Chapter 259: Chapter 256: [Change of Thinking] (Three-in-One Mega Chapter, Asking for Monthly Pass!)
Chapter 256: A Change of Perspective
Speaking of Chen Nuo’s biological father...
Well, none of the women present, along with Wu Daodao, actually knew anything about him.
It wasn’t surprising, really. Since getting to know Chen Nuo, none of them had ever heard him mention his father.
The only one who sort of knew about Chen Nuo’s original family was Sun Keke.
However, Sun Keke only knew a rough outline of Chen Nuo’s family situation: his parents divorced when he was young, his mother remarried, and Chen Nuo lived with his grandmother.
Nothing more.
Who Chen Nuo’s biological father was and where this biological father could be found were also mysteries to Sun Keke.
This matter had to be investigated by going back to Jinling, looking through household registration records and Chen Nuo’s personal files.
"I definitely need to go back," Lu Xixi said slowly. "I won’t feel at ease if I don’t handle this myself."
"I’ll go back too. I’ll look for the school archives. There should be some clues there," Sun Keke stated.
"Me too," Li Yingwan said quickly. "My family has investments in the area. If we need to use official channels to search for someone, I can..."
"Hmph, an investor in labor-intensive industries? How many channels could you possibly have?" Niveer shook her head. "I should go. I’m a board member of an educational company. I can use my connections to search for Chen Nuo’s past records through the Education Bureau—his school enrollment records, files, all of them."
Listening with growing impatience, Lu Xixi simply waved her hand. "Fine, then we all go back!"
Suddenly, Lu Xixi paused. Then came the question.
Currently, Chen Nuo was in a hospital ward. Who should return to Jinling? Who should stay here to watch over him?
He was a living person, after all. What if everyone left and Chen Nuo, in a moment of desperation, decided to jump from a building or something, trying to end his life?
If his spirit dissipated, his physical body would also be destroyed.
Or what if he didn’t try to kill himself but ran off and disappeared? Where would they even start looking for him?
After a moment of silence, the women frowned and turned their gaze to the only girl who hadn’t spoken.
Xicheng Xun: "???"
"Let her stay," one suggested.
"Yes, she’s from Japan and just an ordinary student. She wouldn’t be much help in Jinling anyway."
"Let her watch over this Chen Nuo."
The women quickly reached a consensus.
Lu Xixi felt confident leaving Xicheng Xun as a bodyguard.
Just the previous night, in the alley, this Japanese girl had already shown she was willing to risk her life to protect Chen Nuo.
If the person lying in the hospital bed were Chen Xiaoguo, none of these girls would be willing to leave.
But... now it was the original owner. They weren’t interested in staying by his bedside.
Going back to help and quickly bringing Chen Xiaoguo back was the priority.
Xicheng Xun listened to their conversation with difficulty, and finally, it dawned on her.
I... have I been played?
Leaving Vanel and Selina at the hospital, along with Xicheng Xun, was more than enough to guard Chen Nuo.
Lu Xixi, Sun Keke, Li Yingwan, and Niveer, the four women, immediately set out by car for Jinling.
In that era, there were no high-speed trains. Even an express train from Shanghai City to Jinling would take two to three hours, and the schedules were far less frequent than in later years.
If it were a dozen or so years later, high-speed trains between Jinling and Shanghai City would run almost every ten to twenty minutes.
Taking Li Yingwan’s family car, the four women embarked on their journey back to Jinling.
On the way, Li Yingwan and Niveer were already working their connections, making call after call to retrieve Chen Nuo’s files, school records, household registration, and other documents.
Chen Jianshe.
Male, born February 1, 1956.
Native of Huaxia Jinling.
Original household registration address: Room 504, No. 97-4, Jiangjiayuan, Rehe Road Subdistrict, Xiaguan District, Jinling City.
Original workplace: Employee of a flour mill under the former Jinling Municipal Grain Bureau.
Job position: Fleet driver.
