"What's happening now?" A layer of cold sweat suddenly rose on Luo Wenzhou's back. "Wait—where are you going?"
"To change." Fei Du turned and went up to the second floor.
Luo Wenzhou was so heavily struck by the information contained in these words that his eyesight dimmed. Before he could follow, his overlooked silent phone began to flash more intensely.
"Wenzhou, it's me." The first to get through was Tao Ran. He quickly said, "Shiniang is still undergoing emergency treatment, but the people from the investigation team have come. What is going on? What's happening with Yang Xin? Do you have news?"
"I…" As soon as Luo Wenzhou opened his mouth, his phone notified him of another incoming call. He saw that the caller ID said "Lang Qiao" and had to make an about face and tell Tao Ran, "Wait.—Xiao Qiao?"
"Thank heaven and earth you've picked up," Lang Qiao said shakily. "Little Glasses couldn't get in touch with you. Boss, some extremely important things.—We can basically determine the identities of all those knock-off people, they're relatives of the victims in the unsolved cases in the Picture Album Project. Al-also, they just took Director Ceng away, there's a problem with the factory that did the suspect security cameras, they're saying he approved it…and they told me to write a report explaining the present stage of our investigation. Boss, what should I write?"
"It's all right, don't panic." Luo Wenzhou slowly let out a breath. "Wait until I get back, I'll tell you what to…"
Luo Wenzhou's words were interrupted for the second time by a notice of an incoming call. He breathed out and found that this was also a call he couldn't not take and instantly regretted not having packed an extra head. But unfortunately heads and limbs couldn't be taken out on short-term loan!
"Wenzhou." The third phone call came from the investigator who'd taken him in to listen in on the whole course of Director Zhang's interrogation. Because of the relationship with his father, you could just about say he had a bit of personal friendship with Luo Wenzhou; not much, just enough to merit a phone call. "There's something I need to ask you. What is your relationship with that Fei Du?"
Luo Wenzhou looked up at the silent bedroom on the second floor. His throat moved, and he quietly answered, "Just the sort of relationship you know it is."
The investigator seemed not to have expected today's young people to have strayed so far from the right path that they'd casually admit a thing like this without any coverup. He choked for a moment, then sighed. His voice cooling and hardening slightly, he said, "Then I won't say anything extraneous. Prepare to hand over the business you have on hand and step back to avoid suspicion."
Luo Wenzhou forced himself to swallow the words "Don't you want to investigate me, too?" that had come up to his lips—after all, he was no longer that kid who'd cursed out old ladies in the street and thrown away his work ID.
"Of course." He took a deep breath and politely said, "I'll comply with the arrangements. If I can't help, I'll do my best to stay out of your way.—Only…can you give me a little hint so I can get my bearings?"
The investigator hesitated.
"Is this to do with the things that happened fifteen years ago?" Luo Wenzhou kept his tone as soft as possible. "He was only seven or eight fifteen years ago, he didn't know anything. How can this have anything…"
"I know, we've just asked President Fei to come and cooperate with the investigation, resolve a few questions." The investigator paused slightly, then added, "We now have evidence to show that the same criminal gang is likely behind the Picture Album Project and the secrets leaked from your City Bureau. The Picture Album Project was called to a halt over a decade ago, and now someone has brought it up again. What are his intentions? I can't tell you in too much detail, but I can say that this person is from Yan Security Uni, closely connected to Fei Du. At the same time, the security system factory suspected of being involved in divulging secrets is also connected to the Fei Clan Conglomerate… Let's say all of the above is coincidence. He's still an important connection. I hope you understand."
Luo Wenzhou quickly extracted two pieces of information from this speech—
Someone at Yan Security Uni closely connected to Fei Du could only be his advisor Pan Yunteng. The investigator was hinting that while on the surface the restarting of the Picture Album Project had been headed by Director Zhang, in fact it had secretly been promoted by Pan Yunteng. Why? Was he also connected with The Reciter?
Second, the information leak from the surveillance system at the City Bureau turned out to be connected by some twists and turns to the Fei family! Was this leftover history that Fei Chengyu hadn't cleaned up, or was someone putting on a show?
"I have faith in Lao Luo's moral character and family traditions, but you young people now aren't like we were then. You have too many trendy new ideas and messy business, and too many enticements from the outside world," the investigator said very obscurely. "You called me 'uncle' before, so I'll say a little something extra—Wenzhou, you're not little anymore, you have to understand how things stand."
Middle-aged people were for the most part discreet when faced with the younger generation; even when raising a point, they still had to say it in a roundabout, tactful way, not using rude language, maintaining the Eastern model of politeness. But though he'd only said it in such a polite and tactful way, Luo Wenzhou still felt that it grated on his ear, as though his eardrum had been hacked to pieces.
Like a poisonous plant, Fei Du had sunk his root system deep into the bottom his heart. The slightest breath of wind would tear at his flesh and blood. Luo Wenzhou very much wanted to shout into the phone, "Bullshit, who the fuck do you take him for?"
