Chapter 13

Jin Zhaoxuan's plan was as simple as a beginner's quest—but often, the more straightforward the hook, the more it makes the impatient fish feel that "not biting is not Chinese".

Through Liu Jianjun, a local "land god" figure, he connected with several respected veteran experts and journalists who regularly advocated for industrial heritage, along with a few local history enthusiasts active online. They organized a small-scale "industrial memory preservation chat" (held in the Ansteel Museum conference room, with Director Zhang as the host), during which Jin Zhaoxuan casually mentioned:

"Sigh, while sorting through the oral histories and old archives that Teacher Yin gave me, I found some scattered and unreliable clues. It said that before the Japanese surrendered in 1945, the Anshan Steelworks might have had a batch of 'non-military technical data' on the improvement of core processes, which they didn't have time to move or destroy. As for where it went... it might be related to the water tower area."

He emphasized that this was just an "unverified idea" and "a possibility in historical research," urging everyone to be rational and continue to delve deeper.

However, the keywords "core process improvement data", "water tower area" and "may not have been destroyed" are like throwing a big bone with meat in front of a hungry dog.

The news quickly spread within the small circle, and naturally, it also reached the ears of "Xin'an Industry," which was always on high alert.

A few days later, the receptionist at Jin Zhaoxuan Company received a phone call. The caller identified himself as the deputy general manager of "Xin'an Industry," surnamed Sun. He said he had long admired Mr. Jin (he probably only checked the encyclopedia entry yesterday) and was extremely interested in the "Industrial Memory AR Project." He hoped to visit Mr. Jin in person to discuss cooperation and create a better future together.

"The fish are here." Xiao Chen put down the intercom and winked at Jin Zhaoxuan.

Jin Zhaoxuan nodded, a fan-shaped arc of "three parts indifference, three parts sarcasm, and four parts nonchalance" curving his lips: "Ask them to come at three o'clock this afternoon to deliver... no, to have a chat."

At 3 PM, Vice President Sun made a glamorous entrance on time, accompanied by an assistant carrying a bag. In his early forties, impeccably dressed in a suit and tie, his smile was so perfect he could be a bank's brand ambassador. He began by expressing his regret over the "unexpected" failure of the demonstration day, saying, "Oh, what a pity!" (his tone as regretful as if he'd lost a penny). He then proceeded to lavishly praise the project's creativity and Yin Shaoqing's "professionalism" ("That Mr. Yin is like he stepped right out of a history book!"). Finally, he revealed his true intentions, subtly suggesting that their company also had a "passion" for the renovation and historical exploration of old industrial areas and hoped to "participate in some form," such as… sponsorship? Or perhaps a deeper, you know, kind of collaboration?

“I understand what Mr. Sun means.” Jin Zhaoxuan sat in his executive chair, tapping his fingers on the table idly, like a villain plotting a scheme. “However, our project is currently mainly working with museums, so the content is quite content-driven. As for commercial collaborations… we have to be very careful, or it could easily go wrong.”

“That’s right, that’s right, the purity of cultural projects must be protected!” Vice President Sun nodded vigorously, but his tone changed faster than a spinning top. “However, I heard that President Jin has encountered a… minor bottleneck in the data mining? Especially the historical details of the water tower? Coincidentally, our company has also accumulated a lot of materials from the old Ansteel over the years. Maybe we can… share our knowledge and make progress together?”

The fox's tail started to swell with pride.

Jin Zhaoxuan stroked his chin with feigned profundity (inwardly thinking how pretentious the gesture was): "The history over there at the water tower is indeed a tangled mess, with too many different versions of the story. Although our teacher Yin knows a lot, some things can't be proven by words alone; you need some physical evidence to be convincing."

“Physical evidence…” Vice President Sun’s eyes lit up by half a degree, like searchlights. “What does President Jin mean…”

"Oh, they're just some old blueprints, notes, or things left over from back then," Jin Zhaoxuan said casually, as if discussing what to have for dinner. "Professor Yin mentioned that some key technical details might be recorded on those old objects. But after so many years, they're probably rotten or buried somewhere. It's just something that's mentioned in research directions."

Vice President Sun and his assistant exchanged a knowing look.

"Where are they buried..." Vice President Sun repeated, seemingly casually, but his ears were perked up like a rabbit's. "President Jin, if these treasures really exist, where do you think they're most likely hiding?"