Employed from 1963 to 1988.
Resigned in 1988 to "plunge into the sea of business." Whether he actually engaged in business or not was unknown; in any case, he no longer had a fixed job and became a freelancer.
Former spouse: Ou Xiuhua (Married in 1982, divorced in 1993).
Child: Chen Nuo (male).
In Chen Nuo’s home, the women rummaged through everything, unearthing all the documents they could find.
Then, Li Yingwan’s and Niveer’s contacts sent over files obtained through official channels.
Finally, they pieced together a rough profile of Chen Nuo’s biological father.
Among the documents, there was even one very characteristic of Huaxia and its era:
The "Honorary Certificate for Only-Child Families."
In those days, family planning was a major Government policy.
Only-child families could receive some government benefits—not much, but better than nothing. This "Honorary Certificate for Only-Child Families" was needed to claim them.
They also found a photo of Chen Jianshe.
It was an old black-and-white ID photo.
It must have been taken a long time ago; Chen Jianshe looked very young in it.
His resemblance to Chen Nuo was striking, about seventy to eighty percent similar.
He was clearly handsome, but in the photo, Chen Jianshe somehow exuded a roguish air.
He looked like an unruly character.
In Chen Nuo’s house, they also found a few candid photos of Chen Jianshe.
These photos were probably kept by Chen Nuo’s grandmother as mementos—he was her son, after all.
When he smiled, he looked rather mischievous.
He seemed like the type who would have been very popular with young girls in his youth.
With no other leads and no contact information, their only option was to start at his former workplace: the flour mill.
At this point, Lu Xixi suddenly said, "We girls might not be able to handle this. I don’t understand Huaxia well enough, and Li Yingwan and Niveer are foreigners. As for Sun Keke... you’re too introverted and gentle. You don’t really know how to interact with people or make inquiries. To find someone like this, we need someone reliable and silver-tongued."
Reliable and silver-tongued!
Lu Xixi and Sun Keke instinctively exchanged glances, a silent understanding passing between them.
Their man: Brother Lei, a truly dependable fellow.
Brother Lei was napping in the office behind his shop that afternoon when Lu Xixi yanked him straight off the couch.
Last night, Brother Lei had played mahjong with a supplier all night, and his back was stiff from sitting.
In the morning, he’d argued with his girlfriend and, too angry to sleep at home, had gone straight to the shop. By around noon, he couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer and had simply conked out on the office couch.
The moment he was jolted awake, Brother Lei thought his girlfriend had come barging in.
"Hey! I already told you, I was playing mahjong all night! I wasn’t doing anything else! Are we still on about this... Huh? Oh! Sis-in-law!"
A shiver ran down Brother Lei’s spine, and he snapped awake, looking at Lu Xixi. "Hello, Sis-in-law!"
"...Mm." Lu Xixi nodded and stepped aside slightly.
Brother Lei broke out in a cold sweat.
Behind Lu Xixi stood three young women.
The first was Sun Keke, the second Li Yingwan—he’d met both before.
The third was a blonde foreign beauty.
Brother Lei quickly glanced her over. Damn, what a figure!
He immediately averted his gaze.
"Oh... Keke’s here too. Uh... Miss Li, hello. And... this is..."
The three women remained silent.
Clearly, Brother Lei’s initial "Sis-in-law" to Lu Xixi had struck a nerve.
"There’s something we girls aren’t sure how to handle, and we don’t really understand the situation... so we need your help," Lu Xixi began. "It’s about Chen Nuo."
After Lu Xixi finished, Brother Lei didn’t hesitate for a second, patting his chest. "No problem! Anything for Boss Nuo, count me in!"
With Brother Lei on board, it suddenly felt like they had a pillar of support.
And Brother Lei, full of street smarts and worldly experience, quickly found a lead after hearing Lu Xixi’s request.
So, the group drove first to the flour mill affiliated with the grain bureau in Jinling City, Chen Jianshe’s former workplace.
