Final Civilization

Chapter 38: The Woman in Red

On the drive, Han Ming chatted idly with Lin Xiaoyi while pondering Yan Jing's dinner invitation that evening.

As he watched the chaotic flow of traffic outside the window, a strange flash of red suddenly appeared in his vision. Han Ming focused his gaze and was shocked to discover that the red-dressed woman from his dream had somehow materialized among the cars on the roadside, vanishing in an instant.

"Hey, what are you staring at?!"

Han Ming blinked, scanning the traffic again, only to find the lane now completely empty. The scene from moments ago seemed like nothing more than an illusion.

"Saw a nice car," Han Ming deflected casually, though his mind was churning. Had his dreams and reality begun to overlap? How could he have seen a figure from his dreams out of nowhere?

"Thinking of buying one?"

Lin Xiaoyi chuckled. "Regretting not accepting Yan Jing's Maybach?"

"No regrets." Han Ming snapped back to the present, looking ahead as he spoke. "That's a rich person's chariot. If I drove it alone, I'd just look like a chauffeur."

"True... those kinds of cars are meant to be ridden in, not driven."

Han Ming smoothly changed the subject. "How's your investment in the racing business going?""Not bad." Lin Xiaoyi said. "Since Liberty Media took over F1 in the US, the market has expanded quite a bit. Us small shareholders have managed to scrape some profit too."

Han Ming remarked, "I thought you invested in a team."

"A team?" Lin Xiaoyi laughed at that. "Don't be ridiculous. That's pure money-burning. With the market on an upswing these past two years, just the entry fee and dilution compensation for a new team is around 400 million USD. The annual operating costs are astronomical. I don't have that kind of capital to play with."

"My main focus is still esports and anime derivative industries, though esports hasn't been doing too well these past couple of years either."

Han Ming smiled. "Didn't you say you invested in esports purely out of passion?"

"Passion only lasts if you make money." Lin Xiaoyi stated bluntly. "Otherwise, if I lose it all, my dad won't give me any more chances. Then I'd have no choice but to go back and inherit his multi-billion business."

"Yeah, what a terrible disaster that would be."

"Asshole."

"So, any investment advice for me?"

"What, in a hurry to throw your money away?"

Lin Xiaoyi wore a knowing smile.

"The biggest taboo in investing is being impatient and chasing quick gains. Unless you're ninety percent sure, don't easily part with your cash."

Han Ming nodded. "They say rich second-generation heirs squander the family fortune. You're one of the better-preserved specimens."

"You bastard."

Lin Xiaoyi's sunglasses slid halfway down his nose as he shot Han Ming an exasperated look.

"You mentioned buying gifts earlier. For who? Tao Jie?"

"For Yan Jing, and her daughter."

Screech!

Lin Xiaoyi nearly swerved. He corrected the steering wheel, turning to stare at Han Ming with utter astonishment.

"Hey... you're not seriously falling for a rich widow, are you? Don't you dare be impulsive! Money and such are easy to come by. The girls my mom introduced you to are all from wealthy families. We shouldn't go down the wrong path!"

Han Ming sighed.

"I really don't mean it like that. It's still because I saved Yan Duoduo, so Yan Jing invited me to her home for dinner. Since I'm visiting, it's only proper to bring a gift."

Lin Xiaoyi frowned deeply. "Inviting you to her home, just like that?"

"How should I know? Maybe it's just her way of being polite."

"She's definitely interested in you." Lin Xiaoyi concluded, scrutinizing Han Ming.

"The White Widow of Jinghai falls for the Legal Genius. That would absolutely be front-page gossip news."

Han Ming facepalmed in speechless exasperation.

The two drove to Luoshui Restaurant. Just after Lin Xiaoyi finished ordering, Han Ming happened to glance at his phone, which was playing a video of a female celebrity dancing. She looked familiar, so Han Ming asked offhandedly,

"Who's that? A new streamer you recruited?"

"Tsk! You philistine."

Lin Xiaoyi clicked his tongue in disbelief, swiped to open the short video, and held it up in front of Han Ming, declaring loudly,

"Shen Siwei! Member of the GIQUEEN girl group. Signed as a Chanel makeup ambassador just two years after debut. Currently a top-tier female idol in the Chinese entertainment industry. She's only 19 and already popular across the entire country, dubbed the 'Traffic Harvesting Machine'. You don't even know her?"

"I rarely pay attention to that stuff. These days, algorithms create personalized feeds. I'm not interested, so it simply doesn't get pushed to me."

As Han Ming spoke, he looked at the beautiful woman dancing energetically on the dazzling stage on Lin Xiaoyi's phone. Suddenly, his pupils contracted sharply, and his entire body felt as if struck by a thunderclap!

