Liu Zixiong died like this, falling to his death from a building, his face unrecognizable to the point that none of his concubines could identify him.
Liu Xuan cried himself unconscious several times. He thought everything was perfectly resolved, only for his father to pull a massive stunt and commit suicide.
How could he possibly handle this?
With such a commotion, the police had to investigate. The final conclusion was that he had been drunk and fallen accidentally.
This outcome was acceptable, sounding better than suicide. Now, rumors were spreading that the Liu family's capital chain had broken and they were on the verge of bankruptcy, with stocks plummeting over ten percent in a single day. Liu Xuan was too busy trying to salvage the stock price to mourn.
At Xie Sui's home, everyone was discussing Liu Zixiong's matter. His death was too sudden.
As Xie Sui remained silent, he finally said, "You all say Liu Zixiong is really dead, don't you?"
"What else? The body has been stitched up and is in the morgue. The funeral hall has been set up. Should we go to the memorial service then?"
Xie Sui: "We must go. We can't neglect the formalities."
He Mengchao muttered, "His face is unrecognizable. Who can be sure he's really dead? That old fox doesn't seem like the suicidal type."
"Didn't they say he was drunk and fell accidentally?"
Du Feiyang was the most flamboyant and the simplest-minded. He Mengchao, on the other hand, was not one to talk much, but was meticulous and serious in his actions. He suspected that Liu Zixiong might have used a body double.
Xie Sui smiled, "Ah Chao is right. To be honest, I had a talk with Liu Zixiong. I told him plainly that we wouldn't reconcile with the Liu family unless he died, and then he jumped. It all seems perfectly reasonable, doesn't it?"
"Yes, isn't it?"
"Whether it is or not, we'll verify it tonight. Do you dare to play a thrilling game with me?"
He Mengchao had a bad premonition. Du Feiyang was as delighted as a dog going hunting. "Dare? Anyone who doesn't dare is a grandson!"
Lin Wanwan was taking care of her son, unaware that the men had hatched a plan and were about to do something crazy.
"Brother-in-law, you're all here. What are you talking about? I'm exhausted, poor me, having to study at my age."
Lin Guoqing had returned. Xie Sui had sent him to a CEO class for a few months, after which he would go to Shenzhen to manage the cosmetics factory.
Sheng Ruyi, being a woman, possessed the innate flaw of men, always feeling that it was not wrong for a girl to like him, given his excellence.
Xie Sui, however, was no ordinary man. He thought it was insane to pity such a woman; she would surely ruin him eventually. Many excellent entrepreneurs had been destroyed by chaotic relationships.
He gave her five hundred thousand yuan to buy her lipstick technology and her remaining shares, warning her never to appear before his family again, or face the consequences.
Five hundred thousand? Was he trying to bribe a beggar?
Sheng Ruyi was naturally dissatisfied. Xie Sui was not one to indulge her. "You're not satisfied? Fine. This factory is losing money so badly. Whose fault is it?"
He would just give it up and withdraw his remaining shares. Sheng Ruyi could be left to play with a warehouse full of lipstick herself.
Sheng Ruyi did not expect him to be so heartless. In the end, she had no choice but to sign, hand over the lipstick formula, and leave. Xie Sui had people keep an eye on her movements, warning that if she didn't behave, this woman couldn't be spared.
Five hundred thousand was a huge sum for ordinary people. Sheng Ruyi simply went abroad and was never heard from again.
Xie Sui gradually forgot about her. Women, he mused, lost their minds when they fell in love. It was too exhausting to deal with women in love.
Lin Guoqing's return made Lin Wanwan very happy. She had good food prepared and treated him like a son.
Xie Sui was unhappy. He disliked his wife showing concern for other men. He pulled Lin Guoqing aside and said, "There's an event tonight. Want to join? You're welcome."
"Of course, that would be great. I'm in."
If Lin Guoqing had a time machine, he would definitely use it now. His brother-in-law was not acting like a human, playing such dirty tricks on his brother-in-law.
That night, a low-key van took a carload of people to the back door of the hospital, near the morgue.
"What are we doing here? It's creepy."
Xie Sui said, "This is what makes it thrilling. You doubt Liu Zixiong isn't real, right? We're here to examine the body."
Lin Guoqing almost blurted out an exclamation. Coming to see a corpse in the middle of the night?
"Brother-in-law, this is the activity you mentioned?"
"Yes, this is thrilling."
He Mengchao remained silent. He slowly put on a balaclava, distributed them to the others, and got out of the car first, pushing open the back door and entering.
They quickly followed. Xie Sui re-evaluated He Mengchao. "Chao, you're quite something. Tough and not much talk, just gets things done."
The group of them, acting suspiciously in the middle of the night, wearing balaclavas like robbers, would be an experience they'd never forget.
He Mengchao had already scouted the route and brought tools. There were no cameras in this part of the hospital, and no one noticed anything.
The old night watchman had gone to sleep early. Who would think of stealing a corpse?
Having been trouble-free for so many years, the old man was just a decoration.
Xie Sui and the others nervously approached the morgue. Rows of freezers lined the walls, with a stainless-steel platform in the center, just big enough for one person.
"Where do we look?"
He Mengchao shone his flashlight, examining the freezers one by one. They were numbered, but had no names. Did they have to open each one?
