Chapter 137: The Sea of Wandering 30
Song Qiaowei didn’t put up a fight for long. Zhong Pinghe handled the interrogation personally.
“Her daughter with Fu Dong is named Deng Lingsi. To hide her identity, the surname doesn’t match either parent. Years ago, after Song Qiaowei became pregnant, she went to New Gene Bio for a checkup. The results showed abnormalities; the data indicated that the child’s cell regeneration and metabolic capabilities were incredibly strong, and there were some blank spaces in the genome. In layman’s terms, she was easy to edit—a very rare, natural-born experimental subject. Within the ‘Invisible Giant,’ she was considered a ‘precious resource,'” Zhong Pinghe told Zhuang Ningyu. “Song Qiaowei lived in constant fear because of this. She knew that once the news got out, the child would definitely be taken away. Relying solely on her and Fu Dong, they absolutely did not have the power to contend with that crazy and massive organization.”
Song Qiaowei had been to the laboratories; she knew exactly what becoming an experimental subject would mean. No mother could accept such a thing. Fu Dong, for his part, also didn’t want the child taken away. Aside from whatever paternal love existed, there was also his “pride as a person in power.” The weight of these two factors combined was, for Fu Dong at that time, far greater than the benefits of “sacrificing the child.” So, after discussing it, the couple decided to pull a “bait and switch.”
“Song Qiaowei considered faking a miscarriage, but she couldn’t leave the public eye for long periods during that time, and she didn’t want to curse her own child with rumors of ‘premature death.’ So, in the end, they chose Fu Siheng.”
Zhuang Ningyu asked, “And Fu Siheng’s background?”
“New Gene Bio’s laboratory. The father came from a sperm bank, and the mother was an experimental subject.” Mentioning the child, Zhong Pinghe sighed. “The couple planned to have more children in the future, so naturally, they didn’t want an adopted son blocking the way. However, the developmental trajectory of a normal child is uncontrollable. Fu Dong didn’t want his own child to encounter another ‘Fu Han,’ so he deliberately selected an obedient child who had undergone genetic modification to ensure low intelligence, raising him purely as a decoy.”
Meanwhile, the real “princess,” Deng Lingsi, had been living in a small welfare institution in the United States. Through secret channels, Song Qiaowei donated a significant amount of money to the institution. Everyone from the teachers and nannies to her playmates was specially selected, and a private doctor was on standby year-round.
“The Song family went bankrupt long ago; currently, only Song’s mother remains. The Fu family is now just a hollow shell and will face multiple rounds of joint government investigations. Song Qiaowei knows in her heart that no matter how well she arranged things before, her daughter’s future can no longer be guaranteed. That’s why she thought of the Yi family.” At this point, Zhong Pinghe glanced at Yi Ke, who was standing on a ladder fixing the curtains. “Xiao Yi, stop being busy. Come eat some fruit.”
“Coming, Grandpa.” The house in the Investigation Team’s guesthouse was a bit old, and the curtains weren’t sliding smoothly. Although Grandma insisted it didn’t matter and they could call a staff member to fix it, Yi Ke insisted on carrying a ladder over and personally oiling the rails. This showed that having a sweet-smelling wife really wasn’t purely due to luck!
Song Qiaowei confessed to the relationship between the Fu Corporation and New Gene Bio. Back when Yi Ke and Zhuang Ningyu caught the two New Gene Bio employees in the mountains attempting to crash their car and kill U-Dun, Fu Dong received the news. He knew that Shi Cheng, the director of the New Gene Bio Research Institute, would inevitably be investigated. If Shi Cheng fell into the Investigation Team’s hands, Fu Dong would be in big trouble. So, he made a prompt decision to send Wang Daqiang to silence him first. However, he didn’t expect Shi Cheng to be hiding a Rule Zone and to use that Rule Zone to kill Wang Daqiang instead.
“As for this Rule Zone, Song Qiaowei stated she truly knew nothing about it.” The Invisible Giant’s research was divided into two main categories: Rule Zones and Evolved Individuals. The Fu Corporation’s focus had always been the latter, rarely participating in the former.
