XG 33 - Normal for us to not trust a quack's words

 

If it was Aunty Cheung, she would have immediately noticed that her young miss was not happy. But Suzie Yap believed what she saw and gave an affirmative nod. 

 

Spotted with a rare conflicted expression her daughter had seldom seen, Suzie Yap pulled her to sit on the bed with her. 

 

“Yibo should be listening to this too, but can Guo Guo re-tell this to him later? Mummy needs to oversee the packing and make sure those clumsy oafs did not break anything.”

 

“I don’t mind.”

 

Despite it being a bit of a hassle to re-tell, Wong Xue Guo was secretly pleased that Chen Yibo was not around and allowed her to see more of her mother’s different sides. 

 

“You must have been wondering why mummy knows a lot about this… infectious disease, or the virus, as most refer to them as. Guo Guo, your father and I may be the investors behind the research of a special gene, but we have no hand in creating the disaster. Our goal in investing in the research is very different and someone is trying to use our ignorance for their own cause. We need to stop them before the virus spreads all over the world and prevent humankind from extinction.”

 

The mastermind knew that their research lab was in Korea and purposely had the first infection started in that country. They were trying to put all the blame on their researchers.

 

"Can I know more about the special gene?" Wong Xue Guo asked. 

 

"To explain about it, I will start from the beginning." Suzie Yap rubbed her daughter's head affectionately. She smiled when Wong Xue Guo's eyelashes fluttered, seemingly enjoying her touch. 

 

"Your father's good friend was the one that introduced a fortune teller by the surname Sheng to us. It's when you are just two years old."

 

"... That fortune teller that predicted I would die yesterday?" Wong Xue Guo voiced her guess. 

 

"He had also predicted many people's death, which is strangely on the same dates or close to each other. At first, it was normal for us to not trust a quack's words, especially when they were told they will die on these dates, or their family members will die on these dates. Many of us had investigated Sheng's background and there's no problem with it, except it was too little and too clean."

 

"He erased his background?"

 

"If yes, then he did it too well. Some of us are from a special intelligence unit and skilled in hacking but they failed to retrieve any of the erased records. We can only ignore our suspicion of his background when his random prediction came true. One of his famous predictions was the long neck Zamir will die from a plane crash and he did."

 

Long neck Zamir? Was that the famous cousin of a prince from Balsam with great fondness for designing an aeroplane's interior? Wong Xue Guo remembered reading it from one of Low Lin Ya's magazines, which featured the late Zamir, who was given the ‘long neck’ nickname because he really had it. 

 

She does not know if anyone ever called him by that nickname to his face when he was still alive.

 

"Zamir's death was not the only one Sheng had predicted in the earlier years. Yet none of them could escape their death."

 

Wong Xue Guo rubbed her raised hair behind her neck. "Did he not predict any good news? Could he only predict deaths?"

 

“That’s what he claimed.”

 

Master Sheng looked ashamed when he was questioned, but he did not dodge the question. He claimed his fellow disciples had laughed at his one-sided talent of only being able to predict one’s death. Calculating weather and any other things was far from his reach.

 

But if one carefully thinks about it, predicting death was actually quite talented. Hence, there was yet anyone who would deny his accuracy in predicting a person’s death was valuable. Those that were named would tearfully go back and write their will or do their best to prevent their own death. 

 

“Did he predict father and mother's date?” Wong Xue Guo asked softly, wanting to know but also afraid to know.

 

“Yes, but that will be many years later.”

 

Coincidentally, it was the date when Suzie Yap and her husband had to use the last possible method and sent their mind back to the past. When the memories merged with her younger self, it was chaotic, with the feeling of her brain about to explode from the sudden rush of information.

 

It only took five minutes for her brain to completely accept the new information and for the pain to leave her, yet it felt longer than that. After recovering, she quickly went to search for her daughter.

 

Wong Xue Guo debated whether to ask which date it was, but her mother does not seem willing to share it. Although knowing the date would have one extra pair of eyes to watch out for any incoming danger, she was still self-aware of her own ability when it comes to combat skills.

 

She would ask again after she learned some combat techniques from Kang Xunsu, even if her mother seems to look down on his ability. That guy was still the captain of their bodyguard team!

 

“That fortune-teller told everyone that the cause of everyone’s death will be related to a disease that needs the gene to cure it?” Wong Xue Guo questioned.

 

“That gene was found in Antarctica, frozen inside an ice rock deep under the freezing water. There was not much in it, but fortunately, it could be duplicated into large doses with the same quality, enough for everyone.”

 

Master Sheng had actually gathered a large group of powerful and influential people, had them trust his prediction and borrowed their connections to search for the gene. Without them, they would not get the access to findings of the researchers located in Antartica. Also because of them, they could hire top researchers from all over the world, including Professor Chen and his protégé eldest son that followed in his footsteps.

 

Many of them were suspicious about the gene's origin, where it came from and how its structure had not deteriorated yet from the freezing. Some researchers, like Chen Yibo's father, strangely felt like the gene was frozen not long ago. But some argued that it might be left by a living creature that first mutated the gene, which would explain the 'freshness' of the gene sample.

 

After seeing so many undeniable, freak accidents being forecasted accurately, they were willing to bet on Master Sheng's words rather than regret it when a dangerous disease did appear. 

 

“The researchers could not do much about the gene other than duplicating it and researching its uses until the disease starts manifesting itself. The appearance of the virus started last week and the researchers could finally test the gene onto the virus. Their breakthrough was at the expense of people's lives.”

 

The information given by Suzie Yap was enough to explain most of the questions Wong Xue Guo had. She knew her father’s pharmacy company only start-up around fifteen years ago, which was around the time when they were caught in Master Sheng’s prediction. The pharmacy company must have been set up to help the researchers, including Professor Chen, who was the head researcher of Winter Fruit pharmacy.

 

The idea that her mother was a time-traveller was just a fantasy, something from the novels she had read. It was almost impossible for it to happen in reality. Her mother’s words had proven that her seemingly ‘knowing’ actions have their own reasons.

 

Fortunately, she had not told anyone of the time-travel theory which saved her a wave of embarrassment.

 

“What does the fortune-teller intend to do with the gene?”

 

“We don’t know, but with their lunatic actions, they might want to spread the virus all over the world, chasing down every survivor. We had yet to figure out who is the mastermind behind this, only able to catch their small, replaceable subordinate that refused to tell us who is their leader. Thanks to Yi Wen’s sacrifice, he sent us back in time and gave us more time-”

 

The house alarm suddenly rang, stopping Suzie Yap’s words. Wong Xue Guo, who had heard her mother’s last sentence, felt her mind go dizzy, and even more so with the loud blaring of the alarm. 

 

Suzie Yap had swiftly picked up her weapons laid on her vanity table and wore the custom-made shoulder holster for knives. “Guo Guo, stay here-”

 

"Mother, are you from the future?” Wong Xue Guo could not resist and blurt out what she wanted to ask desperately.