Chapter 89 Ling Changye
"Wait a moment, just a moment."
Xia Bai ran to the bedroom and took out a notebook from his schoolbag. "I don't know if you have seen the gods of happiness in my house. I drew them. If you see them, please contact me as soon as possible."
Xia Bai had drawn the gods of joy into the family tree before, but the drawing was quite simple, and the family tree was not easy to show to others.
He reflected that he had only described to others what the God of Joy looked like, which was too abstract. So during this period, he learned sketching while drawing the God of Joy.
He thought that since he could make up corpses, learning to paint should be easy, but he didn't expect to encounter his first Waterloo in his life. It's hard to describe. If it wasn't Lao Qian, if it was someone else, he would be too embarrassed to show it now, and he would have to paint for another two months.
Lao Qian accepted Xia Bai's sketchbook.
Xia Bai was very relieved that Lao Qian did not open the sketchbook immediately. If he had checked his skills for more than half a month on the spot, he would have been embarrassed.
It was really time to go now. Old Qian returned to his normal self and reached out to touch Xia Bai's head.
He is old, but not hunched at all. When he was young, he was as tall and strong as Lin Xiang, and when he was old, he was still taller than Xia Bai. Touching Xia Bai's head was as natural as a grandfather touching his grandson's head.
"Xiaobai, you have to be well."
Xia Bai was stunned for a moment, looked at his kind and vicissitudes eyes, and nodded vigorously.
"Go back." said Lao Qian.
He closed the door for Xia Bai, took Xia Bai's sketchbook and left.
When he came out of the hotel, it was almost dark, and he saw Ling Changye returning to the hotel. There were some people following him, and they didn't know if they recognized him in his original appearance, but just glanced at him and strode into the hotel.
It was December and even Datai City was getting a little cold. He was wearing a long black coat and a black shirt underneath. The rare all-black look made his eyes and eyebrows look a little cold, and the sides of his eyebrows and nose were as sharp as the wind.
There was a car waiting for Lao Qian outside the door. After Lao Qian got in the car, the car started and slowly drove on the wide road in the twilight.
Old Qian opened the sketchbook Xia Bai gave him. Xia Bai probably thought his painting was not that good, so he wrote detailed instructions next to the portrait.
Lao Qian turned to the third page, and a portrait of the God of Joy, who looked like a handsome middle-aged man, stayed there for a long time.
He touched the corner of the page and turned to look at the lights on the tall buildings outside the car window. It was a brilliant sight with thousands of lights.
"I wonder how long these lights will last," the man in black in front of him said.
Lao Qian: “Maybe it will last a long time.”
"No, the next large map is coming soon. What's on the large map?" The man in black didn't seem to be asking, but talking to himself.
Old Qian asked: "Psychic, what did you sense from the president?"
The man in black said, "I have already told you what I have sensed. Humans cannot resist the game. The progress of human submission has reached the middle and late stages."
The light flashed and the corners of his pale lips tilted upwards. He smiled, "Old Qian, just wait and see."
The car turned into another road and began to accelerate.
Xia Bai returned to the room and saw Erwa still sitting on the sofa, holding his sister Xuemu in a coffee cup. His little face was a little confused, and he whispered to himself in a small voice: "Grandpa?"
Xia Bai: “…”
Xia Bai walked over and poked the little white flower on his ear, "Isn't it grandpa?"
Erwa thought hard, "She's old, is it... Grandma?"
It turned out that Erwa could sense Lao Qian's real age, but he just couldn't sense her correct gender, so he still called Lao Qian "sister" instead of grandma.
I knew Erwa was a very polite kid from the first time I met him.
Xia Bai praised Erwa for this without hesitation, which made Erwa sprout more little white flowers. Fortunately, this time there were also little green buds.
Looking at the white petals falling from his body, Xia Bai reasonably suspected that Erwa's tree was a small handball or snow willow.
While I was picking up petals, there was a knock on the door.
Ling Changye came back and asked them to have dinner together.
Erwa picked up the coffee cup, Xia Bai picked up Erwa, and was very active when he thought of the white rice and spicy potato shreds, "Here we go!"
