Xu Liao walked around to the bar, mixed two glasses of lemon water, and asked, "What are you checking?"
Xiang Mingzhang thought for a moment: "An underground rock band."
Xu Liao said: "How does it have anything to do with the band?"
"Don't worry about it." Xiang Mingzhang picked up the cup. "It's called Wuzhi Band. It seems to have disbanded. Check where those people are, especially the one called Chang Cheh."
Xu Liao wrote it down, was silent for a moment, and asked: "How is your mother doing recently?"
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Same old."
Xu Liao nodded, and after a while, he said, "Aren't you going to ask me about what I did in the United States?"
Xiang Mingzhang spoke with contempt, his eyes full of coldness: "If Xiang Long was sick and dead, you would have reported it to me across the ocean. Since that's not the case, why should I care about him?"
Xu Liao said: "I will continue to have people watch over him."
The unripe lemons were very sour. Xiang Mingzhang ate a seed and frowned, "It's so unpalatable. Give me another cup."
"What did you change? Whiskey?" Xu Liao hinted, "I heard you brought some friends here to drink?"
Xiang Mingzhang is actually the investor of Yunjiao. His relationship with Xu Liao is little known to the public, so this place is like a secret base. He comes here occasionally to relax and has never brought any outsiders.
Xiang Mingzhang glanced at the booth and replied, "Not really a friend."
Xu Liao raised his eyebrows: "Who is that?"
"Curious?" Xiang Mingzhang was a businessman who would never suffer a loss. "Find the clues as soon as possible, and I'll bring him here to thank you."
Chu Shichen had no idea that people were talking about him. He was so sleepy that he went back to his room and slept for the whole day.
The curtains were forgotten to be drawn, and at dusk, the afterglow illuminated half of the bed.
Chu Shichen woke up, took out his phone and opened WeChat. The latest post on his Moments was a restaurant advertisement from Qian Hua.
He gave a thumbs up and got up to organize the information.
Qian Hua gave him more than 30 software accounts, covering all aspects of food, drink, and entertainment. There were four social softwares that "Chu Shichen" used the most. Except for WeChat, the other three were foreign softwares.
The old mobile phone number and WeChat account were cancelled together. Even if they are retrieved, the data records on them cannot be restored.
Chu Shichen tinkered with it for two hours and successfully logged into an email account. He then passed the email verification and reset the software password.
Before opening it, he said "forgiveness" to the real "Chu Shichen" in his heart.
This software can be used worldwide and is mainly used to share photos and videos.
He browsed through the content posted by "Chu Shichen". Every photo was a face that looked very similar to him, showing expressions he would never make - sticking out tongue, wrinkling nose, pouting lips... He had an indescribable feeling, weird and wonderful.
The latest photo was posted a month before the accident. The lighting was dim and it showed a microphone. The caption was linked to an account called "xx".
Chu Shichen clicked on it and found that "xx" was a member of the rock band named Xingyu.
Xingyu and "Chu Shichen" follow each other, and they comment and like each other's photos. In the private chat records, "Chu Shichen" took the initiative to ask Xingyu for his contact information.
After searching everywhere for the correct number, Chu Shichen immediately saved the number and called it, but it was no longer in service.
He didn’t give up and sent a private message to Xingyu saying “hello”.
After waiting for a whole day, Chu Shichen lost count of how many hundreds of times he logged into the software. However, before he received a reply, Xingyu changed his profile picture, cleared his photos, and blocked him.
Chu Shichen: “…”
When Chu Shichen went to work on Monday, he put his personal affairs aside temporarily and completed the plan. Xiang Mingzhang informed him early in the morning and asked him to discuss the promotion of the "refund" mechanism with Xiang Yue's general manager.
The general manager has the authority to coordinate all departments, and Chu Shichen is responsible for leading the specific procedures.
As they expected, once the terms of the plan were given, the business department's resistance largely subsided.
Xiang Mingzhang had a social engagement and did not show up the whole day. That day, he had dinner with Duan Hao and his wife and talked about the policy trends of the cultural and tourism industry. Chu Shichen guessed that Xiang Yue might have a new project.
The two people are busy with their own things, one is working on paperwork in the company, and the other is working outside in all kinds of situations.
During the several phone calls, they tacitly agreed to only discuss business matters, so that each other could rest assured.
In the blink of an eye, it was Wednesday. The cleaning lady came to clean at noon and complained that the desk in the president's office was too full and she didn't dare to move it. She couldn't wipe the desk clean when it was dirty.
Chu Shichen sent the person away and walked into Xiang Mingzhang's office alone.
There were dozens of documents piled up on the large desk. Chu Shichen went behind the desk and sorted them out one by one, making room for writing.
The new pen was probably not satisfactory. Xiang Mingzhang threw it away after using it last time, and it rolled on the keyboard. The ink at the tip of the pen had dried up.
Chu Shichen cleaned the pen and opened the first drawer on his left hand, which was used to store daily items such as stomach medicine, car keys, mints, and a spare mobile phone. He put the pen down and inevitably saw an extra button in the drawer.
It was the one that broke off Xiang Mingzhang's shirt when he pulled the watch chain that night.
Chu Shichen pointed with his index finger. He thought that the shirt had probably been thrown away, so what was the point of keeping this button
As he was thinking, his cell phone vibrated. Chu Shichen took it out and looked at the caller ID, then closed the drawer guiltily.
He pressed the answer button: "Mr. Xiang?"
