32: Chapter 32 The Mitchell Family Dining Table

The car pulled away from the company. Chen Feng hung up the phone with Hua Federation special envoy Song Yun. The woman's feigned composure before she left was still lingering in his mind.

He knew that today's display of both carrot and stick was enough to keep those bureaucrats far away in Jingzhou busy for a while.

You shouldn't touch a tiger's backside, but if you're holding something harder than a tiger's claws, the situation changes.

Chen Feng glanced at the gift bag in the passenger seat, which contained a nice bottle of red wine and a game console for Amy.

He had changed into casual clothes and was driving the second-hand Porsche 911 that Tony had just picked up for him, feeling unusually relaxed.

Tonight, he was going to a special appointment.

A home-cooked dinner at Officer Sarah Mitchell's place.

...

On Saturday evening, the single-family house in the suburbs of Los Angeles was glowing with warm lights.

Just as Chen Feng parked the car, the front door creaked open.

A head wearing an apron, with hair tied in a neat ponytail, poked out. Seeing Chen Feng, the girl's eyes instantly lit up like light bulbs.

"Boss... oh no, Brother Chen! You're finally here!"

Amy Mitchell practically bounced out to greet him, grinning from ear to ear.

"Amy, don't block the doorway."

A slightly helpless voice came from inside the house.

Sarah walked out. She had changed out of her stiff police uniform and was wearing a light blue knit sweater and jeans. Her long golden hair was left down casually. Under the warm light of the porch, she had lost some of the sharpness of a police officer and gained some domestic softness.

Chen Feng's hand holding the gift bag paused in mid-air for about half a second.

He had to admit that she looked much more pleasing to the eye when she wasn't wearing her police uniform.

"Welcome, Chen."

A kind middle-aged woman walked out from behind Sarah. She had the same blue eyes as Sarah and Amy, and a warm smile on her face. "Please, come in. Do you remember me? I'm Mrs. Karen."

"Hello, Mrs. Mitchell."

Chen Feng handed over the gift. "Just a little something."

The atmosphere at the dinner table was much more relaxed than Chen Feng had expected.

Mrs. Karen was a typical U Federation housewife, warm and cheerful.

She kept piling roast chicken and mashed potatoes onto Chen Feng's plate, muttering, "I heard from Amy that in your Hua Federation, it's tradition for elders to serve food to guests to show them a warm welcome."

Chen Feng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He had to pick up the serving fork and put a piece of broccoli on Mrs. Karen's plate, smiling as he explained, "Ma'am, you might have it backward. In the Hua Federation, it's usually the younger generation who serves the elders to show respect."

Mrs. Karen paused, then burst into laughter. "Oh, my goodness, is that so! It seems I need to have a serious talk with Amy about her lessons."

Amy, sitting to the side, stuck out her tongue and buried her head in her food, pretending she hadn't heard anything.

Sarah ate quietly, taking small bites, occasionally glancing up at Chen Feng with a complex look in her eyes.

She realized that away from that heavily guarded company, the Chen Feng before her was just like an ordinary boy next door—he could joke around and was very polite, a completely different person from the "Umbrella" boss who made her feel such danger and mystery.

After dinner, Amy, like a little squirrel showing off a treasure, pulled Chen Feng to the sofa in the living room and excitedly brought out her laptop.

"Brother Chen, Brother Chen! Look at my biochemistry paper! I'm second in my grade this semester, just a tiny bit away from beating that annoying Philip!"

Chen Feng took it and glanced at the title: "Analysis of the Application Prospects of CRISPR Technology in Hereditary Cystic Fibrosis."

He read through it quickly, his fingers sliding across the touchpad, and after a few minutes, he stopped on one page.

"Here," Chen Feng pointed to a section of the experimental design process on the screen. "Your hypothesis is fine, but there's a flaw in the logical design. The control group you set up doesn't fully exclude the confounding variables of 'off-target effects,' so the accuracy of the data you obtained will be compromised."

He flipped to the next page. "And here, the paper from the Nature sub-journal you cited—its conclusion was overturned by new research last year. You should use the latest data to support your arguments."

Amy was just listening intently at first, but as she listened further, her eyes grew wider and wider, eventually turning into star-struck eyes.

