Chapter 5 Chapter 5: The Eve of the Great War

The door like the ace of spades was opened, and an old face faced me.He is a thin old man with a pair of imported brand glasses on the bridge of his nose, and the pair of small eyes behind the lenses have long lost their light.His drooping eyelids and bloodshot eyeballs tell me that lately he has been struggling to find a son.The old man's skin is good, and he should have undergone more than one skin-lifting operation. He has not dyed his hair, and his thin silver hair swayed slightly with the wind blowing into the door.He was wearing a silver suit. The workmanship of the suit was very elegant, and it should have been tailored for him by a senior tailor.

The old man didn't shake hands with me, but hugged me tightly, his deep voice tinged with sadness, "I finally hope you back, Master Six." He took off his glasses, and gently touched the corners of his eyes with his knuckles, " I am your father's housekeeper. My name is Yang Limin, you can call me Lao Yang." "Nice to meet you, Lao Yang." I gradually adapted to the scene, "I am Lei Kehua." "I know, I know." Yang Limin led me into the house, and the door automatically closed behind me. I looked down at the carpet under my feet. The pattern on it was ordinary, but Lao Yang said that it was specially made by an Italian designer for the master.The living room is small, and there is only a 19th-century grandfather clock. The angel pattern on the clock face tells me that it may be a plaything of some foreign emperor.There are three stairs in the left, middle and right directions of the living room, but I don't know exactly where they lead.Lao Yang led me up the stairs on the right and into a long corridor.There are windows at a very high place on the upper right of the promenade, and the color of the windows is very similar to that of churches in Europe and America.The ceiling at the top of the corridor is painted with blue sky and white clouds, and a group of little angels gather among the clouds.When I was wondering, Lao Yang pointed to the room on the left.Through the glass door shaped like a screen, rows of benches are placed among them, and there is a statue of Jesus right in front of the benches.Here Jesus is not naked and tied to the cross, but is wearing a pure white holy garment, with his palms up and his hands outstretched, as if embracing all living beings.

"Master led us to pray here every day in his later years," Yang Limin said. I understand, Lei Yuguo did too many evil things to his maids and his own flesh and blood when he was young, and now his time is running out, and he wants to use repentance to clean up the evil seeds he planted.Well, but he has committed too many mistakes, and I am afraid God can't help him. If you observe carefully, this confessional room can accommodate more than 300 people. There is a white booth directly under the statue of Jesus, which is full of flowers.Right below the booth, I saw a beautifully crafted white coffin, which was also filled with small white flowers.Needless to say, the thing has locked onto its owner.

Yang Limin pushed open the door at the end of the corridor, and here is Lei Yuguo's current bedroom.Four men and two women turned their backs to me, and all I could see was the blanket on the old man's body.Seeing that everyone was present, Lao Yang gently closed the wooden door of the bedroom. Instead of introducing me to everyone, he took my hand and led me to Lei Yuguo.I huddled next to a bald man, who was Lei Yuguo's surviving eldest son, one of the three brothers the boss wanted to deal with. Before I could clearly see the appearance of the boss, the butler held my hand and Lei Yuguo's hand together.Lao Yang whispered in Lei Yuguo's ear, "Master, the Sixth Young Master is back."

Looking at the face of "father", I immediately frowned.This face is completely distorted, his eyes are only narrowed into a slit, his lips are as pale as his skin, and the clearest part of his facial features is his nose, with two slender oxygen tubes inserted in the nasal cavity, Lei Yuguo Just rely on them to maintain their own breathing. The palm of Lei Yuguo's hand has shrunk severely, and at first glance it looks a bit like the sharp claws of an animal. There is a hanging needle stuck in the back of his hand, and there are two hanging bottles and a hanging bag on the shelf next to it. The hanging bag is very large, and it contains Milky white liquid, I have seen this thing in the intensive care unit of the hospital before, it is a nutrient solution, Lei Yuguo has lost the function of eating, and can only rely on this liquid to maintain his life.His pitiful appearance makes people sad, but a poor person must have something to hate. He did so many bad things when he was healthy, and he is completely responsible for getting to where he is today.

I think so in my heart, I can't just say it casually.I squatted beside "Father" and said softly, "Dad, it's me, but Kehua is back." Lei Yuguo's lips moved, and he seemed to have something to say, but he could only interpret his inner world with tears from the corners of his eyes.His fingers trembled slightly, and I held his hand up and pressed it against my cheek.On the one hand, I am acting in this way, on the other hand, I heard that people who are about to die have low temperature in their extremities, so I want to try it out. My face touched the palm of his hand, and there was a trace of residual warmth in the palm. It seemed that he could last for a few more days, maybe a week if he was lucky.

While I was doing this, I didn't forget to take the opportunity to look around at my brothers and sisters. Everyone's age gap was obvious, so it was easy to tell who was the older brother and who was the brother.Boss, I have seen it.This person's appearance was even fiercer than in the photo. He looked at his father with extremely vicious eyes with his face full of flesh. His expression had already exposed his inner thoughts. He hoped that the other party would raise his braids earlier so that everyone could share the inheritance equally. Look at the second sister again, the second sister is... Ye Xiuzhen!It's Ye Xiuzhen! That's right!It was her!

My heart rate fluctuated greatly, and my breathing became disordered.In order to prevent everyone from noticing my anomaly, I quickly buried my face in the sheet next to Lei Yuguo. I grabbed the shrunken fingers of the tens of billionaires, and my thinking was in a state of stagnation.Breathing, I tried to adjust my breathing, but I couldn't.The sudden change made my legs weak, and I knelt beside the bed, unwilling to get up for a long time. Seeing this, Lao Yang tried to drag me up from the ground with a crying voice.I ignored it, since I made this move, I had to squeeze out a little tear.I tried to bite my own lip, but the pain failed to stimulate my tear ducts; I tried to regard Lei Yuguo as my biological father, but I couldn’t get into the role at all; , I am completely at a loss, what should I do?Now that there's only one way to go, I open my eyes wide and use the raised corner of the sheet to stimulate my eyeballs.The whites of my eyes rubbed against the sheets, which made me uncomfortable, but I had no other choice.