How could this woman look exactly like the beautiful woman in red from his dream?!

Thinking he must be mistaken, Han Ming reached over, took the phone from Lin Xiaoyi, and examined it closely. Apart from differences in hairstyle, aura, and clothing, everything else was completely identical.

Han Ming finally remembered. A few days ago, after dreaming about the arson incident, he had sensed the woman in red resembled a certain celebrity. But because he genuinely paid so little attention to the entertainment industry, his impression of this Shen Siwei existed only in some roadside advertisements...

Roadside advertisements!

Earlier in the traffic, he hadn't seen the woman in red. He had seen Shen Siwei's advertisement!

Instantly, an intensely eerie and chilling sensation shot up Han Ming's spine.

According to the timeline in the dream, it should have been thirty years ago. How could this be...

"What, fallen in love?"

Lin Xiaoyi's voice interrupted Han Ming's train of thought. "Admittedly, she has an incredibly pure and beautiful doll-like face, yet she's the center position for the girl group's hottest dances. The extreme contrast between purity and sexiness is indeed eye-catching. Lots of the female streamers at my company are copying her makeup style now."

"She is indeed beautiful."

Han Ming forcefully suppressed the tempest raging inside him and handed the phone back to Lin Xiaoyi.

Seeing the complex emotions written all over Han Ming's face, Lin Xiaoyi couldn't help but ask,

"What's up with you today? You keep spacing out."

Han Ming shook his head and sighed. "Just took on the Tianzhou case, too many things to handle. Honestly haven't been resting well these past couple of days."

He pondered inwardly. A woman who looked this young thirty years ago, yet debuted at age 19 thirty years later... This was simply too unbelievable.

Han Ming's first thought was that the woman in red most likely possessed the ability of immortality. Any explanation about being a mother or daughter seemed utterly far-fetched to him.

Because it wasn't just similar. It was exactly the same. Han Ming had great confidence in his observational skills. He absolutely was not mistaken.

Could it be... this woman is a Wallfacer?

He originally thought his dreams were inheriting the memories of a certain Wallfacer. How could there be another Wallfacer within the dream itself...

Han Ming's thoughts were in disarray.

"Who told you to save the White Widow's daughter? Now that she's latched onto you, you're bound to lose a layer of skin."

Lin Xiaoyi chuckled. "Serves you right."

"You should worry about yourself."

Han Ming took a sip of tea, suppressing the complex whirl of thoughts in his mind. His gaze swept over Lin Xiaoyi as he said calmly, "Your mom keeps asking me to persuade you to settle down and have a proper relationship. And you're so obedient, dating in groups, is that it?"

Lin Xiaoyi glanced down at himself.

"Damn it, I changed my clothes! Using your deduction thing again? Come on, leave me some privacy!"

"Do I even need deduction for you?" Han Ming smiled.

"Other guys chase streamers by throwing money to become the top donor. You, on the other hand, directly start a streaming company to poach them. You date the streamer and still make her earn money for you. You don't lose out on either end."

"You don't understand."

Lin Xiaoyi said with a serious expression. "Girls these days are very fickle. It's hard to find genuine feelings. Money should be spent, but not wasted. If you can both test for sincerity and make money, it's a guaranteed win. Think about it: lose the feelings but make money, not a loss. Lose the money but win genuine feelings, a huge win."

"So you're casting a wide net to catch more fish?"

Lin Xiaoyi nodded. "Solve quantity first, then quality. Don't enter a relationship with monogamy in mind. Become monogamous after you're in the relationship."

"So what's your threshold for starting a relationship?" Han Ming asked.

Lin Xiaoyi took off his sunglasses, leaned in with a solemn face, and said with great gravitas,

"A sense of redemption. That feeling where you can sense someone pulling you out of the quagmire of fate."

Han Ming nodded.

"And how do you end up in the quagmire?"

"Don't ask about that."

"..."

...

"Shen Siwei, born September 2006, ancestral home Jian'an, Dong Province. Debuted officially as a member of the GIQUEEN girl group in May 2022, releasing the group's first album..."

Back at the law firm, Han Ming's screen was filled with search results about Shen Siwei. The internet was incredibly thorough nowadays. Looking at photos of this girl from middle school and elementary school, his expression turned grave.

All available information seemed to indicate this girl was not an immortal being. Yet she had appeared, real and tangible, in his dream.

She had even appeared, for a time, in the role of his 'wife'.

Han Ming took a deep breath, leaned back in his chair, and let out a helpless laugh.

"Interesting. It seems my dreams are..."

"Even more bizarre than I imagined!"