The flour mill, in reality, had ceased to exist long ago.
Like many old state-owned factories, its efficiency declined day by day after the economy opened up and the planned economy was abolished.
In the 1990s, it underwent restructuring. It was said to have attracted investment from Hong Kong businessmen and became a joint venture.
But for some reason, after forming the joint venture, the factory’s situation deteriorated even further.
A few years prior, the factory had already halted operations, with workers either laid off or let go.
Now, the joint venture technically still existed, but all that remained was the land, empty workshops, and most of the equipment had been sold off.
When they arrived, they found the factory area was quite large, bearing the hallmarks of a former major state-owned enterprise. The original compound had included a store, a barbershop, its own kindergarten, and a residential area for employees.
The main compound had since been demolished, and the residential area now resembled any ordinary old neighborhood.
The production area of the factory, however, was still closed off. The iron gate was shut tight and locked.
Surprisingly, there was still someone in the gatehouse.
Brother Lei, armed with two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, slipped into the gatehouse.
It’s unclear what he discussed with the security guard, but eventually, the guard let him into the factory grounds.
Brother Lei wandered alone through the deserted factory area, thoroughly exploring the transport fleet’s repair workshop and the abandoned shipping dock.
After finding a few former employees and asking around, he managed to dig up some leads.
When he returned to the car, Brother Lei told the women what he’d learned.
He had actually found one or two old workers who knew Chen Jianshe.
After talking with them, Brother Lei took out a small notebook with several names written down.
These were supposedly former employees from the factory’s transport team, and they lived nearby in the factory’s residential area!
Next, Brother Lei led the four girls through the residential area.
They thoroughly checked the small local shops and barbershops.
Brother Lei handed out two more packs of Zhonghua cigarettes and managed to get several addresses—those of the old transport team workers from his notebook.
So, they went door to door.
There were six people on the list. After making the rounds, they found that two families had already sold their houses and moved. Another former worker had passed away. In the end, they located only three families.
Brother Lei’s method was direct but highly effective.
He simply knocked on their doors. When someone answered, Brother Lei would flash a broad smile, explaining he was looking for a relative, an old factory worker.
And then...
Once inside, the first thing Brother Lei did was slap two hundred yuan on the table!
That’s right! He was greasing palms!
"Brother (or Sister)," he’d say, "let me be straight with you. Here’s the deal: Chen Jianshe actually has relatives overseas, and they’ve come back to visit family. You know, tracing their roots? Like leaves returning to their roots, acknowledging their ancestors. We’ve only tracked him as far as the factory, so we need to ask you about Chen Jianshe.
...Oh, you don’t know where he is now? No problem, no problem at all! Just consider this a casual chat. Tell me about Chen Jianshe back when he was at the factory. That’s right, anything you remember. Maybe something will click as we talk.
As for this bit of money, just think of it as a token for your time, to buy some tea to wet your whistle. Please don’t mind... Heck, I’m just an errand boy here; I’m not one of the overseas relatives. But Chen Jianshe’s overseas family? They’re loaded! Big shots from the capitalist world, you get me? So just talk freely, whatever comes to mind. Yes, yes, yes..."
And so, Brother Lei—a local with his native Jinling dialect, a wealth of social experience, a silver tongue, and "tea money" to pave the way—really did manage to dig up a lot of information after visiting those few homes.
Apparently, Chen Jianshe had been somewhat well-known at the factory back in the day.
He started at the factory at seventeen, taking over the position of his father (Chen Nuo’s grandfather), who had just passed away that year.
Chen Jianshe was handsome and said to be exceptionally articulate.
When he first joined, he was just a workshop laborer. Later, somehow, he managed to get into logistics.
In those days, logistics was a very cushy department. The work was light, and he handled the distribution of various factory benefits.
However, Chen Jianshe was ambitious and wasn’t content with this easy, comfortable job.
Working in logistics, he often interacted with the factory leaders. Being young, quick-witted, and remarkably articulate, he soon caught the eye of one of the managers.