A hand was patting my back, and it was Ye Xiuzhen who was speaking: "Get up, Sixth Brother, don't do this." On the other side, another girl's voice came, "Yes, Sixth Brother, don't be sad." A pair of men's hands pulled me from the edge of the bed, and they were strong hands.When I left Lei Yuguo, my eyes were already red.Yang Limin stepped forward and hugged me again. I looked at the little girl who called me Sixth Brother. She looked like a freshman, with watery eyes full of childishness.Looking at the third child again, he stood there playing with his nails, as if all this had nothing to do with him.And Lao Wu, he is fatter than he looks in the photo, at least two hundred and twenty catties, at this moment, Lao Wu is looking at me with disdainful eyes, I know what he wants to say, and I am indeed acting.

Lao Yang said in a sad tone: "Let's all go out, the master needs to rest. Please, Sixth Young Master." Butler Yang Limin took our group back to the first floor.Pushing open a door in the living room, there was a doctor in a white coat sitting inside, Lao Yang nodded at him, and the doctor walked to Lei Yuguo's room carrying a medicine box.After entering this door, I realized that the outside room was just a passage, and this is the real living room. The reception room is about 100 square meters. There is a wide and low bookshelf, on which various magazines are stacked randomly.Fashion, automobile, finance, education, geography, English and other magazines can be found in it.There are some calligraphy and paintings on the wall, all of which are masterpieces that Lei Yuguo bought from the auction house before.I don't have much research on calligraphy and painting, and looking at these brothers and sisters, it seems that I have no interest in it.

The seven people were placed around a round tea table by the housekeeper. Yang Limin bent down and said respectfully, "Wait a minute, everyone, I'll bring you tea." After Lao Yang left, the seven felt a little uncomfortable.Everyone didn't know what to say. The third child took out his mobile phone to check the time. It was a very old mobile phone with a lot of radiation, and it didn't even have the function of sending text messages.Still, he seems to love the communications device. "Uh..." The fourth child wanted to speak, but stopped talking.He was the one who dragged me from the bed just now. The second sister spoke, and Ye Xiuzhen said in broken Mandarin, "Let's each introduce ourselves." "Good," Seventh Sister nodded in response. Ye Xiuzhen looked at the six faces on the opposite side and said, "Let's start with the boss first, is that okay?" The boss looked at her very unfriendly, as if he wanted to swallow the second sister with his eyes.I remembered the doubts of the boss, Lei Kehua himself was right, just judging from the attitude of the boss, this war must start. The eldest sister's silence made the second sister very embarrassed. The clever seventh sister took back the bracelet full of fluorescent agent, put it back on her left hand, and immediately raised her right hand, like a student who is about to speak. Seventh Sister's voice was as immature as her appearance, and she said, "I'm the youngest here, so I'll come first. My name is Tong Runjie, and the Runjie who wears Runjie Eye Drops is 20 years old this year and a student of XX University of Science and Technology. Second student. I major in civil engineering, and my classmates call me Tongtong, so everyone can call me that too." Probably because she was afraid of being left alone, the second sister said to her: "Tongtong, who gave you your name?" "My grandma." She paused, as if realizing that it would be better to be clear about her parentage, "Adopted my grandma. She was a college professor, her husband died young, and she had a son, but a moron The day she adopted me, she gave me this name. Grandma read for me, taught me to write and speak, but she died last year when I just entered college." Buried in a plaid coat. Ye Xiuzhen asked her again: "Then what are you interested in?" Everyone could see that the second sister was looking for something to say. "Interest?" Tong Runjie thought for a while, "I seldom go shopping with my classmates because I have no money... However, I like reading detective novels very much, and I am a detective fan." The second sister and everyone here are obviously not interested in the topic of detectives. Ye Xiuzhen turned her face to me, which meant that it was my turn to introduce.It feels bad to be stared at by her, but I have no way out.We just met three days ago, doesn't she remember me?To her, I was just a passer-by three days ago.No, it's better to make this matter clearer. Before Zhang Jueming left, he said that this matter can be made up for, so I'll make it up as soon as possible. After all, I know that to make trouble for the boss is to make trouble for myself. "Second sister, don't you remember me?" When I spoke to her, I tried not to show that I was making friends with her. "Huh?" She was overwhelmed by the