Aren't Those My Parents?

"This is not a system error..."

Xie Liqian's hands were trembling slightly.

He slowly took off his reading glasses, placed them on the table, and exhaled a breath of cool air.

This is the headquarters of his company, Xuanhua Group. If he needs to do anything, it's safer here than any of his houses.

Security systems, encrypted lines, secret passages, and loyal subordinates... Unlike those emerging large companies, Xuanhua Group, an established giant, retains some characteristics of the era in which its founder lived, and also inherits the experience of its first leader.

For example, the relationship between some long-term employees and the chairman is not merely an employment relationship based on a commercial contract, but rather a more solid and traditional relationship of loyalty.

Although this traditional relationship is being impacted by the rapidly changing times, it still seems to have some use for now... The decline of tradition is sometimes not as fast as people imagine.

Just like the stacks of documents and USB drives in front of Xie Liqian.

Even with Xie Liqian's status and position, he couldn't obtain these things through normal means.

But over the past forty years, he has woven a vast and intricate web, using personal relationships, favors, and money to win over people, whether they have been his subordinates all along, those who left midway, or their children.

Every year, he would give money to his fellow villagers, repair roads, give gifts, bring broadband to the countryside, provide free medical care, and offer huge scholarships. The clan power that was still thriving in the south was based on a natural blood oath, so he naturally became the clan leader, winning people's hearts and, most importantly, winning over the younger generation.

He lavishly rewarded every child who studied diligently, and would always return home during festivals to rigorously inquire about the studies of every younger member of the village. He could name every promising member of the family, and a copy of each child's report card would be sent to his office. He used the same methods he used to manage his subordinates on the children of his clan, rewarding them, motivating them, and punishing them as well.

Ultimately, they were made aware that studying was the only way out. As long as they studied hard and worked diligently, they would become successful and obtain everything they wanted, because everything was in the Xuanhua Group. The clan leader had already prepared everything: houses, cars, high salaries, women—if they had the ability, they could get them all.

As a result, over the years, almost every member of the clan has ended up working for the Xuanhua Group. Otherwise, you'd be an ingrate, your parents would disown you, your fellow villagers would scorn you, and you'd never be able to go home again. Of course, they were reluctant to go anywhere else, because the implicit benefits Xuanhua offered were far greater than what they could get elsewhere. Besides, going to Xuanhua was considered filial piety.

Those who were not naturally bright enough or did not like to study were not Xie Liqian. They could join the army, learn martial arts, receive training overseas, go to Southeast Asia, or make their way in the world.

Ultimately, everything will come back to Xie Liqian.

A person who becomes wealthy and powerful for forty years has accumulated far too many strategic pieces.

That's why he was able to get these things.

There's still a lot more to come, and more will keep arriving.

But even these things were enough to make him suspicious.

One of the documents was sent by a telecommunications operator.

Base station records.

Each area has a communication base station, and each base station has a unique number. All communication within this area, even just signal connections, is recorded.

Police sometimes use this method to solve cases, find missing persons, or recover valuable stolen goods. However, due to relevant privacy and security protection regulations, only public security departments with certain authorization can use this method, and an application report must be submitted before it can be used to contact relevant operators to provide information.

Xie Liqian is not a policeman, nor could he possibly command a policeman of that rank.

But he can command the level of operator executives.

In the forty years of Xuanhua Group's development, personnel changes were inevitable. New blood joined and old members left, but it was just a matter of parting amicably. Some of the old members who left had differences in ideology, some made mistakes, but some were sent away by Xie Liqian voluntarily.

Because he stands at a high enough level, he can see the general trend and, to a certain extent, foresee the future direction. Unfortunately, Xuanhua Group is already large enough, and there are some areas that the country will not allow him to cross over into.

But they can quietly plant some people and make some investments.

Generally speaking, he may never need a return on some of these investments in his lifetime, but once he wants that return, the other party certainly cannot refuse, after all, Xie Liqian's money is not so easy to take.

Fortunately, he always gets his reward.

Xie Liqian squinted.

The packaged data was extremely large. To avoid suspicion and to be cautious, he requested all the data from a few specific base stations during that time period, and then searched for it himself.

