Chapter 48

Ji Tingzhou's expression froze for a moment. For a second, he wondered if he was hallucinating due to lack of sleep. But then she spoke again, and he was certain that the little girl in the headphones, who was dismissive and critical of Bruce's research, was indeed Ji Nian. "You’re quite creative, thinking of using methylthioethyl ester. I suggest you give up; it clashes with dcona, and the TPES is too small." "This formula is wrong; it should be changed here..." Ji Nian spoke quickly, and by the end, her tone was full of disdain, as if she were frustrated by the incompetence. She sounded like a retired professor in her seventies... Ji Tingzhou paused, took a moment to collect himself, and then continued. He didn’t understand the technical terms she used, but from the way Bruce remained silent, being bossed around by a child, and occasionally gasping in shock, it was clear that the little girl was exceptionally talented. In fact, she seemed to far surpass Bruce. When Ji Tingzhou first met Bruce, he was only twenty-five, at an age where he was arrogant about his talents. It wasn’t until his research was stolen that he realized talent alone wasn’t enough. As he grew older, he gradually toned down his initial sharpness. But his inner arrogance remained unchanged. Even Ji Tingzhou, when he doubted Bruce’s work, would provoke his anger. But now, what did Ji Tingzhou hear? Bruce, that self-important blue-eyed tomato, was actually fawning over Ji Nian, calling her "teacher." The last time Bruce had acted so obsequiously was when he was begging Ji Tingzhou to fund his project. As time went on, it seemed the child had finished whatever she was working on. At the end of the audio, Ji Nian joked, "When you wake up, if you still remember." "Bang!" Something fell to the ground. Then came a series of rustling and clattering noises. Ji Tingzhou waited for a while, but as the audio reached its end and automatically stopped, he didn’t hear the little girl’s voice again. He took off the headset, his dark green eyes staring into the night. He seemed to be thinking about nothing, yet it felt like he was pondering a lot. Finally, Ji Tingzhou turned to look at Ji Nian, who was clutching his clothes tightly, leaning against him with a look of complete dependence, her mouth slightly open with a trace of drool. This foolish appearance was a stark contrast to the bold Ji Nian he had just heard, who had used blue lemonade to impersonate poison to threaten Bruce, displayed astonishing talent despite her young age, and somehow managed to knock Bruce out without a hint of panic, even cleaning up the scene and deleting the surveillance footage. "Split personality?" Ji Tingzhou slowly uttered the term. How else could he explain the fact that his five-year-old, seemingly ordinary child was anything but ordinary? The child felt something poking her face and sleepily opened her eyes, reaching out to touch it. Then she sniffed. Ji Tingzhou felt he was beyond saving. Now, his only thought about discovering that his child was a genius was: "This is good. At least she won’t be bullied in places I can’t see when she grows up." If anyone made her unhappy in the future, she could just jab them with a needle. After destroying all the audio files and their backups, Ji Tingzhou gently stroked the child’s soft hair. The only thing he couldn’t figure out was how Ji Nian had managed to learn all these things in the isolated environment of the small building, under the watch of the malicious nanny. Who had taught her? It couldn’t have been something she was born with. Then he thought, forget it, there was plenty of time. He would slowly uncover all the secrets of this child. ... Ji Nian suddenly opened her eyes in the morning, and upon seeing Ji Tingzhou beside her, she felt a bit more at ease. She even rolled over to peek under the bed. Good, Ji Tingzhou’s shoes were still in the same spot where he had left them the night before. Completely unaware that she had been exposed, Ji Nian stretched and rolled into her father’s warm embrace, intending to sleep a little longer. But she was soon awakened. Someone was frantically knocking on the door outside. Ji Nian buried her head under the blanket and kicked Ji Tingzhou beside her: "Daddy, go open the door..." Ji Tingzhou, who had barely managed to fall asleep at dawn, was jolted awake by the kick, frowning as he opened his eyes. At the same time, the noise he hadn’t heard while asleep became very clear. He wanted to call for the pink-headed turtle, but then realized he wasn’t at home. Finally, with a dark expression, he got out of bed. When he opened the door, he leaned his elbow against the doorframe, his dark green eyes bloodshot from a night of tossing and turning. "Speak." Standing outside was Bruce, looking even more disheveled than Ji Tingzhou, his blue eyes filled with terror. "Dear boss, listen to me." "Although I’m a staunch materialist, last night! A ghost entered my lab and created an antidote that can completely cleanse Wei Yang’s body of toxins!!!" He nearly shouted the last sentence, his eyes wild, as if he were on the verge of abandoning his materialism to worship some kind of antidote-making deity. Ji Tingzhou’s reaction was calm: "Is that so." "What a clever ghost, doing good deeds without leaving a name." "Quite like me." Bruce: Huh???