Chapter 127 Beehive
Chapter 127 Beehive
Ning Zhe spent a lot of effort to get rid of the two sisters' entanglement with Zi Qian. The methods he used included but were not limited to lying that he would take them to a tourist attraction in Yundu for a date when he returned, and claiming that taking good care of Yin Lishang was just to improve Zi Qian's father's favor so that she could become his future daughter-in-law.
As for whether telling lies to deceive others' feelings would bring psychological burden or moral baggage to oneself... Ning Zhe might answer with this question:
What is morality?
"Ye Yao, what do you think morality is?" While driving to the western suburbs of Yundu, Lan Shiwen asked Ning Zhe the same question while holding the steering wheel with both hands.
Ning Zhe lowered his head while replying to Zhang Yunwen's WeChat message, and replied without raising his head: "Morality is the behavioral norms and life principles formulated by people based on the current social structure and environmental atmosphere. Morality has different definitions in different social environments."
"In modern civilized society, inbreeding is generally considered immoral, and physical relations between blood relatives within three generations are viewed differently. But if the same thing occurs in primitive society, it is unremarkable and even considered a reasonable behavior to increase the population."
"In order to prevent power from falling into the hands of outsiders, the royal family and the nobility in the feudal period often had chaotic relationships between fathers and daughters or even mothers and sons. It was also considered ethical for male members of the royal family to marry their sisters. But in modern times, this is simply unthinkable."
"In summary, moral standards are not fixed, but will change with the changes in living environment and social atmosphere. Therefore, there is such a concept in jurisprudence - in principle, newly enacted laws cannot be used to retroactively trace back to criminal acts committed before the enactment of the law, but can only restrain people from committing crimes in the future."
Lan Shiwen nodded: "It's a very formal answer, so standard that it doesn't sound like something someone who studies music would say."
Ning Zhe's fingertips, which were tapping the virtual keyboard on the phone screen, paused slightly. Yes, this was not Yu Ziqian's answer.
——This is Ningzhe’s answer.
Unconsciously, the identities of two people with very different personalities became confused in Ning Zhe's cognition.
"I have to reinforce my thought stamp again..." Ning Zhe said to himself. He was still unsure of the side effects of the thought stamp ability, so he was extremely cautious in using this rule. As long as his cognition was not shaken, there was no need to reinforce the stamp for the time being.
But the shaking of one's self is sometimes subtle and he may not be able to notice it.
Ning Zhe glanced down at the screen. Zhang Yunwen had just sent him a selfie. In the picture, Zhang Hanying was buying new clothes for Yin Lishang in the mall.
After turning off his phone, Ning Zhe exhaled lightly and asked, "Why do you suddenly ask such a question? Are you planning to persuade people to be good?"
"That's not the case." Lan Shiwen shook his head: "It just prepares you for what you are about to see."
As he spoke, rows of ancient trees on both sides of the road fell behind the car window. Lan Shiwen drove through a wide city gate over 20 meters high. On both sides of the lead-gray asphalt highway were two ancient city walls made of rammed earth bricks. The majestic momentum extended along the ochre walls to the end of the sight.
Yundu City was once the capital of the Central Plains dynasty in ancient times. The process of modernization has transformed the residential areas of the old capital into a bustling metropolis. Only the thick city walls outside the city have survived hundreds of years of wind and rain. The ancient city walls have been repaired several times, but still surround the high-rise buildings inside the city, just as it looked hundreds of years ago.
Passing through the hole in the city wall and out of the west gate, you will reach the western suburbs of Yundu City.
"There is a fairly famous science and technology park in the western suburbs of Yundu. You may have heard of the leading enterprise there - Yunshan Pharmaceutical, a local pharmaceutical giant in Yunzhou." Lan Shiwen turned the steering wheel to the right and closed the car window to block out the hot wind outside: "We are going to the research base of this company in the science and technology park in the western suburbs of Yundu."
"Why, do you want to see a doctor?" Ning Zhe asked casually.
"I'm in good health. I came to the Science Park for another reason." Lan Shiwen shook his head and said, "Ji Bochang is a member of the board of directors of Yunshan Pharmaceutical Group and the largest shareholder with a 41% stake."
"What about the second largest shareholder?"
"His son."
