Chapter 84

After dinner, Jiao Ma went out to dance with some female teachers from the compound at the school gymnasium; Jiao Yuan and Xiong Xiong and the others went to play basketball, and they are expected to come back with Jiao Ma in the evening. Xiao Youzi was also taken along by Jiao Yuan; Jiao Ma said to let her have more contact with the children in the compound, and her classmates Yue Lisha and Xie Xin also went over to play, so the gymnasium area is still quite lively tonight.

The Jiao family only has Jiao Ba and Zheng Tan; Jiao Ba today seems not in a particularly good mood, looking preoccupied; as for Zheng Tan, he couldn't be bothered to go out, still thinking about Zhuo Xiao Mao's matter this afternoon.

Zheng Tan lay bored on the sofa, glanced at the bedroom side, and saw that although Jiao Ba had the computer on, he wasn't sorting out papers or the like, but was again reading that collection of Mr. Zhou's works.

Zheng Tan ran over and jumped onto the desk, took a look, and saw that Jiao Ba was currently reading "Hot Wind".

Noticing Zheng Tan's approach, Jiao Ba lifted his head, glanced at the cat stretching its neck, and smiled, saying, "How about it? Interested?"

Zheng Tan drew back his neck; many of those articles he couldn't understand, his realm hadn't reached that level, and reading them was tiring.

Jiao Ba suddenly thought of something, set the collection down on the desk, then looked at Zheng Tan and said, "Hei Tan, now it's just the two of us—let's have a chat."

Zheng Tan made an embarrassed face; if he could speak, why wait until now?

However, it was obvious that Jiao Ba's "having a chat" merely meant letting Zheng Tan listen, on his part.

Sometimes, after a secret has been bottled up inside for too long, one especially wishes to find someone to confide in; but if too many people know the secret, that's not good either, and a cat that cannot speak makes an ideal listener.

"Do you know about Project A?" Jiao Ba said.

As Zheng Tan was about to jump down from the desk and leave, his steps halted; his ears perked up straight. He retreated back, resettled into a crouch on the desk, and assumed a listening posture.

Jiao Ba rubbed his forehead and said, "If 'Fo Ye' brings Zhuo Xiao Mao over again in the future, please keep her company a bit more. After all, whether Xiao Zhuo will return safely is still uncertain."

Zheng Tan still didn't quite grasp Jiao Ba's words, but he gave no reaction, continuing to sit obediently and listen to what Jiao Ba would say next.

"Although many people think Xiao Zhuo went abroad to join the project, and the school says so too, that's actually not the case. Perhaps some people with seniority similar to 'Fo Ye' might know a bit, but they certainly wouldn't speak of it. Xiao Zhuo participated in Project A. It's a very secret project. Participants not only need to pass identity file review, but also undergo ability testing, and sign a confidentiality agreement. I'm not very familiar with it; this is what I heard from my former advisor, Old Master Yuan, when he was drunk. At that time, he happened to know a professor from the physics college who had joined that project. Old Master Yuan was quite emotionally agitated and couldn't hold his tongue. Later, after sobering up, he made us swear not to mention it to anyone. However, you don't count as a person, so I'm telling you this."

Zheng Tan: "……"

"Not a person? That's like a dagger to the heart. However, Zheng Tan indeed is not a person now, which is an indisputable fact."

"'Old Master Yuan used to joke that people who take part in such projects are the 'special forces' of the scientific research field, carrying out 'missions' with great risk; the reason 'Fo Ye' has been in low spirits all along is because she cannot be sure whether Xiao Zhuo will return safely after completing the project.'"

Zheng Tan also felt somewhat heavy; speaking frankly, he truly hopes Xiao Zhuo will come back unharmed, and he also doesn't want her to participate in this whatever project.

"'When we first learned of such projects back then, we actually felt some resistance in our hearts, but after thinking it over, the existence of such projects surely has its own significance. Those projects could not be made public, at least not in recent years, and many things, once disclosed, would surely provoke public dissatisfaction; however, from a higher perspective, their existence is necessary. Around the world, many countries have their own secret research projects; while they publicly oppose xx research, in secret the projects are actually underway. Biochemical, nuclear warfare—these are just the parts the public knows about.'"

"'Furthermore, in the life sciences field there are also human clones, cross‑species embryo research, etc., which are actually permitted within those projects; otherwise many technologies in this world would not have developed so quickly. The extraterrestrials that people often talk about might actually have come from there…'"

"Listening to Jiao Ba's words, Zheng Tan felt a chill down his spine, having always thought such things were only from sci‑fi films, but they might actually be real?"

"'Do you know what geophysical weapons are? Someone once said that weather control is even more important than the atomic bomb. For example, the artificial storm technology invented by the KGB in the 1970s could suddenly alter a region's climate to suit battlefield needs. Perhaps one day, after this technology is improved, it could directly generate hurricanes; or perhaps, without our knowing, such technology has already existed.'"

"'The importance of a project is actually positively correlated with its danger under certain macro conditions. Speaking broadly, national defense technology, national security, and technological development actually rely on these projects. Domestic research institutes and universities are numerous, with many professors and associate professors, but those who truly delve into them know that a lot of research data are fabricated. It follows that relying on these makes it hard to meet the country's genuine needs.'"

