The first thing I did was to find out

Chapter 509: One wave comes after another

After Huang Anyao's attempt to be a spendthrift failed, Qin Huai continued to make pastries, passing on the surprise of the breakfast bombardment he had previously brought to the guests of Zhiweiju to the guests of Yunzhong Canteen.

How have the guests at Yunzhong Canteen reacted to this?

Let me put it this way: anyone who entered the Cloud Cafeteria this morning was busy.

Even if you're full, you should still buy extra breakfast to save for lunch. The group members and older folks in the group-buying community won't interfere with this. Enforcement will only target those who buy large quantities of in-demand snacks, leaving no snacks for those in line, or those who buy on behalf of others. Buying food purely for personal consumption, and finishing it on the same day to avoid waste, is acceptable to everyone.

The breakfast bombardment in Qinhuai continued until noon.

It wasn't that Master Qin was going to take a break for lunch at 12 o'clock; rather, Gong Liang brought Qin Huai some even more shocking news at 12 o'clock.

In the morning, Shi Dadan took the initiative to invite Gong Liang to lunch. Although Gong Liang was a little surprised, he simply took it as a sign of Gong Liang's hospitality and agreed.

Shi Dadan invited Gong Liang to dinner in a hurry, and they went to the restaurant to eat at 11 o'clock.

Then, after a mundane meal and pointless small talk, Shi Dadan revealed the purpose of his invitation to the meal.

He asked Gong Liang if Director Xu was still alive. If he was, he wanted to visit him.

Although Gong Liang had just woken up and was not very familiar with everyone, and did not know the very detailed specific events that had happened to each of the spirits during this period, Gong Liang's common sense, intuition and brain told him that this matter was extremely illogical.

Gong Liang didn't tell Shi Dadan directly, but instead laughed it off, saying he wasn't sure either. After all, Director Xu had long since retired, and what relationship could a sales manager at a silk weaving factory have with the director of a cotton mill? But Gong Liang actually knew about Director Xu's situation; Director Xu was still alive and well, living year-round in a high-end sanatorium in Suzhou, and was said to be in good health.

Realizing something was wrong, Gong Liang called Qin Huai immediately after finishing his meal and informed Luo Jun and Chen Gong about the matter.

After receiving the call, Qin Huai also sensed that something was very wrong. The first thing he did upon hearing the news was to interpret it as Shi Dadan not wanting to live anymore, and that he felt he had succeeded in overcoming his tribulation too easily and wanted to fail again.

Before answering the phone, Qin Huai was still kneading the last batch of dough. After the call, he stopped kneading and handed the work over to Zhao Cheng'an, asking him to finish the rest of the work, have lunch, and then go to Luo Jun's house to bring him a boxed lunch.

Zhao Cheng'an, who had rested for five minutes and was about to go eat: ? ? ?

Due to Shi Dadan's unexpected situation, Qin Huai, Luo Jun, Chen Gong, and Gong Liang held a small tea party at Luo Jun's house. Chen Huihong was not present at the tea party because she was having dinner at her brother's house that day and couldn't make it.

Qu Jing wasn't mentioned because Qin Huai and the others hadn't informed her of the matter. Having done similar things before, Qu Jing might feel that Shi Dadan's actions weren't problematic emotionally.

"Has Dang Kang gone mad?" Luo Jun's opening remarks set the tone for today's tea party.

Luo Jun didn't really want to get involved in Shi Dadan's affairs. As a Bifang, he naturally disliked auspicious beasts like Dang Kang. In addition, Shi Dadan had awakened on his own in his second life, which was in stark contrast to his first life, where he neither succeeded in overcoming his tribulation nor wanted to be reincarnated and die quickly. If the situation hadn't been so serious, Luo Jun wouldn't have wanted to hold a tea party at his house.

It interrupted his TV viewing.

"It's probably something that provoked him during yesterday's conversation," Chen Gong calmly analyzed. "Actually, we don't know much about Lao Shi."

"We only know how he failed, not how he woke up. Of course, according to Lao Shi himself, he didn't know how he woke up either. Kang was a bit confused about the tribulation, and even after so many years of waking up, he still couldn't understand why he woke up so normally."

"But if that's the case, things will be more difficult."

"First of all, Lao Shi must be very concerned about Xu Nuo's death. Otherwise, Qin Huai would not have triggered the side quest to investigate the truth behind Xu Nuo's death. This should be the only one of Qin Huai's many side quests that has nothing to do with cooking. If this matter is not investigated, the grudge will always be in Lao Shi's heart. It is a time bomb. Even if it is not detonated now, it may explode in the future."

