Soul Patch

Chapter 272 Ten years ago? Impossible!

Only God knows?

"That sounds so far-fetched, it's basically just baseless talk..." The young man called John's face darkened, and he said in broken Chinese, "I hope nothing goes wrong this time!"

Whether it was because his Chinese was too poor or because his attitude had changed, his words sounded very harsh to Zhao Jingshu, and seemed to carry a blaming tone.

She was displeased and said coldly, "You only remembered me after you ruined the whole plan... We can only try anything as a last resort."

“Sima what?” John asked, frowning.

He clearly didn't understand the idiom.

This is indeed a bit difficult for a foreigner... Zhao Jingshu smiled.

Her tone softened: "Don't worry, I guarantee that it will be implemented as planned within three days."

"You can return to your America to report back in less than a week."

"Three days?"

He rubbed his deep blue eyes and yawned twice: "Jon, Lucy, and I have been busy with these set designs for a week now."

Are we supposed to stay here and monitor the surveillance for three days straight?

After saying that, he sat down, picked up the coffee pot on the table, and prepared to have a cup to keep him going.

But they discovered that the coffee pot was empty.

"Oh shit," he said irritably, slamming the kettle down.

The action was rude; the bottom of the kettle hit the heating element with a sharp crack. He said impatiently, "Sorry."

This is just Western business etiquette, not a real apology.

Zhao Jingshu ignored him. If they failed again this time, none of them would be able to leave this place alive.

She returned to the monitor screen, and the girl leaned closer to it softly asked, "How is it? Is anything unusual?"

"Just fall asleep."

The girl responded wearily.

There was no subject, no object; staring at the screen had already exhausted her energy, and she was too lazy to say another word.

The girl with long blonde hair and light brown eyes is named Lisa.

John and his friends like to call her Freckle Sister because she has a patch of freckles around her eyes. This doesn't affect her looks too much; on the contrary, it makes her look approachable and lovely.

"Then you should get some sleep too!"

Zhao Jingshu patted her on the back as she spoke: "You and John take a nap for a while, the assistant and I will keep an eye on things."

After saying that, the two looked together towards the center of the room, where several chairs were placed. John was sitting in one of the chairs, leaning against the back and asleep.

The two smiled at each other. Lisa slowly got up and rubbed her lower back... She had been sitting in front of the monitor for too long, and her whole body ached.

She went over and nudged John, who suddenly woke up... The two of them walked out listlessly.

After the two left the room, Zhao Jingshu locked the door again from the inside and nudged her assistant, who was dozing off at the table.

The assistant sat bolt upright and blurted out, "Professor Zhao... what happened?"

"Keep a close eye on this man named Wenjie. If you discover anything, tell me!"

Oh, nothing happened! That's good... The assistant snapped out of her daze and nodded vigorously.

Zhao Jingshu pulled up the hypnosis recording of her conversation with Jiang Wen on her phone, pressed play, and listened to it carefully, word by word.

……

This is where?

How did I get here?
The cell phone under my pillow was brand new, and it only had one unknown number saved in it.

Unless the phone receives a call or text message, it cannot provide any information at this time.

He didn't plan to dial that unknown number at three or four in the morning... otherwise people would call him crazy.

The naked man next to them clearly knew what they were going to do.

Thinking about this, Wenjie suddenly realized a possibility: Could it be in the system tasks?
No, he quickly gave the answer.

The system lit up the moment the thought crossed his mind. [No online tasks available.]

[Do you want to go to my profile page?]

Wenjie sighed and silently logged out of the system.

This is where?

How did I get here?
In the dark room, Wenjie's mind was filled with these two questions, along with countless fragments of memories...

He focused his mind and tried hard to recall what had happened to him, attempting to piece together fragments of memory to understand the ins and outs of the situation:
He returned to his old house in the south of the city and saw a mysterious message in his notebook, telling him to save Yang Shanshan quickly.

After being attacked at the entrance of the Second Precinct, he ran to Zhao Xiaolong's information desk for help.

When Zhao Xiaolong learned that someone had kidnapped him, he called the police on his behalf.

An officer from the Second Precinct, who appeared to be in charge, was skeptical of Wenjie's words. He told Wenjie to leave the information desk and wait for the police in the lobby, citing the presence of networked computers at the information desk.

The person in charge whispered to Zhao Xiaolong for a while, and Zhao Xiaolong lowered his head, his eyes showing wariness.

Would leaving the consultation desk put him in danger? He couldn't leave, even if it meant death... Wenjie silently warned himself.

When the supervisor reached out to pull him out, he used all his strength to sweep his leg across the ground, tripping the troublemaker.

The lobby manager fell and hit the back of his head, falling into a coma.

Zhao Xiaolong looked at him with a complicated expression, then at the unconscious lobby manager, and hesitated for a moment.

In the end, whether he believed Wenjie, his fellow villager, or subconsciously still remembered Wenjie, he decided to help Wenjie.

Emmm, Xiaolong is a true friend. I didn't save you for nothing back then... This sentence popped into Wenjie's mind at an inopportune moment.

Zhao Xiaolong had the security guards move the two men to the meeting room and secretly changed their clothes.

They helped the lobby manager to the information desk to wait for the ambulance.

When the police car arrived, he led the police to the meeting room.

When Wenjie saw the police, he felt relieved, and intense drowsiness caused him to fall into a deep sleep.

He had no idea what happened after that, and when he opened his eyes again, he was in this room.

At this moment, Wenjie suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils adjusting to the darkness.

He secretly got out of bed and walked towards the hotel room door.

He unlatched the door, gently turned the doorknob, and nimbly slipped out.

A few dim lights illuminated the deep corridor. Looking down at the words "Pinyou" printed on the carpet, he pondered:
This hotel seems to be completely substandard!
It doesn't even qualify as a two-star rating.

Look at this cheap carpet and bare walls; it's worse than a chain hotel.

As he passed the room next door, he heard suppressed breathing coming from inside…

This made him feel inexplicably annoyed, and he cursed under his breath.

As he stepped out of the hotel, a quiet city stood before him.

As dawn approached, everything in the city was shrouded in the darkness of daybreak.

Buildings, streets, and winding bridges form the outline and skeleton of this city. Facing the colossal structure in the darkness, Wenjie sighed and fell silent.

A gentle night breeze swept by, and his throbbing head gradually cleared. As he watched the city awaken in the morning light, everything before him became real and tangible.

An old man wearing a tank top was strolling through the alley with a birdcage in his hand. He glanced at Wenjie, who was wearing hotel pajamas, and continued his walk.

The aromas of stir-fried liver, braised pork offal, fried shiitake mushrooms, and fermented bean curd mingled in the air, making one's mouth water at the mere smell.

The street gradually became lively, with the polite greetings and small talk exchanged between elderly men and women filling the air:

Where are you going, huh?

Wow, you're in great health!
The nasal tone is very light, and the tongue curves... This is the Beijing accent.

Is this... the capital city?
Wenjie took out his phone, opened the calendar, glanced at it, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled:
The diary shows that this was August 18, 2009.

Is this Beijing on August 18, 2009?

impossible!
It was July 2019, so how did fainting and waking up make it seem like 10 years ago?

(End of this chapter)