Bi Shenghua naturally thought of the "key" the professor had given her. She also knew that it was of great importance. If the professor mentioned it before his death, something must have changed, and it would not have been just a reminder to keep it safe.
She suddenly felt a little dazed, looked up at the gray sky, and tried hard to remember something. Her memory was like this gray sky—she couldn't see anything clearly.
She seemed to hear laughter. In the past, she often laughed at that lazy guy who couldn't remember anything, not understanding how someone's memory could be so bad. She never thought she would encounter something like this herself. Could this be the legendary early sign of Alzheimer's disease? She unconsciously calculated her age and couldn't help but sigh at how quickly time flies. She wondered how many years it would be before that guy returned!
But she wasn't discouraged; she just smiled self-deprecatingly, then stepped forward, took the key from Mei Ziqing, and said as she opened the door, "Let's go inside and talk."
Mei Ziqing smiled and stepped aside, waiting for Bi Shenghua to open the door before silently following her inside.
The room was very clean, but there was no light; all the windows were sealed up. The moment Bi Shenghua closed the door, the lights came on in the room, which should have been dark. Mei Ziqing then realized that the layout resembled a bar. She felt it looked somewhat familiar; apart from being slightly smaller, it was somewhat similar to the bar Bian Ziyuan had taken her to.
Bi Shenghua led Mei Ziqing upstairs. The upstairs and downstairs were completely different. Here, the sun was shining brightly, the glass windows in the corridor were clear, and there was a row of old plastic chairs at the entrance of the corridor. If you didn't know better, you would think you had arrived at the entrance of a hospital waiting room.
Then they came to a door, where Mei Ziqing saw a sign that read " Divine Crow Studio " and couplets on either side that read, "Only Qingmu can shelter the divine crow."
Bi Shenghua opened the door, revealing a room that looked messy but was actually quite clean. Magazines were scattered on the floor and sofa, and on the desk, besides open books, there was an ashtray, a box of matches, and a pack of Paramount cigarettes.
"This must be where Mr. Qingmu works, right?" Mei Ziqing asked curiously.
"Yes," Bi Shenghua said, "I've kept the things the professor gave me here."
Mei Ziqing nodded, not in a hurry to ask any questions, and followed her inside. She casually picked up a magazine, flipped through it, and then put it back. The bird stand by the wall caught her attention. She walked closer to examine it closely, and every detail of the bird stand was clearly visible. The scraps of meat in the food box on top were still fresh.
Bi Shenghua stood in front of the desk where Qingmu used to work, seemingly hesitant, but still took out a document.
"This is what the professor gave me." She handed the document to Mei Ziqing.
"This... isn't this a bit inappropriate?" Mei Ziqing hesitated for a moment, but then accepted the document.
However, this was completely different from what she had imagined, and at least it had nothing to do with the Key to the Dreamscape, because it was a garden design drawing, or more precisely, a stack of paintings.
"This is it...?" Mei Ziqing asked as she flipped through the paintings, trying to find something in them.
These paintings weren't entirely without appeal to her; clearly, they depicted the ancient appearance of the Mulberry Garden, perhaps even the old appearance of the Holy Land. She wondered where Professor Mei had obtained them; at least, Mei Ziqing, as his assistant, was unaware of this. This left Mei Ziqing somewhat frustrated. How many more things was the professor hiding from her?
When she turned to one of the pages, her expression suddenly changed, her hand trembled involuntarily, and she murmured, "How could this be?"
Bi Shenghua asked, "What's wrong?"
Mei Ziqing said, "If you had this, why didn't you bring it out sooner? You didn't even attend the professor's funeral?"
Bi Shenghua said with surprise, "I am very grateful to the professor for giving me these blueprints. But I wasn't close to him, and I wouldn't have known about his passing if it weren't for the news."
"Not familiar?" Mei Ziqing stared at Bi Shenghua, as if confirming whether what she said was true or false. "If he wasn't familiar with you, why would he leave his will with you?"
"What?" Bi Shenghua exclaimed in surprise, "What will?"
She snatched the stack of drawings and quickly flipped to the one Mei Ziqing had just looked at. Sure enough, there were two A4-sized printed documents tucked inside. The document stated that Mei Yiqiu had divided all his assets into several parts, with the largest part bequeathed to Xia Wenyuan's granddaughter, Xia Chujue, to be managed by Bi Shenghua until Xia Chujue came of age. Below were the signatures of Mei Yiqiu and the witnessing lawyer, as well as the law firm's official seal.
This matter puzzled Bi Shenghua greatly. This thing was clearly not there before, so how could it suddenly appear? In order to ensure that the Mulberry Garden could be restored to its original appearance as much as possible, she had looked through this blueprint countless times at the beginning of the garden's construction. There was no way that such an important thing was hidden in it and she had not discovered it.
"What's going on?!"
Bi Shenghua repeatedly looked at the contents of the will, completely forgetting to think about the question Mei Ziqing had just asked her—"Is that all?" She should have told Mei Ziqing that there was another "key," but the appearance of the will disrupted her mind, causing confusion in her thoughts and memories, and the memory of the "key" was thrown out of her mind into the gray sky.
Mei Ziqing was also shocked by the will. She hadn't expected Mei Yiqiu to have made a will so early, and to leave his property to... Xia Chujue?... Who is that?
Could there be some secret collaboration between the professor and the old man from the Xia Family?
She knew that Mei Yiqiu had visited the Xia Family several times, and that she had gone with Qingmu; those were among the few times she had gone out without an assistant.
It's highly likely that there's a collaboration between the professor and the Xia Family. Professor Mei has become wealthy through the sale of the Space Box, possessing considerable assets. Even the Xia Family, no matter how rich, wouldn't be uninterested. So, what did the Xia Family promise the professor?
Even so, given the large and prosperous Xia Family, why is Xia Wenyuan's granddaughter the heir?
Xia Chujue... Xia Xiaoxiao... Situ Yuli...
Mei Ziqing thought for a long time before realizing that she was Situ Xingzhi's daughter.
That's really interesting!
Situ was closely associated with the development of the Space Box, which is why the professor included his name in the Genesis myth of the Dream Guide game.
The Xia Family participated in the investment and operation of the Space Box project, making them arguably the most important partner in the project.
Now, Professor Mei Yiqiu, the project's leader, is bequeathing all his assets to Xia Wenyuan's granddaughter, Situ's daughter.
It seems there is a large net, and Xia Chujue is a node in the net. This net is slowly closing in on her.
This girl is destined for greatness!
Mei Ziqing sighed, but she didn't see her as a threat. She wasn't interested in things like wealth. What she wanted wasn't money, but the whole world. If she could completely control the Dream Guide, she could control most of the world, and then she could do whatever she wanted.
What puzzled her now was that since the inheritance was for Xia Chujue, why was Bi Shenghua management until she came of age? The Xia Family was the legal guardian! Moreover, from both the perspective of asset security and asset disposal capabilities, entrusting it to the Xia Family was the most reasonable course of action.