The Young Lady is a Bit Unruly [Fragrant Harbor] - Chapter 95: The Mystery of Silver Snake Mountain

Chapter 95: The Mystery of Silver Snake Mountain

The weather in Port City was gradually becoming muggy in May.

The more Fang Dingkun thought about today’s events, the more uneasy he became. He asked Sister Ju, Was that lighter discovered by the police?

Sister Ju replied, Yes, it was. What’s wrong, Sir?

Fang Dingkun recalled that Ye Huaizhang had been visiting his home when the fire started. If this lighter scheme backfired, it could make things worse instead of framing anyone.

Fang Dingkun instructed, The two servants who helped pass the lighter around the house last Saturday—arrange for them to return to the mainland immediately and lay low.

Without hesitation, Sister Ju went to make the arrangements.

Sure enough, the police showed up at his doorstep in the evening, demanding to see Fang Dingkun.

Old Mr. Fang, where were you between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. this morning?

Fang Dingkun frowned slightly. I was at home. Why do you ask?

The police officer asked, Did Mr. Ye Huaizhang come to visit you during that time?

Fang Dingkun couldn’t lie, as too many servants had witnessed it. He smiled and nodded, He was indeed visiting me at the time.

The police officer produced a lighter. Have you seen this type of lighter before?

No.

This morning, a standalone house halfway up Guling Mountain was set on fire…

Fang Dingkun immediately expressed his awareness. I know. The victims are my in-laws. My grandson and his wife are still at the hospital keeping watch.

The police officer said, We found a lighter identical to this one at the fire scene. It had Mr. Ye Huaizhang’s fingerprints on it, but since he was at your house when the fire started, he has no opportunity to commit the crime. Therefore, he is temporarily excluded as a suspect. Meanwhile, Mr. Ye Huaizhang provided an important clue: he said he passed a lighter to a servant at your house last Saturday, identical to the one found at the fire scene. We need to investigate all family members and servants in your household.

Fang Dingkun and Sister Ju exchanged a glance before he smiled and said, That’s no problem. As law-abiding citizens, we are certainly willing to fully cooperate with the police investigation.

Sister Ju added, We have no issue cooperating with the investigation, but shouldn’t the people around Mr. Ye Huaizhang also cooperate? Someone close to him might have a lighter with his fingerprints.

The police officer glanced at Sister Ju. How we conduct the investigation is our job.

Sister Ju smiled. I was just offering a friendly reminder.

The police took statements from everyone in the Fang family and noticed two servants were missing.

Where are the two male servants?

Sister Ju explained, They asked for leave due to family matters. I’ll have them report to the police station when they return.

After recording the relevant information, the police left.

Fang Xuhua, who had been very cooperative with the police investigation, sighed after they were gone. I wonder who the Ye family’s Oldest Branch has offended. It seems they even wanted to kill Baoxin and Bao Ling together. Fortunately, they didn’t go and managed to avoid disaster.

Fang Dingkun didn’t respond to that topic. Instead, he asked his son, How are the preparations for the Nanhua Third Hospital’s 50th Anniversary Charity Gala coming along?

Fang Xuhua said, HKTV is participating this time with a live fundraising broadcast. The programs are rich and varied, with many celebrities attending. We’ve invited all the relevant enterprises and wealthy families. Everyone should show up out of respect.

This is the first major charity gala since you took office. Don’t let there be any mistakes.

I know. Don’t worry, Dad. The television station is even more cautious than we are. Fang Xuhua glanced at his watch. I’m going upstairs to call Shanxing. I wonder how Ye Kaimin is doing. As in-laws, should we go visit him?

With that, he stood up and went upstairs.

Fang Dingkun, lost in thought, didn’t express an opinion.

*

Ye Baoling returned home from the hospital, and Ye Huaizhang had also come back.

After dinner, she went back to the Oldest Branch, gathered her equipment, and headed straight down the tunnel.

Ye Huaizhang was already waiting for her at the wine cellar door.

The two Plum Blossom Keys looked almost identical, with only subtle differences in their teeth.

Made of brass, the keys felt heavy in her hand. Ye Baoling felt a slight tension in her heart.

Arriving beneath Silver Snake Mountain, they used the three Ugly King Jade Pendants to open the Great Bronze Door first, then entered the small red hollow. Ye Baoling didn’t want to see the skull above the door, so she resisted looking up.

The two stood before the Small Bronze Door, each inserting a Plum Blossom Key.

