When Tang Kaiyuan's car stopped outside the gate of the Tang's old house, the restaurant had already prepared a big meal to celebrate Master Tang's victory today.
Tang Xiao had a satisfied smile on his increasingly round face and had been waiting at the table for a while.
This meant that he was in a good mood.
Since the start of the recruitment competition, Tang Xiao would talk about it at the table every day, imagining that his son would perform well in the competition, lay the foundation for entering the First Corps, shine in the military, and the future of the Tang family would be bright.
"What did the hospital say?" Today was a small exception. Tang Xiao still had to pay attention to his son's physical condition. He put off his bold words for a while. "Why did you take so long? It's just a minor problem, isn't it?"
Tang Kaiyuan hadn't swallowed the small piece of pickled meat he stuffed into his mouth when his father's question reminded him of what happened in the hospital just now.
The doctor's serious expression made him uncomfortable, and the chance encounter with Bai Li and Lu Zhao at the garage door greatly reduced his good mood.
"It's okay." Tang Kaiyuan swallowed the food in his mouth and said.
"The doctor at the military hospital kept asking Kaiyuan if he had been stimulated recently," Mrs. Tang sat next to Tang Xiao and said what her son didn't want to say. "He said that Kaiyuan's mental confusion and frequent dreams at night are very abnormal. He is recommended to stay in the hospital for observation and reduce the frequency of using mental power in the near future..."
Before she finished speaking, Mrs. Tang's thin voice was interrupted by Tang Xiao impatiently: "Exaggeration!"
"Those doctors like to make a fuss all day long. They make a fuss about the slightest thing as if he is dying," Tang Xiao said disdainfully. "Kaiyuan is just a little tired recently, so he can't sleep well. If he doesn't sleep well at night, he will definitely be affected during the day."
Mrs. Tang whispered: "I think that machine..."
"That broken machine is also part of the impact, but with Kaiyuan's ability, there is no problem." Tang Xiao looked at his son, "What do you think?"
The food in his mouth was a little tasteless. After facing his father's violence against his mother, Tang Kaiyuan paid more and more attention to some details.
For example, in front of his father, his mother rarely had the opportunity to finish her opinions.
Tang Kaiyuan felt uncomfortable, but he didn't want to make things too awkward with his father.
Just like that machine, he didn't want to use it, but he was reluctant to give up the benefits it brought to him.
It seemed that he had to make a choice for everything, and nothing went his way.
"How about suspending its use for a while," Mrs. Tang took a deep breath and said with a stiff face, "Observe the situation."
Tang Xiao was unhappy that she disagreed with him, but at least he did not explode in front of outsiders like An Lun. He just raised his voice a little: "Let Kaiyuan speak for himself." He asked Tang Kaiyuan again, "Do you think it's okay?"
The tone was a little subtle, as if saying "You really can't do it, right?"
Tang Kaiyuan's heart was gently stabbed.
This time, it was like stabbing the most painful part, and he suddenly remembered Bai Li's face under the street light of the military hospital.
The facial features are still the same, but there is no gloom in the dream. Bai Li is still the arrogant and domineering Bai Da Shaoye back then, and it seems that he will never be able to climb over this mountain.
Instead, he was suffocated by the pressure of the mountain, and a hatred arose in his heart.
Tang Kaiyuan knew one thing very well. If he gave up this machine that could improve his mental power now, he would have no chance of winning against Bai Li.
"No problem," Tang Kaiyuan half-closed his eyes and said in a flat voice, "It's nothing. I have adapted to my current mental power."
Mrs. Tang's face turned green.
"You are worthy of being my son," Tang Xiao laughed, "I knew you would be fine. When you win the competition and step on the kid from the Bai family, it can be regarded as a relief for the Tang family - after decades, the Tang family still stands more firmly and goes further!"
Mrs. Tang didn't hear the rest of the words clearly. She stuffed food into her mouth like chewing wax.
An Lun didn't say a word from beginning to end. He has been much quieter in the past few days.
Dinner ended hastily with the conversation between Tang's father and son.
