Zhou Luming leaned his head against the glass door. Xu Yan in front of him was a little unfamiliar. Her expression was stern and she was incredibly strong. She didn't seem to be joking. She was seriously "interrogating" him.
“I don’t use social media because I’m afraid someone will find me online and hurt me and my friends. Although I grew up almost entirely abroad, I also lived in Chinatown from a young age. My love for hot pot is a dietary habit ingrained in my bones. What’s wrong with that? As for my fighting skills… if I were really that good, how come you caught me and are interrogating me now?” Zhou Luming retorted, then sneered, “Miss Xu, I only tolerate your threats and suspicions because I respect you and my grandfather. You can continue to doubt me, but please don’t be so rude, okay?”
Xu Yan was silent for a moment, then released her wrist. "Some of your actions in the game seem to have been trained. You have signs of being trained."
Zhou Luming rotated his wrist. "I enjoy practicing free fighting. Does that count as the 'training' you're talking about?"
Xu Yan continued to stare at her, his gaze following her. "There's one more thing I need to confirm."
Zhou Luming raised one eyebrow, intrigued. "Do you want to have a fight with me to confirm? Let me make this clear: you're too weak to beat me."
Xu Yan hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "Zhou Luming has a female friend—"
"Oh? I don't remember having any particularly good friends." Zhou Luming stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Xu Yan walked to her side and said calmly, "This friend and Zhou Luming once had a secret relationship, just like Li Li and Song Tao. The difference is that this relationship was not one-sided on her part. Zhou Luming responded, and the two were together for a period of time."
The faint smile that Zhou Luming had been wearing gradually disappeared, and his voice turned cold. "What exactly are you trying to say?"
As the past unfolded, page after page, it was as if waves were crashing over her mind, constantly pounding against her nerves, instantly giving her a terrible headache.
Seeing Zhou Luming's pained expression, Xu Yan watched, telling himself he couldn't soften his stance now. He then looked directly at her and said, "In other words, the real Zhou Luming is attracted to women, and you—"
All the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat. Xu Yan hadn't expected the other person to kiss her under such provocation. When those warm lips touched hers, Xu Yan's usually sharp mind, which had functioned perfectly for over twenty years, went blank. The only thing that flashed through her mind was the question she had just asked, "Are you attracted to women—"
Zhou Luming's lips were warm and slightly sweet. She smelled wonderful, her hair was soft, and her body was soft and warm. She was slightly taller than Xu Yan, her head lowered, her thick eyelashes trembling. She even closed her eyes, earnestly enjoying the moment, unlike Xu Yan, who was such a fool, keeping his eyes open while kissing.
At the end of the kiss, Zhou Luming gave Xu Yan a small gift—she bit her lower lip until it bled.
"hiss--"
"Why did you bite me?" Xu Yan asked, wiping her lips.
"You provoked me first, this is retaliation," Zhou Luming said with a smile, not taking the incident seriously. "Didn't you say the real Zhou Luming likes girls? I like you, so I kissed you, what's wrong with that?"
Xu Yan kept her distance, fearing she might do something to him again. Zhou Luming's kiss just now wasn't an impulsive act of "liking" him; it was more like a hasty and misguided attempt to "prove" something. The more intense her reaction, the more it proved she had something to hide.
But it seemed impossible to press the issue any further tonight, and Xu Yan was very worried about his situation. If the other party became desperate and his safety couldn't be guaranteed, it would be best to stop here.
"Xu Buyan, could this be your—first kiss?" Zhou Luming thought of something, a sly glint in his eyes, and looked at Xu Yan with amusement.
Xu Yan had no intention of answering such an utterly boring question.
Seeing the embarrassed expression, Zhou Luming knew he had guessed correctly. He burst into laughter, "Hahaha, it was actually your first kiss! I'm sorry, I should have been more careful. At least I shouldn't have kissed you after eating hot pot."
Zhou Luming walked to Xu Yan's side, glanced at her face out of the corner of his eye, and saw that Xu Yan's skin was delicate and fair, with a faint blush on it. Coupled with the red scab on her lips, she looked even more alluring.
"Go home after you've finished eating. I won't see you off." Xu Yan coldly dismissed her. Tonight had been too outrageous; she had a headache and needed to get back to her room for some peace and quiet.
"Don't worry, I won't be staying overnight." Zhou Luming walked towards the door, changed his shoes, and pointed to the surveillance camera above, saying, "These surveillance cameras in your house were installed and wired by Li Li, right? A computer expert like him designing the surveillance system himself must be very complicated. You're not very good with electronic devices, so what if these surveillance devices malfunction in the future?"
"I will hire another expert to be in charge of operations and maintenance, so don't worry," Xu Yan said.
"Oh, that's fine then. I still need to do the 'homework' you assigned when I get back. See you tomorrow."