question. "Hehe, I have a good memory. It was just the day before yesterday, at the beauty center. Uh, I believe the person I saw should be you, right?" "I did go to the beauty center the day before yesterday, but I don't remember..." "At the stairs." I reminded her. "Oh..." She laughed, "What a coincidence? It seems that the world is really too small. Sixth brother, just now you said that your name is Kehua in front of your father. What is your full name?" "Lei Kehua." After I said my name, the boss immediately glanced at me.At the same time, the other three men looked at me.Seventh Sister couldn't help asking, "Why is your surname Lei?" "Yeah, coincidences always happen to me." I took out cigarettes from my pocket and distributed them to the men present.The fourth child seemed very polite, the third child and the fifth child lighted cigarettes for each other, but the eldest child did not touch the cigarette I handed over.He took out a cigarette case and smoked his own. The second sister gave me soft eyes, she was trying to show the appearance of the older sister.I continued to introduce myself, "I am twenty-five years old this year. I guess my childhood should be similar to that of you. I grew up in an orphanage. Since the director's surname is Lei, and he always treats the children there as his own. Flesh and blood, so our group of orphans all follow the surname of the dean. I am not as lucky as Seventh Sister, and no one is willing to adopt me. After finishing elementary school, the orphanage can no longer support me. After that, I will work as a child labor outside, that is, Washing the dishes in the restaurant and other chores, unknowingly mixed up to this day. A while ago, I joined an investigation firm, which is what people often call a private detective." "Detective?" Seventh Sister became very interested in me. The second sister interrupted her and said to me: "Did you go to the beauty center that day to investigate?" "Yeah, you said it. But I'm not checking you, that's a married woman, uh..." I didn't want to drag the topic far, so I adopted Seventh Sister's concluding remarks and finished the sentence, "If you want to talk about interest , I don’t have any special hobbies. On weekdays, I just play cards and sing with my colleagues, but I’m not good at these. About my situation, that’s about it.” At this time, Yang Limin pushed open the door of the reception room, holding a tray in his hand. Although he was old, his posture was very elegant.Lao Yang put the exquisite teacup in front of each of us, and said, "You don't have to be restrained here, this is your home. You chat first, and I will go to the kitchen to see if lunch is ready." Seeing Lao Yang leave, the second sister said to the fat man, "You are the fifth child? Please say a few words." The fifth child yawned, and the mung bean eyes on his face narrowed even more.He stretched out his fat right hand, stroked the slender mustache above his lips, and finally said, "My name is Fang Zhikai, there is nothing else to say." In order not to stand in the cold again, the fourth child hurriedly interjected, and he smiled heartily at everyone.The triangular eyes and flat nose are all piled up together. Although he looks bad, he gives the impression of being very enthusiastic.He said: "I'm Guo Xiaobing, you can just call me Xiaobing. I...hehe." He looked a little embarrassed, and scratched his hairstyle with his hands, "I'm in a rural area in the south of Shaanxi. Growing up, I heard that human traffickers sold me there. I haven’t read any books, so I’m not as knowledgeable as Seventh Sister. When I was young, I went to the fields with my parents to do some farm work, herding cattle and ducks. I went out to work with a few fellow villagers. I was very stupid, and I watched carefully when the master was working, but I couldn’t learn anything, so I could only do some casual jobs at the beginning. Later, a fellow villager taught me I drive a crane, so I have a craft. By the way, last week I was transferred to work on a construction site in the west of the city. Today I can see my long-lost brother and sister, which is something I never dreamed of." After he finished speaking, he was polite Angrily said to the third child, "Third brother, it's your turn." "It's coming to me so soon?" The third child snuffed out the cigarette with his fingers and blew away the residue that fell on his fingertips. With a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks, he never took his eyes off the second sister. Strong'." He arched his hands and bowed hypocritically to everyone.In the end, I still didn’t forget to add, “Everyone is in the same line, brothers will be useful in the future, just open your mouth!” Except for the boss and the fifth child who didn't say anything, the rest of the people forced a smile on their faces. It was the second sister's turn to introduce herself, and her information was exactly the same as Zhang Jueming's.Ye Xiuzhen is similar to the fourth child. She also stayed in the countryside for a while when