Even their professor hadn't pointed out these issues!

"Wow... Brother Chen, you're amazing! You know all this?" Amy looked at him with admiration. "So, how do you think I should fix it?"

"It's simple: add a negative control group using non-specific gRNA sequences. As for the data, I'll send you the links to two of the latest papers later." Chen Feng said it nonchalantly, as if he were talking about the weather.

For him, a former biology geek, this was all basic knowledge ingrained in his DNA.

"That's awesome!" Amy was so excited she almost jumped up. "Brother Chen, can I... ask you for guidance every week? Please!"

She pressed her hands together, putting on a pitiful expression.

"Also, also, Boss, when can I become a full-time employee at the company? I can start doing odd jobs right now!"

Chen Feng was amused by her. "Once you graduate, the internship position at Umbrella will always be open to you."

"Yay! It's a deal!"

Watching the warm interaction between her sister and Chen Feng, Sarah leaned against the kitchen doorway, feeling a complex mix of emotions.

She was happy that her sister could get professional guidance, but she also felt a strange sense of vigilance and... unease at how easily Chen Feng had integrated into her family life.

As the night grew late, Chen Feng stood up to leave.

Sarah walked him to the door, and only the two of them were left in the hallway.

The night breeze blew by, carrying a hint of chill.

Silence spread between them.

Eventually, it was Sarah who spoke first. Her voice was very low, carrying the seriousness of a police officer interrogating a suspect: "Chen, what exactly are you up to?"

"Hmm?"

"Don't play dumb!" Sarah's gaze became sharp. "The FBI's investigation order for your company was forcibly revoked by people from the Ministry of Defense. The security level around your company is now almost on par with a military base! Don't tell me you're just running an ordinary pharmaceutical business!"

The smile on Chen Feng's face faded. He didn't look at Sarah but instead gazed at the twinkling lights of the city in the distance.

After a while, he spoke slowly, his voice devoid of emotion: "Sarah, let me ask you a question."

"What?"

"Was your father's accident... when he was investigating a pharmaceutical company back then?"

Sarah's pupils contracted sharply in an instant.

This was the deepest pain in her heart and the reason she became a police officer.

The file stated it was an "accidental death in the line of duty," but she never believed it.

That was her father, an experienced veteran detective; how could he have "accidentally" died during a simple investigation?

Chen Feng turned his head, looking directly into her trembling eyes, and said word by word: "I am not a bad person, Sarah. But I cannot tell you what I am doing right now."

His gaze was deep, like an unfathomable deep sea.

After saying this, he turned and walked toward his car.

Just when Sarah thought the conversation was over, Chen Feng took two steps, then suddenly stopped and turned back, a faint smile reappearing on his face.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention."

"You look better in casual clothes than in your police uniform."

As his words fell, he opened the car door and got in.

The Porsche's engine gave a low roar as it merged into the night.

Sarah stood stunned on the porch alone. The night breeze ruffled her hair, but her cheeks were burning, turning red all the way to her neck.

After a long while, she squeezed out from between her teeth:

"...Asshole!"

Meanwhile, behind a window on the second floor, Amy was holding her phone, whispering excitedly to her best friend on the other end:

"He said it! He really said it! He said my sister looks good! Melissa! Our plan is half successful!"

...

In the car, all expressions on Chen Feng's face had faded, returning to his usual calmness.

What he had just said to Sarah was not on a whim.

While having Tony investigate the Maida Group, he had also checked some old files from the Los Angeles Police Department, among which was the file on Sarah's father, Detective Daniel Mitchell.

He muttered in his heart, addressing the air.

"System, retrieve information related to the 'Murder Case of Detective Daniel Mitchell'."

[Command received...]

[Retrieving information...]

[Warning: Insufficient information access rights. Relevant files have been encrypted or physically destroyed. Need to obtain higher-level access rights or relevant physical files.]

As expected.

Chen Feng's fingertips tapped lightly on the steering wheel.

It seems that to unravel this mystery, more clues are needed.

Just then, the encrypted phone in his pocket vibrated urgently.

It was a message from Tony, with only one sentence.

"Boss, return to the underground laboratory immediately! Dr. Samantha... she seems to have discovered something incredible!"