Disobedience To Control chapter 35

It Can’t Be Him (Extra Update)

“Five yuan.” Yang Xiaobei stood at the checkout counter, holding a barcode scanner, still smiling.

Song Siheng handed over his phone, and with a beep, the conversation between the two of them was completely over.

Song Siheng stood still for about two or three seconds without moving, until suddenly a large bear squeezed past him.

“Hey, can you help me check out?” This huge creature suddenly appeared in front of Song Siheng.

“Just a moment, I also want to add some chewing gum.” The turkey next to it also called out.

The people inside the checkout counter were blocked tightly.

Song Siheng picked up the mineral water bottle and turned to walk out of the convenience store. The noise behind him made him quicken his pace.

Just as the convenience store’s closing music hadn’t finished yet, Song Siheng stopped his steps. He couldn’t resist the urge to turn back, taking one last glance.

Yang Xiaobei happened to look over at him, and the deep blue uniform of the cashier made his face look somewhat pale.

Song Siheng clenched the back of the mineral water bottle tightly in his hand, but after three seconds, he still turned away and continued walking towards the parking lot.

It wasn’t until the car had driven about ten meters that he realized he was being utterly unreasonable.

In those three seconds just now when he turned back, he actually wanted to go back and ask Yang Xiaobei why he was working again, where he had spent the money he gave him, and if Xu Lang hadn’t given him any benefits.

Song Siheng, you’re really losing your mind. He raised his hand and gave himself a slap.

The sports car drove through the dark night and arrived at the apartment close to 8 p.m.

Song Siheng didn’t have dinner, but he also didn’t feel hungry. These days he had been busy with various meetings, and the chaos in the company had also taken a toll on him, causing him to lose weight.

It had been a long time since he had spent the night in the apartment, and there wasn’t much to eat in the kitchen’s refrigerator. After searching for a while, he only found a bag of toast. He glanced at the expiration date, which was only four hours away.

Song Siheng sat down at the dining table, his arm resting on the marble surface, feeling a bit chilly. The bright light of the chandelier enveloped him. His phone lay quietly on the table two feet away from him.

Whole wheat toast with mineral water was still hard to swallow. Song Siheng felt like a boring chewing machine at the moment.

Before finishing the two slices of toast, the phone on the table vibrated. He picked up the phone and saw the name on the screen, but he was stunned for two seconds.

“Tim.” Song Siheng quickly answered the call.

“Siheng, I found the person you asked me to investigate last time.”

Song Siheng realized what he was saying, hesitated for a moment, and then responded in a low voice, “What did you find out?”

“Yang Xiaobei, male, nineteen years old. He entered Jiangcheng University as a sports special talent at the age of eighteen. However…” There was a rustling of pages flipping on the other end of the phone.

“However, what?”

“However, after he joined the swimming team, his performance fluctuated greatly. He won first place in the intra-team competition just after joining the team last year, but this year his performance has been unstable. As for his interpersonal relationships, they should be fine within the team. I asked someone to inquire, and there shouldn’t be any major conflicts with the coach or teammates.”

Song Siheng furrowed his brows slightly, feeling his palms getting warm for some reason. After a few seconds of hesitation, he continued, “What else?”

“As for family information, according to the records he provided, he only has one aunt.”

“An aunt?”

“Yeah. Only an aunt. I’m also very curious, but it’s true that I couldn’t find any information about his parents. However, it’s also possible that my database is incomplete,” Tim explained.

“What about before he turned eighteen? Any other information?”

There was a sigh on the other end of the phone. “The strange thing is here. I couldn’t find any information about him before he turned eighteen.”

“Couldn’t find any?!”

“Yes. Before he turned eighteen, for someone with this name, I couldn’t find any other publicly available information.” Tim pondered for a moment and added, “With my level of access, I can only access information recorded under this name. I can’t help you with anything more… and if I break the rules, I’ll lose my job.”

Song Siheng was silent for a moment on his end, not saying anything.

After a moment of silence, a voice came from the phone, “But at least it suggests two possibilities.”

“What possibilities?”

“The first possibility is that he grew up abroad before he became an adult, so there’s no publicly available information about him before adulthood. The second possibility is… he changed his name.”

Song Siheng took a deep breath, looked up at the ceiling, and the light from the spotlights pierced his pupils. Song Siheng squinted, turned his head slightly to avoid the light.

After a few seconds of silence, a voice came from the phone, “What do you think? Do you want me to continue investigating?”

Song Siheng put down his phone, pressed his temple, and said, “Let’s talk about it later, I’ll let you know.”

Beep beep beep—

The call was quickly disconnected. Song Siheng’s gaze was unfocused, and his vision was blurry. Several days of continuous work had left him exhausted. He also couldn’t digest what Tim had just said.

He and Yang Xiaobei had become strangers, that was an established fact, and it seemed unnecessary to pursue further questioning.

He was sitting there empty-mindedly when suddenly the doorbell rang. He raised his hand to check the time on his watch—it was already nine o’clock in the evening. Who would come to see him so late?

He got up and walked to the door, opened the doorbell next to it, and the screen flashed twice, showing a live monitoring image. Standing outside the door was surprisingly Li Ke.

