Is There Potential?

January 23rd, the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, around 6 PM.

In a luxuriously decorated office on the second floor of a tea shop in Citong City, a middle-aged man with a rather dignified appearance was brewing tea at the head of a multi-functional tea table, while a thin, sparse-haired middle-aged man sat opposite him.

If Xiang Kun were here, he would recognize that the middle-aged man with thinning hair as "Brother Chu" Chu Xiuwen, whom he had met in Tongshi Town.

His visit to Citong City this time was naturally unrelated to Xiang Kun; he was visiting a friend before the New Year.

The tea shop owner in front of him, Guo Lin, was his high school classmate. They studied together in the provincial capital and had a close relationship. In addition to their friendship, the two had also cooperated in business quite a bit, and the cooperation was quite good and pleasant. So even when they didn't have anything to do, they would often keep in touch. Sometimes Chu Xiuwen would come to Citong, and sometimes Guo Lin go to Jianzhou City. Occasionally, they would go to the provincial capital together to get together with a group of old classmates and old friends.

Guo Lin brewed a fresh pot of tea, poured the tea, and placed the teacup in front of Chu Xiuwen with tweezers. He then asked casually, "Xiuwen, has there been any big developments in Tongshi Town lately?"

After taking a sip of his tea, Chu Xiuwen asked curiously, "Why do you say that?"

"Do you know Haoguo Group? The one from Guangdong Province. They've been making various investments in our province for the past few years. They even partnered with a guy named Liu Dabao from your Tongshi Town on a project a while ago," Guo Lin said.

Chu Xiuwen smiled and said, "It's Liu Feibao, isn't it? I know that person."

"Right, right, it's Liu Feibao. Look at my memory." Guo Lin chuckled, patting his forehead, and continued, "I recently heard that Qi Haoguo, the CEO of Haoguo Group, is increasing his investment in Tongshi Town, but he's short on funds and has been selling off a lot of assets. And the assets he's selling, the businesses he's transferring, are all quite high-quality. Normally, if he wants to expand his investment in Jianzhou City or Tongshi Town, he should apply for bank loans, and the local government would definitely support him. Putting aside well-performing businesses to invest in projects with uncertain prospects... this is a bit hard to understand! Oh, and I also heard yesterday that many of the new projects Qi Haoguo's company is preparing to launch are purely charitable. Although I haven't actually met Qi Haoguo, his reputation has never been that of a philanthropist; he's known for his opportunistic nature and nicknamed 'Scrooge Qi.' His sudden decision to invest in charity in Tongshi Town, and with real money at that, must have a reason..."

Chu Xiuwen could roughly guess the reason, but he only knew one direction: that it was related to Mr. Xiang, who had a good relationship with Liu Caifu. However, he didn't know the specific background of Mr. Xiang, what the people behind Mr. Xiang were doing in Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village, or what their purpose was.

Not only him, but Liu Feibao was also unaware. He wondered if President Qi of the Haoguo Group might know more.

Although he had a good relationship with Guo Lin, Liu Feibao had given him instructions, and he himself was somewhat wary of Mr. Xiang's background. Therefore, he couldn't tell Guo Lin about anything related to Mr. Xiang, or about Ji Hang and the others' assessments. He could only vaguely say, "Tongshi Town really does need development. It's quite normal for there to be some policy or official project support from above."

Guo Lin nodded thoughtfully and said, "I also heard some rumors before. You know 'Shenxing Technology,' right? It's the tech company that's always tinkering with cutting-edge technology, specializing in drones, VR, security equipment, electronic toys, and things like that. Recently, they applied to the province for a research project in the mountainous area near Wushu Mountain. And several companies that I know are definitely related to 'Shenxing Technology' are sending people to Jianzhou City, seemingly to expand their business there. Do you think this is also related to Tongshi Town? After all, the Wushu Mountain Scenic Area isn't far from Tongshi Town."

"I don't know."

Guo Lin laughed and said, "Xiuwen, how could you not know? You're the local bigwig in Tongshi Town. Logically speaking, if there were any big moves going on, you couldn't possibly not know."

"Local bully... that's not a good title," Chu Xiuwen said with a wry smile. "If I were really a local bully, that commercial street project I got you involved in last time wouldn't have almost failed."

"Alright, alright then, how about 'Local Pass'? Besides, we still made some money on that commercial street project in the end, didn't we? We didn't lose money, that's good. Just tell me directly, in your opinion, is investing in Tongshi Town worthwhile?" Guo Lin said directly. He knew his old classmate and friend's character; he was always quite reliable and would never cheat him.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Xiuwen slowly said, "I think so."

