A Strange Case
Shencheng, QP District.
As night fell, the driver delivering the seafood helped the restaurant staff load the last box onto the truck and pushed it into the restaurant.
A familiar, long-time employee chuckled, "Would you like a seafood fried rice to take on the go?"
The driver hesitated for a moment, then said, "That works too."
In addition to fishing and aquaculture, Fuchuan Aquatic Products also operates seafood restaurants, buffets, Japanese restaurants, and vacuum-packed fish snacks.
Fu Chuan's early success involved a combination of luck and riding the wave of trends. Later, whenever he saw a trend, he wanted to try his luck and get involved, not content with simply cooperating with others.
Businesses go through ups and downs; some close down, while others manage to survive.
The hygiene conditions in those restaurant kitchens were quite worrying. Relying on his connections, he would tidy up beforehand whenever there was a surprise inspection, barely managing to pass the test.
In the past month or so, the boss seems to have decided to get things moving. He's been paying closer attention to this aspect, implementing a system of rewards and punishments, and even hiring a master chef to take charge of the cooking.
The delivery driver always knew what kind of restaurant his company operated in the past, and he had never dared to eat there.
He recently tried it twice, and it tasted really good.
He had peeked at the kitchen before, and now, while it wasn't exactly pleasing to the eye, it at least looked clean and bustling.
In the kitchen right now, the head chef is stir-frying clams. After serving, he pulls a towel over his neck, wipes it, and looks to the side.
Over there, a middle-aged man with rolled-up sleeves in a shirt had finished preparing the lobster in broth. He poured it into a plate, took out a pair of chopsticks, and handed them to the chef.
"Try it!"
The chef took a bite without hesitation and nodded repeatedly. "Wow, Mr. Fu, you really haven't had a master? It's hard to believe you can make this so well without formal training."
The man smiled and said, "I really enjoy cooking. I learn something from observing different things around the world."
He certainly had a master, but it seems that Fu Chuan didn't specifically learn cooking from a master, so we can't say for sure.
These thoughts swirled in the middle-aged man's mind as he tasted the lobster he had prepared, a look of satisfaction on his face.
He packed up what he had made, went out, got into his car, took out his phone, and dialed home.
After the phone rang several times, the Fu family's daughter finally answered, reluctantly saying, "Dad."
"Great, you got home on time today. I brought some food back with you as an extra treat."
The middle-aged man drove himself and soon arrived at his doorstep. After opening the electronic gate, he drove the car into the yard and into the garage.
The man carried the thermos out and went inside the house.
A girl in a junior high school uniform is doing her homework. After cutting her hair short and no longer getting manicures, her round eyes and fair face make her look quite well-behaved.
Fu Chuan's wife died in childbirth years ago, leaving behind only one daughter.
It's hard to say whether he dotes on his daughter or not, but he never skimps on any expenses.
This daughter is quite the star at school, but unfortunately, she has an eccentric personality.
When the man first learned that there was a daughter in the family, he was both apprehensive and delighted. However, after actually meeting the girl, all that remained in his heart was displeasure.
It was simply because her classmates didn't compliment her new hair clip, and she was assigned by the teacher to give her one-on-one tutoring during class.
Feeling embarrassed, she locked that classmate in the toilet after school.
This is not the first time.
Fu Chuan always dealt with these kinds of things by settling accounts with money, and sometimes he even felt that the school was making a fuss over nothing.
The man was very dissatisfied. For the past month, he had been strictly disciplining the girl, and things had finally improved a little.
"Did you cause any trouble at school today?"
The girl muttered, "You're going to ask the teacher in the group anyway, why ask me?"
"I care about you. If what you say is always true, why should a family need to verify it with outsiders?"
The man smiled and placed the thermos on the table. "Let's eat the lobster first. If it simmers any longer, it won't taste the same."
The girl put away her notebook, walked to the dining table, sat down, ate for a while, and suddenly said, "Xu Jiayi explained problems to me again today."
The man, looking at his phone, casually asked, "The classmate you locked in the bathroom?"
"Um."
The girl said in a muffled voice, "She's actually quite good at explaining things. She can understand what the teacher says after hearing it only once. In English class, she even understands words that the teacher hasn't explained yet."
The man's gaze softened, and he touched the girl's hair, but she impatiently looked away.