Ling Changye looked at Erwa who was about to be drowned by the little white flowers and asked, "What did you do to him again?"
Xia Bai: "Just praising him for being polite."
Ling Changye felt that the little white flower was too hopeless.
On the way to the restaurant, Xia Bai asked him, "What did Director Yan say to you again?"
"It's still about the Holy Tour Guild and the Half Moon Group." Ling Changye said, "You weren't here for a week, so you didn't see him getting anxious and angry, and a circle of blisters on his mouth."
Players' affairs, especially those with skills who refuse to obey the Game Management Bureau's discipline, can easily lead to major incidents that affect social stability. It's no wonder that Yan Jingye is under so much pressure.
Xia Bai: "Then you can't leave yet?"
Ling Changye: "I wanted to leave, but Director Wang asked me to stay for two more days."
Xia Bai thought for a moment and said, "Old Qian said that the Shengyou Guild and the Half Moon Group might have a fatal battle in the next two days."
He didn't know whether this had anything to do with the fact that the director asked Ling Changye to stay for two more days. He didn't know how many tricks these "poor" old guys had.
Xia Bai: "I'll stay for a day or two, too. I don't have classes on Monday morning."
Ling Changye didn't ask or say much, "Okay."
Lin Xiang was very happy to have an extra camouflage prop. When Xia Bai said that he wanted to stay one more day and leave on Monday morning, he immediately said he wanted to stay one more day as well.
Xia Bai: "Don't you have classes on Monday morning?"
Lin Xiang: "Isn't the Mao Zedong Thought course in college just for escaping?"
Xia Bai: “…”
That night, together with Yang Mei and Erwa, the five of them had a sumptuous meal and were very happy, but Yang Mei's appetite did not seem as good as usual.
Xia Bai knew why, and Yang Mei didn't know why Yang Yi came to this game, but she was always a little uneasy.
Xia Bai actually wanted to stay one more day to see what would happen between the Holy Travel Guild and the Half Moon Group. However, unlike what he expected, the fatal battle between the Holy Travel Guild and the Half Moon Group did not take place.
Originally, the Tourism Authority detected that they were gathering, but when they rushed over, they had already dispersed and there were no casualties.
Then they left Datai City.
Yan Jingye was surprised and happy, and showed them the video that the Tourism Administration had retrieved from the surveillance camera. "They really left, not only the Holy Tour Guild, but also some people from the Half Moon Group."
Xia Bai saw Lao Qian, You Yue and a man in black in the video. From his position standing between Lao Qian and You Yue, he could guess that he should be the only vice president of the Shengyou Guild, the [Psychic].
In addition, they also saw a very unexpected person, Xu Qingming, also known as Yang Yi.
They got into the same car together, and surveillance cameras across Datai City were able to see that their car got on the highway and left Datai City.
Xia Bai didn't understand, "Why did Xu Qingming go with them?"
Ling Changye looked at Yang Mei who was biting her lip. Yang Mei frowned tightly. "The Shengyou Guild is originally a group of evil people and lunatics. It's not surprising that he went there. He is just an inhuman lunatic in scientific research."
In the Dihao Apartment game, they were preparing to go to the world of the living together. Yang Yi came to them and said that the world of the living was very dangerous, and told them not to let Yang Mei go, so he would go instead.
At that time, Ling Changye told Yang Mei his speculation, saying that Yang Yi might be going to do something big, and before doing it, he would play a game with his younger brother and protect his younger brother one last time.
really.
He left with the people from the Holy Travel Guild. He was the vice president of the Travel Management Bureau's Research Institute and a talented pillar of the institute. This was a big deal no matter where he went.
Regardless of the overall situation, for Yang Mei, from now on, they belong to hostile organizations and may even rarely meet.
Xia Bai saw that Yang Mei's nails had dug deeply into her palms.
The director of the Tourism Administration Bureau quickly made a video call to the director of the branch bureau. When Lao Wang saw that he was there, he seemed not to recognize him, just like last time.
He said to Yan Jingye: "I just received Yang Yi's resignation letter. Is he still with you?"
Yan Jingye said hurriedly: "We just saw Vice President Yang and the people from the Shengyou Guild leaving."
