"When I pulled out the emblem just now, the man that followed me has been gone for a while. Otherwise, I won't show all of you this emblem. Probably angry because his plan was ruined by your performance and throwing a tantrum," The old man said happily. He knew that person's personalities well.
The youngsters realized that this old man was acting like a real teahouse owner that quite timid at first, once he was sure that his spy was gone, he dared to show his confidence and his emblem. Such an old fox, but too bad... his son didn't live up to his expectation.
"Hmmm... we only need to kill one person, right?" Yao Ying asked. If the other organization was full of martial arts expert, it would be hard for them to kill many of them and he wasn't going to gamble with their life. The other organization had high martial arts skills experts but they also didn't know how strong the opponents were. Yao Ying was just trying to be cautious because he needed to make sure that Yao Ling would be safe. If he missed killing one of them, he was afraid that they would hunt them down.
"Yes..." The old man said.
"Good, you can give us the details and we will work on it tonight..." Yao Ying finally said. He already got a signal that Lin Jian also agreed with him and he answered on their behalf.
"Before that though... can you give us proof with a piece of reliable news?" Yao Ling asked. Somehow, she didn't want to trust this person that easily. She felt that everything was too easy and it didn't sit well to her. She had an ominous feeling that something bad probably would happen.
The old man nodded calmly and he could also see the distrust in Yao Ling's eyes, but he didn't feel offended at all. "Okay... I will let you ask one thing that you want to know about and it will not be included with the three free information in the deal. How is that sound?" The old man asked carefully.
It was easy for him to get information, so he didn't feel a loss by doing this. When he did this business, he had also received payment or chosen the customers based on his own mood. "You can discuss what you want to know if you want... I can wait patiently. I don't have anything to do for the rest of the day."
The four of them nodded. The old man knew that probably they needed some privacies to talk about the information that they wanted to know, so he said, "I will go to my office to handle some matters. If you are ready, you can just let one of the servants call me."
The four of them quickly got up to send him off --- after all, he was still an elder. When the old man had been gone, Yao Ling quickly said what's inside her mind, "Do you believe him?" She decided to be blunt and didn't keep her uneasiness to herself.
Yao Ying and Lin Jian looked at each other and then nodded. Yao Ying knew that Yao Ling had her own doubt, hence he asked, "Why? You don't believe the old man's words?"
Yao Ling shook her head. "I'm not too sure, but somehow... I always have a nagging feeling at the back of my mind and it makes me feel that something is wrong," Yao Ling said truthfully.
Lin Jian scratched his chin, thinking deeply. His father once said that he should pay attention when a woman said that she had a bad feeling. The reason was because of his mother. His mother said to his father that her heart had felt uncomfortable a few days before the kidnapping. His father only laughed and said that nothing was going to happen and dismissed it by saying that it was probably because she lacked sleep.
Lin Jian knew how many times his father regretted and blamed himself for not trusting his mother's gut feeling at that time. If he had listened to her, he wouldn't let them go on their own to the festival or better... he would let them stay at home!
When Lin Jian started to think back, he indeed found that something was not quite right with the old man, but he couldn't put it into words. He started to trust Yao Ling's gut feeling.
"I believe in my wife," He simply said that. If Yao Ling felt that something was amiss, then something was indeed amiss. What Yao Ying said made Yao Ling blush shyly. She appreciated his trust, after all... it was only a gut feeling and Yao Ling didn't how to explain what she felt. She looked at Yao Ying gratefully.
"I have the same feeling as Yao Ling and that old man... it seems like he's hiding something," Xiao Fang said. Even though his eyes were quite sincere, but she had a feeling that he wasn't that sincere when he said he wanted to help his own son. Xiao Fang told all of those to the trio.
Yao Ling started to think back and indeed... she didn't feel the loving vibe from a father to a son. If he was indeed the real owner of A Thousand Words, then for what purpose he lied to them?
"Should we receive this deal? I feel that this will become dangerous," Yao Ling asked doubtfully. What if something happened to Yao Ying and Lin Jian?! She was worried about their safety.
"We get the better deal, so we should probably take this assignment. We can ask about Han Xiang's matter first," Lin Jian finally decided. The other three murmured their agreement because they could ask something about Han Xiang.
After knowing that something might go wrong, then they would be able to act more carefully. He was confident that they would be able to finish this job by doing that. Their target was only one man, after all!
Yao Ying was a bit doubtful because he knew that Yao Ling's gut feeling was always right. He had known this even before they got married. Once she said that she got a bad feeling and they should cancel their plan to go to the mountain, they escaped a calamity. Yao Ying stubbornly wanted to go, but he was also being held back by Jiu Lan [Yao Ling's deceased mother].
True enough... A tiger ran amok at the mountain and killed a few villagers that were busy hunting at that time. Jiu Lan also told him that since she was a little girl, her gut feeling was never wrong. He should trust Yao Ling more. Since then... he always believed in her feeling.
He asked Lin Jian, "Are you sure that we can handle this matter?"
"Since we realized this point beforehand, we can be more careful. We need the information that he has," Lin Jian said. "Why don't we gamble and take a risk?"
Yao Ying knew that Lin Jian was quite serious and he pondered for a little while. Yao Ling smiled at Yao Ying and said, "It's just my gut feeling. You should also trust your own judgment. I believe in you."
Although her heart felt painful, she knew that she couldn't stop him. His hesitation happened only because of her. What Lin Jian said also made sense. If they were careful, they would be able to avoid trouble.
Xiao Fang said softly, "If both of you want to receive the assignment, then I will help you. I will lend you my guards so take them along with you later. Their skills are quite good."
Yao Ling smiled to Xiao Fang and thanked her for her generosity to help them. Xiao Fang just waved her right hand shyly, "I can only do so much! No need to thank me..." She also worried about both men's safety.
With Xiao Fang's help and reassurance, Yao Ling felt a little bit better. The more people that could help them, the better. They decided to accept the job and then they talked about the information that they wanted to ask. They talked back and forth between them for half shichen, then decided on one important question regarding Han Xiang's marriage alliance.