They turned them clockwise simultaneously.

They could turn!

The keys were correct.

After two and a half rotations, until the keys jammed, the Small Bronze Door suddenly loosened.

The door opened.

A system voice sounded in her eardrums.

[Congratulations, host, on completing the challenge task. You have obtained permanent residency rights in this script world. If you wish to return safely to your original world, you may choose to continue challenging.]

Nonsense!

If she failed, she’d have to go back to being a beggar. If she succeeded, she still had to continue challenging to return to her original world. How many holes did the system have in its brain?

Ye Baoling silently decided not to continue challenging, and the system voice disappeared.

What are you thinking about? Ye Huaizhang had been speaking to her but received no response. He turned to remind her, Stand behind me.

Snapping back to reality, Ye Baoling quickly hid behind him, peering through the door crack. It was pitch black inside with no light.

Creak!

The Small Bronze Door was somewhat stuck and heavy. After fully opening it, they shone a flashlight inside, revealing a red brick corridor with several rooms connected along it.

They put on masks and tiptoed inside.

The first room was very small, probably only seven or eight square meters.

Inside were dust-covered tables and chairs and a rusty iron-framed bed.

On the table was an iron tray holding several glass syringe injectors and stainless steel needles.

Medical equipment?

Ye Baoling noticed blue characters sprayed on the edge of the iron-framed bed. She crouched down for a closer look. Although the blue paint had partially peeled off, she could still make out the words Love and Harmony Hospital.

Ye Baoling exclaimed in surprise, Is this the Second Branch’s hospital equipment?

Yes. Calculating the time, before 1946, it should be from the Anti-Japanese War period.

Was this an air-raid shelter for treating wounded soldiers?

With questions in mind, they continued exploring further inside.

The second room had a similar structure to the first, also containing only a bed, a table, and a chair.

The third room had an additional wooden box filled with metal bottles labeled in Japanese: Aluminum Serum Bottle.

Japanese! Ye Baoling immediately had several conjectures. Was Love and Harmony Hospital treating Japanese soldiers here?

Ye Huaizhang shook his head. After the Japanese occupied Port City, they wouldn’t need to hide underground to treat soldiers, would they?

Then there’s another possibility. These people were secretly working for the Japanese soldiers. For example, drawing Chinese people’s blood to supply Japanese soldiers. Or using Chinese people for some experiments… She asked him, Have you heard of Unit 731, which the Japanese established in Northeast China?

Yes.

Could there be a similar unit or a branch of 731 here?

And then Sir Fang, the Second Branch, and others aided the wicked and became their accomplices.

The thought startled Ye Baoling. Could there be some kind of pathogen here?

Ye Huaizhang surveyed the surroundings. There were spiders and ants, none mutated. Probably not. If there were, they would certainly have written warning signs on the walls.

True.

They continued inward and found Japanese military uniforms, caps, bayonets, and other equipment in another room, along with several gray-white doctor’s coats. The words printed on them weren’t Love and Harmony Hospital but 8604-7.

Ye Huaizhang had some knowledge of the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong’s history. This should be the doctor’s coats of the Japanese Army’s Unit 8604, 7th Detachment.

Military doctors?

Ye Huaizhang shook his head. Not military doctors. Similar to your earlier conjecture, Unit 8604 was the Japanese army unit designation responsible for bacteriological warfare in Guangzhou, Port City, and Southeast Asia.

Ye Baoling was horrified. Even though she was wearing a mask, she was still worried there might be bacteria here. We can’t stay here long.

Ye Huaizhang reassured her, This probably isn’t a laboratory. Look at the surroundings—just red brick walls, full of holes. It doesn’t meet laboratory requirements at all. This is likely where they imprisoned people and drew their blood.

But to be safe, they decided to look quickly, speak little, and strive to leave this place as soon as possible.

Further in was a more spacious area with rows of wooden chairs, like a meeting hall.

Past the hall, there were steps leading upward.

They hurried up the steps, climbing at least three or four stories high. They must have been inside the belly of Silver Snake Mountain.

Ye Huaizhang, walking ahead, suddenly stopped. He turned around. Human bones.

Terrified, Ye Baoling shrank against his back. What kind of bones?

No skull. Just white bones.

Only then did Ye Baoling peek. A skeleton lay half-reclined on the steps, its skull missing.

Was the skull taken and hung above the Small Bronze Door?

Very likely.

They carefully avoided the skeleton and reached the top of the steps. Here, there was also a corridor connecting red brick rooms on both sides.

