Chapter 387 - The Simple Task

Andrea woke up to the sound of her phone ringing. It was already lunchtime when she got up. She had overslept because of the anxiety given by Chi Lanying. 

She quickly grabbed her phone and said, "Babe! Are you okay? Where is that bitch?"

"Good morning, babe. This was my third call. Were you busy?" asked the man. 

Andrea pursed her lips before saying, "Yes, that is right. I was busy with the kids."

She quickly got up from the bed and walked outside the bedroom as they continued to talk. She heard him say, "Babe, I don't want you to worry. I got this covered. If you like to have Lanying stay in the Den after our return, I'll let you enjoy it."

"Absolutely! I will enjoy it. What has she been doing so far?" Andrea asked. 

The man chuckled and said, "I don't think you want to know, but, babe, please, just take it easy. Why don't you spend some time in the old mansion and bring the kids with you?"

"But, babe  - "

"Put the kids on a video call, will you, babe?"

Lu Fang succeeding in diverting his wife's attention. After chatting with the twins, the man ended the call saying; he wanted to get some rest. 

Meanwhile, in a small apartment in Beijing, Chi Zhong was ecstatic to receive a notification from the bank. He had just received the payment he had been waiting for; a hundred thousand dollars balance for a very simple task. 

Four months ago, he was walking in the streets of Paris in distress. He had just lost most of his money. The government refused to issue permits that would allow the continuation of the hotel's construction. He had invested in a hotel together with his friends that, like him, often traveled to Europe. 

At that time, he did not know how to face his wife and daughter that he spent nearly two hours just walking in no specific direction. 

He found himself in front of the Duval Transport Group headquarters, where he heard employees talking about the upcoming changes to the company. 

"Have you heard? We are officially changing to Davies and Lu Transport Group."

"I don't know much about Mr. Lu Fang, but Alfred Davies is indeed a tycoon in Europe. We are lucky to be under his winds."

"Mr. Lu Fang is a businessman in China, I heard they have investments in Singapore and Korea, they are a big company as well."

Chi Zhong thought the name rang a bell. When he returned to the hotel, he looked up Lu Wei and asked common friends about the growth of his business. He was able to confirm that it was, in fact, Lu Fang's name that he heard from earlier. 

The next day he tried to get an appointment with Lu Fang. He was in a desperate situation and thought he could borrow money from him. 

"Please, I am old friends with Lu Fang's father. Can I speak to him?" He asked one of the front desks. 

"Sir, you don't understand. Mr. Lu does not actively work here. He just oversees the business, but we have our own president and executives running the company," answered the receptionist. 

Chi Zhong walked out of the there disappointed. 

Little did he know, an old man was earlier studying him from the lobby. He was none other than Clifford Adams.

Clifford had been coming to the same building, hoping to find an opportunity, merely staying in the lobby or waiting outside. He had been hoping to find a familiar face that was still faithful to Bertrand, but for weeks, he came up empty-handed. It would seem like Lu Fang had removed all of Bertrand's followers. 

When Chi Zhong came that day, Clifford was not sure what he would make out of him, but he took the chance and approached him. 

Clifford Adams learned of Chi Zhong's predicament. He knew instantly he was in desperate need of money. He and Anges Duval did not have much left, but he figured it was worth a try. 

He told him that he managed a small publishing house and they had been trying to get a scoop on Lu Fang's wife. He said, "All that we ask is that you help us convince Lu Fang's wife to come to France. We will take care of finding an opportunity for an interview or a photo shoot. We are willing to offer you one hundred twenty thousand dollars for a very simple task."

"What? Just for an interview?" Chi Zhong said in disbelief. 

"Yes, just that. You see, Mrs. Lu seem to be a secretive person. We have seen Lu Fang take short interviews, but never his wife," said Clifford. He continued with his lie until he convinced Chi Zhong that it was his sole purpose. "You see that one hundred twenty thousand dollars is nothing compared to how our magazine will earn if they even see a set of pictures of Mrs. Lu."

"We will pay you twenty thousand dollars upfront and a hundred thousand dollars the moment we learn that Mrs. Lu has come to France."

"But what if she does not allow an interview? Or the photoshoot?" Asked Chi Zhong. 

"It's not going to be your problem, it will be ours. All you need to do is to convince Lu Fang's wife to come to France," Clifford answered plainly. 

Chi Zhong found it completely suspicious, but he was blinded with the easy money. He did not see the truth behind Clifford's words. He thought he would just take the twenty thousand dollars and be done with the deal, so he said, "Okay. I agree."

It was because he had lost so much that he decided to bring back his family to China. It was bound to happen regardless of the goal to bring Andrea to France.

Months passed, and he had already forgotten about the deal he had with Clifford when his daughter, Lanying, told him about the job opening at Lu-Wei Enterprises. 

He knew his daughter had had a crush on Lu Fang since she was a child, and the chance to work for him excited her. It was when he was reminded of the chance to earn a hundred thousand dollars more. 

He convinced his daughter to get close to the couple. He himself tried to help achieve the task by inviting them to dinner, but it seemed like the couple was constantly occupied. When he learned that Andrea was pregnant and may not be willing to travel abroad, it ruined his plans. 

When Clifford contacted him once, asking for the progress, he asked, "Mr. Adams, is it because no one has ever seen Lu Fang's wife in France that you are very interested in her?"

"Yes. We have seen photos of their wedding from a Chinese magazine, but those were not very clear and the shots were taken from a distance. No one in France has had a good look at her. Not even once," answered Clifford. 

Chi Zhong began to formulate the idea of letting his daughter take Andrea's place. Since they did not know exactly how Andrea looked like, it was most likely easy to fool them. Besides, his daughter did not have to commit to the interview to get his money. 

Chi Zhong was grinning from ear to ear, seeing the figures on his bank account. He quickly transferred it to another account saying, "This Clifford Adams is very stupid. He just paid one hundred twenty thousand dollars for nothing. Haha."