“What about you?” Would Zhao Xinxin believe Hao Yunyang’s words? Unless she was truly a brainless woman.
“I still need to look up some information. You go to sleep,” Hao Yunyang reached out and patted Zhao Xinxin’s head until she slowly closed her eyes, seemingly asleep. Then he withdrew his hand, his expression turning serious, continuing to search for any information about the Mitsui Financial Group.
What Hao Yunyang didn’t know was that while he was remotely controlling the desktop computer to search, the main unit also began to emit a buzzing sound. Especially when he searched for “all materials about Mitsui Financial Group”, the entire main unit produced a dizzying buzz, and the entire computer began to operate frantically.
Meanwhile, at the Mitsui Financial Group headquarters in Japan, the machine room was suddenly hit by a massive data flow. Although it lasted only a moment, all servers fell into a paralyzed state.
Then, Hao Yunyang’s laptop also began to buzz, an orange-yellow progress bar appearing on the screen, growing at an almost turtle-like speed.
Facing this sudden phenomenon, Hao Yunyang’s brain couldn’t keep up. He stared blankly at the computer screen, completely unaware of what was happening.
Staring at the screen for over an hour, even after Zhao Xinxin had slept and woken several times, the progress bar had moved less than a millimeter. Hao Yunyang’s heartbeat began to quicken.
Because he had already realized that this was probably the progress bar for search results!
Good heavens, at this progress bar’s speed, it would take perhaps ten to twenty days to see the search results!
Based on past experience, search results for documents around ten megabytes would typically appear in three to five minutes. So how large would this search result be?
Hao Yunyang couldn’t gauge it, but the hour of waiting had helped him understand many things. Since the Mitsui Financial Group already knew the item was in his hands but hadn’t sent people to seize it by force, it at least suggested they had some reservations. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been so foolish as to call and say they wanted to buy it – wasn’t this essentially alerting him?
The only explanation was that the Mitsui Financial Group definitely had their concerns.
“I’ll wait for now,” Hao Yunyang muttered to himself: “After the search results come out, I’ll investigate what scheme the Mitsui Financial Group has. Damn it, how did they get involved with the Thousand-Year Taisui again?!”
While Hao Yunyang was feeling frustrated by this mysterious phone call, the leaders of Linxi County in Henan Province were also feeling headaches. A blood case from over a decade ago had been dug up after more than ten years. Facing pressure from above, they could only brace themselves and begin searching for any traces left by the original case.
However, too much time had passed. Liang Chaobang’s ancestral home was now a park, and all places that might have provided clues had completely changed. Finding evidence to solve the case was easier said than done.
Although the people involved in the case both then and later were detailed on that list, they couldn’t convict them based on just that. Evidence, ultimately, still required comprehensive proof of their crimes!
The Linxi County government formed a special investigation team, beginning to search near Liang Chaobang’s ancestral home for people who might know some clues, hoping to obtain useful evidence from their mouths.
They actually did find some related clues. That list had detailed personnel records, yet it had inexplicably omitted Liang Chaobang’s apprentice, Ye Huan!
Was this intentional or an unintentional oversight?
The investigation team immediately sent people to Ye Huan’s home, but was told by Ye Huan’s family that he had not contacted them for a long time, with the last contact being in 2007.
Regardless of whether what Ye Huan’s family said was true, this lead had been broken.
“Do you think the higher-ups are just bored and looking for something to do?” Coming out of Ye Huan’s home, two members of the investigation team walked side by side, one of them sighing: “Trying to reopen a case from over a decade ago, they can sit there waiting for news, saying they’ll investigate, but we’re the ones running around exhausted.”
“Who would disagree?” The other person also sighed and said: “But speaking of which, Liang Chaobang was truly pitiful, with over a dozen family members, and not a single one escaped being killed.”
The two investigators walked out of the alley, and a silver-gray Buick stopped at the alley’s entrance. A young man in a suit and gold-rimmed glasses, looking refined and successful, got out of the car.
However, when his gaze fell on the two police officers coming out, his expression almost instinctively changed, and he immediately jumped back into the car, which roared away.
“Who was that?” Noticing the young man’s reaction, the two investigators looked at each other, puzzled.
“Maybe some crazy guy,” the other investigator scratched his head and sighed: “Let’s go, check the next place.”
After speeding out nearly fifty meters in an instant, Ye Huan suddenly realized he seemed to have had plastic surgery.
But since the police had come to his home, he would not return. He stopped the car, thought for a long time, then curled his lips and hummed, driving towards the mountain range extending hundreds of kilometers in the suburbs of Linxi County.
While driving, he muttered to himself: “I dare not directly cause you trouble, but I’m good at killing with borrowed knives. Enjoy the feast I’ve prepared for you.” He laughed maniacally.
Amidst the wild laughter, the silver-gray Buick left the city’s main road and turned onto the provincial highway, speeding towards the mountain range.
Zhao Chenxin’s situation naturally fell into Hao Yunyang’s eyes. Moreover, Zhao’s mother made no attempt to lower her voice, which was quite loud, and that decisive “no” also rang in Hao Yunyang’s ears.
After sitting frozen in his seat for a full half minute, Hao Yunyang suddenly pushed open the car door and jumped out. He raised his right hand and shouted, “Wait!”
Zhao Chenxin, already pulled several steps away by her mother, stopped. Her mother stopped as well and turned to look at Hao Yunyang, who was walking towards them. At the same time, several women mending nets on the open ground also looked at Hao Yunyang.
“Aunt, hello, I—”
“Our Chenxin absolutely cannot be with you. If there’s nothing else, please leave immediately.” Zhao’s mother didn’t give Hao Yunyang a chance to finish speaking. Her attitude was resolute. Although her Mandarin was not standard, Hao Yunyang understood her meaning, including the previous “no” in dialect. He realized his future mother-in-law had a loud voice, probably no less than his own mother.
“Mom! What are you doing!” Zhao Chenxin suddenly broke free from her mother’s grip. Tears rolled down her cheeks like unstrung pearls. She stepped back three or four steps, looking at her mother through tear-filled eyes: “Why?”
“No reason. It’s just not allowed.” Zhao’s mother switched directly to Mandarin. She glanced at Hao Yunyang and said, “If you truly care for our Chenxin, you’d better leave now. Otherwise, when our uncles arrive, you—”
“Is it because of Zhao Yongkang?” At this moment, Zhao Chenxin seemed to remember something, looking at her mother in disbelief: “You… accepted the gifts from his family?”
“Who is Zhao Yongkang?” The sudden turn of events caught Hao Yunyang off guard. He didn’t understand what was happening between this mother and daughter. But Zhao Yongkang? Gifts?!
Hao Yunyang’s face immediately darkened as he slowly uttered two words: “Betrothal gifts?”