"Dad, you're acting a bit strange. It's one thing for you to suddenly start caring about me, but sometimes you even act this mushy."
The man felt a chill run down his spine, but smiled and said, "A prodigal son isn't allowed to turn back?"
"Tch, only handsome men can be called reformed prodigals. Someone your age still has a little belly..."
The girl looked at him for a while and suddenly realized that her father was actually quite handsome.
His hairstyle was different, and he wasn't wearing men's cologne anymore. His face was the same, but he just looked more handsome.
"I'm too full to eat anymore, I'm going to do my homework."
The girl returned to the table by the window.
The man went over and helped her hang the curtains.
This scene was captured entirely by the camera lens of a mobile phone equipped with night vision and long-range camera capabilities.
Near the overpass not far away, a group of young men and women, seemingly chatting idly with beers in hand, spoke with a surprisingly sober tone.
"The target does indeed possess a unique magnetic field characteristic of the Spirit Realm beings; the police report is accurate."
"After all, it was that gentleman who reported the case; how could it be false?"
"The footage from just now has been sent back to headquarters. We're checking recent suspects to see if anyone recognizes this person."
"You suspect this is yet another case where people are born with identical appearances and personalities that are like mirror images?"
"Aren't these the kinds of cases we've been dealing with lately at the Shencheng Special Investigation Bureau?"
The group talked as they walked, and soon they had changed places.
The city is bustling with traffic, and the complex transportation ecosystem makes it a noisy place with vehicles and fleeting glimpses of the outside world.
The men of the Fu family were completely unaware of anything amiss.
He went to his study to handle the day's affairs, and when he came out, the girl was already asleep, so he returned to his bedroom and fell asleep peacefully.
It wasn't until late at night that a cool breeze suddenly woke him up.
The window was opened, and the curtains rustled in the night breeze.
Inside stood a tall, elegant white-haired woman, dressed in a suit and trousers, leather boots, with a cane resting on her right hand.
Upon closer inspection, the top of the cane is not carved with the usual floral and bird patterns of a lady's cane, but rather with the head of a White Horse.
The man felt a chill run down his spine. "Who dares to trespass on a private property?"
"Your reaction is not how an ordinary citizen should behave."
Wei Qidong, one of the veterans of the Special Investigation Bureau, stared at the Spirit Realm creature before him.
Her cane tapped lightly on the floor tiles.
Bite!!
The man on the bed felt as if he had been struck in the chest with a sledgehammer. The handprint he had been about to make under the covers suddenly fell apart, and he coughed loudly.
Wei Qidong said, "Long Continent Kingdom, Hearth Guard, Nineteenth Battalion, Commander Qian Jin."
"Is this your real identity?"
Qian Jin greatly alarmed, feeling that the Sha Qi emanating from this white-haired woman was abnormally heavy.
You don't need to panic.
Wei Qidong said in a deep voice, "You did alright. We just invited you for tea."
However, in recent cases, individuals like Qian Jin are ultimately only a minority.
Of the fourteen cases, only two individuals demonstrated better character after their identities were stolen.
The other twelve cases.
The filial son turned unfilial, beating and verbally abusing his father, extorting money from him, and nearly causing his father to die of anger at home...
Urban management officers turned into thieves, accumulating a staggering amount of money within just one month, reaching a total of one million yuan...
The identity of the anti-trafficking reporter was stolen by a lecherous Spirit Realm who attempted to rape the victim...
To outsiders, they initially appeared to have undergone a drastic personality change, and were simply heartbroken and angry.
The reputations of those people were almost completely destroyed by these Spirit Realm creatures.
Even though the Special Investigation Bureau has intervened, they have only captured Spirit Realm beings and have not yet been able to find the missing persons.
What's more troublesome is that these Spirit Realm creatures usually appear in the same location as the missing person, and they've even swapped clothes.
And since their natural appearance is similar to that of the missing persons, they will instinctively take their place.
Based on this, it is unknown how many latent cases are currently circulating in local areas.
A centurion from the Spirit Realm.
This is the highest-ranking Spirit Realm being discovered so far.
"In addition, all the information you know."
Wei Qidong slowly suppressed the Sha Qi emanating from her and spoke softly.
Please tell me the truth!
(End of this chapter)