Zhou Ziwei's home is in New Century Garden in the Chengdong Development Zone. It is an upscale residential area with no high-rise buildings. The tallest building is only four stories high. It adopts the architectural style of European villas. Each household has a private garden and outdoor fitness area, and some even have a private outdoor swimming pool.
Nearly half of the city's wealthy residents live in New Century Garden, making it a truly affluent area.
Because Zhou Ziwei was not favored by his father, he naturally had no chance of living in a luxurious four-story villa with a swimming pool. The house his father gave him was the lowest-end unit in New Century Garden, with only two floors and a living area of less than 300 square meters.
Moreover, the property ownership certificate for this building is still firmly in the hands of Zhou Ziwei's father and has never been transferred to Zhou Ziwei.
It's not that Old Zhou is stingy; it's just that Zhou Ziwei is a compulsive gambler, and Zhou Zhengxiang is very worried that after transferring the property rights to his son, that spendthrift son might lose the house in just a few days.
Yang Hongtao, dressed in tattered clothes and covered in dust, walked into New Century Garden. He was questioned twice by the community security guards along the way. Fortunately, Zhou Ziwei often entered and exited the community late at night in disheveled clothes, so the security guards did not take it seriously. They probably thought that this kid had been beaten up for harassing a decent woman somewhere.
Arriving in front of the familiar yet unfamiliar two-story building, Yang Hongtao's heart began to pound uncontrollably as he thought about how he would soon be facing the beautiful and aloof Wang Xuewei as Zhou Ziwei.
Although Yang Hongtao has now inherited Zhou Ziwei's body, in essence, Wang Xuewei is still someone else's wife! This is something that is easy to get excited about, or perhaps every man has some dirty thoughts deep down, and Yang Hongtao is no exception.
Yang Hongtao walked to the closed door and touched himself, only to find that the bunch of keys that Zhou Ziwei used to hang on his waist was long gone.
Left with no other option, Yang Hongtao could only hope that someone was inside the villa! But the doorbell rang for a long time, and there wasn't a soul in sight. It seemed that Wang Xuewei wasn't home at the moment.
Oh no! Nobody's home? This is terrible!
Yang Hongtao knew that Zhou Ziwei wasn't the only one who was elusive in this house; Wang Xuewei also seemed to be away for several days at a time.
If Yang Hongtao were to wait here for Wang Xuewei to come home and open the door, who knows how long he would have to wait? Yang Hongtao had already given all the last few dozen yuan he had to the truck driver who was taking him back to the city. Now he was penniless. He had no home to go home to. Was he going to have to sleep on the streets?
Although Yang Hongtao could use Zhou Ziwei's name to go back to Zhou Ziwei's father Zhou Zhengxiang's company or home to freeload, he was still Yang Hongtao, not Zhou Ziwei. Well... there's nothing wrong with recognizing someone else's wife as your own, but recognizing someone else's father as your dad... Yang Hongtao still felt a bit repulsed by that.
Moreover, Zhou Ziwei was such a disappointment in the past that no one in his family ever gave him a kind look. Just thinking about their faces made Yang Hongtao immediately give up the idea. Even if he had to squat on the side of the road hungry all night, he would rather not go to the Zhou family and become their third grandson.
Zhou Ziwei had spent the night indulging in pleasure and drinking heavily, without eating anything properly. Now, after most of the day had passed, Yang Hongtao, having inherited Zhou Ziwei's body, felt an unbearable hunger. He gently rubbed his stomach, which began to rumble loudly.
No, I can't wait any longer, or I'll faint from hunger! Ugh... after being a wandering ghost for so long, it's really hard to get used to being human again! And I have to find something to eat every day... what a hassle!
Yang Hongtao muttered to himself, turned his head and looked around, his gaze suddenly landing on the smooth iron fence surrounding the villa.
The iron fence is over two meters high. To prevent people from climbing over it, the fence is designed to resemble a thorny tree, covered with tiny thorns, making it almost impossible to grab onto. Furthermore, an infrared automatic alarm sensor is installed at the top of the fence. As soon as an object touches the sensor wire, it will immediately emit a piercing alarm sound that can be heard throughout the entire community.