Hearing Chen Gong's words, Luo Jun glanced at Qin Huai, his eyes clearly saying, "It's all because you're so inefficient. If you had woken Wang Gensheng up earlier, everything would have been solved. We wouldn't be in this mess, with a whole bunch of people coming to my house and interrupting my TV time."

Qin Huai: ...

Since Gong Liang didn't know Shi Dadan very well, he asked very cautiously, "Old Shi was actually asking me about something just now. Do you think he was just curious, or did he know that Director Xu was still alive and would definitely go to the nursing home to find him?"

Qin Huai knew Shi Dadan quite well, so he answered the question: "Given Old Shi's personality, if he were simply curious, he would have called you directly the moment he thought of it. Instead of going through all this trouble, inviting you to dinner, and then pretending not to be very interested in asking the question."

Gong Liang was genuinely puzzled: "Was Kang also this radical?"

Chen Gong said, "For Dang Kang, who has failed in his tribulation, anything is possible."

"So, Mr. Gong, do you know the specific situation of Director Xu now?" Qin Huai asked with some curiosity.

Luo Jun rolled his eyes at Qin Huai, his face clearly saying, "How come you've also caught Chen Huihong's bad habit of not being able to grasp the main point? Is this the time to care about this?"

“I know a little,” Gong Liang said. “Doesn’t Director Xu have two sons? The main reason why his family dotes on Xu Nuo is because his eldest son is successful and works in another city and doesn’t come home all year round, so he doesn’t need to be taken care of. Therefore, they pay more attention to the good-for-nothing Xu Nuo.”

"A few years after Director Xu retired, the cotton mill went bankrupt. His eldest son was transferred to Shanghai for work and brought Director Xu and his wife with him."

"About ten years ago, Director Xu's eldest son passed away due to illness. It was said that he had been working for many years and had developed the disease. A few years later, his wife also passed away."

"That's when I heard that Director Xu had returned to Suzhou alone and moved into a high-end sanatorium. Some of the old factory workers would visit him from time to time, so I've heard about Director Xu's situation over the years. He should be in pretty good health."

"Speaking of which, Director Xu is also pitiful. When Xu Nuo died, it was like an old man sending off his son. In his old age, he had to send off his eldest son first and then his wife. I heard that he has two grandsons who would come back from other places to visit him at the sanatorium during holidays, but they only saw him a few times a year. I don't know anything else."

Qin Huai also sighed.

"Speaking of which, I don't even know what Director Xu's name is. If Lao Shi can find out that Director Xu is in the sanatorium in Suzhou by his name, can he?" Qin Huai asked.

"Xu Chenggang".

"Without needing to know his name, Lao Shi only needs to follow Mr. Luo's example and hire a reliable private investigator. He can find out with a little inquiry and it won't be difficult to find out where Director Xu is."

Hearing Gong Liang say this, Luo Jun became unhappy: "What do you mean, you beast? Is the private investigator I hired unreliable? Do you know that my private investigator found out about Qu Jing's parents in her past life? Could an ordinary private investigator find that out?"

Chen Gong interrupted Luo Jun's outburst: "Mr. Luo, now is not the time to argue about this."

Luo Jun: ?
Why didn't you interrupt them when they were rambling on about all that nonsense?
None of you mythical beasts are any good!

"So," Luo Jun glared at Chen Gong, emphasizing each word, "you came all the way to my house and spouted this nonsense just to say this?"

“Isn’t this an analysis?” Chen Gong continued, “Given Lao Shi’s personality, he might actually do something even more radical than Qu Jing out of impulse. It’s not impossible that he might go directly to Suzhou to find Director Xu and ask him how Xu Nuo died back then.”

"Can this be done?" Qin Huai exclaimed in shock. "Wouldn't this directly expose the fact that he is Xu Mo, and that he has been reincarnated?"

"Didn't Xia Murui also know that Zhao Cheng'an was Chen Sheng?" Chen Gong countered. Qin Huai was momentarily at a loss for words: "But...aren't these two situations different?"

Chen Gong nodded: "The problem lies here. Xia Murui knows that Zhao Cheng'an is Chen Sheng, but this is controllable. Just like Dr. Qu's parents in her previous life knew her identity. Although there was a little danger, it was still controllable overall."

“Old Shi’s case is different. Once Director Xu finds out his identity, the situation will be beyond our control. Anything is possible, and even the worst-case scenario could happen.”

"Therefore, we absolutely cannot let Lao Shi go to Suzhou to look for someone so rashly, at least not now."

"But we probably can't persuade him."

