Genius Club-Chapter 1174 - 38 Du Yao and Tang Xin (Extra update for monthly votes!)_4

Her university.

It was none other than Johns Hopkins University!

"I understand now."

Lin Xian took a deep breath.

He had finally...

Through a chain of memories, he had finally remembered seeing Du Yao’s name there—

[Chat records]!

Early last year.

When playing a game of Catch Me If You Can with Ji Lin, Ji Lin had pretended to take him to the police station and fabricated a lot of chat records between Tang Xin and other men to test him.

There were tons of chat records.

A mix of real and fake ones, making it extremely difficult to discern the truth.

But he remembered!

It seemed that, indeed, in one of those chat records, he had seen the name Du Yao!

Searching amidst thousands of possibilities...

He never would have imagined.

The name Du Yao was actually hidden in Tang Xin’s chat records!

He immediately took a private car and returned to Donghai City Public Security Bureau.

He retrieved the previously filed case documents on Tang Xin and found the printed chat records within.

Sure enough.

"Yao Yao."

Lin Xian looked at a specific set of chat records bound together.

They were chat records between Tang Xin and someone with a female avatar, whose nickname was Yao Yao.

Which meant.

Lin Xian hadn’t noticed Du Yao’s name from the nickname itself, otherwise, it would have left a much stronger impression on him.

The chat record was not thick, and it only started less than half a month before Tang Xin’s accident. There were no earlier records.

Lin Xian knew the reason.

It was because the research institute where Tang Xin worked had provided all its employees with a welfare benefit: a brand-new high-end Samsung phone. When Tang Xin had joined him for a meal back then, she had even shown it to him.

On a new phone, unless the previous WeChat messages were deliberately backed up and transferred, they wouldn’t appear.

At the time, Tang Xin even complained to Lin Xian about the Samsung phone’s system being so user-unfriendly and counterintuitive. Lin Xian had fiddled with it a bit himself... and agreed it was frustrating to use, and very uncomfortable to operate.

Lin Xian quickly flipped through the chat records.

The detailed content could be reviewed later; for now, he just wanted to confirm one thing quickly—whether this "Yao Yao" was indeed Du Yao.

Yao Yao and Tang Xin didn’t chat frequently, just bits and pieces here and there, and sometimes there were days without replies. Most of the responses came late at night.

"Found it!"

Finally, Lin Xian found the relevant chat record.

It was a photo of an Africa volunteer aid application form, stamped with a blue seal. Before sending the photo, Du Yao even added a scissors-hand emoji:

"I got accepted~"

The application form was in English. At the time, when Lin Xian and Ji Lin were playing their back-and-forth charade, he hadn’t taken it seriously. His mind wasn’t focused on it, and he had only glanced at it.

But amidst the sea of English on the form, two Chinese characters stood out conspicuously—

[Du Yao]

"It really is Du Yao."

Lin Xian took a deep breath:

"And she’s the same Du Yao who did volunteer work in Africa... This matches very closely with what was mentioned in Gao Wen’s handwritten letter!"

Looking at the chat records, brimming with hidden stories, Lin Xian felt a swirl of emotions—nostalgia, regret, and a tinge of melancholy.

Tang Xin.

This girl, who left him full of sorrow and remorse, was surprisingly, a close friend of Du Yao.

He didn’t know what to say.

He only felt a deep heaviness in his heart.

Because...

In the final pages of the chat records between Du Yao and Tang Xin, most of the conversation revolved around him.

"Yao Yao, you totally guessed it! Lin Xian really doesn’t remember the time in high school when he wrapped his jacket around me... When I brought it up to him, he didn’t show any reaction at all. But oh well, it doesn’t matter if he forgot, right? Even if he forgot, it really happened!"

"Haha, I went to the movies with Lin Xian today. You know what, Yao Yao? He’s still the same as he always was! He hasn’t changed a bit! I mean... hehe, in every way! Still so thoughtful, so gentle."

"Today, he reached out to pull me! I was so embarrassed! My face must’ve been so red at the time... Ugh, how mortifying! But thankfully, I had a little to drink, so maybe Lin Xian didn’t notice."

"Oh, it wasn’t like a deliberate pull or anything, just that I was getting into a cab, and suddenly he grabbed my hand and pulled me back from the curb. At that moment... ugh, anyway, then he asked if I wanted to go somewhere to sober up, so I went with him."

"What are you thinking… Lin Xian isn’t like that at all. We just talked for a while in a quiet bar, and then he took me home, that’s all! Why would I lie to you? Seriously! We’re pretty much the same as when we first met!"

"Haha, Yao Yao, remember what I told you on the phone yesterday? There’s also an old classmate who wants to help me. I prepared a special gift for Lin Xian... a VERY special gift! Do you think… when he sees it, he’ll remember the time he helped me out of that awkward situation?"

"Don’t worry, when I get back tomorrow, I’ll tell you everything right away! Jeez, what do you mean ’won’t come back’? I told you, Lin Xian isn’t that kind of person! He’s so shy!"

That...

was Tang Xin’s final message to Du Yao.

It was the last page of the printed document, very thin, with nothing beyond it.

Lin Xian felt his breath growing heavier as he looked at this last page of chat records, focusing on the very last line.

It was a message from Du Yao to Tang Xin.

It was also the final message in this chat record:

"Haha, I knew it! I knew there was no way you’d come back last night! If I don’t know you by now, who would? Surely you were the one who took the initiative, right?"

"Don’t worry, I’m super understanding. I didn’t want to disturb you two, so I held back from contacting you all night yesterday."

"Now I can finally talk, right? So, Xiao Xin Xin~

"Did the confession~~ succeed?"