she was a child, and was taken to the city by her adoptive parents. She became independent after the age of twenty. She has always been engaged in the accounting industry. In other words, she should be one of the seven siblings. The person who knows how to manage money. Now I finally know the paternity test that the second sister received and the purpose of praying to God and worshiping Buddha.At the same time, I also understand another thing, the boss asked me to train tracking technique is really killing two birds with one stone.I have to admire the wisdom of the boss. Before following the second sister, Lei Kehua randomly found two prey. He knew that I could not fail three times in the matter of following the second sister.This trick not only allowed me to master the tracking skills of a private detective, but also helped him understand what Ye Xiuzhen did before coming to the manor.Of course, this is also a kind of vigilance for me. Working with such a boss, I must remain extremely vigilant. The seniority went around from young to old, and finally everyone's focus fell on the boss.As expected, the boss still didn't say anything, just sat there with a butcher-like face and said nothing. The second sister, the fourth child, and the seventh sister looked at each other helplessly.The fifth child closed his eyes and rested his mind, showing no interest in the things around him.When I was thinking about how to get the boss to speak, the third child acted as the first bird, "Hey!" He yelled at the boss, "Your sister is asking you something, are you fucking deaf?" As soon as Pan Shaoqiang finished speaking, the boss stretched out his leg and kicked the coffee table, and the coffee table quickly slammed into the direction of the third brother, all the tea on it was spilled, and some teacups even fell to the ground.Pan Shaoqiang was not someone to wait for nothing, the tea table in front of him could not scare him at all, the third elder brother raised his foot and kicked the coffee table over as soon as the fourth child who was a migrant worker was about to reach out to stop him. Lei's eldest son lifted the sofa with one hand, and when he wanted to smash it, I stopped him.I bravely said to him: "Brother, don't be so impulsive. If you have something to say, why bother to do it? You don't want to say it if you don't want to, and we don't force it. We will separate after we get the will. Are you willing to make friends with the brothers here?" Friends, that's your own business, we have no right to ask about it. But I have to declare one thing, the coffee table and this sofa you overturned, the market price is at least more than 30,000. So anyway, no matter how big the hatred , and don’t get stuck with money, are you right?” Probably touched by my last sentence, the boss put down the sofa and sat back where he was just now.The third child didn't say anything more, and Pan Shaoqiang looked at me and laughed wickedly.I don't know what his intentions are, but I think that what I said just now also affected his behavior. "Fourth brother," I called Guo Xiaobing, "come here and help me. Set up the tea table and don't let the housekeeper see it." "it is good." With the help of Ye Xiuzhen and Tong Runjie, the teacup that fell to the ground was put back on the table.I secretly sighed, this kind of unpleasant thing happened just because my brother and sister met each other, except for me who was a little psychologically prepared, the rest of the people didn't expect it.I, like them, showed a very awkward gesture.This embarrassment has another layer of feeling for me. As soon as the game started, I could smell the smell of gunpowder. There are three restaurants in Lei's house, a Chinese restaurant and a western restaurant, as well as a separate dining room for Lei Yuguo.Our brothers and sisters were arranged to eat in a western restaurant.Everyone sat down one by one at a long table that could seat fifty people at the same time. The fourth child sat with the younger sister, the second sister sat with me, the third child Pan Shaoqiang sat opposite Ye Xiuzhen, and the fifth child sat next to her. Fang Zhikai.As for the boss, he sat far away from us. The old butler brought three chefs to introduce us to each other. These three are not the kind of cooks with big heads and thick necks.Their average height is 1.7 meters, and the total of the three of them is less than 300 catties. It is said that they are also orphans. It seems that Lei Yuguo has worked hard on atonement in his later years. Yang Limin asked us one by one if there was any dish we didn't like.Since each of us was born as an orphan, we are not picky eaters.Through Lao Yang's questioning, we learned that the boss's name is Liu Zhenguo. Ye Xiuzhen left the dining table and said to go upstairs to get something.I naively thought that she might give everyone some presents, but after a while, when she returned to her seat, she just had a bottle of vitamin calcium tablets in her hand. I have lived in the presidential suite, and some of