"Alright, shall we go back and get those old buddies together and start a real estate project?" Guo Lin said.

"Well... let's think about this carefully." Chu Xiuwen pondered, "Old Guo, didn't you say that Qi Haoguo is famously greedy and only acts for personal gain? Have you ever thought about why he wouldn't invest in Tongshi Town if he wanted to invest there? Why would a man from Guangdong Province sell his assets and spend real money on charity in Haixi Province and Tongshi Town?"

Guo Lin was taken aback, then nodded and said, "Yes, I've been thinking about this question too. Why is that? I just can't figure it out..."

"Simply imitating what smart people do might not be useful, but it will definitely offer some insights. Lao Guo, if you're interested, after the New Year, when I and some friends from Tongshi Town invest locally, we can bring you in as well," Chu Xiuwen said.

He and Liu Feibao had previously spoken with Xiang Kun and Liu Caifu, so they knew they were planning to expand into aquaculture, catering, and related scientific research and internet industries. However, like Liu Feibao Qi Haoguo, they were also worried that if they rashly attracted large amounts of capital at this time, it would disrupt Mr. Xiang's original plans and displease Mr. Xiang or the powerful officials behind him. Moreover, if they were to do it themselves, they wouldn't know exactly how to do it. In terms of industry, aspect, and conditions, Tongshi Town had no advantages compared to other places.

So he discussed with Liu Feibao that they could observe Liu Caifu and Mr. Xiang's actions based on the specific circumstances and then choose to invest in relevant industries as a "supporting" force. This was partly to curry favor with Mr. Xiang, and partly to see if they could "get on board" using this method.

They all felt that with Mr. Xiang's background and the involvement of large capital groups like the Zhang family, the interests behind this must be enormous, and no matter how difficult things were, they could definitely get things moving. Now, listening to Guo Lin's words, it seems that even tech giants like "Shenxing Technology" are making moves, which further confirms their previous guesses.

"Sigh, my old man should understand these policy matters much better, but unfortunately he doesn't want to get involved at all," Guo Lin said with a sigh halfway through the conversation.

"Your old man is still traveling abroad?" Chu Xiuwen asked curiously.

Guo Lin said helplessly, "Yes! He's over seventy years old, yet he insists on traveling all over the country by himself, going on trips alone. I tried to find someone to go with him, but he refused. Yesterday I called to ask where he was and if he was coming back for the Spring Festival, but he wouldn't give me a definite answer, only saying that he would come back when the time came... Sigh, ever since my mother passed away, he's basically never home, always going around to catch up with his old colleagues and comrades."

Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at it, then chuckled, "Did my old man sense that I was talking about him?"

But when the call connected, Guo Lin was taken aback because the voice coming from the other end was not his father's.

After hearing only a few words, Guo Lin suddenly stood up. "Yes, I'm his son! How is the situation now? Good, I'm coming right away! Where are you? I'm coming right away, right away!"

Seeing Guo Lin hang up the phone with a serious expression, Chu Xiuwen stood up and asked, "What's going on?"

"The old man just took the high-speed train back, but after arriving at the station, he suddenly had a heart attack and fainted. He's been taken to the First Hospital now, and I have to get there right away. You know, he really is... He didn't even tell me he was coming back. I could have sent someone to pick him up... His previous medical checkup showed no problems with his heart, so how could he suddenly have a heart attack..." Guo Lin said as he put on his coat.

Chu Xiuwen then said, "My car is parked downstairs. You can just drive my car over there; it'll be faster."

The two went to the hospital together and soon saw Old Master Guo, who had regained consciousness.

The doctors were amazed that Old Master Guo woke up so quickly and was still conscious, and they attributed the success to the young doctor who performed CPR on him at the train station and saved his life.

Guo Lin got the young doctor's name and contact number from the hospital staff and decided to contact him the next day, and also prepare a gift to thank him in person.

However, upon seeing his father in the hospital room, Guo Lin sensed something was off about the old man. He seemed somewhat agitated.

This is not good news for someone who has just experienced a heart problem.

Guo Lin sat down beside his father's bed, took his hand, and said, "Dad, I'm here."

Chu Xiuwen, who followed him in, also greeted him, saying, "Hello, Uncle Guo."

Suddenly, Old Master Guo grasped his son's hand, looked at him, and said, "Guo Lin, I saw it... I saw it..."