Zhong Pinghe continued, “Fu Dong had nothing to do with New Gene Bio’s Rule Zone, and Shi Cheng actually didn’t understand that Rule Zone very well either. Therefore, we currently highly suspect that the initiator of the New Gene Bio Rule Zone is Fu Han. If Shi Cheng was working for Fu Dong while secretly working for Fu Han as well, then not only can the Rule Zone be explained, but Fu Han’s knowledge of Deng Lingsi’s existence can also be logically explained.”
Fu Dong and Fu Han were half-brothers. After Fu Dong’s biological mother died of illness, Father Fu quickly took a new wife. Fu Dong had always disliked his stepmother and brother. As Fu Han grew up, his mother inevitably began to fight for more power within the group for him. For this reason, Father Fu gradually became dissatisfied with his new wife—he didn’t like women he couldn’t control. So, he turned a blind eye, tacitly allowing his eldest son to engineer a car accident to “solve the problem” for him.
Regarding his mother’s accidental death, Fu Han only showed normal grief. He handled the funeral with his father without any other abnormalities, so all the participants thought he was unaware. That is until the Wandering Sea Rule Zone appeared.
Leaning against the hospital bed, face pale, Song Qiaowei recalled, “Liam is the Invisible Giant’s Number Seven. All these years, he was the one inciting us to transfer assets and flee abroad. It was also him who used that little boy at my house to create a Rule Zone that was said to lead to Paris. I always felt he was glib and untrustworthy. I thought maybe the so-called ‘Space Door’ wasn’t practical, but I never imagined the other end of the door would be the Wandering Sea. The moment I smelled the sea air, I knew. Fu Han knew everything. He knew about our schemes against him all these years, he knew his mother’s death was related to us. He wanted revenge. We… we could never leave that Rule Zone safely. But why did he have to make Sisi the answer to the riddle? My daughter, she is innocent.”
“Her daughter is innocent, but is Zhao Kai, who was tricked into the Yuanbao Tower lab to save his mother, not innocent?” Zhuang Ningyu shook his head and casually handed half a piece of watermelon on his fork to Yi Ke. “Fortunately, Xiao Zhao has a tough life; he has already woken up, and his mother’s condition is under control.”
Grandma slapped the back of his head. “How could you bite off the sweet half and give the non-sweet half to Xiao Yi?”
Zhuang Ningyu looked wronged. What sweet or not sweet? I just took a random bite.
Yi Ke: No, no, no, Grandma, I love eating the half of the fruit my wifey leaves behind!
Liam was the man with the mechanical arm previously seen at the Yuanbao Tower pedestrian street. He had currently returned to the Invisible Giant’s base. As for Liu Han, the Vice President of Fu Corporation who fled due to the Yuanbao Tower incident, Song Qiaowei provided his hiding place, and he had been successfully arrested by the police a few hours ago.
“In order to atone for her crimes and secure more lenient treatment for her daughter, Song Qiaowei’s testimony this time could fill a box. It seems she really is holding nothing back,” Zhong Pinghe said. “There was only one matter where she wasn’t very smooth.”
Zhuang Ningyu guessed what it was. “Regarding those two Southeast Asian hitmen, Kyaw and Ah Kun?”
Zhong Pinghe nodded. “Yes.”
Jin Yi, the owner of Bo’ai Shanyuan, was indeed Fu Han’s man. But his secretary, Fang Han, was just as Zhuang Ningyu had speculated: loyal in the beginning, but later, due to unrequited love for Fu Han turning into hate, she defected to Fu Dong.
Fu Han didn’t want Zhuang Ningyu to enter the Wandering Sea, so he arranged for Jin Yi to stop him secretly. Jin Yi knew this prevention couldn’t be physical—Zhuang Ningyu absolutely couldn’t be injured. So, he planned to use what he was best at: online public opinion manipulation. As long as Zhuang Ningyu was linked to negative news and suspended for investigation, he naturally wouldn’t be able to go on the mission. Once the matter passed, Jin Yi would be responsible for whitewashing his reputation twofold.
And the most obvious link between Zhuang Ningyu and negative news was Wei Liying.
Jin Yi’s thought process was simple: Wei Liying jumping off a building—or even if she didn’t succeed—as long as such an event existed, he could easily turn the internet upside down. However, after hearing about this, Fu Dong planned to use the incident to cause more trouble for Fu Han. He instructed Fang Han to withdraw a sum of money from Fu Han’s overseas account and hire two hitmen to muddy the waters. If a public official died, the authorities would investigate with full force, eventually discovering that the “director” of the whole thing, Jin Yi, was Fu Han’s man, and the funds for hiring the hitmen also came from Fu Han’s account.
