CHAPTER 79: CHAPTER 40: TIME AND SPACE 2

Why is he still looking for Qian Guran? Upon hearing about the circumstances of various Magic Sects, he remembered that the Sorcerers of the Qi Observation Sect do well in officialdom and like to organize networks, so if there’s an issue, find Old Qian!

Qian Guran smiled bitterly and explained that he had only learned Techniques by chance and did not have much contact with fellow disciples, nor was he a traditional Sorcerer of the Qi Observation Sect.

But Old Qian, being from the Qi Observation Sect, could still connect if needed. While solving a big issue might be difficult, something small like this was no problem — he could easily ask someone for a favor.

Old Qian really helped, finding someone who gave the commercial bank’s president a heads-up and also a lawyer to prepare a legally effective statement of responsibility for He Kao.

The bank staff hadn’t told He Kao about the need for this document last time, but Old Qian suggested it was better to be prepared. He Kao hadn’t even seen the lawyer, as all the procedures were handled by Old Qian.

He Kao once again took these documents to the bank, just in time before the National Day break, otherwise, it would have been delayed for many more days.

This time, the reception staff did not cause any difficulties, and their attitude was pretty good. But He Kao’s ears caught her whisper, "Actually, we should still require a notarized procedure."

Regardless, He Kao finally followed the staff into the storage vault.

Twenty years had passed, many facilities were updated, but the vault remained the same, its layout largely unchanged, with rows of cabinets inside a large room, and a small solitary room in the corner resembling an outdoor security booth.

At some point, a layer of mist seemed to blanket He Kao’s vision, and his nose inexplicably tingled with a sour sensation.

The safe-deposit box was not taken from the existing cabinets but was brought in separately from elsewhere, as its model no longer matched the current facilities after twenty years.

He Kao had neither a key nor a code. In his presence, the staff opened the lock destructively, capturing the entire process on camera, and He Kao also paid the box opening fee.

He Kao took the unlocked safe-deposit box into a small booth, opening it to a scent seemingly sealed for twenty years.

The box was the size of an ordinary combination suitcase, feeling quite heavy, but it was not full. Inside was a pair of brass paperweights, and the rest was a stack of documents.

The surface of the paperweights was engraved with beautiful plum branch patterns. He Kao casually picked one up, but didn’t handle it well, nearly twisting his wrist — it was way too heavy, almost weighing twenty pounds!

The material turned out to be gold, not brass. If it weren’t for them being fake gold bars filled with tungsten, it’d be like hitting the lottery jackpot!

Yet He Kao felt no delight, merely silently setting the paperweight down as something wet dripped onto his hand. Only then did he realize he had been crying.

Is this what Father left behind? He left no final words!

He picked up the stack of documents. There appeared to be financial statements and various transaction records paired with yellowed photographs. The more He Kao read, the more his brows knitted in shock and confusion.

Though not a professional, even he could see that this was gathering dirt on someone!

Gu Yunteng, chairman of Bada Group, formerly known as Gu Teng, turned sixty this year and rose thirty years ago. During the Zhou Du era, when building teams and entrepreneurship were all the rage, the newly renamed Gu Yunteng became a rising star in Jianghuai Province’s business world.

At the age of thirty, he founded the Bad Real Estate Development Company, the predecessor of today’s Bada Group, earning his first pot of gold from an urban renewal project.

By the age of forty, Bada Group had become Qi Yuan City’s largest private real estate enterprise in terms of asset scale. Its headquarters, Yunteng Mansion, was completed then and remains one of Qi Yuan’s landmark buildings.

He Kao’s company had business ties with Bada Group, so he had heard of this man. Rumor had it that Gu Yunteng was considering retiring with honor, gradually transferring management of the group to his son.

His son, Gu Ziyuan, nicknamed "Round Belly," is thirty-six this year, a well-known young entrepreneur in Qi Yuan City frequently receiving various titles, and has been serving as Bada Group’s president. With his father gradually stepping back, he’s appeared more often in various events over the past couple of years.

But the materials in the deposit box had nothing to do with Round Belly; it was all about Gu Yunteng, including his collusions and transactions with many key figures in Qi Yuan of the time. Even the amounts from twenty years ago were astonishing to behold.

Yet He Kao inexplicably sighed, as this dirt was largely outdated. Over those twenty years, Qi Yuan had not gone through just one political earthquake.

He couldn’t possibly know all the people in the documents, but a quick glance showed that some familiar names seemed to have appeared in reports before, having gone to places with very regular routines.

Even if there are some who slipped through the net, twenty years is beyond the statutory limitation period.

However, these materials aren’t completely without value. If anyone continued to break the law during those twenty years, then these could still serve as evidence.

So many years have passed, so many people have fallen, yet Gu Yunteng remains unscathed, his business growing ever larger, expanding into more fields.

He Kao was puzzled about where his father got these materials, whether he collected them himself or obtained them from elsewhere. Remembering his father’s past as the Hidden Moth, he might indeed have had ways to get them, but why did he do it?

Looking at the bank-provided original agreement, the time when Father rented the safe-deposit box was a month before his accident. It indicated he was already a customer of the bank’s safe-deposit boxes and could enter the vault normally.

However, on the day of his accident, he did not register to enter officially but appeared in the vault mysteriously. The on-duty staff spotted him on surveillance and called the police.

Why Father did this has become a mystery.

He Kao only learned today that Father had rented a safe-deposit box a month earlier, his mind suddenly flashing with the words — case the joint.

No reason, don’t ask why, it was just a sudden thought popping up. Perhaps all the talk about Hidden Moth had been on his mind a lot lately, and He Kao thought of a possibility.

Rumor had it that Hidden Moth could appear anywhere out of thin air, but perhaps certain conditions were needed, like that he’d had to have visited the place before.

Is that the case? He Kao wasn’t sure, it was just a fleeting hunch.

Underneath the stack of documents, there was unexpectedly a red booklet — a house property certificate.

Opening it, he found out it was for a unit in Building No. 10, Side 6, Guanliu Mansion, with a building area of 180 square meters, four bedrooms, two living rooms, and two bathrooms; the property owner was Zhou Du.

Guanliu Mansion was also completed twenty years ago, developed by Bada Group, located on the riverbank in the western part of the main city, promoted as eco-friendly riverside luxury apartments, with low-density, large-unit mid-rise buildings, considered a high-class residential community in Qi Yuan at the time.

Even twenty years later, second-hand homes in the Guanliu District are still expensive, not only for the area’s good landscape and property management but also for its excellent school district.

When did Father acquire this apartment? He Kao had no impression, and Grandparents should also be unaware, otherwise, it wouldn’t have gone unheard of.

The community still existed, and naturally, the home did too, but with no one living in it for twenty years, who knows what state it was in; perhaps it had long been occupied?

He Kao transferred everything to the backpack he had brought and thanked the bank staff before leaving with a heart full of questions and complicated feelings.

**