I briefly fooled Old Tie and immediately called Ning Caishen. The fact that those four people had the letter "k" in their names and were called the "Four-Color Old Ks" was pure nonsense. The priority now was to finalize the investment and then go home to see my parents. Zhu Zi’s words reminded me of something. When Gao Ji was planning to deal with me, I hadn't had this thought yet. Now, looking back, Gao Ji wanted to put all my loved ones and my willingness to compromise on a single choice, so he must have had his own arrangements.
Empty words were not Gao Ji's style. Therefore, he must have arranged a Schemer to watch over my parents. Who could it be? I didn’t know. There wasn't even a shred of evidence. But now there was: Zhu Zi and Qing Zi were just pawns for this Schemer.
So, I was going to invest in their pie shop. There were two reasons for this investment. First, the pie shop was genuinely good. Second, regardless of whether Zhu Zi and Qing Zi said anything, by investing in them, the Schemer behind them would surely be suspicious. As long as he dared to show himself, I would eliminate him.
"Hello, is this Ning Caishen?"
"Who is this?"
"My name is Tang Nan."
"Ah, it's the boss. What work do you need me to do?"
"The first thing is, I have a large sum of money in my Swiss bank account. I need you to gradually transfer it to the account you are authorized to manage for me. The second thing is, I want to invest in a pie chain store. This needs to be done immediately. I'll give you the location."
Ning Caishen was silent for a moment and then asked seriously, "Does it involve breaking the law?"
"No, I am a law-abiding citizen. Why are you asking about legality?"
"Breaking the law is more troublesome, requiring offshore accounts. Not breaking the law is simpler; we can set up a team for tax avoidance, liability reduction, and, if necessary, bankruptcy protection to preserve assets."
"There's such knowledge."
"Yes."
"Is it a lot?"
"A lot. Boss, if you don't understand, you can ask. I will answer all your questions."
"I won't ask. You decide. When will you come?"
"Now. It's about a thirty-minute taxi ride to the airport. We'll charter a plane, and you should arrive by morning."
"What about the salary?"
"Qin Sisi has already discussed the salary. Your food, lodging, and travel expenses will be reimbursed from the wealth management account with invoices. Is there anything else?"
"I mean, can you accept this salary?"
"It's stipulated in the contract, so why wouldn't I accept it?"
"Good, let's meet when you have time."
I understood. Ning Caishen was also a peculiar person, but that was fine. We could get to know each other slowly.
After hanging up, I saw Old Tie had finished the pies. He couldn't resist and called Zhu Zi for two more. Then I told him about opening the pie chain store. Zhu Zi looked troubled. He frowned and said, "I won't betray Qing Zi."
"We'll all get rich together. If you don't say, I won't ask. Okay?"
"What exactly are you after?"
Zhu Zi couldn't understand my thinking at all. Doing something without expecting a return was foolish, wasn't it?
"We'll all get rich together."
"You really won't ask."
I smiled at Zhu Zi and asked, "Are you going to say it?"
"I won't say it."
"Then let's not be sentimental about this. Someone will contact you later. You don't need to call me to discuss it. Get Qing Zi to hurry up with the pies and bring two more bottles of beer."
Zhu Zi left with a look of incomprehension. Old Tie looked at me and asked the same question Zhu Zi had: "What exactly are you after?"
"Let's drink. I'm really not after anything."
I knew in my heart that things like karma weren't something you could just wish for. I didn't understand how Old Ghost had arranged things, but I would follow this one principle: do good deeds and don't ask about the consequences.
In my opinion, the friendship between Zhu Zi and Qing Zi was very genuine, possessing the spirit of brotherhood and sworn oaths from those days. For this reason alone, I would help them, and that was enough.
"Where are we going after we eat?"
"Home."
"You're still in the mood to go home?"
"Where else would I go if not home? Am I like Yu the Great, passing by my home three times without entering?"
Old Tie didn't understand me now. He knew how worried Da Huang was, but I seemed unfazed. Old Tie couldn't understand. In fact, I wasn't unfazed; I had calmed my mind.
After eating the pies, I really left, not asking any more questions, leaving Zhu Zi with a bewildered look.
Before returning home, I met Da Huang and persuaded him to go to Guangzhou. This was the only clue to finding Lin Han. Zhu Zi and Qing Zi had different opinions, but they only mentioned two places: Beijing and Guangzhou.
