Mother Lin wiped her eyes, swollen and red from crying. "Thank you so much, Shi. Do they need something to eat? Can they have some porridge?"

He shook his head. "Once they're out, they can start having a little liquid food. They can't eat anything yet."

"But you should all go home and get some rest."

They knew they were exhausted after staying up half the night. If they were too sleepy to care for the two once they came out, they would only cause more trouble, so they obediently went home.

Only Bo Xi and Cheng Yu stubbornly refused to leave.

An Shi called them into his office.

"Star said Qin Ke was behind this too." An Shi got straight to the point, taking out the materials he had compiled earlier.

Bo Xi had only recently heard about Cheng Yu getting into a fight with Lin Xingye at the restaurant. He had found it suspicious too, but mostly he was furious, so he had planned to go straight to Cheng Yu's place when he had time.

And beat him up.

His punches would definitely hurt far more than Star's.

So there had been more to it after all.

Bo Xi cast Cheng Yu a casual glance. "You fell for it that easily? You deserved what you got. You had that beating coming."

Cheng Yu: foreigner giving the middle finger.jpg

Ignoring their habit of bickering, An Shi took out several test reports. "Take a look."

The two picked up the sheets and studied them earnestly for a long while.

In the end, they reached one conclusion.

-they couldn't understand a thing.

Both turned their knowledge-hungry gazes straight toward An Shi.

An Shi: ...

"Look at the names. These are the brain wave test reports for you, Qi Sijing, and Hu Kai."

Cheng Yu found that strange. "Why test our brain waves? There's nothing wrong with my head, is there?"

Bo Xi pointed at one spot. "Here-is this what normal brain waves look like?"

He shook his head. "No. That's precisely the problem. Generally speaking, abnormal brain waves are more commonly seen in epilepsy patients."

"But you clearly don't have epilepsy. Besides, these brain waves don't match any human type. I've never seen anything like them."

He took out another report. "I ran one for Star yesterday too. Look-Star's brain waves are normal, whereas several of you have a segment of extremely similar brain waves."

"They look very much like normal brain waves, but there are still differences. Hu Kai's are somewhat different from yours, too. Although the shapes match, his are considerably more active."

"I tested Qi Sijing twice, once at the banquet and once last night. I could see that his abnormal brain waves had become less active and shorter. They appear to be disappearing."

An Shi had explained it very clearly, but they couldn't exactly drag some random person over for a brain wave test without a reason.

Bo Xi thought for a moment. "What made you suspect this in the first place?"

He had no intention of hiding it from them. "I originally just planned to use them for research. It was an accidental discovery, really, since you all came to me for checkups."

Cheng Yu: ?

Ever since An Shi had started studying medicine, he had used them as test subjects, and he never seemed to tire of it.

That was why almost none of them were foolish enough to go to him for a checkup. This time, they had practically delivered themselves to his door.

It was funny to think about. They still remembered how, when he had first started medical school, he had come home for summer break and cornered them, saying he had finished studying reproductive system diseases and wanted to examine them.

Qi Sijing had nearly thought he had gone mad, but in the end, he really had only collected data to take back and study.

Originally, Qi Sijing had been the only idiot to suffer, but then he decided he couldn't be the only one to lose out and tricked Cheng Yu into coming over too.

The more Cheng Yu thought about it, the angrier he got, so he tricked Bo Xi into coming over. The two of them pinned him down while spouting some bullshit.

Something about good brothers sharing hardship but keeping good fortune to themselves.

In the end, all three were disgruntled enough to make the culprit suffer too.

And afterward, An Shi actually blamed them for collecting inaccurate data.

So after that, none of them ever dared to ask An Shi for any kind of checkup again.

One thing had truly led to another, leaving everyone with an unforgettable experience.