Release that Man

It was not that Ye Shuang’s reaction was too fast, but the incident with Cedrick’s family had been brought up too often recently. For example, after Ye Shuang was led away from the real business by Edward’s speech that was twisted by madness and vengeance, Ye Shuang actually made the call again, and then she found out the answer that she had originally been looking for.

To put it simply, the problem within the organization was due to some disorder created by certain people. Ye Shuang was not that surprised when she heard that. After all, she had just discovered Edward’s incredibly well-hidden identity. So, if there were one or two more ‘Edward’s in the organization, it was honestly not something that was so hard to imagine. There could never be only a single voice within a group. Within a good or bad organization, the possibility of having a traitor was equally high. The difference was how they would feel and react after finding out about the betrayal.

Ye Shuang felt quite relieved after being told her enemy was caught in a difficult time. However, just as she was about to end the call, Edward asked about the recent situation between Cedrick and Anthony in a tone that was as casual as possible.

It sounded like he was just asking for a common gossip as a witness who had been present when Cedrick announced that he was coming to China, being compelled by his curiosity to find out what had happened to this famed thief after they parted ways. However, there were so many things involving Cedrick that had occurred around Ye Shuang recently. Even though Ye Shuang initially did not think much of it, after being influenced by so many mentions of his name, naturally, her focus on the man had increased several notches.

Due to all that, with the suspicion and attention that already existed in her heart, when she heard Han Chu mention the sensitive timing and country, it was not that surprising for Ye Shuang to catch onto the real content that he was really asking for.

Facing Han Chu’s frozen expression, Han Su slowly finished her glass of fruit juice. Then she slowly placed the glass down. It did not appear like she had anything to share, but suddenly, she sighed lightly and then started to mumble to herself, and not really for the benefit of the other people in the room, “Well, in the world of business, the most important thing is trust. Furthermore, good news is never broadcast, and bad news travels like an epidemic… If I just sell the information of my client so easily this time, then it is no different from me ruining my own business. And the purpose of me doing that is to fulfill the wish of other people… Tsk tsk!”

The light click of the tongue ended the speech that definitely had its not-so-hidden meaning. In any case, Han Su lifted her head to ask for opinions. “Don’t you agree with me, sister-in-law?”

Yao Zhixing looked at Han Su with a complicated expression and then turned his head to look at Ye Shuang. Finally, he could not resist the urge and asked, “Wait a minute, when did she become your sister-in-law?”

“…Can we focus on the serious issue please?” Han Chu asked impatiently.

Yao Zhixing shrugged like it did not matter to him at all. “This obviously has nothing to do with me and Xiao Shuang. This is your own little sister, so you handle it yourself. Just look at my own sister—she is so cute and obedient.”

Ye Shuang opened her lips, wanting to say something, but once she heard that, she decided to hold her tongue. Someone like Sister Yao is definitely not cute and obedient.

Han Chu rolled his eyes at Yao Zhixing, but he did not get into an argument with the man. Instead, he asked Han Su directly, “Fine, tell me, what do you want in return?”

“I don’t know. I cannot think of anything because you are suddenly so generous…” Han Su frowned deeply. To be honest, it was incredibly rare for her big brother to be so frank. This was a negotiation, and there were only two outcomes, either asking for a sky-high number or lowering the debt. One dared to push the number as high as he could while the other was to push the number as low as possible. However, whether it was to push the number high or low, there was only one mode to negotiation—observe and probe for the other party’s bottom line and try to gain as many benefits as possible for oneself before crossing that line.

For example, the highest price you wanted to get from the person could be 1,000,000, but if the bottom line for the person actually reached 1,100,000, then the 100,000 that you had missed would make it that you had failed at the negotiation… A normal person would have been satisfied once they reached the target that they wanted, but for members of the Han family, they were mutants that would not rest until they squeezed every last drop from the other party.

Therefore, the sudden attack from Han Chu confused and startled Han Su, who had not found out the man’s bottom line—the request for some repayment was something that she said casually, out of habit; she really did not expect Han Chu to agree to it so soon.

Han Su pressed her lips and thought about it seriously. “How about this, give me a copy of your client database?”

“Okay,” Han Chu answered without even raising his eyes.

It feels like I have asked for too little, can I have a retry‽ Han Su, who got the actual benefit, felt instantly congested. She had to hold it in, so she did not call foul immediately. Using a rhythm that was even slower than before, she grumbled out the answer with the great unwillingness stuck in her heart. “It was a small gang in Kansas that bought the military firearms from me three years ago. I did not ask them why they wanted so many weapons—that is considered the client’s private information. However, I can send you a copy of the transaction later when I reach home.”

