Chapter 16: Overwhelming Information

“I suppose you could call it love at first sight between me and Xiangdong.”
Chen Yu could clearly feel her body trembling lightly, and the warmth on her shoulder.
“My brother, Liu Gang, introduced him to me back then. But he didn’t know that I’d already noticed him even before that.”
“To my surprise, Xiangdong liked me as well. Our relationship progressed quickly, and it wasn’t long before we got married.”
Liu Hong’s voice paused, as if sinking deeper into memories.
“When we married, we were truly poor. Both of us came from small towns, with no background or connections.”
“We just wanted to marry, have children, and live a stable, ordinary life.”
“Xiangdong… he was an idealist, and very capable. He was always obsessed with his research on the ‘super seed’—he spent years on it.”
“Those years, we lived frugally, very frugally.”
Chen Yu listened quietly, his mind rapidly analyzing the information.
A couple struggling in poverty for ideals—this fit the early stories of many successful people.
“Later… my sister-in-law had an accident.” Liu Hong’s voice dropped, heavy with pain.
“It was a huge blow to me. Xiangdong had always been busy with work, and after five years of marriage, we were finally planning to have a child…”
“But my sister-in-law, she… she had just conceived when she was brutally gutted and murdered.”
Chen Yu sensed Liu Hong’s body tense as she uttered “gutted and murdered,” fear almost spilling out.
“Because of this, Xiangdong and I eventually abandoned our plan to have children. We thought, perhaps after a few years, when things settled and our hearts healed, we’d try again.”
“Later, Xiangdong’s ‘super seed’ came closer to success, and he grew busier. My brother spent all his savings—and borrowed heavily—to investigate his wife’s killer, but he never found any answers.”
Chen Yu’s brows furrowed slightly.
The case of Liu Gang’s wife, and Luo Xiangdong’s disappearance, seemed to overlap in their timelines, yet also appeared to be two separate tragedies.
“The year before Xiangdong disappeared, Jiangcheng suffered a massive drought, and almost no crops survived.”
“But when everyone was in despair, his ‘super seed’ suddenly emerged!”
Liu Hong’s tone, at last, carried a faint excitement.
“His research caught the attention of the national authorities, who purchased it outright, making it a key project to save the country that year. Thus, Xiangdong Group was born.”
“But… but at the peak of his life, when he should have enjoyed his success, he suddenly vanished!”
Her voice sank again.
She lifted her head, tearful eyes gazing at Chen Yu, as if looking through him to someone else.
“You must wonder why, after all these years, I haven’t made every effort to search for him, right?”
Chen Yu didn’t answer, but his eyes said everything.
It was indeed his biggest doubt.
“Because…” Liu Hong drew a deep breath, as if steeling herself. “He left me a note when he left!”
“I’ve never shown it to anyone.”
With that, Liu Hong carefully took out a visibly yellowed, many-times-folded paper from her delicate bag.
Chen Yu didn’t take it, fearing his skill’s hollow gaze might frighten this beautiful woman.
He held his breath and looked closely.

