He Yanfeng pulled out a few hairs and handed them to Xiang Hong: âWhatâs going on? You wanting my hair all of a sudden.â
Xiang Hong put his hair away: âDidnât I say that there was a problem with the DNA test?â
âCan I believe your nonsense?â He Yanfeng said while opening the document to be signed in the afternoon: âHow long ago was the last physical examination, if there was a problem, could you have waited until now?â
Xiang Hong smiled, but immediately stopped smiling in the next second: âIâm checking something, and I need your hair as a sample.â
âWhatâs up?â
Xiang Hong shook his head: âWhen the result comes out, if you need to know, you will know.â
He Yanfeng looked at him suspiciously, put the matter aside, pondered for a moment, and said, âI want to ask you something.â
âWhat?â
âDoes your lab do human research?â
âAll new drugs must be tested on humans before they are put on the market.â Xiang Hong sat down on one side and asked curiously, âWhy are you asking this?â
He Yanfeng opened the folder, his pen pausing, and he was silent for a few seconds. He eventually put down the pen again, and said in a deep voice: âI didnât mean this, didnât you study genetic engineering before? What I want to ask is, has there ever been a research subject with that kind of superpower.â
Xiang Hong couldnât help laughing: âWhy do you ask that suddenly? Are you dazzled from watching cartoons with Xiao Bao?â
He Yanfeng glared at him: âJust tell me if there is or not.â
âNo.â Xiang Hong thought for a while, and slowly said: âThere are no superpowers or supermen in this world. These are just characters in film and television animations. However, some people have done similar human experiments before, but the purpose was for human beings to have superhuman abilities, this kind of experiment has long been banned, and as far as I know, there are no successful examples so far. At least within the scope of my authority, I have never seen a person with real superpowers.â
âIf someone can swap two things out of thin air, do you think thatâs a superpower?â
Xiang Hong shrugged: âThatâs a superhero movie.â
He Yanfeng waved his hand: âIâm too lazy to bother with you.â
âWhy do you suddenly ask this?â Xiang Hong and He Yanfeng have been friends for many years, and he knew his character very well, so it was impossible to ask such a question for no reason: âDid you see something recently? Or something happened?â
He Yanfeng paused, and said lightly: âNo.â
Xiang Hong was curious: âThen why did you suddenly ask me such a thing?â
The door was knocked twice.
He Yanfeng looked towards the door: âCome in.â
The assistant came in and said, âCEO He, the Madam and Eldest Young Master are here.â
Xiang Hongâs eyes flickered, and He Yanfeng closed the folder: âLet them in.â
âOkay.â
Yang Yun and He Qianjian walked in side by side. Seeing that Xiang Hong was here, Yang Yun was a little surprised: âXiao Xiang is here too?â
âSister-in-law.â Xiang Hong glanced away from He Qianjian, stood up with a gentle smile, and said, âI came to see Brother He for something, and weâre almost done now. If you have something to do, Iâll leave first.â
âI just heard that he didnât eat at noon because of a meeting, so I brought some food over.â Yang Yun put the things she brought on the coffee table in the reception area, and waved Xiang Hong over with a smile: âYou can eat some together too, it contains your favorite shredded coconut cubes.â
Xiang Hong followed the good advice and sat down again: âThen I wonât be courteous.â
He Yanfeng also came over and sat down beside Yang Yun. He raised his head and asked He Qianjian: âWhy are you here with your mother?â
He Qianjian: âIt happened that I had nothing to do in the afternoon, so I came with Mom and helped her carry things.â
He Yanfeng withdrew his gaze lightly, and He Qianjian stood on the side, lowering his head slightly.
Yang Yun gently bumped He Yanfengâs arm, lowered her voice and whispered in his ear: âWhatâs the matter with you recently? You are so indifferent to Qian Jian, and the child came to see you specially, yet you donât even smile.â
He Yanfeng ate a piece of red wine stewed beef, chewed it slowly, as if he didnât hear what Yang Yun said.
Yang Yun frowned, seeing her eldest son still standing on the side, not even daring to sit down, she couldnât help feeling distressed, she said softly: âOld He, come with me to the lounge, I have something to say to you. â
He Yanfeng pointed to his mouth and swallowed: âIâm eating.â
âEat later.â
Yang Yun pulled his arm to stand up, and He Yanfeng had to put down his chopsticks and follow her to the inner lounge.
The door of the lounge was closed, and Xiang Hong glanced at He Qianjian, who had downcast eyes. He put down the dessert fork, and said with a smile, âCome and sit, I havenât seen you for a long time, how are you doing?â
He Qianjianâs voice was hoarse: âEverything is fine.â
Xiang Hong patted the sofa on one side and said, âWhatâs going on? Did you quarrel with your father?â
âNo.â He Qianjian shook his head, walked to Xiang Hong and sat down.