“That’s hard to guess.” Jin Zhaoxuan shook his head, his acting exaggerated. “The factory area is so big, and there was chaos back then. But based on fragments of memories from some old workers, it’s possible that something might be hidden under the water tower because of its special structure. Of course, this is just speculation and shouldn’t be taken seriously.”

He paused, as if suddenly remembering the gossip from his aunt next door: "By the way, I heard your company is very interested in that land near the water tower? If you really go to develop it, you should do a thorough archaeological survey before construction begins. If you happen to unearth some historically valuable treasures, that would be a good deed, right?"

Vice President Sun's smile instantly blossomed into a radiant one: "President Jin is right! We will definitely pay attention! So... about data sharing?"

"No problem!" Jin Zhaoxuan slapped his thigh (almost hurting himself). "I'll have our content team compile a list of requirements for you. We also hope your company will be generous in sharing this information, so we can both contribute to the cause of historical and cultural preservation!"

"Absolutely! Absolutely!"

After another round of meaningless but enjoyable mutual flattery, Vice President Sun and his assistant took their leave with satisfaction (or so they thought), their attitude as warm as if they had found a long-lost brother.

After seeing off the two "money-bringers," Xiao Chen leaned over and whispered, "Mr. Jin, did they believe it?"

"Whether you believe it or not is not important." Jin Zhaoxuan looked at the gleaming black sedan slowly driving away downstairs, his eyes playful. "What's important is that they're itching for something, and they'll definitely do something. Greedy people are the easiest to jump into their own traps."

He turned and looked at an inconspicuous tablet computer in the corner of the office. The screen was lit up, and a cartoonish icon of Yin Shaoqing was flashing on it.

"The entire process was recorded, and the preliminary micro-expression analysis is complete." Yin Shaoqing's clear voice came from the flat panel speaker, with a touch of academic rigor. "When this Vice President Sun heard 'physical carrier' and 'under the water tower,' his pupils dilated by about 0.3 millimeters, and there was a barely perceptible twitch at the corner of his mouth, which is a typical mixed reaction of excitement and tension. He is indeed very, very concerned about 'digging something out.'"

"Well done!" Jin Zhaoxuan snapped his fingers. "Keep monitoring them, especially online activity related to 'Xin'an Industry.' They'll definitely be tempted to ask for more details, or... they might just roll up their sleeves and do it themselves."

Over the next few days, things appeared calm on the surface, but the lurking creatures beneath the surface began to extend their claws.

Jin Zhaoxuan had Yin Shaoqing quietly return to the museum project as a "remote technical consultant," while simultaneously maximizing system security, making it resemble the Pentagon's. Meanwhile, through Liu Jianjun's connections, he befriended two retired police officers and a hacker friend skilled at "finding people online" (legally and legitimately!), and began digging into the dark history of "Xin'an Industry" and Zhao Xinguo from various scraps of information, especially their less-than-reputable operations during land acquisition and demolition over the years.

Meanwhile, the urban legend that "the water tower might contain a technological treasure" continued to ferment in certain circles, even spawning fantastical versions such as "it contains Japanese gold" or "it's actually alien technology." Jin Zhaoxuan didn't refute the rumors (except for having Yin Shaoqing occasionally "correct" one or two outrageous claims in a rigorous, almost sleep-inducing academic tone during text interactions), but instead let the impression that "the core information might really exist" take root in people's minds—the more the bait thrashes, the more attractive it becomes.

Fishing requires patience, and you also need to make the fish feel that the bait is fragrant and close enough that they can jump up and grab it.

On Friday night, Jin Zhaoxuan received a preliminary report from his hacker friend.

The report shows that Xin'an Industrial's corporate network has been acting like it has ADHD for the past week, making several attempts to infiltrate the Ansteel Museum's internal network and the company's server through backdoors. Although each attempt was thwarted by the firewall, the company persisted. Meanwhile, Zhao Xinguo's personal encrypted communication account (using some metadata obtained through "you know what I mean" methods) frequently but briefly contacted a certain overseas IP address. The content was encrypted and unreadable, but the timing highly overlapped with the period before and after the "accident" on the demonstration day.

"Tsk, not just local bullies, but also outside help." Jin Zhaoxuan looked at the report, his brows furrowed.