He was then transferred to the factory’s transport team as a driver.
Young Chen Jianshe didn’t know how to drive, but that wasn’t an issue. In that era, factories would sponsor their prospective drivers to attend driving school; it was company-funded training.
Moreover, in the eighties, being a driver was an extremely desirable job—comfortable, well-paid, and prestigious.
More importantly, when the factory vehicles weren’t in use, they could be used for personal errands. As long as one had good connections and gave a heads-up, the factory typically turned a blind eye.
At that time, Chen Jianshe was young and good-looking. He was an eloquent speaker and a factory driver. With his looks, high EQ, and decent financial standing, he was very popular with the young women.
In his youth, he was quite a prominent figure at the factory.
He drove a car for the factory leaders and enjoyed small perks now and then. Later, things changed. The leader who appreciated Chen Jianshe was eventually transferred. Chen Jianshe had been driving a car—a very comfortable job. But after that leader left, the new one brought in his own people, replacing Chen Jianshe.
Chen Jianshe was reassigned to drive transport trucks. This was much more strenuous work and involved long-distance travel.
At that point, Chen Jianshe had had enough.
According to the old workers, Chen Jianshe was sharp, articulate, good-looking, and very likable. But there was one catch: he wasn’t very steady in his work. He couldn’t endure hardship, had high ambitions but limited abilities, was very proud, yet lacked perseverance.
One old worker put it bluntly: "Ah, him? He got by on his pretty face and his smooth talk! Nothing else!"
In 1988, Chen Jianshe was working as a transport truck driver for the factory and was quite unhappy. By then, he had been married for a few years and had a child, Chen Nuo, who was five. His wife, Ou Xiuhua, was very pretty, a refined and gentle woman who worked as an accountant.
But Chen Jianshe was far from satisfied with this life. As a transport driver, he traveled extensively, which broadened his horizons. He grew envious of the many stories about "plunging into business and striking it rich," and this, coupled with his inherent ambition, led him to make a drastic decision.
Finally, in 1988, Chen Jianshe resigned!
It was said that he couldn’t arrange to keep his position while on unpaid leave, so, in a fit of impulsiveness, Chen Jianshe simply quit.
In 1988, when a job at a large state-owned factory was still considered an "iron rice bowl" by many, his outright resignation caused quite a stir at the factory.
After resigning, it was said that Chen Jianshe left Jinling and headed south. Reportedly, he had made some friends in the south while driving for the long-distance transport team and went to Guangzhou to start a business with them.
However, as they delved into this, the details became murky. The accounts from two families were inconsistent and, in fact, contradictory.
One family said that Chen Jianshe resigned in 1988 and went straight to Guangzhou.
The other family claimed that after resigning, Chen Jianshe stayed in Jinling for a while. He supposedly set up a stall at the night market but quit after only a few months. Running a night market stall meant long, hard hours—up early and to bed late. Although he could make money, Chen Jianshe couldn’t handle the hardship. Besides, he always liked to go out with his friends, drinking, playing cards, dancing, and so on. As a result, even though the night market stall was profitable, he managed to run it into the ground.
Brother Lei, Lu Xixi, and the others discussed it and decided to believe the second family’s account. This was because the second family provided a new lead: information about a former good friend of Chen Jianshe, someone who might have his contact details.
「Several hours later」
In a stationery shop near a middle school in the northern part of Jinling City, Brother Lei found the owner—Chen Jianshe’s former good friend.
"Chen Jianshe? What are you asking about him for?"
The owner was a middle-aged man with an oily face and thinning hair. He spoke in an old Jinling dialect and sat behind the counter with a cigarette dangling from his lips, his tone clearly unenthusiastic.
Brother Lei knew how to handle such types. He directly pulled out an unopened pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, offered one to the owner, and pressed the rest into his hand.
"His relatives from out of town are looking for him, but we can’t find him. It took a lot of effort to track you down. Friend, please help us out."