Since Lin Han hadn't gone to Beijing, there was a high probability she was in Guangzhou. Da Huang didn't say a word and took a plane to Guangzhou that same day to search for Lin Han. Old Tie watched from the side and asked curiously, "Old Tang, what kind of magic potion did you give this Da Huang? Lin Han is in Guangzhou, and you're not going, but you're sending him. He didn't say anything extra and left immediately. Is this person's brain okay?"
"Brother Da Huang, trust me."
"Trust you?"
"Yes, people who would entrust their lives to me are not bothered if I deceive them, and they believe even more that I wouldn't. Moreover, his relationship with Lin Han is like that of siblings. When Lin Han went missing, his distress was no less than mine."
"Lin Han went to Beijing, and you're not going to Beijing to accompany your wife, but you're coming home?"
Seeing me, my mother's expression was terrible. I plastered on a smile: "I just missed home."
"You don't miss anything. Lin Han is alone outside, and you don't even contact her. What, do you think this wife isn't good enough for you? I'm telling you, Tang Nan, if you dare to treat Lin Han badly, I won't acknowledge you as my son."
I looked at my father with a bitter smile: "Can't you try to persuade her? I'm your biological son."
"Take today's flight to Beijing."
I was dumbfounded: "I haven't even settled in yet?"
"Hurry up and go, hurry up and go."
If I hadn't acted shamelessly, I would have been kicked out of my parents' house by my own father and mother. What was going on? Later, I found out that Lin Han's visit had completely brought honor to my parents. She hosted feasts for relatives and friends, and the red envelopes for the children in the family were never less than five hundred. My mother had even advised her, saying that when we had children, they would have to reciprocate the favors, and giving too much would put pressure on the relatives.
In the month or so Lin Han was here, she hosted at least ten banquets, all with good wine.
I knew my mother well. She liked whoever gave her face. With her brain around this little schemer Lin Han, she was probably being taken advantage of, and she would even give Lin Han money. My father always listened to my mother, and naturally, having the wife of a big boss also made him feel very dignified.
As for where I went, they said I was in Hong Kong on business. I heard that Lin Han even said at the dinner table that she didn't handle anything now and that all the household business was mine. In reality, I was the one who did nothing, the hands-off manager.
Given this situation, my mother sending me to Beijing was quite reasonable.
In fact, I only came back because I was worried about them. Seeing that they were fine, I left. After Ning Caishen got the pie chain store up and running, I would deal with the Schemer lurking around my parents.
I didn't mention the chartered plane to my mother at dinner. If she knew I was wasting money like that, she would have killed me. However, I also thought about dropping a hint to my parents. I said to my father, "Dad, do you know? I'm making a lot of money now."
"How much did you make?"
"I made 100... on this trip to Hong Kong."
"A million?"
"Mm!"
"You make a million a month, and you're bragging? Lin Han and I have agreed that in front of relatives, we'll say your monthly salary is 8,000. I don't care how much she gives you, as long as it's this amount. Who wouldn't be envious?"
"Okay, okay. You're my son, you know me. You really are my biological father."
I was about to give up. I would leave right after dinner. Just then, someone knocked on the door. It was Qing Zi looking for me.
"Brother Qing Zi!"
"Do you have time?"
"Yes!"
"Let's talk alone."
After going out to chat with Qing Zi for a while, my mother complained as soon as I entered the house: "What were you babbling with Qing Zi about? He's been to jail. Don't get too close to him; be careful he doesn't lead you astray."
My mother actually knew about Qing Zi's jail time. I looked at her in confusion: "You know Qing Zi."
"No."
"Then how do you know?"
"I saw him at the Immortal Guest Restaurant. I was startled by his tattoos at the time and asked. I found out he was just a ruffian who opened a pie shop. He was familiar with the boss and heard he was borrowing money."
I frowned and looked at my mother: "You've eaten at the Immortal Guest Restaurant?"
"Yes, that place is very high-class. Lin Han said it suits our family's status. When we entertain relatives, we do it at this restaurant."
Qing Zi came to find me because Ning Caishen had already arrived and discussed the plan for opening a chain store with them. This was an opportunity. Zhu Zi was still hesitant, but Qing Zi didn't want Zhu Zi to make further sacrifices for him. So, behind Zhu Zi's back, he secretly came to find me and told me that the person who had been following Lin Han was the owner of this Immortal Guest Restaurant.
Now, I also knew that Lin Han had eaten at the Immortal Guest Restaurant more than ten times recently. Was there a secret between Lin Han and the owner of the Immortal Guest?
Whose scheme was this? What kind of scheme? To figure it out, I had to go to the Immortal Guest Restaurant.