Han Chu still appeared so calm and unfazed. Even though he had confirmed the real buyer was really residing in Kansas, he still continued like normal. “After you send the copy to my email, I will send the client database to you.”

Wait, is there really no retry?

Feeling no sense of accomplishment at all, Han Su left the private room with a saddened face. After that almost gauntly figure disappeared from the private room, Ye Shuang asked, “Brother Han, why did you give her the promise so easily?”

“…She is not going to speak unless you give her some repayment.” There was a tone of surrender when Han Chu said that. And then after a pause, he continued, “Furthermore, did she mention what kind of client database that she wants? Which region? Which period of client, from when to when? What price range?”

Ye Shuang was still confused when Yao Zhixing already sighed and shook his head. “You’ve swindled your sister again.”

It sounded like the man was familiar with Han Chu’s MO.

Han Chu smiled chillingly and looked at the two calmly. “I did not say anything that distracted her and did not do anything that cheated or violated the promise. It was her fault for not putting down the actual rules and limitation of her demand… Tsk, nowadays, young people are too inexperienced.”

That one simple statement spoke of the danger of the world and, of course, the danger of Brother Han… There were too many people who would not hesitate to find a loophole in the contract. Brother Han had been in the business for so many years, and he had been fighting Anthony, who was a master at finding loopholes with unusual means. His experience in this aspect was not something that could be rivaled by Sister Han Su.

Han Su’s only partner was someone who was there to provide the manpower and physical labor. Their business was conducted in an online mode, so they talked in terms of money and products—there had never been a need for contract… As high as her intelligence was, with no experience in this field, how was she going to beat Han Chu, who possessed incredibly high defense?

Ye Shuang silently lit a candle for poor Han Su.

Less than ten minutes later, Han Chu picked the phone that pinged because a message had arrived. Then, with his quick fingers, he forwarded the message that he had received to both Ye Shuang and Anthony. After getting another copy for safety, he replied with a message that was compiled with incredible speed, so fast that Ye Shuang did not see him attach any files to his message… Ye Shuang even suspected that the man only sent a message that read ‘client database’ to Han Su and considered it a done deal.

In less than three seconds, Han Su’s call came, and she only said four words before hanging up, basically confirming that Ye Shuang’s suspicion was probably correct.

“You cunning old fox!”

…

“But then again, why is Brother Han suddenly so interested in this business related to Cedrick?”

After being notified that Han Su had left the building due to her resentment and anger, Ye Shuang, as Han Chu’s alleged partner and employee, was the biggest suspect. Therefore, she pretended like she did not know anything. Realizing the two men in the room did not have any intention of standing up to send away the guest, Sister Shuang was not going to volunteer to create unnecessary trouble for herself.

After the guy who came in to inform them of the news left, Ye Shuang asked, “Brother Han, I did not think that you would be that interested in other people’s business, or is this because Cedrick is a potential client… hmm, or a potential talent?”

In the end, she changed her story because Ye Shuang felt the latter was more likely to be the truth.

“How are there so many clients or talents that are worth my attention in this world?” Han Chu took a sip of his coffee. “Those with the required talent are only about one percent of the world population, and those who have reached the top or become the leader of their respective field are the one percent of this one percent… Yes, talents are incredibly rare, but even with this one percent within one percent of ratio, based on the current number of world population, if I am to wrangle all of them, the number will be incredibly big as well. That’s before the necessity of me fulfilling these people’s case requirements.

“You can never earn enough money, and there is actually no limitation to resources. If you are limited by the situation, that is merely the issue of your perspective.” Han Chu looked at Ye Shuang. “Therefore, I am not lacking in talents or clients, and even if I am, I am not going to go for a thief like Cedrick who carries a whole load of trouble with him.”

In conclusion, Brother Han still had his reservation about Cedrick’s current status. Even if he was the world-famous ‘gentleman’, since his ideal was different from Han Chu’s, the latter saw no reason to recruit him.

Thus, Ye Shuang was stumped. “Then why are you working so hard to find out more about Cedrick?”

Yao Zhixing scratched his head. “Wait a minute, Xiao Han has told me a little bit about the foreigner’s background. He does sound like he is good at what he does, but how come it sounds like it has nothing to do with what you’re saying now?”

How is that car thief related to military firearms? Did he steal some illegal stuff when he was free?

“Hmm…” Ye Shuang was honestly conflicted for a while. “I think it is better for Brother Han to conclude the whole scenario for you.”

Having been passed the buck, Han Chu thought about it for half a minute and really did conclude everything in just one sentence. “To put it simply, it is the story of a little tadpole looking for his father.”

