Grandfather passed away, and Grandmother was arrested by the police as the murderer.
Upon receiving the news, Lin Han, like a madwoman, charged towards the hospital exit. True to her temper, Lin Han was set on causing a scene with the police. However, just as she reached the hospital entrance, Lin Zhijun, who had just returned, grabbed her. Lin Zhijun's hand, like a steel clamp, held Lin Han tightly and practically dragged her back into the hospital.
"Lin Zhijun, let go of me."
*Slap…*
Lin Zhijun struck Lin Han hard across the face. Even when Lin Han and Lin Zhijun had a falling out years ago, severing their father-daughter bond and causing Lin Han to run away from home, Lin Zhijun had never laid a finger on her. This slap left Lin Han stunned. Lin Zhijun's voice, firm and resonant, declared, "Lin Han, you need to grow up."
"Is this about growing up? Grandfather is dead, and Grandmother is the most heartbroken. Those bastards are calling Grandmother a murderer, and you, Lin Zhijun, aren't saying a word. Are you even a man? You're so pathetic, how can you be the pride of the Lin family?"
"Do you know what it means to be the pride of the Lin family? I will show you with my actions what the Lin family's legacy truly is. I am going to handle your grandfather's funeral arrangements now. And I'll make it clear to you, forget that your grandmother isn't the murderer. Even if the old lady is, I won't let anyone know about this. This is the pride I should have in the Lin family."
At this moment, Lin's mother, with a look of panic, ran over. Lin Zhijun lowered his voice and said to Lin's mother, "Control your daughter. If she dares to cause trouble for me again this time, I'll break her legs and keep her as a cripple for life."
I wasn't far from Lin Zhijun, and perhaps due to some sound wave propagation, I unexpectedly overheard this.
Lin's mother rushed to Lin Han's side, holding her hand, speaking anxiously. I was closer to them, but I couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Fortunately, Lin Han quieted down and didn't act out of stubbornness this time.
Lin Zhijun, having taken control of the situation, then turned to me and said, "Tang Nan, come here. I need to talk to you."
...
Lin Zhijun lived in a high-end residential complex, and his father's memorial hall was set up within the complex for people to pay their respects. At present, Lin Zhijun, dressed in mourning attire, stood before the memorial tablet. Like the filial sons of other families, he quietly kept vigil. Occasionally, he would speak a few words with the elderly visitors, conveying his mother's grief and her inability to receive guests.
I stayed to help, occasionally bringing food to the crying Lin Han. She had been kneeling before the memorial tablet, her eyes swollen like peaches from crying. Slowly, I noticed something. The visitors paying their respects showed no awareness of the old lady's absence. Just as Lin Zhijun had said, he would never let anyone know about the scandal of his father's death and the possibility that his mother was the killer. In Lin Zhijun's own words, this was why he was the pride of the Lin family.
Regarding this matter, Lin Zhijun had entrusted me with a task and given me a million yuan to act as the future grandson-in-law and handle the old lady's affairs at the police station. I didn't intend to take Lin Zhijun's money and sincerely told him that I would help with whatever he asked. Lin Zhijun shook his head, stating that if I didn't take the money, how would he know I could keep a secret? To accommodate his sentiment, I accepted the card with the million yuan.
After returning from the hospital, watching the stream of visitors paying their respects, I gradually understood everything Lin Zhijun was doing. Grandfather, a scholar from an archaeology team, had served as the curator of the Museum of Antiquities. Even setting aside his achievement of raising a successful son, Grandfather himself was a man without blemish throughout his life. Such a person should not be harmed by any rumors. If people were to know that he was killed by the wife he had respected his entire life, what would they think? Their speculative spittle would leave an indelible stain on Grandfather's perfect life.
For rumors to be disbelieved, there must be no rumors. Lin Zhijun suppressed the unruly Lin Han and handled this matter with resolve.
...
I watched everything that was happening with seriousness and began to admire Lin Zhiyuan. His being called the pride of the Lin family was fitting. Initially, there was nothing significant happening at this funeral. Now, all I could do was ponder the events. But at this very moment, I saw someone acting suspiciously, peering towards the mourning tent from behind the community's iron fence.
This person I recognized: Huang Aiguo, the retired elderly man who had blindly followed Grandfather's instructions in the "Heavenly Scheme." Although Huang Aiguo appeared timid, judging by Grandfather's methods, Huang Aiguo was likely Grandfather's accomplice. He bravely stood before reporters to expose the scam targeting the elderly, thus contributing to its resolution.
Knowing this, I was puzzled. If an old friend has passed away, why wouldn't he simply come in to pay his respects openly? Why the furtive behavior? I looked around, feeling there was nothing for me to do here, so I decided to go out and investigate.
...
I went out through the main entrance and walked along the wall. Huang Aiguo was still watching furtively. I tapped him on the shoulder, and he flinched. Turning around and seeing me, he forced a smile and said, "Grandson-in-law!"