But anger couldn't solve anything, ditto roars and fists—countless elders had taught him this with their blood and tears, and even their lives.
Luo Wenzhou contained his magma-like rage within his body, said thank you, and hung up. Then he saw Fei Du walk down from the second floor.
The lines of Fei Du's dark gray coat were neat and harsh, and it faintly reflected the light. He'd exchanged his soft scarf for a steel wristwatch. The rimless glasses were once again obstructing his gaze. He seemed not to have changed out of water damaged clothes but put on a layer of cold, haughty plating.
Fei Du nodded to him. "I'm going to go over there."
Luo Wenzhou wordlessly grabbed his wrist.
"Don't be nervous. It's much better than I anticipated.—There's only one breath's difference between Fei Chengyu and a dead person, I'm 120% sure that he couldn't have run off himself. His disappearance is a good thing for me, it means someone's protecting me," Fei Du said. "If Fei Chengyu were really incompetent, then I'd be the only suspect now. But with his whereabouts unclear, I'm only going to cooperate with the investigation, not waiting for someone to come arrest me."
Luo Wenzhou looked at him with bloodshot eyes.
"Fei Chengyu and Fan Siyuan teamed up thirteen years ago, bringing about the current situation. Fei Chengyu is down, but Fan Siyuan, for reasons unknown, has been pushing this plan forward on his own. He's forced the organization to abandon first Zheng Kaifeng and then Wei Zhanhong. Zheng Kaifeng and Wei Zhanhong were the two pieces of armor they relied on for existence. The organization has now been brought to the awkward state of running around naked. The next cut will be to its flesh. They have to fight back, and apart from fighting back, they also need one final shield they can slip away behind. That's me."
"I think that the person implicating you now isn't The Reciter," Luo Wenzhou said in a difficult voice. "Fei Chengyu had his accident three years ago, and afterwards Lao Yang also died under suspicious circumstances, so is it possible…is it possible that The Reciter's people hidden inside the organization were exposed?"
"But The Reciter's people had their roots in too deep. It would have been hard to pull them out." Fei Du's gaze passed through the lenses and met his.
With The Reciter making arrangements, the organization couldn't sit around waiting for death. What if the second Picture Album Project and the bugged surveillance system had both been plots started at that time?
The only one who could have done that…
Luo Wenzhou sucked in a breath.
Fei Du fished a cell phone out of his pocket and passed it to him. "I'll lend you my people to use. You know Lu Jia. If you need anyone to do anything, you can have him pass it on. Even though he won't say it, he feels very grateful towards you. Say the word, and he won't shirk."
"Where is Lu Jia now?"
"With Zhou Huaijin. Zhou Huaijin is crucial. The Zhou family is different from Fei Chengyu and Wei Zhanhong. Their headquarters is abroad. Zheng Kaifeng and Zhou Junmao are both dead, but neither they nor the police can extend their reach beyond the border. No one knows whether there are disadvantageous traces of them inside the Zhou Clan, and Zhou Huaijin is the sole heir. Because of his younger brother's death, he'll cooperate with the police unconditionally. So if I were them, I'd certainly want him dead," Fei Du said. "You absolutely, absolutely have to protect him. Nothing can be allowed to happen to him."
Luo Wenzhou tightly gripped his hand and his phone together.
"That driver said I have an important clue. My guess is this so-called 'clue' of his doesn't refer to Fei Chengyu and Fan Siyuan's collusion. I've been carefully recalling Fan Siyuan and Fei Chengyu's conversation back then. If I recall correctly, Fei Chengyu said something very suspicious at the time."
"What?"
"He said to Fan Siyuan, 'Your six cases of righting injustice were really well done. I have to admire you.'"
Luo Wenzhou forced himself to restrain his irascible temper. "What's the problem with that?"
"The problem is 'six,'" Fei Du said. "In those materials you pilfered the other day, Fan Siyuan was suspected of being connected with seven cases in all—do you think it's more likely Fei Chengyu couldn't count, or that there's a problem with one of the seven cases?"
"But there really were seven cases," Luo Wenzhou said heavily. "I asked Director Lu about that."
"I was just thinking that there's one problematic case among those seven," Fei Du said slowly. "Shixiong, the Picture Album Project's original intention was to collect existing cases for a deep study of the technique of psychologically profiling criminals, and to seek new lines of thought to make breakthroughs in unsolved cases.—Since that's the case, why would the case of the mentally disabled killer be included? There was sufficient evidence in that case, and the killer was brought to justice. It wasn't an unsolved case, and the person responsible was incompetent; there was no universal research value to it. Why would it have been collected in the Picture Album Project?"
Luo Wenzhou stared.
Fei Du shook off his hand. As he headed out, he considered whether he'd omitted anything. Then he said, "Oh, my phone's lockscreen code is…"
"I know," Luo Wenzhou said absently. "That date… The day you discovered your mom's suicide."
