Zhou Luming said, "Li Li likes... watching football games?" She originally wanted to say "playing football," but when she thought about Li Li's inability to stand, she changed the word "playing" to "watching."
“Yes, he really likes these sports, but he can’t do them himself, so he designed and implemented this project in the game.” Song Tao explained with a smile, staring blankly at the football match ticket and twirling his fingertip on it twice. “In the metaverse game world we developed, players can play football, or even ride brooms and play football in the sky like wizards. As long as you use your imagination, anything is possible.”
"This is so interesting!" Zhou Luming said with great interest. "It makes me want to try it out in the game world too."
Xu Yan interjected coolly, "You haven't played similar games abroad?"
“Although there are sports like this abroad, I prefer real-world sports,” Zhou Luming said. “They can cultivate teamwork and also improve physical fitness.”
This matches the information Xu Yan received about Zhou Luming, and there are no flaws for the time being.
Although Zhou Luming is a low-key person, he is skilled in sports and has excellent physical fitness. He can rock climb, dive, and has spent a lot of time training in free fighting, reportedly at a high level.
Xu Yan glanced at Zhou Luming's physique silently. He was curvaceous and muscular, definitely the physique of someone who exercises regularly.
Noticing Xu Yan staring at him, Zhou Luming rested his chin on his hand and looked at her with a grin, "Ms. Xu, have you taken a fancy to me? Otherwise, why are you staring at me so lecherously?"
Xu Yan said, "Boring," and then turned her face away to continue her work.
The conversation between the two made Song Tao a little embarrassed, but he pretended not to hear and sat down to the side with his ticket. Xu Yan wouldn't allow him to help sort through Li Li's belongings, as that would be unfair.
Not long after, the person Xu Yan had mentioned finally arrived. There was a knock at the door. Looking up, one could see a young woman who looked to be about twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. She had her hair up, an oval face, and was wearing a misty blue pencil skirt, light lipstick, silver hoop earrings, and a wedding ring that matched Song Tao's. She appeared to be Song Tao's wife.
"Hello, which one of you is Attorney Xu?" Mrs. Song asked. In her eyes, both the girl in the trench coat and the woman in the suit sitting on the other end were too young, neither of them seemed like the composed and mature Xu Yan from the phone call.
“Hello, I am Xu Yan. Although I hold a law license in New York State, I am not qualified to practice law in China, so you cannot call me a lawyer,” Xu Yan said. “You can call me by my name.”
"Yes, Miss Xu."
Song Tao stood up to greet her, "What brings you here?"
"Miss Xu sent me."
Xu Yan interjected, "It was indeed I who notified Ms. Wang to come; she wanted to participate in the operation with us."
Song Tao's wife's surname is Wang, and her given name is Wang Anjing. She is an elegant and mature woman. She and Song Tao have a son and a daughter, and their family is harmonious. Wang Anjing is actually Li Li's senior in the same major, and the two of them used to work together in the school's computer association.
"An operation? What operation?" Zhou Luming asked, perking up his ears alertly.
Sure enough, Xu Yan turned the computer screen around and said, "You need to enter the metaverse of X Game Company with Song Tao. Li Li's will is hidden in this virtual world."
"What?! Why would you think his will is in the game world?" Zhou Luming found it unbelievable.
“A person who made his home at the company, and who couldn’t find a will or any clues to it among all his belongings, felt that the safest place was the game world he designed.” Xu Yan finished speaking slowly, leaned back in his chair, and looked down at Zhou Luming and Song Tao. “President Song, please log into Li Li’s game account so we can search for his will together.”
Song Tao was surprised for a moment, then shook his head and said, "But I don't know Li Li's password."
"Knowing the account ID is enough. Go find him in the game," Xu Yan said.
Song Tao walked to Xu Yan's computer, entered his account information, and Li Li didn't even bother to name his character, so the system automatically generated an ID.
Song Tao said, "Your computer configuration is not good enough. I will arrange a few machines to help us enter the metaverse."
“Okay, you’re an expert in this area.” Xu Yan nodded.
Zhou Luming stood up and asked, "Why are you letting Song Tao and me go in? Aren't you going in yourself?"
Xu Yan said, "I'm outside directing and coordinating the overall situation."
Zhou Luming stared at her quietly for a while, then suddenly thought of something and crossed his arms, saying, "You wouldn't happen to be—bad at playing games, would you?"
Xu Yan's face stiffened. "Do your job well, or I'll dock your pay."
Seeing her expression, Zhou Luming knew that he had guessed correctly. He hadn't expected that someone who seemed so perfect could be bad at a game. This weakness made her a little proud.
