A Home… Built on Secrets

This was the second time today that Ye Qing had walked through the door of this villa.
To enter the same door with two completely different moods within such a short time—one single evening—truly felt strange.

With the welcome over, Hadi opened the villa’s door and walked in first.
Then Lin Yuxuan, holding Chenlian’s other free hand, crossed the entrance together with Fuzi.
Since the villa’s door was wide enough to accommodate four people walking side by side, the three entered together.
Ye Qing brought up the rear, walking in last.

Ye Qing turned around and casually closed the large door, then subconsciously looked down at the feet of the three who had just entered.
[They’re still wearing their shoes after all!]
But among the three, one pair of feet wearing pink slippers was especially conspicuous.
Chenlian’s snow-white little feet had been through a lot outside and were now quite dirty.

[I really don’t know what to say about her…]
Ye Qing sighed helplessly and walked past the entrance.

The lights inside were already on—Hadi must have turned them on when he went in.
The first time he had stepped into this house, he had been very nervous.
Now, for some reason, there was a warm, cozy atmosphere.
That aside… [What exactly did we come here for?]
He would have to ask Lin Yuxuan about that. At the very least, the main business was already done.

Fuzi bent down, bringing her face level with Chenlian’s, and said to her with a smile,
“Chenlian, go take a bath first!”
Then, with a half-scolding expression, she said, “Look at you, all dirty from being outside!”
She gently flicked Chenlian’s forehead with her middle finger.

Chenlian lowered her head and apologized sincerely, “I’m sorry!”

Fuzi straightened up and gently stroked Chenlian’s head.
“Good that you know. Come on, go take your bath.”

“Mm!”
Chenlian’s dejected mood lifted. She smiled and nodded in response.

“I’ll bathe with Chenlian! I’m all sweaty too!”
Lin Yuxuan suddenly spoke up, theatrically gripping her already sweat-dampened school uniform.

“Yuxuan! What are you saying? Do you have a change of clothes?”
Ye Qing slightly raised his voice to stop her.
He understood Lin Yuxuan’s desire to help Chenlian, but without at least a change of clothes, it was definitely impossible.

Lin Yuxuan, caught off guard by Ye Qing’s question, seemed to only just realize the problem and lowered her head in disappointment.

To this problem, Fuzi smiled and offered a solution.
“For clothes, you can use mine. After all, Chenlian doesn’t have her own clothes either.”

Ye Qing was taken aback for a moment, then came back to his senses and scratched his head awkwardly.
“You’re right. After all, Sister Fuzi is here!”
The atmosphere suddenly became a bit strained.

After a brief silence, Fuzi suddenly seemed to think of something and clapped her hands.
“Oh! You must be hungry. I’ll go cook something!”
Then she turned to Chenlian and Lin Yuxuan.
“You two go bathe first. I’ll bring clothes over in a little while!”

“Mm! Chenlian, let’s go!”
Lin Yuxuan nodded to Fuzi and led Chenlian by the hand up the stairs.

“Um, Sister Fuzi!”
Ye Qing called out to Fuzi, who was about to leave.

“Hm? What is it, Ye Qing?”
Fuzi turned her head and asked with a smile.

“Do you usually not take off your shoes here?”
Ye Qing asked, a little embarrassed.

“Huh!”
Fuzi seemed surprised, as if she had never thought about that question.

“I mean, if you usually don’t take off your shoes, doesn’t the floor get dirty easily?”
Seeing that Fuzi still looked like she didn’t know what he was talking about, Ye Qing explained further.

“Ah~!”
Fuzi finally seemed to understand. Then she gave Ye Qing a wry smile.
“Well, actually, I never really noticed that!”

[Huh? You really never noticed?]

“Because Dr. Hadi and I rarely come back here. We spend more time at the hospital’s research institute.
Even when we do come back, we only stay for a very short time. So I never paid much attention to that sort of thing.”

[Alright. Say no more. I now understand the current state of this household very well.]
Ye Qing sighed.
“Well, this might be meddling of me to say, but I think you should pay more attention to it from now on. Because…”
Ye Qing didn’t finish the sentence, deliberately pausing there.

“Mm~! I understand. I’ll pay more attention from now on!”
Fuzi nodded as if she understood, then smiled and thanked Ye Qing.
“Thank you, Ye Qing!”

“No, it’s nothing!”
Ye Qing scratched his head again, a little embarrassed, then suddenly remembered something.
“Where’s Dr. Hadi?”
He hadn’t seen Hadi since they entered.

“Hadi should be through the door at the back of the living room.”

Ye Qing nodded slightly to show he understood, and Fuzi turned to go about her business.

Following the living room further in, there was a white-painted wooden door in a relatively hidden spot.
Ye Qing knocked lightly.

“Come in!”
Hadi’s voice came from inside immediately. Ye Qing respectfully opened the door.

First to come into view was a white hospital bed and various medical instruments.
Hadi was sitting at the desk on the left, working on a computer.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, Hadi looked up.
“Oh! Is that you, Ye Qing?”

“Dr. Hadi, I have some questions I’d like to ask you.”
Ye Qing casually sat down across from the doctor and spoke to Hadi.

“Mm~, go ahead and ask whatever’s on your mind, young lad!”
Hadi continued working on his computer as he spoke.

Ye Qing took a breath and voiced the question in his heart.
“Is there something wrong with Chenlian’s speech?”

Hadi stopped working and looked seriously at Ye Qing.
“There’s nothing wrong with Chenlian’s pronunciation. I examined her earlier.
I think the reason Chenlian can’t speak fluently is that her brain isn’t used to it yet.”
Hadi paused, then continued explaining.
“How should I put this…? It’s a bit like a newborn baby. That might be going too far.
Simply put, her brain can’t fully process the newly formed organs yet.”

“You mean she’ll be fine after some time?”

“Yes,” Hadi affirmed flatly.

“Then can you tell me about that drug?”
Ye Qing breathed a sigh of relief, then asked the doctor seriously.

“I’d rather not, but that’s probably impossible, isn’t it?”
Hadi sighed, then continued.
“First, let me tell you about my mutation rate. It’s 20%.”

Ye Qing didn’t show any surprise, but continued listening calmly to the doctor’s words.

“But strangely enough, my mutation rate stays steady at that value.
By definition, I’m not a Variant. Under normal circumstances, I’m no different from an ordinary person.”

“Doctor, did you experiment on your own body?”
Ye Qing suddenly voiced his calm inquiry.

“Mm, yes,” Hadi confirmed.
Then, with some interest, he asked Ye Qing,
“Can you tell me how you came to that conclusion?”

“Because when you used that drug, you didn’t hesitate at all.
If you hadn’t confirmed the drug’s effects beforehand, you wouldn’t have been so certain about what was going to happen next.”
Ye Qing calmly gave his explanation.

“Very impressive, young lad!”
Hadi offered his plain praise, then let out a soft sigh.
“This drug is actually a failed byproduct from researching drugs that inhibit mutated cells.
As for why it’s considered a failure—you probably already know. Because its effect isn’t inhibition but promotion.
That said, its effect only lasts for five minutes, but it’s very strong. It can raise the mutation rate by 20% in a short time.
Since my current mutation rate is 20%, when it reaches 40%, my body undergoes mutation.
In my case, it’s muscle enhancement. As you saw, I turn into a giant.
But after the effect wears off, the mutated cells decay and die, and my mutation rate returns to its original level.”

“Are there any side effects?”

“After the effect ends, there’s a brief period of weakness. During that time, I can’t move and need some time to rest.”