Tang Xiao drank a little wine, and was a little tipsy when he returned to the study. He sat down on the small sofa in the study and took out two pills to relieve headaches from the medicine box.
His headaches were getting worse and worse, and he refused to follow the doctor's instructions, which weakened the effect of the medicine. Instead, he blamed the doctor for his poor level.
Mrs. Tang saw that he took medicine after drinking again, and did not persuade him. She just waited for him to swallow the pills before she tentatively said: "Can you... not say those words to Kaiyuan in the future?"
"What words?" Tang Xiao asked.
"Let him bring honor to Tang's company or something like that," Mrs. Tang answered carefully, "I don't think that's a good idea. It puts a lot of pressure on him."
"Shouldn't he bring honor to Tang's company?" Tang Xiao said, glancing at Mrs. Tang and sneering, "Or do you feel embarrassed because I mentioned the Bai family?"
Mrs. Tang didn't want to get entangled with Tang Xiao on this issue: "The doctor also mentioned today that stress has a certain impact on Kaiyuan's spirit, and he needs to rest. I think we need to at least suspend the use of that machine."
"Saucy!" Tang Xiao said impatiently, "He is an alpha, it's not that easy for him to collapse. Even if he feels a little uncomfortable, for the sake of his own and the family's future, he should just endure it and get through it."
"But he's already in a lot of pain!" Mrs. Tang finally had enough, "You can't force him to do what you can't do, and you can't pass on your resentment to the next generation!"
Tang Xiao widened his eyes in disbelief, and it took him a few seconds to realize who was contradicting him.
"He's willing to do it!" Tang Xiao said loudly, "It's as if I forced him!"
"You put him on a high position and never allowed him to come down!" Mrs. Tang's body trembled slightly under the pheromones overflowing from Tang Xiao, but her voice did not become lower, "You set up Bai Li as an imaginary enemy for him, and put the whole family under pressure on him... The family will decline, but people shouldn't torture their relatives for a name..."
Tang Xiao felt like a balloon filled with anger that was about to explode. He stared at Mrs. Tang standing in front of him, and the other party's petite body trembled.
"You speak in a high-sounding manner, as if you are a good mother," Tang Xiao laughed and stood up, "You know nothing, you only know how to eat, drink, defecate and urinate, you can't solve problems when you encounter them, you just know how to ask others what to do..."
He stood up like a small mountain of fat, and Mrs. Tang was trapped in the shadow cast by the mountain, and subconsciously took small steps back.
"...Mom, who can't help, now you blame me for the problem of education?!" Tang Xiao pointed at Mrs. Tang's nose and shouted, "You are that kind of person! Stupid and incompetent, you can't help but still make a fuss!"
Mrs. Tang was struck by lightning when Tang Xiao yelled, not because of fear, but because she was confused by what he said.
She was indeed cowardly and never dared to intervene in Tang Kaiyuan's education in front of Tang Xiao. She once blindly believed in her partner, which was also a point repeatedly emphasized in her Omega marriage course. She
had been demanding herself to do what an Omega should do all her life, being gentle and obedient, and taking care of the housework. After marriage, she gradually cut off contact with the outside world, and the focus of her life was only on her partner and son.
So she became "stupid and incompetent" and "can't help".
She felt that something was wrong, but something was right.
"I have the final say in this family!" Tang Xiao was still talking loudly, "My son will not be as weak as you, and the Tang family will not become a ruined family like the Bai family!"
"Don't mention the Bai family to me!" Mrs. Tang roared.
Tang Xiao was stunned by the roar.
The study fell into silence after this roar.
After a long time, Tang Xiao flexed his arms - "Bang!"
Some things will become a habit of the body over time.
When everything returned to normal and Mrs. Tang got up from the ground, Tang Xiao had fallen asleep on the small bed in the lounge next to the study.
The snoring after venting was particularly loud.
Tang Xiao is old. Mrs. Tang sat on the ground and thought expressionlessly that he didn't have enough strength to beat her now, and with a headache and dizziness, he couldn't hold on for long before he had to rest.
The medicine box was overturned, and the pills were scattered all over the floor. She picked up a pill and looked at it.