"Why aren't you going in if you're here? What are you looking at from outside?"
"I'm not very familiar with Old Lin."
"At a time like this, is there still such a thing as familiarity?"
"No, no, I have something to do. I'll be going now."
Why was this person so strange? Watching his retreating figure, my heart suddenly skipped a beat. The person who reported Grandmother for killing Grandfather—the police still haven't released their findings? Could it be that this Huang Aiguo sent the photograph to the police station?
The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed. Old Ghost had also mentioned a scheme in Xi'an that would impress even him. Could it be that X-driver, upon losing everything, planned to retaliate against Lin Zhijun by using Grandfather's death to ruin Lin Zhijun's reputation?
Using my identity as a tool and employing the tactic of "lizard shedding its tail," X-driver had evaded police scrutiny. If he viewed the entire situation from a higher dimension than I, he would surely know that it wasn't me who ruined his reputation, but Lin Zhijun. If X-driver were truly desperate and seeking revenge, then I must prevent it from happening.
With this realization, I made a decision: I would follow Huang Aiguo.
...
Huang Aiguo visited several places in the afternoon, and he didn't discover that I was following him. Similarly, I couldn't find anything untoward about his actions. Apart from his furtive behavior outside the wall at noon, he behaved quite normally throughout the afternoon.
It wasn't until dusk that he arrived at a storefront. The store had few customers. After greeting a few familiar regulars, Huang Aiguo entered the back room and disappeared from my sight.
The store's signboard read: Cherish Health Health Products Direct Sales Store. In addition to this simple sign, the glass door also had lettering: Free Blood Sugar Testing, Regular Health Education (Free).
Stores like this had been popping up like mushrooms in recent years. There was one in my hometown, and my mother had even gone out of curiosity. However, my mother wasn't yet of retirement age, and the health products were quite expensive, so she instinctively distanced herself from that circle of health product stores.
I had always been repulsed by such health product stores. Later, when I became a strategist and analyzed these stores from that perspective, I realized they were a genuine scam.
As people age, their health deteriorates; this is an inevitable trend. In strategic planning, this trend is called "Heaven."
Health product stores are a location, a territory suitable for brainwashing marketing. The simplest method is to attract elderly people with health concerns by offering free blood sugar testing and then brainwash them through so-called health education lectures. Even so, those elderly people who have saved frugally their entire lives might not be willing to pay for these high-priced health products, which are essentially just ordinary protein powder.
Thus, after Heaven, there is "Man."
In every health product store, there must be elderly people who have been long-term customers and whose treatment effects are remarkable. In magic, we call such people "stooges." In strategic planning, we call them "tool people." In scams, such people are "accomplices."
This simple routine seems to be known to everyone, yet it always works, and elderly people who are "desperate for a cure" always fall for it.
...
Seeing the signboard of the Cherish Health Health Products Direct Sales Store, I immediately formed a judgment in my mind, and I was astonished. My shock wasn't from this scam, but from the realization that Huang Aiguo was a fraud.
This is what I found extremely difficult to understand. If Huang Aiguo was a fraud, how could he have fallen victim to the "Heavenly Scheme" at the Paradise Art Collection and Investment Company? From a strategic perspective, the "Heavenly Scheme" targeting the elderly was merely a variation of the health product scam targeting the elderly. Someone familiar with health product scams would absolutely not be deceived by the "Heavenly Scheme."
At this point, Huang Aiguo had already gone inside. I even considered another possibility: perhaps Huang Aiguo's behavior gave me a wrong impression. He wasn't an employee here, but just like others, he was here to buy health products, and because he bought them often, he was familiar with the people here.
This scenario aligned with my perception of Huang Aiguo, but reality immediately proved me wrong. Huang Aiguo, who had disappeared from my sight for a while, reappeared. This time, he proved his identity within the store: he was wearing a white coat. Customers buying medicine don't need to wear white coats; only staff members do.
The transformation of Huang Aiguo's identity left me somewhat disoriented.
Perhaps this Huang Aiguo is indeed connected to the scheme Old Ghost mentioned.
Observing slowly, understanding the scheme slowly?
From the perspective of breaking the scheme, this is the safest approach. But I don't think X-driver will give me that much time. To understand the truth, I need to be more aggressive and confront the enemy directly.
With this thought, I walked into the health product direct sales store without hesitation.
Seeing me, Huang Aiguo's face changed. However, he quickly composed himself and said with a smile, "Grandson-in-law, what a coincidence!"
"Old Huang, you should know who I am."
Huang Aiguo gave an embarrassed smile. "I really don't know."
"The incident at Paradise wasn't that long ago, was it? Given that you know how to break schemes, you're a bit slow on the uptake. But it's okay, if you don't know who I am, I can tell you: I'm a police officer."
As soon as I finished speaking, Huang Aiguo visibly panicked. This was exactly the effect I wanted.