Chapter 38: An Unexpected Visitor
One year later.
A large city in Southern China.
Guo Yi walked into his office. He was a civil servant of the Republic, but today he was a little later than the prescribed time—he had dinner with some old classmates last night and had a few too many drinks.
When old classmates meet, drinking is inevitable, but those who drink too much are often not doing it out of happiness.
Those who were doing well would naturally boast endlessly, wishing everyone knew how successful they were. Those who weren’t doing well simply didn’t show up.
For someone like him, stuck in the middle, the mood was actually the most depressing…
Those doing well looked down on them, mocking them for living a comfortable, ambitionless life. Those not doing well always felt they were living off the people’s hard-earned money without doing any real work…
On his desk were some documents, all materials on the latest social trends—Guo Yi worked in a department dedicated to maintaining social stability, unity, and harmony.
After routinely going through a few uninteresting reports, he came across a file marked with a “To-Do” tag. It was a dynamic bulletin from a certain city on the coast of Guangdong. For nearly a year, a group of strange people had been gathering at a disused maritime militia training base in the area. They were conducting military training every day—drills, running, and other physical training activities. They also held meetings late into the night, and there seemed to be sounds of slogan-shouting. Someone suspected it was a pyramid scheme and reported it to the Administration for Industry and Commerce. The enforcement team went to investigate but found no signs of a pyramid scheme. The local police station also paid a visit but found no illegal activities. The person in charge explained that it was pre-employment training for his company. They checked the business license and other documents; there was indeed such a company, established over a year ago. The militia training base was leased by the company from the local People’s Armed Forces Department.
But the situation still felt suspicious. And so, this bulletin made its way, through various channels, to the desk of Guo Yi’s superior. The leader instructed: “If you have time, go check it out. See if there are any problems.”
Whether it was intelligence work or stability work, sitting in an office and reading materials was always the main content of the job.
A name mentioned in the material was Wen Desi. According to the registration information, he was the company’s legal representative, chairman, and general manager.
Guo Yi had never seen this person’s file before. To be fair, Director Wen wasn’t the kind of person who would normally be on their radar. However, Guo Yi was known in the bureau for his love of digging through old files and archives. This hobby had earned him enemies—he himself didn’t even know who he had offended with the files he dug up—and so, after several rounds of promotions within the department, he remained a regular staff member, and all opportunities for meritorious work passed him by.
He pulled up Wen Desi’s file. It described an ordinary, unremarkable person in his thirties, formerly an engineer and manager at several companies, with a good income. He enjoyed traveling, had a great interest in history and military affairs, and dabbled in handicrafts. He was an outdoor sports and weapons enthusiast, and a so-called “survivalist,” constantly preparing to dig a shelter for the nuclear winter—perhaps he had a large stockpile of food at home? But there was no evidence that he possessed or attempted to possess any weapons, not even any kind of dog. He frequented some websites, posting inquiries about things like which bullets were cheaper and what kind of outdoor equipment to get. His background was clean, with no adverse records, not even a traffic violation.
His company was registered six months ago with a capital of one million yuan. Guo Yi knew, of course, that registered capital was often just for show, but based on the personal income tax Director Wen had paid when he was employed, coming up with a million in capital wouldn’t have been difficult. A check of Wen Desi’s bank records confirmed this: six months ago, he had withdrawn his entire savings in several transactions, totaling over eight hundred thousand yuan. After that, his personal account no longer held such a large fixed deposit.
The company’s bank account transactions also revealed nothing unusual—normal business dealings, buying and selling. The listed expenses included salaries, utilities, and office fees. There was cash in the account, but not much, maintaining a level of around one hundred thousand yuan.
Guo Yi also checked the tax bureau’s records, which confirmed his thoughts—the company’s business activities were being conducted normally, and taxes were paid in full. Although some minor financial discrepancies had been found, there were no issues with tax evasion, though there was, of course, some legal tax avoidance.
Guo Yi thought for a long time but couldn’t see any potential for a mass incident or other disharmonious elements in this matter. However, since his leader had spoken, he might as well take a business trip to investigate on-site. He could treat it as a short vacation.
The county town was ordinary, like countless similar small coastal towns in Guangdong. It was densely populated and economically prosperous. Prosperity brought with it a large floating population. In the square of the long-distance bus station, crowds of people carrying their families and large bags came and went every day—searching for their dreams.
Among this surging crowd, for the past six months, almost every day, there were truly unexpected visitors. They were dressed differently, spoke with various accents, and furtively held maps and notes. They moved in small groups or alone, looking around the station square as if searching for something.
Xiao Zishan stood at the exit of the bus station, holding up a piece of a dismantled fruit carton on which a few characters were scrawled with a brush: “Transmigration Trading.” His once fair and plump face was much thinner and darker. He wore an ad-emblazoned T-shirt stained with sweat and a straw hat with a frayed brim.
A former white-collar worker in a foreign company, now unemployed, appearing like this in a small coastal town—even Xiao Zishan himself didn’t know if he was crazy or living in an absurdly long dream. And he knew that more and more people were chasing this same dream.
