Trafford’s Trading Club

Chapter 1261: Chapter 102: We’ve Met Before!

Luo Qiu didn’t return for a night, and naturally, Ren Ziling… didn’t know, or even if she did, her subconscious would avoid this fact.

Now at the very beginning, they needed to use the Maid’s method, assisted hypnosis to modify a small portion of memory—You Ye mentioned that using such methods too often would inevitably put a load on the brain, causing undesirable consequences.

So once he could freely control his existence, this method was no longer used (in fact, it was only used once or twice).

This was just a minor episode.

The world kept turning.

“My sesame rice rolls!!!” In the office, Lizi looked pitifully at her half-seized breakfast, glaring like a dog protecting its food, “Sister Ren! Don’t you have the loving breakfast made by your son!?”

“Eh… come to think of it, I really didn’t eat this morning?” Ren Ziling had only taken two bites when she felt something was off, but didn’t think too much about it, casually saying, “Alright, alright, I’ll help you a bit, so you won’t eat yourself into a fat pear later.”

The words “fat pear” came out, and Lizi just chuckled coldly; she was the type that couldn’t gain weight no matter what, whereas Ren Ziling, sitting in the office more often than before, seemed to have a tendency for her hips to widen.

Seeing Lizi still in her protective-dog mode, Mammy Ren, who had advanced from Deputy Editor to President Ren, rolled her eyes and pulled a chocolate candy from the drawer, tossing it over.

It was thrown out.

Unexpectedly, Lizi caught it, her agile move stunning Mammy Ren momentarily, “…You’re really a dog, aren’t you!”

“Woof woof!!” Lizi bared her teeth.

Ren Ziling sighed, helplessly returning the less-than-half breakfast, saying with a bitter smile, “With you like this, how can I feel safe living with you…”

Actually, Lizi had already agreed to move into her house to live together after Luo Qiu went abroad… President Ren was actually someone who loved excitement, even suddenly getting the idea to invite Nan Fayi too?

It was definitely just to help others, fearing that Nan Fayi, a girl, wouldn’t have anyone taking care of her, definitely not to occasionally get first-hand information from Nan Fayi.

President Ren thought of herself as really a good person… She glanced at Lizi, who was burying her head, displaying an expression of enjoyment, wondering if she should buy a dog bowl back, it might come in handy?

“Finish eating quickly; we’ll go out for an interview later.” Ren Ziling knocked on the table with a pen tip to remind, “I’ve arranged an interview with an outside investor today.”

“Got it.” Lizi casually responded.

The phone rang then. Ren Ziling glanced at the caller ID and gestured for Lizi to go out first before she answered the call.

The call was from Xiangjiang… from Uncle Qi.

“Godfather, good morning!”

“Girl, the person you asked me to find, there are some clues. Three months ago, this person boarded a snake head’s boat from Macau, heading to Thailand.”

“Thailand?” Ren Ziling was a bit stunned, then nodded.

For a person already wanted, they’d find every way to escape abroad… traveling by water from the Xiangjiang-Macau area to Southeast Asia was very common—though it was already three months ago, whether that person was still in Thailand was hard to say after three months.

But Uncle Qi was already very helpful at this point, and Ren Ziling was very grateful since she could at least explain to Wang Yuegang about it.

After chatting briefly with Uncle Qi, Ren Ziling called Wang Yuegang to inform him—after learning that his brother had gone to Thailand months ago, Wang Yuegang was silent for a moment before thanking her.

Although Wang Yuegang didn’t say much, Ren Ziling knew she had earned a favor in return.

In a good mood, Mammy Ren squinted her eyes and smiled. Not long after, Lizi packed up and knocked on the door, saying they were ready to go.

Just as they were about to leave the magazine, Akiko suddenly walked up, “Sister Ren, Sister Lizi, are you going out for an interview? Take me along?”

Ren Ziling said, “I would if I could, but the company has its rules. Akiko, you’ve passed the probation period, and you’re assigned to the typesetting and proofreading position for now. Once you’re familiar with these, we’ll consider if you can do interviews… Keep at it, I went through the same, stuck at the proofreading desk for almost four months.”

