An infinite journey starting from paradise

"..."

Dongzi was silent for a moment and asked, "For me?"

"Not entirely." Lin Shangren said, "I also have something to investigate there, which might be a little dangerous."

"Forget it, I'll just go there reluctantly."

"Thank you very much." Lin Shangren said with a smile, "So what are your plans for tomorrow, Dongzi?"

"Meet at Kichijoji Station tomorrow morning, and leave the rest to me." Dongzi said with a slight smile.

Chapter 118 Entrustment and Intelligence

In the afternoon, Hayashi Naoto took Takigawa Yumi to the Moon World Café. Because he had to go on a long trip, Hayashi Naoto had to temporarily entrust Yumi to someone he could trust. After much deliberation, the most suitable person was Hazuki Anko.

Lin Shangren didn't have much contact with her, but he was sure that she was a kind and good person. Moreover, Ye Yue Xingzi had nothing to do with the recent series of events, so if nothing unexpected happened to Xi Mei staying with her, there shouldn't be any accidents.

Ximei herself had no objection to this. She was just a little worried whether Lin Shangren would encounter any danger during this outing.

"Don't worry, Miss Hazuki is a kind and nice person. And the waiter in the Moon World is the girl named Hatsune who chatted with you at Xuebai's place the night we first met."

"Well."

Ximei nodded gently, put her arm around Lin Shangren's arm, and rubbed against Lin Shangren's shoulder reluctantly like a kitten.

"You must protect yourself, brother."

"I should be the one saying this to you."

Lin Shangren rubbed Ximei's head.

When Lin Shangren reached the door of the Moon World Coffee Shop and was about to open the door, two ruffians were pushed out by Yuzu Jiasan.

Lin Shangren quickly pulled Ximei to the side to avoid the attack. Yuzumi grabbed one of the men by the collar and lifted him up.

"What...what did you do...even if you're a police officer, you can't just hit people!"

"Bastard!"

Yuzumi Kasan punched the man hard in the stomach.

"I suspect you have something to do with the mummified corpse found nearby this morning. Come with me."

"Cough cough... ugh..."

The man coughed dryly and knelt down in front of Yuzumi Kazo.

"The police are beating people! Wow, this store has gathered the police to beat up customers!!!" another person shouted in an exaggerated tone.

"Bastard!" Yu Zhu Jiasan cursed and was about to attack again.

However, before Yuzumi Jiasan could make a move, Lin Shangren had already kicked the man in the neck. The force was just right, not enough to cause any brain damage, but only to knock him to the ground, temporarily incapacitated.

Lin Shangren has confirmed the identities of these two people through the Eyes of Innocence: they are thugs sent by the loan shark company to collect debts.

"Mr. Lin?"

Only then did Yuzumi Kazuzo notice Hayashi Naoto and Takigawa Yumi standing beside him.

"Fish stay!"

Ye Yue Xingzi chased out of the store: "Don't be impulsive, these two customers didn't do anything, Yuzumi!"

"Miss Ye Yue, what's going on?" Lin Shangren asked.

"Mr. Lin... um... they... they are..."

"They are suspects, I will take them to the police station." Yuzumi Jiasan said stubbornly.

"Fish stay!"

Ye Yue Xingzi wanted to call out to Yu Zhu Jia San, but he still picked up the two thugs on the ground. He bowed slightly to Lin Shangren and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Lin."

As he said that, he was going to take the two thugs to experience re-education in the physical sense.

Looking at the scene before him, Lin Shangren roughly analyzed the whole story:

To maintain the shop her husband left behind, a widowed business owner resorted to borrowing from loan sharks. When the loan sharks came to collect the debt, they happened to encounter a burly police inspector who had a crush on the business owner. And then, this scene unfolded.

"Yuzumi is such a clumsy guy. Does he just want to protect his sweetheart?" Lin Shangren thought.

The relationship between Uozumi Kazuzo and Hazuki Anko can be seamlessly inserted into the cheesy Japanese dramas produced on the assembly line in later generations without any modification.