Director Lao Wang looked to the side a little, and it was unclear who he was talking to: "It's not just Yang Yi. Before, several scientists in the Shengyou Guild took the initiative to join. What do they have?"
Xia Bai pretended not to hear and looked confused.
Lao Wang: “…”
He was silent for a few seconds, then sighed and said meaningfully, "It's because I'm unpopular."
Yan Jingye said hurriedly, "No, no, our Tourism Administration, from the headquarters to the branches, everyone loves you, Director."
Xia Bai agreed with a blank face, "Yes."
“…”
The director's lips twitched and he said, "Okay, since the Shengyou Guild has left, you can leave too. Chang Ye has been busy in Datai City for many days, so take a good rest this week and don't play games anymore."
Ling Changye: "Thank you, Director."
Xia Bai asked: "What about me?"
Director: "...If you want to leave, leave. If you don't want to leave, can I still control you?"
Yan Jingye took one more look at Xia Bai and realized that Xia Bai was not simple. He began to think about whether he had treated Xia Bai poorly during his two visits.
After the director hung up the video, Yan Jingye quickly invited them to dinner.
Ling Changye wanted to refuse, but when he saw that Xia Bai had something to ask Yan Jingye, he agreed.
None of them drank alcohol, they just ate slowly and chatted.
Xia Bai asked Yan Jingye: "Brother Yan, is there any news about Dihao Apartment? What should we do?"
Of course, he was not asking about the game, but about the real world, the Dihao Apartment that actually existed in Datai City.
When they entered the game, the apartment building was not actually sealed off. It was old and shabby, and the garbage piled outside had been rotting and stinking because no one had dealt with it for a long time. Even homeless people wouldn't approach it on weekdays.
Just like the Dihao Apartment in the game, it seems to have been forgotten.
The night he left the game, Xia Bai searched the Internet for the name of every resident in the Dihao Apartment game, and only found one person, Gao Xuan, who might be related to the game.
——A crazy woman living in an abandoned building, talking to herself every day while holding the portrait drawn by her daughter.
He also looked up information about some former residents of the Dihao Apartments in real life. When the Dihao Apartments were first blocked, some people came to make trouble, saying that this was their only home in Datai City and they protested against the blockade of their home.
There is another piece of news that the owner of those piles of sorted garbage, an old man who made a living by picking up garbage and was scolded by his neighbors every day, has passed away.
In reality, there are also many miserable people living in Dihao Apartments.
The Dihao Apartment in the game might be forgotten forever, left to decay and bury all its secrets. Before leaving Datai City, Xia Bai wanted to know what would happen to the Dihao Apartment in reality.
"Don't tell me, I really know." Yan Jingye said, "After you finished the game, we immediately told the relevant departments that Dihao Apartment had become the safest place in Datai City. Several real estate developers and several large local companies who received the relevant information called us that day."
"Oh my god!" Lin Xiang suddenly realized, "My family doesn't know!"
“…”
Lin Xiang patted his head and said, "Why didn't I think of this? Our family should buy a piece of land like this."
Yan Jingye glanced at Ling Changye and said, "Even if I thought of it, it should be a bit difficult. I heard that the land was acquired by Ling Yun. As far as I know, Ling Yun is the real estate company of Captain Ling's family, right?"
Lin Xiang: “…”
Xia Bai: “…”
Lin Xiang was neither angry nor did he dare to speak. Someone in his circle once said that this was the reason why the society was in turmoil and some wealth and power were being reshuffled, while the Ling family remained standing.
Why?
Because the young master of that family is the captain of the assault team.
Maybe a major murder happened there some time ago, and the place is being blocked off and no one is optimistic about it. So people went to negotiate, and after the negotiation, that place appeared on the list of key targets, and immediately became a doomsday safe haven that was snapped up.
Who says ordinary people are nothing in front of players? Just try the Ling family. Which player doesn’t want an absolutely safe house?
Yan Jingye said to Xia Bai: "So, that Dihao Apartment is about to become the most popular place in Datai City. It may jump from a slum to a wealthy area in Datai City."
Any player knows that where the game has come, the game will never come again. If the players know this, their families will know where to buy a house, and many powerful people also know this.
