Chapter 190

The ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‍next day at work, Mu Mian walked into the office carrying a beautifully wrapped box.

"Mu Mian, who sent you a gift?" Chen Xue asked curiously, eyeing the box.

Mu Mian placed the box in front of Chen Xue and said, "Chen Xue, open it. We're about to have a group of adorable little companions."

"Adorable little companions? And a whole group of them?"

Chen Xue had a bad feeling about this. She slowly opened the box, and as soon as she saw what was inside, she let out a loud scream.

"Ah, Mu Mian, why did you bring a bunch of white mice to work? I hate white mice!"

Inside the box was a glass container with several white mice curled up inside, making little "squeak, squeak" noises.

"Chen Xue, you're a medical student. How can you be afraid of white mice?" Mu Mian said, picking up the box and placing it on her desk to prevent the mice from being frightened by Chen Xue.

Chen Xue crossed her arms and said, "I'm not afraid. I just dislike all living rodents. If I had to dissect them, I’d be fine with that."

Mu Mian picked up one of the white mice and held it in her palm. "Chen Xue, look, this one is really cute. Don’t worry, it’s not aggressive anymore. It’s a bit of a silly mouse. Can you guess why it’s become so silly?"

"Unless it’s a corpse, don’t let them appear in front of me!"

Mu Mian sighed sadly. "Alright. Poor little guys, you’ve been banished by a beautiful but mouse-hating forensic sister. Sigh, I’ll have to find a new place for you."

Chen Xue sensed trouble. "Mu Mian, you’re not planning to keep them long-term, are you? Why do you suddenly want to keep pets?"

"Of course. I’ve adopted them, so I’m responsible for them. But they’re not pets—they’re test subjects."

Mu Mian carried the box to Fang Rui’s office.

Only Fang Rui and Zhang were in the office.

Zhang’s suspicion of being an undercover agent had been preliminarily ruled out.

First, because when the rat poison was brought back, Zhang was one of the few who hadn’t come into contact with it, so he had no opportunity to steal it. Second, during Chen Shu’s interrogation, Zhang wasn’t involved and didn’t have any private contact with Chen Shu. Additionally, Zhang came from a good background, making it unlikely he’d be corrupted, and he wasn’t clever or steady enough to handle undercover work.

Zhang was peering through the glass at the mice running through a maze, puzzled. "Mu Mian, I thought you didn’t like animals. Why are you keeping a bunch of mice?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Officer Zhang, don’t scare them. And I don’t dislike animals," Mu Mian said, pulling Zhang away. "Also, don’t call them mice. They have names."

"What are their names?"

"This one is Rainbow One, that one is Rainbow Two… and the smartest one is Rainbow Seven."

"What… does that have to do with rainbows?"

Chen Xue pointed at the mice’s heads. "Look at the colors on their heads. If you see them as a group, you’ll notice they form a rainbow."

"..."

Inside the glass container were seven white mice, each with a patch of dyed fur on their heads—red, orange, green… purple. Together, they formed a rainbow.

Upon closer inspection, some of the mice had scars on their heads, as if their scalps had been cut open.

"I dyed their fur to cover the scars and make it easier to tell them apart."

"Why not name them Little Red, Little Orange, or something like that? Those names sound cuter," Zhang suggested.

"Those names are too anthropomorphic. I’m worried you’ll develop feelings for them and think what I’m doing to them is too cruel."

"Don’t worry, there’s no way we’d develop feelings for a bunch of mice. But why do some of them look sickly and not very bright?"

Mu Mian explained, "Rainbow One to Four are mice with brain damage. I removed part of their brain tissue… Rainbow One and Two are control groups; Three and Four are also control groups.

Rainbow Five is a normal mouse, very average. Rainbow Six is a naturally dull mouse—it’s been trained many times but still can’t figure out how to navigate the maze. Rainbow Seven is a genius mouse—it can quickly solve any unfamiliar maze and get the food."

Zhang stared at Mu Mian, dumbfounded. While others kept pets for fun, Mu Mian seemed to be conducting research.

Fang Rui asked, "Are you using them to test the effects of that drug?"

"Yes. I’ve already sent the drug to a professional testing agency for analysis, but they don’t know what it’s for. They even suspect it’s a half-finished product.

The clinical effects of the drug are more obvious on living subjects. It’s hard to deduce from a corpse what the drug is actually for, so I’ve decided to test it on these mice."

Zhang praised her, "Mu Mian, if you weren’t a forensic scientist, you’d definitely make a great researcher."

"I prefer being a forensic scientist because I get to work with a lot of corpses. My dad said being a researcher is hard—you need a lot of funding first, and only then do you need a smart brain."

"..."

Zhang pointed at the box. "Alright, we’ve seen your rainbow mice. You can take them back to your office now."

Mu Mian didn’t say anything, just quietly looked at Fang Rui and Zhang.

"Mu Mian, you’re not planning to leave them here, are you?"

"Is that okay? Chen Xue doesn’t like them. She won’t let me keep them in my office."

Fang Rui said, "It’s fine."

Zhang suggested, "Why not put them in the conference room? It’s spacious, has good air circulation, and is quiet."

"But no one will be watching them. I’m worried they might get hurt."

Zhang rolled his eyes. "They’re in a glass container. What harm could come to them? Overeating until they burst? Or fighting to the death?"

"Officer Zhang, you’re overthinking it. Some of these mice are smart, and some are dumb. If they’re kept together, the dumb ones might get bullied and not get enough food. I should assign them separate living spaces and food."

"...Meticulous!"

Mu Mian quickly used cardboard to divide the container into seven compartments, ensuring each mouse had its own comfortable space.

In the end, Mu Mian decided to place the mice on a small table at the back of the conference room. Fang Rui helped her move the glass container there.

The conference room was empty. Mu Mian whispered to Fang Rui, "These mice aren’t actually for drug testing. The mice for drug testing are at my house."

"You’re using these mice as bait to lure out the undercover agent?" Fang Rui asked.

Mu Mian nodded. "The undercover agent definitely doesn’t want us to know the effects of that drug, so they might try to harm these innocent mice. I’ve installed a pinhole camera on the glass container, and there’s also a camera at the conference room door. If someone tries to kill these mice, they’ll be caught on camera."

"Mu Mian, not bad. You’re learning to use cunning tactics now?"

Mu Mian corrected him, "It’s strategy. It’s called ‘waiting for the rabbit,’ no, ‘the willing fish,’ no, what’s it called again…"

"It’s called ‘luring the tiger out of the mountain.’"

Mu Mian looked at the mice and said to Fang Rui, "They have names too. This one is Neon One, that one is Neon Two… and the smartest one is Neon Seven."

"Got it. We’ll remember them."

Mu Mian whispered to the mice, "If you’re murdered, I’ll definitely avenge you. I’ll remember you."

The mice squeaked as they ate, perhaps in response to Mu Mian’s words.