Old Gu was currently arguing with his daughter at the top of his voice.
Bai Xian hurried over, pulled out Old Gu’s medication for hyperthyroidism, and urged him to take it while trying to mediate between father and daughter.
“Mr. Gu, your daughter is just like you—tough on the outside but softhearted underneath. She came running over in the middle of the night the moment she heard something had happened to you. How could that mean she doesn’t care?”
“The scammers were the ones at fault. They didn’t drug you, but they did make you stop taking your medication. That’s why you got so agitated and worked yourself into a frenzy. Anyone can be conned when they’re worked up!”
Old Gu’s dignity was preserved, and his mood improved at once.
Bai Xian took out the renewal agreement. “Why don’t you renew your contract? Our Director Yu put all his other work aside and came here with me, his special assistant, to rescue you. He even made sure I brought everyone’s medication. He really does care about all of you.”
Bai Xian handed Old Gu a pen and waited nervously.
The director had successfully protected their assets today. Whether he could complete the mission would all depend on tonight.
Old Gu was the kind of person who cared deeply about his pride. As long as no one made him lose face, his mood would improve.
That was why Bai Xian had said earlier that Old Gu had only been conned because he hadn’t taken his medication. It had made the embarrassment disappear.
Old Gu picked up the pen. “Director Yu really told you to bring medicine for every one of us?”
Bai Xian didn’t bat an eye. “Of course.”
Old Gu snorted. “He’s usually so cold and distant. I never would’ve guessed he was so thoughtful.”
Bai Xian smiled. “Our director graduated from the best medical university in the country. He knows every detail of your health records by heart. He’s just introverted and doesn’t know how to express himself.”
Old Gu finally signed the contract. “I’m renewing for twenty years this time.”
Bai Xian looked at the contract in delighted surprise. The renewal mission had several performance indicators, one of which measured the long-term effects of the renewals.
At first, he had thought the director had completed the mission too slowly, and that avoiding a yellow card would be good enough.
But now, judging from the long-term results, they might even have a shot at taking first place!
When Ms. Gu heard that, she rolled her eyes from the side. In her mind, her father had refused to give the money to the scammers, only to hand it over to the nursing home instead.
Forget it. At least it was better than giving it to the scammers.
All four of the Gu siblings resented their father for having been irresponsible in the past. Yet none of them had been able to harden their hearts enough to cut him off completely.
So after the police called today, the eldest daughter, who lived the closest, had come to check on him. The other three had also sent her money for gas and lost wages. They would all shoulder the responsibility of caring for their father together.
As long as he could remain at the nursing home and stop causing trouble for their four families, they would have every reason to thank heaven.
She lowered her head and was about to reply to her family’s messages when Bai Xian suddenly walked over and handed her a supplementary agreement.
“Ms. Gu, please take a look,” he said quietly.
Ms. Gu looked puzzled. “What is it?”
Bai Xian lowered his voice as he explained, “If Mr. Gu passes away at the center before completing the twenty-year term, we’ll refund all the remaining money to his legal heirs. But it’s considered taboo to discuss something like that in front of the elderly, so this supplementary agreement is specifically for the family members.”
What else could she say?
Ms. Gu was extremely satisfied. “You’ve thought of everything!”
Bai Xian smiled. “Naturally. If an elderly person signed a twenty-year contract but we refused to refund the money if they didn’t live out the full term, that would be a disaster. It would expose the cruelty of countless institutions…”
With things settled here, Bai Xian hurried off to persuade the other elderly residents in the meeting room.
Everyone was currently discussing whether they should sign.
“Maybe we should sign. Once we do, we can travel again. Director Yu really did save us this time.”
“Director Yu offended so many people for our sake and nearly died in that fight. We should help him get through this difficult time.”
“Exactly. If it weren’t for him, we would’ve lost all our money to the scammers. We wouldn’t even be able to afford to stay here then.”
Bai Xian handed out the contracts one by one.
The sound of pen tips touching paper filled him with joy.
That was, until he reached Mrs. Xu.
Mrs. Xu sat in the corner, still clutching her phone. Her eyes were rimmed with red.
Bai Xian went over and asked, “Auntie Xu, what’s wrong?”