In the past few months, two places in their Datai City have become such safe zones, one is Wugu Village and the other is Dihao Apartment.
In Wugu Village, which is so remote that it can’t be more remote, there are already wealthy people building villas there. What’s more, the Dihao Apartments are right in the city center. One can imagine how much the new houses in this place will be snapped up in the future.
Of course, the price will never be low.
Yan Jingye, a native of the area, was very emotional when he talked about how the area had changed from a neglected slum to a highly-watched wealthy area.
The life of people, the life of the land, the life of the city.
Ling Changye didn't expect that this was what Xia Bai wanted to ask. If they had known this, they wouldn't have to come for this meal.
"It is indeed Ling Yun."
Ling Changye usually doesn't care much about the family business, but one department in Ling Yunli is a little special, so such matters will be reported to him.
"The cleanup started yesterday." Ling Changye knew what Xia Bai was concerned about, and he said, "It will be rebuilt soon. For this kind of project, Lingyun gives very high compensation for demolition, basically a new house and money."
Yan Jingye: "I hate that I didn't buy a house there at that time. This is the real wealth from demolition."
Ling Changye smiled and said, "Director Yan, you are joking. Do you still need these three melons and two dates?"
Yan Jingye laughed out loud, "Don't make fun of me, I know that the price of this new house must be close to the core area of Fengning City, and it is hard to find a house."
They talked and laughed as they ended their last dinner in Datai City.
The next day when they went to the airport, their car drove around to Dihao Apartments and happened to see the building launch of Dihao Apartments.
This apartment building, which had been in Datai City for more than 20 years, collapsed in front of them, and no one knew what kind of joys and sorrows it had buried.
Soon, the tallest residential building in Datai City will be built here. I wonder what stories will unfold here.
Xia Bai glanced at the group of people watching not far away and said, "Let's go."
"Let's go!" Lin Xiang stretched out his arms. "After we leave, we won't come to Datai City again, right?"
Ling Changye: "I probably won't come again."
Lin Xiang: "Hey, see you again, mysterious Datai City."
The five of them went to the airport together. Xia Bai and Lin Xiang took a plane back to Jiangqi City to go to school. Of course, Erwa followed them. Ling Changye and Yang Mei took a special plane of the Tourism Administration. The plane would first take Yang Mei back to Fengning City, and then take Ling Changye back to his home.
Before the plane took off, Xia Bai asked Ling Changye: [Captain, isn't your home in Fengning City?]
He always thought that Ling Changye's home was in Fengning City, where the Tourism Administration Bureau was located.
:[My family is currently in Fengning City, but this time I am going back to my hometown, Jiangyi City.]
Jiangyi City is a municipality not far from Fengning City. It is a very famous city with developed tourism and commerce.
On the second night after arriving in Jiangqi City, Lin Xiang suddenly called Xia Bai and asked, "Has Captain Ling returned to his hometown? He just heard my parents mention it, and then he remembered that it was almost the anniversary of Captain Ling's father's death, and he should go back to visit his father's grave."
Xia Bai was stunned, "Death anniversary?"
Lin Xiang: "Yes, didn't Captain Ling's father suddenly disappear that year? We couldn't find him no matter how hard we looked. Half a year later, under pressure from all sides, he was declared dead. No one knows the exact day he died. The day of the announcement was the time of his death. This Sunday is the seventh anniversary of his death. Maybe a family like his has to prepare a lot of things for the anniversary of his death, so he went back early."
"Alas, Captain Ling's family didn't believe his father was dead at the time. But it's been seven and a half years, it's unlikely that he's still alive. I heard that they all accepted it, except Captain Ling... I don't know if he has accepted it now."
Xia Bai: "He doesn't seem to have accepted it, but he's not looking for it in such a hurry. Maybe he's in the process of slowly accepting it."
Lin Xiang hummed, "Captain Ling had just entered the first year of high school that year. I heard that he hadn't been to class for more than a year. That year must have been quite difficult for him."
Xia Bai held the phone in his hand without saying anything. Lin Xiang knew he was listening. He thought for a moment and said, "Xia Bai, let me tell you a little gossip."