So naturally, that's how that thing came to be discovered.

The kid who clashed with Guangjun claimed to have a perfect alibi from his hometown, which was a hundred or two kilometers away, that night... but his cell phone signal suddenly appeared in the city.

And it moved along with the cell phone signals of those four dead thugs.

Until the nightclub where her son had the accident.

There was a missed call that was immediately canceled.

The timing and circumstances were exactly as described by An Kui's daughter—while her son was in the bathroom, An Youyi heard two short rings of a cell phone but saw no one.

Why didn't I see it?

He manipulated the mouse and clicked on the video that had been cut and saved to his computer.

The surveillance cameras in the residential complex, the elevators, the nightclubs, and the streets—the first few are easy to deal with, but the last one is also a consequence.

He opened several videos simultaneously, his eyes sharp as an eagle, searching once more.

Four thugs drove into the residential area, but only four of them went up in the elevator and then four of them left. They drove all the way to the vicinity of the nightclub, stopped for a while on the side of the street, and then started the car again, accelerating wildly as if they were flooring the gas pedal, and crashed into his son's sports car.

The two cars crashed into the roadside amidst sparks and lightning, and then caught fire.

He replayed the video repeatedly, watching it over and over again. The light from the two burning cars was reflected in his pupils, but Xie Liqian remained expressionless throughout.

He paused and zoomed in on the footage at various points in time, but found nothing amiss.

There was also a full set of surveillance video provided by the nightclub. Apart from his son, no one else stayed in that restroom. When they came out, Xie Guangjun went crazy.

Throughout the entire drinking session at the booth, no suspicious person approached Xie Guangjun.

Extremely bizarre and strange.

Police are investigating what grudge the four thugs held against Xie Guangjun and why they intended to kill him. They are investigating whether this was a revenge killing or an accidental incident involving alcohol and drugs.

They are also investigating who "Momo" is, the name Xie Guangjun used when he went mad.

But Xie Liqian is different.

He knew perfectly well where those four hooligans came from, and he also knew about Xie Guangjun's mischief in private. This kid was never as good as his older brother since childhood, so he became more and more unruly. He was the king of the kids when he was young, and he wanted to be the real king when he grew up. He wanted to make up for some kind of regret in his childhood by having the power of life and death and showing off his power.

Xie Liqian observed the child secretly for a while and found that the child was quite sensible and never did anything he shouldn't have. So he gradually let him be. He had his own ideas about educating children. Aggression, a desire for control, and even cruelty were not problems. The key was that the child knew what he was doing and could control himself.

After all, he is one of the richest people in the country and even the world. His way of thinking is different from that of ordinary people because he has seen more.

--In this world, the vast majority of people are like muddle-headed cattle and sheep, silently grazing and living, unknowingly being slaughtered and exploited. There must always be lions and tigers to hunt these people and make a living from it. If that's the case, why can't the lions and tigers be his sons?

This time, something went wrong.

Caught off guard, yet absurd and bizarre.

In the eyes of the police, this was a major case that could be investigated thoroughly, but in the eyes of Xie Liqian, who was fully aware of the matter, it was so bizarre that it was almost uncanny.

Especially An Youyi's testimony... Only he knew about this.

The two bells rang.

Kang De's base station records, even the trajectory of signal movement.

The public security authorities viewed Kang De as a victim, and given his perfect alibi and the two major cases involving Xie Guangjun that needed further investigation, they were naturally too lazy to write a report to request an investigation into Kang De's cell phone signal. Police resources were scarce, and who would go looking for trouble for no reason? But Xie Liqian would.

The result left him with mixed feelings.

The joy lay in the fact that his guesses and intuition were indeed correct. Those four thugs were his son's henchmen, so why would they risk their lives to fight Xie Guangjun to the death? His son hadn't touched drugs, so why would he suddenly go crazy and reveal his past misdeeds? Anything abnormal must be suspicious, and the core of all the strangeness was Kang De.

The thugs went to Kang De's house, and only after they came out did they run over Xie Guangjun.

Xie Guangjun's situation arose after he clashed with Kang De.

Kang De was actually at the eye of the storm, but claimed to have been at home the whole time, his alibi proving his innocence.

