After hearing this, Qin Siyang looked at Zhang Kuang in disbelief.
"In Li Pengfei's memory, his father… is Director Zhang's face?"
"It was Old Li who said it," Zhang Kuang's eyes were full of helplessness, "He discovered that Li Pengfei didn't recognize him, and immediately panicked, not knowing what had happened."
"Li Pengfei kept crying for his mom and dad, and Old Li had no choice but to play games with him."
"While playing poker with Pengfei, Pengfei saw my face, pointed at me, and said I was his dad. Only then did Old Li understand what had happened."
"And before we came back, Old Li called me, told me to wear a mask, so Pengfei wouldn't recognize me."
Listening to the whole story laid out, Qin Siyang was deeply surprised.
He truly hadn't expected Guo Jiuxiao to come up with such a vicious and insidious trick.
"Replacing the father in Pengfei's memory with Director Zhang's face. That means from now on, whenever Old Li sees Director Zhang, he'll be forced to remember this gut-wrenching matter, right?"
"That's exactly how it is."
Zhang Kuang sighed again, "Unfortunately, this move of Guo Jiuxiao's wasn't discovered earlier. Now, the situation has already built up too much to easily reverse."
Chang Tianxiang disagreed, "And even if it was found out earlier, what then? Would Old Li dare go all out and fight Guo Jiuxiao to the death? His son was right under Guo Jiuxiao's eyes. If Old Li acted rashly, it would have been a dead end."
"If you ask me, the way things are now isn't too bad. At least there's still a chance to fight Guo Jiuxiao."
"But look at Old Li now, does he look like he still has the fight in him?"
Zhang Kuang continued "I'm only afraid that Old Li will devote himself completely to restoring his son's memory, and ignore everything else."
"If that's the case, then Guo Jiuxiao's purpose in sending Pengfei back is as good as achieved."
Qin Siyang lowered his head, thought for a moment, then suggested, "Professors, let Old Li process this on his own for a while. No matter what, this is a huge blow to him."
"If he can get through this setback and recover, that would be best. If he insists on getting stuck in a dead end, then we can think of another way."
Chang Tianxiang, who also had children, said, "From what I know of Old Li, he'll definitely pour all his energy into Pengfei. Besides, if he really insists on restoring Pengfei's memory, there's nothing we can do."
"Honestly speaking, if my daughter didn't recognize me, I too would try everything possible to make her remember me. As for research or anything else, that's all external."
Hao Liang and Chang Tianxiong, both fathers already, nodded in agreement.
"Big Brother's right. The love of parents for their children surpasses everything else."
Qin Siyang clenched his fists unwillingly, "So we're just going to sit back and watch Old Li fall right into Guo Jiuxiao's trap?"
Hao Liang gazed regretfully in the direction Li Tianming and Pengfei had left, "This kind of trap, even if Old Li knows it's a trap, he'll still willingly walk right in."
"This is Guo Jiuxiao's open scheme."
Qin Siyang didn't care about open or hidden schemes.
Guo Jiuxiao had destroyed Li Tianming's family and life like this, there was no way he could swallow that.
"Guo Jiuxiao broke Old Li's home and ruined his life. Is there really no way to strike back?"
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, can't we turn this move back on Guo Jiuxiao himself?"
"Impossible."
Zhang Kuang shook his head.
"Guo Jiuxiao is cold and ruthless, sees his career as heavier than heaven. That's why he's never started a family to this day."
Lu Daoxing asked, "But I remember, didn't Guo Jiuxiao have illegitimate children?"
"You also know, those are illegitimate. He doesn't only have illegitimate sons, but illegitimate daughters too, and quite a few mistresses."
"For those five, six, seven, eight mistresses and the children they bore him, he's always just given money, never companionship."
"In other words, wife and children to him are optional words."
Qin Siyang furrowed his brows tightly, thinking further.
Then he asked, "We don't need to fixate on his wife and kids. Since he doesn't care about them, then… does he have a mother?"
The moment he said this, everyone's eyes lit up.
Hao Liang slapped his thigh, "Right! How did we forget that Guo Jiuxiao still has an old mother?"
Chang Tianxiang nodded repeatedly, "Yes. For us, our mothers either died early, or died when the apocalypse came. At that time, we were already lucky to be accepted by the safe zone. No chance to go back and fetch our mothers."
"To us, 'mother' is already a distant word."
"But Guo Jiuxiao, he's a local. The area he lived in was marked as a safe zone, so his mother got a quota to live in the safe zone, and so she's still alive."
A smile appeared on Qin Siyang's face, and he pressed further, "So then, is Guo Jiuxiao filial?"
Chang Tianxiang replied, "That, I'm not sure of. Even though I've known Guo Jiuxiao the longest, I've only seen his mother twice, and couldn't tell anything. Normally he doesn't mention her much. Little Qin, what are you planning to do?"
Qin Siyang shook his head, "Old Li just brought Pengfei back. This is exactly when Guo Jiuxiao is most alert, so nothing can be done now. But sooner or later, I'll make Guo Jiuxiao taste the same pain."
Zhang Kuang asked, "Your thinking isn't bad. I also think Guo Jiuxiao must care about his mother. But even if you alter her memory, or even kidnap her, at most you'd threaten him. It wouldn't help Old Li recover."
"I know," Qin Siyang's eyes were firm, "But just thinking I can make Guo Jiuxiao suffer, I can't help wanting to do it."
With Qin Siyang's usual way of handling enemies, he would never show mercy to those he bore grudges against.
Now that he knew Guo Jiuxiao's weakness, he would definitely make full use of it in the future, and make him choke on it.
"As for Old Li's matter—", Qin Siyang thought for a moment, "Staring at Old Li obviously won't solve the problem. The key still lies with Pengfei."
"Little Qin, you mean you have some kind of method?"
"Just a rough idea. Listen and tell me if it makes sense…"
———
[Villa in Zone 3]
"Mom, I'm back."
Guo Jiuxiao sat on the sofa, rubbing his temples, looking very tired.
"So you still know to come back."
An elderly woman with a head full of silver hair walked to his side and sat down.
"Only coming once or twice a month. You find me doctors more often than you visit yourself."
"Mom, I'm too busy."
"Busy, very busy. So busy you don't even have time to marry. Look at your classmate Little Li(Li Tianming), he married so many years ago, already has children."
"By the way, Little Li hasn't come to see me for two or three years. How's he doing now?"
Guo Jiuxiao hid the gloom in his eyes, showed a warm smile, "Wife, children, warm bed, he's doing great."