Xu Yan ignored her, stopped at the top of the stairs, and waited until he heard the door lock click before going upstairs. He unlocked the keypad and entered the room filled with surveillance cameras. Apart from the rows of monitors, the walls were lined with books—law books, biographies, and books on history and philosophy.
In addition, there is a whiteboard on the wall with photos of different sizes and from different eras attached to it with magnetic stickers. The photos all show a girl, some carrying a schoolbag, some walking on the street, and some swinging a tennis racket, but they are all from behind, none from the front.
Even a genius like Li Li could only obtain these vague materials; he couldn't expect to find any more evidence to verify Zhou Luming's identity in the future.
In other words, while it cannot be proven that Zhou Luming in front of us is real, it also cannot be proven that she is fake.
Everything was in a delicate balance. Xu Yan originally thought that she would soon solve the mystery of Zhou Luming's identity and hand over the inheritance to her. But now, she felt that she had taken on a hot potato, and it would probably take much longer than she had imagined.
When it was time to wash up in the evening, Xu Yan stood in front of the mirror, looking at the glaring red scabs on her lips. She raised her hand to touch them, and they no longer hurt or itch. They would soon be back to normal. However, the sensation from that time kept resurfacing. She wondered if she was too focused on Zhou Luming, causing her thoughts to become chaotic and filling her senses with these messy ideas.
snort.
Xu Yan smiled and figured it out to herself. This was probably Zhou Luming's purpose in suddenly kissing her—to make her overthink and disrupt her rhythm. Fortunately, she was smart enough to quickly regain her composure, but she couldn't let her succeed again.
Back in my room, I was just about to open a book when my phone screen lit up with a text message from Zhou Luming: "I'm home. Here's a little suggestion: don't eat so much onion, ginger, and garlic next time."
Xu Yan's hand trembled, and she almost dropped her phone.
Author's Note:
Happy New Year to everyone!
May 2022 bring you peace, good health, smooth work, academic success, and a harmonious life.
As for me, my writing flows like a divine inspiration.
====================
Volume Two: The Vanished Sky Ship
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Chapter 13
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Unlike Xu Yan's quiet, upscale villa townhouse, Zhou Luming stayed in an ordinary downtown neighborhood after returning to China. She parked Xu Yan's car in a nearby parking lot, then switched to a shared bicycle to go home. Passing by the street vendors downstairs, she even greeted the shop owner.
The streets here are narrow, and the previously messy electrical wires have been tidied up, finally eliminating the danger of electric leakage and making the streets cleaner and safer.
Zhou Luming unlocked the electronic lock downstairs and went up to the 6th floor. This was an old building without an elevator, and the top floor was cheap, even with a rooftop balcony. Zhou Luming chose this kind of place to live.
Without hiring any workers, Zhou Luming chose to renovate the old building's rooms herself, painting them white and replacing the furniture with new, light-colored wood pieces, giving the old rooms a fresh new look. Pushing open the French doors, she walked onto the balcony, where she placed several potted flowers and green plants, and even an outdoor barbecue grill and folding chairs. She liked to sit there watching the moon and listening to the sounds of everyday life from the street below.
The old, outdated Nokia phone in the drawer rang, forcing Zhou Luming to go back to answer it.
"Hey—I just got back from Xu Yan's house."
"Why aren't you wearing a listening device?" the person on the phone asked.
Zhou Luming held his phone between his shoulder and ear, sat down at his desk, turned on his computer, entered an encrypted URL, and a chat window popped up. He chuckled and replied, "Xu Yan is very cautious. Her house is full of surveillance cameras and anti-eavesdropping devices. I have to be very careful when using my phone at her house because she might steal my information if I'm not careful."
"How does she possess such advanced technology?"
"I don't know. Originally, it was supposed to be someone named Li Li who helped her, but Li Li committed suicide. She will probably find someone else to help her... Why don't you take this opportunity to send someone to help me? Xu Yan is really too difficult to deal with. I almost got exposed today." Zhou Luming rubbed his temples and said with some lingering fear.
"She was commissioned by the Zhou family to investigate you. She has billions in assets, so of course she'll keep a close eye on you. You need to be more careful in the future and not give yourself away."
Zhou Luming leaned back in his chair, watching the other person come online on the computer screen. He smirked and said, "I understand. Since I've taken your money and am cooperating with you, I'll continue to play the role of Zhou Luming properly... But there's something important you haven't told me."
"What's up?"
Xu Yan said that Zhou Luming's orientation is towards women.
There was a moment of silence on the phone, which inexplicably made Zhou Luming tense up.
"What was your reaction at the time?" the other person asked.
“I kissed her,” Zhou Luming said lightly. In retrospect, making that judgment was a bit impulsive. What if Xu Yan was lying? Wouldn’t she have been exposed? But Zhou Luming’s intuition told her that no matter what, kissing her was the right thing to do.
Afterwards, seeing a hint of panic and a blush on Xu Yan's cold face, Zhou Luming knew his plan had succeeded. Whether she was testing him or not, her feelings at the time must have been incredibly chaotic. Anyone suddenly kissed by someone of the same sex would find it difficult to remain rational, not even a genius.