The owner pocketed the Zhonghua cigarettes with a smile but still eyed Brother Lei suspiciously. "You’re not a debt collector, are ya?"
"No, no! Absolutely not! We’re really just looking for a relative. Oh, this is driving me crazy."
As he spoke, Brother Lei produced another pack of Zhonghua cigarettes. "Buddy, please help. I’m just an errand boy, getting paid by his relatives for my trouble. If I can’t find him, these past few days will have been a complete waste."
Only then did the owner genuinely laugh. "Even if you were a debt collector, it wouldn’t matter. I’ve been itching for someone to deal with that jerk for ages."
Brother Lei’s eyes lit up. "Pal, tell me everything!"
"That year, he was peddling at Sanpai Building, right? I’d also just left the factory then. He’d brag to me every day, endlessly, about how much money he was making from his stall. Like an idiot, I got all fired up and believed him. I borrowed from everyone I knew, scraped together five hundred yuan, and went into partnership with him. But that jerk! He ran the stall for less than a month and then vanished!
Damn it, I looked for him for so many days I nearly wore a path to his door! But he was gone! Said he’d gone out of province to do business. He left a wife and kid at home. What could I do? I couldn’t just take money from a woman and child, could I? After all, we used to be friends.
A few months later, I heard he was back. I waited near his house and finally cornered the bastard. I didn’t beat him up that day; I just wanted my money back. The scumbag was a total coward, begging and pleading. Then he told me he’d opened a restaurant down south but had come back without any cash. He promised to mail me the money once he got back to his restaurant.
Honestly, I didn’t believe him. But what could I do? He had no money on him, and I couldn’t exactly break his arms and legs. He said his restaurant was somewhere in Guangzhou... I had no choice but to let him go.
And guess what? The jerk skipped town the very next day. I was furious later! I did some digging—all that talk about opening a restaurant down south? Bullshit! He was just working in the kitchen of some tiny eatery in Guangzhou, frying rice noodles!
Let me tell you, he still hasn’t paid back that five hundred yuan! His wife, bless her, paid me back over three hundred in installments later. I felt sorry for her, a woman raising a child alone, so I let the rest go..."
Brother Lei chimed in with timely flattery, "You’re a generous man, boss!"
The shop owner waved his hand dismissively. He smoked his Zhonghua cigarette down to the filter before reluctantly snuffing it out.
"I only know the address of that restaurant, but it’s been so many years, who knows if it’s still there. Besides... let me tell you, I heard later I wasn’t the only one he borrowed money from. He borrowed from others too. Many people looked for him, but no one could find him.
That bastard! He only scams people he knows! The ones who lent him money were all old friends. I only trusted his crap because we were elementary school classmates. Some other creditors were his former colleagues and whatnot.
Chen Jianshe, that guy can talk a good game, but he’s a terrible person. If he had any guts, he’d borrow from loan sharks! They’d chop off his hand if he didn’t pay them back! We old friends, old classmates, we’re all decent folk. There was nothing we could do about him."
After all his rambling, he finally provided an address, which was at least a small breakthrough.
Brother Lei came out with the address and gave it to Lu Xixi.
"I don’t think Chen Nuo’s father is in Jinling," he said. "Everyone we’ve talked to here who knew him says he went south later and apparently never lived in Jinling again. Besides, he divorced Chen Nuo’s mother after that, so he probably never returned to Jinling to live. To find this guy, I’m afraid we’ll have to go to Guangzhou."
It wasn’t that they hadn’t considered contacting the police...
But this was 2001.
Government departments hardly had widespread use of office computers back then, let alone internet connectivity. They were far from the level of data digitization and archiving seen in later years. It wasn’t like the future, where police in one city could enter a name into a system and pull up records of that person’s hotel stays all across the country.
「For the next three days」
Brother Lei, Lu Xixi, and the other three women painstakingly followed one clue after another.