Xiang Mingzhang asked: "Have you finished lunch?"
"Not yet." Chu Shichen subconsciously looked out the window, "Have you returned to the company?"
The library was deserted during lunch break. Chu Shichen swiped his work ID and went in. He followed the map and went straight to the cultural and tourism-related bookshelves on the third floor.
Xiang Mingzhang was flipping through a book with his head down. His footsteps stopped in front of the bookshelf behind him. Chu Shichen was standing back to back with him, just a few feet away.
Xiang Mingzhang lowered his voice: "How did you know I was here?"
Chu Shichen stroked a row of book spines and said, "I checked the surveillance."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "Then you shouldn't have chosen a secretary, you should have chosen a doorman."
Chu Shichen said: "I don't like the guard's uniform."
Xiang Mingzhang borrowed two books and left the library from the back door with Chu Shichen. The sycamore path had not been swept for three days and was covered with golden autumn leaves.
Chu Shichen couldn't bear to step on them, so he stood on the steps. If he wanted to discuss business, he didn't need to come here. He waited quietly for Xiang Mingzhang to speak.
Xiang Mingzhang didn't like to drag things out, so he asked directly, "How's the investigation of the band going?"
Through the traces left on three or four apps, Chu Shichen said, "I seem to know the lead singer of the band, his name is Xingyu, and I used to interact with him frequently."
"To what extent?" Xiang Mingzhang asked, "Is your contact limited to the Internet?"
Chu Shichen checked the bank records in the past two days and replied, "Not only that, there are also financial transactions. The last one should be the performance fee at the party, which is as high as seven figures."
This kind of unknown underground band actually earned millions for a private performance. Xiang Mingzhang said, "You really like these people."
Although Chu Shichen was born into a wealthy family, he had seen enough suffering. In the past, he had never spent a fortune to support a female lead in the opera world, and now he did not agree to spend millions to hire a band. He teased, "Maybe I appreciate their musical accomplishment."
Xiang Mingzhang said: "A bunch of young dropouts, playing guitar and singing some nonsense, what kind of musical literacy do they have?"
Chu Shichen had no idea, so he pretended to be curious: "What book did you borrow?"
"Don't change the subject." Xiang Mingzhang was not fooled. "Have you found the account to contact? If they meet a rich and stupid person like you, they should keep pestering you."
Chu Shichen was a little embarrassed: "He blocked me."
Xiang Mingzhang laughed gloatingly, stepped down a step, turned around and faced Chu Shichen, and said, "I know a friend who has some connections and can help you find someone."
Chu Shichen pondered the word "connections". There was no shortage of local tyrants in any era, with complicated backgrounds and powerful tricks. In the old days, every business group would make friends with one or two to ensure their business.
But he told Xiang Mingzhang that it was to avoid misunderstandings, not to involve the other party. He said, "No, this matter has nothing to do with you, don't get involved."
Xiang Mingzhang asked back: "What does that have to do with Qian Hua? Why are you bothering him?"
Chu Shichen said: "He is an investor in the yacht company."
"It doesn't matter what he is." Xiang Mingzhang said without letting anyone else refute him. "What's important is that you should realize that it's more useful to find me than anyone else."
Chu Shichen could hear the arrogance: "Could it be that you—"
Xiang Mingzhang finally revealed his intention: "I found Xingyu."
After the band Wu Zhi disbanded, the five members went their separate ways and most of them have not been heard from since. Only lead singer Xingyu is still active.
However, he never made a name for himself, and now Xingyu is alone, changing his stage name and performing offline in various places across the country.
There's a music festival in the city this Saturday and Xingyu will attend.
Chu Shichen asked: "The music festival is for singing?"
A leaf fell down, and Xiang Mingzhang caught it: "Nonsense, I'll send you the time and place, and I'll go with you on Saturday."
This world is too new and too strange. It would be more stable if someone accompanied me. But Chu Shichen thought it was not something he should bear. He refused and said, "Thank you for helping me investigate, but this matter has nothing to do with you. I'm afraid you will get into trouble if you get involved."
Xiang Mingzhang swept his chin with a fallen leaf: "Worried about me?"
Chu Shichen felt itchy and snatched the leaf away: "No."
"But I'm worried about you," Xiang Mingzhang said. "If the accident was not an accident but man-made, you might be in danger."
Chu Shichen pinched the leaf stem, because he was fake, he had never considered this aspect.
Xiang Mingzhang said clearly: "I don't want you to get into trouble again, Chu Shichen, is this reason enough?"
The dry leaf stems were very brittle and broke easily. The sycamore leaves spun and fell from Chu Shichen's hands, and the sound of their falling to the ground was covered by the noisy autumn cicadas.
The lunch break was over. Xiang Mingzhang stepped back a step, turned around and stepped over the autumn leaves. The sunlight shone through the gaps in the sycamore tree. Chu Shichen fell behind a step and stepped on Xiang Mingzhang's shadow.
He did have an accident, but it was not an explosion, but a storm at sea on a spring night in four or five years ago.
Will Xiang Mingzhang know one day
When you look back at your worries today, will you feel that they were wrong and ridiculous
Suddenly, Xiang Mingzhang stopped and reminded: "By the way, don't wear formal clothes to the music festival."
Chu Shichen nodded absentmindedly. More leaves continued to fall. This time he heard them clearly. It turned out that the leaves fell silently, but the sound was from his chest.
(End of this chapter)