If, if something happens later like the debt collector comes again, Anko Hazuki is unable to repay, and Kazuzo Uozumi is not there, then the following plot may be labeled as "widow", "coercion", "NTR", etc.

Looking at Yuzumi Jiasan who was gradually walking away, Yeyue Anzi sighed helplessly. She asked Lin Shangren, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you, Mr. Lin. Those two people..."

"A loan shark collector?" Lin Shangren asked directly.

"How did you..."

"Analysis and reasoning." Lin Shangren said, "Let's go in and talk."

Things turned out just as Lin Shangren had expected. In order to maintain the store left by her late husband, Ye Yue Xingzi had to borrow money from a lending company. However, she found a wording trap in the loan contract and had to bear a huge interest.

"I can barely pay off this period's debt, but before the due date, that group of people came here to cause trouble. They just asked for a glass of water and refused to leave. They also said obscene words to Hatsune Miku and the female students who came here, and scared away all the customers." Anzi Yeyue said angrily, and then sighed deeply.

"Business is bad recently?" Lin Shangren asked.

"Because of the recent serial murders, students who would normally stay home after school and on holidays are now strictly confined to their homes. The prices of coffee beans and other raw materials are also rising... But, we can still hold on, hehe."

Anzi Yeyue's smile was a little forced.

"Will Miss Ye Yue accept the investment?" Lin Shangren asked.

"Mr. Lin?"

"These." Lin Shangren took out ten green Franklins from the shadow of his pocket, placed them on the table, and pushed them in front of Ye Yue Xingzi.

Based on the exchange rate between the US dollar and the Japanese yen at the time, this amounted to 350,000 yen. It's important to note that at that time, Japan hadn't yet experienced widespread inflation, and the yen still had considerable purchasing power. The largest denomination was the Shotoku Prince note, which cost 1,000 yen. Therefore, this 1,000 yen note was undoubtedly a significant sum of money.

"Just consider it as my sponsorship fee. If there's any dividend, a cup of coffee and a piece of cake every day will be enough."

Ye Yue Xingzi pushed the money back: "Mr. Lin, I can't take your money."

"I've already said this, this is the cost of joining the franchise. It's not charity, nor even help from a friend, but simply an act of self-interest."

Lin Shangren subconsciously wanted to hold down Ye Yue's hand, but after thinking it over, he put his hand back in his pocket. He continued, "I'm quite optimistic about the development of this cafe. Miss Ye Yue feels the same way, right? Besides, if this place closes down, Hatsune Miku will be out of a job, right?"

"but……"

"Take it." Ximei said beside Lin Shangren, "Brother just wants to help, he has no other bad intentions."

"what?"

"Eh...um...sorry...I said something weird without your permission."

Ximei hid behind Lin Shangren somewhat embarrassedly.

Lin Shangren shook his head helplessly and said in a slightly serious tone: "Take it. If this place closes, Yu Zhu and I will have no place to meet."

"I...I understand. Thank you, Mr. Lin, that's a great help."

"Don't be polite, I already said this is the investment fee. So, Boss Ye Yue, can you prepare some drinks and snacks for your shareholders and his lovely sister?"

"I...I'll go." Hatsune said.

Seeing Hatsune's somewhat nervous reaction, Lin Shangren couldn't help but smile. He continued, "I have another favor to ask of you, Miss Yeyue. I'm going on a long trip soon, and I'd like to entrust Ximei to your care for a few days."

"This... I don't have any problem with it, but those debt collectors..."

"Don't worry about this. I will take care of it. After all, my side job is forensic medicine." Lin Shangren said.

"Forensic doctor...Mr. Lin, are you looking for help from your friends in the police force?"

"No, I meant I'm good at giving my fellow forensic scientists difficult questions."

Lin Shangren did not say this directly.

……

After entrusting Yumi to Anzi, Hayashi Naoto took Hatsune to Ueno's flower street - Yuque wanted to talk to Hayashi Naoto about something, and Hayashi Naoto happened to take Hatsune home on the way.

