Chapter 250: Rite of Passage

It was still Anthony who was responsible for the logistics. Just like how Ye Shuang managed to have a ‘chance encounter’ with Xu Jian before, this time, he similarly hacked into the car’s wireless GPS system to get hold of the man’s location. Xu Jian and Xu He were uncle and nephew because, in a certain respect, they had very similar hobbies and tastes. For example, both of them liked to drive a Honda Prius, which was easily hacked.

“So, was that how you had the encounter with me again on the highway?” After hearing Ye Shuang explain how she knew that Xu He was having lunch there, Xu Jian almost cried before the girl. “There are few good memories left in my life. Couldn’t you have left some untainted ones for me?”

“Growing up from the fairytales into cruel real life is an important rite of passage.” Ye Shuang showed some pity and sighed in a sincere tone. “Xu Jian, you’re no longer a little child…”

What the f*ck! Who gave you, someone who is younger than me, the right to say something like that?

With the mutual banter as they moved from the car park to the restaurant, Xu Jian realized his nervous emotions were getting better. However, when the elevator door opened and the opulent décor of the restaurant fell into his eyes, combined with the polite greeting of the well-trained waiter, Xu Jian realized with a drop of his heart that all that was done earlier was completely pointless. He was even more nervous… for the sake of the future of his wallet.

“At this point, we’ll be unable to get the exact location of your uncle. After all, Anthony is remotely controlling this from afar, so there are some physical details that he won’t be able to find out. Therefore, we have to start from the entrance and walk through the restaurant in a diagonal line.” Ye Shuang acted like she was a girlfriend playing with her boyfriend, and she whispered into Xu Jian’s ear with a sweet smile. However, the content of her words was a complete contrast. “You need to pay attention to the tables that we’ll be passing along the way. If we do not find your uncle on this journey, then later, we’ll have to use the toilet a few more times.”

Xu Jian understood what Ye Shuang meant instantly. As he signaled to the waiter that they preferred a window-side table, he sighed and whispered back to Ye Shuang, “Going to the toilet is fine, but you want me to act like an idiot…”

While he spoke, he used his eyes to glance at the waiter who was leading the way. “With such a professional person being our guide, you want me to pretend like I am lost, wandering all over this empty restaurant… Don’t you think that will seriously impact how other people view my intelligence?”

“Then, you’ll need to spice it up with your thinking,” Ye Shuang said seriously, “I believe in your acting!”

Can you not put so much faith in me‽ Xu Jian was practically helpless. Even with the sharpest gaze that he could manage, he was unable to elicit any trace of sympathy from Ye Shuang.

They finally reached the table that they requested. Since they had walked through the restaurant in a diagonal line, Xu Jian’s hope that they might run into his uncle on the way was completely shattered. As Ye Shuang picked up the menu, she tossed him a gentle smile and gaze. Xu Jian felt his heart fell because he saw the command to go to the bathroom in the girl’s eyes.

Was he really going to act like a real idiot in this high-end restaurant and wander all over the place, disturbing other patrons, simply because he was unable to find the location of the toilet that was incredibly conspicuous?

He raised his eyes to look at the large painted screen that was at the end of the room, without even thinking about it, he knew the toilet would be behind it. Xu Jian, who had been to this restaurant before, lowered his head and pretended to be dead. In fact, he even pushed the menu to Ye Shuang and started to provide his recommendation. “They have very good roasted pigeon. I hear from others that it is the chef’s specialty.”

The waiter added with a smile, “The gentleman is quite right. However, we recently hired a new first-grade chef, so we added a few recommended dishes. They are…”

After they made their order, the waiter confirmed their order and finally left. Ye Shuang then started to discuss Xu Jian’s working attitude with the man. First, she heavily criticized Xu Jian’s attitude of trying to run away from difficult work. This was a mindset that would pin him forever in the lower part of life.

Is it because the work is difficult? Too troublesome? No and no, you are not going to do this for the sake of your face? What is face?

