After glancing at the unfamiliar number, Qiu Tu clicked on the message.
It contained only a brief sentence, "Agent Qiu, I have information you might be interested in. If you wish to cooperate, please come to Milan Grand Hotel at 8 p.m. tonight for a talk."
Seeing this message, Qiu Tu stroked his chin and silently pondered.
Which fish had taken the bait this time?
City Hall? The military? The other branches of the Qin Family? Or perhaps an anti-government organization?
Moreover, could this mysterious number have a connection to Qin Shuman? Or was it just an outsider?
Because of the limited information, Qiu Tu could not determine it for the time being.
However... what he could be sure of was that he now faced an intriguing choice:
Master Qin Si or the mysterious person?
Zhizhen Grand Hotel or Milan Grand Hotel?
Thinking this, Qiu Tu's gaze became unfathomable.....
Time passed by the minute and second, and soon, several hours had flown by.
At the entrance of Zhizhen Grand Hotel.
Dressed in casual clothes and flanked by two confidants, Cao Dabiao swaggered in with a cigarette in his mouth.
Seeing the trio, the tall receptionist hurried forward with a smile, bowed, and asked, "Hello, gentlemen, do you have a reservation?"
With the cigarette in his mouth, Cao Dabiao arrogantly nodded, "Room 107."
Hearing Cao Dabiao's words, the receptionist said with a beaming smile, "Please wait a moment."
After saying that, she took out the reservation list, checked it, and asked, "May I know if you are Mr. Cao?"
The receptionist immediately smiled and gestured, "This way please," said, and then turned to lead the way.
Following the receptionist, Cao Dabiao and his two confidants surreptitiously surveyed the layout of Zhizhen Grand Hotel with the corners of their eyes.
They quickly arrived at the private room and entered.
After looking around the interior decorations of the room, Cao Dabiao satisfiedly pulled out a 100-value Copper Yuan from his chest and handed it to the receptionist.
The receptionist's eyes lit up, and she excitedly stretched out her hand to catch it, but as Cao Dabiao caught a glimpse of the Copper Yuan in his hand, he quickly retracted it and took out a 10-value one to give to the receptionist instead.
The receptionist's smile vanished from her face; she accepted the money coolly, gave a polite bow to Cao Dabiao, and walked away, swaying her hips.
Once the receptionist had left the room, Cao Dabiao and his men dropped their façade.
The two confidants approached Cao Dabiao and asked quietly, "Brother Biao, what are we doing here?"
With no outsiders present, Cao Dabiao no longer acted so carelessly. He gestured towards the open door.
One confidant skillfully went to close the door, and then Cao Dabiao said in a low voice, "We are here for a mission."
He checked his watch and whispered, "At 8 o'clock, there will be a meeting between two parties in the next private room."
"Our goal is to eavesdrop and capture images of both sides."
After saying that, he signaled to the two confidants. They immediately understood, taking out several small devices from their clothes.
Cao Dabiao put his arms around their necks and quietly arranged, "Later, Old Liu will go to the restroom. On his way back, he'll 'accidentally' enter the wrong room and install the bug next door."
"Old Qi will go to the corridor to smoke. Once he sees the targets entering the private room, he'll try to take photos with his camera."
"If he can't find the opportunity, then he must memorize the targets' appearances well, so we can reconstruct their faces later."
The two confidants nodded and took their orders.
However, after taking the orders, Little Liu, who was sitting next to Cao Dabiao, suddenly realized something. Curiously, he asked, "So Brother Biao, what are you going to do?"
Upon hearing this, Cao Dabiao slapped him on the head and said irritably, "Are you stupid? Of course, I have to carry out the most arduous task—ordering the dishes!"
After saying that, he grumbled, "I was called back halfway through dinner last night and starved for most of the night. Today I'm on official duty, so I must make up for it!"
"Since Qiu Tu is paying, I might as well rip him off."
Little Liu covered his head, his face a picture of realization.
Meanwhile, Little Qi also asked curiously on the side, "By the way, Brother Biao, are we really going to follow Qiu Tu from now on?"
At Little Qi's question, Cao Dabiao's expression began to change—he remembered a little episode from this afternoon.
This afternoon, as he was happily counting his Silver Yuan, he suddenly received communication from a stranger.
The person claimed to be one of Qiu Tu's men, prepared to join the Political Department on Qiu Tu's orders, and needed Cao Dabiao to give a recommendation.
Hearing the introduction, Cao Dabiao's first reaction was to doubt that the person was a scammer.
But it quickly dawned on him: In the newly established Xinjie City, only public officials and some extremely wealthy or influential people had access to communicators.
Scammers couldn't get their hands on such devices.
Moreover... not only did the person know his communicator number, but they also accurately addressed him by his name and department, which really didn't seem like fraud.
So, he went to Qiu Tu in a fog to confirm it.
The scene from that time was still vivid in Cao Dabiao's memory, even several hours later.
When Cao Dabiao met Qiu Tu, Qiu Tu was sitting at a desk copying a document.
After listening to Cao Dabiao's account, Qiu Tu didn't even lift his head to carelessly respond, "They're my people, and I plan to have them join the Political Department. Help me with the recommendation."
At that moment, Cao Dabiao's expression really kept changing.
He wanted to argue, like "If they're your people, why don't you recommend them?" or "Why do I have to be the one to recommend?"
But he just accepted Qiu Tu's money yesterday and had been under Qiu Tu's control all this time, and it seemed he had no grounds to refuse, both emotionally and rationally.
Thus, he could only put on a sham smile and get the task done.
However, after the task was completed, Cao Dabiao felt more and more uneasy about it.
He felt as if Qiu Tu had tied him to a crooked ship.
The problem with the task wasn't whether to do it, but how to do it! Qiu Tu had "executed before reporting," forcing him to get it done!
He didn't refuse this time, but would Qiu Tu continue to "execute before reporting" and force him to do other things in the future?
One or two incidents were no big deal, but if this continued indefinitely, wouldn't he become completely subservient to Qiu Tu?
Realizing all of this, Cao Dabiao felt a cold sweat breaking out.
He wanted to jump ship and stop playing along with Qiu Tu, but he couldn't bear to do so.
After all, he had just done a favor for Qiu Tu today and hadn't yet reaped the benefits. If he were to fall out now, not only would his efforts have been in vain, but he would also have to face Qiu Tu's wrath, and he might even have to return the 80 Silver Yuan!
How could he be willing to let that happen!
Humans are creatures that can comfort themselves. So after much deliberation, Cao Dabiao decided to wait and see...
He thought: Maybe Qiu Tu wouldn't do such things in the future? Maybe Qiu Tu could offer him more benefits...?
Therefore, facing the question of his confidant, his answer was ambiguous, "Hmm... Let's follow Qiu Tu for a bit, and we'll see how it goes..."
Meanwhile, while Cao Dabiao was investigating at the Zhizhen Grand Hotel.
Qiu Tu had also come to the Milan Grand Hotel alone…