Snow-white brothel, inner room.

Lin Shangren and Yuque sat opposite each other.

In addition to expressing his gratitude, Yu Que invited Lin Shangren to meet him this time because he had something else to tell him. To be more precise, he wanted to share some information with him.

"Mr. Lin, I heard from Dong Shi that you are investigating the Tianhui Society?"

"Yes."

Lin Shangren did not hide it.

"Sister Yuque has any information about the Tianhui Association?"

"I've been investigating that cult since that incident six years ago. The waters in that cult...are very deep."

"I know. It involves high-ranking officials and secret human experiments conducted by the government." Lin Shangren replied.

"Have you investigated this far?"

"I'm a little curious, Sister Yuque, how did you know such secret information?"

Yuque smiled mysteriously: "I heard it from some old friends."

Although Yuque was just the owner of an ordinary brothel in Ueno at this time, before that, when this charming proprietress was still young, she had been the oiran of Yoshiwara. Well, from the perspective of modern people, this is not a decent identity either, and she still relied on selling her body to make a living.

However, at that time, Yu Que relied on her good social skills to make friends with many dignitaries, and through these relationships she was able to learn a lot of confidential rumors. Even until six years ago, she still maintained certain connections with several patrons with certain status in the government.

Six years ago, in order to find out the truth about the murder of her own prostitute, Yu Que used her network of connections to find out a lot of information about the Tianhui Society. The secrets in it even made her, who was knowledgeable, feel a chill down her spine.

"Mr. Lin, do you really want to continue investigating such a dangerous matter?"

"Those who do evil will always be punished," Lin Shangren replied, "If the information may involve Sister Yuque and Xuebai, it's okay if you don't tell me."

"If Mr. Lin insists on investigating, I should tell you what I know."

The information Yuque said was almost the same as what Lin Shangren had forced out yesterday. The only difference was that in addition to the Narabashi family, the Hinagami family's Hinagami Pharmaceutical and the Tenkei Society, Yuque also mentioned an organization closely related to human experiments.

"Shirayurien, in Hachioji City, in 1952, a mass suicide occurred at an orphanage. I heard from that person that the orphanage was actually a testing facility for Hinagami Pharmaceuticals. It's still in operation..."

"I understand." Lin Shangren said, "There will always be a day when all the pests in the world will be eradicated."

Chapter 119: The Moonlight is So Beautiful

Lin Shangren arrived at Kichijoji Station early in the morning.

There were very few people and the departure train hadn't arrived yet.

Lin Shangren exhaled a breath of hot air. It was early March, and there was a bit of a cold snap, but the cherry blossoms had already begun to sprout.

"We're meeting at this time. It seems Dongzi's destination isn't close."

Just as he was thinking this, Lin Shangren felt Dongzi's footsteps through shadow touch, and turned around to see Dongzi in a black long skirt.

"Ah, Shangren, you're here."

Dongzi walked over from the direction of the station.

"After all, it was you who asked us to come so early." Lin Shangren said.

"because I?"

"if not?"

"Hee." Dongzi showed an innocent smile, his breath filled with white mist.

"You're not wearing enough. Are you cold?"

"Tsk, nagging old man."

Dongzi snorted softly and naturally took Lin Shangren's arm: "Let's go."

"So, which art exhibition are we going to? It's so early, the art museum hasn't opened yet, right? Is it some special exhibition?" Lin Shangren asked.

"Well, let's keep it a secret. You'll know when we get there."

Dongzi held Lin Shangren's hand and walked to the station, bought tickets, boarded the train, and sat side by side. It was not until the train departed that Dongzi leaned her head on Lin Shangren's shoulder, as if she was relieved.

"I'm so sleepy... I'll take a nap first. Just wake me up before we get to Kurashiki Station."

"Kurashiki?"

"Ha, the train has already started. It's too late to regret it, Shangren-kun. Just let me lure you to Kurashiki and accompany me to the art exhibition!"

Dongzi said with some pride.