He quickly opened the door, and Li Ke outside the door looked dusty, as if even his hair was emitting cold air.

“Why did you come over suddenly?” Song Siheng asked.

Li Ke, familiarly, entered the entrance, took off his windbreaker and hung it on his arm, then put his laptop bag aside and changed his shoes to enter the house.

“There’s urgent news I must tell you about.” He spoke urgently.

The lights in the dining room were still on, and the two of them walked to the table together. Song Siheng casually pulled out a chair for him to sit down.

“What news? Why so urgent?”

“I’ve made progress with my informant in EM.” Li Ke looked up at him and took out a laptop from his bag, opening it in front of Song Siheng. “He just gave me the latest news, saying he used some means to find a private email from Xu Lang.”

“A private email?” Song Siheng frowned.

“Yeah.” Li Ke quickly entered the password to unlock the screen, found a folder, and opened an image in front of Song Siheng. “Xu Lang received several anonymous emails before the New Year. This is one of them, mentioning the contract we’re going to discuss with the North City company, with the latest model photos attached.”

Song Siheng glanced at the photo, which didn’t look like a screenshot of an internal employee file leak, but rather a real-life photo.

However, the background of this photo was deliberately blurred, and it was impossible to tell where it was taken.

“This person has had contact with our samples,” Song Siheng concluded.

“Yes,” nodded Li Ke. “And if you look at the wording of this email, they should have been in contact for a while. It doesn’t seem like a spontaneous act of bribery.”

The email had no signature, but it was addressed to “LANG” at the top. Xu Lang rarely used this nickname publicly, indicating familiarity between the sender and receiver.

Moreover, the language used didn’t resemble typical business correspondence; there were hardly any formalities or pleasantries.

“You mean they’ve known each other for a while? Maybe even old friends?” Song Siheng asked.

Li Ke nodded. “Yes. That’s a possibility.”

Suddenly, Song Siheng felt a chill down his spine. He had initially believed that it was Yang Xiaobei who had been privately bribed by Xu Lang after their encounter at the café. If this email was genuine, then Yang Xiaobei…

However, he quickly realized something was amiss. “But if they’re already familiar with each other, why communicate through anonymous emails? Isn’t that redundant?”

Li Ke pondered for a moment. “This person… might have a vested interest in not revealing their identity.”

Song Siheng fell silent for a moment before turning to Li Ke. “Keep investigating. Besides this, see if you can dig up more information. Every action leaves a trace. Use whatever means necessary to track down their exact location.”

Li Ke acknowledged. “Already arranged. We should be able to trace the approximate location of the sender tonight.”

If they could narrow down the geographical area, the person could be found quickly.

“Where else have our samples appeared besides the laboratory in the Product Center?” Song Siheng contemplated for a moment, thinking that the photo might be a breakthrough. “If it’s within the company, the backgrounds would be similar, and there’d be no need for blurring.”

Li Ke recalled, “This batch of samples was brought during our business trip to the North City last year. However, many people were present during that trip.”

As Song Siheng was recalling who was present during the trip to the North City, Li Ke’s phone suddenly rang.

He glanced at the phone and then at Song Siheng, gesturing with his phone, “It’s here.”

Song Siheng waited silently on the side as Li Ke answered the call, putting it on speaker.

After a beep, a voice came from the other end, “The screening is done, and one piece of information has exposed his location. Are you available now? Should I send it to you?”

Li Ke responded, “Yes, please send me the information.”

Then, the call was disconnected. Soon, Li Ke received a text message containing a line of location information and the corresponding timestamp.

Skillfully, Li Ke opened the computer software, inputted the information, and soon an arrow appeared on the map.

However, Li Ke stared at the screen without speaking.

Song Siheng leaned in, asking, “What’s wrong?”

On the computer screen, next to the arrow indicating the location, was an address both of them were very familiar with.

Riverside District, Jingshui Street.

Li Ke’s home was located there.

“How could this…”

Among the executives who had gone to the North City that day, only Li Ke lived on Jingshui Street. There was no other possibility.

Song Siheng also froze, turning to look at Li Ke. Li Ke’s face was pale.

As the location and time corresponded, Li Ke seemed to suddenly realize something. His expression stiffened for a moment, then he firmly pressed his palms against his eye sockets.

His body tensed like a statue, but his breathing became slightly irregular.

After about half a minute—

“It’s impossible, impossible…” Li Ke’s voice trembled, the knuckles of his hand showing.

“What’s impossible? Explain yourself!” Song Siheng’s patience wore thin, and he pried open Li Ke’s hands, only to find Li Ke’s eyes almost crimson.

Song Siheng composed himself and asked cautiously, “Have you thought of something? Has anyone been to your house?”

“It’s impossible, impossible, it can’t be him…” Li Ke’s emotions were on the verge of collapse as he buried his head deep in his arms.

“Him? Who are you talking about?” It was the first time in years that Song Siheng had seen Li Ke so distraught.

With his head lowered, Li Ke’s shoulder blades continued to tremble. After about half a minute, he spoke softly.

“…Song Qin.”

📢 Author’s Note

(Next chapter will be from Li Ke’s perspective, and some secrets are about to be revealed.)