This is no coincidence.

The investigation revealed that Xie Liqian's guess was correct.

But there are both joys and sorrows.

The concern is... how did he do it?

He picked up another statement.

Haunted house.

The core of the conflict lies in that house.

The previous owner insisted that the house was haunted, and he didn't care about the consequences even if he sold it at a low price. He practically fled the house. Later, Kang De and Wang Yongzhi's daughter bought the house.

Then nothing happened.

Later, Xie Guangjun came to buy the house and offered double the price. Kang De not only refused outright but also used vulgar language and showed great hostility, which led Xie Guangjun to choose this path.

"If it weren't for you, things wouldn't have come to this."

Xie Liqian whispered, "But I want to know why."

Why was he unmoved by a price that was twice as high, and why did he verbally abuse his son without any politeness? Judging from Kang De's past evaluations and records, he was not a mean-spirited person.

"Unless you know something..."

How did you know...?

A haunted house.

The previous residents were so frightened that they insisted on moving out no matter what.

Kang De moved in, but nothing happened to him.

Is everything really alright...?

In another video, the son is seen screaming and shouting erratically in a nightclub, kneeling and kowtowing, confessing to the murder.

The four thugs rammed into it without hesitation.

Kang De, who comes and goes without a trace.

These things, these methods, exude an eerie and sinister aura.

Ghost.

Haunted house.

"Are you possessed by a ghost, or have you two reached some kind of agreement? There are plot points like that in novels."

Xie Liqian reads online novels, but he also watches short videos, web dramas, and everything that young people like. Despite his age, he still forces himself to keep up with the rapidly developing world. Compared to his peers, he knows a lot—for example, the computer he is currently using is never connected to the internet.

He knew this move would be enough to make the world's most skilled hackers curse him out.

"Whatever it is..."

He knew the guess was absurd.

But an even more absurd truth lay before him, one that, though unbelievable, he had no choice but to believe.

Fortunately, he held a high position for decades, and the information he saw and heard was something that most ordinary people could never access in their entire lives. He was already quite credulous about those things, and now he believed them even more.

Are you scared?

There was a bit of fear, but after all, he was a big shot. Thinking about it again, I wasn't afraid at all.

China has a history of five thousand years. When did these messy and dark things stir up trouble? Even if they did, there must be a way to deal with them.

As long as there's a way to deal with it, he'll definitely be able to find it—given Xie Liqian's current status, wealth, and influence, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to find anyone in this country.

After initial surprise, realization, fear, and relief, a hint of excitement even appeared in his eyes.

That's something called ambition.

This is the most important character trait that enabled Xie Liqian to climb from a lowly educated youth to his current position.

He took all his savings and went to another place to resell goods; he used all the money he earned to open a factory; he gritted his teeth, sold his house to survive, and even continued to acquire other competitors. He was always gambling, and he was always winning, because he was ambitious and never satisfied.

Now, he sees a new opportunity.

Following the reform and opening up, the introduction of commercial housing, and land-based finance, a new opportunity has emerged.

"Kang De..."

He murmured, "It's best that all of this isn't a coincidence, otherwise..."

Xie Liqian pressed the call bell.

A moment later, a man pushed open the door and came out. "Mr. Xie."

This was one of his most promising nephews, someone he could completely trust. Xie Liqian asked, "How's it going with the task of liaising with the foreign team researching gait recognition?"

The other party replied, "They expressed great interest in cooperation and are seeking a new round of negotiations."

Xie Liqian pulled out a USB drive and handed it to the other party. "There are two videos in here. Let the foreigners show their skills and analyze whether the four people in the two videos are from the same group."

The man immediately nodded. "Yes."

After watching the other person leave, Xie Liqian dialed a number. "Secretary Wu, it's me. I need to find a monk or Daoist priest with real skills who can exorcise evil spirits. Tell them Xie Liqian my family has been having trouble lately, and this has happened. I suspect it's caused by ghosts and need a master with real abilities to resolve it. Remember, they must be truly skilled."

He picked up another phone and said only a few words: "I want alcohol, both domestic and foreign brands."