“What Fang Han didn’t know is that Fu Dong actually hired a third hitman, prepared to kill Wei Liying to silence her after she jumped,” Zhong Pinghe said. “He just didn’t expect us to be faster, discovering problems with Jin Yi and Fang Han ahead of time. Similarly, our police cars arrived at the suburban warehouse before the pickup vehicle he arranged for Kyaw and Ah Kun.”
It was unclear if Fu Dong, when planning this, had considered that the person shot might be Yi Ke. But even if he had, he likely wouldn’t have stopped; he might have even been more excited. After all, if other team members were hurt, Fu Han would only offend the Order Maintenance Department. But if Yi Ke were hurt, on top of that, he would offend the Yi family. He didn’t even have to worry about the Yi family taking anger out on the Fu Corporation, as the Fu Corporation’s assets had long since been secretly transferred out.
Song Qiaowei said, “We really didn’t think it would be Yi Ke.” Mentioning this, her voice was a bit shaky. After all, just yesterday she was trying to get the Yi family to adopt her daughter, and today she had to personally admit that her husband nearly killed the Yi family’s most precious youngest son. Anyone hearing this would find it absurd, herself included.
“Forget about work, everyone come eat,” Grandma called from the kitchen.
A large pot of pork rib and corn soup was stewed until fragrant and rich. Although Zhuang Ningyu and Yi Ke both felt they hadn’t lost weight, Grandma felt her grandson had, so she specially steamed a large pork elbow. With seven plates and eight bowls, the table was packed. Zhuang Ningyu felt full just looking at it, but Yi Ke comforted him in time from the side: “It’s okay wifey, I’m a food bucket!”
Zhuang Ningyu, laughing and crying, poked Yi Ke’s waist. Yi Ke grinningly reached over to touch Zhuang’s stomach, and then both sat up straight and proper as Grandma and Grandpa came out.
Zhong Pinghe was very busy with work; he ate hurriedly and went back to the unit. Grandma had a small appetite; she didn’t eat much before leaving for her old sister’s house to play mahjong, leaving Yi Ke alone to bury his head and eat for a long time. When he looked up, more than half the pork elbow was still left—if he turned the plate, it could pass as a new dish.
“Keep going!” Zhuang Ningyu forked a piece of watermelon, taking a long time to nibble off a piece the size of a soybean, acting exceptionally fake.
Yi Ke: I was wrong, I am not a food bucket!
In the end, Zhuang Ningyu had the guesthouse waiter bring several takeout boxes to pack away all the meat dishes, creating the illusion of empty plates to give Grandma peace of mind.
Yi Ke gave his wife a thumbs up, simultaneously suggesting they take the stairs later. After all, there were cameras in the elevator—what if Grandma wanted to check if they really finished eating? Grandpa was the founder of the Jincheng Investigation Team; he had access to all the surveillance in the city!
Zhuang Ningyu ignored his nonsense and shoved the packed boxes at him. “Let’s go, quickly!”
Their schedule for the day wasn’t very logical because they had ignored the iron law that “visiting Grandpa at the guesthouse to talk work inevitably leads to Grandma stuffing you full of fish and meat.” In the evening, Yi Ke had booked a restaurant that supposedly required reservations three years in advance. Zhuang Ningyu was truly full, so he suggested, “Can we change the date?”
“We can, wifey.” Yi Ke held his hands. “Although others definitely couldn’t, the owner of that restaurant has very strong, inappropriate intentions toward my sister. If we just have her make a call, forget changing the time, you could eat while riding on the owner’s head and it wouldn’t be a problem.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “Does your sister harbor similar intentions toward the owner?”
Yi Ke: “No, my sister finds him annoying.”
“Then that wouldn’t be right.” Zhuang Ningyu flatly refused, then added, “Can’t you just cancel it?”
Yi Ke: “I can, but I paid a 5,000 deposit. That money is non-refundable.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “…Forget it, let’s just go eat.”
It was 2:00 PM, still five hours before their 7:00 PM reservation. Furthermore, they planned to go to Fuxingyuan to pack up some things to move, and doing physical labor would help digestion.