"Why did you do this?" the other person asked.
"You have to trust a woman's intuition," Zhou Luming said with a smile.
“I hired you to impersonate Zhou Luming, not because of your intuition.”
Zhou Luming comfortably propped his long, straight legs on the table, leaning back slightly to create a delicate balance between the chair and the tabletop. Hearing this, he gave a slight smirk and said casually, "I know you hired me to do Zhou Luming for the Zhou family's billions in inheritance. If the commission wasn't high enough, I wouldn't have accepted the commission to do this for you. After it's done, I can retire and never have to risk my life doing these things again."
Looking back on his past life, Zhou Luming felt a little tired.
“We each get what we need. Your age, status, and appearance are the closest to the real Zhou Luming, making you perfect for impersonating her. You want money, so I'll give you the opportunity to earn a retirement pension. Once you successfully obtain the Zhou family's inheritance, you can retire peacefully and never have to do these things again. Zhou Luming has always lived abroad, and the only person who knows what she looks like is her grandfather, Old Master Zhou, who has already passed away. So you don't need to worry. I will help you create an identity and background. I guarantee that as long as you don't give yourself away, no one will be able to find out your real identity.”
“You seem quite confident, but Q, I have a question.” Zhou Luming frowned. “You want me to impersonate Zhou Luming, so where is the real Zhou Luming? Why hasn’t she appeared?”
She referred to the other person as Q because on the secret network, the other person's ID was arbitrarily set to "q", while Zhou Luming's own was set to "l".
"Since I've assigned you to go, I certainly have ways to prevent her from showing up."
"You didn't kill her or imprison her, did you?"
"You don't need to know. Just complete your mission well, gain Xu Yan's trust and acceptance, and then smoothly receive that inheritance." Q paused, then continued, "You received excellent training abroad, so dealing with Xu Yan shouldn't be a problem, right?"
Zhou Luming raised an eyebrow and said, "I'll show you what 'value for money' really means."
"Very good, at least you have a good grasp of idioms."
Zhou Luming's eyes darted around. "Q, I'm suddenly curious. You seem to know a lot about the Zhou family and Zhou Luming. Judging from your language habits, you're also of Chinese descent, or at least you speak fluent Chinese. What's your relationship with the Zhou family, and why are you targeting them and Zhou Luming?"
"I've been reading a book lately."
"What book?" Zhou Luming had a feeling it was something important.
Sure enough, the other party hung up the phone, and a line of text appeared on the computer: "Curiosity Killed the Cat".
"I have a troublesome assignment that I need your help with," Zhou Luming typed rapidly.
The cursor in Q is blinking, but it doesn't respond.
Zhou Luming quickly wrote, "Xu Yan asked me to summarize the key points of an estate administrator's work, which is due tomorrow morning. This homework is yours."
Q typed a single word after a long pause: "Okay." Then the computer screen flashed, and Q exited the encrypted chat room.
Zhou Luming smiled, closed his laptop, and thought that Q seemed to be very good at writing. Although he had never met him in person, Zhou Luming imagined him to be a mature and refined man in his thirties, with higher education, quick thinking, high IQ, a certain income and savings, and good economic conditions.
I brewed myself a pot of tea, changed into my pajamas, and lazily walked to the open-air balcony. I lit a scented candle and drank tea alone on the balcony.
The peaceful life she is living now is what she has always dreamed of. This is also the most comfortable and peaceful job she has ever accepted, and the pay is the highest so far. After completing this job, she can truly achieve financial freedom, and she plans to find a comfortable city, buy a house, grow flowers and vegetables, preferably facing the sea, and raise dogs and cats, living the rest of her life like an ordinary person.
Taking a sip of tea, Zhou Luming recalled Xu Yan's bewildered expression after being kissed, and a smile couldn't help but curve her lips. She thought Xu Yan was quite adorable back then; her lips were warmer than her face. No matter how cold and aloof she usually seemed, she was, after all, a girl in her early twenties…
The next morning, Zhou Luming stood at Xu Yan's door, carrying a bag of breakfast.
When I saw Xu Yan, she had changed into a long black coat, over which she wore a shirt and dark skinny suit pants, and on her feet were still those cute fluffy bunny slippers.
"I brought you breakfast: soy milk, fried dough sticks, and pancakes. I hope it suits your taste." Zhou Luming placed the breakfast on the table. "You got up quite early. I thought you would stay up late and sleep in."
Xu Yan drank a glass of water. "A regular lifestyle helps me stay alert."
Zhou Luming approached her, leaned down and looked closely at her, "Huh? You didn't sleep well last night? You have dark circles under your eyes..."
Xu Yan took a half step back, looked at Zhou Luming suspiciously, glanced at her face lightly, and then sat down at the table to start her breakfast.
"Has the report outlining the key points of the estate administrator's work been written?"