After hanging up the phone, he picked up a document from the table and dialed another number. "Please contact them for me. Do you know if they have any hyenas available in Africa right now? I also need domestic dogs."

He made one call after another until the arrangements were all completed, then he let out a long breath, his heart pounding, a feeling of excitement burning within him.

It's been a long time since I've had something like this.

Nervous, excited, apprehensive, and thrilled.

He once thought that this was how his life would be.

But now...

He saw a new opportunity.

Just then, my phone started vibrating.

Xie Liqian frowned. It was an unaddressed number. He was about to reject the call when his expression suddenly froze.

He recognized the number.

I just typed it in myself.

The excitement in his eyes vanished, he took a deep breath, and answered the call.

"I am Xie Liqian."

"I am Kang De, a pitiful, weak, and helpless college student who was coerced and framed by your son's power and henchmen, yet miraculously escaped and watched the criminals die while your son suffered a fate worse than death."

A long, provocative speech came through the phone, delivered in a mocking tone.

Moreover, judging from the static coming through the microphone, the other party seemed to be at a high place.

Before Xie Liqian could say anything, Kang De on the phone clicked his tongue and said, "President Xie, your office is really big, like a presidential suite. Oh my god, although inspirational quotes say that happiness and the future must be earned with our own hands, when I find out that the bedroom attached to your office is bigger than the entire house that other people have worked hard for decades to buy, I have a feeling that the proletarian revolution is not thorough enough."

The microphone still carried the sound of whistling wind and the faint noise of traffic.

Xie Liqian was taken aback at first, then looked out the window with disbelief.

The huge floor-to-ceiling windows offer a wide view, allowing you to gaze at the city's beautiful skyline.

There is nothing else.

He stood up, walked to the window, and stared at the building across the street, trying to spot the other person. "Are you spying on me? What do you want?"

"No, I just got here. It's too windy outside, and it was quite tiring to climb up. I'll come inside and talk."

"By the way, Mr. Xie, there aren't any security cameras in your office, are there? I'm guessing there aren't, otherwise it would be quite embarrassing if your male secretary were squatting on your desk doing some unspeakable things for you. I think you're a respectable person, you wouldn't have such Edison Chen-like tastes—by the way, there aren't any burly bodyguards in those rooms, are there?"

"If so, I advise you to keep quiet. If things escalate, there won't be a way to handle it."

The other party kept babbling on and on.

But Xie Liqian had a bad feeling.

He said, "You..."

Xie Liqian, of course, did not notice that while he was listening attentively to Kang De's words, a small piece of paper floated in through the crack in the open window.

The next moment, space shattered, and the portal opened.

Under Xie Liqian's incredulous gaze, Kang De appeared out of thin air. He only saw scattered blue starlight bursting around him, and then a dazzling brilliance slowly disappearing in his eyes. This way of appearing out of thin air with amazing sound and light effects seemed to have nothing to do with ghosts and demons.

Xie Liqian vaguely realized that he seemed to have made a mistake.

Kang De walked towards him, smiling. "What were you busy with just now? I thought you were on the phone."

Even when facing heads of state and dignitaries from various countries, Xie Liqian had never been this nervous. He immediately grabbed the files in front of him, but Kang De was faster.

With a flash of movement, Xie Liqian found himself sitting in a chair. He then turned around and moved to the opposite side of the desk, where Kang De was already sitting and picking up the top document.

Then I looked at him, my gaze meaningful.

"Ah... aren't these my parents?"

￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥￥

PS1: Let me tell you what happened today. I went to bed early last night, planning to get up early to write. I woke up around six o'clock with an upset stomach, probably from eating too many different things yesterday. I felt nauseous and took some digestive tablets, but it didn't help. I couldn't fall asleep either. I tossed and turned until eight o'clock, then went to the pharmacy and got a bottle of Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid. That helped. I came back and was about to go to sleep when the impact drill arrived as expected.

PS2: I'm never setting those kinds of goals again. Whatever happens, happens.

PS3: Goodnight, goodnight. Damn, I've been completely numb all day. I'm so awesome for being able to finish writing these 5,000 words, as awesome as Huoxiang Zhengqi Liquid (a traditional Chinese medicine).