Chapter 445: Not Familiar With Him

Jiang Huijing pursed her lips and nodded reluctantly, “Alright, I’ll go ask her then.”

Meanwhile, back at the staff quarters, Li Yiyi had no idea that she was once again on the minds of the couple.

When she returned, Jiang’s mother and the others were busy making herbal medicine in the yard.

“Found so many herbs again!” Li Yiyi entered and smiled at the three elderly people working.

Aunt Huang, seeing her return, happily explained, “Today, the three of us found a large patch of herbs in a small valley on the outskirts of the mountain. It seems no one had discovered it before. There were quite a few herbs, so the three of us worked together to dig them all up.”

Li Yiyi approached and inspected the herbs they had brought back. They were mostly common herbs, but because the elderly people were meticulous, the roots and leaves were well-preserved.

Seeing that they had gathered quite a few herbs, Li Yiyi finally took off her coat and joined in the herb processing.

Her rare day off was spent like this.

The next day, Li Yiyi returned to the research institute for work.

However, as soon as she arrived, she saw someone who shouldn’t have been there.

“Good morning, Comrade Li, we meet again,” Ito Keisuke greeted her with a smile, standing in her laboratory as if he were part of the place.

The moment Li Yiyi saw him, she immediately turned to call someone. But before she could leave the room, she heard him call out to her from behind, “Wait a moment, Comrade Li.”

Li Yiyi paused, turned around, and looked at him with a guarded expression. In a cold tone, she asked, “How did you get here?”

Ito Keisuke smiled faintly.

Hearing his annoying laugh, Li Yiyi angrily asked, “What are you laughing at? Let me ask you again, why are you here?” She then relaxed a bit, relieved that she had a habit of putting all her research files into her space supermarket after work.

Noticing her displeasure, Ito Keisuke quickly wiped the smile off his face. “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not laughing at you. I’m just glad to see you, Comrade Li. And you don’t need to call anyone; since I can be here, it’s because I have permission from your superiors.”

Li Yiyi, hearing this, understood that it was indeed as he said—if he hadn’t been authorized by someone in charge, there was no way he could be there.

“This is my laboratory. Even if your superiors authorized your visit, you should have gotten my permission to enter. Don’t you think it’s very rude to just come in without asking?” Li Yiyi said coldly.

Ito Keisuke immediately apologized, “I’m sorry, it was my fault. I shouldn’t have come in without your permission, Comrade Li. I apologize.”

Li Yiyi, who already disliked people from his country, didn’t care for his apology. With a sour expression, she said, “Who needs your apology? Get out.”

Seeing her anger, Ito Keisuke bit his lip and apologized again before leaving the room.

Once he was gone, Li Yiyi quickly checked the laboratory to make sure he hadn’t tampered with anything. Only after confirming everything was in order did she feel a little relieved.

However, his sudden appearance raised her suspicions.

People from R country wouldn’t just appear here for no reason.

And given the secretive nature of the place, how could R nationals just show up here?

The more she thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Li Yiyi decided to stop working and go find Jiang Linglan.

When she arrived, Jiang Linglan was on the phone.

“Director Yao, how could you send someone over here without telling me first? Don’t you know how much effort we’ve put into keeping this place secret? Now it’s all ruined. We’re practically telling people where our research lab is!”

“Director Yao, I don’t understand what you’re saying. I’m only responsible for my part, but I am very unhappy with the way you handled this,” Jiang Linglan hung up before the person on the other end could explain.

As soon as she hung up, Jiang Linglan saw Li Yiyi enter, and without waiting for Li Yiyi to speak, she asked, “Comrade Li, you’re here because of that Ito Keisuke, right?”

Li Yiyi, recalling the phone call she had overheard, guessed that Ito Keisuke’s presence wasn’t planned by them, and her anger dissipated. She simply nodded.

“This was arranged by higher-ups. I didn’t know they sent Ito Keisuke here,” Jiang Linglan explained apologetically.

Li Yiyi frowned deeper. The whole point of having this place be so secret was to keep it hidden, so why would they allow someone from R country to come in? It was like handing over all their secrets to the enemy.

“Director Jiang, I don’t understand. Why would the higher-ups do this? Isn’t this place supposed to be protected? Allowing someone from R country to come in is like handing over our entire base to them,” she asked, confused.

Jiang Linglan sneered, “We’ve all thought about this. I don’t believe the higher-ups didn’t think of this. I think they’ve gotten used to living in comfort and have forgotten all the injustices we’ve faced in the past.”

“But don’t worry. The higher-ups promised to relocate us, and I’ve already instructed everyone to pack up all the important things. Also, I heard Ito Keisuke visited your lab. There wasn’t any important information there, was there?”

Li Yiyi shook her head lightly, “No, nothing of value. I made sure everything important is secured.”

“Good. Now go back. The higher-ups said Ito Keisuke wants to meet you. They told us he’s bringing some top research results from his company to share with us, which was the condition for him to be allowed here,” Jiang Linglan said.

Li Yiyi bit her lip, about to speak, but before she could, Jiang Linglan asked, “Comrade Li, do you know Ito Keisuke? He seems to know you.”

“I don’t know him, but I’ve met him twice, although we haven’t said more than a few words,” Li Yiyi answered truthfully.