Xia Bai knew that the gossip Lin Xiang was talking about must be related to Ling Changye, so he immediately spoke up: "You tell me."
Lin Xiang said: "I heard that Captain Ling's family has a history of hereditary mental illness, but I don't know what it is."
Xia Bai was stunned again. He couldn't imagine that Ling Changye had a history of genetic disease in his family. He was the most emotionally stable person he had ever met. He was usually very easy to talk to and often had a nice smile on his face.
He subconsciously said, "How could it be?"
"You don't believe it either, do you? I was also surprised when I heard it, and I didn't believe it."
Lin Xiang said: "I know about this because, as you know, in a family like his, engagements are often arranged at a very young age. I heard that there was a girl who was a good match for him, and both families wanted to let them date. The girl resisted very strongly, saying that she didn't want to marry a mentally ill person and have a mentally ill child. Many people in the circle knew about it."
"It was because of this so-called family-inherited mental illness that Captain Ling's father disappeared for half a year and was presumed dead outside. It's normal for a person suspected of mental illness to die outside."
Xia Bai uttered a low "hmm".
Lin Xiang said: "They can say what they want. Anyway, I don't believe that Captain Ling has this gene. He is the calmest and most calm person I have ever met."
Xia Bai found the organization and immediately said, "I don't believe it either."
Lin Xiang: "Next time I hear them say this, I will definitely stop them severely."
After talking for a while, Lin Xiang was about to hang up the phone, and Xia Bai suddenly asked: "Where is that girl who almost got engaged to him back then?"
"Oh, her family went bankrupt and is no longer in the first-tier wealthy circle. Now they are worse off than my family." After saying that, Lin Xiang realized, "No, why are you asking this?"
Xia Bai said with a blank face: "Gossip is human nature."
Lin Xiang: “…”
When Lin Xiang decided what to ask, he found that Xia Bai had already hung up the phone.
very good.
When Lin Xiang called, Xia Bai was having dinner. For some reason, when they first went to Datai City, Yan Jingye had arranged spicy and sour potato shreds for every meal, but the second time, there was no such dish, not even once.
Xia Bai made himself a large plate of crispy, sour and spicy shredded potatoes, and also steamed a pot of fragrant rice that Song Lu specially sent to him. He just ate a little, but now he has no appetite.
He looked at Erwa, who was sitting opposite him and slurping potato shreds one by one, and asked, "Erwa, you don't have the appetite to eat, are you missing the captain?"
Erwa raised his head before he even finished eating the shredded potatoes.
Xia Bai: "Do you want to meet the captain?"
Erwa looked confused as he held the shredded potatoes in his mouth.
Xia Bai: "Okay, I'll take you to see the captain."
Erwa sucked the shredded potatoes in and said softly, "Okay."
Xia Bai immediately sent a message to Song Shi: [Have I decided on my game mission for this week? Will the captain still go to the dungeon this week?]
Song Shi: [I am not sure whether Team Ling will download the game this week.]
The members of the assault team have a mission once a week, but the rules are not so rigid. If something happens, the game mission can be postponed to the next week, or all the missions for a month can be postponed to one week.
Normally, members would go on a weekly mission. Even if the captain did not enforce weekly missions, he had been doing so for such a long time without making any exceptions.
This time Song Shi said he was not sure, he should also know that this week was special. As a member of the service team of the assault team, he should know more than Lin Xiang.
Xia Bai was a little embarrassed to speak.
Song Shi took the initiative to ask: [Do you have any requirements for this week's game tasks?]
Xia Bai: [That is, is there anyone in Jiangyi City on the list of players in the game?]
Song Shi did not reply immediately.
Xia Bai didn't want to go into this topic any further, so he pretended that his silence was a tacit agreement, and directly tagged Song Lu: [Sister, please book a flight for Erwa and me to Jiangyi City on Friday at noon.]
Song Lu: [Don’t you have classes on Friday afternoon?]
Xia Bai: [I heard.]
Song Lu: [Hmm?]
Xia Bai: [I used to skip Mao Zedong Thought classes in college, especially since they were held on Friday afternoons.]
Song Lu: [……]
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