Akiko knew Ren Ziling’s guidance was good… but she really wanted to follow this time—because, the foreign businesswoman Ren Ziling and Lizi were going to interview was none other than Song Ying.

“I wonder what Miss Ying is thinking… agreeing to this interview?” Akiko sighed helplessly.

…

…

It was another new day. Wei Zidao holding two cups of coffee, knocked and walked into Liu Minghao’s room—because of the presence of the Dragon Consultant, this city was generally not receptive to Bureau Investigators staying for a long period.

However, the task for their deployment this time was technically incomplete—although they had discovered 24’s whereabouts, they were powerless to act at the moment.

“It’s been days, Bu Bugao and Wang Hu have been watching from outside the building every day, but the target hasn’t come out at all; are they planning to just wait it out?” Wei Zidao put down the cup and sat down with some frustration, “Has there been no directive from above on what we should do, Brother Hao?”

Yet Liu Minghao, frowning, seemed to be contemplating something.

Wei Zidao curiously asked: “Did something happen?”

Liu Minghao said nothing, just tossed a pile of documents in front of Wei Zidao. He took a few glances and then opened his mouth in surprise, “This is… Cizmichi?”

This file came from headquarters, telling two things—the first, that the Dragon Consultant had officially left this morning at seven, the destination being abroad, with no set return date… which, for their actions here, was not necessarily a bad thing.

But the second piece was somewhat puzzling; it was intelligence from a Management Bureau’s overseas intelligence group stating that a team of about ten mercenaries had arrived in this city.

And these mercenaries belonged to a foreign Non-Human family.

Liu Minghao nodded, “Yes, the Cizmichi Family… a member of the Vampire Thirteen Clans’ Demonic Feast Alliance.”

Wei Zidao frowned, “What’s their deal, daring to reach their hands into our country’s territory?”

Liu Minghao said, “Strictly speaking, these ten mercenaries are just ordinary people… not belonging to those agreed Non-Human creatures. From the higher-ups’ perspective, they don’t intend to formally negotiate with this family. This intelligence coming here is merely to have us keep an eye on their activities.”

Wei Zidao said reluctantly, “Where do we have the manpower? Bu Bugao and Wang Hu are also occupied with tasks…”

Liu Minghao said helplessly, “Seems like it’ll just be the two of us… plus this involves foreign forces, I’m wary of letting Bu Bugao, the newcomer, act, fearing something might go wrong.”

“Alright then.” Wei Zidao nodded, “I’ll go prepare the gear, call me when we depart.”

Liu Minghao nodded, watching Wei Zidao leave before he cleared up the files on the table.

“`

There’s actually a file here, one he didn’t show to Wei Zidao—regarding the peculiar cells he found in the police department’s forensic room last time.

These cells were sent to the provincial branch long ago, then forwarded to the capital headquarters, followed by a secret directive from headquarters instructing him to find as much information as possible about the origin of these cells.

“The Second Research Institute, what exactly are they trying to do… Why are they valuing this cell sample so much.”

Liu Minghao couldn’t help but ponder—this directive isn’t a normal higher-up command from an official channel, but secretly issued by the Second Research Institute, and they claimed confidentiality is needed, which is why he hasn’t informed Wei Zidao about this matter.

Things about the Second Research Institute flashed swiftly through Liu Minghao’s mind—along with thoughts of the First Research Institute.

The Management Bureau’s technical department is divided into the First and Second Research Institutes, and the head of the technical department is Dr. Zhao from the First Research Institute. Now, more than seventy percent of the equipment used by bureau agents comes from the First Research Institute, and quite a few are even personally designed by Dr. Zhao.

The Second Research Institute, meanwhile, leans more towards biological and pharmaceutical research—the Divine Medicine ‘Fragmentation’, one of the standard gears for agents on missions, is indeed the handiwork of the Second Research Institute.

Over the years, although the First and Second Research Institutes are both serving the Management Bureau’s technology needs, their competition underneath the surface is quite intense…

Let’s hope these two technical departments won’t stir up anything detrimental from their rivalry… Liu Minghao shook his head and, after putting on his coat, went to find Wei Zidao.