âThen whatâs the matter?â
He Qianmin twitched the corner of his mouth, and said with a wry smile: âQian Min ran away from home half a month ago, and hasnât come back for the past two weekends.â
âWhat is this kid throwing a temper tantrum for?â Xiang Hong raised his eyebrows: âDid you mess with him?â
âAs if you donât know me already, how dare I mess with him.â He Qianjian lowered his head, his tone helpless: âHe has always had some misunderstandings with me. Since he went to Yan No. 1 High School, I donât know what happened. Half a month ago, he said that he would not come back to celebrate my birthday with me next week. Dad was a little angry, said a few words to him, and then he rushed out.â
âBirthday?â Xiang Hong frowned, thoughtfully: âIsnât your birthday on a weekend? He wonât come back?â
He Qianjian: âHe has a friend whose birthday is on the same day as mine, so he must want to celebrate his friendâs birthday more.â
âWhat a coincidence? Who is it?â
âA student in the third year of Yan No. 1 High School, named Jiang Chen.â
Xiang Hong paused with the fork brought to his mouth: âJiang Chen?â
He Qianjian turned to look at him: âYou know him?â
âMy grandfather likes him very much. Some time ago, he recommended him a direct admission to Hua Uni, but he didnât accept it.â
The smile on He Qianjianâs face froze for a moment, but he quickly covered it up and said, âI didnât expect Jiang Chen to be recommended by Professor Xiang.â
âHe is very talented in computers.â Xiang Hong glanced at He Qianjianâs slightly unnatural expression, and returned to the original topic: âIs it because of his birthday that Qian Min hasnât come back for two weeks? â
He Qianjian suppressed the jealousy and resentment surging in his heart, and said with a smile: âYes, Dad may be a little worried about him, so during this time he treats meâŚ..â
His gaze fell on He Qianjianâs reluctantly disappointed and hesitant to speak expression, Xiang Hongâs eyes flashed and his smile faded: âItâs impossible for your father to take his anger out on you because of this kind of thing, you must be thinking too much.â
He Qianjianâs expression changed slightly: âI know Dad doesnât mean to blame me, he is probably just worried about Qian Min.â
Xiang Hong nodded and changed the subject: âBy the way, didnât you say that you were interested in genetic research before? Recently, I am doing a genome sequence test to study the differences of SNPâŚ..â
Inside the lounge.
Yang Yun let go of He Yanfengâs hand, and said in a reproachful tone, âHoney, whatâs going on with you recently?â
He Yanfeng sat down on the bed: âWhat do you mean?â
âYou know what I mean.â Yang Yun frowned: âSince Qian Min ran away from home, your attitude towards Qian Jian has been very cold. I know you are worried about Qian Min, but even so, you canât just take your anger out on Qian Jian, he is also our son, how sad he must be to see you treat him like this.â
âIâm not taking my anger out on him.â He Yanfeng said lightly, âItâs just that Iâve been too busy recently and havenât paid much attention to him.â
âYou call just now not cold enough?â Yang Yun sat down beside He Yanfeng: âMy son came to see you with me, and you didnât even let him sit, but let him stand on the side, isnât that cold enough? â
âItâs not the first time he has come to my office.â He Yanfeng paused, pressed the bridge of his nose, and said in a somewhat impatient tone, âBefore, he would always find a place to sit by himself, but this time I have to invite him to sit down?â
âYou clearly know that I donât mean this!â Yang Yun also got a little angry: âYou are purposely not getting it, the question I am discussing with you is whether you should blame Qian Jian. Qian Min getting angry and ran away from home is not because of Qian Jian, but because your tone was too harsh, Qian Min and Xiao Chen have a good relationship, it is normal to want to celebrate his birthday together. You clearly couldâve changed your tone or discussed it with him in a different way, you shouldnât blame Qian Jian for your mistakes and take your anger out on him.â
âDo you remember what Qian Min said before he ran away from home?â He Yanfeng stood up, walked to the French windows, looked out the window and said, âI donât want to quarrel with you, the conflict between Qian Min and Qian Jian is fundamentally not what we thought before, and this matter is not as simple as you think, since you currently donât know anything, just leave it alone for now.â
âThey are both my sons, how can I not care?â Yang Yun suddenly raised her voice, but after saying this, her voice dropped again, and her eyes turned red: âHow can I forget what Qian Min said. Itâs because I remember that I donât know what to do. Itâs been so many years, I just hope that they can get along well, even if they donât treat each other with as much enmity as now, they are blood brothersâŚ..â
He Yanfeng sighed softly, turned around and returned to the bed. He gently hugged his wifeâs shoulders, and said with distress: âDonât be sad, itâs not your fault, itâs because I didnât handle their conflict well.â
Yang Yun shook her head: âIf I could have cared more about Qian Min before the car accident, instead of making him feel that I love Qian Jian and Qian Yu more, their relationship would not be like thisâŚ..â
The corners of He Yanfengâs mouth twitched, and he hesitated to speak. In the end, he didnât tell his wife about the video, but comforted: âYou have always treated the three children equally, and they are very aware of this. Qian Min would not be mad at you because of this. So donât think too muchâŚ..â
In the office, Xiang Hong and He Qianjian were still discussing genetic research, when Yang Yun and He Yanfeng came out. Xiang Hong was smiling and said to He Qianjian: âSince you are so interested in this project, why donât you also participate?â
Yang Yun happened to hear what Xiang Hong said, and asked curiously, âWhat are you talking about participating in?â
Xiang Hong turned back with a smile and said, âIâm doing a genome sequence test recently, and Iâm still in the stage of collecting samples, so I want to ask Qian Jian for some hairs to use as experimental samples. If itâs convenient, Sister-in-law can also give me a few hairs too.â
Yang Yun didnât think much, and agreed directly: âOf course itâs convenient, how many hairs do you want?â
âFive are enough.â
Yang Yun pulled out five hairs and handed them to Xiang Hong. Xiang Hong thanked her with a smile and looked at He Qianjian.
