Lonelytree

  Millman97

  Very soon, it came time for dinner. There were four tables in the dining room. The people who sat at the main table were naturally the members of Zuo family and those of the older generation who were close to the two elders. The three remaining tables were for the department managers from the Si Hai Organization, shareholders, and the younger generation.

  Ye Shuang was given a guest seat, and she did not feel uncomfortable due to this arrangement. After all, the food served for all the tables was the same, and she would attract less attention by taking the seat at the guest table.

  The atmosphere during dinner was quite relaxing; it was not much different from when they were chatting. The conversation on the dinner tables flowed smoothly, talking about the management of the companies, the possibilities of cooperation, the investment channels, relationships, and so on. With the accompaniment of good food and drink, the conversation also included lighter topics like entertainment and stuff.

  Ye Shuang participated in the conversation happily. This was not only her chance to explore potential guest but also a way for her to collect information. Where else did she get the gossip that she had been sharing with the other guests earlier? She had gotten it from going to the private clubhouses, playing at casinos, and hanging out with specific people like Luo Mingxin.

  After dinner, Ye Shuang exited the house to walk around the garden to aid the digestion. Just as Ye Shuang was considering making her departure, she heard a series of rustling sound coming from the side.

  She turned to look and saw a girl about six or seven playing with a boy about three. They were playing with a puppy. The girl had a chicken wing in her hand that she was pushing to the puppy’s mouth. The puppy was still small, so his teeth had not fully developed. It bit on the chicken slowly. Instead of eating, it was more like the dog was suckling on it. The boy extending his arms to hug the little puppy, his mouth mumbling something as he caressed the fur coat on the dog.

  Ye Shuang thought this was quite interesting. She walked over and squatted down to whisper to the two children, who were focused on the puppy, “Dogs cannot eat chicken bones.”


  The two children were spooked, and they almost jumped up from the ground. The girl subconsciously tossed the chicken wing away from her hand into the bush nearby, attempting to destroy the evidence.

  “Woof!” The puppy was having a great time with its chew toy. Seeing that the meat had disappeared, it barked twice and struggled to escape from the boy’s grasp. Ye Shuang reached out to grab several napkins. Her tapered fingers grabbed the chicken wing and wrapped it inside the napkins. Without turning around to look, Ye Shuang tossed the chicken wing behind her. It arced beautifully through the air and flew for about ten meters before landing perfectly inside the trash can that was situated at the corner of the garden.

  The eyes of the two kids glowed up, and they simultaneously uttered, “Wow……”


  Ye Shuang smiled and patted them on their heads. Then she reached out to grab the puppy away from the boy. She led the two children who were following her to the buffet table. “Cats and dogs cannot consume too much seasoning. Plus, the center of the chicken wing is hollow. After the puppy bites on it, it might break the wing, and the broken bones might cut the puppy’s intestine and stomach. If you want to feed it, you have to go for cooked meat like this.”


  Ye Shuang found a tray of fried steak. She picked up a piece and then squatted down to place both the meat and the puppy on the ground. The puppy barked with excitement and waved its very short tail as it dug in.

  “This type of steak only uses a little bit of salt and seasoning. When the guests have it, they add their own extra sauce, so this means that the steak’s natural salt content is not that high. They can be used to feed the puppy.” Ye Shuang patted the heads of the two children who were looking at her with admiration. She asked with a smile, “Where is your mother?”


  The two children were Zuo Yuanhang’s eldest daughter and youngest son. Probably because they did not have to attend talent training classes and do family homework at their grandparent’s place, the two children were livelier than the time Ye Shuang met them at Zuo Yuanhang’s place. However, the fact that the two kids were not together with Mrs. Zuo was confusing for Ye Shuang. Even though this was the Zuo family’s old home, and thus the maids were familiar with all the guests, children had a tendency to wander around and play. This was especially true for their age when they liked to play with cats and dogs—they might still accidentally run into sources of danger.

  Hearing the question from Ye Shuang, the elder daughter from Zuo family cleared her throat like an adult and answered in a friendly tone, “Mom needs to entertain the guests, so she had me look after my little brother.”


  Ye Shuang nodded, and thinking about how Mrs. Zuo carried herself, the reason became quite clear to Ye Shuang.

  “Then why isn’t there a nanny following you two today?” asked Ye Shuang as she grabbed a bowl and filled it with water for the dog.

  It was still the girl who was answering on behalf of both of them. “Mom will be coming back shortly, so it is fine if no nanny is following us.”


  Ye Shuang had fun with the two children. After they shed away that cautious personality that they had to put on before their parents, chatting with these two kids was quite interesting. Even though they were still young, the children had been taught to have very good manner in their every movement. Their future personalities might be reserved and introverted due to the childhood education, but at least for now, they looked to be quite obedient. If they were given some tweaking in the future, then perhaps they might not end up all that bad.