Today, as usual, some people would arrive. Xiao Zishan knew that some of them would shrink back and hesitate, as others had before, and some would not be chosen. The road to a dream is always winding.
Guo Yi came out of the station exit. The September weather was still hot and dry, the sun scorching. It was his first time in this small town. He scanned the crowd at the exit. His gaze immediately fell on the dismantled cardboard box.
“Transmigration Trading.”
Wasn’t that the company Wen Desi had opened? In that instant, his eyes met Xiao Zishan’s. That fleeting moment could perhaps be called a “fateful encounter”—but neither of them felt a jolt or emitted an overwhelming aura of power to make the other submit. Guo Yi was interested in the company, while Xiao Zishan sensed that this man was not a friendly visitor.
Having worked in sales for many years, Xiao Zishan hadn’t improved much in other areas, but he had learned a lot about reading people. He saw that this man’s gaze was sharp and spirited, his movements confident and calm. His clothes were low-key yet neat, and he carried little luggage. This was a man who worked for the government, most likely in some department with authority. The man was watching him—not because he was interested in a dark, chubby guy, but because of the sign he was holding.
Before his next thought could form, a tall, fat young man laden with bags was already approaching him.
“Transmigration Company?”
“Yes, and you are?”
“I’m here to transmigrate…”
Xiao Zishan broke into a cold sweat. Dude, you don’t have to announce it in public! “Um… right… where has the PLA swept through?”
Everyone who came had to exchange a countersign. He didn’t know who came up with this ridiculous rule. We’re not a Northern performing arts school… Probably someone’s obsession with secret codes.
“Asia, Asia,” the young man said loudly, probably still caught up in his excitement. “I’m Meng Xian, Meng Xian!”
“I know, I know…” Sweat beaded on Xiao Zishan’s head. He was a low-key person and, feeling guilty as a thief, lowered his voice. “Go to the parking lot. There’s a minibus, license plate XXXXXX.”
“Where’s Director Wen…”
“You’ll see him in a bit… I still have to pick up a few more people…” Xiao Zishan glanced around nervously, hoping their conversation hadn’t attracted attention.
The bustling crowd around them was busy with their own affairs; no one paid them any mind. Xiao Zishan calmed down a little. The man from before was gone. For some reason, a faint worry lingered in his heart. Should he report this to the Executive Committee when he got back?
That day, Guo Yi observed them from a corner for a long time. Although he couldn’t hear what they were saying, he could tell that the man with the fruit box was picking people up. One person was very excited, while the other seemed uneasy and alert, indicating that their conversation contained some secret. From the pickup man’s familiarity with the surroundings and the wear on the cardboard box, it was clear this activity had been going on for quite some time. He followed the enthusiastic Meng Xian to the parking lot and noted down the minibus’s license plate.
The minibus didn’t leave immediately, which meant more people were coming. But Guo Yi decided not to wait. He first went to the telecom and mobile companies and pulled the company’s call records. Contrary to what he expected, the company’s phone traffic was quite frequent, with a large number of calls coming in and going out almost every day.
With the assistance of local authorities, he quickly traced the locations of most of the landline numbers. The vast majority belonged to small and medium-sized enterprises, research institutes, and design academies across the country, as well as various trading and consulting firms. They were a motley crew, covering all types of businesses.
The mobile phones were more troublesome. Mobile numbers were assigned more randomly, and many owners couldn’t be traced. The geographical distribution of the numbers was also too wide. So, Guo Yi started his investigation from the landline numbers.
This investigation left him utterly bewildered.
The company was frequently contacting enterprises, research institutes, and design academies all over the country, and had also purchased a lot of equipment and materials. This wasn’t unusual for a company—but the range of industries involved in its purchases was far too broad and bizarre. Ordering generators, small hydropower equipment, and substation facilities was understandable. What was strange was that they also ordered multiple wind power systems, plus a large number of spare parts. The company also showed great enthusiasm for all kinds of blueprints and technical data, even showing interest in the manufacturing technology for condoms and sanitary napkins.
“Is he that rich?” Guo Yi had to seriously question their motives. The idea of money laundering once again surfaced in his mind. Or was it technical intelligence gathering? From the feedback from the enterprises, they weren’t interested in high-tech products. On the contrary, they were keen on simple, backward, and outdated technologies and processes. Was this how industrial spies operated in this world?
Could they be using all this as a smokescreen to cover up some major secret? If so, what were they trying to do?
That night, Guo Yi lay exhausted on his hotel bed. He had hung up on numerous calls offering him stress-relieving massages, another recommending a “root bath,” which they assured him was perfectly open and legal, and yet another mentioning a “newly arrived little sister.” His mind was a chaotic mess, and he drifted into a groggy sleep.
In his dream, Guo Yi saw Wen Desi, dressed in a strange long robe. A huge ship. It sailed through the wind and waves. In the distance was a lush green island, with a blue sky, white clouds, a turquoise sea, and silver sand…