They personally went to that restaurant in Guangzhou.
Upon arrival, they discovered the restaurant was long gone, replaced by a pharmacy. After asking around the neighborhood, they finally located the former owner.
He had retired and was living comfortably as a landlord. They found him playing mahjong in a card room.
This owner wasn’t actually a Yue Province local either; he’d come there to do business years ago and eventually settled down.
Then, in halting Mandarin, he shared what he knew:
"Chen Jianshe... Oh, you mean that Northerner! I remember him. Tall and thin, with a pretty-boy face that just screamed trouble.
When I opened my restaurant, I hired him to fry rice noodles in the kitchen because he seemed quick-witted, articulate, and likable. He worked for almost a year, but he was no good. Later, when he went to buy groceries, the accounts were always a bit off. Plus, I caught him making eyes at one of the waitresses. It was disgusting, so I fired him.
After that, I heard he went to sell fried rice noodles at a night market stall himself. I don’t have his contact information anymore.
However... that waitress from my restaurant might. She hit it big later on. Some boss took a fancy to her, and she became his mistress. She’s not a bad sort. After she got rich, she even came back to my restaurant a few times and left me her phone number."
"Chen Jianshe? My God, how did you find me? I haven’t had anything to do with him for ages! He played me back then! I was with him for a few months before I found out he had a wife and kid back home!
We had a huge fight, and then the boss fired him too. He went off to sell fried rice noodles at the night market and even tried to convince me to quit my job and go with him. Am I stupid? He had nothing! Me, go with him to run a street stall? He said we’d work together, but all the money would be his, while I’d have to do the work and sleep with him for free at night? In his dreams!
I turned him down flat and broke up with him.
Later, I heard he went to Foshan. Apparently, some foreign bosses opened electronics factories there, and he got a job in one of them. He pestered me a few times, even called me. But then I met my current husband, and I completely ignored him after that."
The woman, dripping with gold and silver and caked in heavy makeup, eventually, at Brother Lei’s persistent request, flipped through an old phone book and found a number.
As Brother Lei was leaving, she specifically warned him, "Don’t come looking for me again! I don’t want anything more to do with that bastard!"
The phone number belonged to a dormitory building at a factory in Foshan.
When they got there, they found the worker turnover at the factory was very high. The person managing the dormitory phone didn’t remember anyone named Chen Jianshe, and showing them the photo didn’t help.
However, Brother Lei didn’t give up. He took the photo and went through the dormitory building, floor by floor, making sure to ask older-looking residents.
Finally, he actually found someone.
It was a small business owner who delivered takeout meal boxes. He used to work at this factory himself. One day, he had a bright idea: the workers found it inconvenient to get food in the evenings after work. People from Yue Province love late-night snacks, but the factory canteen didn’t provide them. So, he quit his job and started a meal box delivery business, specifically catering to the factory dormitories. And he actually made good money.
This small business owner looked at the photo in Brother Lei’s hand and recognized Chen Jianshe.
"Him... he used to be my roommate. That guy was a bit shady, always trying to hit on the young women in the factory. But the workers here mostly stick with people from their own hometowns. He flirted with some girls, and guys from their towns beat him up several times. His face got pretty messed up from it!
Later, I don’t know where he heard it, but someone told him pyramid schemes were a way to get rich. He must have lost his mind, because he quit his job and ran off to get involved in that stuff. That fellow was obsessed with striking it rich but had no real skills. Getting into pyramid schemes... he must have been desperate for money."
「Two more days later」
They were in a small town in Yue Province, at the site of a former pyramid scheme den.
Unfortunately, this den had been shut down by the police several years ago.
The trail for Chen Jianshe had gone cold. Dead end.
「That evening」
In a small restaurant in that town, Lu Xixi, the three other women, and Brother Lei sat around a table.
The five of them were mostly silent, staring at the food before them.
After so many days, everyone was mentally drained. Having followed the trail this far only for it to go completely cold, none of them had much of an appetite.