Logically speaking, the iron fence should be quite strong in terms of anti-theft performance, but for some reason, Yang Hongtao only glanced at it and immediately concluded that... if he wanted to, he could definitely find a way to easily climb over the iron fence without triggering the alarm.
Yang Hongtao was momentarily stunned by this sudden thought. Neither the Yang Hongtao of his past life nor the Zhou Ziwei of this life were particularly fond of sports. In the past, he wouldn't have dared to leap over a two-meter-high iron fence covered in spikes and warning tape, let alone jump over a one-meter-high guardrail on the roadside. But now…
Yang Hongtao quickly realized that this feeling must be caused by the fragmented soul memories he had absorbed in the past.
It should be understood that no matter how chaotic those soul memories are, once they are absorbed by Yang Hongtao's soul, they will automatically transform into a trace of imprint in Yang Hongtao's soul, which can never be erased.
Just like Yang Hongtao had never driven a car in his previous life, but when he got into the old truck that took him back to the city, he naturally felt confident that he could accelerate the old truck from a standstill to a speed of over 200 miles per hour within 30 seconds. This was because one of the remnant souls he had absorbed in the past was once a famous professional race car driver.
It seems that the more exquisite a person's skill is in life, the more likely it is to become an indelible obsession in their lingering soul after death. And after Yang Hongtao absorbs this obsession, it will automatically become an instinct for him. He doesn't need to deliberately learn anything; he can completely master the special skill represented by this obsession.
The nearly one hundred remnant souls that Yang Hongtao absorbed were all death row inmates who had been executed. Among these death row inmates, there were bound to be a few who made a living by robbing and stealing. So, although Yang Hongtao had never had any training in this area, he was now confident that he could jump over the iron bars after just one glance.
Damn it, whatever! This is "my" own home anyway. Even if I get caught by security while climbing over the fence, it doesn't matter. It's better than staying at my doorstep and starving and freezing, right?
Yang Hongtao acted on his idea immediately. He looked around and saw that there was no one around. So he walked halfway around the iron fence surrounding the courtyard, chose a blind spot where the community's surveillance cameras couldn't reach, and then took off his tattered shirt, twisted it a few times in his hand.
With a "whoosh," Yang Hongtao found the right angle and, without hesitation, swung the clothes in his hand, wrapping them around the top of the iron fence near the sensor wire. He then took a few steps back, and when the clothes in his hand were taut, he suddenly let out a soft shout and ran quickly along the side of the iron fence. Finally, using the momentum from the swinging clothes, he leaped over the two-meter-high iron fence without touching the sensor wire.
Unfortunately, when Yang Hongtao jumped to the other side of the iron fence, he was exhausted and failed to land a foot away from the fence as expected. Instead, he fell almost touching the fence.
With a "swoosh," his bare back was immediately scratched by the barbs on the fence, leaving more than a dozen bloody marks.
"Ouch..." Yang Hongtao winced in pain, and just as he landed, he straightened his back with a sudden burst of strength, which prevented him from falling backward against the fence. Otherwise, his buttocks would have been riddled with holes.
Damn it! How could this happen? Uh... it seems the thieves' experience isn't the problem, it's just that my strength is too weak right now.
Hmm... I need to exercise more in the future! I wonder if practicing Tai Chi every day can quickly improve my physical condition?
Among the many remnant souls that Yang Hongtao has absorbed in the past two years, three are nationally notorious bandits and thieves. Their soul memories contain a wealth of fighting skills, and one of them is even a master of Niu-style Tai Chi.
This Tai Chi is certainly different from the slow, weak, and showy movements of the old men and women in the park; it is a martial art that can be used in actual combat.
Yang Hongtao had only heard of Chen-style Tai Chi and Yang-style Tai Chi before, but he had never heard of Niu-style Tai Chi. Therefore, although he absorbed the obsession and memories of this remnant soul, which was equivalent to suddenly having the experience of practicing martial arts for decades, he still had doubts about how much practical value Niu-style Tai Chi could actually have.
Even if this Niu-style Tai Chi isn't good for fighting, it's estimated that it will still have some benefits for strengthening the body.
In any case, Yang Hongtao finally managed to jump into the yard, but he still needed to figure out how to unlock the door to get into the villa.
