First Time

"Wu Wei, Wu Wei, what's wrong? Did you get so engrossed in the report that you forgot where you were?"

Lan Meng waved her delicate hand in front of Wu Wei, bringing him back from his memories.

"Were you really that engrossed? What were you thinking about?" Lan Meng asked curiously.

Wu Wei's expression turned strange.

He had indeed thought of something juicy.

Without this report, he would almost have forgotten about it.

"Zhao Xin's dad—Zhao Liang—is up to something."

"Zhao Liang? Who's that?"

Lan Meng only knew Zhao Xin a little and knew nothing about Zhao Liang.

But that was enough for Wu Wei.

He seemed to have figured out what was behind the problem.

"I know what I'm doing. I can handle the rest myself."

Since this involved Wu Tian, Wu Wei didn't want too many people knowing about it.

Lan Meng wasn't particularly interested anyway. Seeing that Wu Wei wanted to keep it to himself, she nodded. "Then I'll leave it to you. Remember, you owe me one."

"Of course."

Wu Wei had never been one to take people for granted.

They left together, and as they parted, Lan Meng suddenly remembered something and asked him, "Wu Wei, why don't you like my dad?"

She was still a little worried.

Wu Wei had no idea what Lan Meng was imagining. He just shrugged and said bluntly, "Your dad puts on too many airs."

"Does he?"

"Of course. Have you forgotten his most famous interview? He said he didn't like money, that he had no interest in it."

Lan Meng: "..."

"He's so shamelessly fake. No wonder he became the richest man." Wu Wei's words carried a double meaning.

After parting ways with Lan Meng, Wu Wei looked into Zhao Liang's background.

Although he uncovered plenty of hidden traces, unlike his own mother, who had vanished without a trace, Zhao Liang's information could still be found.

And if it could be found, then it held no secrets from Wu Wei.

"An intersex person—both male and female. Interesting," Wu Wei murmured to himself.

He'd heard of this new species, but this was the first time he'd actually met one.

"Beauty really is a calamity, just as the ancients said. So all this trouble happened because my dad was too handsome."

For Wu Wei, piecing together scattered clues into a complete story was no difficult task.

He didn't need evidence. He wasn't a Six Fan Gate constable, after all.

He had already confirmed that Zhao Liang was behind it.

Zhao Liang had been born intersex and had fallen for Wu Tian at a young age. Then, while still a teenager, he underwent surgery and became a man in appearance.

After that, he'd become twisted.

Qiao Xuenong became the wife he used as a cover, but she wasn't one to be trifled with either. She'd tricked Zhao Liang and driven a wedge between him and Wu Tian.

The two had no choice but to "turn against each other."

And Zhao Liang really was a scheming bastard. He'd even set his sights on his own son.

Looking at Zhao Liang's self-taught psychology certificates and hypnosis-master credentials, Wu Wei couldn't help but sigh.

They said even the fiercest tiger wouldn't eat its own cubs, but there were always people in this world who didn't deserve to be parents.

Parents could take up the job without passing any kind of exam. That was, to say the least, deeply frustrating.

[Father, Zhao Liang is also a source of disharmony. Taking him down will speed up my birth, too.]

Wu Xie's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

At that moment, Wu Xie's progress toward birth had reached 5/10, halfway complete.

Once Zhao Liang was dealt with, Wu Xie would soon be born.

But Wu Wei was a little puzzled.

"I didn't sense any powerful supernatural abilities in Zhao Liang. He's a quick learner, though. He seems like a low-spec version of my mom."

[Zhao Liang has a strong antisocial personality. After failing to get the person he loved, all he wants now is revenge against society. He's even willing to sacrifice his own son to do it.]

"You know all that?"

[Father, I was born able to sense every source of disharmony.]

My little divine beast, you're amazing.

Still, Wu Wei hadn't planned to let Zhao Liang off the hook anyway.

His relationship with Wu Wei's father was complicated, to say the least, but Zhao Liang had done one thing that Wu Wei could never forgive:

He had tried to assassinate Lin Shen.

That was how Lin Shen had discovered Zhao Liang lurking in the shadows and put together an investigative report on him.

Clearly, after completing her investigation, Lin Shen had either felt pity for him or realized that Zhao Liang was so far beneath her that he posed no real threat. Either way, she'd stopped paying him any attention.

But Zhao Liang hadn't given up on his revenge.

Lin Shen could choose to ignore Zhao Liang's offense against her, but as her child, Wu Wei couldn't tolerate it.

After a moment's thought, Wu Wei chose the most extreme form of revenge.

He found Zhao Xin.

And laid it all out.

"That's what happened."

Looking at Zhao Xin, who seemed utterly lost, Wu Wei felt a little sorry for him.

And nothing more.

None of it had been Zhao Xin's fault.

So Wu Wei felt no guilt at all.

Zhao Xin broke down.

He'd genuinely regarded Zhao Liang as his own father.

"That's impossible. You're lying to me. You have to be lying. Dad was always so good to me. He wouldn't have plotted against me like that."

Wu Wei remained calm and shattered Zhao Xin with a single sentence. "Your mother is still alive. Ask her, and you'll know."

Zhao Xin buried his head on the table, unable to bring himself to think about anything.

"This isn't your fault, and it isn't mine. Some people are cold-blooded by nature. They feel nothing, even for their own children. You don't need to feel guilty about that.

"Do what you have to do. Even a pawn can checkmate the king once it crosses the river."

After saying that, Wu Wei left Zhao Xin alone.

A day later, Zhao Liang was dead.

Qiao Xuenong turned herself in to Six Fan Gate, claiming she had killed him.

Outside Six Fan Gate, Zhao Xin knelt on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Wu Wei stared at the USB drive in his hand for a long time before finally handing the original over to Zhao Xin.

"The video on the USB drive is the original. No one else will know you killed Zhao Liang. Of course, I know you can try to kill me," Wu Wei said calmly.

Zhao Xin's sobbing paused, but his silent tears were even more heartbreaking.

Wu Wei sighed softly and patted him on the shoulder. "You were unlucky to have a father like Zhao Liang. But you were lucky to have a mother like Qiao Xuenong. The world is vast, and there are always places the sunlight can't reach. But remember: even though you've always been surrounded by darkness, there's always been a woman trying her hardest to find you the light.

"Now she's used her life to drive away all the darkness for you. Zhao Xin, don't let her sacrifice be in vain."

With that, Wu Wei strode away.

Three minutes later, Wu Wei called Wu Tian.

"Dad."

"Mm."

"I'll come home for dinner tonight."

"Okay."

"Dad."

"Hmm?"

"I'm sorry."

Clang... Crash...

Wu Wei heard pots and pans clatter to the floor.

"Dad, you're a good father. I'm the one who's failed. I've been a lousy son."

"This is my first time being a son, too. I have no experience, so cut me some slack."

On the other end of the call, Wu Tian's eyes suddenly reddened.

People said parents started the job without any qualifications.

But weren't children the same?