Chapter Thirty-Seven: I Hope It Is Not You

After finishing the hot pot, the three of them went their separate ways. Once the time was right, Hua Shi’er went to pick up Chen Nian from school and returned directly to the hotel.

Zhou Lei did not ask her daughter to live with her. Now that she was a supermarket manager, Hua Shi’er had specifically rented a studio apartment for her above the supermarket. The apartment was convenient for her commute, but it was quite far from Chen Nian's school—taking over forty minutes by car—which was why Zhou Lei had not made the request for her daughter's sake.

Now that Hua Shi’er and Chen Nian had clarified their relationship, although they were living together, they kept things proper and had not yet crossed any major lines. However, because they had been living together for some time, their interactions had become increasingly harmonious and sweet.

As soon as they returned, Chen Nian went to coordinate with the suite butler to order dinner and then took their laundry to be dry-cleaned. She busied herself with a cheerful smile, looking every bit the happy young woman. Meanwhile, Hua Shi’er opened his laptop to research investment opportunities.

Having assembled his own investment team, he certainly wouldn't be dabbling in the domestic stock market with petty sums. Recalling the information he had memorized, he planned to have his team short the international crude oil futures market while simultaneously acquiring Bitcoin for him.

According to the data Hua Shi’er had noted, international crude oil prices fluctuated and slid downward from May to the end of September 2011, driven by a series of bearish economic events, such as the worsening European debt crisis and the lingering effects of the earthquake in Japan. The price fell from its annual high of $113.7 per barrel to $75.3 per barrel, a decline of 33.4%. Hua Shi’er checked the crude oil trend from the preceding months, and it matched his records perfectly, giving him the confidence to proceed with the investment.

He intended for his team to short international crude oil at this stage with hundred-fold leverage. Of course, for anyone else, even with the foresight of a price drop, hundred-fold leverage would carry the risk of liquidation. But Hua Shi’er was different. When he memorized the data, he had focused on recording precise figures to ensure accuracy, while only glancing at the general trends. Consequently, he possessed the exact turning points of the oil price fluctuations. It would be hard for him to lose money this way; he could simply sit back and wait for the profits to roll in.

Hua Shi’er made a phone call to coordinate the short-selling strategy with his investment team. Once he hung up, his work for the day was done, and he felt quite relaxed. Just as he was about to watch some television and have a cigarette, he received a call from the private investigator.

As soon as the call connected, the investigator reported, "Boss, everything you ordered has been done. The family is most likely tempted!"

The matter in question was something Hua Shi’er had ordered two days ago. He wanted Wei Lai and Luo Ting to be punished for what they did to Hu Xiaodie, but such matters were difficult to handle through official channels within the country. Thus, he had instructed the private investigator to help out with some minor tactics.

Primarily, it involved hiring a few people to act in front of Wei Lai’s parents. Whenever they went out, they would overhear people nearby talking at length about the benefits of studying abroad. Or, when they were dining at a restaurant, guests at the next table would casually bring up the topic of studying abroad to "gild" one's resume.

Wei Lai was already notorious in the country; she was pointed at wherever she went. Moreover, due to the prevalence of the internet, even if she moved to another city, there was a risk of being recognized. Hua Shi’er was certain that when her parents heard about studying abroad, they would be tempted. They would consider that if Wei Lai went abroad to lay low and returned in a couple of years, the issue would have blown over. Given their family’s financial situation, going abroad was not a major hurdle. Once Wei Lai went abroad, Hua Shi’er could execute the rest of his plan.

Regarding Hu Xiaodie’s case, Wei Lai was the primary culprit, so Hua Shi’er intended to deal with her first before moving on to Luo Ting. Luo Ting came from a single-parent family with average means, so studying abroad was unlikely for her; Hua Shi’er had other ways to make her pay. As for Xu Miao, he intended to let her off the hook.

In the original narrative, Wei Lai pushed Chen Nian down the stairs and, because the latter had called the police, she had ambushed Chen Nian near her home with Luo Ting and Xu Miao, armed with a paper cutter and a cage of rats, intending to cripple her. Chen Nian had hidden in a trash bin to escape their pursuit, but her phone suddenly rang due to a call from her mother, Zhou Lei, revealing her location to Xu Miao, who was trailing behind. At that moment, Xu Miao did not expose Chen Nian but chose to hide the truth from Wei Lai, allowing her to escape the ordeal. In this regard, Xu Miao still possessed a shred of conscience, which was why Hua Shi’er decided to spare her. The two who refused to repent, however, were his primary targets.

Hua Shi’er’s persistence in targeting Wei Lai and Luo Ting stemmed partly from the lingering obsession he sensed from the wish-maker, Liu Beishan. On the other hand, he personally could not stand them. If such unrepentant evildoers were not punished, how could there be justice? Furthermore, if their evil deeds went unpunished today, what would happen if they harmed others in the future?

After hearing the investigator's report, a smile played on the corner of Hua Shi’er’s mouth. "Good, just keep watching them. Notify me if there is any news!"

Just as he was about to hang up, he remembered something and paused, then added, "Oh, by the way, help me keep an eye on someone else. Money is no object. I’ll send you his photo and information in a moment. You don’t need to investigate his background; just track him 24 hours a day and see what he does."

As soon as he hung up, Chen Nian walked over and said with a smile, "Young Master, it's time to eat. You were on the phone the moment you got back—who were you chatting with for so long?"

Hua Shi’er stood up and teased, "Jealous? Don't worry, it wasn't a pretty girl!"

Chen Nian blushed and spat, "Pah, whether it’s a pretty girl or not has nothing to do with me."

Hua Shi’er put his phone in his pocket and made a move to put his arm around her. "It’s just some investment business. If you want to hear about it, I’ll tell you later!"

Chen Nian dodged his grasp and laughed, "Please, don't tell me. I get a headache just hearing about your stocks and such. I still have to study after dinner!"

Hua Shi’er went to the bathroom under the guise of washing his hands and sent the photo, name, and home address of "Laizi" to the private investigator.

The reason he had the investigator look into Laizi was that he felt the guy had been acting strangely today. At the mahjong parlor, when Detective Lao Yang wanted to take the three of them in for questioning, Laizi was clearly fine, yet he had insisted he had matters to attend to at home. Moreover, in Liu Beishan’s memories, Laizi had always been quite obedient. Yet, today, although Hua Shi’er had explicitly told Laizi and Dakang to cooperate honestly with the police, Dakang had done exactly as told, while Laizi had been acting strangely during the identification process. Although all three of them had acted that way in the original story, the fact that Laizi behaved this way even after Hua Shi’er had given him a heads-up was highly abnormal.

If it were still the original Liu Beishan, he might not have been suspicious, but now that he was Hua Shi’er, it was different. Hua Shi’er was an adult; his thinking was more mature than Liu Beishan’s, and having spent time working in society, he had seen all sorts of people. Combined with his deep understanding of Laizi through Liu Beishan’s memories, he immediately sensed that Laizi’s behavior today was off.

To be safe, Hua Shi’er had ordered the investigation. After all, Laizi was Liu Beishan’s brother. If the sexual assault case had nothing to do with him, that would be for the best. But if he truly were the culprit, Hua Shi’er would report him to the police in time, giving him a chance to pull back from the brink so he wouldn't continue down the wrong path and harm others.

Watching the photo upload successfully, Hua Shi’er took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "I hope it’s not you..."