But this was not a problem for Yang Hongtao at all.
The outer courtyard gate is an electronic lock that can only be opened with an electronic key. The remnant souls of the thieves that Yang Hongtao absorbed were clearly not very good at opening electronic locks in their previous lives. However, the lock on the inner building door is a regular hidden lock. Yang Hongtao, who possesses the memories of several master thieves, is confident that he can open this lock effortlessly, even with his eyes closed.
The tools needed to pick the lock are very simple: a thin wire, a toothpick, or even a slightly tough grass root will do.
In the yard of this villa, wire and toothpicks were hard to find, but grass roots were everywhere. Yang Hongtao casually pulled up a few grasses, selected a very tough grass root, wiped off the dirt, rubbed it a few times with his fingers, and then gently pushed it into the keyhole.
Although Yang Hongtao's skill in prying open doors and locks had reached a master level after absorbing the thief's remnant soul memories, this was his first attempt, so he was inevitably a little nervous. When he was nervous, his hands would tremble, so he failed several times.
Yang Hongtao gave a wry smile, thinking: It seems being a thief isn't easy. You need a really strong mentality! I'm so nervous even opening my own lock. If I were to actually try to pick someone else's lock, I'd probably have a heart attack! Uh... but... is this really my home?
Yang Hongtao scratched his head, realizing he hadn't quite gotten into character as Zhou Ziwei yet; otherwise, why would he be so nervous? He quickly closed his eyes and silently repeated in his mind: "I am Zhou Ziwei, this is my home... I am Zhou Ziwei, I'm unlocking my own door..."
Whether it was the effect of this self-hypnosis or not, Yang Hongtao's slightly trembling hand gradually stabilized. He then focused his attention and carefully felt the texture from the grass roots, slowly inserting it into the keyhole...
Volume 1: The Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 006: Correcting the Equation
With a soft click, the door lock opened.
Yang Hongtao cheered, almost unable to contain his excitement.
Now he understands why legendary master thieves, despite being incredibly wealthy, still engage in such shady dealings as picking locks and breaking doors. It's because simply using skill to open a lock can bring such immense satisfaction!
However, just as Yang Hongtao was feeling extremely smug, he suddenly heard a furious shout from behind: "Thief! Catch the thief!" Then Yang Hongtao felt a gust of wind. In his panic, he didn't even have time to react before someone kicked him hard in the back, right on the wound that had been cut by the fence. He cried out in pain and fell to the ground.
This is truly a case of being caught off guard and suffering a complete disaster! Yang Hongtao not only absorbed the remnant memories of several thief ancestors, but also fused the abilities of three ruthless bandits and martial arts masters, yet he was caught off guard by an ordinary person walking up behind him and not even noticing, and was even ambushed! If the ghosts whose memories he devoured still had consciousness, they would definitely strangle him to death!
"You filthy thief, I'll teach you to steal again!"
Yang Hongtao sat up and immediately felt a gust of intoxicating fragrance. Then he saw a beautiful woman in a business suit holding a small hard leather handbag and a plastic folder, which were smashed down on his head.
"Ah...how...how is it you!"
After the beautiful woman tapped Yang Hongtao hard on the head with her handbag and folder, she finally saw his face clearly and was momentarily stunned.
The anger and excitement on her beautiful face gradually cooled, replaced by her usual cold demeanor. She gave a light snort and said, "What? Lost everything at the casino again, even your clothes? Oh... or did you go and mess with some respectable woman and get caught red-handed by her husband? Humph... Zhou Ziwei, I'm warning you, I don't care how outrageous you are outside, don't let me see your ugly face at home! Pah... disgusting!"
After saying that, the beautiful woman glared at Yang Hongtao with disgust, then frowned and walked past him, opened the door of the small building, and hurriedly walked inside.
"Wait a minute..."
Yang Hongtao was hit a few times in a daze, and then the beautiful woman scolded him with a cold face. He felt really humiliated, but when he thought about his current status, he immediately lost his temper.
Who told Zhou Ziwei to be such a scoundrel? Now that he has inherited Zhou Ziwei's body, how could he possibly expect Wang Xuewei to treat him well?
