Su Wan lowered her eyes and continued flipping through the documents in her hand.
Business records, private life logs, photos, breakdowns...
Lines of text flashed before her eyes. Her gaze lingered briefly on certain key pieces of information, as if she were truly studying Bai Chengye’s background in detail.
But her mind was no longer on the file at all.
She was reminiscing.
She recalled every detail from each time she had visited Old Ghost.
Could a gray-market businessman who served multiple factions simultaneously survive this long, keeping a shop peacefully in this alley for so many years, simply because he was “tight-lipped” and followed the “rules”?
She had recently begun to grasp just how deep the waters in Jiangcheng ran.
The Bai family, the Gu family, the Xu family—the constant friction and alliances between the great clans.
The mysterious person who could sense ability fluctuations and the organization behind him.
And those hidden powers she hadn't yet identified, lurking in the shadows...
In such an environment, how could a gray-market businessman without any background live so securely?
Su Wan flipped to the last page, organized the materials, and put them back into the file envelope.
She looked up, her gaze sweeping over Old Ghost once more.
Old Ghost was still sitting there, fiddling with his walnuts, eyes half-closed like a weathered old sculpture.
Su Wan’s perception spread out silently once more, testing that door.
It was blocked again.
Su Wan withdrew her perception, her face remaining expressionless.
She stood up, picked up the file envelope, and nodded to Old Ghost.
“Thanks.”
Old Ghost lifted his murky eyes and spoke in a raspy voice, “Take care, Miss Su.”
Su Wan turned, pushed open the scrap iron door, and stepped into the night.
The door closed gently behind her.
Su Wan pulled down the brim of her hat and walked out at a leisurely pace, but her mind was already racing.
Old Ghost.
That door.
The barrier that could isolate mental power.
The room that printed dozens of pages of files in a few minutes without making a sound—
What exactly was hidden inside?
Was it another Ability User?
Or some kind of special equipment?
Or... was that room itself a special “anchor point,” much like her Room 102 back in the apocalypse?
Su Wan walked out of the alley and stood at the intersection, glancing back once.
Deep within that alley, shrouded in darkness, Old Ghost’s shop was hidden behind one of those unremarkable doors.
Su Wan felt that ever since she started traveling between the two worlds, the world in her eyes had become completely different.
Thinking back on her life over the last twenty years, she felt as if everything had been a dream.
If the world today was the real one, then what were those previous twenty-plus years?
Su Wan withdrew her gaze, turned toward the roadside, and hailed a taxi.
“East City, Jade Manor.”
The car door closed, and the taxi merged into the traffic.
Regardless of who Old Ghost was or what was hidden behind that door—
At least for now, they weren't hostile.
If they were, they could have struck just now when she was testing that door in the shop.
A faint, imperceptible smile played on the corners of Su Wan’s lips.
This Jiangcheng was becoming more and more interesting.
She pulled her focus back and pulled the documents out of the file envelope again.
On the very top was a photo of Bai Chengye.
A well-maintained middle-aged man with regular features; his eyes held the shrewdness and slickness characteristic of a businessman.
Dressed in a suit and tie with a proper smile, he was the image of a standard successful individual.
Su Wan’s gaze lingered on the photo for two seconds before she continued flipping through.
Bai Chengye, the second son of Bai Hongyuan, currently fifty-three years old.
Vice President of Bai Corporation, holding 12% of the group’s shares, responsible for overseas business and the investment sector.
Married to Liu Wanru, with one son and one daughter.
Son, Bai Jingxing, twenty-seven years old, working in the marketing department of Bai Corporation;
Daughter, Bai Ruochu, twenty-five years old, currently in custody on suspicion of intentional assault.
Next were the commercial records—
The projects Bai Chengye had handled, the investments he was responsible for, the business collaborations he participated in...
The dense text recorded Bai Chengye’s commercial trajectory over more than thirty years.
Su Wan browsed quickly, stopping occasionally to linger on key pieces of information.
But her gaze eventually landed on the latter half of the file—
The records of Bai Chengye’s private life.
This was likely Old Ghost’s specialty in this line of work.
Anyone could look up public information; what was truly valuable were these things that couldn't see the light of day.
And in this regard, Bai Chengye was clearly not a blank slate.
His lovers were too many to count.
The records began over a decade ago—
Mistress One, surnamed Wang, a flight attendant for a certain airline. Maintained a relationship for about two years, then broke up because Bai Chengye grew bored. Received a property and a sum of cash.
Mistress Two, surnamed Li, a student at a certain university. Maintained a relationship for about a year and a half, ending when she graduated and left Jiangcheng. Received a car.
Mistress Three, surnamed Zhou, a receptionist at a certain company. Maintained a relationship for about three years, during which she became pregnant once and had an abortion. Received a commercial storefront.
Mistress Four...
These records didn't just include the names, professions, and addresses of the mistresses, but also specific details of Bai Chengye’s interactions with them.
When it started, how long it lasted, what gifts were given, how much money was spent, and even several records of abortions for illegitimate children.
Attached behind each record was a stack of photos.
Some were of Bai Chengye and a mistress entering or leaving a hotel, some were of the two kissing in a car, and others were scenes of lingering goodbyes at the entrance of a residential complex.
The photos were very clear; Bai Chengye’s face was easily identifiable, as were the faces of the mistresses.
As Su Wan looked through them one by one, she couldn't help but let out a mocking smile.
One had to know that this Bai Chengye was famous in the elite social circles for doting on his wife!
Heh... men!
Su Wan’s gaze swept across the photos, finally stopping on one page.
The title of that page read:
【Zhao Mengting】
【Age: 32】
【Occupation: Unemployed (Formerly a clerk at a certain company, resigned after meeting Bai Chengye)】
【Address: Room 2202, Building 3, Jade Manor, East City District】
【Duration of Relationship: Approximately four years】
【Note: This woman is currently Bai Chengye’s most favored mistress. The relationship is stable. Bai Chengye visits a fixed 2-3 times per month, occasionally staying overnight.
According to observations, the two have a close interaction style. Bai Chengye is relatively relaxed in front of this woman and may discuss private matters.】
【Attachment: Recent activity records—Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, Zhao Mengting goes to a nearby gym to work out for about two hours;
Every Saturday afternoon, she goes to a beauty salon for treatments; the rest of the time she mostly stays at home, occasionally going out to shop.】
Su Wan’s gaze stayed on this page for a long time.
Four years.
The most favored mistress.
Fixed monthly visits.
Close interaction, relatively relaxed.
She stared at those lines for a long while, then took out a red pen and leisurely drew a circle around the name “Zhao Mengting.”
The red circle was exceptionally striking amidst the dense black text.
Jade Manor.
Building 3, Room 2202.
Zhao Mengting.
Rate on N.U.
