Xu Yan said, "Please understand that this is our job. I guarantee that the investigation results will not be leaked, and I also guarantee that there will be no news reports to interfere with you. Everything will be carried out legally and in accordance with regulations."
After a pause, seeing that the two elderly people were still clearly hesitant, Xu Yan continued, "We will investigate and process the claims for all other people. If it is only your family that has not followed the normal procedures, it will make people have other doubts and thoughts about you. Sometimes, doing what you think is right may not necessarily have a good result, because not everyone is honest and kind."
The elderly mother chimed in, "Miss Xu is right. If we don't cooperate, we'll seem guilty. Why don't we just let them in?"
The old father snorted and finally made way for Xu Yan and the others, but he didn't say anything to them. Instead, he sat down and said, "Don't worry about them. Bring out the meat and sit down to eat."
The old mother responded and gestured for Xu Yan and the others to come in.
Xu Yan and Zhou Luming entered the bedroom and found it spotless. The bed, books, curtains, floor, and table were all shiny and new, as if someone had been living there all along.
“We clean his room often, just waiting for the day he comes home so he can get a good night’s sleep.” The old mother’s eyes were a little hot, and she wiped her eyes. “Tell me if you need anything. My husband and I have eaten. He has a bad stomach and can’t go hungry.”
"Okay, thank you, Auntie," Zhou Luming said with a smile.
After she left, Zhou Luming's smile faded. "Those two old folks are so pitiful. Their son won't be coming home, yet they keep waiting for him... From today onwards, he has been declared dead, his name will soon be erased, his household registration will be cancelled. What's the point of keeping his room and cleaning it? It's just a spiritual crutch..."
Xu Yan walked to the bedside and touched the soft cotton quilt that seemed to have just been sun-dried and smelled of sunshine. She said, "That's because they haven't given up hope. They are indifferent to the insurance compensation. All they want is for their son to come back safely. Perhaps they will spend the rest of their lives waiting... For the elderly, having a spiritual sustenance is more important than anything else. It is the support for their future lives."
Zhou Luming pouted. She simply couldn't understand the bond between family members. Parental love was too distant for her, so she couldn't empathize with it.
“They seemed a little strange when they heard we were insurance investigators, not because they felt guilty, but because they were resistant. Accepting us was tantamount to accepting the fact that their son had passed away,” Zhou Luming said. “Now I understand, Ms. Xu. You really surprised me. Your emotions are more abundant than I imagined.”
Xu Yan glanced around the room. "Don't try to guess what I'm thinking."
“This room is too clean and tidy, it’s always being cleaned. Can we still find any clues?” Zhou Luming asked.
Xu Yan said, "Although it was frequently cleaned, his mother probably never moved any of the furnishings. Judging from the overall layout of the room, he was an extremely self-disciplined, perfectionist, and very intelligent person."
“Although I really don’t want to seem stupid, why did you come to this conclusion?” Zhou Luming asked.
"As the co-pilot, he was very young, and his talent and intelligence needed to reach a certain level. The books in his room were categorized and neatly arranged, and almost all his belongings were kept in drawers, which were also very tidy. This is usually the behavior of a self-disciplined and perfectionist person," Xu Yan said.
Zhou Luming looked up and saw a punching bag on the balcony of the room. It seemed that the co-pilot enjoyed working out. Picking up the co-pilot's photo on the bedside table, Zhou Luming sighed and said, "What a pity. A handsome young man with a bright future, gone just like that."
Xu Yan stared at the bed, feeling that something was off about it. She quickly glanced outside and said to Zhou Luming, "Lie down."
"Huh?" Zhou Luming looked puzzled. Xu Yan suddenly made such a request. If he didn't know Xu Yan's character, he would have thought she was going to do something to him.
Xu Yan pushed her down onto the bed, while he observed her from the side of the bed.
“It seems like no one has ever slept on this bed. Normally, if someone has slept on a bed, there will be some dents or marks left, but this bed doesn’t have any of those marks at all…” Xu Yan thought, his speech slowing down.
"Perhaps it's because this mattress is of very good quality? It doesn't sink no matter how I sleep on it?" Zhou Luming turned over, propped his head up on his side, and looked at Xu Yan.
“No—” Xu Yan pressed the mattress, “I’ve studied this kind of mattress, it’s very easy for it to dent.”
"Why are you researching mattresses?" Zhou Luming seized on the interesting point and asked curiously.
Xu Yan suddenly thought of something, bent down to look under the bed, but his expression changed drastically as he bent over. He straightened up and told Zhou Luming to come down and crawl under the bed.
"Why don't you go by yourself?" Zhou Luming asked reluctantly.
"Because I'm your sugar daddy, I pay you a salary to work for me," Xu Yan said righteously.