“Resources are indeed tight, maybe apply for two more people to come over…” Liu Minghao silently thought to himself, “Dong Shaofeng has already been sent to the branch for inspection, wonder if he’ll be recruited… Heh, what an interesting young man.”

…

…

Ren Ziling had already arrived at the lobby of the company she was about to interview, waiting with Lizi in the lounge.

She was going through a small notebook, jotting down additional questions that came to mind during the journey… She’s always diligent with pre-interview preparations.

“When did such a big company suddenly appear here?”

Lizi curiously observed her surroundings—a location that was one of the most expensive mature areas, and this company occupied a full four floors of this building—but going up along the way, one would find that many places on these floors seemed quite sparse; despite there being plenty of office furniture, there weren’t many people, seemingly not fully staffed.

A faint lingering smell from recent renovations still hung in the air.

“Showed up quite mysteriously.” Ren Ziling casually remarked, “I passed by this building last month, there wasn’t this company then; seems it’s popped up in just over half a month… Looks like the boss of this company isn’t short of cash.”

“And their PR work is very thorough.” Lizi remarked while looking down the hallway outside the lounge.

They weren’t the only magazine conducting interviews today; there were several others. The receptionist mentioned that it’s been like this for days, nearly all the notable media have accepted invitations.

“Ms. Ren, the general manager can see you now.” A secretary-looking girl in a skirt at this moment approached with a smile, quite polite, introducing herself, “My name is Zi Yun, assistant to the manager, pleased to work with you in the future.”

“So soon?” Ren Ziling looked slightly surprised.

Zi Yun chuckled, “Yes, please follow me… But, Miss Lizi might need to stay here since the general manager agreed to meet just you alone.”

“Only me?” Ren Ziling frowned.

Zi Yun smiled, “Because the general manager doesn’t like too many people… We’ll take good care of Miss Lizi.”

Ren Ziling nodded, then subtly moved forward to ask, “Can I ask which other outlets are interviewing today?”

The saying goes, know yourself and your enemies, business is like warfare.

“None of them.” Zi Yun smiled mysteriously, “This interview with you, Ms. Ren, is an exclusive with our general manager.”

“What?” Ren Ziling was taken aback, “But those media outside…”

Zi Yun chuckled, “They’re actually being engaged by the deputy general manager; the general manager said he’ll only grant your magazine an exclusive interview.”

…

Ren Ziling was quite perplexed. She didn’t even know this general manager and certainly didn’t think she had such prestige… As she mentally navigated through her complex web of contacts that she couldn’t fully recall, she and Lizi were led by Zi Yun to the general manager’s office.

Exclusive interview, private meeting… This tactic was quite familiar.

“Ms. Ren, you can go in by yourself.” Zi Yun stood at the door, gesturing an invitation.

Mammy Ren stood at the door, then touched a self-defense spray in her bag: Nice, brought it!

She gently exhaled a breath, nodded, and pushed the door open, stepping inside the office.

Initially, she didn’t see anyone inside… She frowned, shut the door, but casually slipped a small piece of paper into the door lock’s slot—at least ensuring the door couldn’t be locked.

Walking the path of life, she often tended to be cautious.

“Excuse me, is there someone here? I am…”

“You’re here.”

Ren Ziling opened her mouth, hearing a woman’s voice from one corner of the office. She glanced in that direction and saw a small, cozy corner arranged for relaxation.

With tatami laid, adorned with a low tea table and cushions, a casually dressed girl with long pink-purple hair sat smiling at her,

like a blooming cherry blossom.

“You… you…” Ren Ziling was stunned, lips quivering several times.

The girl with long pink-purple hair watched, seemingly amused, her mouth curling into a mischievous smile.

“Who might you be…” Ren Ziling finished her sentence.

The girl with long pink-purple hair… Song Ying’s lips still curled, resembling a crescent moon, yet now it twitched.

“Song Ying!! We’ve met before!!” She gritted her teeth, saying heavily.

Well… an intricately crafted image, gone.