“The metaverse is a virtual reality world where character operations require real-world people to complete, unlike previous games where you could just press a button to complete the operation… Mr. Xu, shouldn’t you increase your physical exercise and go to the gym more often?” Zhou Luming pressed his advantage and continued to tease Xu Yan, “Give me a raise, and I can be your fitness coach for free.”
“The words ‘salary increase’ and ‘free’ are logically contradictory,” Xu Yan raised her eyes, resting her chin on her hands, her perfect face glowing under the light, making her skin appear even whiter. “After you and Song Tao go in, follow my instructions.”
“I just thought of something else,” Zhou Luming said suddenly, “You made me drive because—your driving skills aren’t very good?”
Xu Yan fell silent, his sharp gaze sweeping over Zhou Luming, who promptly yielded, realizing that discretion was the better part of valor. "I was wrong, Boss Xu, I'll listen to you."
Wang Anjing smiled and said, "Ms. Xu's assistant is so cute."
Xu Yan looked at Zhou Luming thoughtfully, seriously wondering, "Is she cute?"
Song Tao had two machines brought in; they were the most advanced equipment for the Metaverse game. Players could enter the Metaverse simply by sitting in this egg-shaped device.
Zhou Luming quickly sat down, and after putting on his helmet, he saw Xu Yan standing in front of him.
"What's wrong? Are you worried?"
"Be careful," Xu Yan said. "Don't trust anyone but me."
Zhou Luming nodded and beckoned to Xu Yan. Xu Yan reluctantly leaned closer to listen, and heard Zhou Luming softly say in her ear, "You are my boss, of course I will only listen to you."
The soft words brushed past Xu Yan's ear, making her ears turn slightly red. Xu Yan quickly left and sat down with Wang Anjing, speaking to Zhou Luming and Song Tao through their earpieces. "Zhou Luming, this is our single-line communication. Wang Anjing is also wearing an earpiece, but she can't hear anything outside. Right now, only you and I can hear the conversation. After you enter the metaverse, stay with Song Tao and don't leave his side."
"Why? You suspect Song Tao?"
"With such success as Metaverse, Li Li suddenly committed suicide, leaving behind a will that has vanished. Naturally, the person most concerned about this is his business partner, Song Tao. According to statutory inheritance, Li Li's assets would be entrusted to his parents, who are just ordinary farmers who have no understanding of company operations or game projects. If you were Song Tao, you would also want to find the will first and acquire all the company's shares," Xu Yan analyzed.
“I’m really curious about the contents of Li Li’s will. Who will he leave his estate to?” Zhou Luming said with a smile. “If he wanted to leave it to his parents, he could have done it without a will and followed the statutory inheritance. Why would he bother leaving a will for us to find? There must be a huge secret in that will. I’m really curious about what he wrote.”
"Curiosity killed the cat," Xu Yan said dismissively, pouring cold water on the idea.
“I’m not a docile kitten,” Zhou Luming said with a smirk as the game program began to run before his eyes. “I’m a big tiger, so you’d better watch out.”
Hearing her feeble threat, Xu Yan raised an eyebrow. "Focus on the game." The next moment, she saw that Zhou Luming had actually set his game ID to "I am a big tiger."
Xu Yan's lips twitched.
Song Tao from the game quickly appeared before Zhou Luming's eyes, "Here we can fish, build structures, fight monsters... you can do whatever you want."
Zhou Luming pondered for a moment and said, "Then can I go and make friends and get married?"
Song Tao: ...
Xu Yan said, "Zhou Luming... the rules have changed. If you make a joke, you'll lose a day's pay."
Zhou Luming lamented, "Boss Xu violated the labor law."
"I have plenty of ways to make it happen," Xu Yan said without backing down.
Zhou Luming knew that arguing with her would not do any good, so he observed the surroundings and asked, "Where should we begin?"
Song Tao was also waiting for instructions.
At this moment, Wang Anjing said, "Li Li designed a place in this game world, but it has no function. I think he may have hidden something in it."
"Where?" several people asked at the same time.
“It’s a university conference room. Li Li participated in the computer competition that changed his life here,” Wang Anjing said slowly. “Everyone thinks that he designed this place in the game without any function in order to commemorate the competition. Few players used to come here, but now that he has passed away, more players are coming here to commemorate him.”
--------------------
Chapter 5, Part 5
On their way to the university auditorium, Zhou Luming overheard Xu Yan talking to Song Tao's wife, Wang Anjing, through his earpiece.
Zhou Luming didn't intend to remind Xu Yan that her earpiece was still on and she could hear what was being said. Based on her speculation, the seemingly omnipotent Xu Yan might be an idiot when it came to electronics. Heaven is fair; it bestowed upon Xu Yan such high intelligence and certain talents, but deprived her of other abilities, such as athletic talent or electronic skills.