Zhou Luming crawled under the bed and found that it was higher than a normal bed, making it easy for her to squeeze in.
“Look up,” Xu Yan said, squatting outside.
Zhou Luming turned over. Perhaps because the co-pilot's mother often cleaned the bed, there wasn't much dust under the bed, so she suffered less.
"What is it?" Xu Yan asked.
“It looks like there’s something there. Lift the sheet a little to let in some light,” Zhou Luming said, carefully examining the area.
Xu Yan did as instructed, and was about to ask again when she heard Zhou Luming say in a muffled voice from inside, "Xu Yan, I think we're in trouble."
"What's up?"
Zhou Luming took out his phone and snapped a picture of the floorboards under the bed. Then he climbed out and said, "There's a diary and a bag of unidentified white crystals under the bed."
She phrased it quite euphemistically, but both of them could vaguely guess what was in the bag.
“Take out the diary, we’re calling the police,” Xu Yan said.
Xu Yan hurriedly flipped through the diary, her brows furrowing more and more with each reading. Zhou Luming, watching the snippets of text, also grew increasingly somber.
"Could he have deliberately lost control of his emotions because of this, causing the plane to disappear?" Zhou Luming asked when Xu Yan stopped.
“Since he joined the company, he has been constantly suppressed, oppressed, and his self-esteem has been crushed. The other party also told him from an authoritative position that without the help of others, he was a useless person and had no right to be a co-pilot or even to fly a plane. Xu Yan closed his diary and closed his eyes. “This is workplace bullying. If he can’t bear it, he may take extreme actions.”
Zhou Luming stared at the packet of powder and said, "If he really inhaled that stuff, it could cause hallucinations and impair his judgment. If he were to fly a plane under such circumstances... then he would indeed bear full responsibility for the plane's disappearance."
"Um."
"Don't the people who bullied him bear any responsibility?"
“Of course we bear some responsibility, but it’s all speculation at the moment. All the main characters in the story have disappeared, and all we have is a diary whose authenticity we don’t know.” Xu Yan walked out of the room, glanced at the two elderly people, pursed his lips and said, “Gentlemen, could you accompany me downstairs for a walk? I need to ask the neighbors, the security guard and the property management about the situation, and I need your assistance.”
Finally, the co-pilot's parents went out with Xu Yan. Zhou Luming wanted to follow, but Xu Yan told him to stay here and guard the door while he continued the investigation.
Zhou Luming was taken aback, having been inexplicably left in someone else's home. Wasn't the investigation finished? Why was he being asked to stay? And why had she taken the two elderly people downstairs by herself?
But soon these questions were answered. A police car entered the residential area, and two police officers came to investigate. Zhou Luming received them and watched as they searched the room, finding the transparent sealed bag and the diary...
After seeing the police off, Zhou Luming looked at the somewhat messy room and began to restore it to its original state. He thought to himself, Xu Yan's actions were merely a delaying tactic, but what good did it do? The two elderly people would find out eventually…
Chapter 20
===================
Zhou Luming lay motionless on her bed at home. It wasn't that she didn't want to move, but she had almost exhausted all her energy today, running all over the city from south to north. Xu Yan, on the other hand, was relaxed because she was just a passenger, while she, as the driver and errand runner, had been working so hard that her legs were starting to tremble.
Even though Zhou Luming had undergone rigorous physical training, he couldn't withstand such torment. It turned out that being Xu Yan's assistant was not an easy task. In addition to serving Xu Yan, he also had to act as a detective, helping her analyze situations and summarize reports, crawling under the bed to look for clues, and helping to comfort the family members...
Lying on his back on his bed, Zhou Luming let out a long sigh.
Making money is really not easy, and making money off Xu Yan is even harder.
If only she were the real Zhou Luming, with billions in wealth, she would have no worries about food or clothing and could live a wonderful life.
Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs." She is still herself, but she is not Zhou Luming. She is just a greedy imposter.
A dialog box popped up on the computer, and the screen lit up. Zhou Luming forced himself to sit up and looked at the "Q" that appeared in the pop-up window. It was black with white text, and the last character was a flashing cursor.
Q: "Report on today's situation."
Zhou Luming: "Everything is normal. Because of the Singapore Airlines incident, I accompanied Xu Yan to visit three policyholder families. The most suspicious person now is the co-pilot. We suspect that he was under too much mental stress and caused the plane to disappear."
Zhou Luming sat cross-legged on the bed, his laptop on his lap, typing, "You know, that insurance company was also owned by the Zhou family. Originally, the inheritance was just an astronomical figure for me, but after actually seeing the insurance company's magnificent building, I truly understood what the world of the rich is like. Xu Yan said that the inheritance left to Zhou Luming, even if it were just sitting in a bank, would generate interest every day that ordinary people couldn't even imagine. There's a term called 'passive income,' and that's roughly what it means."
