CH 8.2

Once the cold medicine was ordered on Huang Tuan, they had a staff send over a large glass of hot water. After getting Zhen Ling settled, the other three continued to have their dinner.

However, Zhen Ling loathed giving up on his tripe. So, even after changing the soup base to a clear soup, he continued to insist on eating them. As he ate them slowly, he asked curiously, “Hehe, how were you able to tell that I have caught a cold?”

Every time he had a fever, he would never experience any flushed skin, so you could never tell from his appearance. Also, he did not have an acute sense of awareness of various symptoms. As such, he would not even know about it, even after he started to burn up.

Throughout their time in the university, Zhen Ling had caught a cold and a fever thrice, and each time, it was always Lin Yuhe who detected it first.

Lin Yuhe explained, “After we finished our exams today, your body seemed slightly heavier than usual when you were leaning against me, and you were also breathing heavily. I think you were probably physically exhausted, but you did not notice.”

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At that time, he originally wanted to mention this to Zhen Ling, but he was distracted by Lu Nan, so he forgot about it.

“Earlier, you kept wiping your nose, so I was wondering whether you had caught a cold.”

It took Zhen Ling a while to process these logics in his head. Soon after, he responded with, “Wow.”

“Tlbl kp ps yvvldvkhl.”

Rv nlavykdzu oyp vawl pkdnl Nkd Zwbl oyp alnstdkgle yp vbl xspv pwkvyczl rlapsd vs cl y esnvsa vbaswtbswv vbl qynwzvu; Tl byp tsse tayelp, y tldvzl rlapsdyzkvu, oyp nsdpkelayvl yde yvvldvkhl. Mbwp, bl oswze yzoyup vyjl talyv nyal sq svblap.

Tlyakdt vbkp, Nkd Zwbl eke dsv jdso oblvbla vs zywtb sa nau. “Rp vbkp vbl xykd rskdv? Zsw pbswze eakdj xsal bsv oyvla, yde yqvla vblu elzkhla vbl xleknyvksd, usw byhl vs vyjl kv qkapv.”

Tl rswale ulv ydsvbla csoz sq bsv oyvla qsa Hbld Nkdt yde bye bkx akdpl vbl skzu qsse okvb bsv oyvla clqsal lyvkdt kv.

“Llmv vkxl, kq usw lhla byhl ekggu prlzzp sa uswa cseu qllzp blyhu, xyjl pwal usw ryu yvvldvksd vs kv clqsalbyde. Ohlau vkxl vblpl puxrvsxp snnwa, usw oswze wpwyzzu byhl y qlhla.”

Hbld Nkdt dseele bkp blye sclekldvzu yde oyp ynvkdt yp yd lmnlzzldv ryvkldv. “Zlp, ulp. Mbydj usw, Pa. Nkd.”

Fssd yqvla, vbl nsze xleknkdl oyp pldv shla. Ju vbl vkxl Hbld Nkdt bye vyjld bkp xleknkdl, vbl svblap olal yzxspv esdl okvb ekddla. Fs, Nkd Zwbl tsv wr vs plvvzl vbl ckzz, cwv kdpvlye sq wpkdt vbl nyae vbyv Nw Lyd tyhl bkx, bl wple bkp sod xsdlu.

Fkdnl Nkd Zwbl oyp olzz alxwdlayvle qasx ynnlrvkdt cwpkdlpp sqqlap, kv oyp pvkzz okvbkd bkp xlydp vs ryu qsa vbl xlyz.

On his way to the counter, Lin Yuhe faintly sensed that someone was watching him, but after looking around his surroundings, he did not find anything unusual.

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While he was settling the bill, that feeling of being watched reappeared again. Snapping his brows together, Lin Yuhe continued to act as per usual.

Once he had paid the bills, he left with the receipt in hand. After taking a few steps, he stealthily circled back by taking another route.

Stopping at a corner, Lin Yuhe extended his head towards the direction of the counter. As expected, there was someone at the counter.

With his back towards Lin Yuhe, the strange man wore a baseball cap and was covered up completely. When he spoke with the staff at the counter, he kept his voice down.

But it just so happened that there were not any noisy background noises in the restaurant, so Lin Yuhe could hear what the stranger said clearly.

It was a foreign male voice, as Lin Yuhe was sure that he had never met this person.

The man inquired, “Can I have a copy of the bill for Table 73?”

Lin Yuhe’s brows drew together.

Their table just happened to be number 73.

Fearing that the other might notice him, Lin Yuhe did not stay for long. Once he had confirmed that the stranger did not make any other movements, Lin Yuhe quickly left.

He was not sure the reason as to why the other would do this sort of thing, but he had an inkling that this person’s target was himself.

But what exactly was the man’s intention of following him and also getting a hold of a copy of their bill? 

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As Lin Yuhe was pondering over this matter, someone walked up to him and asked with a warm smile, “Hello, sir. Would it be possible for you to help me fill up this questionnaire? We can give you a free admission ticket.”

