Chapter 209: A Suffocatingly Oppressive Conversation

Lin Yu and Lin Xue took their seats on the other side of the low table.

The short-haired woman untied the red ribbon on the bottle of Flying Fairy Maotai, then poured the liquor into a sharing decanter before evenly distributing it into each person’s tiny shot cup.

The liquor clung to the sides of the cup, its fragrance rich and intense, yet it made Lin Yu’s heart pound with alarm.

Good grief—this was the real deal.

Lin Yu felt his scalp go numb.

He’d drunk plenty before, sure, but that was beer.

This kind of “liquid bomb” was something he’d barely touched.

Just imagining that razor-thin line of fire sliding down his throat, setting it ablaze, made his stomach cramp.

He never would have expected that this blonde, blue-eyed foreign PhD would have mastered “traditional Chinese drinking-table culture” to absolute perfection.

Dr. Reed took her seat with elegance, lifting the tiny cup—barely larger than her thumb.

“Mr. Lin, I’m very glad you could make time tonight to join our small gathering.”

Dr. Reed’s Mandarin was crisp and precise.

Judging by her face alone, one could hardly detect the slightest foreign accent.

She held the cup and gently swirled it beneath her nose, red lips parting slightly.

The posture looked less like drinking and more like savoring a vintage red wine from a renowned estate.

Yet the gaze cast from those sapphire-blue eyes, peering over the rim of the cup, carried an unsettling sharpness, as though she were observing prey.

“Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve formally introduced our team to you yet.”

She set the cup down without drinking and continued with a smile.

“Allow me to introduce myself first. My name is Evelyn Reed. After earning my doctorate from the University of Munich ten years ago, I came to Xinhai City, where I’ve worked ever since.”

“China is my second home, and I hold this land in very high regard. The people here are diligent and resilient, willing to give everything for their goals… far more endearing than the students back home who do nothing but strike.”

As she spoke, Dr. Reed extended her other hand in a subtle gesture toward the short-haired woman beside her.

“As for this one… Sun Hui, my capable assistant and a doctoral candidate. She’s also your sister’s direct senior in the academic lineage. Her primary field is the impact of high-energy quantum pairs on biological organisms—what you commonly refer to as ‘psionic energy.’ In that area, she’s published several highly influential papers.”

At her mentor’s introduction, Sun Hui immediately stood.

She respectfully held her cup with both hands and bowed slightly toward Lin Yu as she proposed a toast.

“Mr. Lin, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard about your… special circumstances from my advisor.”

“Our team will absolutely keep this confidential.”

After speaking, she didn’t hesitate in the slightest.

She tilted her head back and downed the entire cup of baijiu in one go.

Her movement was bold and decisive, not a drop spilled.

Although she quickly sat back down and calmly adjusted her glasses, her rapidly flushing cheeks betrayed just how fierce that drink was.

“Eh? Th-this is… far too courteous!”

Lin Yu instantly felt immense pressure, a mix of flattered panic and being pushed onto the stage.

‘The female PhD has already drained her cup—can I, a grown man, really afford to just sip?’

“Th-then… I’ll toast both of you as well!”

He gritted his teeth, lifted the cup with both hands like a junior employee apologizing to a superior, and threw his head back, forcing the burning liquid down his throat.

“—Hiss!”

The strong liquor went down like a streak of fire, scorching straight into his stomach.

His esophagus felt as if it had been scrubbed with sandpaper, searing with pain, his whole body nearly igniting.

He loathed this kind of clinking-cups hypocrisy.

He loathed this unspoken rule where one had to damage their own body to prove sincerity.

But because he needed their help—because of that faint hope of being cured—

He had no choice but to lower his head, plaster on a smile, and present the empty cup to them.

“Hehe…”

Seeing Lin Yu’s face slightly twisted from the burning liquor, Dr. Reed seemed quite satisfied with this display of “sincerity.”

She waved her hand gracefully and spoke in a leisurely tone.

“Mr. Lin, no need to rush into drinking so eagerly. None of these fine dishes have been touched yet. Eat a little first to settle your stomach. Some matters… we can discuss them slowly. There’s no hurry.”

“Ah, yes, of course, of course.”

