Lu Yan's gaze fell on Professor Zhao.
In mid-September, Professor Zhao was already wearing thick clothes. Elderly people fear the cold, but in a situation where most people were still in autumn clothes, he seemed somewhat out of place.
A few years ago, when Professor Zhao taught them, he was still in his prime. Now, although there was still a smile on his face, he displayed an appearance of withering and aging. Age spots had even appeared on his face, which was quite lamentable.
Professor Zhao wore sunglasses on his face.
The class monitor sighed, "After Teacher's wife passed away, Professor Zhao was very sad. Cried so much that his eyes got damaged, can't stand bright light anymore. He's been wearing sunglasses during this time."
Lu Yan pondered for a moment, then approached, warmly shaking Professor Zhao's hand.
"Professor, long time no see."
Professor Zhao stretched his neck, looked for a while, and smiled, "So, it's little Lu. Haven't seen you in so many years; you've become even more handsome. Your teacher's wife used to talk about arranging a marriage for you."
Lu Yan could feel that Professor Zhao's hand was as cold as ice. And it felt somewhat unnaturally stiff.
After shaking hands for a moment, Professor Zhao let go and walked to the main table.
Around him were students who were still pursuing their Ph.D., and those who were close to him in the past.
Lu Yan didn't join in the lively atmosphere. He had deep respect for most of his teachers but wasn't particularly close to them.
The system, imitating Tang Xunan's tone, lowered its voice and said, [Did you sense it?]
Unfortunately, it was just an unpleasant mechanical sound, making the low-frequency effect greatly discounted.
Lu Yan pondered, "Is someone dead?"
Professor Zhao's hand was cold, but it could be explained by the weather.
The reason Lu Yan guessed like this was due to the faint smell of formaldehyde on him. Also, during the extremely brief handshake, he couldn't feel a pulse.
[Yes.]
Lu Yan took out his phone. The data showed that the peak pollution value just now was only around 10.
If an ordinary person comes into contact with pollutants, it would be considered a normal residual pollution level. This also indicates one thing; at least Zhao Ke has not yet turned into a pollutant. Just think about it, if Zhao Ke were a pollutant, Tang Xunan might have drawn his sword already for the safety of everyone present.
On the main table, Professor Zhao smiled and chatted happily with the class leader and others, occasionally coughing. "I've been living in a daze during this time. It warms my old, half-buried heart that you young folks still remember this old man."
Apart from looking a bit frail, Zhao Ke didn't seem like a deceased person. Even his words and actions were not much different from usual. This puzzled Lu Yan.
The system made a mocking noise: "Now you realize my importance, right? If you go to the teacher's house now, you might catch his wife. In a few days, she'll be gone."
"Is the haunted incident at Chang Ming Medical College related to this?" Lu Yan inquired.
"Yes. The corpse that was pretended to be Professor Zhao was a severely ill patient he had dealt with," the system responded.
Lu Yan pursed his lips. With the current information, it could only be concluded that Professor Zhao had been in contact with pollutants. Following the protocol, the next step would be an investigation by the Disease Prevention and Control Center. If necessary, the special operations department would be notified for handling.
Considering the frequent occurrence of pollution diseases nowadays, people who have come into contact with pollution sources are not few in the entire city. Some have merely brushed shoulders with low-level pollutants while riding a car. Sending investigators from the Disease Prevention and Control Center was mainly to reduce the workload.
After some thought, he sent a message to Tang Xunan: "I want to investigate Zhao Ke."
A moment later, his phone vibrated. "Okay. Approved."
Tang Xunan, the overall head of pollution disease prevention in City A, held the ultimate interpretive power in pollution disease prevention work.
-
The Disease Prevention and Control Center quickly provided Zhao Ke's registered home address and all the properties under his name. Professor Zhao, who had worked hard all his life, owned two houses in City A, one for himself and one for his daughter.
The Disease Prevention and Control Center also retrieved Zhao Ke's approximate activity range from surveillance footage: hospital, school, and home, a straightforward routine.
Following the process of a class reunion, after dinner, they would usually go to a karaoke lounge to bond. The class leader, being wealthy, had already booked a venue nearby.
Lu Yan sent a message to the class leader: "Can you take old Zhao to the karaoke later?"
Class leader: "Old Zhao is getting tired and wants to go back to sleep. Why do you want him to go to the karaoke, and you're not going?"
Lu Yan: "Please."
He added an adorable kitten emoji at the end.
The class leader, overwhelmed, patted his chest, saying, "Alright, leave it to me, little brother."
The system emitted a cold laugh: "Ah, men."
Lu Yan calmly cleared the chat history to avoid unnecessary emotional disputes in the future.
-
Tang Xunan had been drinking and couldn't drive, so Lu Yan willingly took on the role of the driver. Although he didn't drive often, he knew how to. But for safety reasons, he drove relatively slowly. When they arrived at their destination, an hour had passed.
Although Professor Zhao had worked at Yanda University for a long time, living within the Third Ring Road of City A was still beyond his means. It was said that he had just paid off his mortgage five or six years ago.
It was an old community built decades ago. The car parked in the parking lot, and Lu Yan followed the location given by the Disease Prevention and Control Center to Professor Zhao Ke's doorstep.
Despite intentional concealment, the pollution value on the detector at the door still rose to 300. Even without the system's explanation, Lu Yan understood that there was something inside.
He was contemplating how to pick the lock when he saw Tang Xunan's hand resting on the doorknob. Subsequently, the seemingly new doorknob immediately displayed patches of rust as Tang Xunan shook it hard, and the door opened.
Lu Yan couldn't help but comment to the system, "Look at people's timing, then look at yours."
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