If you want face but are unable to finish your work, what is the point? You cannot avoid the problem because you are so immature!

Ye Shuang patiently explained and analyzed where Xu Jian had done wrong. The way she explained stunned the man who thought he knew her… or at least he thought once he knew her.

Of course, people change… Xu Jian rubbed away his tears and took a sip of the tea. He was indeed feeling quite powerless before the current Ye Shuang.

“…Therefore, if you still insist on not going to the toilet to have a chance encounter with Xu He, then we’ll have to let Xu He come to find us,” Ye Shuang said as conclusion.

“Wait, what do you mean?” Xu Jian was startled like he had missed some important information.

Ye Shuang revealed a smile that made Xu Jian’s scalp go numb. “Like creating a commotion, you… Wait a minute, I have to take this call.”

Xu Jian, who heard the first part of the sentence, sighed in relief under his breath, then he turned to focus on Ye Shuang, who was speaking on the phone. The one who called Ye Shuang’s number was not Anthony but Ol’ K. Even though they were both expert hackers, their areas of specialty were completely different.

To be more specific, Anthony was more familiar with taking down a thick and hard fortress, to enter the core area that normal people would have trouble reaching. On the other hand, Ol’ K was more familiar with tracing clues and information. Even though he was not yet on the same level as Anthony skill-wise, but with his attention to details and agility of his mind, he was able to come up with the most valuable information from the simplest clue. If described in terms of usage, Anthony was a weapon used in a war and was more suitable for aggression after the target had been confirmed, and Ol’ K was more like a scouting device, used to lock on and investigate an uncertain target.

Temporarily, within Ye Shuang’s team, even though Anthony was her team member, he was working part time as a CEO, so the amount of time he could provide her was just enough to do some small labor, like helping Ye Shuang pay attention to Xu He’s movement. Ol’ K temporarily had nothing on his to do list. Ye Shuang happened to hear from Han Chu about Xia Cheng, so other than continuing their watch over Sister Yu, the other thing they needed to do was dig up more information about Mo Xiao Xia’s rumored boyfriend.

“Sis, your little friend doesn’t seem like she’s in a relationship with anyone.” Ol’ K’s rather joyful and light tone came from the phone. There was the sound of typing on the background. “From how I see it, the youngest young master from Xiang Jiang is quite excited, but your friend doesn’t reciprocate his feeling. Furthermore, based on the initial information that I’ve found, Xiang Jiang’s Tian Wang Media doesn’t seem like they have anything to do with the money laundering organization.”

Tian Wang Media was the company behind Xia Cheng. They had quite a number of investments in the three major fields of entertainment, and they even owned several broadcast stations and a host of cinemas. They were quite the powerful entertainment company at Xiang Jiang.

Based on their history, the company had existed since the 80s. At the time, the money-laundering organization had not even formed yet, so if they were one of the channels set up by the organization, Ye Shuang had a hard time believing that as well. However, even so, there were two other elements that Ye Shuang had to put into consideration.

One, the world of entertainment in Xiang Jiang was not clean to begin with. It was almost public knowledge that they were involved in the darker side of the society. Therefore, if they wanted to expand and ended up working with the global money-laundering organization, that was not totally impossible.

The other consideration was naturally the tactic that was commonly used by the organization. From An Zixuan to Mrs. Zuo, at least in the few incidents that Ye Shuang had come across, the organization liked to infiltrate the company through its existing members. Their common tactic was to take over the company from within by buying out the original members. This kind of tactic would overcome the weaknesses that they came across later, and this allowed them to make use of the company’s existing reputation and enable them to enter the field and circle that they would have some difficulty entering otherwise.

Therefore, from these two elements, even if Tian Wang Media was an old name in Xiang Jiang, Ye Shuang could not guarantee for sure that they were innocent and clean.

“You’ve confirmed that they aren’t related?” Ye Shuang pulled out an iPad that fitted her palm. She looked through several documents and then asked, “I hear that Tian Wang Media is a family business, and they used to be an influential mafia group, is that correct?”

