Persona: Devil Summoner

On the other hand, this kind of house that is not very tall is either a dilapidated building left over from the ancient times, when Japan did not have the technology to build high-rise buildings. Or, it is the elegant pursuit that only the rich and powerful people of this era can have.

Obviously, judging from the green vegetation outside, flowing water in the courtyard and exterior decoration, it is not difficult to see that it is definitely the latter.

There was a metal nameplate outside the door with the owner's surname written in regular script: Kawahara.

Yes, this is Jiang Tianwei’s stepfather’s home.

Across this beautiful landscaping, no more than 500 meters away in a straight line, lives Jiang Tianwei's biological mother.

He hadn't seen his mother since his father died and she remarried.

Mingming had already prepared himself mentally. After all, if he wanted to investigate his father's death, he had to understand this person first. If he wanted to find out his information, he had to face his mother.

But when he really had to face her, Jiang Tianwei felt his heart pounding.

The ghost of Fang Zexia floated beside him and said, "Are you nervous?"

"Oh, of course..."

Jiang Tianwei smiled bitterly.

"It's okay, I believe you'll be fine! Do you need me to do a cheerleading dance for you to cheer you up?"

"Forget it. Then it won't be nervousness that will turn into embarrassment."

Jiang Tianwei took four deep breaths before ringing the doorbell.

In less than three minutes, two men in black came out of the house and respectfully opened the door for him: "Welcome, young master. Madam has been waiting for you for a long time."

The reason they were so obedient was, of course, because his stepfather had made the arrangements on his behalf. It could be said that it was "premeditated." After all, organizations always face a transfer of power, and it is never wrong to curry favor with the next generation of leaders in advance.

But these two people were so focused on how to curry favor with the young master that they didn't notice the young master's embarrassed expression.

"Let's go..."

Although Jiang Tianwei was not prepared to face her, he still went there.

He imagined that he would face his mother again one day. But he didn't know what he would do. Would he cry loudly, showing his deep love for his mother? Or would he look at her with hatred and anger? Or would he talk to her in the dark? Maybe, he would just look at her in silence...

Jiang Tianwei imagined countless situations, but the only thing he didn't expect was...

When the two men in black helped open the lady's bedroom door, they were greeted by a smell that was difficult to describe.

It was the stuffy smell that comes from a room that has not been ventilated for a long time.

Accompanied by the strong smell of women's perfume, the relaxing aromatherapy, the unique taurine smell of various functional drinks used to invigorate the spirit, and the strong smell of coffee, it is really hard for people to associate it with the word "young lady".

The entire room was filled with piles of books, each of which was an academic journal as thick as one or two knuckles.

There are roughly three types of books. One is the ones that have been finished, with the whole book labeled with various colors, which is "colorful". One is the ones that have obviously not been started yet, and they are neatly piled up in the corner like a small mountain. And the other is the ones that are being read...

A large number of books were spread out on the ground, and several women in black were lying on the ground, meticulously flipping through them, looking for some useful content. Next to this reading space that still had a bit of an academic atmosphere, there were a lot of empty or half-drunk bottles of sports drinks and coffee...

In this room that could not be recognized as a "boudoir", there was a woman who did not fit in. She was wearing loose sportswear, sitting cross-legged on a chair with her feet tucked under her body. She casually combed her hair and bangs back, with ointment on her exposed forehead. Her eyes had heavy dark circles due to staying up late for many years.

"mom?!".

Jiang Tianwei never thought that when he saw his mother again, she would become like this?!

In his impression, he wouldn't say his mother was a perfect mother, but at least she had the qualities that an ordinary mother should have. Just like the traditional Chinese impression of a mother, she was always the one who worried about the family and kept everything in order. He had never seen his mother look so sloppy.

and……

Jiang Tianwei glanced at the covers of the ocean of books, all of which were books related to psychology. His mother was not a scientist, nor a scholar, nor a journalist or psychologist.

She is just an ordinary mother. Due to the times, she did not have a high education. She barely finished high school and then went to find a job. She had a salary that was enough to make a living, but was tossed around by the daily necessities of life. She downloaded various software and listened to various advertisements for discounts and vouchers.

It was not until he saw her again that he suddenly realized that he not only did not know his deceased father very well, but he also did not know his remarried mother very well.

He always thought that his mother abandoned his father in order to pursue wealth and fame and hook up with a rich man.

After all, boys at that age are full of vigor, rebellious and unwilling to listen to advice. They have a kind of "I am the world" arrogance, and cannot tolerate opposing opinions. Opinions that are contrary to their own are definitely wrong.

It was not until life smoothed out his edges that he looked back and realized that many things were not what he understood...

Jiang Tianwei's mother was just an ordinary person, so naturally she couldn't read her son's thoughts. But when she heard this, she trembled all over. She put down the book in her hand, quickly gathered her hair with her fingers, put down the veil to cover the green medicine on her forehead, and quickly tidied her clothes. She then turned around carefully...

It was not until she confirmed that the person standing at the door was indeed her son that she revealed an indescribable expression: "I thought I would never see you again."

"That's not the case."

