Тhе Nеw Yеаr celebrаtiоns had just endеd when Hе Zhеngrеn sаw thе оbituary fоr Professor Lu Yang's pаssing. Lu Yаng was а few уеаrs оlder thаn Rао Qinghui, аnd thе two hаd been clоsе friends in thеir youth, evеn repоrtedly mаking а расt tо bеcomе in-lаws somеdау. Aftеr Raо Qinghui's dеath, Hе Zhеngren hаd visited Lu Yang sevеral times, but he соuldn't рry аny informatiоn оut оf him.
Hiрро drоvе Нe Zhеngrеn to thе memоrial serviсe аnd thеn stаyеd in thе саr, playing gаmes while he waited. Likе Li Haozhаng, he rarеly stерpеd out of the vehicle or showed his face.
Most of Lu Yang's students in China attended the service. Some were university professors, others ran their own companies, while those abroad sent calls expressing their condolences and grief. The scene felt familiar to He Zhengren—it was much the same when Rao Qinghui passed away. As he pinned a white flower to his chest, he suddenly wondered whether so many people would make a special trip to bid him farewell on the day he left this world.
"Professor He..."
"Hello, Teacher He! You're here too!"
"Teacher He, it's been a long time! I'll visit you at home in a few days!"
He Zhengren responded to each one graciously, warmly inviting them to his home for a chat. After the eulogy was read, Lu Yang's children and grandchildren came forward to express their gratitude, explaining that Lu Yang had ultimately been unable to recover and passed away peacefully in his sleep while receiving home care.
"Professor Lu nurtured so many talents for the country. His contributions in this lifetime can't be summed up in just one or two speeches. Please accept my condolences," He Zhengren sighed, patting the shoulder of Lu Yang's eldest son, Lu Dingqian. "Professor Lu's old friend, Professor Rao, left us too soon, so unexpectedly. I often think that if Professor Rao were still here, collaborating with Professor Lu on research and lectures, who knows what brilliance they could have achieved. What a pity!"
Lu Dingqian's eyes reddened as he nodded repeatedly. "Professor Rao was my father's closest friend. His passing truly dealt a heavy blow to my father. My father always wanted to complete the research Professor Rao left unfinished, but his health simply couldn't hold up. He could only place his hopes on the younger generation."
These words gave He Zhengren an insight—as close friends, Lu Yang had clearly known about Rao Qinghui's research project. Feigning a sigh, He Zhengren remarked, "Before I retired, I also worked hard to fulfill Professor Rao's wishes. But we're all getting older, and Professor Rao's project was particularly challenging, requiring immense manpower and resources. Sometimes I wish we could turn back time twenty years."
"My father's persistence was likely driven by a desire to fulfill Professor Rao's dream," Lu Dingqian said. "On his sickbed, my father told us that Professor Rao spent the latter half of his life traveling and surveying, hoping to find large mineral belts or single mineral deposits. They once discovered several pegmatite veins in Sichuan and Yunnan. I didn't quite understand the other technical terms—things like Yanshanian period, beryl, helvite—with estimated grades of less than 0.01%, low reserves, and high extraction costs. My father didn't know the progress of their later research and surveys. The next news he received was about their car accident..."
Sichuan, Yunnan, pegmatite veins, Yanshanian period, beryl, helvite—to an outsider, these keywords might sound like gibberish, but to an insider like He Zhengren, they instantly unraveled years of confusion. Rao Qinghui's project was about beryllium ore!The fact that beryllium ore reserves in China are not high is common knowledge within the industry, and which regions have prospecting potential is not a secret. However, determining the location, distribution, and scale of deposits holds extremely important and specific strategic significance.
Beryllium ore! He Zhengren knew the importance of this mineral resource, and a golden flame ignited in his heart. Perhaps the meaning behind the three photos in Bayunye’s hands pointed to the research findings of the expedition team! Wasn’t this exactly what he most desired? He Zhengren remained silent for a few seconds. "Such a scarce mineral with small reserves, combined with China’s vast territory and diverse, complex mineral resources—even for young researchers, results cannot be achieved overnight. Professor Rao’s later investigations were relatively confidential, but since they involved such mineral belts, it’s understandable to maintain secrecy for the sake of national mineral security."
Lu Dingqian, an outsider, was unaware of the deception and was drawn into revealing information by He Zhengren’s words. "Only my father and those close to Professor Rao, like you, knew about this. Moreover, Professor Rao once called my father to say that the research had made significant breakthroughs, though he didn’t specify the exact progress."