The unit in Fuxingyuan was completely empty. The living room of Unit 201 was a mess. Zhuang Ningyu had lived here from childhood to adulthood, so there were many things. They couldn’t move everything at once and could only organize sporadically. In this moving marathon that had lasted N months, Yi Ke primarily played a disruptive role. He firmly opposed his wife moving anything to his parents-in-law’s house in the suburbs; even a small handkerchief had to be scavenged back to Guanxing Tower.
Zhuang Ningyu was annoyed by the noise. “Put down my childhood clothes!”
“No!” Yi Ke picked up his wife’s drool bib. Kiss, kiss, kiss.
Zhuang Ningyu: What a perverted scene. I want to call the police.
Grandma and Grandpa had preserved their grandson’s growth trajectory very well, including school certificates and trophies, and even test papers big and small. Yi Ke looked at the sea of red A+ marks and sighed with emotion. Truly worthy of being my wife; even his exams match mine with couple scores. He really loves me so much!
Kiss one, kiss one!
Zhuang Ningyu was bending over to put away clothes when suddenly a massive weight pressed onto his back. Yi Ke was quite heavy and didn’t control his strength, so the impact caused Zhuang Ningyu to stumble forward two steps, diving headfirst into a moving box over a meter high. Yi Ke followed him, face-planting forward!
The cardboard box, subjected to the weight of two adult men (multiplied by two in force), honorably split down the middle. Various small ornaments Zhuang Ningyu had painstakingly organized rolled all over the floor with a clatter. Yi Ke sucked in a breath of cold air, jumped up, looked at the mess, and apologized instantly: “Wifey, I’m sorry, I won’t cause trouble… I’ll help you tape the box… Wait, what are you doing… What is this, why do you have this in your house!”
Zhuang Ningyu lunged forward, handcuffing Yi Ke’s hands to the wooden headboard railings in three swift moves. “Silver Snake Shackles. Brought back from an exchange in Europe last time. Specifically designed for ferocious monsters.”
Yi Ke was amused. “You don’t think I can’t break free, do you?”
Zhuang Ningyu stood up. “My dad made the bed by hand.”
Yi Ke immediately raised his hands high again. “Okay wifey, rest assured, I definitely won’t let your precious little wooden bed get hurt!”
Having neutralized this unstable element, Zhuang Ningyu went back to tape up the broken box. As he bent over to pick things up, the loose collar of his shirt revealed faint red marks on his snow-white skin that hadn’t yet faded—ambiguous in appearance, and ambiguous in nature.
Yi Ke reminisced about the entire criminal process of leaving those marks, as well as the numerous fingerprints and bruises covered by clothes. Unsurprisingly, he got a little… more than a little reaction.
“Wifey.”
The next moment, Zhuang Ningyu was pressed onto the bed. The wooden headboard indeed wasn’t hurt; the victim was the handcuffs, which had snapped clean in two. Yi Ke was young and vigorous, and the scalding hardness beneath him pressed against Zhuang Ningyu even through his trousers, making Zhuang’s ears burn. He dodged the kiss from behind and pushed against the bed to get up. “Are you crazy? You just last night…”
Yi Ke continued to pin him down but didn’t make any further moves. He just pecked at the beautiful nape of Zhuang’s neck sporadically. After nuzzling like this for a while, the fire of desire actually subsided. He let go of the person in his arms and ran to the side to fold cardboard boxes, wearing the broken half-cuffs on his wrists like a diligent, jail-breaking housekeeper.
This left Zhuang Ningyu sitting alone on the bed, wondering if the man before him was acting crazy due to sexual frustration or if he was possessed by something dirty, and whether he should buy new pajamas or pomelo leaves next.
Yi Ke held up a piece of baby clothing, expressing heartfelt admiration: “Wifey, you were actually really this small when you were little.”
Zhuang Ningyu: Forget it, let’s just send him to the hospital for a brain scan first.
Around 5:00 PM, the two showered and changed into clean clothes. Truth be told, physical labor really was a digestion aid. The large pork elbow from lunch seemed as if it never existed, and Zhuang Ningyu was actually getting a bit hungry, making him look forward to the Michelin dinner that evening.
Yi Ke drove him across the city. The restaurant’s ambiance was indeed nice, worthy of the price. As for the taste… Zhuang Ningyu took one bite and felt that the owner failing to woo Yi Yue was correct.
