Waaah, I'm being forced into loving my yandere wife's brain.

Lin Zhiyao lowered her eyes, opened the refrigerator, and took out a bottle of energy drink.

It was filled with food and drinks that Shen Jin had taken her to buy over the past few days.

Thinking of Shen Jin, Lin Zhiyao paused in closing the refrigerator door, but quickly shook her head and stopped thinking about it.

Tomorrow is the day for the field research, and she needs to familiarize herself with the data collection process the professor gave her. She also hasn't had time to finish reading a few references yet, so she needs to catch up on all her work tonight.

Lin Zhiyao placed the drink on the desk, opened her notebook, and began reading a document.

She was worried that she would feel sleepy for no reason like she had a few days before, but perhaps it was the excitement of the research she was going to do the next day that kept her going. She stayed up until the early hours of the morning without dozing off.

After finishing the last paper, it was just beginning to get light outside the window.

Lin Zhiyao stretched and yawned. She was surprised that she had been feeling sleepy since arriving in the United States, but she was still quite energetic at this time of day. She didn't even need to use the energy drink she had prepared in advance.

Has she finally adapted?

Lin Zhiyao washed her face, slung her laptop bag over her shoulder, and went out. When she arrived at the laboratory building, the professor's car was already there.

A dark gray SUV appeared. The professor rolled down the window. "You're here? Get in."

Good morning, Professor.

Lin Zhiyao opened the passenger door and sat down, placing her laptop bag on her lap, looking obedient.

The professor casually responded, started the car, turned the steering wheel, and drove out of the campus. "How are the preparations going?"

"It's alright!" Lin Zhiyao said. "I went through the information again."

The professor smiled and said, "So diligent? Looks like I chose the right person to mentor you."

Lin Zhiyao smiled a little embarrassedly, and the car merged into the main road, heading towards the suburbs.

The buildings outside the window gradually became sparser, and trees and snow began to appear. The sunlight shining on the unmelted snow was a bit dazzling.

Lin Zhiyao thought to herself that she must perform well during this research trip and not let her compatriots back home down.

*

Shen Jin sat in the driver's seat, looking down at the investigation report sent to him by his secretary via email.

A professor specializing in genetic engineering.

A well-known yellow fever enthusiast in the circle, he has certain ties with the Jewish consortium, works in the field of genetic research, and often receives money to publish reports on the superiority of a certain ethnic group.

His reputation might be debatable in academic circles, but within their social circles... he's just a notorious, damned Jewish dog.

The intention behind sending Lin Zhiyao along alone is self-evident.

Shen Jin's expression instantly turned extremely terrifying, a dark and insane storm brewing in his fox-like eyes.

Fortunately, he had installed a surveillance device on Lin Zhiyao's phone a few days earlier while she was asleep, so he was able to monitor her location in real time.

The driver's side window was half-lowered, letting in a cold draft. He rested one hand on the steering wheel, his knuckles slightly white.

The red dot on the car screen had been stationary for almost twenty minutes. The location indicated that it was near the research station in the suburbs, some distance from the main road, and the signal was intermittent.

Shen Jin made a phone call.

"What else did they find out about Michael Harris?"

The assistant replied quickly: "Last year, a Chinese-American female student complained about him, saying she was harassed during a research trip, but nothing came of it. The department suppressed it, and the person involved reportedly dropped out of school."

Shen Jin didn't respond, but then his assistant added, "Also, his wife divorced him three years ago and took a large sum of money, so he's definitely not financially well-off lately."

"Got it." Shen Jin hung up the phone, shifted the gear into drive, and the wheels rolled over the snow on the side of the road, making a dull sound.

Shen Jin increased the car's speed to above the speed limit.

The numbers on the instrument panel jumped, and the light from the streetlights outside the car window was stretched into thin lines.

His hands were steady, but his jawline was taut.

The location signal marked a route to the research station on his phone screen. Shen Jin switched the navigation and simultaneously accessed the background permissions of Lin Zhiyao's phone's front-facing camera.

The screen froze for a moment before popping up again.

The camera is focused on a gray-white ceiling that looks dilapidated, with an exposed pipe next to it.

Lin Zhiyao's phone was probably placed on a table.

Shen Jin minimized the screen and pressed the accelerator down a bit more. His expression was calm, but only his clenched teeth betrayed his emotions.

Yao Yao shouldn't have been allowed to leave the room.

See, if she's not by his side, she'll be in danger, encountering filthy, despicable people who covet her.

Yao Yao, Yao Yao Yao Yao...

The car was already exceeding the speed limit, leaving a trail of afterimages on the road.

*

They sped along at breakneck speed.

Shen Jin parked the car in front of the research station.

There were two sets of footprints in the snow, the larger one in front and the smaller one behind, pointing towards the small door on the side of the building.

Shen Jin walked over quickly.

A faint sound of talking could be heard coming from inside.

The sound, carried by the wind through the floors, was muffled and intermittent, but the content was still relatively clear.

"...You're all alone here, with no relatives or friends. Don't you want things to go more smoothly for you in the future?"

Harris's voice was filled with a disgusting laugh.

"Your current research topic doesn't quite align with what you did in your undergraduate studies, but if you'd like, I can adjust it, placing you on a more important sub-project, including your name in publications, and making recommendation letters easier. You're a smart person; you should know what this kind of opportunity means for an exchange student."

Lin Zhiyao's voice followed, trembling slightly, "Professor... I want to proceed according to the normal procedure. Please send me the project details first, and I'll study them when I get back..."

"The process?" Harris chuckled, lowering his voice. "The process is that you work with me for two years, then in the end, you give your results to someone else, you get nothing, and you're sent back home. I've seen too many of these."

In the quiet moments, Shen Jin heard the screeching sound of chair legs scraping against the ground, and he used these faint sounds to determine the direction of travel.

"If you really want to go far on this path, sometimes you have to know how to make choices."

Harris's tone became sticky.

"All I need is your cooperation. If you cooperate, I can give you far more than you imagine. You're a girl who left your hometown to come here, don't you want a green card? My words carry weight in the department, and they can save you at least three years of detours."

Lin Zhiyao's voice tightened: "Professor, I think you might have misunderstood..."

"I didn't misunderstand." Harris interrupted her, his voice suddenly turning cold. "You've been smiling at me since the first day you joined the team, and you came to the lab in such thin clothes. Isn't that what you meant? I gave you a chance, don't push your luck."

Shen Jin pushed open the door and went inside.

The sound of the door slamming against the wall wasn't loud, but it seemed particularly abrupt in this small, semi-basement conference room.

Harris was leaning forward, his hand resting on the back of the chair Lin Zhiyao was sitting on, and he turned his head sharply at the sound.

He looked at the person at the door, his pupils contracting slightly.

The smile on her face froze for two seconds, then cracked into a hint of panic: "...Shen?"

Shen Jin?

How did he end up here?

She wasn't hallucinating because she was too scared, was she?

Lin Zhiyao also turned her head, her eyes red and her lips pale. The moment she saw Shen Jin, her shoulders trembled heavily, and the tears she had been holding back instantly rolled down her cheeks.

"Shen Jin..."

Her usually soft voice now carried a distinct sob.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The author is struggling with how to handle a certain plot point, so there will only be one update today for better presentation (if I can figure it out and write it tonight, I will update it today, but to avoid you waiting in vain, it is best to check back tomorrow). There will be three updates tomorrow to make up for it!