"It seems you have found out a lot of things." Ning Zhe laughed: "But why don't I feel surprised at all..." Lan Shiwen eased off the accelerator and took one hand off the steering wheel: "I believe you will be surprised soon."
After driving into the main gate of the Science and Technology Park, Lan Shiwen gave the two of them temporary visit cards at the office, and then parked the car in a parking space under the shade of a tree.
Judging from the aerial photos taken by drones, the overall shape of Yundu West Suburb Science and Technology Park is like a huge yin-yang diagram. The office buildings surrounding the central dome are rows of different hexagrams. Such a special structure is naturally very eye-catching. Since the completion of the West Suburb Science and Technology Park, there has never been a shortage of conspiracy theories and associative discussions about this place on the Internet.
Ning Zhe took the visiting card from Lan Shiwen and said casually, "I saw a post on the Yunzhou Geography forum before. The poster seriously analyzed the layout of the office buildings in the Western Suburbs Science and Technology Park and concluded that the hexagram here is actually wrong. The dragon vein of the ancient dynasty is located under the western suburbs of Yundu. Yunzhou built a complex of buildings in this place according to the wrong hexagram in order to suppress the fortune of the previous dynasty."
"You also read this kind of thing." Lan Shiwen was a little surprised: "I have seen more fantastic reasoning, saying that there is a big snake under the Han River, which has already become a half-dragon, and it only needs to walk along the Han River to truly transform into a dragon. The reason why Yunzhou built this science and technology park and the Hanjiang Dam is to cut off the river's earth energy and block the snake's path to transform into a dragon. But because of this, the people of Yundu are resentful of this half-dragon snake monster, so the water system of Yunmengze has been unpredictable for many years, and there are many floods."
"That sounds quite plausible." Ning Zhe shrugged: "What about the reality?"
"Actually, it's because of Ji Bochang's personal preference. He funded the construction of this place, and the old guy likes to play with things like Yin-Yang Tai Chi and Qimen Dunjia." Lan Shiwen said: "As for why the hexagrams around the Western Suburbs Science and Technology Park are wrong, it's actually because the construction team at that time took the drawings upside down."
"Awesome." Ning Zhe gave a thumbs up.
While chatting, the two walked towards the circular dome in the center of the science and technology park. The staff who had received the notice in advance came out several dozen meters away and took the two into a separate small room for disinfection and changing clothes.
After changing into pure white protective clothing, Ning Zhe followed Lan Shiwen into the large spiral staircase leading to the underground. The staff member who led the two remained silent and did not say a single extra word.
"What exactly do you want to show me?" Ning Zhe asked.
"Didn't I tell you yesterday?" Lan Shiwen took out a visiting card and handed it to the guard on duty waiting in front of the fire door. Then the door opened, and a faint white mist dissipated from the gap in the door.
Lan Shiwen opened the door and said, "Come on, let me show you Ji Bochang's money printing machine."
Ning Zhe walked forward and passed through three security doors with Lan Shiwen, and finally came to a spacious underground circular hall. The temperature here was very low, and the bright lights on the dome illuminated the enclosed underground space like daylight. The ground was densely covered with regular hexagonal lines and recessed grids, like a huge white honeycomb. The intricate pipelines of different thicknesses, with this huge white honeycomb as the center, extended in all directions like tree roots.
Lan Shiwen gestured to the camera above his head, and then the buzzing sound of machinery came from under his feet. The honeycomb closest to the two of them opened the outermost explosion-proof partition, revealing the transparent liner inside.
The capsule-shaped inner liner is about 2 meters long, just enough for an adult man to lie inside. In fact, there is indeed a naked man lying inside, with no expression on his pale but calm face.
Ning Zhe frowned slightly. Although he was younger, he recognized this face.
"...Ji Bochang?" Ning Zhe said in a low voice.
"Yes." Lan Shiwen nodded: "Ji Bo tasted it."
The buzzing sound continued as more honeycombs were opened. Row after row, the densely packed capsule liners were filled with countless adult men. They had exactly the same body shapes, facial features, and even the lightning-struck wood tattoos on their chests were exactly the same.
They are all Ji Bochang, Ji Bochang when he was young.
"This is the money printing machine that Yunshan Pharmaceutical built for its major shareholders, or we can use a more modern term to describe it - a cloning warehouse."
(End of this chapter)