Lin Guoqing relaxed a little. As long as he didn't see a dead person, he wasn't afraid. He sat on the stainless-steel platform, curiously observing his surroundings. This was a morgue, not that scary.
Xie Sui looked at him speechlessly and asked, "Do you know what this is for?"
"What's it for? It's smooth and fun, like a scrubbing board in a bathhouse."
Lin Guoqing even touched it. What a foolish child. Xie Sui said with feigned concern, "This is for bodies. Sometimes they dress them and prepare them here for their final viewing. It's not too different from a scrubbing board, but one is for the dead, and the other is for the living."
"Ahhhh!"
Lin Guoqing quickly jumped down and hid behind Du Feiyang. "Brother-in-law, don't scare me."
"Why would I scare you? Don't be so nosy, touching everything. With your personality, if you went tomb raiding, you could probably make a walking corpse stand up. You'd definitely be a liability."
"Tomb raiding? What's that?"
Xie Sui's eyes lit up. He had been fascinated by the popular tomb-raiding novels like "Ghost Blows Out the Light" and "The Grave Robbers' Chronicles" in his past life, even studying them and dabbling in antiques.
"Tomb raiding requires a lot of knowledge. Ancient imperial tombs, you could find treasures worth fortunes from just one item.
But they guarded against grave robbers with all sorts of mechanisms and strange things. And there are those thousand-year-old zombies that don't decay. Haven't you seen movies?
They hop around like this, and they're in the tombs. The moment they sense a living person, they pop up. It's terrifying."
"Brother-in-law, you're my real brother, please stop talking."
"You timid little thing, what are you afraid of? Zombies are afraid of black donkey hooves and black dog blood. Everything has its counter. There's always a way to deal with them.
Now, if you gave me a zombie, I could subdue it completely."
"Brother-in-law, what's behind you?"
Lin Guoqing pointed behind him, his face pale.
Xie Sui: "You're trying to scare me, I won't fall for it. There's nothing behind me."
Xie Sui subconsciously reached behind him and felt something. It was hard and cold, not like stone, but not not like stone. His face turned pale. Had he really encountered something unclean?
"Don't just stand there. Lift him up and check him. I investigated. Liu Zixiong was missing a little toe on his left foot. He injured it while working when he was young."
It turned out He Mengchao had found the body and pulled it out, placing it right behind Xie Sui. Lin Guoqing had deliberately tried to scare him.
Of all these people, only He Mengchao was here to do actual work. He truly hated Liu Zixiong.
This distinguishing feature was told to him by Guan Zhizhi. He Mengchao couldn't rest in peace without seeing the real body.
Xie Sui was so angry he wanted to hit Lin Guoqing, but Du Feiyang blocked him.
"No, this corpse is definitely not Liu Zixiong. That old fox, what a masterful 'golden cicada shedding its shell' maneuver."
Xie Sui looked at the naked corpse and stroked his chin. "This guy's got some assets. His muscles are quite solid, and his abs..."
Lin Guoqing shivered with disgust. Why was his brother-in-law so interested in a male corpse?
Du Feiyang and He Mengchao also exchanged strange glances. Could Brother Xie have some peculiar hobby?
"Based on my observation, this person is a trained fighter, likely a bodyguard. Go check who among Liu Zixiong's bodyguards is missing."
The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. So that was it. They had been mistaken.
"Brother Xie is right. I'll go right away."
After this ordeal, everyone was no longer afraid. Lin Guoqing said, "You say he's dead, could this thing still stand up?"
Everyone: "..."
"Are you sick? Let's go. What's so interesting about a naked male corpse?"
Xie Sui shivered from the cold. He'd rather go home to see his wife and kids than waste time here.
Lin Guoqing grinned, "Since they made us come see a corpse in the middle of the night, we should at least give the Liu family something to amuse themselves with."
He actually broke off the corpse's genitalia and propped it up, pouring some water on it to make it stand upright.
Du Feiyang and the others couldn't help but burst into laughter. This guy had potential.
Xie Sui didn't go home. He went drinking with them to dispel the lingering gloom. It was inauspicious to go to such a place, and he was afraid of bringing it back to his child.
The next day, after basking in the sun all day, he felt warm all over before returning to see his child.
He was superstitious about this. In his previous life, he had supported a Taoist priest. Every time he listened to him recite scriptures, his heart would calm down.
He didn't know if he would meet him in this life. He had learned a lot of basic theories from the old Taoist. Some things, even if he didn't believe them, he respected.
The Liu family finally stabilized public opinion. The stock price stopped falling, and preparations for Liu Zixiong's funeral began.
It was quite amusing. Old Master Du's funeral was held without his body, and now Liu Zixiong's was also a fake. These powerful figures didn't rest in peace; they were playing games with people.
Xie Sui and the others attended the funeral. Guan Zhizhi did not come, as it would be awkward if reporters saw her.
Thinking about it was quite melancholic. Both father and son Liu had had a relationship with Guan Zhizhi, and now they were both dead. Beautiful women were poisonous; those with weak fortunes should avoid them.
Lin Guoqing followed Du Feiyang, eager to see everyone's surprised expressions. If Liu Zixiong saw this, wouldn't he be so angry he'd run out of hell?