It was too quiet; Ye Baoling could hear her own heartbeat.

Before seeing the skeleton, she had only been worried about bacteria here. Now, she was worried that ahead lay another skeleton.

But as they moved forward, they encountered a thick iron-barred gate. Inside weren’t one or two skeletons, but piles of them.

All four rooms were filled with skeletons.

One or two skeletons were frightening, but when you saw pile after pile of them, besides shock, you became calmer.

Ye Huaizhang, bolder than her, walked in with a flashlight to investigate.

One room had an abundance of hair—light golden, golden, brown, and black hair, all fine and long.

He concluded, This room probably held women. And foreign women at that.

Foreigners?

Reaching the end, they found more steps leading upward, about two stories high. The stairs had no exit; the top was completely sealed with a cement slab.

They speculated that this was the main entrance to the underground hospital. Its location should be on the north side of Silver Snake Mountain, halfway up the slope.

But after Japan surrendered, the entrance was completely blocked by the four families.

They didn’t linger any longer and hurried back.

Returning to Ye Baoling’s bedroom, the couple threw away their clothes and took a thorough shower.

They had taken many photos and recordings earlier, but because they were too horrifying and unbelievable, they couldn’t develop them yet. They had to store the equipment for now.

Lying in bed, they analyzed various possibilities, but it was just analysis—they couldn’t confirm the facts.

To confirm the facts, they had to ask the people involved directly.

Ye Huaizhang suggested, Let’s ask my grandmother first. If we don’t get a clear answer, then we’ll ask your grandfather.

Feasible. She agreed.

The next day, the couple didn’t go to the company but went directly back to the Third Branch.

After breakfast, Ye Jinliu went to the exhibition hall as usual. Tang Jing took the children to school and then went to get her hair done. Yang Pinxian went to her sister’s house as a guest.

Only Guan Lao Taijun was left at home, listening to the radio in her room.

Ye Huaizhang and Ye Baoling knocked and entered the old lady’s room. Ye Huaizhang immediately sent the servants away.

Seeing this, Guan Lao Taijun asked, What’s wrong? You two.

They were about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary soon, and the old lady was a bit worried they might cause trouble.

Ye Huaizhang got straight to the point. Grandma, we want to ask you a very serious question. Is Aunt really your biological daughter?

Guan Lao Taijun was taken aback. Of course she is.

Ye Huaizhang said, I had a parentage test done for you and Aunt. You are not biological mother and daughter.

…

Guan Lao Taijun tried to change the subject. Why are you investigating this?

Ye Baoling said, Grandma, we’ve discovered some things. These matters might be related to the previous attempts on Huaizhang’s life.

Guan Lao Taijun widened her eyes in shock. Does your aunt want to kill you?

Ye Baoling, who had been trying to stay serious, couldn’t help but laugh.

Ye Huaizhang quickly explained, No. Aunt’s background involves some secrets. Perhaps some people don’t want us to know. Grandma, since we’ve already investigated this far, please don’t hide it from us anymore. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Aunt about this.

Ye Baoling raised three fingers, representing three incense sticks. I promise.

Guan Lao Taijun looked at them and finally sighed. I don’t know much either. I only know that your aunt is the daughter of your grand-aunt Yan Yujun—the one in the photo you saw that day. Oh, no wonder you wanted to see the old photos. You already suspected back then, didn’t you? You two are so cunning, even deceiving your grandma.

Ye Huaizhang said, Grandma, hurry up and tell us. Don’t keep us in suspense.

Guan Lao Taijun had no choice but to reveal everything she knew.

Yan Yujun had been in a relationship with the heir to a British baronet for several years. When it came time to discuss marriage, she found out he already had a wife and children in England.

The Ye family forced them to break up.

But by then, Yan Yujun was already over four months pregnant. Abortion was risky, so she had no choice but to give birth to the child.

After the child was born, the man not only refused to provide support but continued to pester Yan Yujun. The so-called baronet heir smoked, drank, gambled, and womanized—he did it all. When drunk, he even beat Yan Yujun. The Ye family was furious. After several severe warnings, they still couldn’t do anything about him.

Ye Baoling asked curiously, Wasn’t it under Japanese occupation at the time? How dare he be so arrogant?

The baronet heir was a relative of the British Governor of Hong Kong. Although the Japanese had occupied Port City then, he had good relations with Japanese military officers and remained very arrogant. The Ye family truly couldn’t do anything about him.