the western dishes did not surprise me, but I still did a good job on the surface, without showing any flaws.The seventh sister and the fourth child had relatively little experience. They were so intoxicated by the dishes on the plate that they almost forgot to taste them. During the meal, I noticed three things.First, the boss, Liu Zhenguo, is left-handed. He has been using the fork in his left hand to pick up the macaroni on the plate, and he is also using his left hand to pick up pepper and seasoning sauce.Second, Pan Shaoqiang kept his eyes on the second sister.After all, Ye Xiuzhen is a woman. Women have a keen sixth sense, and she always tries to avoid the other party's gaze.Thirdly, the fifth child, that is Fatty Fang, was eating extremely badly. There were two rings of soup on the corner of his mouth, but he didn't even wipe it off. "Sister." Tong Runjie looked at the second sister, "I have a question, I don't know if I should ask it." "What's the problem?" Guo Xiaobing, the fourth son, seemed very concerned. Ye Xiuzhen stuck her long hair in her ears with her fingertips, gave Seventh Sister a friendly look, and said, "If it's a girl's topic, you can talk to me alone. If it's something related to everyone, try to bring it up as soon as possible." come out." "Yeah." Seventh Sister nodded, "I want to know, are we going to change our surname to 'Lei' in the future?" This problem caused everyone present to stop eating. The boss in the distance looked at us with a knife and fork in his hand, and even the fifth child put down the sea crab in his hand.This question made the second sister more conservative. Seeing this, Pan Shaoqiang laughed, "Little girl, don't embarrass our good sister, let's continue eating." "It doesn't matter to me, the workers are used to calling me Xiaobing. But," the fourth child scratched his head in embarrassment, "If my surname is not 'Guo', I always feel sorry for the parents who raised me. Although I bought It’s true, but they only have me as a son, so it’s not good to suddenly change the surname to ‘Ray’, right?” Seventh Sister expressed her opinion, and her voice revealed aggrieved feelings, "I also think it's not good. I don't mean that the surname 'Lei' is not good. The point is, I am different from my fourth brother. My classmates all call me 'Tongtong' suddenly became 'Lei Lei', it seems very uncomfortable." "Detective." Pan Shaoqiang waved at me with the silver fork in his hand, "This matter has nothing to do with you. Tell me, what's the matter?" Zhang Jueming reminded me that if you talk too much, you will lose, but this time the other party insisted on me.Anyway, with the eloquence I trained in the insurance company, it shouldn't hurt to chat casually.I smiled and looked at Pan Shaoqiang, "Third brother really knows how to tell jokes. Of course the brother's matter has something to do with me, but since the third brother has spoken, then I will talk about my Bo Jian. When I was working in the firm , I have never seen a similar situation. But I think, from a moral point of view, we are the sons of Lei Yuguo after all. Even if the seventh sister and the fourth child have some difficulties, we cannot avoid this fact. From a legal point of view, If the lawyer says that you can only get the inheritance if you change your surname to 'Lei', I think you can only do so." I ended the conversation with the word money again, and I felt somewhat accomplished.Pan Shaoqiang smiled wickedly at me again. Through his smile, I reminded myself not to be too outrageous next time. "I still have a question." Seventh Sister spoke again.After all, she is a childish child, who just doesn't know the ways of the world.At this juncture, no matter what the problem is, it should not be said. Fang Zhikai was very impatient. He wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, "Little girl, can you finish all your questions at once?" "Sorry." Tong Runjie saluted the fat man. "Tell me, what else is there?" Second Sister asked her. "I just want to ask, why did everyone take part in the paternity test?" Seventh sister saw that the fourth and fifth children didn't understand, so she added, "The newspaper didn't say how many children my father had, but only reported on the search for a son at the end of his life. .I want to know if the seven of us are the only remaining children of the father, and if there are others?" I really can't see that Seventh Sister is so cunning.Her question really meant something. On the surface, she seemed to be concerned about her family, but thinking about it from the other side, she was asking whether the current seven people should share the property equally.There are only seven children left in Lei Yuguo. This is the conclusion reached through Lei Kehua's own investigation. At present, only I know this matter best, while the other six people are not aware of it. This question was even more off-putting than the last one, this time even Ye Xiuzhen and Guo Xiaobing had no intention of continuing their meal. Seeing that no one