Yang Hongtao was initially at a loss for how to deal with Wang Xuewei's coldness. However, if he wanted to continue living here, not having a house key wasn't an option. He couldn't very well break into the house every day, could he? Helpless, he could only call out to Wang Xuewei, awkwardly scratching his head, and said, "Um... honey, I... I lost my key? Could you lend me your key so I can get a copy made?"
Wang Xuewei paused upon hearing this, her face growing even colder. She turned and glared at Yang Hongtao, saying, "Who's your wife? Didn't we already agree that although we got a marriage certificate, it was just for show for our parents? In reality, we're just cohabiting... oh, no! To be precise, we're neighbors, or you could consider me your tenant. Don't I transfer 50,000 yuan to your bank account every month? Just consider it rent and utilities. Other than that, we have nothing to do with each other. If you still have any other ideas... hmph... then don't blame me for being impolite!"
Wang Xuewei's words stunned Yang Hongtao. Although he had long noticed that Zhou Ziwei and Wang Xuewei's relationship was not harmonious, he did not expect that their relationship would be so bad. It seemed that they had not had any real marital relations in the year or so since they got married, and that living together was just an act for their parents.
It's highly likely that Wang Xuewei has some shady dealings with Zhou Ziwei, otherwise Yang Hongtao really couldn't imagine what kind of ability such a delicate girl like Wang Xuewei could have to threaten Zhou Ziwei! And Zhou Ziwei, this lecherous devil, is able to resist flirting with such a beautiful wife every day, which is definitely something more!
Unfortunately, the memories Yang Hongtao received from Zhou Ziwei were rather chaotic, and he hadn't had time to sort them out carefully. For the time being, he knew nothing about the couple's relationship, so he didn't dare to talk nonsense for the time being, lest Wang Xuewei discover something and become suspicious of him.
Seeing that Yang Hongtao remained silent for a long time, Wang Xuewei assumed that he was afraid of her, so she didn't say anything more. After hesitating for a moment, she stuffed the folder in her hand into Yang Hongtao's hand and continued to say with a cold face, "You hold this for me first. Remember that I have a spare set of keys in my room. I'll go and look for them for you..." After saying that, she gave Yang Hongtao, who was half-naked, another look with contempt, then snorted and hurriedly went upstairs.
"Uh... this is my current 'wife'?"
Yang Hongtao looked at Wang Xuewei's slender waist and rounded hips, which swayed perfectly as she walked, and couldn't help but touch his nose and smile bitterly. He thought to himself that Zhou Ziwei, that good-for-nothing, must have done something terrible in his past life to deserve this retribution. He has married such a perfect and enchanting wife, but he can't have her. Isn't this just torture?
Only after Wang Xuewei's figure disappeared around the corner of the stairs did Yang Hongtao absentmindedly walk to the sofa and sit down, casually tossing the folder in his hand onto the coffee table in front of him.
"Thud—" Yang Hongtao had just acquired this body, and his familiarity with its various functions still needed improvement. His casual toss just now was obviously a little weak, and as a result, only half of the folder landed on the coffee table, tilted slightly, and then fell to the ground.
Then the metal spring clips inside the plastic folder were shaken open, and the papers inside were scattered all over the floor.
"Oops!"
Yang Hongtao stuck out his tongue inwardly, thinking that if Wang Xuewei saw this, he would inevitably be scolded by her again. He quickly bent down and picked up all the scattered papers.
However, the order of these papers had been completely scrambled. If Yang Hongtao simply haphazardly put them back into the folder, Wang Xuewei would easily spot them with a quick glance! Yang Hongtao had a strong sense of pride and didn't want to be constantly nagged by a woman, so he had no choice but to pick up the papers and quickly scan them page by page, rearranging the dozen or so papers according to his judgment.
Although he didn't have time to look at the specific contents carefully, Yang Hongtao could tell from just a glance that it should be a research and development plan for a new daily chemical product. It mentioned the research and development progress of a high-end fur cleaning liquid codenamed XT, as well as the budget for the next research and development project, etc.
At the end, there were three handwritten experimental data equations, but these equations were clearly not yet completed, giving the impression of starting strong but ending weakly.