The servers moved like flowing water, carrying over one exquisite dish after another.

Once the dishes were all served, Dr. Reed did not immediately address Lin Yu.

Instead, she turned sideways and began speaking softly in German with Sun Hui, occasionally letting out a light laugh.

Left cooling his heels, Lin Yu felt at a loss.

Just as awkward was Lin Xue.

She sat alone at the far end, unable to join her mentor’s conversation and not daring to pick up her chopsticks.

In this small four-person gathering, she seemed like an unnecessary, transparent extra.

It was clear that ever since that “accident” in the lab, she had been quietly pushed to the margins of what was once her proud core team.

Under the table, Lin Yu slowly clenched his fist, bitterness welling up in his chest.

He leaned closer and lowered his voice, guilt heavy in his tone.

“…I’m sorry, Xiao Xue.”

“If my assignment hadn’t been at your site back then… if I’d handled things just a little more perfectly… you wouldn’t have had to suffer this kind of treatment.”

“Oh, come on. Who could’ve predicted something like that?”

Lin Xue simply smiled, though there was a trace of strain in it.

She picked up her cup and lightly tapped it against Lin Yu’s, producing a clear ding.

“Alright, alright, big brother. When the cart reaches the mountain, there’ll be a road. There’ll always be a way. Come—cheers.”

With that, she tilted her head back and drank the strong liquor in one go.

Watching his sister put on this forced, grown-up composure, Lin Yu felt that even before the alcohol reached his stomach, his heart had already turned unbearably bitter.

‘Sigh…’

‘What a useless excuse for a brother.’

‘Not only do I have to fight for my life against monsters…’

‘I even make my little sister take the blame and suffer at work because of me.’

‘And now, aside from drinking with people like a groveling lackey, I can’t help her at all.’

He mechanically picked at the food, mechanically chewing, his mouth filled with the taste of humiliation.

“Mr. Lin.”

At that moment, Dr. Reed’s elegant voice cut through Lin Yu’s self-reproach.

“About that accident in the laboratory last time—how much do you still remember?”

Lin Yu’s chopsticks trembled.

Here it comes.

Time to settle accounts.

He quickly set the chopsticks down, poured himself a full cup, and stood up, lowering his posture as much as possible.

“I’m truly sorry! I caused Doctor Reed and everyone here such great trouble back then… it was entirely my responsibility! I… I’ll punish myself with a drink!”

Without waiting for a response, he tipped his head back.

“Glug.”

She even patiently waited for him to cough a few times.

“Trouble… yes, there was some.”

“But it was indeed a matter of force majeure.”

She toyed with the cup in her hand, her gaze thoughtful and amused.

“After all, no one expected that kind of contaminant… to actually appear in my laboratory.”

“It’s just… such a pity.”

“A pity for that batch of experimental materials I worked so hard to cultivate…”

At the word “materials,” Lin Xue’s face instantly lost several shades of color.

She immediately stood as well, filled her cup to the brim, and clenched her teeth as she spoke.

“I’m sorry, Professor… I was too reckless at the time. My improper handling led to—”

Before she finished, she followed her brother’s example and downed the cup in one gulp.

The spicy liquid choked her until her eyes reddened, yet she didn’t make a single sound.

“Hehe…”

Watching the siblings scramble to admit fault and punish themselves with drink, Dr. Reed’s smile deepened.

She neither said she forgave them nor that she didn’t.

She simply looked at Lin Xue, then at Lin Yu, with that same playful gaze.

After a long moment, she finally set the cup down and murmured in a near-whisper.

“Actually… the materials were a pity, but not irreplaceable.”

“As long as there’s time, I can always collect more.”

“I’m just… a little displeased.”

She leaned forward slightly, those blue eyes locking tightly onto Lin Xue’s pale face, her voice sinking low.

“Xiao Xue, do you know that in our academic circles, there’s a saying that goes like this?”

“—There is no cost too great to be unacceptable, and no betrayal too small to be forgiven.”

The air froze instantly.

Lin Xue’s face seemed to turn truly snow-white.

“Tell me, Xiao Xue.”

“Do you think your previous actions…”

“—count as a form of… betrayal?”