Chapter 197: Chapter 118 Critical Moment_3
Yan Fei said, “This matter has nothing to do with you, but when it comes down to it, I actually have to thank you for informing me of this intelligence.”
Yu Xiaozhou said, “It’s good that you can think of it that way. You’re about to hold a news conference, so I won’t disturb you any longer.”
Having said that, Yu Xiaozhou turned and left. As she reached the door of the room, she suddenly stopped, looked back at Yan Fei, and said, “Mr. Yan, have we met before? You look somewhat familiar to me, I just can’t remember where I’ve seen you.”
To Yan Fei’s surprise, this Yu Xiaozhou, being a worker on the special combat front, had met him once in Japan and she had already formed an impression of him. Now that he had regained his original appearance, which was very different from the time in Japan, he hadn’t expected that she would still harbor suspicions—women’s intuition was indeed terrifying.
Although Yan Fei was surprised internally, his face did not betray any emotion. He said, “I have a common face, similar to many others. You’ve probably seen someone who looks like me!”
Yu Xiaozhou laughed and said, “Hehe, Mr. Yan Fei is right; I must have mistaken you for someone else.”
After finishing her words, Yu Xiaozhou left Yan Fei’s office. However, once outside the door, her face took on a serious expression. Through rigorous training and years of working on special combat fronts, she was unlikely to mistake someone’s appearance. She had just felt a sense of déjà vu when facing Yan Fei, but couldn’t remember where she had seen him, and so she left it at that!
In the room, Yan Fei started to worry. He had always hoped that the Assassin Sect was a fake, a ploy created by someone to scare him. That way, he would have some hope of rescuing Lu Pingping; but now, having learned the details about the Assassin Sect from Yu Xiaozhou, he became very uneasy. Although the historic Assassin Sect was known for its credibility, there was no assurance that this newly risen organization wouldn’t break the rules. What would he do if he paid the ransom and the Assassin Sect refused to release the hostage?
Moreover, ever since the kidnapping incident occurred, a series of actions targeting Dream Technology had begun. All of these made Yan Fei ponder the role that the Assassin Sect had played in this affair. If the Assassin Sect was also involved in the actions aimed at dividing up Dream Technology, the chances of Lu Pingping’s release became highly doubtful.
Just then, an office worker outside informed Yan Fei that the signing ceremony was about to start and invited him to the venue. Yan Fei, with no solution in sight, could only temporarily set aside his troubles and take care of the ransom first. He sat expressionless at the signing table, facing a row of journalists from the media. Yang Liu sat next to Yan Fei, a picture of joy, chatting with friendly media friends, waiting only for 8 p.m. to arrive to officially sign the agreement.
Yan Fei watched the crowd below with an expressionless face. At this moment, his heart suddenly became calm. After having gone through all these events, he had matured a lot. He understood what in the world was truly necessary for him, what could be relinquished. He had discovered his strengths, recognized his weaknesses, and these realizations had solidified his future direction and path.
It was now 7:45 p.m., with the signing ceremony scheduled for 8 p.m. sharp. The final deadline set by the Assassin Sect for the ransom payment was 9 p.m. tonight. So, if the ceremony went ahead as planned, Yan Fei would be able to get the money immediately, then transfer it to the account specified by the Assassin Sect, and secure Lu Pingping’s return.
As Yan Fei was calculating the time, he suddenly spotted someone among the journalists below. An old man with a white beard, with the air of an immortal, was holding a drink and flirting with a beautiful television hostess; whatever he had said made her laugh heartily. The old man saw Yan Fei’s gaze, raised his glass to him, and then turned back to continue his banter with the television hostess.
Yan Fei suddenly stood up, startling Yang Liu who was beside him, who anxiously asked, “Yan Fei, what are you doing?”
Yan Fei said, “Going to the toilet. Do I need your permission for that?”
Yang Liu was taken aback, and Yan Fei walked out. He rounded a corner, then found the white-bearded old man in a corner of the room. Making sure no one was watching, he grabbed the old man’s neck and dragged him into another room, closed the door, released the old man, and said, “Old Man Gu, long time no see!”
The white-bearded old man was indeed Old Man Gu, the man Yan Fei had met in Africa who possessed predictive ability. Yan Fei hadn’t seen him since he mysteriously vanished after their last encounter, and he certainly hadn’t expected him to show up at his own signing ceremony. So, Yan Fei took action and brought him to this room.
Old Man Gu, despite being released from the chokehold, still coughed violently for a while before catching his breath. He cursed, “You youngster, why so rude? Can’t you see I’m an old man? Couldn’t we have had a civilized conversation…”
Yan Fei said, “To you, isn’t everything you’re experiencing right now already within your predictive ability? It’s all been predetermined, so why are you angry?”
Old Man Gu cursed in a rage, “I only have three chances each month to predict the future, you think I should use my predictive ability for every trivial matter? Without the predictive ability, I’m just a doddering old man, how could I possibly stand against your fierce and menacing presence?”
Yan Fei apologized, “Old Man Gu, I just forgot about that. By the way, have you used up your ability to predict the future this month?”
Old Man Gu blinked his eyes and said, “I’ve already used it up!”
Yan Fei was taken aback and immediately became furious, vigorously shaking Old Man Gu’s shoulders and saying, “You old man, how could you not know the importance of things, why didn’t you save a chance to predict the future? What am I supposed to do now with my question?”
Old Man Gu shouted, “Stop, stop right now…”
In his disappointment, Yan Fei lost some composure, but he still let go of Old Man Gu. He had been on the verge of despair, about to sign the company transfer agreement, but then he saw Old Man Gu, who could predict the future, in the audience, like clutching the last straw for survival. Who knew the old man had already used up this month’s predictive power? How could he not be disappointed?
After his disappointment, Yan Fei also calmed down and said, “Old man, I’m sorry, I lost my temper just now.”
Old Man Gu vigorously rubbed his shoulders and said, “That last time I used my predictive power was for you, you brat. And now you treat me , I’m so heartbroken!”
Yan Fei was startled and immediately overjoyed, saying, “Old man, do you already know the question I want to ask you?”
Old Man Gu began to act all mysterious and said, “Of course I know, otherwise why would I be here? Same rules as always, write down your question, and I’ll give you the answer right away.”
Yan Fei was elated, hastily found a pen and paper in the room, wrote down his question, and then handed it to Old Man Gu.
Old Man Gu took the piece of paper with Yan Fei’s question, unfolded it, and saw that it read just a few words: “Where is Lu Pingping now?”
Old Man Gu’s face revealed a mysterious smile, then he took an envelope from his chest and made a motion to hand it to Yan Fei. Just as Yan Fei was about to reach out, he saw a China UnionPay POS machine appear in Old Man Gu’s hand, his face breaking into a sleazy smile, arching his eyebrows in a ‘you know what I mean’ expression.
Yan Fei quickly took out his Supreme VIP Card and swiped it on the POS machine, transferring one million. Old Man Gu shook his head and said, “Your heart isn’t sincere, my predictive ability could fail!”
Yan Fei immediately transferred another five million, and only then did Old Man Gu satisfiedly take back the POS machine and handed the envelope in his hand to Yan Fei.
Yan Fei’s hands trembled non-stop, and with great difficulty, he finally opened the envelope. Inside, the paper, written with an already dry brush, read: “Lu Pingping is currently on the high seas!” Apart from this sentence, there were location coordinates!
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