responded, Tong Runjie volunteered to be the first shot, "Then let me tell you first, I did the paternity test because..." "Wait a minute!" Pan Shaoqiang raised his hand to stop Tong Runjie who was about to ask a question, "Don't talk, it's not your turn yet." The fork in his hand pointed to Liu Zhenguo in the distance, "You speak." Look at that posture , He got into a fight with big brother today. "Uh, third brother..." The fourth child wanted to smooth things over. "Did I let you talk?" Pan Shaoqiang squinted at him, which embarrassed Guo Xiaobing.The third child turned to Liu Zhenguo's direction again, and the opponent's facial muscles were twitching.The third child said stubbornly: "I don't care where you are, you must answer this question. Ever since I saw you in the car, you haven't said a word. I think that old bastard is the most bastard. You won't be dumb. You haven't spoken a word to us from the beginning to the end, who knows if you are an imposter?" Imposter?I didn't move my head, and my eyes quickly glanced at the third child. Fortunately, he kept staring at Liu Zhenguo.Looking at the others, they all looked at the boss.Before Liu Zhenguo took action, it was impossible for me to interfere again. For me now, what I should consider is how to answer Seventh Sister's question later. Without waiting for the boss to react, the table knife in the hand of the third child was thrown out, and the table knife just stuck into the wall behind me.I really don't know which nerve he got wrong. He wanted to give the boss a blow, but he threw a knife in my direction.I looked back at the knife, some distance from my head.As a "private detective", if even this kind of scene can scare you, it's too bad.I acted calmly, but Seventh Sister covered her face and dared not look down.However, through Pan Shaoqiang's actions, I believe that he will use throwing knives. What people didn't expect was that instead of doing anything, the boss spoke. Liu Zhenguo's voice was very deep, "I heard that there are tens of billions of property, so I will try my luck." After speaking, he ignored Pan Shaoqiang at all and continued to eat his macaroni with his head down.Perhaps in the eyes of others, the boss is just a show.But in my opinion, he is very smart in doing so, which is called a man who knows current affairs is a hero.If the boss really starts to fight, with his size, Pan Shaoqiang is no match at all, and if he kills his brother, it will be too bad for him. Guo Xiaobing was afraid of another accident, so he immediately reported his situation to the third brother.It turned out that the paternity test was not the original intention of the fourth child, but was instructed by his adoptive parents.Then everyone explained some reasons. Ye Xiuzhen's situation was exactly the same as that of the fourth child, and Tong Runjie was accompanied by her classmates to make the appraisal. Needless to say, the fifth and third child, as long as it was something related to money, they always Will give it a try.When it was my turn, I also said that I was lucky to be here because of the instructions of my colleagues.The third child asked me intentionally or unintentionally about the process of the paternity test. I was prepared for this, and I answered fluently, so I was lucky enough to escape. I took down the table knife from the wall and returned it to Pan Shaoqiang.The third child continued to smile at me, which is very strange. During this time, his eyes drifted back and forth between the second sister and me. Could it be that he is bisexual? The second half of the meal progressed very slowly, and the two questions from Seventh Sister disrupted the harmonious atmosphere. After dinner, the butler Lao Yang led us to the back garden.It is said to be a garden, but in fact there are no flowers at all.According to Lao Yang, when Lei Yuguo was building this manor, he vacated the site for planting flowers, but he didn't start work for a long time.Now it seems that this open space can only be left here. "Do you like karting?" the butler bent down and asked Seventh Sister. "I've never played." Tong Runjie looked very honest. Lao Yang pointed to the building one kilometer ahead. "It's a go-kart venue, do you want to try it?" The people present showed interest in the younger sister and the fourth child.The second sister didn't want to be harassed by the third child, so she had to follow.The boss, the third child, and the fifth child all went back to rest.As for me, among the seven people, I still don't know where my bedroom is, and I am not in a hurry to rest, so I simply followed the housekeeper.On the way, Lao Yang chatted with us about Lei Yuguo's deeds back then. The housekeeper only cared about speaking well for the master, and Lei Yuguo was said by him to be more holy than God. Now we have clearly divided the small circle. The second sister, the fourth brother, me and the seventh sister are a group, the third and fifth are the same kind of stuff, and the boss is a lone ranger. Seventh Sister seems to be very interested