He Qianjian was a little hesitant and cautious, but Yang Yun had already pulled out her hair at this time, it would be strange if he insisted on objecting.
His eyes flickered: âDo you want a lot of samples? Uncle Xiang, did you ask my Dad too?â
âOf course I did.â Xiang Hong glanced at He Yanfeng and said, âI asked your dad for it as soon as I entered his office.â
He Qianjian laughed twice: âHow many samples do you need? I will go to school tomorrow and I can help you find some from my classmates.â
âOf course, the more the better.â Xiang Hong said: âHowever, hair as a sample needs special treatment, and the experiment must be carried out within a certain period of time. If you help me collect it, the effect of the sample may be lost.â
âIn that case, it seems that Uncle Xiang can only collect it yourself.â He Qianjianâs hands on his knees curled slightly. He raised and pulled out five hairs, and said with a smile, âHere.â
Xiang Hong put away He Qianjianâs hair: âThank you.â
According to normal procedures, paternity testing generally takes four days, and the first round of test results takes two days. In order to eliminate errors, after the first round of identification, a different group of people needed to be replaced to start the second round of testing by extracting DNA.
Because of the limited number of samples, Xiang Hong only conducted one round of experiments. For higher accuracy, he conducted a complete DNA identification, that is, using the samples of the father, mother, and child for triple identification.
In the first round, Xiang Hong identified the parent-child relationship between He Yanfeng, Yang Yun and Jiang Chen. Before that, he had already identified the sibling relationship between He Qianmin and Jiang Chen, and the result he got at that time was the reason for him to conduct this round of paternity testing.
While waiting for the test results of the capillary sequencer, Xiang Hong sighed deeply, recalling what happened last week.
Last weekend, Xiang Hong came home from the night shift. In the parking lot, he opened the driverâs door and found someone squatting next to his car. It was the middle of the night, and he was naturally startled, but when he looked closely, he found that it was He Qianmin.
He Qianmin sat on the ground with his legs bent, leaning on his car tires, his eyes never moving away from the paper bag he was clutching on his lap. His expression was very complicated, and he seemed to be hesitating and struggling over something. Even when Xiang Hong walked over he didnât notice until he called out to him.
He Qianmin raised his head suddenly, like a frightened bird. He was relieved after seeing him clearly, stood up and said, âUncle Xiang, youâre off work.â
Xiang Hong also heard about He Qianmin running away from home, and thinking that he had no place to go on weekends, he couldnât help feeling distressed: âWhy are you waiting out here so late, are you cold?â
âIâm not cold.â He Qianmin pursed his lower lip, looked at him and said, âUncle Xiang, I want to ask you for a favor.â
Xiang Hong opened the car door: âLetâs talk in the car.â
Sitting in the car, He Qianmin was silent for a long time, until the knuckles of the fingers holding the paper bag turned white, and then said: âI want you to do a DNA test for me to determine whether the owners of the two samples are brothers. Hereâs the sample.â
Xiang Hong was a little surprised, and subconsciously asked: âWho and whose sample is this?â
âI canât tell.â
Xiang Hong paused, and changed the way of asking: âIs there your DNA sample here?â
âIf I say yes, would you agree?â
âI can help you with this.â Xiang Hong said: âBut I must know the reason why you asked me to do this. Even if it is not specific, I need a reason.â
He Qianmin: âI do have a reason.â
Xiang Hong had already expected it, but he couldnât help being startled when he got the affirmative answer: âWho is the other person?â
âI canât tell you.â He Qianmin sat up straight, his eyes cautious and scrutinizing: âUncle Xiang, I am asking you alone for help on this matter, you can refuse me, but if you agree, I hope you can promise to absolutely not tell my parents about it.â
Xiang Hong agreed, and obtained the results by testing the genetic loci on the Y chromosome. The owners of the two samples were brothers.
