Although, could Xingyu really call him out for this? Xingyu wasn’t exactly totally honest with Weiran, either. He knew that Xingyu’s parents were monsters—that Liu Baiyan was a monster—but he didn’t know that Xingyu was one, too. He didn’t even know half the things that Xingyu had done. He didn’t know that Xingyu didn’t only leave because of the abuse. Were their secrets the same? Everything Xingyu had done—that wasn’t going to affect them now. But if Weiran’s secret now was going to get them into trouble—

“Do you really not believe me?”

Xingyu chose his words carefully. “I believe that you wouldn’t abandon your cause.”

“But not that we should stop?”

“I believe that, too.” He would just drop it for now. “Lay low for a while. They were suspicious enough to mention something, but not suspicious enough to do anything about it. They probably just assumed you were stealing List resources for yourself and not up to anything else.”

Weiran’s shoulders, tense since Xingyu had met him today, relaxed. “Lay low? That’s it?”

“I’ll get back in contact with you soon.” Xingyu rubbed his chin. “I need to figure out how to get into Ba’s office as soon as possible. Once I can get the passcode, I’ll contact you to help me with the rest. He’s sure to slip up soon.”

“Should we change phones?”

“No. You never used your phone to contact the List, anyway. Just stay put and keep your head down.”

He went back to the company the day afterward, arriving about half an hour before he was supposed to meet Ba. This was their agreement; Ba had tried to make it an all-day-every-day affair, but Liu Xingyu needed to set a boundary lest he arouse more suspicion—the estranged son wouldn’t be so eager to spend so long with his father—and he needed to have time enough to meet with Weiran if he needed to, anyway. His ba was likely still in his office; he likely wouldn’t come out or even open his door until it was time to start Xingyu’s lessons. Xingyu settled down in the waiting room.

He hated being here.