"'These projects are actually not that far removed from public view; it's just that everyone is unaware of them. Take aerospace, for instance—it's certainly not the mere prestige project many imagine; it involves many secrets, and few can fully describe them.'"

"Jiao Ba lifted his water cup and took a sip; seeing Zheng Tan looking stiff and bewildered, he smiled and tapped Zheng Tan's head, saying, 'Talking about all this is too distant; let's change the angle. The reason Xiao Zhuo decided to join this project may have other factors, but part of it is surely for Zhuo Xiao Mao. As a benefit for those who participate with their lives, participants receive some compensation—fame is impossible, given the project's secrecy—but they can obtain many conveniences others cannot, such as files.'"

"'Take Zhuo Xiao Mao, for example; if things stayed as they are now, what would his personal file say later? Father unknown, mother unmarried? That would surely invite criticism. Our country, although reformed and opened, has seen people's thoughts loosen considerably, but the influence of thousands of years of rites and etiquette remains, so when judging people we still tend to add some color. However, because of Xiao Zhuo, Zhuo Xiao Mao's file will be different—perhaps the father's column will be filled with a real person who sacrificed for scientific work, or perhaps something else will be arranged; in any case, those files will be 'genuine,' able to withstand verification, and also legally recognized.'"

Zheng Tan lowered his head; these matters are indeed heavy. It's hard for Jiao Ba to have kept them bottled up for so long.

Indeed. Ordinary people's lives are actually quite happy; they don't need to know those behind‑the‑scenes matters, nor face those truths that could shatter their worldviews.

Being an ordinary person, being an ordinary cat—the world is still wonderful.

"'Actually…' Jiao Ba recalled something else."

Zheng Tan really wanted to cover his ears; he guessed Jiao Ba was about to say something that would ruin his beautiful inner world. Yet curiosity got the better of him, and he didn't move.

"'Actually, I think our institute should also have a quota. But there's no one whose situation resembles Xiao Zhuo's; those few who went abroad were all either seeking professional titles or genuinely taking part in domestic‑international cooperative projects. So I suspect that some past incident caused the institute to lose its quota, leaving it unqualified to send participants.'"

Some past incident?

Zheng Tan's focus is not on the so‑called secret project quota, which he isn't interested in; he merely wants to know what exactly happened in the institute back then.

When speaking of 'what happened before,' Jiao Ba grew somewhat solemn; after Zheng Tan had waited impatiently for a while, he finally spoke again.

"'I heard that earlier, someone in the institute conducted a study secretly from the others, and in the end, the three professors involved in that research ended up with one dead and two injured, caused by the 'results' they had produced. The test items all had the prefix 'cfh' in their code, and later those in the know called it the 'cfh incident.' This is also what Old Master Yuan told me; afterward the school and higher authorities suppressed it, disposing of those 'results.' Many teachers at our school don't know about this; they only know there was once a research accident, but they don't know exactly what happened.'"

Zheng Tan was quite eager to know what the so‑called 'cfh' meant, but at that moment Jiao Ma returned with Jiao Yuan and Xiao Youzi.

After Jiao Ba had spoken out the things he had kept bottled up, he seemed much more relaxed; even though the cat before him couldn't speak and probably wouldn't understand even if it listened, it didn't matter—he was just using it as a 'tree hole' to vent.

At this moment, this 'tree hole' gentleman lay unusually dejected on the desk, lifted his paw and knocked the collection of Mr. Zhou's works, which had been placed on the desk surface, onto the floor. Not satisfied, he knocked over a second volume.

Before Zheng Tan could knock over the teacup, Jiao Yuan ran over to boast to him how many baskets he had scored today against Xiong Xiong and the others.

Zheng Tan had no mood to listen to his bragging; he ran to the living‑room sofa, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.

Over the next few days, Zheng Tan's mood remained poor; before mealtime, the long‑unseen Wei Leng drove over in his car—tomorrow is the weekend, and Wei Leng having nothing else to do, came to the compound to invite Zheng Tan to go play at Ye Lou.

Since there was nothing else to do, Zheng Tan just went along.

Zheng Tan came here not only to relax but also to check on how A Jin and the others were doing.

Since A Jin and the others were discharged from the hospital, they have been working at the northern section of Ye Lou, carrying plates, and the five of them are still quite happy about it. I heard they rented a house nearby and also kept a dog; the dog was picked up by A Jin from the road, its leg is a bit lame, but A Jin and the other four treat the dog very well.

In Ye Lou, Ye Hao and the others are absent; only a stranger‑like manager is looking after the place.

Ye Hao and the others have seemed busy lately; several times Zheng Tan came here he didn't see them. Ye Hao also didn't let Wei Leng interfere, and Wei Leng didn't ask much; when bored, he would drop by for a small drink, while Zheng Tan nibbled peanuts and other snacks nearby. After eating and drinking his fill, Wei Leng would then send Zheng Tan back.

Returning from Ye Lou at night, as Zheng Tan entered the compound, he heard Peanut Candy calling; having finally waited until evening to come out, he was preparing to go fight again. (To be continued…)

ps: 【This line's word count is not included in the v chapter】

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