Final Civilization

Chapter 8: Investment

The morning breeze was gentle along the Ming River. Han Ming had been running for over an hour with his sports earbuds in, and his mind felt much clearer.

He had pushed all his work aside, planning to use the weekend break to properly investigate the things happening to him.

Just then, a call came through.

As soon as he answered, Lin Xiaoyi on the other end directly threw out three words.

"Where are you?"

Han Ming glanced at his watch. "Isn't it a bit early for a meal?"

"Cut the crap. Location."

"Opposite the New World Plaza on Wuxing Road."

"Okay, 10 minutes."

Han Ming had actually been planning to contact Lin Xiaoyi anyway; otherwise, he really had no leads on where to start looking for clues.If the world was about to end, he definitely couldn't be the only one who knew about it. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain the existence of his independent bank account permissions. Something like this was either a state secret or a hidden truth from the world's dark side.

Before long, a white G-Class pulled over by the curb.

Clunk~

The mechanical passenger door of the Mercedes G-Class automatically swung open. From the driver's seat, Lin Xiaoyi, wearing gold aviator sunglasses, flashed him a handsome, toothy grin.

"Get in!"

Han Ming took off his sports earbuds and got into the passenger seat, teasing, "You're really that eager for my treat, huh? It actually got you, Young Master Lin, out of bed and out the door in the morning."

"Heh, of course."

Lin Xiaoyi stepped on the gas. The V8 engine of the Mercedes G63 let out a low roar as they sped off.

...

"What? You saved the daughter of Yan Jing, the chairwoman of Tianzhou International?!"

Inside a private room at the Silver Lamp Restaurant, a Cantonese eatery, Lin Xiaoyi stopped mid-air with his chopsticks holding a crystal shrimp dumpling, looking at Han Ming with a face full of surprise. "For real?"

Han Ming took a sip of tea and said calmly, "Last night, she treated me to a meal and gave me a Maybach and 30 million as a thank you gift. I didn't take the Maybach, but the 30 million is still sitting in my apartment."

Lin Xiaoyi frowned. "Why didn't you take the Maybach?"

"Do I look like someone who drives a Maybach?" Han Ming responded with a perfectly straight face.

Pfft...

Lin Xiaoyi was taken aback for a moment, then put down his chopsticks and chuckled helplessly. Watching Han Ming bury his head in his congee with an indifferent air, he wore an expression that clearly said, "I really don't get you."

"No wonder I heard about some accident at Tianzhou yesterday. Turns out it was a big deal."

"You know Yan Jing?" Han Ming asked.

"The White Widow of Jinghai? Who in the circle doesn't know her? Though I'm not that familiar with her myself. I just didn't expect you to get involved with her." Lin Xiaoyi popped a peanut into his mouth and teased with a laugh, "Han the Confronter, you've hit the jackpot this time."

"White Widow?" Han Ming frowned. "That doesn't sound like a good nickname."

Lin Xiaoyi shrugged. "Two husbands: one's doing hard time, the other's feeding the fish at the bottom of the Ming River. Zhang the Tiger, Zhang Jianqiao, the richest man in Songshan from Huanfeng Aluminum, tried to hit on her. Ended up with only one ball left. He publicly said he'd never set foot in Jinghai again for the rest of his life. The number of men who've been ruined by her is at least eighty, if not a hundred. How do you think she got that nickname?"

Hearing this, Han Ming felt a headache coming on. "I really should have taken that Maybach then."

"How so?"

"Forget it." Han Ming looked at Lin Xiaoyi. "Did you get my thing done?"

"Piece of cake."

Lin Xiaoyi reached into his pocket, pulled out a black USB drive, and tossed it to Han Ming.

"Had a hacker friend make it. Said it uses a Tails system pre-loaded with the Tor browser and stuff. I don't really get it either. Anyway, you can use it directly. But he warned me it's better not to use this kind of thing on your own computer. Also, the anonymous access channel protocol is temporary, only lasts a week."

Han Ming caught it, examined it in his hand, and replied, "I trust you to get things done, Lin the Hound."

"Drop dead."

Lin Xiaoyi laughed and cursed, then his tone turned puzzled. "By the way, what kind of huge case is it that requires you, the great lawyer Han, to look for clues like this? Why not let me help you find them? Isn't this kind of illegal anyway?"

"What if I told you I'm investigating clues about the end of the world? Would you believe me?"

"Sure." Lin Xiaoyi grinned. "And then? Saving the world? What's in it for us?"

"The benefit is you can keep chasing after the new beautiful mid-laner your esports company just signed, or that coser who just got popular, what's her name... Sherry~"

"Then this matter is of utmost urgency! I implore the great lawyer Han to stand up and stop the end of the world, to continue the ten-thousand-year great undertaking of our human race!"

"Just wait and see."

"Hiss..."

