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Chen Rui fixed his gaze on the screen, staring at the girl for quite a while before finally recalling who she was, though he found it strange that she would appear here.
"Who is that girl? Could she be related to Boss Li?" He Chengrong asked with a smile, pointing at the beautiful background in the projection.
Chen Rui chuckled, "I guess this one can no longer be described as a girl."
"How could that be? She looks so young! She must be in her early twenties, right?"
Chen Rui shrugged and smiled wryly. "This lady happens to be my senior sister, and she's two or three years older than me."
Guo Xinhua and He Chengrong exchanged glances, both wearing expressions of disbelief. Chen Rui, feeling a bit indignant, said, "I'm still quite young! Compared to you two, I can even be considered fresh meat!"
"Pfft..." The laughter that erupted was not from Guo Xinhua or He Chengrong but from the other staff members in the Central Command Room. This was quite embarrassing for Chen Rui, who had no choice but to forcibly change the subject.
"It shouldn't be her. Stop laughing and get back to work! It's working hours; don't keep goofing off!" Chen Rui shouted at the group of young operators.
As they continued to play the recording, the projection remained still. Chen Rui suspected he hadn't clicked to start playback. Looking down, he noticed that time was clearly still moving forward; the image hadn't changed because Li Li had also frozen in shock upon seeing this scene.
Suddenly, the image shook violently as Li Li began to turn and run away, clearly preparing to exit the dream.
"This..."
Just after Chen Rui finished speaking, reality slapped him in the face. He felt a bit helpless, especially when he heard a muffled laugh echoing around him.
With no other option, Chen Rui decided to ask his senior sister directly. As he stepped out of the Central Command Room, he shouted to everyone inside, "If you want to laugh, just laugh out loud! I won't take responsibility if you choke!"
As soon as he stepped out the door, he heard the sound of laughter echoing from inside.
"This group really lacks courtesy," Chen Rui chuckled to himself, quickly making his way to the Dream Control Room. He approached the person in charge and requested the awakening of his old Senior Sister.
"That seems a bit against the rules," the person in charge replied with a hint of reluctance. After all, unexpectedly waking Dream Participants was detrimental to this Trainee.
"Handle it under emergency protocol. There are important matters that require this Trainee's cooperation, and it must be conducted under complete confidentiality. Therefore, it's imperative to awaken this Trainee."
Chen Rui presented his identity as captain to apply pressure on the person in charge and invoked the emergency protocol. With no other option, the person in charge proceeded to awaken Lin Mingjia. It was only at that moment that Chen Rui fully recalled the name of his old Senior Sister—he had actually learned it from her file.
Trainees had been in their dreams for an extended period, so there were designated deep sleep locations—the Dream Zone. It took some time to travel from the Dream Zone to the high-level Dream Control Room, so Chen Rui asked the person in charge to pull up Lin Mingjia's file for him to review.
Lin Mingjia, female, born on January 1, 1994, in Hubei Province, Wuhan City...
The person in charge glanced at her date of birth and couldn't help but exclaim, "This woman is over thirty! She certainly doesn't look it! And she even has a child!"
Upon hearing this, Chen Rui was immediately taken aback. This old Senior Sister looked nothing like a mother who had given birth! Struggling to suppress his shock, he continued reading.
She enrolled in Peking University for Economic Management in 2001 but took a leave of absence due to illness in January 2001. She got married on April 1, 2014... and divorced on April 8, 2014... giving birth to a son in September 2014...
Looking at this chaotic and complex file, Chen Rui felt there was definitely more to uncover. He instructed the person in charge to encrypt the file before stepping outside the Dream Control Room, waiting in the corridor for his story-laden old Senior Sister.
After waiting for five or six minutes, a man dressed in a black coaching uniform finally delivered Lin Mingjia before Chen Rui. The coach saluted both Chen Rui and Lin Mingjia before jogging back to the Dream Zone.
Seeing Chen Rui standing there waiting for her, Lin Mingjia was not particularly surprised. She smiled lightly and said, "Long time no see, Zijing... No, I guess I should call you Chen Rui now."
Chen Rui shook his head with a light laugh and patted Lin Mingjia on the back. "It doesn't matter. Call me whatever you like, Senior Sister. I'm easygoing."
Leading Lin Mingjia into the reception room, which was the only place on the entire Aboard without any surveillance devices, he felt a sense of relief. Even the central control room had cameras; although they were meant to prevent intrusions, who knew if those signals reached the decision-making level of the Dream Project?
"Zijing, what did you want to talk to me about?" Once inside the reception room, Lin Mingjia got straight to the point. "I don't believe that someone as busy as you would seek me out just to catch up. Besides, with fifty thousand trainees here, if it weren't for something important, you probably wouldn't even know I was around—maybe you've already forgotten me."
