Chapter 62: The Research Institute (Part 3)

Cheng Yi, perplexed by the situation, took out his phone and sent another message to Dr. F.S.:

[Dr. F.S., where are you now? I'm standing at the entrance of the research institute, but I don't see you.]

He barely had time to put his phone away before a reply popped up:

[I'm right in front of you.]

Wait, what?

Cheng Yi froze for a moment, his brow furrowing in confusion. Right in front of him? The only people in front of him were the sobbing woman and a middle school girl. He didn't see anyone else. Was he suddenly blind?

Before he could process this strange response, Jian Yiling stepped forward and held up her phone to Cheng Yi, showing him the screen. He squinted at it, and what he saw left him momentarily speechless.

On her phone was the same conversation he had just had with Dr. F.S.

How could this be? Why was their chat displayed on her phone?

Cheng Yi stared at the phone, his brain struggling to comprehend what he was seeing. He then shifted his gaze to Jian Yiling herself, his mind running in circles. 

"You…" Cheng Yi fumbled for words, finally coming up with a tentative question, "Did Dr. F.S. send you here in his place?"

"I am Dr. F.S.," Jian Yiling responded calmly, her tone matter-of-fact.

What?

"Stop joking with me!" Cheng Yi's voice rose in disbelief. "As far as I know, Dr. F.S. is a well-known biology graduate student from a prestigious university."

"You're talking about the name registered with the account I use, but that's not my personal information."

In the scientific community, publishing articles in accredited journals required a verified account, and all such accounts had to be registered under real names. Only individuals with the appropriate qualifications could create these accounts. 

Jian Yiling, of course, didn't have the necessary credentials to register an account under her own name. So she used her second brother Jian Yumo's name and qualifications to create the account. He met all the requirements, and his information allowed her to publish her work. That's why the information Cheng Yi and his colleagues had found belonged to her brother.

Cheng Yi blinked in disbelief, his mind racing. The information they'd uncovered had indeed been linked to a registered author, but it wasn't unusual for articles to be published under a professor's name, even if the actual work had been done by a student. So they'd considered the possibility that Dr. F.S. wasn't the person officially listed. But even if Dr. F.S. wasn't the name they'd expected, it certainly couldn't be this young girl standing in front of him, right?

Cheng Yi's brain seemed to short-circuit for a moment. He shook his head, struggling to piece together his thoughts. "I—uh—give me a minute, my brain needs to catch up," he muttered, visibly flustered.

The truth was, Dr. F.S.'s expertise was beyond doubt. The papers "he" had published, and the abilities "he" had demonstrated in their conversations, were cutting-edge, some of the best in the field. Cheng Yi had spent countless hours imagining what Dr. F.S. might be like in person. Perhaps an oily, middle-aged man, or a bald, elderly professor. Maybe even a sharp, thirty-something professional or a twenty-something eccentric scientist with thick glasses. 

But never, not even once, had he imagined that Dr. F.S. could be a high school girl. The image he had in his mind and the reality before him were worlds apart.

Cheng Yi found himself studying Jian Yiling again, his eyes scanning her delicate features, trying in vain to reconcile her appearance with the towering intellect he had admired for so long.

After what felt like an eternity, Cheng Yi finally broke the silence, his voice a quiet whisper: 

"You're… in high school?"

"High school," Jian Yiling confirmed simply.

High school? She looked like a middle schooler.

The security guard, who had been listening to their conversation the whole time, was equally stunned. His eyes darted between Cheng Yi and Jian Yiling in disbelief.

"Um… Dr. Cheng, this girl… she's really the person you were expecting?"

Cheng Yi, still grappling with the situation, nodded slowly. "As hard as it is for me to accept, yes, she's the one I've been waiting for."

Hearing Cheng Yi's confirmation, the guard's face flushed with embarrassment. He'd been so sure earlier that Jian Yiling and the woman were mother and daughter, and he'd even scolded Jian Yiling for causing trouble. Now, the realization of his mistake made his face burn with shame.

"Ah, I… I didn't know, I thought…" the guard stammered, his voice trailing off in mortification. He had completely misread the situation, and now there was no way to undo his earlier assumptions.