Chapter 117

"I guess?" Bai Xuechao's thin lips parted and closed, deliberately giving a borderline answer without directly mentioning Yu Ruolan's name, "You used a special ability."

Yuan Lan's brilliant golden eyes curved as he looked at him with a smile, not saying anything, as if waiting for him to continue.

Bai Xuechao also fell silent, returning Yuan Lan's gaze with the same expression.

The two of them smiled at each other like that, their eyes curved in a similar arc, like two white-haired foxes.

"Yu Ruolan," Bai Xuechao finally spoke after a long while, "Right?"

Yuan Lan still wore that smiling expression, somewhat ambiguously, "Little Xuechao is very interested in the Apocalypse Society, aren't you?"

"Of course, it's the place I'll be living in the future, after all." Bai Xuechao looked directly into Yuan Lan's eyes, his tone candid, his clear and cold, pleasant voice flowing like a limpid spring, "I want to understand it a bit. There's no problem with that, is there?"

Yuan Lan suddenly reached out and cupped Bai Xuechao's face, his two palms squeezing and kneading the soft flesh on his cheeks as if rubbing a small animal, and said with a laugh, "Of course, no problem at all!"

"Don't get handsy." Bai Xuechao pulled Yuan Lan's hand down and flung it away.

Yuan Lan let out a long sigh and lamented, "You really keep your distance."

"Putting on an act." Yuan Lan's warmth seemed to linger on his face. Bai Xuechao touched his own face with some disgust and said coldly, "Are you and Lin Changqing going to perform for me?"

Yuan Lan's smile was bright, "No problem, I can even perform taking a shower with him."

Bai Xuechao: "..."

Have you asked for Lin Changqing's opinion?

Even if Lin Changqing agreed, he wouldn't.

Who wants to watch two guys showering? Are you sick!

Seeing Bai Xuechao's speechless and repulsed expression, Yuan Lan said with some confusion, "That's perfectly normal, right? Have you never been to a public bathhouse?"

He continued, "The university I attended had a public bathhouse with no cubicles. Every time I went in, I could see a bunch of naked men. We could chat while showering, and sometimes if I ran into a classmate, we would even have some academic discussions."

Bai Xuechao's pupils quaked.

What, the university had a public bathhouse with no cubicles?

"Huh, you haven't been to university either?" Yuan Lan actually understood Bai Xuechao's expression, "You didn't skip grades?"

Bai Xuechao asked, "Why would I skip grades?"

Yuan Lan said as if it were a matter of course, "Because the courses are very simple and boring. Skipping grades early allows you to learn other things, although it's not much more difficult. Only the competitions are a bit interesting."

Is this guy a freaking workaholic?

"I don't like studying," Bai Xuechao said with righteous indignation.

"Alright then." Yuan Lan had to change the example, "Then you must have at least seen girls holding hands and going to the restroom together after class, right? Friends who are close have very intimate gestures."

Bai Xuechao was silent for a moment.

Not only had he never seen it, he had never even attended classes at school.

"...Why would I have seen girls going to the restroom together? Do I follow them from behind to watch?" Bai Xuechao crossed his arms and tilted his head to look at Yuan Lan, continuing, "Besides, you said they're close friends. Our relationship doesn't exactly fit the word 'good,' does it?"

"So, I'm working hard to make our relationship good," Yuan Lan patted Bai Xuechao's shoulder and suddenly changed the subject, "Have you never been to school?"

Bai Xuechao said, "I have."

Yuan Lan gave him a strange look.

"What's with that look?" Bai Xuechao said, "I have school registration. I just took a long-term sick leave, so I don't have to go to class normally. I just go for the exams."

By the way, as long as he took the exams, he would be first in the grade.

Yuan Lan said helplessly, "Does that even count..."

"Who cares if you think it counts." Bai Xuechao recalled what he had just said and didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. He couldn't help but ask him, "How did you figure it out?"

Yuan Lan said, "It's not certain in university, but in elementary, middle, and high school, the boys' restroom is basically next to the girls' restroom."

He didn't need to explain further; Bai Xuechao understood.

Because it was right next door, even if he didn't look intentionally, as long as he went to the restroom, he would have a chance to see girls holding hands and going together.

Unless he never went to the restroom at school.