Under the dim street lamp, the handwriting appeared on the note.
Bold, strong strokes, yet tinged with haste.
“Hong, don’t look for me. I will come back! Trust me!”
Seeing this, Chen Yu’s doubts about Liu Hong’s lack of effort in searching for Luo Xiangdong melted away.
With such a note, her quiet waiting seemed reasonable.
But as his gaze fell on the latter half—blurred by water stains—a sudden shock thundered through his mind!
“Damn @#! You… you really want me dead?!”
This handwriting, this tone!
Wasn’t it the same note Luo Xiangdong had written that Chen Yu saw during his skill’s recall in the second-floor bedroom?
Back then, he’d seen from the first-person perspective: Luo Xiangdong, writing those words, tears falling and smudging the ink—just like the blurred words before him now.
But what truly made Chen Yu’s heart skip was the content. He’d heard this phrase!
In the secret room of the abandoned house, when he first used his “Recall” skill, he heard Luo Xiangdong’s desperate curse:
The words should have been: “Damn Feng! You… you really want me dead?!”
Chen Yu abruptly looked up, his gaze sharp as lightning, fixing on Liu Hong. His voice unconsciously deepened: “Who is ‘Feng’? Do you know anyone by that name—or does ‘Feng’ mean something special?”
Liu Hong, startled by his sudden intensity, shook her head in confusion.
“Feng? I don’t know anyone by that name. I have no idea what he meant by those words.”
She looked innocent and perplexed.
“Actually… I didn’t know much about Xiangdong’s business affairs, colleagues, or friends. He rarely spoke to me about work details.”
Liu Hong paused, her gaze complex as she looked at Chen Yu.
“I asked to meet you today, firstly because… I miss Xiangdong so much. Seeing you in his old clothes is like seeing him again, and I wanted to indulge myself in that little fantasy.”
“And I wanted to clarify: if your production team, or the police, still suspect me of harming Xiangdong, please let that notion go.”
“I truly, truly am not the one who killed him.”
“And if someone really wanted to harm him, perhaps you should investigate his two partners!”
“Partners?” Chen Yu’s eyes sharpened. “Who are they?”
“Xiangdong had two most important partners,” Liu Hong recalled.
“One handled negotiations and liaison with the authorities, named Zhang Fu. He’s very shrewd, extremely capable—a towering figure now.”
A towering figure of power?
Chen Yu quietly noted the name.
“The second managed Xiangdong Group’s operations and market promotion, named Dong Zhan.”
“He is now the top authority of Xiangdong Group.”
“If Xiangdong’s disappearance is the work of someone, those two are far more suspect than I am, don’t you think?”
Chen Yu silently memorized the names Zhang Fu and Dong Zhan.
New doubts emerged.
For in his memory, the contestant handbook from the program provided no mention of these two crucial partners in the background of Luo Xiangdong’s case.

This was highly unusual.
Chen Yu, frowning, quickly decided to address his last major doubt about Liu Hong.
“Sister, as far as I know, you should hold forty percent of Xiangdong Group’s shares, worth billions. Why did you hesitate when your brother Liu Gang asked for ten million to hire a detective? That sum should be trivial for you.”
Liu Hong snorted at his words.
“Ha, Xiangdong Group shares… I haven’t received a single cent.”
“At least, until Xiangdong’s case is truly resolved, I can’t—and dare not—touch that money.”
“To be honest, my daily expenses are covered by what Dong Zhan, the group’s president, sends me regularly as ‘compensation.’”
“It’s quite generous, more than I could ever spend. But if you ask me to produce ten million in cash at once—I really can’t.”
“I trust no one now, especially those two partners I mentioned.”
Her voice dropped further, fear rising.
“Every time I come home, if I see the gate ajar or unlocked, I’m terrified.”
“I’m afraid… I’m afraid Dong Zhan will send that secretary, Zeng Chen, to harm me!”
“He…” At this, Liu Hong’s face showed the same terror as earlier at the villa, her body trembling again.
“Zeng Chen… he’s harassed me more than once! I even… reported it to the police!”
Zeng Chen!
Another new name!
Her words carried enormous weight.
Not only did they explain Chen Yu’s previous core doubts about her finances and attitude toward her brother, they also introduced Dong Zhan’s secretary—Zeng Chen—as a potential threat.
“It seems this case is far more complicated than it appears,” Chen Yu thought to himself.
He glanced at his phone—it was nearly one in the morning.
The night was deep and heavy with dew; it would be improper to continue talking.
So Chen Yu put on a gentle smile, breaking the somber mood.
“Sister, don’t worry about the case. I’ll do my best to investigate. It’s late—let me take you home to rest.”
“All right!”
Hearing Chen Yu offer to escort her home, Liu Hong’s cheeks flushed, and she shyly bowed her head, looking for all the world like a young woman newly in love.
Chen Yu touched his nose, calming the ripple in his heart.
This sister was clearly seeing him as her late husband, Luo Xiangdong.
Well, if he was to be a tool, so be it.
As long as he could get the clues he needed from her, nothing else mattered for now.
Even if…
Should this sister suddenly make some more outrageous request…