Your grandfather wanted to send Yan Yujun back to the mainland to avoid him, but before they could send her away, both of them were killed by a bomb.

Are you sure they were killed by the bomb?

Probably?

At that time, Guan Lao Taijun and her mother-in-law were in the United States avoiding the war. She wasn’t clear about the specific details. Your aunt lost her parents, so she was given to me as a daughter.

Ye Huaizhang asked, Then what about the Plum Blossom Keys?

Guan Lao Taijun didn’t expect them to know even about this. Your grandfather said those were things left behind by the baronet. When your aunt got married, they were given to her as part of her dowry. To avoid trouble and prevent the baronet’s family from recognizing them, he lied and said they were blessed, telling her not to take them out where others might see.

Ye Huaizhang asked, Why were they afraid of the baronet’s family recognizing them?

Guan Lao Taijun lowered her voice. Your grandfather didn’t tell me, but I suspect the baronet’s death wasn’t straightforward.

How so?

They never found the bodies. Even if they were blown up, they couldn’t have been completely turned to ash. Every time I asked, your grandfather would get impatient and tell me not to ask too many questions. As she spoke, Guan Lao Taijun looked at Ye Baoling. Your grandfather must know too. You can find a time to secretly ask him.

As expected, they still had to ask Ye Qizu.

Guan Lao Taijun added, You just said that the attempts on Huaizhang’s life might be related to this matter. How are they related?

Before the investigation was complete, Ye Huaizhang couldn’t say much. I’ll tell you after I’ve investigated thoroughly.

Guan Lao Taijun was displeased. I’ve told you everything I know without holding back, but you’re being evasive with me. You’re just like your grandfather!

Ye Baoling soothed her. We’ll come tell you after we’ve asked my grandfather.

You promised to tell me.

We definitely will.

Guan Lao Taijun remembered something else. By the way, about the Nanhua Third Hospital’s 50th Anniversary Charity Gala—they’ve invited us. Neither your mother nor I want to go. Will you go instead?

Ye Huaizhang hadn’t decided yet. We’ll see.

The young couple left the old lady’s room. They drove around for a bit before returning to the Oldest Branch.

Ye Qizu was currently doing rehabilitation therapy, practicing walking upstairs.

When he saw Ye Baoling and Ye Huaizhang coming together, he thought Ye Baoling had finally come to her senses and brought Ye Huaizhang to yield to him, agreeing to the conditions he had previously proposed.

He sat back in his wheelchair, waved for the rehabilitation doctor to leave first, then said to his granddaughter, Have you thought it through?

Impossible.

Ye Baoling said, Let’s go to the study. We have something to discuss with you, Grandfather.

Seeing his granddaughter’s serious expression, Ye Qizu thought something might have happened to Ye Kaimin’s condition.

Then let’s talk inside.

Xing Shu came to push Ye Qizu’s wheelchair, but Ye Huaizhang offered, I’ll do it.

Ye Huaizhang pushed Ye Qizu’s wheelchair forward. Xing Shu walked ahead eagerly and opened the study door.

Xing Shu thought the old man’s family was about to reconcile.

Once inside the study, Xing Shu tactfully closed the door and left.

Ye Huaizhang and Ye Baoling sat on the sofa.

Ye Qizu asked first, Did you go to the hospital to see your father?

Ye Baoling nodded. Yes. He won’t be discharged for at least half a year.

Ye Qizu sighed. Being able to keep his life is a blessing from our ancestors.

Grandfather, I want to ask you something.

What is it?

Ye Baoling got straight to the point. How did Grand-aunt Yan Yujun die?

Ye Qizu’s face immediately fell. Why are you suddenly asking about this?

Ye Baoling said, Do you know who set the fire that my father encountered this time?

Who?

Sir Fang Dingkun. He sent people to set the fire.

Ye Qizu’s expression turned somewhat grave. Have you investigated clearly?

Ye Baoling said, Very clearly.

Ye Qizu couldn’t understand. Why would Fang Dingkun want to kill your father? There’s no reason.

Ye Baoling told him truthfully, His main targets were me and Huaizhang. We just didn’t fall for it. He thought Huaizhang and I had found out something, so he wants to kill us. Now, only by completely overthrowing Fang Dingkun do we have a chance to survive. Grandfather, you wouldn’t just stand by and watch us get killed, would you?

Had things gotten this serious? He hadn’t noticed at all before.