  Not long after that, Mrs. Zuo walked out from the side of the house. Seeing Ye Shuang having such good time with her children, her gait paused before coming over to nod politely as a way of greeting. “Mr. Ye is also here? I hope you have had a wonderful time tonight.”


  Ye Shuang stood up, patting her clothes. “It is indeed quite a fun night, thank you, Mrs. Zuo.”


  Then she lowered her head to look at the two children and added, “Your son and daughter are very cute, but it is still a little bit cold outside. If you need to attend to the guests or have any emergencies to deal with, then I think it’s better if you assign someone to look after them.”


  Mrs. Zuo’s eyes scanned the environment lightly, and the two kids stood at attention like they were soldiers. Mrs. Zuo nodded with satisfaction, and then she turned to thank Ye Shuang. “That was my mistake. Thank you, Mr. Ye, for helping me look after them.”


  After a few more polite exchanges, Mrs. Zuo led the two children back to the house. Ye Shuang stood behind and looked at the two kids who no longer looked like children, and she could not help shake her head and sigh.

  Every family had their own style of education. Now that she thought about it, what was so good about being rich? They did not even dare to smile in their parent’s presence; they were like students running into the discipline teacher when they came across their mother. They had no childhood due to the many classes, but if they were not given such education, they would end up as wasteful young masters who could not inherit the family business. Even when they were older, their marriage was out of their control. If they were unlucky enough to find a special partner, they even needed to calculate the date for whenever they could share the bed together.

  Of course, the examples that Ye Shuang had come across so far were quite typical. However, the reason they were typical was because they represented most of the people in the same situation.

  Ye Shuang stayed for about an hour to play with the group of youngsters. When she left, it was already 10 pm. After attending the family gathering, the only observation that Ye Shuang got was that she had a newer understanding of Zuo Yuanhang’s isolationist personality.

  The man was quite polite and humble when he was facing his elders or important personnel. Even though his expression still did not change much, at least he did not appear like he was constantly disappointed or angry at them. Obviously, when he was in a social environment that he perceived to be important, he would adopt an attitude that was not so grating.

  However, when he was facing his employees or workers, or someone who was not going to bring him benefits, the man’s attitude would be colder and more detached. He appeared more like a ruler; everything was prefaced with data and facts.

  Throughout the entire party, other than Elder Zuo and the other older generation, only three people dared to approach Zuo Yuanhang to talk to him, and of those three, two were Ye Shuang and Zuo Feiyang.

  Ye Shuang was baffled by this. How did such an iron fisted ruler win the hearts of his employees? Why did his employees suffer him for so long? Or was it really true that money silenced everything?

  In comparison, even Mrs. Zuo had a better popularity than Zuo Yuanhang. Even though Ye Shuang thought that Mrs. Zuo was also putting on a façade, at least she was not as invasive as Zuo Yuanhang. Roughly five times more people talked to her at the party than Zuo Yuanhang……

  For the rest of the time, Ye Shuang decided to stay in Chaohai. In any case, she was not planning to return to San Lin City before the cruise party ended. Ye Shuang had already calculated the transformation time. Brother Shuang’s appearance was too short, so she needed to be in this form for at least two more days so that she could change into Sister Shuang on Sunday, when they needed to board the cruise.

  That was not that difficult to do. It was quite easy to find two little girls. There were plenty around wandering about the beach. After all, there were so many tourists.

  However, two days before the party, Han Chu’s sudden arrival destroyed her plan of disappearing before the day of the party arrived. Han Chu’s call came directly into Ye Shuang’s phone. Ye Shuang pretended not to notice the first call, hoping that the man would use the email to inform her the reason for his calling. She did not expect Han Chu to not give up and make two more calls. In the end, she relented and answered. When she did, she realized that Han Chu had already arrived in Chaohai with Albert. They were interviewing the trader and called her to ask about the cruise. They needed her to confirm the invitation.

  “Hey, long time no see!” When they met at the café at the hotel, Albert instantly went forward to give Ye Shuang a friendly hug. Then, Albert patted Ye Shuang’s shoulders and grumbled, “My man, I’ve not seen you since our departure that time, what have you been busy with? By the way, that partner of yours sure is pretty. You and her……”


  Albert winked and Ye Shuang knew what the man was trying to insinuate.

  “There’s nothing between us.” Brother Shuang did not to cry or smile. She arranged her clothes and stood apart from Albert. She took the seat at the table and nodded at Han Chu, who did not look like he was in a good mood. “Mr. Han, why are you here so early?”


  Han Chu glanced at Albert. “It is because a certain FBI agent is not a man of his word. He was discovered to be carrying an illegal surveillance device within the country and was given a warning by Interpol. I brought him here to avoid the trouble back at home.”