"Each generation has its own talents. I believe the younger generation will not disappoint their predecessors." He Zhengren said solemnly, adopting the same approach he used with Diao Zhuo. "I wonder if Professor Lu left any instructions regarding his research before his passing?"
Lu Dingqian was not a bereaved family member of the accident, unlike Diao Zhuo, who was wary of He Zhengren. As a grieving son dealing with his father’s old colleague, he spoke openly. "Yes! I heard earlier that Professor Rao’s grandson was unaffected by the accident and followed in his father’s footsteps, currently working on a manganese ore project in Xinjiang. Before the New Year, police even came to our home to consult my father on some professional matters, though his energy was limited, so they couldn’t talk for long. After the police left, my father seemed to be in good spirits."
He Zhengren frowned. "What use would the police have for those professional questions?"
"I couldn’t hear clearly from outside, but it seemed related to Professor Rao."
He Zhengren’s breath caught, and fear surged within him. He patiently exchanged a few more pleasantries with Professor Lu Yang’s children before rising to leave. Today’s visit had yielded a wealth of information, and an idea was taking shape in his mind. Recently, he had considered leaving the country as soon as possible to retire in the United States, but the immense value of the beryllium ore data stirred his ambitions. The lure of money was the hardest to resist!
He settled into the back seat of the car as Hippo started the engine. "Xiao Li just called. Master Ba has another job. He asked if you still want to keep following."
"What about the other one?"
"Diao Zhuo’s leave hasn’t ended yet. He’s staying in Yunnan for now."
He Zhengren felt somewhat annoyed and waved his hand. "Since he’s already exposed, he might as well come back. But he shouldn’t appear around us for now. Before Diao Zhuo goes to Xinjiang, find a place for him to lay low for a while."
Hippo nodded as the car slowly pulled away. He Zhengren dialed someone’s number and said, "I heard the police went to Professor Lu Yang’s place a few days ago to ask about something. Did you know about this? …If you knew, why didn’t you tell me? Hah, so you still haven’t been able to take over the accident investigation team and have no idea about the specific progress? …Of course, it’s best not to reopen the investigation. Since there was already a conclusion back then, why overturn it now? Within your authority, do your best to prevent it. …Alright, goodbye."Hippo's eyes darted around as he flattered, "Boss He's connections are truly extensive... I never expected you'd have contacts even in the police department..."
"Just drive, and keep your mouth shut!"
"Heh heh, earlier I was feeling quite uneasy, but now I'm much more at ease."
"With courage like yours, don't even think about achieving anything big." He Zhengren snorted coldly.
Hippo chuckled, "What should we do next?"
He Zhengren wearily pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sigh... Today I saw that another old senior from the past has passed away, and my feelings are complicated. I've spent my whole life in research, and even after retiring, I still worry so much—I really feel tired... Take me for a drive around the institute."
Not long after, Li Haozhang received the order to "withdraw" and hurriedly packed his things to return to Beijing. As soon as he left, the innkeeper immediately called Brother Long—"Ah Long, the people you mentioned have checked out. I helped them call a car to the airport. I'll send you the license plate number in a moment."
Brother Long was currently at another inn he owned in Lijiang. After hanging up the phone, he called two others, and the three cars set off together to follow Li Haozhang.
Although Ge Mingliang's feedback indicated that Li Haozhang was an unemployed drifter with no fixed occupation, seemingly just a hired thug, it didn't seem like an ordinary thug would travel all the way from Beijing to Yunnan and Tibet for surveillance, spending tens of thousands on gasoline and accommodation alone.
If others could conduct surveillance, he could conduct counter-surveillance. Especially after hearing that Song Fan and Li Haozhang had successively hired thugs to harass the orphanage, Brother Long became even more convinced that following Li Haozhang would uncover something.
He Zhengren arrived at the institute's warehouse and found Rao Qinghui's old computer from back in the day. He slowly turned it on, and once again, a file package requiring a password appeared on the screen. He had tried many passwords before without success, but this time... "Beryllium ore..." he muttered to himself. "The latitude and longitude indicated by a few photos in Xiao Ba's hands... 40... 41... Could the password be beryllium's CAS number, 7440417?"
