Goal Determination

In the car, Old Bai was driving, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, occasionally glancing at the backseat in the rearview mirror.

Liu Zheng sat in the passenger seat, half-turned, clutching two reports in his hand, updating Lin Mo on the investigation progress of the past few days.

"We split the people on the list into three teams and kept rotating surveillance—followed them when they ate, when they worked, and when they got off work. We ruled out most of them. A few were taking kickbacks, a few had messy personal lives, but none of it had anything to do with what we’re looking into."

Lin Mo flipped through the first report, which was densely annotated with each person's movement trajectories, social circles, and financial transactions.

The Yanhuang Awakening team was indeed meticulous; just one person’s background check could fill three full pages.

There were dozens of names on the list, and each one had to be investigated. The workload was daunting.

Lin Mo closed the report.

He couldn’t blame Yanhuang Awakening for lack of effort—given the number of people, each name on the list required time to vet and eliminate.

So Lin Mo simply said, "It’s not a big deal. If we can’t find anything, let’s leave it for now."

"Don’t rush."

Liu Zheng pulled another file folder from his briefcase. "I didn’t say we came up empty-handed. We did catch one fish."

Nice move—building up suspense before dropping the news.

Liu Zheng handed Lin Mo the other report.

Lin Mo took it, opened it, and found the second report inside. It was much thinner than the first, but every page had key points marked in red pen.

The first page had a ID photo attached—Lin Zhiming, forty-three years old, branch manager of a company. He wasn’t particularly wealthy; in fact, he barely registered in the city’s business circles.

But his branch had seen great results lately.

Lin Mo kept reading.

Yanhuang Awakening had tailed this man for five full days. The first three days were normal, but starting from the fourth day, things started to look off.

Every time Lin Zhiming went to a bar, his success rate at hitting on women was one hundred percent.

It wasn’t the kind where he threw money around. He’d walk over, say a few words, and the woman would leave with him.

And it didn’t matter whether they were young, mature, aloof, or bubbly—the reaction was always the same.

One night, he even took two women home at once.

The next day, he showed up at the bar entrance looking refreshed as ever.

Old Bai peeked at the page Lin Mo was holding in the rearview mirror and couldn’t help muttering, "That stamina is something else."

Liu Zheng shot him a look and continued, "Hitting on women is just the surface. What really raised our alarm were the changes in him—and his business performance."

The second half of the report recorded Lin Zhiming’s business activities over the past two weeks.

Seven contract negotiations. All seven were sealed.

Interestingly, in all seven deals, the counterparties followed the same pattern: whatever Lin Zhiming proposed, they agreed to it.

No price haggling, no objections, no hesitation.

Doing business like that—either every counterparty owed him money, or something wasn’t right.

Liu Zheng added, "We sent people to privately contact the heads of two of those partner companies. Later, they themselves couldn’t explain why they agreed to those terms. One of them said the more he thought about it afterward, the weirder it felt, but the contract was already signed."

Lin Mo flipped to the last page of the report, which contained Yanhuang Awakening’s internal analysis.

"Highly suspected to be influenced by an abnormal item, with effects resembling mental interference or mind control."

He put the report down and shook his head.

"This guy is most likely a lucky finder. He got the thing from somewhere—or someone slipped it to him—and he probably doesn’t even fully understand it himself. He found it useful and kept using it."

Liu Zheng nodded. "That’s my assessment too. His past business record was decent—his company was profitable every year, but growth was slow. The sudden spike in the last two weeks is like he’s on a supernatural hot streak. If he really had this kind of ability, he’d have gotten rich long ago; he wouldn’t have waited until now to turn things around."

"So what’s your plan?"

"We were going to keep tailing him, trace back up the chain to find out where the thing came from."

Liu Zheng paused.

"But there’s a problem—he’s using it too often. Every time he uses it, there’s another victim. The contracts he’s clinched already involve tens of millions of yuan. And the women... well, that goes without saying."

Old Bai glanced at the rearview mirror again, but stayed silent this time.

Liu Zheng opened a bottle of mineral water and took a sip.

"I reported to our acting director. After careful consideration, we decided to move in first—restrain him, confiscate the item, and investigate the leads later. We can’t just keep letting him harm people while we wait for bigger fish."

Lin Mo leaned back in his seat, tapping his finger on the report cover.

"From what you’re saying, I actually think he might be a scapegoat—a way to cover something up."

"That’s possible, but there’s no other choice. We’ll get to it eventually."

Liu Zheng put the report away and stuffed it into his briefcase. "I’ve already arranged for some special equipment. The takedown is set for tonight. Want to join?"

"No, I’ll head home for dinner. Call me if you can’t handle it."

The car stopped at the urban village.

Lin Mo grabbed his bag and got out. On the way, he stopped at the market to buy some shrimp and vegetables.

Then he went to the roast meat shop and bought a whole roast goose and a large piece of roast pork.

Even a smaller roast goose is bigger than a chicken or a duck.

"Don’t chop the goose leg—leave it for the kids. Chop the rest."

"No problem!"

The roast meat chef swung his cleaver skillfully, splitting the goose on the cutting board.

He trimmed off the fat and lymph nodes.

In many roast meat videos, people wonder why the fat and lymph nodes are removed.

The lymph nodes are bad meat, no explanation needed.

The goose fat is very greasy, and when it cools, it develops a strong gamey smell.

If you don’t remove the fat, you’ll take one bite, stop, take two bites, and never want another.

Of course, some people prefer to keep the fat—they just need to tell the chef in advance.

That saves him the trouble.

Carrying several takeout boxes, Lin Mo went upstairs. School hadn’t let out yet; Xie Yuling and Ning Qingcheng were still in class.

Lin Mo sent Xie Yuling a message, telling her to come home for dinner that evening with the others.

Standing at the door, he knocked.

"Auntie Zheng, I’m back!"

Through his spiritual sense, he saw Zheng Yuan quickly dry her hands and stride out of the kitchen.

"Oh, Xiao Mo, you’re finally back!"

The door opened, and Zheng Yuan noticed the takeout boxes in his hands.

"Oh, why did you buy food on your way home? The kids haven’t gotten out of school yet. You look like you’ve lost weight. I’ve made soup—watercress, pork bones, and dried duck gizzards. Let me get you a bowl first."

Zheng Yuan chattered on, warming Lin Mo’s heart.

He smiled and said, "Auntie Zheng, let me come inside first. I bought a lot of stuff. We’ve got time."

"Oh, right, right, look at me..."

Zheng Yuan quickly stepped aside.

Eastern Guangdong moms are pretty much like this.

And it’s this kind of warmth that makes you feel so at home.