153: Chapter 153: Is that retired old man really surnamed Zhang?

Hearing Manager Chen Sifu say he had dirt on Zhao Yang, Song Siming looked somewhat solemn. He glanced at the office door and lowered his voice: "What kind of dirt are you talking about?"

"Brother, I heard from my friend that Zhao Yang lives in a big villa, drives a Phaeton, and wears a watch worth over 800,000. I remember that even Mayor Zhang isn't that rich, right?"

"Hmm?" Song Siming frowned. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Absolutely true. He dresses plainly but wears such a nice watch. The car he drives is expensive, yet he keeps such a low profile. He clearly has something to hide."

"Hmm… Put that way, there is indeed a problem." Song Siming thought for a moment. "What do you plan to do?"

"Brother, I'm thinking, if we have someone in the Procuratorate, wouldn't that be a huge benefit for future matters? Even if we don't need it for now, in case something happens, it's a fallback."

Song Siming pondered for a long while before asking: "How do you intend to do it?"

"I've checked, he's still unmarried. I'll see if I can make an entry from that angle."

Song Siming's expression stiffened, and he cursed: "What kind of pipe dream are you having? Do you believe that if you dare to send someone like Su Tan, you'll be inside the next day? That man Zhao Yang is clearly arrogant and conceited; he would definitely not look twice at a woman like that."

"I'll change to another one, someone pure, I'll try. I want to make some contact with him first, but I really have no way in. Brother, can you help me create an opportunity?"

"Don't you have a friend who knows him?"

"My friend can't track Zhao Yang's whereabouts either. He doesn't have that ability; I can only rely on you, Brother."

Song Siming thought for a moment: "I know about this matter. Recently, focus your energy mainly on our affairs. As for the Procuratorate, wait patiently for now. We'll talk when there's a lead."

"Got it! Thanks, Brother."

Hanging up the phone, Song Siming fell into deep thought.

...

On the other side, Zhao Yang sat in his office, looking at the message Hai Ping sent, and couldn't help but smile.

The content of the message was simple: telling Zhao Yang they had signed the contract, would move into the iPartment this weekend, thanking him for providing the information, and saying they would invite him over for a meal when he's free.

Zhao Yang didn't reply much, just sent back the words, "We're all in the same residential area, no need to be so polite," and put down his phone.

Looking at the state of this family, Haizao clearly hadn't gotten tangled up with Song Siming yet. What he was doing now was providing Haizao with another option. Of course, he didn't want to replace Song Siming, but hoped Haizao could walk her own path, just like Xiao Bei was doing now.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Looking at the number, it was actually Minister Cai. He was now a leader at the Supreme Procuratorate in the Imperial Capital and rarely contacted Zhao Yang directly.

Zhao Yang pressed the answer button with some confusion. Before he could speak, Minister Cai's voice came from the other side: "Little Zhao, let's not beat around the bush—did you publish an article on computer science in the Shuimu Journal in 2005?"

Zhao Yang paused for a moment and said: "I published four articles in 2005. Which one are you talking about?"

"The one at the end of the year, the one simulating the economic operation of America."

The corner of Zhao Yang's mouth lifted, revealing a hint of cunning amusement: "Oh… I remember now. Wasn't that article taken down after a joint complaint from the domestic economics community?"

"Don't mention that bunch of people. The computer simulation results in your article are becoming reality. Have you noticed?"

"I have. The deviation between reality and the simulation results is less than 15%." After Zhao Yang finished speaking, the corners of his mouth lifted again.

At the end of 2005, he published an article in the Shuimu Computer Journal—《Computer Simulation of Economic Laws》. The general content was using a large-scale computing cluster to simulate America's economic operations. The simulation results showed that America would experience a subprime mortgage crisis, which would then trigger a global financial tsunami.

The article initially only circulated in computer circles. Everyone was impressed by the novel algorithms in it and didn't pay attention to the shocking conclusion. But somehow, an editor from a magazine's economics section noticed this article and published over a dozen critical articles in a row, arguing that this was alarmist and a malicious act that affected the economic development of the Reform and Opening-up, calling on all people of conscience in the economic circle to stand up and harshly criticize it.

This matter caused quite a stir at the time, and even the President of Shuimu stood up to speak—it was just an article about algorithms; different inputs produce different outputs, what are you all so anxious about?

As a result, once these words were spoken, it became even livelier. In the end, someone higher up intervened, pacified the people in the economic circle, and had Shuimu retract the article, which settled the matter.

The other side of the phone was silent for a moment, then asked: "What about the future?"

Zhao Yang didn't answer directly but asked back: "Leader, why are you concerned about that game of mine? I was just experimenting with a large-scale analysis method in that article. It's just that the conclusion drawn was quite shocking; otherwise, it wouldn't have been collectively reported and taken down by the economic circle."

"I'll be blunt. The NDRC found me. They asked what you think about America's future economy."

"Why are they asking this? Didn't some of their people participate in the complaints back then?"

"Those people had special missions; you don't need to worry about their opinions. The core think tank attaches great importance to this. You don't need to have any concerns; just speak your mind. It won't have any impact on your current work."

Special mission?

Zhao Yang only had "Holy crap" left in his heart. So there wasn't just one old man named Zhang—no, wait, is that old man really surnamed Zhang? Anyway, don't believe a single punctuation mark of what he says.

He suppressed the corner of his mouth and said: "I can only say that what is currently happening in America is still within the scope of the algorithm, and the deviation between reality and the simulation results will not exceed 15%. I have confidence in the confidence level of that paper; the results have great reference significance."

"Good. Actually, they saw long ago that America would have problems, but they didn't have definitive data to explain it like your paper did. Making your article go offline back then was also out of consideration for protecting you. You need to understand the organization's intentions."

"I understand." Zhao Yang chuckled. "Is the country about to take action?"

"Hmm, this is not something we need to worry about. By the way, there is one more thing—submit a report to Qin Wenxuan, the core content being to build a cluster like the Third Institute's at the Third Academy."

Zhao Yang frowned: "It's not difficult to do parameterization for criminal cases, but for the Procuratorate to do the same thing, parameter processing is very troublesome and requires a lot of manual labor."

"You can hire people. Universities have expanded enrollment by so many, there are plenty of graduates."

"Alright, Leader."

After chatting a few more words, Zhao Yang put down the phone.

He had actually wanted to bring the Third Institute's System to the Procuratorate for a long time, but he couldn't initiate everything himself—if it wasn't done well, it was a fault; if it was done well, it might not be considered a merit.

Now that the higher-ups had mentioned it, if he completed it with high quality, it would be a solid political achievement. After pondering for a while, Zhao Yang started to focus on writing the report and began to get busy again.

...

In the blink of an eye, the hot summer had passed. This morning, Manager Chen Sifu suddenly received a call from Song Siming. He hurriedly pressed the answer button: "Brother, tell me."

Song Siming's voice on the other end was very low: "Tonight, Metropolis Night, Fishing Boat Sings at Night Hall. Vice Prosecutor-General Old Sun of the Municipal Procuratorate is retiring, there is a farewell banquet, and Zhao Yang will attend."

Manager Chen Sifu's eyes lit up: "Thanks, Brother. Just watch me."

"Be careful to act low-key. Don't forget, everyone attending today is from the Procuratorate, and they have sharp eyes. Don't cause trouble for me."

"Rest assured, Brother, I understand, I understand."

Hanging up the phone, Manager Chen Sifu picked up the internal phone and dialed Haizao's number: "Haizao, company team building tonight. Go book a private room now, Metropolis Night, Fishing Boat Sings at Night Hall. If this hall is taken, book the one next door or opposite. Report to me once it's booked."