“Mafia culture is not that rare at Xiang Jiang,” Ol’ K said in a tone equivalent to a verbal shrug. “The mafia there are similar to the mafia at Italy. It has become some sort of social culture. Like when a new party or organization is coming to this place, paying visit to the local leaders is very important. Furthermore, even the mafia is divided into legacy mafia and novae riche mafia. Money-laundering is definite, but working with such a large organization, the legacy mafia would stay away from people like that.”

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Legacy…

Ye Shuang was feeling speechless. This was the first time that she had heard that a mafia group had a legacy behind them. However, as she listened further, from the information provided by Ol’ K, Ye Shuang started to understand the reason why.

No matter the field or organization, those who could create a legacy basically had several points to them: one was deep roots, two was knowing the limit, and three was balance. With a deep root, they would be able to start at a higher point compared to others and have a greater, more vibrant resource. This was the background required to continue the legacy.

Knowing the limit was self-explanatory. No matter how strong one was, they could not expand blindly and could not use forceful method to interrupt the progress of the world because this might lead to unnecessary enemies. After all, it was no business of one to mind the business of another.

Balance… This was perfectly exemplified in the story of the three kingdoms. The nobility had the advantage of social politics, the public had the advantage of numbers, and the mafia had the advantage of shock and fear. When neither party stepped into each other’s jurisdiction, each party would be safe and sound. However, when one party grew bigger than necessary, it would cause a sense of danger in the other parties.

“Therefore, technically speaking, we really don’t need to worry about the legacy mafia. Even though the family rules that are used within the organization can get rather corrupt, it is also because they are strong enough and have a stable background that they will stay away from these new organizations that just arrived on the scene.” Ol’ K was still typing on the keyboard.

After several seconds of typing, he suddenly paused. Then it was the sound of him clicking on the mouse. “Tian Wang Media is under the Lin family’s territory. They have quite a good reputation. Even though we have not worked together in the past, I have collected some information on them.

“Xia Cheng entered the company through a normal channel and climbed the ranks normally until he reached a high post. I don’t have a full and completed profile on him, but I believe he has made some big achievement in the past because his history shows that his promotion speed is still slightly faster than other people.”

“In other words, the youngest Lin master is pursuing Mo Xiao Xia due to his own interest?” Ye Shuang opened the napkin and placed it over her leg. As she talked on the phone, she watched as the waiter served the food.

Ol’ K laughed. “That’s not entirely true as well, but at least it has nothing to do with that organization. He is probably doing this due to the consideration of a potential cooperation with Tian Mo Media in the future. Both of their families are in the entertainment business. The people in Xiang Jiang want to break into China’s market, and Tian Mo wants to get Tian Wang’s support, so to be frank, it is a win-win situation.”

Boss Mo only had a son and no daughter. Among his junior, Mo Xiao Xia was the only girl. The Lin family just so happened to have three sons, and the youngest son was a similar age to Mo Xiao Xia. Their backgrounds matched, and if they could bring the two families closer, it would be for the best.

After the waiter walked away, Ye Shuang asked, “Then what about Huan Chen?”

Huan Chen was the Xiang Jiang’s media company that Miao Yi was working with. In other words, this was the client that Sister Yu had been trying to introduce to Ye Shuang.

“Huan Chen… This is not really a family business. Well, they can be counted as a family business, but they accept quite a bit of outside investment. Many of the investors sit at the same level, and no one has the full call inside the business.” Ol’ K also started to sound quite worried. “Our client should be Huan Chen, but it is unclear who we should talk to. Perhaps they might even use the information that we’ve found to go after Tian Wang and just abandon us afterward and let us deal with the money-laundering organization on our own.”

“We couldn’t possibly help Xia Cheng swallow Tian Wang, help Huan Chen to swallow Xia Cheng, and then in the end, collect the fee, could we?” Ye Shuang was speechless. “Furthermore, who said we must reveal these things to Huan Chen? You go and tell them, we are helping Miao Yi and them beat Tian Wang Media, are they going to ask why?”