Ye Qizu sighed softly. How did you find out about Yan Yujun?Ye Baoling said, The process was quite convoluted. We’ll tell you in detail later, Grandfather. First, tell me—how exactly did Yan Yujun and the British baronet heir die?

Ye Qizu pursed his lips, his mind racing. He seemed unsure whether to speak.

If he were to speak, how should he say it?

Ye Huaizhang roughly guessed his concerns. Grandfather, they’ve been dead for over forty years. Even if you killed them, legally, the statute of limitations has passed. You don’t need to bear any responsibility for it. You don’t have to be afraid to say it.

Ye Qizu asked another question. How far have you investigated?

Ye Baoling pointed downward. We’ve already been there. You can tell us.

It was indeed very unexpected.

You must have gotten stuck at the bronze door, right? You can’t get in. Ye Qizu was quite confident.

After all, with three Ugly King Jade Pendants and two Plum Blossom Keys, how could they possibly collect them all?

Ye Baoling smiled slightly. The young couple exchanged a glance but didn’t argue.

Ye Qizu sighed again. Where should I start?

After thinking, he decided to start from before Hong Kong’s fall.

Yan Yujun met Raymond, the nephew of the then-British Governor of Hong Kong and heir to a baronet, in early 1941 and fell in love.

In December 1941, Port City fell and was occupied by the Japanese army.

As a British noble, Raymond was adept at playing both sides and lived quite comfortably in the occupied area.

Fang Dingkun, a director of Nanhua Third Hospital and a longtime family friend of the Ye family, began secretly working for the Japanese in 1942 for personal gain and advancement, becoming a traitor.

The Japanese army established Unit 8406 in Guangzhou at the time, nominally for epidemic prevention research, but actually for human experimentation and bacteriological warfare. Later, the unit established a branch in Hong Kong. One of its detachments, called Unit 8406, 7th Detachment, was specifically responsible for researching bacteriological warfare targeting Westerners.

Because they feared strong opposition and retaliation from Europeans and Americans, all work of the 7th Detachment was conducted in secret.

Fang Dingkun mainly worked for the 7th Detachment. The first thing Fang Dingkun did for the Japanese was to force the Second Branch’s Love and Harmony Hospital to cooperate with their related work. Besides providing medical equipment, the Second Branch also used the hospital’s convenience to secretly collect disease data, blood, and other organ samples from Europeans and Americans.

The second thing Fang Dingkun did was force the three branches of the Ye family to give up Silver Snake Mountain.

They dug air-raid shelters and a secret medical base inside Silver Snake Mountain. The entrance was in the forest halfway up the north slope of Silver Snake Mountain.

Due to limited blood and organ samples in the hospital, in 1944, Unit 7 of Unit 8406 demanded Fang Dingkun provide live European and American subjects for experiments. Fang Dingkun tried to force our involvement, but all three branches of our family unanimously agreed this crossed the fundamental boundaries of humanity. Moreover, if discovered by Westerners, we would face retribution later. Thus we refused to cooperate at all costs. Left with no alternative, Fang Dingkun exploited South China Third Hospital’s recruitment of lower-class Europeans and Americans as staff, then imprisoned at least thirty foreigners for Unit 7’s experiments. The methods were extremely cruel.

Simultaneously, another thread involved Yan Yujun and Raymond’s situation, which initially aligned with Guan Lao Taijun’s account.

The turning point occurred when Raymond not only persistently harassed Yan Yujun but also subjected her to severe domestic violence.

Several cousins and I discussed sending Yujun back to the mainland. The day before her departure, Raymond discovered our plan. In his furious rage, that beast beat Yujun to death. Ye Qizu gazed at the wooden floor, blinking slowly. When we arrived at the scene and took Yujun to the hospital, we found four broken ribs—one had pierced her heart.

He looked at Ye Baoling and Ye Huaizhang. Tell me, shouldn’t we avenge this?

We must.

That same day, we lured Raymond to our home under the pretext of discussing Yujun’s funeral arrangements. In the study downstairs, we brothers beat Raymond to death.

After killing him, disposing of the body became a problem.

Initially, we planned to discard him in the mass grave or bury him secretly somewhere. Fearful of discovery, we decided to temporarily hide the body in the Blue Brick Tunnel.

The Blue Brick Tunnel was a secret passage left by the Ye family ancestors, located very close to Unit 7’s Medical Base.

Unfortunately, a collapse occurred at the Medical Base that same day. During post-collapse inspections, Fang Dingkun and Kishida, the head of Unit 7, accidentally discovered the existence of the Blue Brick Tunnel.