Xu Yan and Wang Anjing stayed in the quiet conference room. Although Zhou Luming and Song Tao were sitting right in front of them, they were so engrossed in the game that they couldn't hear or see them at all.
So Xu Yan felt relieved and began to talk to Wang Anjing, "Ms. Wang, actually I have some questions I'd like to ask you."
Wang Anjing seemed to have anticipated this, and her thin lips parted as she said, "How about we play a question-and-answer game?"
Xu Yan's eyes flashed. "How does it work?" It seemed that Wang Anjing had come prepared and should not be underestimated. This was an unexpected turn of events in Xu Yan's plan.
“We can take turns asking each other questions. The person being asked a question must answer the question accurately and truthfully; otherwise, the questioner can refuse to answer the next question.” Wang Anjing looked at Xu Yan quietly.
It must be said that although the girl in front of him was young, she had a calming power, which was probably why Li Li sought her out to be the estate administrator.
Without hesitation, Xu Yan said, "Okay, you can start asking questions."
Wang Anjing did not yield; Xu Yan let her go first, which shows that she was planning carefully before acting. This demonstrates that Xu Yan is a calm and composed person, and also has extremely high self-confidence.
"How do you know Li Li?" Wang Anjing asked.
“He asked me a question online, and I answered it. The specific details are private, so I can’t disclose them,” Xu Yan said. “Now it’s my turn. Same question: How did you and Li Li meet?”
“University alumni, members of the same club.” Wang Anjing raised an eyebrow, surprised that Xu Yan let her off so easily. These background details were easy to find; there was no need to waste an opportunity to ask questions. “How long have you known each other? What is your relationship?”
Xu Yan smiled and said, "These are two separate questions. I'll allow you to ask them again."
Wang Anjing pondered for a moment, "You guys are online friends?"
“Yes, we’re online friends,” Xu Yan continued. “Besides our alumni relationship, is there any romantic involvement between you and Li Li?”
Wang Anjing was taken aback, thinking to herself that the main event was finally here: "There was no relationship between him and me."
“You violated our questioning rules by bypassing my question,” Xu Yan said to herself. “I’ll let you off the hook for now, after all, it is indeed a private matter, and I have no interest in your privacy.” But in her heart, she implicitly acknowledged that Wang Anjing and Li Li had once had an ambiguous relationship. It seemed that, at least, Wang Anjing had once liked Li Li.
Looking through the information, Wang Anjing and Li Li were in the same department. Although Li Li had a disability, he was a shining star in his professional field. During the hundreds of days and nights that Wang Anjing and Li Li met in the club, perhaps Wang Anjing unknowingly developed admiration for Li Li, which eventually turned into love.
Wang Anjing took a sip of water, calmed herself down, and asked, "What was written in Li Li's will?"
Xu Yan raised his eyes, a hint of mockery in them. "It seems you've lost your clear judgment. I can't answer that question because I don't know what he wrote either. Otherwise, why would I go to all this trouble to come here personally to find his will?"
"You're right, I was rash." Wang Anjing rubbed her temples.
"Why did Song Tao and Li Li quarrel and even want to break up?" Xu Yan asked the key question while she was tired and her guard was down.
The two have always had a harmonious relationship. Song Tao is Li Li's mentor and has given him a lot of support. Without Song Tao, there would be no Li Li today, let alone the X Game Company with a market value of several billion.
Wang Anjing hesitated, seemingly undecided.
"Is it related to you?" Xu Yan couldn't help but think of a lot of gossip and rumors. Although she didn't care about the emotional entanglements of the parties involved, it was clear that this commission was related to emotions, which made her have to ask some pointed questions to get answers.
“If you don’t want to tell me, I can tell you the story that’s been brewing in my mind.” Xu Yan stared at Wang Anjing, then glanced at Song Tao in the game device. “Anyway, the biggest threat is already locked in the game. He’s deaf and blind right now and won’t hear anything.”
Wang Anjing was stunned for a moment by her arrogance, then forced a smile, "So it was all planned that you arranged for him to enter the game."
“In a game company where there are surveillance cameras everywhere, I have to be careful,” Xu Yan said. “Getting back to the point, let me tell you my story. If there’s anything wrong, please don’t hesitate to interrupt me immediately.”
Wang Anjing nodded in agreement.
And so Xu Yan began her story.
Li Li showed talent in computer programming from a young age. He was indeed a genius. After successfully entering university, he received a scholarship. During his time at university, he joined the computer club and focused on studying programming and social psychology. This laid the foundation for his later founding of X Games and the creation of metaverse games based on social interaction.
He met you at school. You shared similar interests, and his talent and abilities amazed you, making you his most loyal supporter.