Ol’ K chuckled darkly. “So, we’re going after the pursuer of your little friend. Sister Ye, you sure look after your own.”

Is this really looking after one’s own? This is a targeted hit! Ye Shuang was not a man and did not have any intention of pursuing Mo Xiao Xia. In that case, why would she go after her pursuer for no reason?

Ye Shuang suddenly felt like she shared no similar language with Ol’ K. “I’m going to hang up now.”

Ol’ K screamed on the phone like he was being murdered, “Ahhhhhh! Wait a minute, big sister!”

Ye Shuang pulled the phone away from her ear with a pained expression. Sometimes, having good hearing was not really a good thing.

“What I mean is this… Big sister, listen to me. Why don’t we just ask for the payment directly from Tian Wang Media? One, according to their stance as a business, this can be counted as corporate espionage, right? Two, according to their stance as a mafia, they will consider this maliciously sniping those in the circle, right?”

Within Agent Zhang’s team, Ol’ K was the brains that collected the information and analyzed it. Therefore, when he got the information, he quickly worked on analyzing it and deciding what was the best way to utilize them to their best profit. “In any case, I think it is better for us to reach out to Tian Wang compared to Huan Chen. Or else, if you help Huan Chen, it will be helping Miao Yi, and that will only make the relationship Mo family even worse.”

Ye Shuang thought about it slowly and slowly gave her own thought. “Do you think asking for payment from two parties is a bit much?”

“Huh?” Ol’ K sounded like he almost choked. After a stunned silence, he answered in hesitation, “It’s not entirely impossible, but it’ll be difficult to do. You can try it…”

Try? How? Of course, with her gift of the gab. It was actually just to come up with a lie. If that was the case, then history was on her side. In the past, it was always those who were willing to lie that were the ultimate winners. Furthermore, Ye Shuang was not fully lying; she was merely leading the events down a route that she desired using the information that she had received.

Therefore, two similarly evil people agreed happily on the phone. Ol’ K happily took the draft plan to improve upon. The actual process included collecting more detailed information, exaggerating the effect that Xia Cheng could bring to Tian Wang Media, and releasing news to both potential clients so that they would raise their guard and become worried.

The good part was that they needed to show to Huan Chen, if Tian Wang continued to grow with the help of Xia Cheng, of course, Huan Cheng would feel the sense of danger. The bad part they would not waste either. As Tian Wang had a better understanding of Xia Cheng’s hidden background, so they would get increasingly incensed…

Ye Shuang ended the phone call with a sigh and was once again impressed by the ability of the members within Agent Zhang’s team. Such a wonderful talent, with just a small order, he would understand fully and do things without any guidance. When would she get such a good worker?

Ye Shuang felt even worse after taking a look at Xu Jian before her—she had the urge to trade him with Ol’ K.

“Xiao Shuang, come try out this roasted pigeon,” Xu Jian said politely and gentlemanly. He was particularly hard working as he piled Ye Shuang’s plate up with food. He hoped that Ye Shuang would forget about the plan that she had come up earlier. Getting lost on the way to the bathroom or creating a commotion large enough to get the whole restaurant’s attention… either of the plans would make sure that Xu Jian would not be able to raise his head proudly in San Lin City anymore.

Could you give me some sympathy‽

Ye Shuang raised her eyes slowly to glance at Xu Jian. She chewed on the pigeon meat and said, “Fine, if you really think it’s so shameful, then don’t do it.”

Then she turned her gaze to another table and instantly switched up her plan. “I’ll try another plan.”

What plan? Xu Jian was confused when he saw Ye Shuang swallow the food and leave the table. She waved at the waiter to ask for the direction of the bathroom.

Does Ye Shuang plan to sacrifice herself? Xu Jian felt touched. What kind of spirit is this that she would need to complete the mission no matter what? It’s such a display of… shamelessness.