Chapter 184

Mother reminded him that no matter how busy he was, he must remember to eat on time. Now that the weather had turned cold, she advised him to put on more clothes.

His wife sent him a lively video of the relatives and friends who visited their home that day, telling him everything was fine at home and for him not to worry.

Truthfully, playing games with an old fox like Chen Shanhe was really tiring, both mentally and physically.

A small misstep could lead to utter devastation.

If there were any possibility, Lin Mo would not want to be mired in such a quagmire.

But he had no choice; he could only move forward alone, shielding his family from all storms and any potential dangers that lurked.

Though it was hard and he had to shoulder the blame and smooth over dangers, as his family’s pillar, even without the Intelligence System, Lin Mo had always done so.

After replying to his parents’ messages, Lin Mo sent a WeChat video call request to his wife.

It connected quickly; the house was filled with many people, bustling with activity, and the sounds of laughter and chatter came through the speaker.

“Daddy— a lot of people came to our house today, and they bought me so many, so many, so many yummy things.”

“Husband, are you done with work?”

“Is it Mo calling?”

“Mo, I’m your cousin auntie, I even held you when you were little, do you remember?”

“Mo, I’m your great-grandma, it’s rare for you to come home, why don’t you stay a few more days?”

“Son, have you eaten?”

Faces smiled back at him from the phone screen, some Lin Mo recognized, some he just had an impression of and didn’t know well, and some he couldn’t even name.

“I’m really sorry, I’ve just got too much going on here. I’ll come back for New Year’s and pay everyone a visit.”

“Great-grandma, I will come to see you when I return.

“Cousin auntie, of course I remember you, how could I forget? How have you been feeling lately?”

“Mom, please keep a close eye on Dad, don’t let him touch a drop of alcohol; smelling it is the most he should do.”

“It’s gotten cooler recently, Mom, you remember to put on more clothes too, don’t catch a cold.”

“Jin Wen, thank you for your hard work. Take good care of Mom and Dad and

Siyu.”

“You guys be busy, I should get some sleep early and finish up so I can come home to see everyone.”

There were too many people, all talking at once.

After a brief chat, Lin Mo ended the call.

The room fell quiet.

Outside the window, the lights were bright against the chilly wind.

Lin Mo took a deep breath, suppressed his longing for his hometown, his worry for his parents, and continued to ponder the next steps and the difficulties that might arise.

As he thought, he opened three parcels.

Inside the first envelope were a new Taiw Province resident’s permit to travel to the mainland, a bank card, and a SIM card.

The name on the permit was Mo Wen, a 50-year-old, and the photo had been altered to meet Lin Mo’s requirements, to fit a 50-year-old man’s appearance, with the origin listed as Taiw Province.

The identity information on this mainland permit was that of a wealthy merchant’s son from Taiw Province who had been educated abroad since childhood; all records, including birth and employment, were complete and untraceable for irregularities.

After putting away the mainland permit, Lin Mo opened the other two cardboard boxes and took out many of the disguising tools contained within; then Lin Mo began the process of applying makeup to transform himself into the person on the permit photo.

It was somewhat similar to a woman applying makeup, yet completely different—a complicated task. Even though Lin Mo had practiced beforehand, the makeup application was still slow and often incorrect.

Fortunately, the process was reversible.

If he made a mistake, he would just do it again. If it really didn’t work, he could always use special makeup remover oil to clean off the makeup and start over. After several hours of struggle, Lin Mo managed to barely transform himself into the image on the permit and also put on specially made invisible contacts from the deep web and the fingerprint covers that he could use anytime.

According to the deep web, these two items had a high probability of passing most mobile phones and facial recognition systems in stores.

However, since it was not tested, Lin Mo was not so confident in its reliability. After packing everything up, Lin Mo canceled his rented car and, under the identity of Mo Wen, rented another one.

He indeed managed to complete the facial recognition process smoothly.

Lin Mo tried to register for a series of common apps like Meituan, WeChat, and Douyin using Mo Wen’s identity without any problems, passing even the live broadcasting verification for short videos with ease.

He began practicing the accent specific to Taiw Province,

His preparation didn’t just start now; Lin Mo had been working on it for two months.

It was now part of his daily essential practice.

After ensuring everything was in order, Lin Mo decisively packed all his items, put on a mask and sunglasses, left the hotel for a spot without surveillance, drove the car he had rented under Mo Wen’s identity, and checked into another five-star hotel without any problems.

Looking at the unfamiliar yet familiar old visage in the mirror, he kept reminding himself,

From this moment, he was no longer the ordinary citizen Lin Mo, but Mo Wen, a wealthy merchant from Taiw Province.

By the time Lin Mo finished all his tasks and lay down on the bed, it was already deep into the night.

He was exhausted and very sleepy.

But instead of falling asleep immediately, he started reviewing the intelligence he had gathered that day.

Yesterday was the first time he had a face-to-face encounter with Chen Shanhe and even spent some time alone with Chen Kainan; based on his past experience, there was a high probability he had obtained some intelligence.

[Today’s Intelligence]

[1. You visited Zhangzhuang Village yesterday and acquired related intelligence—As of last night, your name was mentioned by the villagers a total of 847 times..]