in my identity.While the second sister was communicating with the fourth child, Tong Runjie also chatted with me. "Since you are a private detective, have you ever been to a crime scene?" The information my boss gave me came in handy, and I said with ease: "Private detectives in the 1930s could assist the police in handling cases. But in this era, we can only be responsible for investigating some civil and private incidents, and each investigation involves Detailed records must be made for the public security department to review.” "Can criminal cases only be handed over to the police?" "Yes. Even if the case involves us investigators, we can't handle the case privately. It must be investigated by the legal department of the country." I thought she would be disappointed by this, but she still looked very interested. "Then do you usually follow others?" "For investigators, this is a basic skill." "Can you teach me?" "Sorry, I can't teach you that." I declined. "What if I'm being followed?" she stressed. "I can tell you some details about anti-stalking." The boss's information has been memorized by me, "Every member of society, especially girls like you, must master some of the most basic anti-stalking techniques for safety's sake. Means are still necessary. The first thing you need to determine is whether the other party is following you? If someone just happens to be walking the same road or taking the same car as you, don’t blindly think that the other party is following you. Therefore, it is not good to cause troubles and make each other unhappy. Therefore, observation skills are very important. If there are no special circumstances, please don’t be suspicious. Scaring yourself will often bring unnecessary troubles.” "Yeah." She nodded.I found that Seventh Sister loves to nod, and every time she nods, she looks like a chicken eating rice. "Generally speaking, we can use five methods to determine whether we are being followed. These five methods are 'look, stop, listen, turn, back'. Since you are a girl, I do not recommend you to use 'back' "This way to judge, because if we look back, we may get what we want. From the point of view of 'seeing', we should pay attention to the surrounding environment and personnel to see if there is any abnormality. Once we find something unusual, we will enter the 'stop' mode. Steps, you have to behave naturally and don't stop suddenly. For example, when you are in the car and you are only two stops away from home, you can get off early. Or, you want to go home but doubt When someone is stalking, you can choose to enter the nearby restroom. When you find that you are indeed being followed, don’t panic, you have to prick up your ears and pay attention to 'listen', and use your ears to observe whether the stalking object does any small actions, such as making a phone call, For example, use a lighter to light a cigarette, etc. "Turn" means that you can try to walk on the left side of the street, because most people are used to walking on the right side, when you find that the other party is also walking on the left side like you, don't In a hurry, try to change the location again. If the other party also changes, you can be sure that you are really being followed. When you suspect that someone is being followed, all you have to do is to take it to a safe place, such as a bus, Crowded places like subways, shopping malls, and stations. If you can’t get rid of the tail behind you, the only option is to call the police.” "What if I don't have my phone?" Her question seemed childish to me. "You always have your voice. Calling for help is not a complicated job." In order not to be too indifferent, I chuckled a few times. "Oh. By the way, does Brother Six usually read detective novels?" "I only know Sherlock Holmes, but I have never read detective novels." "Sherlock Holmes is not the only detective." "Really?" After I asked, I started to regret it, because I knew this was her field, and she would have to have a big talk with me.Thinking of this, I started to walk faster, hoping to get rid of this little fly as soon as possible. Tong Runjie kept up with me, and her confident voice floated out through the two rows of white teeth, "Sherlock? John Dixon Carr, father and son detective and king of secrets described by Lerry Quinn, by the way, have you ever heard that crime is impossible?" "Impossible crime? I've heard of it. Does it mean impossible crimes?" "Yes, Carl is the master of impossible crimes." "Did you buy all these books to read?" "I don't have the money to buy them. I borrow them from the school library." "Hehe, you are a rich man now, and you can write detective novels covering the whole world in the future." I said to her with a sense of ridicule.In fact, I didn't mean to make fun of my little sister, I just blurted out based on her actual situation.What I didn't expect was that there was a smirk on the corner of her mouth. Is this my hallucination or her conditioned reflex?我不清楚，但我可以肯定，这个只有二十岁的小妹妹或许并不像我想的那么简单。 卡丁车赛场旁有个室外游泳池，几个工人正在那里做着清洁工作。