Yang Hongtao didn't feel anything when he was flipping through the previous plans, but when his eyes swept over the lines of complex and somewhat messy equations, his expression changed.
At the same time, a certain area in his mind began to react intensely and involuntarily. Complex and mysterious chemical formulas flashed through his consciousness like a carousel, making him increasingly excited.
Almost instinctively, Yang Hongtao pulled out the pen clipped to the folder and began doodling behind the equations that were only partially calculated...
In just two or three minutes, Yang Hongtao had already scribbled all over one of the pages, and had completely calculated all the unfinished equations.
A feeling of exhilaration welled up inside, like eating a creamy ice cream on a sweltering summer day, making one feel extremely comfortable from the inside out, or like a child who had been stumped by a riddle for several days suddenly finding the answer and becoming incredibly excited.
However, just as Yang Hongtao casually tossed aside the page of paper with the drawing all messed up and picked up another sheet of paper with equations written on it, intending to continue that wonderful feeling, he suddenly heard an angry shout from in front of him: "You...who told you to touch my things! Good heavens...you...what have you done! This...this is data that more than a dozen of our company's R&D staff worked hard for several months to obtain, and it hasn't even been archived yet, and you...you! You've gone too far! Give it back to me..."
As Wang Xuewei spoke, she threw a bunch of keys heavily at Yang Hongtao, then snatched all the pages of paper on the coffee table. She carefully flipped through them and found that most of the equations on the most important page had been altered by Yang Hongtao, making them unrecognizable. She felt a surge of anxiety and tears welled up in her eyes.
After "marrying" Zhou Ziwei, Wang Xuewei continued to work at her father's Xinda Daily Chemical Company. Her job mainly involved production and research and development. Recently, the domestic daily chemical market has been sluggish, and competition among industries has been particularly fierce. Her family's company was not large to begin with, and this made their survival space even smaller. If things did not improve, they would probably face the risk of bankruptcy in a short time.
In order to get out of the predicament, Wang Xuewei strongly advocated investing a lot of money in the research and development of high-end fur cleaning products.
It's important to understand that with the growth of the domestic economy, fur coats priced at thousands or tens of thousands of yuan are no longer luxury items that only nobles and the wealthy can afford.
However, precisely because fur is expensive, most people are hesitant to send their fur to fur shops or dry cleaners for cleaning and maintenance. Moreover, the fur cleaning solutions currently available on the market are inconvenient to use and cannot be easily mastered by non-professionals.
Wang Xuewei aims to develop a highly effective fur cleaning solution that is easy to use, has obvious results, and can be used by ordinary people. Once this product is successfully developed, it will undoubtedly have a very broad market prospect. It is not only possible that it will help Xinda Daily Chemicals get out of its predicament, but it is also possible that it will further develop and grow.
However, such high-end products are technologically advanced and naturally not easy to develop. To this end, Xinda Daily Chemical not only invested all of the company's available funds into it, but also borrowed a large sum of money from Zhou Ziwei's father, Zhou Zhengxiang, and threw it into the project as well.
It can be said that the research and development project of this fur cleaning liquid is almost a do-or-die battle for Xinda Daily Chemical. If it succeeds, it will naturally be a leap over the dragon gate and a bright future. However, if the research and development fails, it can only wait for bankruptcy and closure!
The person in charge of this research project is Professor He from the Department of Chemistry at a university in the city, whom Wang Xuewei hired at a high price. Professor He has been dedicated to research on daily chemical products for the past ten years or so, and is practically the leading authority in this field in the entire R province.
However, Professor He has one major flaw: he doesn't know how to use a computer.
Computers have been widely used for over ten years now, so even people with poor ability to adapt to new things should have been using computers by now.
However, Professor He is very stubborn. He believes that computers are a product of programming, and that if researchers rely too much on computers, their thinking will become rigid and they will fall into a vicious cycle of programming, making it difficult for them to have any innovative ideas. Therefore, Professor He resolutely refuses to use computers.
Professor He usually uses relatively primitive tools like pen and paper to record his results when conducting experiments and performing data analysis.
The three handwritten sheets of paper that Wang Xuewei had tucked into the folder today were all the results of Professor He's research over the past few months. Although there was still a long way to go before the research was successful, it was at least a glimmer of hope.