Then she stuffed it into the medicine box.
In the study, there were only Tang Xiao's snoring and the light sound of Mrs. Tang picking up pills while dragging her clothes that were torn into a mess.
It's not too late now, and there's still time to go out. The small laboratory that Tang Xiao rented to temporarily store the machine is not far away, and it won't take long to drive back and forth.
The operator who was sent with the machine should eat and live in the laboratory.
Fortunately, there was no slap in the face today.
Mrs. Tang picked up all the pills and began to think about another problem.
Normally, Tang Xiao did not allow her to have too much contact with the outside world. She had only been to the laboratory once. The operator basically only told Tang Xiao and Tang Kaiyuan the relevant information about the machine. She had to find a reason to talk to the operator.
She walked into the lounge, looked at Tang Xiao who was sleeping like a dead pig on the bed, and took away the personal terminal that was placed beside his pillow.
The night in the empire was filled with a damp smell. Mrs. Tang ran to the garage in her slippers, and her heartbeat was barely eased until she got on the suspension car.
Although her body was still in great pain, she couldn't help but smile a little.
When the car arrived at the destination, she stepped on the high heels she brought with her, and when she got out of the car, she looked like a noble lady again.
Using Tang Xiao's personal terminal to swipe open the door of the research institute, Mrs. Tang said softly: "Kaiyuan will use the machine again in two days. My partner is a little worried, so let me ask about the situation."
Bai Li received an email from Bai Ying in the evening of the next day. He had just finished a game.
This match was still tough, but it qualified him for the main zone finals.
Tomorrow will be the last match in the main zone, and if white01 wins, he will get a ticket to the finals.
The members of Bai's Research Institute were excited, and the cheers from white01's supporters at the end of the match just now were so loud that they almost wanted to overturn the roof of the main stadium.
Even the assistant who was massaging Bai Li was like a chicken with blood injected, with all ten fingers trembling. Bai Li was terrified, fearing that he would use too much force and leave a mark on his left leg. Bai Li was okay, but he saw Shirosakura's email as soon as he stepped onto the
main stage, and his mood was a bit complicated.
"I said before that there is news about that machine," Bai Li said to Situ, "It was developed by the family of O, who is close to Tang Kaiyuan. It seems that they got the information from the black market. It is quite complete, so they just went ahead and did it."
Bai Li also told Situ about this matter, without mentioning the original plot and the changes made by Tang Kaiyuan, and only talked about the problem with this machine.
Situ frowned and said, "Is this possible? With such complete data, the Empire would have already started to continue. How could it be sold on the black market? Besides, if it really succeeded, it would definitely make a sensation across the country, and the noble family would have become wealthy long ago."
"It seems that it has not been completely successful yet. So far, there is only one successful case, Tang Kaiyuan, and it is not very stable." Bai Li looked at the email, "The side effects are quite large. Yang Han said before that the Empire banned research and development in this field because of an accident."
After reading the email again, Bai Ying's description was very simple, but Bai Li still saw something unusual in the last few sentences.
This information is fine for outsiders, but it is very different for Bai Li.
"Do you know where this information that has ended up on the black market came from?" Bai Li laughed, "It was found on a sunken cruise ship. The original owner has been confirmed dead. He worked at the Imperial Research Institute before his death. He was the person in charge of the mental power development research project and also a professor."
Situ was stunned for a moment, then stood up abruptly: "Ah!"
He pointed at Bai Li's leg and exclaimed "Ah!
" Then he called Yang Han over, shouting "Ah ah".
Yang Han was close to this professor and had worked on some projects with him. After entering Bai Li's research institute, he got along well with the people around him and talked more. He revealed that he had visited the ongoing projects of the Imperial Research Institute with the professor's permission, and had also been in charge of some relatively trivial work.
After hearing the description of the machine and some basic information in the email, Yang Han was shocked and said, "It is indeed a bit similar to the machine in the project at that time. No, it is very similar! But as far as I know, the research institute destroyed the machine after the project was stopped."
"They should have re-developed it based on the professor's information and made a second machine." Bai Li said.