...No wonder Yuan Lan's expression was so strange just now. Could it be that he thought he never went to the restroom? Damn it.

At this moment, Yuan Lan, for some unknown reason, suddenly became interested and asked, "Do you want to go see the university I attended? I studied physics, and I'm a Ph.D. candidate."

Oh ho, his academic qualifications are quite high.

But Bai Xuechao refused, "No, I'm not interested."

"Alright then," Yuan Lan said with regret, "I thought I'd have a chance to make you my junior."

Bai Xuechao asked, "Which university are you from?"

"Yanhua University," Yuan Lan's eyes held a hint of expectation.

Yanhua University and Beidu University were the top two universities in Xia Country. Yuan Lan's brain was certainly not for show.

"Rest assured," Bai Xuechao said expressionlessly, "I definitely won't apply to Yanhua."

Yuan Lan clutched his chest and made a gesture of spitting blood.

Bai Xuechao said, "Let's go look at the other laboratories."

"Okay." Yuan Lan returned to normal in a second, led Bai Xuechao out, and pushed open the opposite door, "This is the physics laboratory."

Bai Xuechao didn't go in, just stood at the door and looked.

Although all kinds of experimental instruments and equipment were neatly arranged, he could see that no one had entered this laboratory for at least a month. There was even a bit of dust on the table by the window.

The two continued to walk upstairs.

The fourth floor had the same structure as the third floor. In the middle was a main hall, on the left was a chemical laboratory, which Yuan Lan said was for fun, and on the right was Yuan Lan's laboratory number two.

Laboratory number two was where Yuan Lan developed the X8 pills.

Bai Xuechao hadn't taken X8 today. Even though he had deliberately restrained the scent of the Plum Blossom in Snow lure-pheromone on his body, it could still be smelled from up close.

Yuan Lan opened a glass cabinet with rows of medicine bottles and turned his head to ask, "Milky, mint, strawberry, or rose flavor, which one do you want?"

Bai Xuechao didn't refuse and thought for a moment, "Mint."

Yesterday he had the milky one, so today he would try a different flavor.

Yuan Lan took out a bottle and tossed it to Bai Xuechao.

Bai Xuechao caught it and subconsciously looked at the words printed on the bottle, noticing that the shelf life had been extended, "18 months?"

Yuan Lan casually closed the glass cabinet door, "Yes, it's been extended by 6 months."

Bai Xuechao poured out a mint-flavored X8 and put it in his mouth, frowning and complaining, "This mint flavor is disgusting."

"Eh? Disgusting?" Yuan Lan touched his chin and said, "It's lemon-mint flavor. To make the lemon fragrance more obvious, I even added lemon flavoring."

Bai Xuechao placed the medicine bottle on a nearby lab table, "I don't like lemon."

Yuan Lan raised an eyebrow, "Are you a cat? You hate citrus?"

"No, I just hate lemon." Bai Xuechao thought for a moment and added, "I don't like grapefruit either."

"Alright then." Yuan Lan knelt on one knee in front of the glass cabinet, took out a medicine bottle from the very bottom shelf, turned around, and tossed it to Bai Xuechao, "How about you try this mint flavor?"

Bai Xuechao caught the bottle, a little speechless, "Am I your guinea pig for testing medicine?"

Although one X8 pill could temporarily stop the secretion of the lure-pheromone, it wouldn't hurt to take a few more.

Even if he took several pills at once, the effect time would not stack. He would still need to take another one after 12 hours.

"Just trying out the flavors," Yuan Lan said.

Bai Xuechao opened the bottle cap and sniffed. He felt it was a little different from the ordinary mint flavor. Driven by curiosity, he poured one out and ate it.

"...Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about mint?" Bai Xuechao pursed his lips, tasting the lingering flavor of the pill in his mouth, confirming that he hadn't tasted wrong, "This is spearmint."

"Is there a problem?" Yuan Lan said matter-of-factly, "They're both in the mint family."

Bai Xuechao: 6.

Bai Xuechao paused for a moment and couldn't help but ask, "Are there any other mint flavors?"

"Are you hooked?" Yuan Lan's eyes curved in a smile, and he laughed. He then took out another medicine bottle from the inside of the bottom shelf of the glass cabinet and tossed it to Bai Xuechao, "This is the original mint flavor version. I thought it was a bit plain, so I changed it."