Guo Lin nervously reassured his father, then followed his tone and asked, "Dad, what did you see?"

"I saw another world," Old Master Guo said, his voice trembling slightly. "I saw the 'gatekeeper'."

"Dad, calm down, speak slowly, slowly. What door did you see?" Guo Lin gently comforted his father, without raising any questions.

After a while, under Guo Lin's guidance, Old Master Guo finally calmed down and explained more clearly, "... I thought I was really going to die. I was terrified, terrified that after I died I wouldn't feel anything anymore. Then... then I felt like I saw a very narrow, dark room with no windows, only a door. I saw a person with many arms standing guard at the door. I was terrified as soon as I saw it. But I knew it was there, it was real..."

Not only Guo Lin, but Chu Xiuwen also roughly understood. However, they both felt the same way, believing that it was a hallucination caused by the old man's fear while he was on the verge of death.

But naturally, they wouldn't argue with the old man or expose his "fantasy" at this time.

They also knew why the old man had such "fantasies".

Sure enough, the old man then looked at Guo Lin and said, "Since that world exists, it proves... your mother is there too, and I still have a chance to see her."

Guo Lin quickly said, "Dad, Mom definitely wants you to live a good life..."

Old Master Guo interrupted him, saying, "Don't worry, I'll live well. I need to see more things and experience more things so I'll have something to tell her later! If I don't take good care of myself, if I don't live well, she'll definitely beat me up when I see her again! Now that I've seen that world, now that I've seen that 'gatekeeper,' I'm not afraid of anything anymore, not afraid of anything... There's nothing to be afraid of, hehe, don't worry, Guo Lin."

Guo Lin didn't know what to say, but as long as the old man was happy, maintained a good attitude, and recovered, that was all that mattered.

On the morning of January 24, Xiang Kun got up very early.

Of course, he himself wasn't asleep either.

After working at the branch office until midnight yesterday, he first successfully achieved a historic breakthrough by using those special "Emotional Injection" chopsticks—guiding and perceiving Lao Xia's dream.

Then, for the rest of the time, they continued with the same "homework" that had remained unchanged throughout this period—entering a "Hyper-Sensory State" to perceive the Mutated Creature around the Rabbit Woodcarving.

His original plan was to memorize the Mutated Creature 'Mutated Creature sensory information in its "Hyper-Sensory State" while it was still within the Rabbit Woodcarving's sensing range, so that he could later compare it with other Hyper-Sensory State Mutated Creature he could encounter in reality and conduct analysis.

But it wasn't long before he realized that his previous ideas were too simplistic. The perceptual information represented by Mutated Creature in the "Hyper-Sensory State" is fundamentally different from the perceptual information represented by ordinary things.

When his consciousness delved into the sensory information representing the Mutated Creature in a "Hyper-Sensory State," he discovered that as long as he was willing, continuing to perceive along a certain part of the information was like a road leading directly to the boundless universe, with no end in sight.

Once he expands the depth of this perception, he will find that the perceptual information represented by the "Mutated Creature" is too vast, practically endless, and cannot be fully perceived by him now, let alone memorized.

So later he had to change his approach and settle for second best by limiting the perceived information, just like how real-world research limits the smallest unit to cells or molecules, micrometers or nanometers, to create a range.

Without knowing the specific real-world information that corresponds to this perceived information, there is little point in conducting in-depth perceptual exploration.

Therefore, Xiang Kun only memorized the superficial sensory information representing the Mutated Creature, and then focused on other things around the Mutated Creature, trying to deduce where the Mutated Creature was and what it was doing with the Rabbit Woodcarving.

And he was still waiting, waiting for the Mutated Creature to drink his blood.

He wanted to see if he could use the Rabbit Woodcarving to guide and perceive the Mutated Creature's dreams after it had drunk its blood and fallen into a deep sleep.

Although dream perception is not reality, much of its content is based on real-life experiences, memories, and cognition. Furthermore, it is presented directly through sensory information such as sight, hearing, smell, and touch, allowing Xiang Kun to obtain richer and more intuitive content.

Just like when he used the same Rabbit Woodcarving to sense the members of the "Shenxing Technology" exploration team entering the Qinling Uninhabited Zone, he found Zhou Rui, who loved raising ants, and then found Fang Pingfang based on Zhou Rui's information.

Moreover, he had a vague premonition that if he could truly use "Emotional Injection" items to perceive the dreams of Mutated Creature, then those dreams might offer an unprecedented experience.