"How could I forget? Senior Sister, you were the dream girl of all the boys in school back then! The beautiful president of the student council! Hahaha."
"Hmph!" Lin Mingjia scoffed at Chen Rui's reluctance to get to the main topic. "Yes, I was the president of the student council back then. You were just a freshman at that time. And now? You're a high-ranking leader while I'm just a struggling woman. Whether I can find a job here depends on your goodwill!"
"Senior Sister, please don't say that..." Chen Rui chuckled awkwardly but suddenly recalled something important. Just as Lin Mingjia had pointed out, she was indeed the student council president back then, and it made sense that ordinary students would know her. But how could she have noticed him as a freshman?
According to his memories, this Senior Sister was two grades above him; she was about to graduate when he had just entered school. He hadn't made much of an impression during his first year; it wasn't until his second year that he began to stand out. By then, Lin Mingjia had already been accepted into North Atlantic—how could she be so familiar with him?
"Just get to the point. If you keep beating around the bush, I might think you're deliberately making things difficult for me and preventing me from entering dream training properly."
Lin Mingjia smirked as she settled onto the main sofa in the reception room, narrowing her eyes at Chen Rui.
Chen Rui immediately felt a bead of sweat form on his forehead. Why was this single mother so hard to deal with? With no other choice, he sighed in resignation.
"How did you meet Li Li?"
Lin Mingjia was immediately taken aback upon hearing this, and then quickly became alert. "What are you talking about? How could I possibly know someone like that? Oh, no! Of course I know Li Li, but Mr. Li wouldn't recognize someone like me, a commoner."
Seeing that Lin Mingjia was unwilling to speak the truth, Chen Rui had no choice but to project a video. Although it was in first-person perspective, Lin Mingjia still noticed the way of speaking, the clothing, and details like the fingers, realizing who the owner of this perspective was. A flicker of shock crossed her face.
"You asked me to get straight to the point, yet you refuse to do so. What can I do?"
Chen Rui leaned against the door of the meeting room and gave Lin Mingjia a wry smile.
"What are you talking about..." Lin Mingjia was clearly flustered, even starting to use honorifics. Chen Rui frowned slightly and snapped, "Stop beating around the bush and tell me the truth!"
Lin Mingjia exhaled and gave a self-deprecating smile. "What good would it do to come out with it? Past events are forgotten like smoke; my heart is free of selfishness. Let what has happened remain in the past."
Chen Rui took a deep breath. Since it was already clear that Lin Mingjia had a connection with Li Li, there was no need for her to reveal everything herself.
"Since you still refuse to speak, let me take a guess. It might hurt a bit and sting you, but don't blame me."
Chen Rui sat down across from Lin Mingjia, observing her facial expressions. Lin Mingjia seemed to notice Chen Rui's actions as well; she forced a natural smile, indicating that it didn't matter.
"Since you indeed had interactions with Li Li, and it seems there are very painful memories between you two, then the framework of this situation becomes clearer."
Chen Rui focused on Lin Mingjia's eyes and began to analyze slowly.
"You must have met Li Li during the school season in 2001 when you were already in your second year. However, due to your astonishing grades and awards, you were already set to be recommended for further studies. Yet, you withdrew from school in January 2001 due to illness..."
Lin Mingjia guided Liu Hai away and smiled lightly, "It's a leave of absence! I was seriously ill at that time, and I had no choice but to take a break from school."
Chen Rui nodded with a smile and continued, "Yes, although the records state 'leave of absence due to illness,' in reality, it was a dropout. Moreover, at that time, no hospital in Beijing had any record of your hospitalization; you were healthier than anyone! In contrast, in early November, Li Li had treatment records from a private hospital due to a severe cold from being caught in the rain!"
Hearing this, Lin Mingjia's expression grew increasingly unnatural because Chen Rui was referring to that past event—one she herself was reluctant to recall.
"What exactly happened? You and Li Li were together for less than three months, yet it was during that brief period that a solid foundation for the Dawn Business Empire was established."
"I want to know what you did during those three months..."
"Enough!" Lin Mingjia could no longer contain herself and roared, interrupting Chen Rui.
Seeing Lin Mingjia's reddened eyes, Chen Rui sighed. "I don't represent that side; I'm simply driven by my own curiosity. And for the sake of Dawn's future, could you please share this story with me?"
Lin Mingjia glared deeply at Chen Rui, resembling a protective mother tiger ready to fight to the death.
"There's no need to look at me like that..." Chen Rui leaned back on the sofa and chuckled lightly. "Although we are not friends, you can be considered my mentor; after all, you were the one who introduced me to Li Li."
"Please tell me what happened fourteen years ago."
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