Brother Lei tried to lighten the mood with a couple of jokes, but no one even cracked a smile.
Not knowing what else to say, Brother Lei tried to console them, "If this doesn’t work out, we can go back to Jinling, try asking some of the older folks again... maybe..."
Lu Xixi sighed.
She stood up, walked out of the restaurant, and gazed at the narrow streets of the small southern town.
Feeling frustrated, Lu Xixi picked up her phone and called Little Candy.
"Lu Xixi!! You finally deigned to call me!! Hmph, you—"
On the other end, Little Candy was about to unleash a torrent of complaints, but Lu Xixi cut her off, her voice weary. "My dear disciple... I really don’t know what to do now... This is too difficult."
"...Huh?"
Sensing the exhaustion in Lu Xixi’s tone, Little Candy paused, reined in her emotions, and asked softly, "What’s wrong? What happened? Tell me."
Lu Xixi quickly recounted everything that had happened over the past few days to her young disciple.
Unexpectedly, after listening to the whole story, Little Candy responded in a peculiar tone.
"That’s it?"
"Huh?"
"I mean... that’s all? The problem that’s got you so troubled you’re almost in tears—is just *that*?"
Little Candy then burst into a fit of "HIA HIA HIA HIA HIA" laughter.
Lu Xixi’s heart skipped a beat. "You... you have an idea?"
"Of course!!! How could such a simple problem stump me? You’re all just banging your heads against a wall! When it comes to solving problems, all you know is brute force! Don’t you ever think of looking at things from a different angle?"
"Uh?" Lu Xixi was a bit dazed.
Little Candy sounded impatient but still explained, "Look. That Chen Jianshe, what year did he leave Jinling? 1988, right? And how old was Chen Nuo then? Five years old!!
His father left home when he was five. In all the years since, apart from when Chen Jianshe might have returned to divorce his mother... Chen Nuo probably never saw his father again!
He was only a five-year-old kid! He’s not a once-in-a-million genius like me!! What can a five-year-old brat remember?
I’m telling you! Even if you actually found Chen Jianshe and dragged him in front of Chen Nuo right now, Chen Nuo probably wouldn’t even recognize him!!"
Lu Xixi’s eyes suddenly lit up!
"You mean..."
"He just wants to see his dad, right? So, let’s give him a dad! It’s not like he’d recognize him anyway!!"
"Are you saying... we get a fake one?"
Lu Xixi was suddenly enlightened!
On the other end of the line, Little Candy said quickly, "Of course, a fake one! You can’t find the real one, can you? But if you’re getting someone to play the part, you need to pay attention to the details."
"Quick, tell me!"
"First, the person can’t be too young or too old. The age has to be appropriate. As for appearance, well, since you can disguise yourself as an overweight Japanese woman, altering his looks shouldn’t be too difficult for you. However, your chosen actor needs to be smart, have some brains! He needs to be well-spoken and have good acting skills! And most importantly, don’t forget one crucial detail: Chen Nuo’s father is from Jinling, so you need to find someone from Jinling! At the very least, he must be able to speak the Jinling dialect!"
Smart, intelligent, well-spoken, a good actor... And has to be from Jinling...
An idea suddenly struck Lu Xixi, and her face lit up with a wide smile.
Cradling the phone, she cooed, "My dear disciple, you truly are my smartest student!! I want to hug you tight and kiss you right now! MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH MWAH~~~~"
Back in the small restaurant, everyone at the table watched Lu Xixi walk in from outside.
She had left looking dejected but returned beaming.
"I have a plan," Lu Xixi said as she approached the table, speaking before anyone else could. "Brother Lei, there’s something I need you to do!"
Brother Lei immediately sat up straight. "No problem! Just say the word! Anything related to Boss Nuo, Bald Lei is duty-bound to help!!"
"Great! Then... how about you play Chen Nuo’s dad for a while!"
THUD!
Brother Lei fell to the floor.
What???