Just as Lin Xiaoyi was about to take a sip of congee, he suddenly remembered something and murmured, "Weird. I feel like I remember someone else also talking to me very seriously about the end of the world."

Han Ming took a sip of tea. "Who?"

Lin Xiaoyi looked at him, his expression turning deep.

"Tao Jie."

Han Ming's hand, holding the teacup, paused. Hearing that name, he felt momentarily dazed, as if a distant memory had been stirred.

Back at Jinghai University of Law, Tao Jie was a star senior, one year above Han Ming, the campus goddess in countless hearts, the standard model of an academic ace plus a beautiful rich girl.

Back then, Han Ming had actually pursued her—one of the few times in his life he had actively pursued a girl. But Tao Jie was surrounded by countless young talents from prominent families, and Han Ming's pursuit didn't succeed.

They just became ordinary friends, had some interactions, and basically lost contact after graduation. Han Ming hadn't seen her since.

In the following years, Han Ming had occasionally heard about Tao Jie through alumni gatherings or other channels. It was said that after graduation, she went to the UK for further studies, returned to China early and got married, only to be in a car accident on her wedding day. Her husband died, and she was paralyzed from the waist down. Just like that, a once radiant campus goddess faded from everyone's sight before the cruelty of fate.

Han Ming had thought about visiting her, but since they'd lost contact and she never showed up at alumni events, he gave up.

"You've seen her?"

Lin Xiaoyi nodded, recalling, "Seems like it was a few months ago. At a charity dinner in Favier, Sweden, I ran into her and chatted for a bit."

"Chatted about the end of the world?"

Lin Xiaoyi frowned as he described it. "How to put it... She seemed like a completely different person. Silent, gloomy, utterly unlike the Tao Jie from back at Jinghai University of Law. But she was still very beautiful, so I asked her if she remembered you, the great lawyer Han, if she had any feelings for you or anything."

"Piss off."

"Hahaha... Just kidding. I originally wanted to chat with her about how she'd been these past few years, you know, just small talk. But she started talking about stuff like life, the past, the future, and even asked me a question just like the one you asked."

"What question?"

"She asked me, if the world ended tomorrow, what would I do?"

Lin Xiaoyi took a deep breath. "I was thinking at the time, maybe the blow she suffered was too great. Her mind might have been a bit affected."

Han Ming frowned slightly, feeling an inexplicable sigh in his heart.

In previous cases, he had come across many people whose personalities had drastically changed or who had developed mental issues due to major life trauma. But he never expected something like that to happen to that bright and sunny senior from his law school days.

"Hey, Han the Confronter." Lin Xiaoyi changed the subject. "What are you planning to do with those 30 million?"

Han Ming finished his congee, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said directly, "Give it to you."

"To me?"

"Yeah, to you."

"For free?"

"Get lost."

Han Ming said, "Keep it with you. Do some investments or whatever. Handle it as you see fit."

Lin Xiaoyi smiled. "Not afraid I'll lose it all for you?"

"Turn it into 10 times the amount within a year."

"Why don't you just die!" Lin Xiaoyi burst out laughing. "Warren Buffett's annualized return is only 20%. You want 1000%? Making wishes here?"

"I believe your investment vision is no worse than Buffett's."

"Flattery won't work."

Lin Xiaoyi looked at Han Ming with a strange expression. "Speaking of which, 30 million is a decent little fortune, right? How come you don't seem excited at all?"

"Little fortune?" Han Ming said seriously. "Only you, Young Master Lin, would call that a little fortune. An ordinary person couldn't earn 30 million in a lifetime."

"Right, so why aren't you excited at all?"

"Am I an ordinary person?"

"How long has this condition been going on? What does your doctor say?"

"Handsome, dashing, imposing presence."

"Even more shameless than me..."

After the meal, Han Ming had Lin Xiaoyi come straight to his apartment and take away the suitcase with the 30 million.

This money didn't need to be hidden. Letting Lin Xiaoyi handle it for investments was the best approach. Moreover, Han Ming had another purpose.

With this money serving as the visible source of his wealth, using his unlimited account would become much more reasonable.

In society, if a person's wealth appeared out of nowhere, it would inevitably raise suspicion. Yan Jing's money had come at just the right time.

After Lin Xiaoyi drove off, he called Han Ming again.

"I sent you Tao Jie's contact info. Oh, and my mom's been mentioning it for ages. Find some time to come over for a meal."

"Got it."

Han Ming's relationship with Lin Xiaoyi's family was very good. Mrs. Lin treated him like a son. Back in high school, he often ate at the Lin household. But because Auntie Zou was just too enthusiastic—so enthusiastic that she always tried to introduce him to her sister's daughter or some relative's daughter—he found it hard to handle. So, for the past few months, he had used work as an excuse to avoid going over for meals.

Judging by Lin Xiaoyi's tone, he was probably getting a headache from his mom's nagging too.