Fei Du's footsteps paused a few steps away from him. "No."
Luo Wenzhou looked up in surprise.
Fei Du was watching him. Suddenly, he displayed a somewhat indistinct smile. Because he had his back to the light, it wasn't clearly visible.
"It's the day I met you," he said.
"Director Zhang, these are unusual times. I hope you can make allowances. We need your cooperation in maintaining a clear line of communication. Also, please don't leave the city in the near future."
This was all convention. Zhang Chunjiu nodded very understandingly.
Just then, a car stopped at the door. Zhang Chunjiu's gaze went to it, and he saw a somewhat familiar-looking young man get out. The gaze hidden behind his lenses was unclear. He seemed to glance at Zhang Chunjiu. The young man's mouth curved into an ambiguous smile as he brushed past him.
"Director Zhang? Director Zhang, please come this way. Do you need us to send a car to see you home?"
"Huh?" Zhang Chunjiu pulled himself together and quickly averted his gaze, politely saying, "Oh, there's no need. Someone's come from home to pick me up."
The investigator who was seeing him out looked up and saw a small sedan standing across the street. Having absorbed the lesson, this car didn't come up so publicly. There was no chauffeur; an elderly-looking man personally got out of the driver's seat and waved at the investigator.
This man was in his sixties, white-haired, and looked somewhat familiar. He was rather exquisitely dressed; you could read his wealth and respectability in each of his movements. The smile on his face was so appropriate it was rather false, as though he was waiting to be photographed for a magazine cover.
"That's my older brother," said Zhang Chunjiu.
The investigator gave an "oh" and suddenly remembered that this majority shareholder of the Chunlai Conglomerate had in fact been on the covers of all kinds of finance and economics magazines many times. But perhaps because of lighting and makeup, the man himself looked older and more reserved than in his photographs. The two brothers didn't look at all alike. If not for this event, it would have been difficult for outsiders to connect the thin, wary Director Zhang with this beer-bellied big boss.
Zhang Chunjiu shook hands and bid the investigator farewell with thorough politeness, then swapped with Zhang Chunling, taking the role of driver.
When he'd driven a good way, Zhang Chunjiu looked into the rearview mirror and exchanged a look with his big brother in the backseat.
"It's all right," Zhang Chunjiu said. "They only said I can't leave the area for now, and to stay in contact.—That's all convention. Normally they won't investigate again. If they hadn't determined I hadn't done anything, they wouldn't have let me go so politely."
Treasuring words like gold, Zhang Chunling nodded. "Yes."
Zhang Chunliu said, "I just saw… That youngster, is he from the Fei family?"
"Fei Chengyu's son," said Zhang Chunling.
"I thought you were going to…" Zhang Chunjiu glanced outside and narrowed his eyes somewhat murderously.
"That was my original plan," Zhang Chunling said, "but the kid is too crafty. My people followed the wrong car leaving the villa. By the time they realized it, he'd already met up with the police. It would have been too obvious to try anything. And Fei Chengyu's whereabouts are currently unknown. It's not important whether the whelp lives or dies."
"Fei Chengyu?" Zhang Chunjiu's expression changed abruptly. "Impossible, I made sure he was…"
"So did I," Zhang Chunling interrupted him with a gloomy expression. "But where is he now?"
The heating in the car steamed their faces, so hot it made a person feel restless. Zhang Chunjiu was silent for a moment. "I'm sure I haven't slipped up. I did everything according to plan, step by step. Ge, since Fan Siyuan's people have exposed themselves, he definitely won't get away this time. And if he doesn't get away, Fei Chengyu's days are numbered. Does it matter whether he's really brain dead or faking it?"
Zhang Chunling leaned back. His breathing seemed to be a little labored because of his size. "One last time."
"There was always going to come a day like this," Zhang Chunjiu said quietly. "Ge, this isn't a business you can pass on to the next generation. There's no one to carry it on. You've gotten old, and I'm going to retire soon. It isn't like it was before. Going forward, it'll get harder and harder. Let's not wait to end up like Zhou Junmao. If it hadn't been for Fan, it wouldn't have been easy for us to get away—we ought to be grateful to him. Has everything at home been arranged?"
Zhang Chunling gave an affirmative. "Once this passes, I'll send them out of the country."
"We two brothers have had some luck all these years," Zhang Chunjiu said.
"Luck?" Zhang Chunling laughed silently, teeth showing grimly, like a shark that had just eaten someone. "I was born with nothing. I've never known what luck was. But so what? I haven't gotten where I am today by relying on luck."
After a pause, Zhang Chunling added, "That incompetent Zhou brat who can only spoil everything has entered the country. Do you know where he's hiding?"
"I have a good idea," Zhang Chunjiu said. "He's shown himself."
"To be on the safe side, get rid of him."
Zhang Chunjiu gave an affirmative and drove the car away into the biting cold north wind.