Mrs. Xu hurriedly shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t plan to renew my contract.”
What?
They were only missing one renewal. Without it, the director wouldn’t be considered to have completed the mission!
Bai Xian said, “No… You don’t need to apologize. It’s your right to choose. May I ask why?”
Mrs. Xu lowered her head and silently wept.
The elderly people from the tour group often complained about their children.
But when something really happened, their children came running over. After exchanging a few words face-to-face, the families somehow reconciled again.
And that made sense. After all, relatives who had lived together for decades couldn’t possibly have only negative memories. There had to be plenty of warm moments too.
Mrs. Xu could still remember how considerate and well-behaved her son had been as a child.
So she had wanted to call him and speak to him for a while.
He answered and said he was working overtime before hanging up.
At first, she hadn’t thought much of it. Since her money hadn’t been transferred to the scammers anyway, there was no reason to interfere with her son’s work.
But not long after hanging up, she opened her social media feed and saw a group photo her son had posted only a few minutes earlier. His whole family was celebrating his mother-in-law’s sixty-third birthday.
She had just been about to ask him about it when the post disappeared.
He must have realized she had seen it and hurried to delete it, blocking her at the same time.
Mrs. Xu didn’t want to criticize her child behind his back, so she only said to Bai Xian, “I’m still envious of what it feels like to have an entire family living together. I’ve decided to go home.”
“That house was bought by my husband and me. Now that he’s passed away, it’s solely in my name. I can go back and live there.”
Bai Xian said, “Then… all right…”
Seriously? After working so hard for so long, was the director still going to receive a yellow card?
—
Near the garden corridor.
Yu Xiaxing, Yu Zheng, and Yu Zhining had just finished cooperating with the police while giving their statements.
Now Yu Xiaxing stood in the corridor, watching the staff carry away the machines from the Life Corridor.
Those machines had seriously violated the users’ privacy. All the information they recorded had been taken by the scammers and used to deceive people, so the machines were being confiscated as well.
Her eyes widened. “Wait!”
The staff stopped.
Yu Xiaxing stared at the machine. “You’re not going to destroy all of them, are you? Could you sell one to me?”
She still wanted to recover more of her forgotten memories and search for clues about her origins…
The staff shook their heads and walked away.
Yu Xiaxing was heartbroken.
Yu Zheng asked, “What do you want it for?”
“To revisit my childhood!” Yu Xiaxing said. “Don’t you think it’s fun? The memories are so vivid, almost as if you’ve gone back in time.”
Yu Zhining slowly spoke up. “This kind of device uses electrical stimulation on the brain. If you use it repeatedly, your brain will adapt to the stimulation, and the threshold will continue to rise. It’ll require increasingly stronger currents, which can be dangerous.”
Yu Zheng understood the principle too and let out a laugh. “At this rate, it’ll fry your temples.”
Yu Xiaxing fell silent.
She watched the machine being loaded into a police vehicle, her face full of disappointment.
Seeing her expression, Yu Zheng patted her on the head. “If there’s something about your childhood you want to know, why not just ask the two of us? We’re both older than you. There are plenty of things from when we were kids that you don’t remember, but we do.”
Yu Xiaxing’s eyes darted away.
After a few seconds of silence, she composed herself and looked at the two of them with disdain. “I’m not asking you. You’d definitely make up some nonsense while I can’t remember anything.”
Yu Zheng said, “You’re the one who spouts nonsense all day long!”
Yu Zhining listened to them bicker beside him, a smile slowly appearing in his eyes.
He had never dared to imagine that the towering walls surrounding him for so long would come crashing down overnight.
The three of them continued their pointless yet utterly necessary verbal attacks on one another.
Suddenly, Yu Xiaxing spotted a furtive figure behind the bushes in the distance.
The person was dragging a small suitcase, keeping the brim of their hat low as they slipped around behind a banana tree.
Yu Xiaxing narrowed her eyes.
The next second, she suddenly called out loudly:
“Huo Mian!”
“Are you, a criminal, trying to flee the country?”
The figure froze, then immediately quickened their pace and ran!
Yu Xiaxing took off after her at once!
