Yu Xian frowned slightly at the suggestion. The thought of telling his cousin about this actually made him a bit apprehensive.
Rather than confessing everything to Yu Zhengze, he would rather do it strictly by the book—taking his ID to the police station’s reception hall and following the standard procedure to report a case. It wasn’t that he distrusted his cousin; it was just an indescribably delicate state of mind.
It was like a high schooler secretly dating. Confiding in a complete stranger wouldn’t carry much psychological weight, but confessing to an elder in the family would feel incredibly awkward and hard to say. His relationship with Yu Zhengze was roughly like that.
His cousin had an almost instinctive, overprotective urge toward him, which was perhaps related to his parents’ car accident. If Yu Zhengze found out that he hadn’t just ignored his warnings and touched that dangerous audio file, but had even dragged a few classmates into creating a multiplayer version in the dream... his head throbbed just thinking about it.
"Old Yu?" Shi Zuozhou called out to him. "Is Captain Yu... your relative?"
Yu Xian snapped back to reality and rubbed his temples. He knew this wasn’t the time to get hung up on such things. The problem was right in front of them, and they couldn’t solve it themselves, yet time was ticking away second by second. After thinking it over, it seemed his cousin really was the only person who could help.
"Yeah, he’s my cousin. Let me think about how to tell him."
Yu Xian stood up and walked to the balcony with his phone. He closed the door behind him. Through the glass, he could see the gazes of the three people inside following his movements. He scrolled through his contacts, found his cousin, took a deep breath, and pressed dial.
"Xiaoxian?" Yu Zhengze’s voice came through the receiver. There were faint voices in the background, making it sound like he was still busy at the station.
"Zhengze," Yu Xian started. The apartment balcony was narrow, and slanted raindrops drifted in, dampening half of his sleeve. "I... ran into some trouble and want to ask for your advice."
The other end of the line instantly went silent.
"Where are you?" His cousin’s tone gave away no emotion.
"Over at the apartment I’m renting."
"I’m coming over now. We’ll talk in person." Before Yu Xian could say another word, the call disconnected.
Yu Xian put his phone away and stood on the balcony for a moment. Rainwater dripped down from the air conditioning unit upstairs, making a steady PATTER PATTER sound. He slid the glass door open and went back inside. The eyes of the other three never left him for a second.
"My cousin works in criminal investigation." Yu Xian looked at Shi Zuozhou and Yang Yiyi, not beating around the bush. "I’m going to tell him about this and see if he has any good ideas."
Yang Yiyi nodded without pressing for details, merely giving a soft hum of acknowledgment.
"Alright, you go ahead. Keep us updated in the group chat," Shi Zuozhou said, standing up and grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair. "We’re going to head out soon too."
Yu Xian pushed the door open and picked up his umbrella. Wen Xiao was still in the living room saying something to Yang Yiyi.
Shi Zuozhou followed him out the door. Under the guise of putting on his jacket, he gently bumped his shoulder against Yu Xian’s, pulling him further into the corridor. The voice-activated lights in the hallway were on, and it was completely quiet and empty all around.
"Old Yu," Shi Zuozhou frowned, his voice lowered. "Don’t blame me for being nosy." He glanced back toward the apartment door. Seeing that Wen Xiao hadn’t followed them out yet, he continued, "About Brother Yi’s situation... when you talk to your cousin, I think it’s best if you don’t mention it if you can avoid it."
Yu Xian looked at Shi Zuozhou’s serious expression, understanding his concerns. Even though Old Shi was usually carefree and loud, at critical moments, he was more observant and meticulous than anyone else. Besides, Yu Xian also didn’t want Senior Sister Yiyi to get dragged into this and bear any risks.
Yu Xian nodded and said softly, "Yeah, I know what I’m doing."
Shi Zuozhou stared at Yu Xian for a second and opened his mouth as if he wanted to warn him further, but ultimately, he just patted his shoulder.
"Be careful on your way back to school," Yu Xian advised. "Drop Wen Xiao off at the North Campus first."
"Don’t worry." Shi Zuozhou made an ’OK’ gesture.
The two boys exchanged a look under the corridor lights. There was no need for unnecessary words; some trust didn’t need to be spoken aloud.
They turned back into the apartment. Yu Xian tidied up the garbage in the kitchen, packing the food scraps from dinner and the newspaper used for the roasted sweet potatoes into a plastic trash bag.
"I’ll head down first. I’ll let you know in the group chat if anything happens."
After saying goodbye to the three of them, Yu Xian grabbed the trash bag and his black umbrella, then walked out of the apartment. Pushing open the building’s entrance door, he tossed the garbage into the large green trash can nearby, then walked under the rain shelter and closed his umbrella.
The warm yellow lights of the downstairs lobby illuminated the falling rain, making the droplets look like golden threads meant for sewing clothes.
Yu Xian shoved his hands into his pockets and ran through how he should broach the subject when he saw his cousin. He considered what he could say, what he couldn’t, which details needed to be kept vague, and which had to be explained clearly.
The more he thought about it, the deeper his frown grew. He somewhat regretted calling his cousin. Yu Xian knew all too well what kind of person Yu Zhengze was: strictly impartial and incorruptible.
Given his cousin’s personality, once he confirmed the existence of those dangers, he would most likely take immediate action—testing, investigating, and gathering evidence, pushing forward according to standard protocol. Any step in these procedures could potentially alert Professor Mo’s team within the next four days.
If he didn’t have a legitimate, persuasive reason, it would be absolutely impossible to hold his cousin back and make him wait four days doing nothing.