Final Civilization

Chapter 49: Entering the Game

The first thing Zhong Jiawen did every day after waking up wasn't checking her message-exploding WeChat or private messages. Instead, she opened a food delivery app to order milk tea and delicious food for herself.

She usually woke up in the afternoon. Not long after, the doorbell rang. Zhong Jiawen walked barefoot across the cold floor tiles, opened the door, and what greeted her eyes was a mess of various deliveries piled up in the doorway: wilted flowers, cakes, milk tea, and some spoiled takeout.

She completely ignored that chaos, only precisely taking her own light salad and milk tea from the delivery person's hands.

After finishing her simple meal, she started applying makeup. Youth was Zhong Jiawen's capital. With a few strokes and the enhancement of professional ring lights and filters, the girl in the camera instantly shed her laziness, her eyes shimmering with a misty, clear brightness.

She looked like a female university student who hadn't yet entered society. And in her personal profile, her public age was also 21.

The livestream began. Dozens of familiar IDs, like fish returning to their nest, gradually swam into this meticulously arranged electronic sea.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well last night... It thundered, I was a little scared."

"A girl living alone is naturally timid."

"Thank you, brother, for the sports car! That's too much, here's a little heart for you~"

"No adding WeChat, oh. I just livestream to relieve boredom, a little while each day, it's also a way to practice courage, hehe~""Huh? How did you know I'm in the acting department? Then, did I act convincingly?"

Her voice was coated in honey, her gaze sticky with sugar, weaving an invisible web within the small livestream of a few dozen people. She both coaxed several main contributors to comfortably keep outputting gifts and firmly tethered the curiosity and restlessness of new viewers in front of the screen.

Quietly, an account named "Yun Tianming" with a blank avatar and only LV1 slid silently into the viewer list, silently watching the stream.

A few minutes later, a dazzling Ferris wheel effect suddenly exploded in the center of the screen.

It was actually sent by that new LV1 ID.

Zhong Jiawen's surprise was expressed perfectly, the corners of her mouth curving into a flattered arc:

"Thank you, Tianming brother, for the Ferris wheel! Wishing you good mood every day, oh~"

A tentative sweetener. Feeling pleased inside, she opened the viewer list, ready to monitor any comments from that person.

However, this ID didn't say a single word.

Two minutes later, the sports car effect once again rolled across the screen!

The alarm for a big fish biting the hook rang in her mind. The gratitude on Zhong Jiawen's face immediately gained an extra layer of pitiful, delicate shyness:

"Tianming brother, are you a new friend? Just come chat, gifts really aren't necessary... Your kind thoughts, Wenwen has already received them."

The livestream chat immediately erupted in teasing.

This tactic of playing hard to get was one she had always wielded with ease.

Who knew, not long after, an ultimate Ferris wheel worth 5,000 yuan suddenly soared into view, causing an uproar on the public screen!

Onlookers loved watching this kind of mysterious big spender making moves, and they also loved watching the streamer's reaction in such situations.

"The big shot is here!"

"The big shot's move is really fierce."

"Awesome!"

Fireworks were going off in Zhong Jiawen's eyes. Covering her mouth in front of the camera, she repeatedly expressed her thanks.

"Wow, thank you, Tianming brother, for the Ferris wheel. Brother is truly generous!"

However, what no one expected was that, from beginning to end, the "Yun Tianming" ID never posted any comments, no interaction, just silently remained in the viewer list, like a calm observer.

This only further piqued everyone's curiosity, including Zhong Jiawen's.

After ending the stream, she immediately opened the private message window, found that ID that hadn't spoken at all, and sent a private message:

"Tianming brother, thank you for your gifts. Let me treat you to a cup of milk tea?"

"No need."

The reply was concise, almost blunt:

"Seeing your location, you're in Jinghai. Can I invite you to a meal?"

"Not possible, oh. I still have classes. Thank you for your kind offer, brother~" Refusal was necessary reserve and a further screening step.

"Alright. When you're available. You pick the location."

Seeing this sentence, a gleam of pleasant surprise flashed in Zhong Jiawen's eyes.

Direct speech, clear purpose, no small talk or warm-up, gifting thousands without batting an eye—this style had a high probability of being old money!

So she deliberately left it for two hours. Seeing the other party indeed didn't follow up at all made her even more confident in her judgment.

Only then did she leisurely reply:

"Sorry, oh. Just finished class. I know a few nice little treasure restaurants around the university district. How about... I treat you? As a thank you~" This sentence was still a probe.

"Okay. Need a ride?"

"No, no need! Tonight is fine. Let's just meet directly at the place."

Big fat sheep hooked!

After sending a shared location, she lightly licked her lower lip and silently mouthed two words to the air: "Fortune coming!"

...

Han Ming glanced at the location on the screen and closed the dialog box expressionlessly.

Inside the law firm office, the computer screen was filled with information about Pengcheng Industrial. Information about Chen Peng, in particular, had been dug up in large quantities.

Han Ming never expected that Chen Yufeng's death might very well be related to him!