He entered it on a whim, and a second later, he actually gained access to the encrypted folder. He gasped in surprise, coughing a few times from the musty dust in the warehouse, but his heart was bursting with joy. He quickly scanned the contents of the folder—scanned documents, survey data summaries, and distribution maps—making him tremble slightly with excitement. Rao Qinghui truly lived up to his reputation as an academic giant of his time. This detailed beryllium ore data covered almost all beryllium deposits and associated deposits in the country with mining potential. The precise data and locations represented the painstaking efforts of Rao Qinghui and his project team over who knows how many years—it was incredibly valuable!
He Zhengren let out a suppressed laugh, shaking his head as he chuckled. "Old Rao... Your password is both difficult and simple. As long as one knows what you were researching, the password isn't hard to guess. The problem is you were always so secretive! If Lu Yang hadn't been confused by illness and leaked your secret to his son and the police, your life's work would have been wasted if no one guessed the password! These things couldn't turn into money in your hands, but for me, they're all money, all money!!"In that case, whether they could find Ba Xiye’s old computer no longer mattered. He Zhengren copied all the data using a USB drive he carried with him, shamelessly formatted the computer, and walked out of the warehouse as if nothing had happened.
Taking guests along the Yunnan-Tibet route for a round trip required 25 days of driving. By the time Bayunye arrived in Lhasa, the plane Diao Zhuo was on landed at Gongga Airport. The two reunited briefly in Lhasa for four days before Bayunye drove the second group of guests on the reverse Yunnan-Tibet route to Lijiang.
“If you ever get tired of this situation where we’re apart more than we’re together, let me know early on,” Bayunye joked, half-seriously, as she hugged Diao Zhuo from behind, resting her forehead against his sturdy back muscles. “Don’t let me excitedly go looking for you one day only to find you’ve already packed up and left without even leaving a trace.”
Diao Zhuo didn’t respond to that. He placed Bayunye’s luggage in the trunk, turned around, and said, “The snow on the road is thick, so be careful. I’ll wait for you in Lijiang.”
“Don’t worry,” Bayunye promised. “By the way, I haven’t been able to reach Brother Long lately. He’s not in Lhasa, and the inns in Lijiang and Dali say he hasn’t been there either. He hasn’t returned to Chengdu either. When I message him, sometimes he replies, sometimes he doesn’t, saying he’s busy with something… Could he be in a relationship? If you see him in Lijiang before I do, grill him for me.”
He scoffed, “Stop worrying about nothing.”
“I’m just afraid he might get tricked by a bad woman.”
Diao Zhuo looked her up and down. “Given how he trained and raised you into the person you are, he’s not the kind of man who’d fall into the hands of a bad woman.”
Bayunye thought that made perfect sense and stroked her chin, saying, “Maybe it’s… a bad man?”
The straight-as-an-arrow man didn’t find this kind of joke amusing at all. He raised his hand and waved, signaling her to get in the car.
Not long after, the red Wrangler sped off into the distance. Diao Zhuo’s phone rang—several of his classmates informed him that they had just attended Professor Lu Yang’s memorial service, conveyed his condolences, and saw He Zhengren there.
“According to Professor Lu’s family, after returning home to recuperate, he suffered from illness and pain. Later, a few police officers visited him to discuss your grandfather, Professor Rao. That day, Professor Lu seemed to improve slightly, and a few days later, he passed away peacefully.”
Diao Zhuo contacted police officer Ran Jinxian, who said they had retrieved all the files related to the accident. Although they hadn’t reopened the investigation, they had begun gathering additional information about the clues left in the last words, so they avoided the survivors and sought out Professor Lu, a close friend of Rao Qinghui. At the same time, based on the information Diao Zhuo provided about Song Fan and Li Haozhang repeatedly harassing the orphanage after the accident, they were paying extra attention to the matter. While reviewing the files, the police also noticed someone who had previously been overlooked—
A woman named Peng Chunni, who boarded the vehicle as a tourist alongside Song Fan.
“If I remember correctly, she also died on the spot,” Diao Zhuo said.
Ran Jinxian replied, “They were around the same age. We’re currently investigating whether she and Song Fan knew each other or had any other relationship. If they were in a romantic relationship, it’s entirely possible that Song Fan harassed the orphanage out of resentment. As for Li Haozhang… we haven’t found any direct connection between him and the accident yet. Perhaps they had different motives. We’ll wait for further investigation before drawing conclusions.”
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