The Drowing Summer

Li Chenzhou's Surveillance

In the study of the Li family mansion, **Li Chenzhou** stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, a Cuban cigar unlit between his fingers. Outside, the rain poured relentlessly, slithering down the glass like serpentine trails.

His assistant, **Mo Heng**, stood in the shadows, a tablet in hand displaying real-time surveillance footage—**in the treatment room, Li Moting leaned over Xia Xiaoman, who was bound to a chair. His fingers brushed her collarbone, while her eyes held a blade-sharp vigilance.**

"He's playing with fire," Li Chenzhou's voice was low and rough, like rusted gears grinding slowly. "Who is that girl?"

Mo Heng pulled up the file: **"Xia Xiaoman, 27, investigative reporter for *Financial Frontier*, orphaned, suspected connection to the forced demolition case in the Bay Area project three years ago."**

Li Chenzhou's pupils contracted slightly. He zoomed in on the image, freezing it on Xia Xiaoman's exposed wrist as she struggled—there was a slender scar, shaped like the Roman numeral "VII."

"Subject No. 7..." he murmured, then suddenly smirked. "Interesting."

He turned and walked toward a hidden door in the study. After unlocking it with his fingerprint, a narrow secret room was revealed. The walls were covered in yellowed photographs and medical reports, with a group photo from twenty years ago at the center—a young Li Chenzhou stood in a laboratory, surrounded by researchers in white coats. In the corner, a bespectacled man held a little girl, her wrist tied with a red ribbon.

Beneath the photo was a line of small text:

**"MN-07 Memory Carrier Compatibility: 92%"**

Li Chenzhou's fingertips traced the face of the bespectacled man and whispered, Xia Mingyuan, your daughter is smarter than you... but also more dangerous.