"Impossible," Yang Han said decisively, "All data files of this project can only be processed in the Imperial Research Institute. Logically, the professor cannot transfer the files to his own storage system and take them out of the main planet without permission."
Situ asked, "But isn't he on a business trip? If he is discussing work, it is possible that he brought data with him."
"The professor is in charge of more than one project, and his business trip may not be because of this project." Yang Han explained, "During the research and development period, it was discovered that this project had certain risks. For such projects, the Imperial Research Institute has always been very cautious."
"That's true," Situ nodded, "Generally, such projects will not be leaked until the risks are kept to a minimum."
"I was involved in all the odd jobs related to this project as an intern at the institute, and I was checked when I left to prevent anyone from taking the data away from the institute." Yang Han said, "Come to think of it, it's strange that the professor took a civilian cruise ship at the time. Business trips for large projects have dedicated transportation, and only small projects that can be made public and risk-free are so casual."
Bai Li didn't know much about the Imperial Research Institute, but he heard something from Yang Han and Situ.
This professor who indirectly led to Tang Kaiyuan's spiritual power did not seem to have obtained the project information through normal means, and there were doubts about his business trip.
"You just said that the Imperial Research Institute has made a machine before?"
"Yes, it was made and tested." Yang Han said, "But as I said before, the experimental results were not good, so the project was stopped."
Bai Li asked, "Specifically, what was the effect?"
Yang Han didn't seem to want to say more, but Situ and Bai Li were waiting to hear it. He sighed and said, "The level of mental power of a person is determined at birth. The mental power that the body can withstand is limited. Forcibly raising it itself has huge risks."
"The mental strength of several people who participated in the experiment gradually declined over a period of time, to a lesser degree, to a level lower than their original mental strength. In severe cases, they will have hallucinations, and over time they will not be able to distinguish hallucinations from reality." Yang Han paused. "To put it bluntly, it is a mental breakdown."
Tang Kaiyuan's face with a dazed expression under the streetlight of the military hospital quickly flashed through his mind.
Bai Li intuitively felt that this was not a good thing. Tang Kaiyuan might have stepped into the center of the whirlpool and was on the narrow road to mental breakdown.
Bai Ying's worries were not unnecessary. She noticed the changes in her son and wanted to stop him, but everyone in the Tang family regarded her as a backdrop.
I don’t know how the background board got this information.
Bai Li was in a complicated mood, and he was not at all happy to know that Tang Kaiyuan might solve it himself.
If it were in the past, he might have immediately had an all-night party to celebrate, but now he is much calmer than he thought.
When you really don't care about a person, whether he is doing well or not will no longer cause any disturbance to you.
The only worry is whether he will be affected. It
was not until he got on Lu Zhao's suspension car that Bai Li exhaled, and all the filth in his chest came out with it.
"He will be finished if he keeps doing this," Bai Li said, "He will collapse, and the world consciousness will also collapse. This damn place is so unpredictable and colorful every day."
Lu Zhao has become accustomed to Bai Li's random words, just like he is used to the way he starts his speech by cursing before saying a few words. Anyway, he still has to explain after cursing.
As expected, after cursing, Bai Li told Lu Zhao about Bai Ying's email and his own speculation.
"Originally, this golden finger was quite amazing. How could there be a golden finger that needs to be repaired later?" Bai Li said, "I thought I could just fool around with it, but I didn't expect the world consciousness to give a reasonable explanation. I created a professor, but I didn't do it well, and I killed him. Now I can't make up for it, I deserve it!"
Maybe because he was more relaxed in front of Lu Zhao, and because Lu Zhao was the only one in the world who truly knew his secret, Bai Li's mood was much more relaxed.
Lu Zhao was amused by his smugness and remembered a word Bai Li had said before: "Butterfly effect."
"No, I just did a flapping moth at most." Bai Li smiled, "The wings of the flapping moth are also useful."
He asked Lu Zhao again: "What were you doing just now? You didn't even go to the backstage to wait for me."
"I received a call," Lu Zhao said lightly, "Someone from the legion asked me to ask something."