Q: "You need to be more careful, Xu Yan still suspects you."
Zhou Luming took a sip of water and chuckled, "She is indeed very meticulous and cautious, so it's normal for her to continue to suspect me, but I have found a way to deal with her and make her lower her guard."
Q: "What method?"
Zhou Luming curled his lips into a smile, a hint of confidence in his expression. "I feel that Xu Yan has feelings for me, I mean—the kind of feelings that could lead to an intimate relationship."
Q's cursor blinked for a long time. "What did Xu Yan do to make you think this way?"
Zhou Luming presented what he considered to be the "facts," raising his eyebrows and saying, "I thought it was fun before, and also to prove that I was Zhou Luming, so I kissed her. At that time, I could clearly feel her heart racing. She probably didn't resist such behavior, or she didn't resist me. In addition, in our later interactions, I found that she often stole glances at me, and when I looked directly at her, she would avoid me. What else could that be but a guilty conscience? Also, I deliberately touched her a few times and tested her with flirtatious behavior, and she indeed panicked. I think I'm probably right—she likes me."
Q was silent for a while, then continued typing, "You're so narcissistic."
Zhou Luming quickly replied, "Are you doubting my charm or my observation skills? I've taken on similar tasks before, and I won't misjudge her gaze or misinterpret this feeling."
Q: "You're not her type."
Zhou Luming didn't take it seriously. "We'll see. Even if she's never been in a relationship before, I'll make her realize it."
Q: "This is an extremely dangerous road."
Zhou Luming: "But this is a shortcut, and I'm willing to take the risk. Q, Xu Yan is really amazing. The longer I stay by her side, the more dangerous it will be. It's better to take this risk."
Q: "I understand."
Zhou Luming smiled and envisioned the future, "After I conquer her and obtain the Zhou family's billions in assets, we will divide this inheritance as agreed beforehand: you get 40% and I get 60%, and then we will disappear from the public eye."
Q: "Let me correct you, it's me six and you four."
Zhou Luming: "The situation has changed now. We either split up as we just agreed, or we go our separate ways."
Q: "Let me think about it and I'll get back to you next time."
Zhou Luming: "After working together for so long, I still don't know if you're male or female, what your skin color is, or what country you're from?"
Q: "This has nothing to do with our cooperation."
Zhou Luming added, "I'll take Xu Yan shopping tomorrow."
Q: "Why?"
Zhou Luming raised his chin: "Because I need to create opportunities to seduce her."
Q: "Just a reminder, tomorrow is Zhou Luming's mother's birthday." Then Q went offline.
It turned out to be my mother's birthday. Thank goodness, I almost forgot.
Zhou Luming was used to Q's style. He turned off the computer, ate a bowl of instant noodles, took a hot shower, and snuggled into bed, feeling refreshed. The clock on the wall ticked rhythmically. Looking at his own ceiling, Zhou Luming remembered the diary he had found under the co-pilot's bed and felt a little sorry for the co-pilot.
He was originally a promising young man with a bright future, but he was suppressed by his superior, the violent captain, who constantly said that his skills were bad and he was not capable of carrying a heavy load; he was scolded for being stupid and an idiot, and even cursed at him as a stupid pig in front of other staff members, and sometimes he even cursed his parents; he was always given the lowest score in his flight evaluation, telling him that this was the highest score he could give...
Zhou Luming could imagine the co-pilot's gradual mental breakdown under such pressure. As an outsider, just reading the words recorded in the co-pilot's diary was suffocating.
More importantly, I feel a bit of empathy myself.
Zhou Luming frowned, his expression grave.
Based on the current investigation results, the co-pilot is likely to bear full responsibility, but more concrete and direct evidence is lacking. Now that everyone on the plane has disappeared, the truth may never come to light.
There is still one insured family that has not been visited and investigated. Xu Yan doesn't seem very interested. She even suggested that they conduct an investigation at Singapore Airlines. In Xu Yan's view, airlines may soon become the new key.
What Zhou Luming couldn't understand was that this task was clearly outside the scope of Xu Yan's duties as the estate administrator, yet Xu Yan still readily accepted it and worked very hard to solve the problem and find the truth...
Is Xu Yan a responsible person or a busybody?
Just thinking about Xu Yan's deliberately stiff and aloof face made Zhou Luming unconsciously smile in bed. Although this guy was good at acting cool, there were some cute little details about him.
For example, if she suddenly shouts her name while she is thinking seriously, Xu Yan will show a bewildered and innocent expression, which makes her seem very cute.
Zhou Luming fell asleep with Xu Yan on his mind.
When Zhou Luming got up the next day, his body ached and his stomach was still hungry, he immediately felt that Xu Yan was no longer cute. Not only was she not cute, she was even a little hateful.