They found Raymond’s body inside the tunnel.

Fang Dingkun knew about our conflict with Raymond and immediately deduced we were the ones who killed him.

Author’s Note: Update is late today, will continue tomorrow.

Recommending my friend [Jianghu Bujian]’s new novel As a Villain, I Debuted with My Adopted Sons!

Also set in Hong Kong background, interested readers can bookmark it. The author is giving red envelopes in the comments section.

Xie Mingyan transmigrated into a book, and when he realized he had become the major villain in a crime novel, he felt utterly dismayed!

In the original story, as the ultimate villain, he adopted six orphans from an orphanage, raised them to assist in his crimes, all so they would take the fall for him when everything settled!!!

As a former reader, he was speechless: Bro! With your capability to raise six children, was there anything you couldn’t do besides crime???

Growing children eat you out of house and home. As the adoptive father of six children, Xie Mingyan nearly fainted seeing the three-digit balance in his bank account.

At the former orphanage site, when the six children saw their adoptive father return with a dark expression, they trembled in fear.

The eldest son Xie Yixiao shielded his younger siblings and cautiously approached, kneeling before his adoptive father.

Godfather, are you unhappy about something?

If you’re displeased, please hit me instead of the younger ones.

The second son, Wei Qi, immediately rushed over and hugged his adoptive father’s leg, preventing him from kicking the eldest brother away.

Godfather! Let me massage your legs! I’ve been so well-behaved lately!!!

Xie Mingyan looked at the two handsome young men before him and was about to raise his hand to pat their heads when, the next second, his hand was grabbed and gently kneaded.

The third son, Bai Jinshu, tenderly and obsequiously held onto his adoptive father’s hand.

Godfather~ Your arms must be tired too, right? Let me massage them for you~

While enjoying the attentions of his adoptive sons, Xie Mingyan could still sense the barely concealed resentment from the fourth son and the other two children.

He beckoned to one of the twins, the fifth son Chou Kangtai, who forced a smile and walked over.

Chou Kangtai was holding his treasured notebook, carefully crouching down and looking up at his adoptive father from a subordinate position.

Godfather.

Had his secret activities been discovered by Godfather?

But the next moment, everyone heard the adoptive father suddenly ask Kangtai a question.

Kangtai, what do you think of Jiajia’s appearance? She’s sixteen now, already a young lady.

The adoptive sons’ eyes instantly darkened as they lowered their heads to conceal their murderous intent. Chou Kangtai’s fingers trembled slightly, and his eyeballs twitched.

What does Godfather mean by this?

Chou Jia, the subject of discussion, was sixteen this year. She had always been fiercely protected by her older brothers, but now she stepped forward and knelt before her adoptive father.

Godfather, my brothers and I owe our lives to you. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do.

They had guessed at their godfather’s wicked nature, but if not for his protection over the years, they would have long been dead somewhere.

Xie Mingyan scanned his six obedient adoptive sons and one considerate little cotton-padded jacket with satisfaction.

Yes, I’ve raised you all these years, watched you grow up, and now you’re finally capable of supporting this family. Your godfather is getting old—the future belongs to you young people. So, Jiajia, I want you and your brothers to do something for me. Are you willing?

The adoptive sons fell into silence, knowing this day would come eventually. After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

Just as they thought their adoptive father was going to ask them to commit some criminal act, they heard him say excitedly:

Over the years, you boys have grown handsomer and handsomer! And the girl has grown more and more beautiful! So children! Fame should be sought early! It’s time we ventured into the entertainment industry! Starting today! We’re preparing to debut as stars!!!

The adoptive children froze in place, staring incredulously at their excited godfather.

Eldest son Xie Yixiao: So… all my daily practice of Muay Thai and butterfly knives was for debuting as a star???

Second son Wei Qi: Then my daily study of urban route maps was for evading fans and paparazzi?

Third son Bai Jinshu: No wonder Godfather supported my dance and music studies—he was training me to be an idol?

Fourth son Situ Xingxuan: Then my studies in pharmaceutical chemistry and equipment assembly were for preventing sexual harassment in the entertainment industry?

Fifth son Chou Kangtai: I never thought my extraordinary hacking skills would be used for anti-defamation campaigns…

Sixth daughter Chou Jia: My mastery of disguise was actually for becoming a chameleon-like film queen???

Godfather… do you think you’re normal???