Bai Xuechao poured one out and put it in his mouth. The orally disintegrating tablet quickly dissolved in his mouth, releasing a familiar mint fragrance.

"This one." Bai Xuechao placed this medicine bottle on the lab table as well, and arranged the three "mint-flavored" bottles in a row, with this ordinary mint flavor on the far left and the lemon-mint on the far right. He tapped the table with his bent finger, "My personal taste ranking."

"You like the first one," Yuan Lan took out his phone, "Then I'll have the pharmaceutical factory change it back to the original flavor."

Bai Xuechao looked at him, "Change what? I said it's my personal taste ranking."

"I want to change it to the flavor you like," Yuan Lan said.

Xiao 6 in Bai Xuechao's mind took a sharp breath. Realizing it had made a sound, it held a code handkerchief and said, "Ying."

Bai Xuechao: "..."

You're happy again, 6?

"Whatever you want," Bai Xuechao said.

He felt that Yuan Lan was just saying nice things. In reality, he probably just wanted to switch to a more popular flavor to make it easier to sell.

However, Yuan Lan came up with four flavors at once. Would so many special ability users in the world buy them?

Bai Xuechao was lost in thought.

At that moment, Yuan Lan finished sending the message and put his phone back in his pocket, "Let's go, to the next floor~"

The two continued upstairs. The fifth floor was a bedroom and study. The bookshelf was filled with books on biophysics, nuclear physics, particle physics, and various other physics-related subjects. It was clear that Yuan Lan occasionally stayed here. There was even a partially burned scented candle by the bed.

Bai Xuechao followed Yuan Lan upstairs again. The entire sixth floor was a large laboratory, which Yuan Lan called laboratory number three.

All special ability-related items were researched here.

The laboratory was divided into several areas. Bai Xuechao immediately saw a row of black crystals of various shapes and textures on the lab table by the window.

He walked over to the lab table.

The black crystals on the table were arranged in a row. The difference between two adjacent ones was not very large, but the difference between the first and the last was very obvious.

He compared the black ring on his left wrist with each of them and confirmed that the one he was wearing should be the second to last.

At the same time, Yuan Lan also walked to his side, leaning on the table with one hand and said, "This one isn't finished yet. I'll show you the data in a few days."

Bai Xuechao pointed at the last black crystal, "Is this your result from today?"

"Yes." Yuan Lan grabbed the wrist of the hand Bai Xuechao was pointing with and pulled him to the side, coming to a vacuum sintering furnace placed against the wall, "This is being sintered right now. It will take a few more hours."

Bai Xuechao said, "Oh."

"Let's continue upstairs," Yuan Lan pulled Bai Xuechao towards the stairs.

Bai Xuechao didn't want to be pulled, so he tried to pull his wrist away but couldn't, because Yuan Lan was holding it quite tightly.

"...You don't need to pull," Bai Xuechao tried to pull his wrist away again.

Only then did Yuan Lan let go. He stood on the stairs and looked back at Bai Xuechao, smiling, "The next floor is laboratory number four. It's very important."

Bai Xuechao rotated the wrist that had just been held and complained, "You're so forceful. I thought you were going to drag me to be an experiment subject and were afraid I'd run away."

"How could I," Yuan Lan chuckled a few times. His gaze suddenly fixed on Bai Xuechao's wrist.

Bai Xuechao also glanced at his own wrist. Yuan Lan had actually gripped it so hard that there was a clear bruise, which didn't fade even after a few seconds.

"Ooh~" Xiao 6 held its virtual little face with a lecherous smile and couldn't help but whisper, "Host, you look so hot like this... Damn it, a physique like yours should be in other comics, not a hot-blooded shonen manga."

But he heard Yuan Lan say, "Your blood clotting is not good. This only happens with low platelets."

Bai Xuechao replied with a "Hmm."

Yuan Lan continued, "Do you need thrombopoietin? Which kind do you usually take?"

"It doesn't matter if I take it or not. I don't take it very often. If needed, I'll directly inject recombinant human thrombopoietin." After Bai Xuechao finished speaking, he paused for a moment and then named two medicines he would take for low platelets.

Xiao 6: "?"

Damn it, are you two allergic to romance?