  That certain FBI agent shrugged. “I just accidentally dropped some things. Relax, relax. I’m currently on vacation. I’m just a normal foreign visitor in your country; there’s no need to be so cautious around me.”


  Han Chu huffed but did not say anything, but Ye Shuang laughed. “It is easy to say but hard to do. If you really want to recruit Tony, you’d better do that through official channels. Stop using vacation as an excuse. On the surface, it looks like you’re operating alone, but who doesn’t know you’re here to recruit people for your organization‽”


  Anthony had not committed any serious crimes, so arresting him without a warrant was impossible. As an American citizen with the perfect documentation, Anthony had full human rights. He could deny the recruitment from any party. Unless the US government decided to go about this the wrong way and planted a serious crime on Anthony, recruiting him was basically impossible.

  However, if they did that, they would be fearful of Anthony’s revenge. After all, the man was an expert at computer science. Even with twenty-four-hour surveillance, no one could tell what the man could have done. Therefore, with various limitations, they had no other option but to send over an FBI agent on ‘vacation’. They planned to have Albert stick around Anthony until the latter was tired and agreed to assist them.

  This had its positive and negative implications. The positive thing was that Anthony retained his ability to reject the man. Albert, who was not on official duty, could not use any surveillance tactics that were too over the line to observe and control Anthony in China.

  The negative thing was that they had no official reason to send Albert back. They could only wait until the man’s visa expired and he left on his own. But Ye Shuang firmly believed that even after the visa had expired, the man would be able to renew the visa easily.

  “You have no proof of that. In any case, I insist that I’m here on a holiday.” Albert held onto that fact shamelessly. He stressed that and then narrowed his gray eyes to look at Han Chu with a smile. “But Mr. Han, it is wrong of you to pin all of this on me. Don’t tell me you really think the Interpol’s sudden appearance has nothing to do with Ace…… or Anthony?”


  Han Chu picked up the cup of coffee and sipped at it calmly. He put the cup down and said, “You wish to monitor Tony, but you failed. Tony tried to turn that around on you, and he was successful. You’re the one who started this trouble, so you have to be responsible for it.”


  Albert sighed loudly and then hung his hands weakly. “I already knew that the biggest trouble for my trip to China will be you, Mr. Han. Anthony is an American citizen, so he should contribute his ability to his own country, but you have defended him for so long and created so many problems for us.”


  “That is not right. Everyone has their right to choose.” Ye Shuang realized that her decision of not returning to San Lin City was also correct. She had only been gone for half a month, and these people had already created so much trouble. Even Interpol had been dragged into this mess. If she had stayed, Ye Shuang wondered what would have happened to her.

  Of course, Interpol did not have much power in the country. The law enforcement was still reliant on the local police force. Interpol did not have the power to exact their law without any specific support group. Therefore, before they made any move, they had to make a report or request. Then, they would need to get the help from the local police. If the local police was equivalent to the biological son, Interpol was one layer further. At most, it could be considered a relative.

  However, the most troublesome thing about Interpol was their database. The information of all the suspects and criminals throughout the world would be recorded in this database. If her information was accidentally recorded on this database, she would have no place else to run.

  Albert pouted his lips and grumbled, “Ye, I thought we’re friends‽”


  Ye Shuang gave it a serious consideration and nodded with confirmation. “That is true, but unfortunately, I’ve known Tony and Mr. Han longer than I’ve known you.”


  The saddened Albert turned to swirl the coffee in his cup. There was a smile in Han Chu’s eyes. Then he turned to address Ye Shuang. “How is the preparation for the cruise coming along?”


  “I plan to leave Chaohai tomorrow morning, and it will be my partner who attends the cruise party the day after tomorrow.” Ye Shuang thought about it in her mind, and she felt it was better if she explained it clearly. “This is because people of the Si Hai Organization have not seen my partner, but I’ve already shown myself once at the casino. Furthermore, my partner will be bringing a date. It’s Mr. Lu from Jing Hu City, so the chance of her garnering suspicion will be much lower.”


  Han Chu was shocked, and then he frowned. “Neither you nor Xiao Shuang have been not in San Lin City lately. Has anything happened? Did something hold you two up?”


  Ye Shuang felt like crying. She knew that if she stayed away from too long, she would be suspected. However, what was the reason she did not dare to return to San Lin City? It was because there was Albert, who stayed too close for comfort. Swallowing her tears, Ye Shuang shook her head sadly. “It’s nothing important. It’s just something…… er…… private.”


  If this was someone else, Ye Shuang could have used work as an excuse, but she could not use the same reason before Han Chu. As Ye Shuang had worried before, if she kept using work as an excuse, it might have been fine for the short period of time, but if this happened for an extended period of time, she needed to have the amount of time to back up her story or else it would only arouse a higher suspicion.

