Chapter 163: File 003

The old apartment building was as dark and quiet as ever.

But from apartment 401 on the fourth floor a sliver of warm light peeked through the crack under the door.

When Lu Xin pushed the door open he braced himself for his father’s angry glare.

But surprisingly what greeted him was a scene of domestic harmony.

His sister was sprawled sideways on the sofa watching TV. SpongeBob SquarePants was playing as usual.

She held a piece of black chocolate nibbling on it.

Worried about eating it all at once she scraped at it bit by bit with her sharp teeth. Each scrape yielded only a tiny amount but she looked incredibly happy her eyes curved into crescents.

Mom was by the window on the phone her face wreathed in smiles, “Oh Miss Chen you have no idea! Going out as a family is really great! Good for health good for the mood. Plus I met a wonderful new friend this time…”

“Her flowers are gorgeous. We should visit her together next time…”

…

Even Father was just sitting at the dining table nursing a drink from a worn glass bottle. He didn’t seem too drunk yet with few signs of alcohol on his face. Even seeing Lu Xin enter he just grunted.

“Brother you took so long to come back…”

Seeing Lu Xin his sister happily launched herself at him then reached her little hand into his pocket.

Lu Xin let her fish out the last piece of chocolate from his pocket smiling as he picked her up and set her back on the sofa.

Luckily she didn’t search his backpack; there were only a dozen or so pieces left inside…

Mom smiled hanging up the phone, “You really are back late. We’ve been waiting for you to eat!”

Lu Xin nodded and walked over to the dining table.

He saw the home had been tidied up. The chair broken during his parents’ fight was repaired and neatly placed by the table. On the table were several neat dishes. Though mostly vegetables like before it was clearly a richer spread than usual. At least near Lu Xin’s spot there was a plate of scrambled eggs.

Lu Xin truly liked this feeling.

Entering home this time gave him an unexpected sense of peace.

He quietly sat down and smiled, “If you were hungry you should have eaten first. No need to wait for me.”

“Hmph!”

Father slammed his glass down heavily while drinking.

The atmosphere in the room instantly tensed. Mom and Sister simultaneously looked towards Father.

Father seemed to recall something and pursed his lips unnaturally, “Since you know we’re waiting next time come back earlier!”

Lu Xin’s mood instantly relaxed. He nodded and smiled, “Got it.”

So Father wasn’t angry this time either.

Or rather he was always angry but his mood was much better than before.

…

…

“If our speculations are correct this should contain the materials regarding the Escaped Lab!”

Chen Jing picked up the last file marked with the lead type ‘003’ and said slowly, “We all know how important this file is. Even the six professors at the Research Institute don’t have sufficient clearance to know its contents so we…”

“We don’t let them know because they have big mouths and can’t keep secrets.”

Minister Shen stated, “Everyone present knows the score. Just open it!”

“Actually Little Chen’s concern is necessary!”

Mr. Su spoke softly with a smile, “We all know how much importance the Moon Eclipse Research Institute or rather the Alliance places on this Escaped Lab. We never expected this lab would actually end up in our Qinggang City… So before we confirm we understand this secret unifying our own people’s view first is actually a very reasonable step…”

Hearing this Chen Jing immediately nodded.

Professor Bai sitting to the side tapped his cane on the floor and smiled, “I think you’ve all misunderstood. We are not currently discussing how to treat the Mr. Lone Soldier. The Mr. Lone Soldier is one of our Special Cleaning Department. How to treat him doesn’t need discussion.”

“What we need to do is simply understand him.”

“So…”

He smiled at Chen Jing, “Open it. Right now we aren’t gambling we’re just doing our job!”

“This…”

Chen Jing’s mouth opened slightly but she closed it again.

She couldn’t refute Professor Bai’s words so she silently proceeded to open the file.

…

…

“I’m in a good mood after this trip. Made new friends too.”

At the dining table in the Second Satellite City Mom said smilingly, “We can have more trips like this in the future.”

“Okay…”

Sister squatting on her chair was the first to raise her hand.

Even Father just grunted but this time the grunt was much lighter more like agreeing with the suggestion.

Lu Xin nodded along too. He also liked seeing his family happy.

“However there are some bad things that need criticism too!”

Mom’s tone shifted as she looked at Father, “Your temper is so volatile it makes the family very tense.”

Father rolled his slightly bloodshot eyes looking at Mom.

But Mom met his gaze directly sternly saying, “A family should trust and help each other. If you always act like this you’ll only make us stop trusting each other. This family will fall apart. So I’m warning you very seriously if you don’t change this habit then you can forget about coming along on future family outings…”

“You…”

Father clenched his teeth slightly leaning forward.

The room seemed to sway slightly. The blood vessels in his eyes became more prominent exuding immense pressure.

But Mom didn’t waver just looking at him coolly.

Meeting Mom’s gaze Father unexpectedly fell silent.

In the end he just gritted his teeth gave a cold smirk and said no more.

Judging by his attitude it seemed he actually agreed…

…

…

…Lu Xin suddenly felt that perhaps their words were meant for him.

Father wasn’t usually this agreeable nor would he suddenly suppress his anger just because of Mom’s gaze.

So it was possible that in the day and a half before he returned to the satellite city they had already reached a consensus.

“Alright it’s your turn to speak…”

Just then Mom looked at Lu Xin gently saying, “Mom knows you’re very curious and have many questions. Sometimes you want to figure these things out. Actually Mom doesn’t want to stop you really. Just like I told you back in Happy Town I actually support you figuring those things out. After all you’ve grown up you can’t stay confused forever…”

Lu Xin was slightly silent then looked up.

He saw that Father and Sister were also looking at him.

Father’s eyes were full of blood vessels. He stared coldly at Lu Xin as if with hatred or maybe… fear?

Sister’s eyes were wide open showing only worry.

…

…

In the Main City building Chen Jing had already opened the document pouch and was slowly unfolding its contents.

Beside the conference table the other three people also grew slightly tense straightening up and leaning forward slightly.

They didn’t know what kind of secret they were about to see but they knew its importance to the entire Alliance.

Especially Minister Shen. He knew the severity of prying into that person’s secrets. Although last time the consequence was triggered because someone was sent to spy after that person explicitly forbade it and this time there was no such prior declaration…

But the worry in his heart persisted. As Chen Jing moved his heart seemed to clench…

Then under their expectant gazes Chen Jing froze slightly.

Everyone’s heart skipped a beat.

Under their tense gazes Chen Jing’s expression suddenly turned somewhat helpless.

Then she turned the document pouch upside down gently pouring out a pile of paper shreds…

They were shredded beyond recognition completely impossible to restore.

…

…

“Okay I promise you!”

In the apartment building Lu Xin nodded lightly giving Mom a smile.

The atmosphere at the dining table instantly lightened.

Father continued drinking his alcohol while Sister ate glancing at the television.

A smile appeared on Mom’s face, “In that case then it’s time to give you this gift…”

She picked up a document pouch from beside the dining table bearing the lead print ‘003’ and showed it to Lu Xin with a smile, “This is the gift we decided to give you after discussing it. It contains the things you want to know…”

As she spoke she gracefully stood up and in front of Lu Xin placed it in the drawer under the television locking it.

Then she placed the key in Lu Xin’s hand holding his hand gently looking at him.

“But you must remember you can only look after you’ve reached the Second Stage okay…”

…

Under the varied gazes of his entire family Lu Xin clenched the key.

Then he nodded seriously.