Chapter 16: “…Contract Marriage?”
This was the first time Ming Fei had heard Zhu Yiqiao’s voice in more than a week.
“—Where are you?”
Hearing this, Ming Fei pursed her lips nervously, the dimple on her right cheek faintly visible.
“I’m at school now,” she explained in a low voice. “Teacher Jiang from my group swapped tomorrow’s class with me.”
Zhu Yiqiao’s voice sounded calm: “When do you get off work?”
“I have a meeting after class. I’m not sure how long it will last.”
Perhaps because they were talking on the phone, Zhu Yiqiao’s oppressive aura was slightly weaker, and the topic sounded ordinary enough that Ming Fei gradually relaxed, at least not as vigilant as she had been before answering the call.
She gave a conservative estimate: “It should be over around five o’clock.”
“Mm.”
Just as the word left her mouth, and Ming Fei wanted to ask about the purpose of Zhu Yiqiao’s call, she heard Zhu Yiqiao’s emotionless voice again.
“The list of those involved in the gene theft will be released this weekend. Come directly to the Trial Court after work.”
Ming Fei was silent for a moment, then softly replied, “Okay.”
After ending the call, Ming Fei’s mood, about to revisit a place she’d rather not, turned from sunny to rainy. Her worries were written all over her face. As soon as she entered the classroom, the students immediately fell silent, and they were exceptionally cooperative throughout the class.
When the bell rang and Ming Fei was about to leave, two students who often sat in the front row came up to her and gave her two bags of candy.
“Teacher Ming, eating something sweet will make you feel better!”
The student on the left, with black shoulder-length hair, also said with a smile: “Yes! This is a local specialty candy we bought last time we went to Rize County for research. Remember to try it, Teacher Ming.”
Ming Fei showed her first smile since the phone call ended.
She said with a smile, “Thank you.”
The two students asked a few more professional questions. Before the bell rang again, Ming Fei left the classroom with her briefcase and candy. After arriving at the academy building, she first returned to the office, placed her briefcase and candy on her desk, and then took her computer to the conference room on the fifth floor.
Compared to other academies, the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Research Institute’s enrollment and faculty were relatively small.
Ming Fei entered through the back door and sat at the end of the long conference table. She politely greeted her colleagues around her, and the meeting started on time.
The speaker at this internal meeting was the department head. Ming Fei rested her chin on her hand, listening to the opening remarks with boredom. Just as she thought they were going to discuss the teaching work within the institute, Director Qin on the podium changed the subject.
“The school attaches great importance to this centennial celebration. In addition to alumni and prominent figures from all walks of life, the school has also invited the Minister of National Security, the Director of the Civil Affairs Bureau, and the Chief Judge of the Trial Court.”
This caused a stir.
“Did I hear that right? Chief Judge Zhu?”
“Eh? The rumors were actually true, they really invited Chief Judge Zhu!”
“Chief Judge Zhu never attended this kind of social event before. I didn’t expect this time…”
While the colleagues around her were surprised, emotional, and discussing heatedly, Ming Fei gripped her pen tightly, a sudden sense of unease washing over her. Sure enough, in the next moment, Director Qin announced loudly,
“To demonstrate the importance of the centennial celebration, the school requires every academy’s faculty to contribute a performance.” Director Qin smiled. “And the issued document specifies that young teachers from each academy must take the lead in participating.”
Hearing this, the professors and associate professors on both sides of the long table all looked towards the end of the table, and Ming Fei, the youngest teacher in the institute, couldn’t bring herself to smile at all.
She couldn’t imagine the scene of Zhu Yiqiao sitting in the audience, coldly watching her perform.
Associate Professor Li, who was sitting in the middle, said, “Xiao Fei is the youngest teacher in our institute. Xiao Fei, why don’t you arrange this?”
“I agree.”
“I second that.”
“I second that too!”
Amidst the chorus of agreement, Director Qin looked at Ming Fei with a smile: “At the last year-end party, the robot dance performed by our institute was a bit too wild. The school specifically emphasized that this time, teachers must showcase their own talents and cannot use robots or AI.”
“Teacher Ming, we’ll have to trouble you with this.”
Ming Fei, the focus of everyone’s attention, was currently engaged in a fierce internal debate.