  Han Chu nodded after some hesitation. “If it is something private then I am not going to pursue this any further. However, at the end of the day, the two of you are partners. If Xiao Shuang is held up because of something, you at least have to stay in San Lin City. For example, San Lin City held a food festival last week. This was such a big case, and many chefs in the database could have been promoted, but since you were absent, we almost lost out on this large business.”


  Ye Shuang blinked several times. “Brother Han, was it you who signed the contract?”


  Han Chu gave Ye Shuang an impatient side-eye. “Of course. I was the only one remaining in San Lin City at the time. Naturally, it was me who had to do it. The commission is about 30,000, and the contract will end in a week.

  Ye Shuang swallowed the blood that rose to her throat. She felt like running into the bathroom to cry. “It’s just 30,000. No biggie……”


  It had to be no biggie because if Ye Shuang really cared about this 30,000, then perhaps she might die from straight regret.

  Seeing the regret on Ye Shuang’s face, Han Chu did not add anything else after that. It was not his habit to focus on the past mistakes, and since the man had already learned his lesson, there was no reason to keep pushing it.

  “It’s fine this time, but please remember to spend more time in San Lin City in the future.” Han Chu thought about it and opened his laptop to type. “It was Xiao Shuang who liaised with the trader, and even though it was you who signed the contract with the people at the Si Hai Organization, it was Xiao Shuang who will be attending the cruise. Based on your working attitude, I might need to reconsider your agent level.”


  Ye Shuang told herself to be patient……

  After that, the three continued to chat, mainly to confirm the schedule for the cruise two days later.

  Naturally, Albert’s responsibility to was identify and observe the traitor that was hiding among the Si Hai Organization. What Sister Shuang needed to do was provide cover for Albert or make the introductions as smoothly as she could. She needed to try to her best to make it seem like the interaction between Albert and the six suspects was entirely non-suspicious and natural.

  Han Chu was also given an invitation. Every owner of the invitation was allowed to bring a date with them. This was an accepted tradition. After all, many young masters had the habit of bringing a personal assistant with them to deal with the small things. Even if it was not a personal assistant, what if they had girlfriend or wife? The host could not expect them to not bring their date, right‽


  Albert would be attending the party as Han Chu’s plus one. After all, male invitees would be given a greater attention compared to female invitees. This was because it was harder to tell whether this was someone’s female date or one of the powerful businesswomen who had been invited.

  The cruise would depart at 2 pm on Sunday afternoon. Han Chu requested that they should depart to the pier together. They needed to depart half an hour earlier to prevent accidents like long traffic. After Brother Shuang promised that he would relay the news to Sister Shuang, the conversation between the three could be considered over.

  Then, Han Chu asked Ye Shuang for the location of the hotel that she was currently staying at. He asked for her help to get two more rooms for him and Albert. After that, he said that they were going to rest and unpack.

  Ye Shuang was greatly conflicted for the rest of the day. She needed to figure out a way for Brother Shuang to disappear without a trace tomorrow and then for Sister Shuang to appear without a trace tomorrow. Even the fresh seafood buffet provided by the hotel was unable to improve her depressed mood.

  Thankfully, her quest to find little girls to kiss was finished easily. There was a five-year-old girl in a pink frilly dress standing beside the fountain outside of the hotel. She was crying heavily because she could not find her mother. Brother Shuang walked over to comfort the girl. Very naturally, he leaned down to kiss the girl’s little lips. The crowd did not think that was something out of the ordinary—they just thought that Brother Shuang was very kind, gentle, handsome, and so on……

  At 10 pm that night, Han Chu came knocking on her door. He held the laptop in his arms and frowned. He said that he needed to inform Brother Shuang of certain things, things that could be said only when Albert was not around.

  The content of their conversation was quite familiar. One was about Albert’s unique identity. Even though he was there to help, he needed a certain degree of surveillance as well. They were to stop him from having too in-depth interaction with people outside of the six targets. After all, there were going to be politicians on the cruise. If they lowered their guard because Albert was Han Chu’s guest, Albert might make use of this good opportunity to advance his own agenda.

  The second thing was that Albert had created quite some trouble for Anthony back at San Lin City. Even though the trouble was nothing serious, it was still trouble. Han Chu requested Brother Shuang to return to San Lin City to deal with it after he was done there and stopped running all over the place.

  Brother Shuang agreed readily to the first request but said that he needed to consider the second one. The two parted not in an argument, but they were not exactly smiling when they left.

  After sending Han Chu away, Ye Shuang was incredibly tired from the long day. She collapsed on the sofa and then just slept.

  One hour later, Han Chu returned and pushed the door open with his head lowered. “Oh right, there was one thing that I forgot to tell you……”


  What he wanted to say got stuck in his throat. Han Chu looked on with a stunned expression as the handsome man on the sofa slowly shrunk, and his large body became more voluptuous and slight. His chiseled features softened until he transformed completely into a beauty that he could not have been more familiar with.