At first, Xiang Hong thought it was He Qianjian and He Qianminâs test, but when he handed the result to He Qianmin, He Qianminâs expression told him that the owner of the other sample could not be He Qianjian.
Just when he was puzzled, he saw Jiang Chen walking out of the school gate. Jiang Chen didnât notice them, and stopped under a tree on the opposite road, as if he was waiting for someone, but He Qianmin suddenly became flustered. He returned the report in its envelope in a panic, gave it back to him, and thanked him casually. He then turned around and ran towards Jiang Chen.
On the other side of the road, donât know what Jiang Chen and He Qianmin said to each other, but they looked at each other and smiled before walking to the other side together.
In a flash of insight, Xiang Hong was filled once again with the strange feeling he got when he saw Jiang Chen for the first time, and an unbelievable guess emerged in his mind.
In order to confirm this guess, he kept Jiang Chenâs unused hair samples, took Jiang Chenâs fingerprints and saliva samples when Jiang Chen came over to eat at their house, and the results of the identification confirmed that the owner of the other sample sent by He Qianmin was Jiang Chen. Only then did he do the triple identification of parent and child.
Xiang Hongâs eyes fell on the computer screen, and in a few minutes, he would get the final result.
As soon as the computer screen lit up, all the data had been transmitted, and was only waiting for him to process and analyze. Xiang Hong walked to the computer, put on his glasses, and looked as cautious and serious as he had ever been before.
At one oâclock in the morning, Xiang Hong took off his glasses, sighed deeply, and buried his face in his hands. The blue light of the computer hit his white coat. He wanted to open the address icon several times, but withdrew his hand again and again.
As a good friend, he found this matter unbelievable. Xiang Hong couldnât imagine the impact He Yanfeng and Yang Yun would receive if they knew the truth.
Although he already knew the answer, in order to be more rigorous, Xiang Hong turned back to the test table and conducted the second round of triple identification. This time, the samples of He Yanfeng, Yang Yun, and He Qianjian were identified.
Two days later, when the results came out, Xiang Hong immediately called He Yanfeng.
At this time, many people have already received the invitation letter for He Qianjianâs birthday party, the eldest young master of the He family, and have prepared their attire and gifts, waiting for the arrival of the party the day after tomorrow.
The He family had always been very low-key and rarely organized large-scale banquets. Apart from the birthdays of the two elders of the He family, they have only held a total of three birthday parties for He Yanfengâs three childrenâs 10th birthday and another one for He Qianjianâs 12th birthday.
It had been two years since the tenth birthday party of He Qianyu, the youngest child of the He family, but the banquet which gathered many big figures from all walks of life still remained something to talk about even now. And now it was the coming-of-age of the eldest young master most favored by his elders, so the grandeur of the banquet could already be imagined.
When his phone rang, He Yanfeng was accompanying Yang Yun and He Qianjian to listen to the banquet process from the party planner. He was just feeling bored when he received a call from Xiang Hong. Before Xiang Hong could even say the reason for asking to meet, he directly agreed.
âHoney, Xiao Xiang has something to find me for, Iâll go there first.â
âNow?â Yang Yun looked at the time: âItâs almost dinner soon.â
âIt seems to be quite urgent. You can just oversee the procedures yourself. Iâll leave first.â
He Yanfeng picked up the car keys and went out impatiently. When he arrived at Xiang Hongâs house, when he saw Xiang Hong with an unshaven beard and bloodshot eyes, he almost didnât recognize him: âWhat happened to you?â
Xiang Hong went to the sofa and sat down, pointed to the paper envelope on the coffee table, and went straight to the point: âI asked you for your hair before, do you remember?â
He Yanfeng paused: âI remember, whatâs wrong?â
Xiang Hong took a deep breath, then let it out slowly, raised his head and said: âI told you at the time, when the results come out, if you needed to know, I would let you know.â
He Yanfengâs gaze followed his hand and landed on the document envelope, paused for a moment, and then returned to Xiang Hongâs face. He had known Xiang Hong for many years, and he had never seen such an expression on his face.
He had been in the business world for many years, his intuition had always been accurate, and he was also swift and resolute in his actions. However, the faint premonition in his heart made him hesitate a little: âWhat do I need to know?â
Xiang Hong sighed: âYou can see for yourself.â
He Yanfeng withdrew his gaze, bent down to pick up the file bag, and slowly opened it.