Release that Man

Ye Shuang decided not to do anything. Mo Xiao Xia’s face at most was aiding the cooperation between Boss Mo and Xia Cheng, but now, with the interruption from Elder Mo, the chance of the cooperation continuing would drastically drop.

Even if the two might have some interaction on the surface in the future, privately, they would not be maintaining close contact. In that case, Mo Xiao Xia’s attitude was not that important anymore. After all, she was not really that related to Boss Mo’s business.

…

After Han Chu met with Elder Mo, he had done his job, so he returned to his own work. Ye Shuang would continue to stay in Shanghai. Under the conflicted gaze of Director Zhou, she spent two more days at the film crew before packing up and returning to San Lin City. When Xu Jian knew Sister Shuang had returned, he almost cried happy tears. He rushed over to hand in the result of his investigation.

“Put it down first.” Ye Shuang looked at the document on the table, and it looked thin like it did not carry much. However, the information inside was massive. It was filled with many people’s profiles. Obviously, Xu Jian had not done any filtering and shoved it all to her. Even if she had perfect memory, it did not mean that Ye Shuang would not have a headache from reading so much. After all, these were not brainless light reading. Memorizing these things was the first step, and after that, she needed to analyze them.

After deciding the most suspicious targets, she had to come up with the next step of the plan.

She needed an assistant. Desperately!

Xu Jian sighed in relief after he handed over the information. He was about to escape when Ye Shuang called after him. “Wait, tomorrow, you’ll treat me to lunch.”

“Er…”

“Mainly, it’s to make a show for your uncle,” Ye Shuang added in explanation.

Xu Jian was rather conflicted. “Okay, but you’ve been seen tossing me away so many times, wouldn’t that be a bit sad?”

The first time was their real break up. The second time, it was a trap, and this third time, even though it was technically just acting, to an outsider, it would still look like he was dumped. Xu Jian felt incredibly regretful. There were so many girls whom he could have chased during his university years—why did he end up choosing this man-eating flower?

“It’ll be fine. After all, it won’t be announced to the public.” Ye Shuang sighed as well. “I have not even complained about how you’ve dragged down my market value. You have to understand that women are judged more unfairly compared to men in relationships. Thankfully, the people that we care about know what is happening, and it’s fine if outsiders don’t know. We won’t be volunteering the information anymore.”

Xu Jian thought about it and realized that she was correct, but how come it felt so weird?

Xu Jian left in a haze of depression. Ye Shuang unpacked and went for a shower. Then she sat down and started perusing the document. There were profiles for ten people. These were all the people whom Xu He had taken Xu Jian to meet over the past few weeks. There were two department managers, four accountants, one driver, one personal assistant, and two normal employees.

The profiles were quite detailed; Xu Jian did have a talent in this area. None of the important details were missing. Height, weight, blood type, hobby, family members; they were all there. Unfortunately, all that information added up to nothing.

“It feels like something is not right.” Ye Shuang flipped through the document for a long time and finally realized what was wrong. The document did not feel like analyzed information but a series of men for her to choose to go on a blind date.

Therefore, Xu Jian received a call from Ye Shuang before he reached home.

“Xu Jian, other than matching the other person’s interests, hasn’t your uncle taught you anything in the past?” Ye Shuang sighed.

Familiarity with one’s personal details would help to find a similar topic with the person at the fastest speed, but familiarity with one’s assets would help one determine the person’s working capability and current working situation.

Xu Jian almost coughed blood. “Xiao Shuang, even if I ask them about their financial situation, they have to be willing to tell me. If the money really came from an illegal channel, why would they admit that to me? You have to give me more time…”

“Even if they didn’t say, you could see it for yourself.” Ye Shuang sighed even louder. “For example, how much is this person’s salary? Does he take bribes at his post? Do his earnings balance with his expenditure? People earn money to spend it. If there was no materialistic desire, why would they join the organization?”

Real estate, cars, daily get-up, how often they updated their closet, any luxury habits, smoke cigars, drink expensive alcohol, gamble… For example, if a normal employee could afford smoking a high-end cigarette daily, there was a problem. The person earned three thousand a month and used two thirds of his income to buy cigarettes? Did he not need to pay for food and rental? Many small details might seem inconspicuous, but after close examination, the problem would pop out. Of course, there were people that might be relying on their parents, and others would really prefer to save than to spend.

