Shi Xinxin's face was icy, a cold glint in her eyes.
Yang Yue, aware of what had happened at the banquet, responded, "The two of them are highly suspicious, but we don't have concrete evidence yet."
"No need to wait. I'll send you something later. You can post it online and hire a large group of internet trolls. Ideally, it should trend within a short period."
Yang Yue was curious about what "something" was. She agreed and hung up.
Shi Xinxin swiped her finger across the screen, navigating to the recording interface.
She casually forwarded one of the recordings to Yang Yue.
After handling these matters, Shi Xinxin put away her phone with a displeased expression.
Having dealt with Elder Feng, she had long forgotten about Su Li and the Su family. She had originally intended to suppress them just enough, but she hadn't expected Su Li to be unable to change her ways.
A cold curve formed on Shi Xinxin's lips. She didn't mind escalating this matter.
However, the immediate priority was to find Yan Hao and get a clear answer about the chat logs on the phone.
Shi Xinxin looked up and saw the city's People's Hospital icon again. The light in her eyes was dim and unreadable.
She knew this action was impulsive, and what she heard might not be the truth, or it might be the evasion of someone in the know.
But it was better than asking nothing.
Shi Xinxin made up her mind and lifted her numb steps forward.
Yan Hao was surprised to see Shi Xinxin suddenly appear in the corridor. He paused his actions of flipping through documents and walked towards her.
"Xinxin, didn't you just leave the hospital at noon? Did you forget something here?"
Under the illumination of the fluorescent lights in the corridor, Yan Hao was as warm and gentle as jade, his every move still the senior classmate from Shi Xinxin's memory.
But she couldn't help but wonder if the gentle senior classmate from her memory was just a facade for Yan Hao, like Elder Feng.
Otherwise, why had he kept things hidden and refused to tell her the truth?
After Yan Hao finished speaking, he was met with Shi Xinxin's silence. He paused and carefully observed her expression.
"I didn't forget anything. I came specifically to find you," Shi Xinxin said calmly.
Yan Hao nodded and gestured to the nearby office, "Then why don't we talk in my office? It's crowded here and not a suitable place for conversation."
Shi Xinxin silently agreed and followed him into the office. It was as neat and clean as the last time she visited, just like his personal character.
Yan Hao gestured for Shi Xinxin to sit on the sofa. He turned and sat at his desk, putting down the documents. "Xinxin, if you have something to tell me, please say it directly."
He didn't overthink it, assuming Shi Xinxin was likely still suspicious about what happened in the secret passage. However, Yan Hao already knew the answer to this topic by heart.
Amidst the silence, Shi Xinxin looked up, "I just want to ask you, that human experimentation you mentioned last time, did I also undergo it?"
Caught off guard by the question, Yan Hao looked up in shock, his gaze meeting Shi Xinxin's in the air.
Realizing his失态, Yan Hao quickly composed himself and smiled as gently as always, "Why would you suddenly say that? Are you having nightmares recently, which is making you think this way?"
"No," Shi Xinxin stated decisively, "I saw the messages on your phone. You clearly knew about the human experimentation and that I was one of the test subjects. Why didn't you tell me!"
Yan Hao's eyes widened slightly, his trembling fingers betraying his shocked state.
Seeing his unusual expression, Shi Xinxin had almost understood. She leaned back, her body suddenly weak, and smiled helplessly. "It seems what I said is true. You deliberately didn't want me to know about the human experimentation, which is why you hesitated so much in the secret passage."
"That's not true..." Yan Hao frowned, instinctively wanting to say something.
"Then what is the reason?" Shi Xinxin straightened her back, leaning forward in a confrontational manner. "I hinted at it many times before, wanting to ask you for the truth, but did you ever tell me?"
With all these concealed facts revealed, Yan Hao felt a terrible headache. His mind was a whirlwind of emotions. He wanted to say something, but he stopped himself in helplessness.
He finally said, "I just didn't want you to recall that pain, which is why I consistently avoided mentioning it."
"Then tell me, what did I go through in that experiment that made you unwilling to tell me?" A glimmer of hope appeared in Shi Xinxin's eyes. At least Yan Hao's words made her believe he was not like Elder Feng.
This was enough. Whether it was a well-intentioned lie or deliberate concealment, Shi Xinxin could accept it!
Yan Hao slowly lowered his eyes. Those memories seemed to still be before him, making every nerve in his body tremble with fear.
But facing Shi Xinxin's eager gaze, Yan Hao couldn't bring himself to lie.
He clenched his fingers slightly on the table and whispered, "Five years ago, Elder Feng was ostensibly recruiting a large number of talented individuals, but in reality, he was tricking those people into becoming sacrifices for his human experiments."
Hearing Yan Hao's words, Shi Xinxin wasn't surprised.
She listened as Yan Hao continued, "I had just graduated with my doctorate and recognized him as my master, three months before you did."
"At first, he was perfectly disguised, making it impossible to see the wickedness and greed in his heart. After a while, as our relationship grew closer, he used his authority as a master to have me participate in the experiments he conducted."
Hearing this, Shi Xinxin's fingertips, resting on her skirt, turned pale. She could almost imagine what was coming next.
Yan Hao's voice was faint, "I went, only to discover that it wasn't an experiment to treat people at all, but a world-destroying human experiment! But before I could leak the information, he administered anesthesia to me and made me one of the many test subjects."
"Senior Brother, please don't say anymore." Shi Xinxin bit her lip tightly, her heart aching as if it were being squeezed.
Yan Hao looked at her, seeing her pale face, and smiled helplessly, "It's nothing. These things are all in the past, and I've long since begun to forget them."
"I'm sorry," Shi Xinxin murmured.
Yan Hao smiled instead, "What do you have to apologize to me for? If anyone should apologize, it should be me to you."
"If I hadn't suddenly brought this up, you probably would have forgotten it long ago, long forgotten this inhuman suffering," Shi Xinxin whispered.
She suddenly recalled Yin Xue's reaction in the secret passage, how fearful and terrified she had been. And then she thought of Yan Hao, how he had tried to maintain his composure in the place he had once been, it must have taken all his strength and greatest endurance.
Shi Xinxin felt so heartbroken she could barely speak.
Who would have known that Yan Hao, who carried such painful memories, would appear as a gentle and courteous noble gentleman to outsiders?