The wings of the flapping moth are quite useful.
A major accident occurred in the main competition area before, which caused dissatisfaction among not only the participants, but also many spectators.
Especially Bai Li was also affected by the accident.
This person has been awarded the title of "Blind Teacher of Refresh Point" just a few days after the competition, which shows that his luck is really bad. But it is a bit unbearable that he has not been refreshed to a normal place in every competition.
Coupled with the main competition area system failure, supporters of white01 and Bai Li went crazy.
How can one have such smooth sailing with bad luck? Are you guys, the competition committee, trying to squeeze Bai Li alone?
This dissatisfaction quickly fermented, and those who were interested immediately contacted the young leader of the Imperial Research Institute who was dismissed not long ago. This young leader also participated in the preparations for this competition. Can they do something about it? Before, they spread rumors that the Imperial Research Institute only favored high-destructive mechas. Wasn’t that just to scare the research institutes that didn’t produce such mechas to give up? Isn’t the Bai Institute one of the research institutes that didn’t produce such mechas?
If there is a hypothesis, there must be an argument.
The word "Lin" had already been argued before, and the people of the Empire continued to argue and directly argued for the next word.
Mr. Lin Sheng appeared in the public eye in such a glorious way.
Under pressure from all sides, the fallen young leader finally admitted that it was indeed Lin Sheng who spread rumors and disrupted the game before the game.
The hammer of truth fell in front of the public, hitting the ground with a loud bang, and the repercussions were huge. Lin Sheng was a branch of the royal family. The royal family has gradually withered away, and there are not many children left from the branch. He has always lived under the spotlight. There is no need for too much investigation. Lin Sheng's deeds over the years have been exposed.
Under the deliberate guidance of some people, people soon discovered that Lin Sheng was a high-ranking officer of the First Corps in the early years and had direct contact with Bai Li - he was considered Bai Li's leader.
When Bai Li was injured and retired from the military, Lin Sheng also announced his departure from the military and was sent to a satellite planet in a low-profile manner.
If the fallen leader really did these things at the suggestion of Lin Sheng, and if Bai Li's "bad luck" was related to these things, then can it be considered that Lin Sheng was the one who targeted Bai Li?
The only interaction between the two was the short one-year period when they served in the First Legion. What went wrong during this year? Do the two have a personal grudge?
The topic of the call-up for Bai Li to wear the cali flower on the Emerald Star cruise ship at the end of last year was brought up again. Bai Li retired due to injury and the mission failed, but the news was suppressed. There were many inside stories. Why did the official never give any positive explanation?
These doubts quickly expanded when Lin Sheng's name was dug up.
A hypothesis was proposed - could the root cause of the mission failure be related to the royal family?
In this era of information explosion, once many things have signs, the subsequent development is no longer controllable.
Not long after, Lu Zhao received a call from the top brass of the First Corps. The question was asked politely, but Lu Zhao could still hear that the other party was asking indirectly whether he and Bai Li had mentioned the mission to the outside world. The other party also told Lu Zhao that the military was still investigating the matter and hoped that Lu Zhao would keep it confidential and not answer questions that might cause controversy.
The call was made to Lu Zhao, in fact, they also wanted him to pass on the message to Bai Li. One reason for not calling Bai Li was that he had retired for many years, another reason was that the top brass of the Corps really had no face, and another reason was that Bai Li's insults were too harsh, while Lu Zhao at least spoke less.
"How did you answer?" Bai Li was quite surprised.
Major General Lu said succinctly: "I'm hanging up."
"Ah," Bai Li was stunned, "You didn't say a word?"
"He said: I'm hanging up." Lu Zhao explained calmly, "Then he hung up. Anyway, he had finished speaking." After
the other person finished speaking, you are required to give a guaranteed answer, not to hang up as soon as you raise your hand.
Bai Li touched a handful of air on his head and put it on Lu Zhao's head: "From today on, the crown of the 'King of Annoying People' will be yours."
You are so arrogant, Major General Lu, you don't listen to anything you don't want to hear, and you dare to hang up anyone's communication.
