Film and Television: My Cheat Code is AI

Gao Jun stood in front of the living room's floor-to-ceiling window, watching Gu San'er's car taillights turn the corner below. The smile on his face gradually faded. His own face was reflected in the windowpane, and the expression on his face had completely changed. It was no longer the warm and casual atmosphere at the dinner table, but a calm, scrutinizing blankness.

There was a knock at the door, two very soft knocks.

"Come in."

Zhu Zhi pushed open the door and walked in. He was in his early thirties, wearing frameless glasses and a dark gray shirt. He was carrying nothing in his hands. He had worked for Gao Jun for six years and was one of Gao Jun's most trusted people. He was also the only person Gao Jun could knock on the door without having to make an appointment.

Zhu Zhi walked to the desk, but didn't sit down. "President Gao, how is it?"

Gao Jun didn't turn around. He was still looking out the window, in the direction where Gu San'er's car had disappeared. "I don't know." He paused for a moment. "Go and investigate. This person's name is Zhang Yang. He claims to be a student at Harvard. Find out exactly what he did that required him to use a fake passport to run back. I need to know which cities he stayed in in the United States, who he contacted, and what his real reason for entering the country was."

He turned around, walked to his desk, picked up the lighter, and lit a cigarette. The smoke dissipated under the fluorescent light. He put the lighter back on the desk, his voice low.

"I'll give you two days. If it comes down to it, we can use our backup plan in the US. Zhao Lianzhong owes me a favor, and it's time to pay it back. We must find out exactly who this person is."

Zhu Zhi nodded, his expression unchanged. "Okay, I'll handle it. I'll give you an answer within forty-eight hours at the latest."

"Go."

Zhu Zhi turned and walked out. As he opened the door, Gao Jun added from behind, "Don't alert him. This Zhang Yang doesn't look like an ordinary student; his eyes are strange."

Zhu Zhi turned around, glanced at Gao Jun, nodded, then closed the door and left.

Gao Jun stood alone in the office, a cigarette between his fingers, ash accumulating on it, but he didn't flick it off.

On the other side, Gu San'er drove the car through three intersections, making sure there were no cars following behind before wiping the sweat from his forehead. His fingers were still trembling slightly. After wiping the sweat, he wiped his hands on his pants and turned to look at Zhang Yang in the passenger seat.

"So what should I do next?"

Zhang Yang leaned back in his chair, looking at the road ahead. "Stay put for the next couple of days and wait for Gao Jun to call me." His tone was calm, as if he were talking about something that had already been arranged. "He won't believe me so quickly. He'll definitely have to investigate further. Once he's finished investigating and lets me in, you can go find Captain Jiang. He'll make arrangements for you in Hebei Province."

Gu San'er wiped his sweat again and nodded. He went over Zhang Yang's words in his mind again, as if trying to memorize every single word.

"Call me if you need anything, I'm leaving now."

Gu San'er quickly nodded: "Okay, okay, take care."

Zhang Yang pushed open the car door, got out of Gu San'er's car, walked across a street, got into his own gray Santana, started the car, shifted gears, turned out from the side of the road, and drove along the main road towards his residence.

He had just passed a traffic light when he glanced at his rearview mirror. The mirror showed a stream of cars, all sorts of vehicles, but he noticed a black Santana that had been following him for a while. Zhang Yang stepped on the gas, accelerating and weaving through the traffic a couple of times. After two intersections, the car was gone.

His lips twitched slightly, not in a smile, just a slight movement.

After passing two more traffic lights, he looked in his rearview mirror again, and the black Santana reappeared, this time two cars behind him, following at a leisurely pace.

Zhang Yang shook his head. He understood. These people weren't trying to intercept him; they wanted to find out where he lived.

He didn't try to shake it off again, and drove back to his residential area at a normal speed.

The residential complex was small, consisting of six-story slab buildings with pale yellow paint on the exterior walls. Half of the motion-activated lights in the stairwell were broken. Zhang Yang parked his car in the open space downstairs, locked it, and went upstairs.

He went up to the third floor, took out his key, opened the door, went inside, turned on the living room light, and then went straight into the bedroom without lingering there. The bedroom light was not yet on, so he stood behind the curtains and looked down through the gap in the curtains.

The black Santana was parked on the side of the road opposite the residential area. The car was still running, and the taillights were on, their red light glaringly bright in the darkness. After about fifteen minutes, the headlights went out, the engine stopped, and then the car started up again, turned a corner, and drove away.

Zhang Yang lowered the curtains.

This apartment was rented by Lao Zheng through someone else, under someone else's name. It has no financial connection with the task force. Utilities (water, electricity, gas) are paid in cash. The landlord is from out of town and does business in the south. He doesn't come back all year round. Living here won't cause any trouble for him.

He waited in the bedroom for about two hours, smoking two cigarettes in between, stubbing them out in the cap of a mineral water bottle on the bedside table. It was very quiet outside, with only the occasional passing car and the light sweeping in and out through the gaps in the curtains.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway, stopping every two steps – it was Old Zheng's rhythm. Zhang Yang opened the door before knocking.

Old Zheng burst in, wearing a dark jacket with the collar turned up, carrying the chill of the evening air. Zhang Yang closed the door, locked it, checked the curtains again, and then took a bottle of water from the refrigerator and handed it to Old Zheng.

Old Zheng took it, but didn't drink it. He put it on the coffee table and asked, "How is it?"

Zhang Yang pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it over. The paper was handwritten; the handwriting wasn't large, but every stroke was clear. "This person's name is Gao Jun. He graduated from Stanford University in the US. He owns an investment company and two trading companies, ostensibly engaged in import and export trade, but secretly they're probably all involved in counterfeiting and money laundering. I don't know if he has a supplier, but anyone connected to this counterfeiting network must have a powerful backer." He paused for a moment. "He's probably started having people investigate my background."

Old Zheng unfolded the paper and read it from beginning to end. The handwriting was very neat, and the source of each piece of information was marked. Some of it was said by Gu San'er, and some of it was Zhang Yang's own observation. Old Zheng folded the paper and put it into his inner pocket.

"It's alright, your documents are all complete. Your Harvard enrollment, entry and exit records, even the address of the apartment you rented in Boston are all real. He can't find any problems."

Zhang Yang nodded.

Old Zheng looked at him, remained silent for two seconds, and then spoke, his voice lower: "Luo Liang is dead."

Zhang Yang's fingers stopped on the coffee table. "What?" He looked up at Old Zheng, his brows furrowed. "He's dead. What about the master disk?"

"We suspect that Luo Liang gave the master disk to his childhood friend, a guy named Hu Wei," Lao Zheng said. "We'll definitely find out the truth within two days, don't worry."

Zhang Yang didn't speak immediately. He leaned back on the sofa, tapping his fingers lightly on the edge of the coffee table. Then he sat up and looked at Lao Zheng.

"We're not going to investigate anymore."

Old Zheng looked at him.

"Have Gao Jun's men go find him," Zhang Yang said. "You have Brother Yang keep a close eye on Hu Wei and protect his safety. That's all."

Old Zheng frowned slightly, then relaxed. "You want to go fishing?"

Zhang Yang nodded. "If Gao Jun can't get his hands on the master copy, we'll have too few entry points given his vast influence. Now that we have it, he'll practically walk right into our hands." He paused, "Our entry point will be more precise, accurate, and ruthless."

Old Zheng looked at him for a few seconds, then stood up. "Okay, leave this to me."