Yin Shaoqing's projection appeared next to his computer (via an internal secure network to ensure there were no backdoors): "Mr. Jin, I compared the scattered features of the 'military special envoy' mentioned in Grandpa Liu's notes (tall and thin, wearing glasses, with an old injury on his left wrist) with old photos of Japanese technical officers who were active in Anshan around 1945 that we could find, and found a vague match. This person is named Takeda Koichi. He returned to Japan after the war. His family was in the trade business. In the 1990s, his family's investment branch participated in the initial investment in Northeast China. One of the funds went to the company that was later reorganized into the predecessor of 'Xin'an Industrial'."

The clues, like scattered pearls, began to be strung together by a thread called "conspiracy."

“Takeda Koichi…” Jin Zhaoxuan murmured the tongue-twisting name, “If he was one of the culprits who forced your adoptive father to his death and indirectly caused your death, then it makes sense that his descendants are now using ‘New An Industrial’ to launch a counterattack and plot against what’s under the water tower. They either know that there’s treasure buried there, or… they’re afraid that the truth buried there will be exposed.”

“No matter what, they won’t give up easily.” Yin Shaoqing’s voice was calm, yet tinged with coldness. “Mr. Jin, the bait has been cast; they’ll bite soon. Should we do something about the water tower beforehand?”

Jin Zhaoxuan stroked his chin and pondered for a while, then shook his head: "No, we won't set up there. It's too open there, easy to be exposed, and we don't have the authority to set up checkpoints there."

"That……"

“What we need to do is wait for them to make their move, and then ‘coincidentally’ run into another group of people.” A glint flashed in Jin Zhaoxuan’s eyes, like a fox spotting its prey. “Brother Liu told me that the Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Cultural Relics Protection Volunteer Association, because of the recent heated discussion about the historical value of the water tower, have planned to organize a routine inspection and preliminary survey of the water tower and its surrounding area next week, as a preliminary step for possible protective planning.”

He looked at Yin Shaoqing, a wicked smile playing on his lips: "Guess what would happen if someone from 'Xin'an Industry' tried to sneak under the water tower to 'take' something before the official inspection, and ended up getting caught red-handed by the inspection team?"

Yin Shaoqing immediately understood: "Caught red-handed, they'll be executed on the spot. Not only will they get nothing, but their ambitions will also be exposed, and they might even be invited for questioning for damaging cultural relics."

"Bingo!" Jin Zhaoxuan snapped his fingers. "So, all we need to do is 'inadvertently' leak the exact time of the Cultural Relics Bureau's inspection (down to a specific dark and stormy night), and then... wait for the fish to come running into the net with their own bodies."

He pulled up a detailed map of the area around the water tower and started pointing: "Brother Liu has already secured the services of several trustworthy sons of veteran workers, who will 'happily' be 'night fishing' or 'strolling' nearby to act as witnesses. My hacker friend will also 'casually' mention the patrol in a 'suitable' anonymous forum, ensuring that 'Xin'an Industry' 'just happens' to see it, but without making it too obvious."

A seemingly simple trap, yet potentially incredibly lucrative, is thus laid.

"I hope they have big enough appetites and big enough guts." Jin Zhaoxuan turned off the map and stretched.

“They will come,” Yin Shaoqing said softly, his tone resolute. “Greed and guilt will drive them here.” He looked out at the void beyond the screen, his gaze seemingly piercing through the data stream, seeing the shadows lurking in the darkness. “Eighty years have passed; it’s time to settle the score.”

Jin Zhaoxuan gazed at his calm and focused profile, its lines smooth, its nose straight, its eyelashes casting faint shadows in the virtual light. Almost unconsciously, he reached out and placed his hand lightly on the projection's shoulder—though he could only feel the air and a faint hum of electricity, and a little… his own inexplicably quickened heartbeat.

“This time,” he said, his voice unconsciously softening, with a gentleness he himself didn’t realize, “we’ll do it together.”

Yin Shaoqing turned her head and met his gaze. The virtual eyes reflected the light of the screen, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved into a shallow and warm arc. That smile was like a ray of sunlight suddenly shining through the window in winter, not scorching, but warm enough to make one's heart itch.

"Mmm," he replied, his voice soft yet firmly landing on Jin Zhaoxuan's heart.

The air seemed to quiet down for a moment, with only the faint hum of the server fan and something silent and quietly growing, flowing quietly between the man and the ghost.