Food can be bad, but for every dish to taste as if it were cursed by the God of Spatulas was truly a unique talent. Halfway through the meal, chewing on a magical substance that combined the toughness of beef with the fishiness of caviar, Zhuang Ningyu finally couldn’t help but suggest, “Let’s just leave. I’ll make you fried onion rings and chicken nuggets at home.”
Yi Ke actually agreed that this trash was unbelievable. The lower limit of restaurants these days was truly bottomless. To think someone with such perverse taste in food dares to chase my sister; I absolutely cannot agree to this relationship. But he didn’t leave. He firmly held his wife’s hand and said affectionately, “I also ordered a very romantic piano piece for you.”
“Can they play it early?”
“No, the pianist doesn’t start work until eight.”
The piano piece cost 1,888 yuan, non-refundable. Zhuang Ningyu had to sit back down and endure the artistic edification on an empty stomach. Finally, after the entire meal process was over, while Yi Ke was paying the bill, Zhuang Ningyu had already used his phone to get a queue number for the tripe hotpot place next door.
Yi Ke: “Wifey, we still have the leftovers from lunch in the car!”
Zhuang Ningyu waved his hand. “We’ll eat the leftovers tomorrow.”
Yi Ke clutched his stomach. “But my stomach isn’t feeling too well.”
Under normal circumstances, Zhuang Ningyu might have noticed his abnormal acting. But right now, because the restaurant was so terrible—terrible enough that getting a stomachache or even food poisoning seemed reasonable—Zhuang Ningyu didn’t doubt Yi Ke’s “stomachache” for a second. He asked the waiter for a glass of hot water, then drove him home.
The elevator advertisements in Guanxing Tower had been changed to very romantic Shakespearean love poems that morning. In the afternoon, the music had switched from Für Elise to A Time for Us—the BGM from their second meeting. However, Zhuang Ningyu was busy rubbing Yi Ke’s stomach, so he didn’t notice at all.
It wasn’t until they reached the top floor and he pushed open the door, seeing the room filled with red roses, that he belatedly connected everything from the day—
“I didn’t expect you to place such high importance on discussing the scene of our first meeting. Don’t worry, once this mission is complete, I will definitely cover the house in 9,999 beautiful, fragrant Ecuadorian red roses, prepare your favorite pink champagne, and we can sit in a romantic sea of flowers, wearing couple pajamas, drinking and reminiscing.”
Yi Ke kept his word. If he said 9,999 flowers, it was 9,999 flowers. In addition to roses, there were many other precious floral materials cascading down the second-floor railing and stairs like a waterfall, looking extraordinarily spectacular under the crystal chandelier. Professional florists had created an incredibly elegant sea of flowers. In the center of the living room, soft, comfortable cashmere blankets and cushions were laid out for a pair of lovers to snuggle and chat sweetly.
No wonder he chose French cuisine and piano music tonight; this massive project indeed needed some time to complete.
Yi Ke hugged him gently from behind. “I’ll go open a bottle of wine. You go take a shower and relax first?”
Zhuang Ningyu asked with a look of innocence, “Are you going to propose to me?”
“No.” Yi Ke didn’t take the bait. “How could I propose to you at home with such a simple ceremony?”
Zhuang Ningyu grabbed his hand. “I think this isn’t simple at all. I like it very much. Just propose now. Think of more words, preferably translate them into at least five languages. I love listening to that.”
“Impossible, wifey.” Yi Ke withdrew his hand and patted Zhuang’s head. “Whatever you say today, don’t think you can weasel your way out of this.”
Zhuang Ningyu slapped Yi Ke’s chest, subtly took a half-step back, and then suddenly turned to run. But Yi Ke, who was prepared, caught him by the waist, dragged him back, threw him directly over his shoulder, and carried him into the bathroom.
Water rushed down. Zhuang Ningyu, unable to open his eyes under the spray, conceded, “Get out, I’ll wash myself!”
Yi Ke: “Okay, no problem.” As he spoke, he stripped the person bare and didn’t forget to take all of Zhuang’s clothes with him when he left, including the bathrobe and towel, leaving only a pack of disposable face towels. “Call me when you’re done.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “Why take the clothes? Do you think I’d climb out of this bathroom window?”
Yi Ke: “You would.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
He really would.
It was a mere two hundred meters.