对这些下等人，老杨懒得为我们介绍，这点可以从他那双充满势利的眼睛里看出。杨利民只是说，今天泳池在做保养，过两天我们就可以在这里畅游了。 除二姐外，没人玩过卡丁车。不过这东西并不难学，上手很快，所以四人玩得挺尽兴。中途七妹又提出问题，不过不再是那么尖锐的难题了。她说：“我还不知道你们的手机号呢，趁那三个人不在，我们交换号码，可以吗？” 童润洁和老四换了号码，当二姐问我的时候，我态度坦然地报出了现有的手机号。叶秀珍拨通我的电话，看着上面的号码。我猛踩了一脚刹车，撞在轮胎排成的防护栏上。杨利民见状赶紧上前问我是否受伤，另外三人也很关心。 我笑着说：“没事，记号码的时候一不留神撞上了。你们继续，我去外面抽根烟。” “六少爷，要我陪着吗？” "No need." 走出卡顶赛场，我一边往远处走一边回头确认是否被人注意。叼上香烟的同时，我拨打张爵明的电话，“喂，老张，有个事情向你汇报。我知道前天叶秀珍的那通电话打给谁了，呃，不，我只是锁定了一些目标。” “现在方便吗，我想听听具体情况。” “不太方便，我是抽空才打给你的。”我回头看着赛车场，没人往我这里看，“老张，前天我犯了个错。我通过她手动拨号，没调出电话簿这一点，认为对方不是她的熟人。可是我错了，你听好，叶秀珍的手机号前八位数和我报给你的完全一致，也就是说，前天她拨出的号码，极有可能是熟人。” "reason?" “连号。”我注意到，赛车场内的童润洁把车停下，正朝我这里看，“老张，请帮我个忙，待会儿挂电话后，请迅速发一张女性照片的彩信给我。不要写真，真实的那种，年龄在三十岁以下即可。” “没问题。你说的连号，具体是什么意思？” “我在保险公司的时候，就遇过这种事。客户的电话，夫妻、情侣有时会采用连号，通常手机连号都是单号和单号相连，双号与双号相连。如果叶秀珍的手机尾数是3的话，那么我们只需要在相连的两个数字之间找到答案，比如1或者5。” “这件事我来调查，你做得很好。”张爵明对我的机警给予肯定。 挂上电话没多久，老张按照我的要求发来了一条彩信，那是他在大街上随便拍摄的一个女孩，我存入手机内的相册，丢掉手中的香烟走回赛车场。 童润洁像个小兔子蹦到我身边，“刚才没事吧？” "It's alright." “看你神神秘秘的样子，跟谁打电话呢？” “女朋友。”我冲她微笑。 “可以给我看看照片吗？” 我翻出相册，给她看“女友”的照片。 “蛮漂亮的啊。”童润洁伸手招呼道，“喂，二姐，过来看六哥的女友照片。” “我瞅瞅。”郭小兵也凑了上来，“是个美女啊。六弟，你真有福气。” “可华，今天怎么不让女朋友一起过来？”二姐问我。 “她在外地上班，而且，我想给她一个惊喜。” “她叫什么呀？”童润洁八卦地问道。 “端木雪儿。”我说这句话的时候，根本没有经过大脑思考。 没人愿意把整个下午的时间都荒废在卡丁赛场上。郭小兵带头提议参观庄园，管家立即应同四少爷的提议，领着我们往回走。 从厨房的门进入庄园，两位高级厨师正在那里配菜，另一位正为我们制作晚餐的甜点。方形的水果蛋糕大得像教学用的世界地图，香味扑鼻的蛋糕让人食欲大增，我相信它将成为晚餐的亮点。 回到当初我以为是客厅的地方。杨利民打开会客室对面的大门，这里是健身室，一流的健身器械看上去就像新买的一样，我相信多病的雷宇国平时不会常来此地。往里走，里面还有别的房间，推开左、右两扇门，左边是棋牌室，麻将、牌九、骰子、轮盘、扑克、围棋、中洋象棋一应俱全，这里有三张小圆桌两张绿色矩形赌桌，赌桌边整齐地摆放各种颜色的筹码，看起来雷宇国本人对赌钱小有兴趣。 进入右边的门，里面摆着八张台球桌，分别是四张传统的十六球桌、一张美式九球桌、一张开伦球桌，以及两张斯诺克球台。我弯腰拾取斯诺克球桌下方的加杆，纯金打造的球杆有些分量，借助投进窗内的阳光，球杆上闪烁着绚丽的金光。 “想玩两把？”老杨不等我开口，用干脆的语气接着说，“假如六少爷有兴趣，我可以帮你约几个高手。” “不不不，我只是随便看看。”我开始反感这个老头。论年纪我应当尊敬他，可老杨这人就像条雷宇国养了多年的宠物狗，他自始至终都在用那双令人作呕的钱眼来衡量别人的价值。在我们这些公子面前，他总是少爷长少爷短的，可对那些厨师和工人，他又是另外一个态度。正因为这个原因，我一直接受“六少爷”这个称呼，对这种人用不着客气。 走回过道，这次我们踏上了中间的楼梯。这儿的长廊比雷宇国卧室的还要长，共计三个大房间，百亿富豪拥有自己的影院和卡拉OK房，这个放映厅可同时容纳四百多位观众，只要我们开尊口，杨利民就能联系电影公司的人，让他们把最新的影片拷贝送过来。 卡拉OK室比练歌房的豪华包间还大，唱片公司总是在第一时间把流行歌曲的MV通过电脑传送过来，再经过专业人士将这些数据拷入点唱机里。二姐半开玩笑地提议，如果晚上大家觉得无聊不妨考虑来这儿吼几嗓子。从叶秀珍的表情可以看出，她很爱唱歌，而且唱功还不赖。 紧挨卡拉OK室的房间是一间快餐店，雷宇国竟有属于自己的麦当劳。这间非正式快餐店除了没有儿童乐园，其他设施和街边的没什么两样。不用老杨介绍，我们也清楚雷宇国为什么要建这间屋子，在美国的那几年他早已习惯了快餐食品。 顺着长廊往左拐，右手边的一排房间令我们四位私生子目瞪口呆。我本以为又是什么了不起的私有设施，没想到这排房间竟会是六间破屋。这地方与整座庄园格格不入，这让我不由想到金庸先生一部作品里的场景，这儿就是金王府里的牛家村。 带着疑惑，我走进最边上的房间。这间屋子只剩下门框，一块高一米八的房门只剩下半扇，宽度接近七妹的小蛮腰。这块靠在墙上的房门引起了我的兴趣，询问管家它的故事，杨利民表示他也不清楚，这儿某些东西的故事老爷并没和他细说。 房内的空间很小，连十个平方都不到。天花板上有几道裂口，部分墙壁上的石灰也从墙体脱落，就像是衣服上的破补丁。办公桌破旧不堪，上面落了整整三层灰，80年代随处可见的搪瓷茶杯摆在桌上，茶杯盖边缘的瓷片早已不见踪影，取而代之的是一道受到氧化的锈圈。杯子旁摆着一叠已经泛黄的旧报纸，日期是1991年6月22日。报纸上摆有一支旧钢笔和一瓶英雄牌的蓝墨水。 往前跨了几步来到窗边，走路的时候，脚下传来地板开裂的声音。窗户由两边推开，大概是雷宇国想把这里保存得持久些，连接窗框的铁片被加牢。窗台边缘各有两个小风钩，用来固定窗户。看着镶有三片玻璃的窗架，我立刻被这个时代产物带回了小学的时光。当年我所在的教室就设有这样的窗户，记得二年级的时候，我与伙伴嬉闹打碎了其中一块玻璃，老师请来工人换玻璃，我到现在都记得更换玻璃的步骤。首先拿出皮尺测量长度，跟着用玻璃刀为玻璃切片，再来就是在玻璃的四面紧靠窗架的地方订上几个钉子，最后，工人拿出暗黄色的胶泥抹在玻璃四周，将其固定，大功就告成了。我记得胶泥的味道很刺鼻，但我依然和同学把它当做橡皮泥来玩。此刻，我眼前的胶泥已经干枯，童年的美好时光也一去不复返了。 当我沉浸在回忆的时候，杨利民对大家解释，“90年代初，老爷从海外归来。选定的第一个办公地点，正是各位现在所看到的这些房间。” “父亲那么有钱，为什么不选个好点的写字楼？”叶秀珍问道。 “回国后老爷认为一切都要从头开始，价格低廉的办公场所自然成了最佳选择。”老杨摆出一副感慨的姿态，“老爷在这样的环境工作了五年，比起后期的高档办公楼，他对早前的工作环境更有感情，所以晚年的他为了保存过去的回忆，在庄园建造了这片只属于他自己的天地。” 郭小兵礼貌地对管家说：“老杨，请问当时有多少人替父亲打工？” “大约上百人。你们别小瞧这个地方，当年有资格坐进办公室的，都是经理和主管这样的人。老爷当时的办公室，在最里面那间，我带你们去看看。” 前面五间办公室被管家打开，由于布局相似我们并未入内。这里每个房间只有一拳之隔，相邻两个房间的窗距大约一米五米左右，墙体破烂不堪，感觉一推就会倒，怎么看都与庄园豪华的设施不相称。杨利民表示，考虑到透气通风的关系，所以只要不下雨，每间房的两扇窗户都会打开。 跟着老杨，我们来到雷宇国的办公室。这里大门紧闭，门边挂着一面宽度一米、高度约一米八的试衣镜，镜框的厚度和我的中指差不多长，大约九厘米。要问在这儿放上镜子的原因，我只能猜测雷宇国平时很注意自己的形象，出门之前都要站在这儿确认衣物上没有瑕疵。 杨利民从口袋里取出一串钥匙，挑出最普通的那把插入锁眼，轻轻向右旋转。门被打开后，我们发现这儿是六间办公室最小的一间。窗户和办公桌与其他房间完全一样，窗外有一棵向右倾斜七十度的槐树，粗壮的枝干和茂盛的树叶离窗户只有三米的距离。不用说也知道，当年有棵这样的槐树陪伴了雷宇国五年的光景。 视角移回办公桌。一台造型过时的计算器摆在右手边，再旁边是早已停机的大哥大手机。砖头手机旁有一盏小巧的台灯。办公桌的正对面，摆有一张破旧的棕色文件柜，文件柜共三层。第一层堆有一些当年留存的公司资料，中间那层摆放着相关的专业书籍，最下面只摆了几包方便面和一个铝制饭盒，饭盒内放着一把不锈钢的四齿小叉。 “老爷经常加班，所以吃住都在这个房间。”老杨指着屋内的硬板床，“对老爷来说，条件越糟就越有奋发向上的冲劲。” “为了赚钱，真是够拼命的呀。”郭小兵忍不住赞叹道。 杨利民冲他笑了笑，“年轻人只要实事求是地工作踏踏实实地努力，就一定会成功。” “还要看机遇。”七妹插嘴道。 二姐看了看这个没什么阅历的孩子，什么也没说。从叶秀珍的眼睛里，我仿佛可以感到她想说“背景”这个词。实力和背景在这个社会是相互的，二者缺一不可。 话多的七妹继续活跃，她指着文件柜里的一张照片问道：“这是父亲年轻的照片吗？” “对，请不要乱碰。因为这是老爷最喜爱的办公室，所以要严加保护。” 我观察了一眼，雷宇国年轻时长得很难看，所以我怀疑二姐和七妹有漂亮的脸蛋，应该是她们老妈的功劳。 七妹指着柜子里的东西，又问道：“这包老鼠药是怎么回事？” “因为这排旧屋都住着老鼠。老爷不让我们赶走它们，坚持保持当年的原样。考虑到老鼠繁衍速度比较快，所以我们都会定期对一小部分老鼠用药。” 关上房门的时候，杨利民拔下门上的钥匙装进刚才的口袋，领着我们往左拐。刚转过大厅左边的楼梯，我们就来到了卧室。这里一共十间客房，每扇门上既没有钥匙孔也没有钥匙卡的扫描器。 “六少爷，你就住第三个房间。”老杨为我推开房门。 进门观瞧，我这才发现房间压根就不需要用到钥匙。入住的客人可以从里面把门反锁，这样外面的人就进不来了。 “辛苦你了。”郭小兵谢完管家，又转身对我们说，“我想休息一下，各位兄妹请便吧。” “好的。”二姐说着也回到了自己的房间，她就住在我隔壁。 童润洁对管家说：“我想进城一趟，你能送我吗？” “恐怕不行，晚饭后律师会过来。七小姐，明天可以吗？” "Forget it." “耽搁七小姐的行程，真是抱歉。”老杨向她鞠躬赔礼。 “没关系啦。” 七妹进入房间的同时，我冲管家点点头，也关上卧室的门。因为先前住过总统套房的关系，这里的格局没让我感到新鲜。把耳朵贴在墙上，试图探听二姐那里的动静，只可惜这儿的隔音效果很好，什么都没听见。锁上房门，我鞋也不脱就躺在床上，拿出手机拨给张爵明。 “老张，是我。” "What's up?" “没什么，只是想告诉你我现在有空向你汇报。你那里方便吗？” “其实我也有两件事想和你说。天翼，我已经查到了那个号码，前天与叶秀珍通话的人只是她的同事，所以这件事你不用放在心上。” “听你的，第二件呢？” “老板吩咐，今晚就动手。” 我忍不住倒吸了一口气，“今晚吗，会不会仓促了些？” “不要质疑老板的决定。”张爵明狠狠地说。 “啊，我不是这个意思。是这样的，刚才管家说律师会在晚上过来，我想应该是公布遗嘱的内容吧。如果律师在场的话，动手的事恐怕不太方便。” “这个我知道，时间方面由我来掌握，你只管继续做你的雷可华。” “嗯。呃……老张，我能否知道目标是谁？” “晚上我会安排。你现在要做的就是养足精神睡上一觉。” "I see." 老板雷可华表示要先下手为强，看来就要动真格的了。张爵明让我养足精神，他的意图很明显，估计要很晚才会动手。老大刘振国身体健壮，我不是他的对手，老三潘少强会耍飞刀，恐怕我连靠近他的机会也没有。那么，会是老五方志凯吗？他的行动迟缓，对他下手的话应该不会有什么大问题吧？ 卧室并不冷，我却呼出一口凉气，开始搓动手掌。