“Genius Club…”

The moment Lin Xian saw those five words, he felt as if he had been pulled away from the entire world.

The noisy hall, everything disappeared, leaving only endless ringing in his ears.

He was finding it harder and harder to breathe!

Like a dolphin tied to a lead weight, sinking deeper and deeper into the cold sea…

Da, da, da, da…

“What’s wrong? Standing here like a statue?”

Suddenly, a familiar voice pulled Lin Xian back to reality.

He turned around and saw Zhao Yingjun standing behind him.

Today, she was wearing a black coat, and the diamonds on her black earrings sparkled.

“Rhine Cat? It’s already done?”

Zhao Yingjun saw the Rhine Cat doll in Lin Xian’s hand, took it directly, and looked it over:

“Well, not bad, even cuter than I thought. The workmanship is also good, we can cooperate with this factory long-term in the future.”

Turning to the back of the doll, Zhao Yingjun even flicked Rhine Cat’s little tail.

Noticing that Lin Xian was still standing there motionless, Zhao Yingjun looked at Lin Xian’s hand, pointing to the dark red card:

“This is for me too?”

“Ah? Yeah…”

Lin Xian came back to his senses and reflexively handed the thing in his hand to Zhao Yingjun.

Zhao Yingjun took it and looked at it, then turned it over to look at the back, and then took it with the Rhine Cat in her hand, and walked towards the elevator with the click-clack of her high heels…

“President Zhao is so beautiful today!”

“Yeah… and she never wears the same clothes every day! It’s so fashionable!”

“Hey, President Zhao’s temperament is really innately heroic, we can’t envy that.”

“The main thing is that she has the ability and strength! She’s just too perfect!”

After Zhao Yingjun got on the elevator, the girls at the front desk discussed animatedly, all revealing their envy and admiration for Zhao Yingjun.

Lin Xian looked at his empty hands…

He could still feel the texture of that dark red card, as if it were still in his hand.

“What if it’s not an invitation?”

Lin Xian tried to convince himself.

“What if it’s an advertisement? Or a wedding invitation?”

……

After arriving at the office, Lin Xian took the latest design draft and prepared to report to Zhao Yingjun’s office.

22nd floor. He waited for a while in front of the heavy password door.

“Come in.”

As the voice came from the video intercom, the password door opened in response.

Lin Xian walked in.

It was still the office without any sign of life.

Lin Xian even suspected that Zhao Yingjun had never even sat on the sofa in the office. In the huge space… the only place with signs of human activity was the desk piled high with documents.

“Okay, let’s continue to push forward like this.”

Zhao Yingjun trusted Lin Xian’s work very much. After quickly flipping through the materials, she closed them and handed them to Lin Xian.

“By the way.”

Just as Lin Xian took the folder, Zhao Yingjun looked up at him:

“Did you inquire about Professor Xu Yun’s matter?”

“I inquired a bit.”

When he took the subway to work this morning, Lin Xian called his former counselor and asked about Professor Xu Yun:

“I contacted my counselor and classmates who are doing postgraduate studies at the university.” Lin Xian took the folder and continued:

“I learned that… the reason why Professor Xu Yun is so obsessed with researching hibernation pods is because of his daughter, who is paralyzed in bed.”

“Professor Xu Yun only has this one child. His wife died of amniotic fluid embolism during childbirth. He has been raising his daughter by himself, and he has not remarried.”

“But in an accident while playing at an amusement park, his daughter fell from a high place, hit her head, and fell very hard… Not only was she paraplegic, but she was also in a coma in a [vegetative] state.”

“His daughter is lying in the Donghai University Affiliated Hospital, and has been lying there for almost ten years. It is said… there is no possibility of waking up at all. Experts at home and abroad have said so.”

Lin Xian swallowed and paused:

“Many people have advised Professor Xu Yun to give up on this child who has no chance of waking up and start his life again. But Professor Xu Yun’s attitude… you’ve seen it, he’s determined to research hibernation pods, to research something that has absolutely no hope.”

“Professor Xu Yun’s idea is this, he believes that the current human technology and medicine cannot cure vegetative people, but that doesn’t mean that it won’t be possible in the future. So… he hopes to use the [hibernation pod] to send his daughter to the future, and use future medical technology to cure her.”

……

Zhao Yingjun frowned as she listened.

After Lin Xian finished speaking, she let out a long breath and tucked the stray hair behind her ear:

“It’s very similar to a science fiction novel I’ve read, have you read *The Three-Body Problem*?”

Lin Xian nodded:

“The protagonist in *The Three-Body Problem* is like this too. He contracted a virus that couldn’t be cured, so he was put into a hibernation pod, and then thawed out for treatment when future technology was advanced, saving his life.”

Zhao Yingjun shook her head:

“Misfortune always befalls the miserable…”

“But science is something that pays attention to gradual progress. How is it possible to say that an area that has absolutely no theoretical support and preliminary accumulation can be successfully developed?”

“Science fiction novels are ultimately just people’s fantasies, which cannot be realized in reality. Professor Xu must be too eager to help his daughter, and he has become confused.”

After saying that, she leaned down and continued to process the documents:

“Lin Xian, when you have time, buy something and go to the hospital to visit Professor Xu’s daughter.”

“Okay, I will.”

Lin Xian turned around, preparing to leave.

But…

This was not the purpose of his report, the pile of design drafts was just a disguise.

His real purpose was to figure out what that card with [Genius Club] written on it was.

Was it an invitation?

Was it an advertisement?

Or just a prank?

“Oh, right, President Zhao, there’s one more thing.”

Lin Xian pretended to suddenly remember and turned around and said:

“You left in a hurry this morning and I forgot to tell you.”

“What is it?” Zhao Yingjun stopped writing and looked up.

“It’s that red invitation card, do you remember? The one you took from me along with the Rhine Cat.” Lin Xian gestured with his hand for the size:

“I forgot to tell you who sent it. It wasn’t sent by courier. The front desk said… a woman delivered it in person.”

“Oh, that matter.”

Zhao Yingjun didn’t take it seriously and lowered her head to continue reading the documents.

“Is it… an invitation?” Lin Xian asked tentatively.

“It’s an invitation.” Zhao Yingjun said calmly.

She stopped writing and looked up at Lin Xian:

“Is there anything else?”

“No, nothing else.”

Bang!

The heavy password door closed again.

……

Lin Xian stood outside the door.

His heart rate accelerated rapidly!

An invitation…

It really was an invitation!

He had just dreamed about it last night, and today it appeared directly in front of his eyes!

Lin Xian’s heart rate accelerated:

“What… is going on?”