"Jiangping Town, Suiyuan City, Southern Province, State-owned No. 45 Textile Factory..."

"Shen Xia, Jiang Xing, Chen Peng all lived in this place and knew each other." Han Ming frowned tightly, a half-smile on his face. "That is to say, Chen Yufeng's father likely met both Wallfacers at the same time!"

"Within this, perhaps lies the reason Chen Yufeng was killed."

Han Ming took out his phone.

「Igniting Anticipation! Top-Tier Girl Group GIQUEEN to Descend on Jinghai! Sweety Shen Siwei's Personal Topic Hits 1 Billion Reads! Will Appear at Jinghai High-End Luxury Event.」

"You suddenly descend on Jinghai just as I start investigating Chen Yufeng's death. Isn't that a bit too coincidental?"

Turning off his phone, Han Ming closed his eyes in contemplation.

That letter was absolutely not just some love letter. The Wallfacer's subconscious guided me to focus on this memory; there must be some information he wanted to convey to me.

"This letter was written by Jiang Xing himself, but his memory didn't know about it. There's only one possibility: he sealed this part of the information through self-deception to avoid some form of hypnosis or consciousness intrusion."

"Matteo Ricci's Memory Palace' mentioned that the subconscious cannot self-seal because the more you hint to yourself to forget a password, the more deeply you remember it. But that Memory Palace has a completely sealed defense, which is a deconstructed password that can only be formed by completing a self-suggestion connection."

"So, that letter might contain the password to the Memory Palace, or perhaps some other important information. Chen Peng saw that letter, but Shen Xia didn't. Could it be... she also wants to know?"

Han Ming opened his eyes, a faint glint in them.

"This is getting interesting, Big Idol Shen. Are you a Wallfacer, or... a Wallbreaker?"

...

After work, Han Ming calculated the time and drove directly to the agreed location.

Soon, he saw Zhong Jiawen standing by the roadside. She was dressed simply and refreshingly, seemingly wearing light makeup but actually in full makeup. Her makeup skills were excellent, making her look just over twenty. Combined with her pure outfit of shorts and a hoodie, it easily made people let their guard down.

"Hello, you must be Wenwen."

A clear, bright voice sounded. Zhong Jiawen looked up, her pupils contracting almost imperceptibly. The anticipated middle-aged man, either portly or pretending to be profound, did not appear.

Standing before her was a young man with an upright posture, a cold, stern aura in his suit and shirt, handsome features, and eyes carrying a sense of detachment from ordinary people, as if those eyes could easily see through a person's heart.

Sure enough, men, whether young or old, are equally lustful. This one looks like he's been pent up in the workplace for too long.

But judging by his attire, he probably isn't poor.

An extremely faint sneer flashed through her heart, immediately covered by an even sweeter smile.

"Yes... Tianming brother?"

She took half a step forward, her voice softer than on the livestream, carrying just the right amount of shyness.

"Han Ming."

He corrected, his gaze calmly resting on her face.

"Hello~"

Zhong Jiawen extended her hand for a brief, light handshake with Han Ming, subconsciously tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear—a subtle, shy gesture.

"I really didn't expect... you to be so young."

"Didn't expect?" Han Ming asked. "Do you often have meals with older people?"

That one sentence left Zhong Jiawen speechless. She realized her response wasn't smooth and immediately made an offended expression, smiling as she said,

"What are you saying? Isn't it good that I'm complimenting you on being young?"

"Thank you."

Han Ming smiled, his gaze shifting to a building behind her that was lighting up with warm golden lights in the deepening dusk. It had a strong design sense, its signboard written in a very sophisticated font: "Wanghai No. 7."

"Eating here?"

"Mm, this place's dishes are very distinctive."

After saying that, she actually directly reached out and grabbed Han Ming's arm, pulling him into the restaurant together.

Behind the seemingly unremarkable door was a hidden world. As Han Ming stepped in, he was immediately faced with a blue stone screen wall carved with dragons and phoenixes, inscribed with the small seal script characters "Wang Hai" (Gazing at the Sea), preventing one from glimpsing the entire garden at first glance. The reserved style of a traditional Chinese mansion was self-evident. Walking around the screen wall revealed a delicate small courtyard.

Inside an elegantly antique private room, the sound of a guqin drifted leisurely. The staggered rockeries and flowing water outside the window made one feel as if they had escaped Jinghai's bustling night market, transported to a secluded paradise.

Han Ming watched silently from start to finish as the girl finished ordering, after which she enthusiastically chatted with him.

"Brother, what industry are you in?"

"I'm a lawyer."

"Lawyer?" Upon hearing this, Zhong Jiawen's expression involuntarily changed slightly but was quickly concealed again as she found a topic. "Wow, I love watching legal dramas the most. You're actually a lawyer? Then you must have encountered many mysterious cases, right?"

"Yes, I have."

Han Ming watched as the waitstaff brought the dishes one after another, smiling as he spoke.

"Five dishes, two desserts, eighteen thousand. Plus two bottles of 1982 Château Latour, forty-eight thousand. This should be..."

"The urban mystery horror genre."