Qingran nodded. "I understand."
The director gave her a asured look before continuing, "We’ll be going to greet his family later. It would be good for you to co along."
She inclined her head slightly in acknowledgnt. "Noted."
With that, she turned and left the office.
The mont she stepped into the hallway, she let out a slow breath, her fingers pressing lightly against her temples.
Lu Zhou was dead.
And now, she was expected to show up and pay respects like this wasn’t yet another complication stacked on an already overflowing pile of problems.
She still had six more people to add to her save list. Six people she needed to track down, assess, and pull into her circle before things started spiraling out of control.
She still had to find her brother.
Her jaw tightened slightly.
Lu Zhou’s death wasn’t sothing she could ignore, but neither was the clock ticking down to the apocalypse.
Pushing the thoughts aside, she turned on her heel and headed toward the pantry.
Right now, she needed coffee.
Qingran took a slow sip of her coffee, letting the bitter taste ground her as she leaned against the counter.
Her mind was already shifting gears, calculating how to handle the rest of her day. She was getting off work at 3 p.m., which gave her just enough ti to visit Lu Zhou’s family for an hour. At most. Any longer, and she’d be cutting into the window she’d set aside for more important matters.
Finding her brother.
She tapped her fingers against the ceramic mug. "Lingquan, I need you to track down my brother."
The cat yawned in her mind, his voice filled with lazy amusent. [Finally interested in family bonding?]
"I don’t have ti for your nonsense. Just find him."
[Fine, fine. Give a mont.]
Qingran drained the rest of her coffee and set the cup aside. The mont she stepped out of the pantry, a notification blinked in her vision.
[Search Complete.]
fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ
She froze mid-step.
Her gaze flicked to the results. Her breath caught in her throat.
Tzang Yichen – CEO of Tzang Entertainnt.
Her fingers curled into her palm.
She wasn’t sure what she had been expecting. A regular office worker? A small-ti businessman? Maybe soone quietly tucked away in so remote province?
But the CEO of Tzang Entertainnt?
Her lips pressed into a thin line.
The Tzang family wasn’t just so random wealthy group. They were one of the three most powerful families in Country C, ranking just below the Fengs, who held the number one spot.
And if Tzang Yichen was sitting in the CEO’s chair, that ant—
Her father was still alive.
Qingran’s nails dug into her palm.
He was alive. He had resources. Power. Influence. And yet—
Yet he abandoned her.
Her mind was a ss of tangled thoughts. Had he known about her all along? Had he chosen to ignore her existence? Or was she a secret he had buried, a mistake he had long since forgotten?
She exhaled slowly, forcing herself to focus. This wasn’t the ti to drown in emotions.
She had one goal—to confirm his worth.
If he’s useful, I’ll keep him. If not...
Her eyes darkened.
She glanced at the ti.
3 p.m. – Leave work.
4 p.m. – Pay respects to Lu Zhou’s family.
5 p.m. – Find Tzang Yichen.
Her day had just gotten a lot more complicated.
Qingran took another deep breath, forcing her emotions to settle as she walked back to her desk. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, but her mind was elsewhere.
Tzang Yichen.
Her brother.
She wasn’t naive. If he was the CEO of Tzang Entertainnt, then he wasn’t just so corporate puppet. The Tzangs were top three in Country C. That ant money, connections, power—the kind that could bury people alive without leaving a trace.
But what mattered more than what he was... was who he was to her.
Had he known about her existence?
Had their father?
Her stomach twisted slightly.
No. Now wasn’t the ti to fall into that pit of useless emotions. She had survived all these years without them. She didn’t need their love. She didn’t need their recognition.
She just needed to know if they were worth keeping.
Her fingers curled slightly before she exhaled, unclenching her hands.
[Qingran, your heart rate just spiked.]
Lingquan’s voice slithered into her mind, calm yet watchful. She could feel his weight settle on her shoulder through their connection, even though he wasn’t physically there.
"I’m fine," she muttered.
[You should be. It’s just a family reunion. What’s the worst that could happen?]
She scoffed. Everything.
But before she could say anything else, a knock on her desk pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Qingran."
She looked up to see Zhou Min, one of her higher-ups, standing there with a neutral expression.
"Director Sun wants us ready by 3:30. We’ll be heading out to visit Lu Zhou’s family together," he said.
Qingran gave a short nod. "Understood."
Zhou Min hesitated. "I know you weren’t close, but... Lu Zhou thought highly of you. He ntioned your na often."
Her brows lifted slightly, but she said nothing.
Lu Zhou had been an informant—a colleague she worked with occasionally, but never soone she had placed full trust in.
Still... his death was unexpected. And in her world, unexpected deaths were rarely natural.
"Do they know what happened?" she asked.
"Heart failure," Zhou Min replied. "Sudden and without warning."
Qingran’s lips pressed together.
Heart failure? Just like that?
She didn’t believe in coincidences.
Zhou Min studied her for a mont before sighing. "Anyway, we’ll head out together later. Make sure you’re ready."
She nodded again, watching as he walked off.
The mont he was gone, she leaned back in her chair, exhaling slowly.
Heart failure.
It was possible. Lu Zhou wasn’t young. But...
Sothing about it didn’t sit right with her.
[Are you going to investigate?] Lingquan asked lazily.
"...Not now. But I’ll keep an eye on it."
Her priority right now was Tzang Yichen. Everything else would co second.
She checked the ti. 9:50 a.m.
Ti to wrap things up.
She had six more people to add to her save list before the apocalypse. She still had to track down her brother and figure out whether he was worth saving. And now, on top of everything else, Lu Zhou’s sudden death was nagging at her like a loose thread that didn’t quite fit.
This day just keeps getting longer.
Sighing, she grabbed her coffee and took one last sip before starting her work.
Her virus had been used to create the apocalypse, now she had to look at the virus formula and think of so kind of antidote but the thing was, the was the virus used for exactly, the zombies? The mutants? The climate change? Was it an addition to sothing? She couldn’t place an arm on it.
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