Jiang Tianwei felt uncomfortable when he heard her sad tone, but he still tried to evade the question with a half-joking tone. He picked up a book, flipped through two pages, and said with a smile: "I thought you would be a rich lady here, but you turned out to be a psychologist?"

"Well... I want to do something within my power... for your dad."

As she spoke, she lowered her head and rubbed the smooth nail of her left thumb with her right fingers, as if this could help her relieve some of her psychological burden.

"My father..."

Jiang Tianwei's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself that it was just right that the topic had turned to his father.

"Mom...what does my dad do?"

"…Why are you asking this now? What's the matter?"

Unexpectedly, she did not directly answer Jiang Tianwei's question, but asked it in return with a bit of caution.

"It's okay. I just suddenly felt that I didn't know much about my dad..."

"Hehe...that person is like this..."

Unexpectedly, what appeared in her eyes was not indignation or sadness, but a kind of nostalgia for the past. For a moment, it seemed as if she had really returned to the happy time in her memory.

"Your father...ah...your father...you suddenly come to me just to ask this? You, you are not going to do anything stupid, are you?!"

"Hey, let's not talk about whether I'm going to do something stupid. I don't even know the murderer, so what can I do?"

I don't know if it was because of what Jiang Tianwei said that she let down her guard, or if she accepted the nonchalant look that Jiang Tianwei pretended to be. Anyway, she sighed deeply, and after a long while, she slowly spoke:

"Just... you may not believe what I'm about to say, and you may even think there's something wrong with me..."

"If you don't tell me, how do you know I don't believe it?"

Jiang Tianwei's words sounded as if he was talking to his mother, but also as if he was talking to himself.

This is often the case, especially in families, where many people take things for granted, such as: you should know what to do, you should know what I want, you should know what to do at this time, but the reality is that if you don’t say it, many people won’t know.

She didn't know whether it was because her son was sincere or because she had been feeling depressed for too long, so she wanted to find someone to talk to. She hesitated for a moment, but finally spoke.

"Did you know...in reality, there are actually more than 24 hours in a day?"

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 265 Shadow Time

More than 24 hours in a day?!

This concept is really, absolutely, very normal.

Before coming to Japan, Jiang Tianwei would probably be surprised to hear this, but not now.

This is not because he became a phantom thief and began to understand supernatural events, but because Japan does have a 30-hour calculation system. It is mainly used in environments such as late-night anime watching, where 0:6 to 24:01 the next day is merged into 29:59-6: the previous day, and the day is switched at o'clock every morning.

Seeing Jiang Tianwei's calm face, his mother knew that her son, an old fan of the second dimension, must know this 30-hour calculation method, so she continued to elaborate: "This is the research your father has been conducting. He proposed a very novel hypothesis... Starting at 24: every day, the whole world will enter a special state. Only a very small number of qualified people can act during this period. Your father calls it [Shadow Time]."

"Boy, is my dad also an old 2D guy?"

"That person is not... He is the smartest person I have ever met. Perhaps, it is because he is too talented. No one agrees with the various theories and hypotheses he proposed..."

As she spoke, she smiled a little. Her eyes seemed to transcend the shackles of reality and return to the good old days, recalling how it felt to be with that person.

Jiang Tianwei's father, Jiang Jie, is a very capable scientist.

But, perhaps it is because you are too knowledgeable. When your understanding and knowledge of science far exceeds that of everyone else, when the whole world is ignorant but you are the only one who has true insights... it is obvious what will happen.

Therefore, Jiang Jie's first half of life was not very smooth.

Because this hypothesis was so outrageous that no one was willing to provide him with financial support. Unlike the traditional concept of "men work outside and women work inside", the main source of income for the Jiang family is the mother's not-so-generous salary.

Even though Jiang Jie is not recognized or favored by anyone, he still believes in his knowledge and ability and studies what he believes in wholeheartedly. This harmonious relationship between husband and wife is just like the one in the movie Royal Bodyguard 007...

This is also the main reason why Jiang Tianwei's impression of his father is always too vague... Due to face issues, Jiang Jie never mentioned in front of his children that he was a down-and-out scientist. He always told his son vaguely that he was working, but in fact he just went out when Jiang Tianwei was at home, and then came back to continue his research when he went to school.

According to him, the reason why most people don't recognize him is mainly because science emphasizes "seeing is believing", because there are too few people who have the quality - and even if there are, he may not be a night owl. Even if he is really a night owl, generally speaking, people who stay up until 12 o'clock are either catching up on TV series or playing games. Who has nothing to do to study the scenery outside the window? - So very few people discover this secret time of 12 o'clock midnight.

It seems that during this period of time, those without qualifications will become coffins... and those with qualifications can move freely.

Although Jiang Jie had no evidence of the difference between the two, he was quite certain that it was a difference in spirit... This naturally led to two solutions. The first one, of course, was to train the spirit so that everyone could observe...

The second one... Jiang Jie began to design a system, a system that can allow the monsters [Shadows] that live in the shadow time to be summoned to reality outside the shadow time, and to move normally, and a system that can control them.