…Huh? What are you talking about? Yao Zhixing was made even more confused. Ye Shuang’s lips twitched twice, and she had to throw herself into the fray. Then, she used some time to talk about Cedrick’s family background. When she was going through the man’s family history, she even brought up the big event at Kansas that had happened three years ago, the information that she had heard from Cedrick, and the complicated relationship between Anthony and Cedrick. After filling in so many details, she finally managed to clarify the complicated issue, and Yao Zhixing finally understood the current situation.

And throughout this whole process, Han Chu continued drinking his coffee and enjoying his snacks. He ate a plate of chocolate waffles and then two cups of coffee before the story-telling time that lasted for twenty minutes was over.

Ye Shuang successfully made herself as tired as a dog. Before she saw what was on the table, she grabbed the nearest bottle and tossed it back. Then she was successfully choked by it. What the f*ck! Who ordered such a strong drink? Who placed it here?

Thankfully, Sister Shuang was immune to poison and alcohol due to her fast metabolism…

After Han Chu finished his snacks, he rolled his eyes at Yao Zhixing, who had finished listening to the story. “Why are you so curious about something that has literally nothing to do with you?”

“How would I know whether it has nothing to do me or not? The problem is that it is wrong for you all to keep me away from something so interesting,” Yao Zhixing said confidently. “Furthermore, I knew Xiao Shuang earlier than she knew you. Do you think it’s that easy to forfeit the relationship that was formed through a brawl? If you keep refusing to communicate with others, it is going to cause communication issues!”

“The reason you know Xiao Shuang is because she needed the letter of recommendation from you, isn’t it?” Han Chu scoffed.

“Even so… Eh, wait, that’s wrong. That is for Xiao Ye.” Yao Zhixing was halfway through his retort when he realized that something was wrong. “I met Xiao Shuang on my own. She did not need to take any letter of recommendation from me.”

Han Chu knew that he had misspoken, so he quickly moved away from this topic of conversation and pulled it back to Cedrick’s issue.

“Tony did not want to reveal the clue because he thought it was too troublesome, but that does not mean that he is not curious.” As if they had been discussing Cedrick’s issue all along, Han Chu continued to explain, “The small incident that happened three years ago involved a gang that is deeply rooted in the states. Even though Tony is not interested in this thing, if one of the gang members is related to the gentleman’s big sister, then this thing will become very interesting. Therefore, without telling Cedrick, Tony went ahead to dig up some stuff about the incident that occurred that year, and then he found out something very interesting.”

At this point, Han Chu paused to think about it, as if wondering how to explain the situation. “There is still no confirmation on the actual situation, but from the current evidence that we have, it is clear that the scale of the gang and their illegal income is not proportional to each other. If we have to make a guess, both myself and Tony are more prone to believe that the gang is actually helping someone… or working for a bigger organization.”

Since they were the sub-division for a bigger organization, they were unable to enjoy the income that came their way and had to pass it forward to their boss. Only because they were a sub-division could the curious disappearance of so much money be explained logically.

“There is only one more thing… Even though the incident that happened three years ago is not small, from its nature and scale, the influence that it would have caused would not have so big.” Han Chu frowned. “Even though the media will not report all of them, there are many big and small things happening all over the world every day. News from the entertainment world, from the business world, those on the surface and under the surface… It is the same for the underground world as well. There is constant conflict between gangs and organizations that cross countries and they are of different scales as well. If one does not pay special attention to it or it is directly related to oneself, why would Edward remember this conflict that is not overly big or overly small that happened three years ago? On top of that, the incident actually did not cause such a big ripple in the society and does not seem to have any relation to the organization that he is currently in.”

Ye Shuang blinked several times. “Brother Han, are you suspecting that the fatty is hiding something from us and have been carrying out the investigation?”

“I’m not specifically looking for a result.” Han Chu nodded in admission and replied casually. “Since it so happens that Xiao Su had a similar transaction three years back, I just want to confirm if it has anything to do with the incident in Kansas… But that is basically out of convenience. If I can get any clue, then it’s because of good luck, but nothing will have happened if this leads me to a dead end. After all, it is no skin off my back.

“Furthermore, this really has nothing to do with me and there is more than this that we need to investigate about Edward…”

Well, the man has a point… Ye Shuang was silent. She initially thought that Han Chu had gained some kind of definitive clue, and that was why he would stop at nothing to make the trade with Han Su. But at the end of the day, it was purely for the sake of convenience. It was great if he could get a lead, but it would have been fine if he did not.

That was how the issue was concluded. Since temporarily Han Chu did not reach a conclusion from all this, naturally Ye Shuang would not waste her time following up on what happened next.

This was because she had not reached Han Chu’s stage where she could make use of her money and resources in such a carefree manner. Furthermore, this was not within her job scope. On top of that, if this later became something that might influence her job, with Han Chu’s personality, she believed that Han Chu would share the information with her… Since that was the case, before the issue was clarified, why would Ye Shuang purposely go find trouble for herself and be so interested in something that might have nothing to do at all with her?

