Hello, Mr. Major General

“It wasn’t the real Yamaguchi Aiko?” Zhao Liangze and Yin Shixiong were both in shock. “Mr. Huo, what is this conclusion based on?!”

“Nothing, as of now.” Huo Shaoheng clenched his fist and supported his chin. Then, he extracted the pictures of both Yamaguchi Aiko and Yamaguchi Youko, and placed them side by side on the computer screen.

“Look. Don’t they look alike?” Huo Shaoheng asked both of them to move closer to the screen. “Yamaguchi Youko’s case – I think you guys still remember that one?”

“Of course.” Yin Shixiong waved immediately. “But I thought she had an accident in Japan? We all thought that she was murdered by the Yamaguchi-gumi…”

“Judging from the things now, it might not be.” Huo Shaoheng turned his gaze to the screen. “We merely heard about the accident. Did anyone go to the scene of accident? Do we have pictures as evidence? Did anyone manage to check her family? Nope, we didn’t.”

“True, Yamaguchi Youko’s lead ended with the accident. Moreover, we were convinced that the Yamaguchi-gumi murdered her. Therefore, we were content with just that, instead of having a thorough check.” Remembering that mission, Zhao Liangze asked, “So… Mr. Huo has doubts now? Perhaps this Aiko is Youko’s younger sister? It’s no big deal that sisters look alike, right?”

“That is possible, too.” Huo Shaoheng nodded. “So we really need to check on Yamaguchi-gumi properly now.”

“But their security is way too strict…” Zhao Liangze frowned. “If I remember correctly, we tried to hack into their internal system. However, we were discovered within a short time, and our men had to poison themselves in order to avoid going through torture and interrogation.” What he meant was, had they landed in the hands of Yamaguchi-gumi, they’d be better off dead. And this was precisely the reason Huo Shaoheng went deep into thought and waved for them to leave the room. “Leave the office now. I’ll think it through.”

“Yes, sir.” Upon leaving Huo Shaoheng’s office, Yin Shixiong and Zhao Liangze went back to their respective desks. Zhao Liangze scrolled casually through the headlines online. Seeing how Prime Minister Dou’s family was treated, he commented relentlessly, “This Prime Minister Dou. He really lost his mind all because of power. How could he have collaborated with Japan’s Yamaguchi-gumi? I dare say, even the politicians in Japan dare not do this.”

Yin Shixiong sprawled on his desk and said lazily, “Power drives people crazy, especially a position as high as that. He did not have anyone stopping him. It was very likely that he just wanted to make use of Yamaguchi-gumi for a while, but he did not expect that he would have to sell his soul if he wanted a deal with the devil.”

“Well said!” Zhao Liangze applauded, but he was shocked to see that Yin Shixiong did not look happy. Puzzled, he asked, “What’s wrong with you? Bad mood?”

Yin Shixiong shook his head, full of images of Yamaguchi Youko. “Little Ze, why do you think Youko wanted Nianzhi that time?” They knew that Gu Nianzhi got hit by the arrow once, and that stuff came from none other than Yamaguchi Youko.

“You feel that that incident was on purpose instead of a coincidence?” Zhao Liangze raised his eyebrows. “But I have always felt that it was a coincidence…” The son of a wealthy man wanted to get his hands on some aphrodisiac, and Yamaguchi Youko happened to have some, so she sold it to him.

“But think about it; such an expensive and rare drug, and it fell so coincidentally into the hands of that particular wealthy boy? Now, that already isn’t normal. It felt like she was purposely trying to wait for him to take the bait.” Zhao Liangze began to think about it seriously. He rose from his desk, folded his arms, and paced around the office, analyzing the situation with Yin Shixiong. “If what you said is true, then there’ll be a problem. Yamaguchi Youko or Yamaguchi-gumi – why would they want to go against Nianzhi?”

“You think she’s connected to Yamaguchi-gumi in some way?” Yin Shixiong’s expression darkened further. “Wouldn’t that mean that she would definitely not be able to be together with Mr. Huo?” Other considerations aside, if Gu Nianzhi really had a connection to Yamaguchi-gumi, then even if they fell deeply for each other, they wouldn’t be able to be together.

“Big Xiong, you’re exaggerating things. Not necessarily having a connection, but perhaps a victim of Yamaguchi-gumi?” Yin Shixiong hit the table, snickering. “Anything is possible. One has to be daring enough to make assumptions and careful enough to obtain relevant evidence.”

“True, that.” Zhao Liangze was obviously relieved. “I was so worried…”

“Forget, leave it to them. Even General Ji isn’t saying anything anymore. Would our words matter? Looking for Nianzhi’s father and knowing his background is more important for us right now.” Yin Shixiong turned his computer on and began searching for information on Gu Nianzhi’s background again.

Right at that moment, he received an email. After glancing through it casually, Yin Shixiong’s mind sprang to attention, his eyes bigger than ever. “Come here quick, Little Ze!” His voice even sounded different.

“What about coming over there? What do you want again?” Zhao Liangze rolled his eyes at Yin Shixiong, refusing to head over to his desk.

“Come here, quick!” Yin Shixiong was about to panic. “A really crazy email just arrived from South America!”

“What? The people who were sent to check on He Zhichu’s background?” Zhao Liangze ran over quickly and stood behind Yin Shixiong, looking at his computer screen. The email was short. It contained only one sentence: “The name of Gu Yanran’s father is Gu Xiangwen as well.”

Now it was Zhao Liangze who was panicking. “What the hell?! Gu Yanran’s father is Gu Xiangwen as well?! Doesn’t that mean that she and Nianzhi are biological sisters?! But they are not blood-related!” He only realized when he was done panicking and asked, “Didn’t they go there to check on He Zhichu? Why did they send information on Gu Yanran?”

Yin Shixiong’s fingers began dancing on the keyboard. “I was feeling puzzled as well. I’ll ask.” He continued, “This annoying person. Would it kill him to type another sentence?” Of course, he was merely ranting. In their line of work, it was really possible they could die if they were to type another sentence.

After sending the email, Yin Shixiong forwarded the email to Huo Shaoheng. Shortly after, the door to Huo Shaoheng’s office opened. Huo Shaoheng came out from the door, looking solemn. “What’s going on? Why did the check move to Gu Yanran?” This piece of information relinked a clue from a long time ago.

“We were puzzled as well, Mr. Huo, so I just sent a reply to ask.” Yin Shixiong showed Huo Shaoheng his correspondence.

Huo Shaoheng glanced and nodded. “Inform me once they reply. Also…” he paused. “Check Gu Yanran’s DNA again.” They had tested it previously, and it showed no connection between her DNA and Gu Nianzhi’s. But now they were linked up again by having the same father.

“But Mr. Huo, are you sure that Gu Yanran’s father, Gu Xiangwen, is the same person as Gu Nianzhi’s father, Gu Xiangwen?” Zhao Liangze, being a computer expert, had the logical mind of a computer programmer. He thought about things deeply and in a sophisticated manner.