Episode 23 recap: Qi Lian is also a subject.
Jiang Xiaoyuan quit her job at the hair salon and, with her grandmother's support, started working in the beauty industry. She boarded a train with her luggage to find Jiang Bo. Chen Fangzhou respected Jiang Xiaoyuan's decision and didn't try to persuade her to stay, but assured her that the hair salon would always welcome her if she decided to return.
Qi Lian was unaware that Jiang Xiaoyuan had visited him that night, and he had already learned about her accident. Chen Fangzhou kept it a secret from Jiang Xiaoyuan, and Jiang Xiaoyuan didn't know how to tell Qi Lian about her resignation, so she kept it to herself.
Jiang Xiaoyuan arrived at the company where Jiang Bo worked, but since she didn't have an access card and couldn't reach Jiang Bo on the phone, the security guard refused to let her in. She sat by the flower bed, venting her frustration about the unreliable Jiang Bo while waiting. Exhausted, she eventually fell asleep leaning on her suitcase. When Jiang Bo finally appeared, he woke her up and gave her three thousand yuan. He planned to leave, but Jiang Xiaoyuan held onto him, explaining that the three thousand yuan wouldn't be enough to cover her living expenses. Jiang Bo couldn't resist Jiang Xiaoyuan's persistence, so he arranged accommodation for her. The aunt in charge of the employee dormitory asked Jiang Xiaoyuan about her relationship with Jiang Bo, looking somewhat strange. Before Jiang Xiaoyuan could ponder further, Qi Lian called. Holding back her tears, Jiang Xiaoyuan told him that she had resigned and wanted to seize her sober time to do things she loved. She also expressed her hope that Qi Lian would stop investigating the Bright Laboratory and hesitated to say that he shouldn't waste his time on her, but Qi Lian didn't give her a chance to say it clearly and hung up the phone.
Jiang Xiaoyuan decided not to contact Qi Lian in the future so that he could live a better life. She didn't know that Qi Lian was already suspicious of Xu Jingyang's identity. If Xu Jingyang was just a figment of his imagination, Jiang Xiaoyuan shouldn't have known about him.
With doubts in his mind, Qi Lian wanted to know the truth. So, he deliberately returned to his old house to find answers. Standing in his room, looking at the safe in front of him, he seemed to hear Xu Jingyang standing beside him, urging him on. Miraculously, he used the correct password to open the safe and discovered the contract from the Bright Laboratory inside. He confirmed that he was also a subject of the Bright Laboratory's experiment and realized that the truth he had been pursuing was right in his hands.
Jiang Xiaoyuan had never worked as an assistant before, and she relied on her passion to join Jiang Bo. However, her lack of professional knowledge made Jiang Bo look down on her, and he couldn't help but remind her that she needed to prove her worth within a month, otherwise, she would be let go.
Jiang Xiaoyuan, in order to excel in her job, started to study intensively. One day, she was working late in the office when she started experiencing a severe stomach ache. When she stood up, she realized that she had stained the chair. She quickly took off her coat and tied it around her waist. Just as she walked out of the main entrance, she was accidentally bumped into by an impatient delivery guy. Jiang Xiaoyuan, afraid of the embarrassment, didn't let him help her up but asked him to pick up her clothes instead. At that moment, Qi Lian took off his coat and put it on Jiang Xiaoyuan, leading her to buy supplies. As they walked down an alley, Qi Lian directly mentioned that he saw Jiang Xiaoyuan on the day of the accident and he had figured out that she distanced herself from him because of the threat from the Bright Laboratory. However, he was willing to be Jiang Xiaoyuan's retreat, even if she were to go insane one day, he would take care of her. Jiang Xiaoyuan didn't want to burden Qi Lian or cause trouble for her friends and grandmother, so she resolutely refused Qi Lian, tears welling up in her eyes, hoping that they would part ways at that point.
Qi Lian didn't realize that Jiang Xiaoyuan's words were harsh but deeply hurt him. He hid around the corner, feeling heartbroken, and it took great determination for him to finally leave. Qi Lian speculated that his sudden car accident and Jiang Xiaoyuan's sudden distance from him were somehow related. He specifically asked Qiangzi to check the car's black box, but unfortunately, it didn't capture the driver or the license plate of the other vehicle involved in the accident. This made him even more certain that someone was intentionally targeting him.
The car's black box recorded Jiang Xiaoyuan going to pick up Qi Lian. Qi Lian sensitively noticed that Jiang Xiaoyuan's emotions at that time were off. It didn't seem like she was going to pick someone up but rather, she seemed worried that something would happen to him. Qi Lian suspected that Jiang Xiaoyuan had received a threatening phone call. He wanted to find out who was behind it but was worried that reporting it to the police would put Jiang's grandmother in danger. He didn't know what to do.
In order to catch up with her work, Jiang Xiaoyuan borrowed a laptop and books from her roommate. Her roommate noticed that she had been crying and couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her. Jiang Bo accidentally overheard a phone conversation and learned that Jiang Xiaoyuan was a subject. He realized that Jiang Xiaoyuan's data would be crucial for the system upgrade. After examining the documents on his desk, Jiang Bo confirmed that the Jiang Xiaoyuan mentioned by that person was the same Jiang Xiaoyuan he knew.
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