Yao Zhixing was even less interested in these things that required one to pit one’s brains against others. He preferred things to be straightforward. To go through the complicated relationship of many parties within this issue was already something headache inducing for the man. He had to consider the many problems that each of them might harbor within themselves… No thanks. Instead, Yao Zhixing was more interested in another thing.

Picking up the empty bottle that sat on the table, he gave it a swirl before turning to look at Ye Shuang in shock. “Girl, you do have a good drinking tolerance—you were not bluffing. How are you fine even after drinking such a strong bottle of alcohol?”

The point of surprise was not only the amount but also the speed at which Ye Shuang finished the bottle. With the speed of a normal person processing the alcohol, as great a drinker someone might be, they would have fainted on the ground by now after they had consumed the same amount Ye Shuang did.

Ye Shuang mumbled something to brush the topic off. “I ate a bit before I came, so that probably absorbed most of the alcohol.”

You think the food in your stomach is a sponge? The food in your stomach can absorb the liquid and then slowly release it into your blood stream? What kind of science is this? Anyone who has a basic understanding of how the human body works would not fall for a cheap excuse like that.

Han Chu was made speechless immediately. Just as he was wondering if he should help cover for the girl, and more importantly, what kind of new excuse he should come up with to help the girl, Yao Zhixing nodded like the truth had dawned on him. “Oh, that has to be it!”

Alright, fine. It does not seem like I am needed here. Han Chu cleared his throat and turned his attention away from the show of the little idiot tricking the big idiot. He picked up another plate and chewed on the waffle that Yao Zhixing had ordered. He munched on it for a while and then raised his head to say, “You don’t need to care about anything else for now because you have to start dealing with Xu Jian’s problem.”

…

Xu Jian’s problem was that he was doing an undercover investigation, but now, since the situation had changed, the original plan would have to be abandoned.

The situation inside the money-laundering organization was an unknown, and on top of that, they had to worry about Xu He’s imagination and ambition that did not match his ability. Ye Shuang’s original plan was to wait for Xu He to pull out more members of the organization before she captured all of them at one go. However, from the current situation, if she needed to take care of Xu Jian’s feelings, then there was no way she would allow Xu He to continue staying at the Xi Hwa Organization. If something really happened, or worse, Xu He really found the courage to cut off the company from the organization and go into business, then one really could not tell what the organization would do to Xu He as punishment. Instead of waiting things proceed to that regrettable state, she decided it was wiser to make her move now.

Give up this trail as soon as possible and send Xu He as far as possible.

This was to prevent the organization from using him as a sacrifice, and other than that, it was to prevent the man from being defeated by his own stupidity.

Thanks to Han Chu’s reminder, once Ye Shuang left the private club, she called Xu Jian to inform him about this.

Xu Jian used the reason of wanting to go out for a walk to leave and answer the call. He listened to what Ye Shuang said quietly but did not sound that surprised. He sighed, paused, and stood in the middle of the street. He walked to a nearby bench and sat down. After some time, he said, “I suppose this is already the best result for my uncle. Since he has decided to walk this path, he should be ready to face a not-so-favorable ending. It is already more than okay for him to leave with his life intact, so…”

“Wait, how come you sound so depressed?” Ye Shuang interrupted. “Are you sure we are talking about the same thing?”

She just wanted to send Xu He away, not send him to jail—there was definitely no need for this kind of sad reaction.

Xu Jian frowned. “Did I misunderstand something? Even just to set an example, the organization would not have allowed a traitor to roam freely. If my uncle really packs up and leaves, if he’s lucky, he’ll manage to find a place to spend the rest of his life, and if he’s unlucky, he might form some kind of contract with the law enforcement and spend the rest of his life under surveillance.”

Ye Shuang sighed. “Xu Jian, you’re really overthinking it. Yes, most people in the business think they are above the law and do not treat human lives with value… But before they hurt someone, there has to be a reason for them to do so. First, your uncle has to have that value for them to do so, or else why would they waste their resources to come after a small fry?”

“…” Xu Jian.

“I’ll put it this way, do you think your uncle has power within the organization?” Ye Shuang thought about it and decided to be clearer. “The power to independently manage and control a region and influence the decision made by the organization.”

“…” Xu Jian.

“Also, does your uncle know many high officers inside the organization?” Ye Shuang asked again. “If that is too high, then how about the general members? At least someone he is close to inside the organization.”

“…” Xu Jian.

“Also…” Ye Shuang still wanted to continue, but Xu Jian cut her off.

“Fine, I understand already. Just tell me when you are going to make your move!”