Wasn’t it difficult for one to get their hands on a free admission ticket for Hai Di Kan? Lin Yuhe was somewhat surprised as there was once Zhen Ling kept asking for it for a long time, but in the end, after countless attempts, they came out empty-handed. 

After scrutinizing the other’s uniform, he confirmed that the person was indeed an official staff of the restaurant. It was only then did he nod his head.

“Sure.”

——

Tai Ping Tower

It was already ten at night, yet the tall tower was still lit brightly. Ever since the new chairman had taken office, numerous matters required him to follow up. Hence, Tai Ping Group was in a constant state of busyness.

In an executive conference room, a discussion for a cooperation case was still ongoing. In fact, Tai Ping Group should never have arranged for a discussion meeting concerning the cooperation at this late hour. Although everyone across all levels in Tai Ping had become accustomed to working overtime as of late, they should consider the working hours of the other party as well.

However, this time it was purely an accident. Initially, the discussion for this large-scale cooperation was always held every Wednesday afternoon. But for this week, the chairman of Tai Ping, Lu Nan, was away on business at the last moment, so they had planned to halt the meeting for just this one time. But the other party was willing to wait, so the meeting was postponed to later that night.

Even though it was held rather late at night, the discussion went on smoothly, and its progress was quite promising. The Chairman of the other party was a burly fellow from the Northeast, so he tended to be very outspoken and straightforward. The moment the discussion had ended, he waved his big hands and insisted on treating everyone to supper.

“Everyone is going! I will be treating supper!”

The recipients of this invitation also included Lu Nan, but rather, it was actually Lu Nan whom the other party wanted to treat.

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Regarding this young new chairman, it was not like the Chairman had never harbored suspicion before. Yet as their cooperation deepened, his attitude towards Lu Nan had changed completely. Not only was he optimistic towards the prospects of this cooperation, but he also wished to have further engagements with Lu Nan.

Naturally, those from Tai Ping could sense the Chairman’s enthusiasm. Even though the company would provide catering for those who work overtime, everyone was still very delighted in having supper with the Chairman.

However, Lu Nan did not join them.

It was because he still had some work to do.

The Chairman expressed his understanding. “Business matters are urgent, so you should go ahead first.”

Glancing at his Porsche design mobile phone, he realized that it was already almost 11 p.m. It was indeed very late.

The Chairman could not help but bemoan, “Chairman Lu is indeed young and promising.”

A massive group of people departed and made their way towards their destination to have supper, taking away loads of talking and laughter. 

Dead silence once again returned anew to the tower in the dead of night.

Returning to his office on the top floor, Lu Nan continued to work on the remaining documents.

The space on the top floor was extremely spacious, as the enormous circular French windows reflected the view from the bustling outdoors. 

The bright lights all around the top floor lay within reach, yet somehow, this area seemed even closer to the darkness of the night.

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Ever since this tower was built five years ago, the chairman’s private office was situated on the topmost floor. However, the previous chairman, Liu Gaoyi, had always been working in the old building, so he rarely came to this new tower. As such, this office was left in an idle state and was not properly put to good use until Lu Nan took over the position.

Even so, Lu Nan did not make this place any livelier.

Based on his preferences, a combination of three colors——black, white, and grey——was applied on the customized furnishings that were neatly placed in his office, causing the entire room to look cold and uninviting. Each time someone was there to report a matter to him, no one dared to speak out loud.

Even if the temperature was maintained at 26 degrees celsius that was most suitable for human bodies all year round, it was still unable to dissipate that unspeakable coldness.

“Beep beep.”

The comm in the office emitted a beeping sound that was similar to a knocking sound. After permitting the person to enter, Assistant Fang Musen strode across the room and stood next to the solid wood desk, reporting to Lu Nan on the night’s work situation.

Once he was done reporting, Fang Musen paused, but made no movements, as if he still had something that he wanted to say.

Without raising his head, Lu Nan continued to look through his documents and asked, “What’s the matter?”

Fang Musen answered, “It is regarding Young Master Lin.”

Lu Nan ordered concisely, “Speak.”

Fang Musen reported, “Young Master Lin and his roommates had their dinner at Hai Di Kan tonight. Also, they had just returned to their dorm fifteen minutes ago.”

They have already finished their dinner?

With that thought, Lu Nan’s action of flipping through the document came to a halt.

Why did he not receive any transaction alert from the bank?

Without waiting for Lu Nan to ask, Fang Musen had already given him an explanation. “Young Master Lin did not use your card.”

Lu Nan raised his eyes from the documents to look at him.

After following Lu Nan for so long, Fang Musen naturally understood the other’s silent question. Without fail, he had long since prepared himself thoroughly to address Lu Nan’s subsequent queries. “Our people had utilized the customer research method and requested Young Master Lin to fill up an online questionnaire. At the same time, they had asked him for the reason why he had not used a bank card.”

It was rare to see Lu Nan ask, “Why?”

An indescribable and strange expression clouded Fang Musen’s face, as he coughed.

“Young Master Lin mentioned that……it was because your card does not offer any student discounts.”

Hearing that, Lu Nan was rendered speechless.