As the youngest teacher in the institute, she had no reason to refuse, especially since the other teachers present were usually very kind to her. But she really didn’t want to… perform in front of Zhu Yiqiao, because it would truly be mortifying.
But… after much deliberation, Ming Fei, unable to come up with an excuse, accepted the arrangement.
As for the other matters discussed, Ming Fei, whose mood had turned from rainy to stormy, didn’t listen carefully. It wasn’t until the meeting ended and the professors came over to discuss the performance with her that she temporarily raised an umbrella in the metaphorical downpour.
“Xiao Fei, how about a simple chorus?”
Professor Wen shook his head: “The music academy will definitely be singing.”
“Why not perform the school’s adapted special gymnastics?” Associate Professor Shen suggested. “Simple, convenient, and doesn’t require too much rehearsal time.”
Ming Fei, who had carefully read the document, said, “This gymnastics routine is specifically assigned to the Physical Education Academy by the school.”
Sighs of frustration mixed with the continuous stream of suggestions. In the end, without reaching a decision on the performance, everyone cheerfully decided to discuss it another day.
The autumn sunset was always magnificent and colorful, with clusters of clouds piled up like an oil painting.
The white self-driving car sped down the road. Ming Fei checked the time and instructed the system to slow down a bit. The news of Chief Judge Zhu’s return had spread, and the display screen in front showed reporters reporting on the latest developments.
“…The SE Group’s top management is in turmoil, its stock price has fallen to its lowest point, all those involved in Taiya have been arrested, the Trial Court…”
Ming Fei was somewhat lost in thought, wondering why the extremely busy Zhu Yiqiao had called her over.
…Did Zhu Yiqiao want to interrogate her?
Or had Zhu Yiqiao discovered something new and wanted to detain her again?
Ming Fei was worried that she would once again face a gun pointed at her head, and her mood plummeted from stormy to torrential rain. But no matter how much she slowed the car down, fifteen minutes later, the self-driving car still arrived at its destination.
The sunset on the horizon became even more vibrant. Ming Fei took a deep breath, unfastened her seatbelt, and got out of the car.
She slowly walked into the Trial Court compound and followed Lan Lubai, who had been waiting for a long time, straight to the main building. Lan Lubai seemed to be in a good mood, even joking with her along the way, but Ming Fei was preoccupied, and the smile on her face could only be described as forced.
Five minutes later, they took the elevator to the office floor of the highest authority of the Trial Court.
When they reached the final destination after walking through the corridor, Ming Fei originally thought Lan Lubai would leave, but unexpectedly, Lan Lubai followed her into the office. And after seeing Zhu Yiqiao, whom she hadn’t seen in a week, Ming Fei found that another executive, Min Man, was also in the room.
The two executives stood beside Zhu Yiqiao. The three, once hailed as the Victory Column by the military, together scrutinized Ming Fei in front of the desk.
Zhu Yiqiao, the only one seated, had a silver-gray pistol on her desk. Her gaze was cold and frosty, and a gleaming medal was pinned to the left side of her dark uniform.
The afterglow of the sunset painted the sky outside the bulletproof glass window. Min Man on the right broke the silence.
“The gene theft case has now been solved. The Trial Court will announce the list of all criminals this weekend, and everyone on the list will be sentenced to death in accordance with the criminal law of the Independent State of Yi Meng.”
Ming Fei’s heart sank, fear overriding all other emotions.
“Due to the widespread involvement in this gene theft and the existence of many complex and difficult situations, the government and the military have agreed that those involved should be placed on a secondary list and sentenced according to their different circumstances.”
Ming Fei didn’t understand the so-called secondary list and sentencing. While she was confused by the new regulations, the silent white floating display screen suddenly lit up.
Then, Ming Fei saw a… marriage contract. Her gaze slowly moved down, and when she saw the names of the two parties marked at the beginning of the contract, she felt as if she was hallucinating, as if she was in a sudden storm with lightning and thunder. ????????? !!!!!!!!!! ?!?!?!?!
A flurry of question marks and exclamation points flashed through her mind. After a century of blankness and short-circuiting, Ming Fei, stunned in place, still felt like she was hallucinating.
She asked hesitantly, “…Contract marriage?”
The woman, who had remained silent throughout and sat in the high-backed chair, said coldly,
“—Miss Ming, I believe you have no right to refuse.”
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