Lu Zhao laughed enough, and while opening the personal terminal, he said, "I have something else for you to see."
"What," Bai Li leaned over, but saw Tang Xiao's big face on the video, "How could you let me see this thing!"
Lu Zhao didn't hear Bai Li's cursing, and only said, "You were competing when we were interviewing, and this was forwarded to me by Huo Cun."
The background of the video was outside the competition venue of Division 1. The Tang couple were blocked by reporters waiting outside on their way to watch their son Tang Kaiyuan.
The reporter was quite angry and asked, "Mr. Tang, I heard that you have a close relationship with Mr. Lin Sheng, and Mr. Tang Kaiyuan also works as a driver in Mr. Lin Sheng's research institute. May I ask if you know some of the actions of Shengshi Research Institute?"
Tang Xiao was stunned at first, and then he showed dissatisfaction, but at least he put on the appearance of an old nobleman and said, "I'm sorry, my wife and I have to watch the game and cannot accept the interview."
"Mr. Tang, the relationship between Tang's and Bai's has always been very delicate," the reporter chased after him, "May I ask if you will take this opportunity to suppress Bai's and target Mr. Bai Li?"
"What did you say?" Tang Xiao turned his head and squinted, "You are slandering me!"
The reporter took the opportunity to ask, "Mr. Bai Li has a special relationship with you and your wife. Aren't you angry about the actions of Shengshi Research Institute this time? Or do you have other ideas?"
This is basically asking, "Bai Li is your son no matter what? Not only are you not angry about your son being treated like this by Lin Sheng, but you also let your other son follow Lin Sheng to do it. What the hell are you thinking?"
Although the Bai and Tang families have long been too lazy to even have a superficial relationship, if you really think about it, the Tang family is still a bit disgusting.
Tang Xiao's face flushed red, and Bai Ying, who was standing beside him, obviously shrank.
This hunched shoulder action made Bai Li frown, but he found that Bai Ying's expression was quite calm.
Neither afraid nor panicked.
Before Bai Li could react, he heard Tang Xiao's roar in the video: "Get out of the way!"
The camera shook after he stretched out his hand, and he was obviously thrown to the ground. There was a series of arguments behind him.
Bai Li was silent for a long time, and then he slowly said: "It's cool."
Lu Zhao glanced at him sideways, and Bai Li's expression did not look very happy.
"It's really cool, this old bastard." Bai Li said, "But I've grown from eight to nine recently, I'm more mature, and I've learned not to show my joy."
Mainly, there was a moment when Bai Li saw some old age on Tang Xiao's face that was gradually evolving into a dough ball, and from those eyes that still had spirit in their memories, all he saw was a turbid resentment.
Bai Li realized that Tang Xiao had been living in the desire to get ahead and the hatred towards the Bai family for so many years, and he had become the resentment itself.
It is impossible to reason with such a person, and he will never feel that he has done anything wrong until his death. Don't even think about asking him to compensate you or apologize, he will have to spit in your face if he doesn't.
Tang Xiao was unlucky, Bai Li was very happy, but he was indeed not ecstatic.
These people will sooner or later become insignificant passers-by, and Bai Li will no longer compete with a passer-by.
Lu Zhao patted Bai Li on the shoulder.
The video ended and automatically jumped to the next one.
This was saved on Lu Zhao's personal terminal, and it was directly connected to other videos he saved.
A leg first appeared on the virtual screen, followed by a pair of hands, and then a voice in the video said: "Pay attention to the following points when massaging your legs..."
Lu Zhao raised his hand and turned it off.
Bai Li came back to his senses from the shock, slowly sat up straight, and stammered: "Ah, what, did you learn this specifically?"
Lu Zhao opened his mouth but said nothing.
"Really?" Bai Li pushed him, "You learned it specifically for me, right?"
Lu Zhao couldn't stand him saying "really" eight times in ten seconds, and said helplessly: "It didn't work before, so I wanted to see more."
"Practice is the key!" Bai Li said, "Our army is determined to respond to the call and cooperate with friendly forces in actual exercises when we go home."