The core of these two solutions is the same: as long as you find a way to expand the group of observers, you can increase the supporters of your theory, right?

Fortunately, this is no longer an age of ignorance such as witch trials. Even if people think a scientist's claims are ridiculous, they will not tie him to a stake and burn him to death - besides, Jiang Jie can't be a witch!

But the mother did not know the specific content of the plan Jiang Jie chose. At that time, she did not care about the details of her husband's work, she just believed in her husband's talent unilaterally.

A turning point soon came. I don’t know if it was a change of luck or hard work, but thanks to Jiang Jie’s tireless rewriting of the paper and submitting it everywhere in order to find a soulmate, finally one day, his paper was noticed by a Japanese consortium, which provided him with funds, bought all his papers, and encouraged him to continue his research.

Jiang Jie was as happy as a child that day. He sent all his research papers and research directions to the organization with great enthusiasm. However, the matter soon came to nothing. The "opportunity to work for a large Japanese company" that Jiang Jie hoped for did not come. Although the other party paid him very quickly, it seemed that they had no intention of further recruiting him.

Afterwards, Jiang Jie tried to send a few more letters to this place claiming to be the "Tong Tiao Human Factors Engineering Research Institute", but there was no response. He could no longer contact Mr. Ji Yue Xiu Si, who had enthusiastically discussed film time with him back then.

Often, scientists are too focused on a certain field, which makes them too naive in other fields. If you are interested in this, you can read the history of many Japanese scientists (such as the Obokata incident), and you will wonder why they are so bad at dealing with people...

It was only after this that Jiang Jie realized a truth: the premise of negotiation is to keep the cards in your own hand. From the moment you hand the cards to the other party, you will never be able to take the initiative again.

When the second chance came, he already had his own child. No matter how much one pursues his ideals, he will have to face reality.

In addition to his previous failed experience, he directly put forward his demands this time. The other party must accept his whole family to live in Japan, arrange a decent job for him (at least it must be very decent on the surface), and pay him a high salary. At least he cannot let his wife be so tired, and he does not have to hide it from the child. He can tell him openly: I, your father, am a scientist!

Unexpectedly, this second chance was very reliable. The other party readily agreed and gave him a completely new research direction...

"Cognitive Science... This is the research direction your father came here to study."

As she spoke, she picked up a notebook from the table that looked like it had been used for a long time. The corners of the thick black leather cover were worn out. Her movements were very slow and gentle.

Jiang Tianwei gradually remembered what happened afterwards.

Later, his father took the whole family to go overseas. According to his mother, he was very happy at that time. He called what he was doing "a leap forward in the evolution of mankind." Jiang Tianwei remembers everything that happened after that very clearly...

During a happy family trip, my father suddenly became a useless person...

After listening to his mother's description, Jiang Tianwei nodded thoughtfully, but in fact, he was very confused. He thought about it and suddenly noticed the most critical, most important, and most core issue...

"So, Mom, how did you and Kawahara... and my stepfather know each other?"

"He is your father's work partner. We have met several times. He takes special care of your father."

"ah?!".

Jiang Tianwei's eyes widened at this. What's going on? !

He thought that his chaotic family relationship was caused by a gangster who stole his love, and he even imagined a huge family ethics drama that was enough to be filmed in 52 episodes (255 episodes if it was thrown into Korea), but he didn't expect it to be? ! My dad and my current dad are not rivals in love but partners! ?

"No, my new father is not..."

Jiang Tianwei looked around and saw no outsiders, so he continued: "Isn't he a gangster? He doesn't look like a scientist."

"Yeah, so he is responsible for protecting your father's personal safety. You forgot that even when we went out to play, your father's car was followed by the Kawahara family's car..."

Jiang Tianwei couldn't remember the details, but she was so determined that it must be true.

But I really have no impression of it.

I didn't expect that the facts I imagined in my head would be so different from reality...

Seeing Jiang Tianwei speechless, the mother seemed to have thought of something again. She vigilantly asked the question she had asked before again: "You, why are you suddenly asking this? You, don't do anything stupid, mom only has you now!"

This is also one of the signs of aging, people start to like repeating what they have said...

"Ah, how could that be? I don't have that ability. The police can't catch the murderer, what can I, a high school student, do?"

Jiang Tianwei was talking nonsense, and his mother's nervous look finally eased: "I will find the murderer of your father myself, you must not get hurt..."

"Uh-huh……"

Jiang Tianwei just felt a little embarrassed. What is the mother-son bond? The mother and son's thoughts were surprisingly consistent. Hearing his mother's caring words made him feel uncomfortable. He had the rebellious psychology of a child wanting to break free from his mother's discipline, the shame of deceiving his parents, and the tremor of having his true thoughts revealed...

"I thought we would never meet again... You didn't even write me a letter in all these years..."

The mother sighed casually, and Jiang Tianwei also said casually: "What era is this? Who still writes letters? - And you haven't written me a letter either."

"Huh? I have written it?"

Facing Jiang Tianwei's casual complaint, his mother showed a look of shock: "Every month when I send you money, I will write you a letter?"