Luo Jun said calmly, "We can't persuade them, but there are others who can."

Qin Huai knew that Luo Jun was talking about himself.

Although Shi Dadan was a spirit who appeared much later in the story, Qin Huai and Shi Dadan had the best relationship among all the spirits.

The friendship was built on sharing snacks, one bite at a time.

No pastry chef in the world can resist a customer who loves their pastries, makes sure every dish is perfectly finished, and even wants to use a plate to catch the crumbs while eating, and then sweep the crumbs off the plate and eat them clean.

"I will try to persuade them," Qin Huai said.

"Just advice?" Luo Jun raised an eyebrow.

"I will also try my best to increase Grandpa Wang's favorability, and try to get the side quests on him as soon as possible, unlock the recipes, unlock his memories and wake him up," Qin Huai continued.

Luo Jun was finally satisfied.

“However, Master Qin, you should be more tactful when you offer advice and pay attention to your approach,” Chen Gong reminded him. “Even the gentlest and most easy-going spirits can be surprisingly stubborn when faced with their own obsessions.”

"Just like Mr. Luo stubbornly refused to die, I stubbornly insisted on finding a good boss who truly treats me well. I'm awake now, and logically I should die immediately to eliminate future troubles, but I just want to stay in this world and continue working for Boss Han, because that's my obsession."

“I know there are risks involved. If Mr. Han is like the bosses I’ve encountered before, and ends up discarding me after the rabbit is caught, or if it’s simply because time has passed and people’s hearts have changed, and Mr. Han no longer trusts me, doesn’t value me, or is unwilling to treat me well, I might fail to overcome this tribulation again.”

"It's a gamble, but I'm willing to take it."

Even if I fail, I won't regret it.

"Old Shi's mindset is probably the same as mine now. He successfully transcended the tribulation, but Xu Nuo is his obsession. In his first life, he committed suicide because he caused Xu Nuo's death and failed to transcend the tribulation. In this life, he may fail again because he is obsessed with finding out the truth about Xu Nuo's death."

"Mr. Luo always distrusts Lao Shi, feeling that Lao Shi is not telling the truth, but I believe there is one thing Lao Shi definitely did not lie to us about."

"He was afraid to go to Suzhou, and he avoided the matter because Suzhou held a special place in his heart. He didn't know how to face it, so he chose to run away. But for spirits, running away doesn't solve anything; it can only temporarily cover up the problem."

"Facing the problem head-on is the only way to solve it."

"I would also like to offer this same principle to Mr. Luo."

Luo Jun initially thought that these people were just coming to his house to talk nonsense, so he didn't really want to listen to their conversation and just watched TV while attending the tea party.

When Luo Jun heard Chen Gong's explanation of reasoning culminate in a self-criticism, he immediately became enraged.

"Are you done?"

"Get out of here after you've said your piece!"

"If you say another word, I'll charge you rent—ten times the rent!"

Then Qin Huai and the others were kicked out by Luo Jun.

Gong Liang stood at the door of Luo Jun's house, looking at the tightly closed security door and sighed, "Mr. Luo is indeed as short-tempered as the rumors say. It must have been tough for him to act for so long the other day."

"No wonder they stuffed the mooncake into my mouth so hard, I almost choked."

Qin Huai: ...Is this the time to lament about this kind of thing? Your focus is also quite strange.

Seeing that the two showed no intention of leaving, Qin Huai thought it would be better to stand at Luo Jun's door and finish what he hadn't said.

"So...should I go talk to Lao Shi now?"

"It's better to do it sooner rather than later," Chen Gong said.

“Okay.” Qin Huai took out his phone and called Shi Dadan.

There's not much to say about this conversation. In Qin Huai's view, Shi Dadan was honest enough with him, and he should reciprocate with equal honesty.

Tell Shi Dadan directly about everyone's concerns, use emotional manipulation to make him bear with it for now, and that he can get the truth out of Wang Gensheng once he wakes up, instead of going to Suzhou to find Director Xu.

"Hey, Lao Shi, where are you? I need to talk to you."

"I'm at the airport. I have some business to attend to in Shanghai, so I didn't have time to tell you."

Qin Huai: ...

"Are you planning to land in Shanghai and then take the high-speed train to Suzhou?"

Shi Dadan remained silent.

"Old Shi, don't be impulsive, hold on a second. I assure you I will definitely find out the truth about Xu Nuo's death within this year, okay?"

"Come back first. If you don't believe me, we can talk face to face."

After a few seconds of silence, Shi Dadan on the other end of the phone slowly said, "Okay, I believe you."

(End of this chapter)