Xu Jian gritted his teeth. “I’m not the police!”

Am I asking for too much? Ye Shuang put her hands together for three seconds and decided to deny Xu Jian’s hard work. “In any case, you don’t have the necessary information. We’ll talk more about it during lunch tomorrow.”

Before Xu Jian could reply, Ye Shuang hung up. Tossing the documents away, she could finally rest without pressure.

…

The next day, Xu Jian really asked for a holiday from Xu He to get off work early. Xu He asked for the reason, and after Xu Jian said it was to have lunch with Ye Shuang, he approved of the request immediately. He even mocked his nephew slightly, talking about love and an old flame.

Xu Jian met up with Ye Shuang. Compared to how they met when Xu Jian was still working at An Corps, Xu Jian had dropped down from a successful person to a pretty white face. It was Ye Shuang who drove and Ye Shuang who came to fetch him. Other than preparing his wallet to pay for the lunch, the rest was handled by Ye Shuang.

If they were not working together and really in a relationship, Xu Jian would not have held on for a second. Finding a girlfriend that was better than him in every respect was too hurtful to his ego.

“Hmm, continue maintaining this hurt front.” Ye Shuang held the steering wheel in one hand, and she sent a message while adding this without lifting her head.

Xu Jian was only making a self-deprecating joke—he did not expect the girl would really reply so heartlessly. Instantly, he felt like coughing out blood. “At the very least, we have been in love before—couldn’t you have left some good memories for me?”

“If you’re better than me, Xu He would not have been your opponent.” After she finished sending the message, the light turned green. Ye Shuang put away her phone, and the car moved forward. “You’re lacking, so Uncle Xu has been trying to support you. After all, I’m quite a good catch, and he’s more urgent than you.”

Xu Jian thought about it. “You mean to force my uncle to give me more access?”

“That ultimately will depend on your ability.” Ye Shuang giggled wickedly. “It’s not that bad that your ability isn’t too good—your uncle has to be careful of his junior outshining him. But if you’re too weak, it wouldn’t work either. It’s best if you have something that he values, but the rest of you is not that important.”

Like being able to get an old flame’s interest but unable to maintain it…

Xu Jian was trying to figure out what Ye Shuang meant when he glanced out the window and realized that Ye Shuang’s car was driving to an extremely scary place. This scary was not the environment… or in a way, it could be about the environment…

The scariness came from the price tag.

With the appetite of a common male, even if they ordered the cheapest dish there, they would need to pay at least four hundred to five hundred at the end of the meal. Now, Ye Shuang had the appetite of three normal males, and there was no way that she would only order the cheap stuff.

As Ye Shuang parked, Xu Jian almost involuntarily reached to his wallet. His face was filled with terror and disbelief. Once upon a time, he had been part of the rich, but now, he had a monthly salary of several thousand. A meal would expend at least a third of his salary, so there was no way he would do something like that.

“Why… why are we here?” When Xu Jian alighted from the car, he already was on the verge of tears. He felt like hugging the car door and not moving.

“Because your uncle is here.” Ye Shuang looked at the map on her phone and shrugged. “I thought about just having a steamboat, but we are running out of time, and we need some progress. Your uncle would not have come to observe your situation, so we just need to have a little ‘chance encounter’.”

Xu Jian had tears down his face. “I thought you wouldn’t be so cruel. My wallet only has 1000—what are we supposed to do when we can’t pay the bill?”

“It’ll be fine!” Ye Shuang waved her hands easily. “We still have the uncle to rely on! He wouldn’t have his junior pay the bill, right?”

The problem was that he was already an adult, and he needed his uncle to pay on his ‘date’? If this was shared with his friends, he would die from shame. Xu Jian was in deep despair, and he tried to reason with Ye Shuang.

Unfortunately, Ye Shuang was no longer as soft as she had once been. She had already transformed into that person that could not be named in San Lin City. Therefore, as much as Xu Jian tried to resist, ultimately, he was picked up by Ye Shuang easily with two of her fingers.