Trafford’s Trading Club

Chapter 1262: Chapter 103: Contact

“Ah hahaha! Just joking, just joking.” Ren Ziling chuckled, not at all embarrassed.

Her social skills were quite advanced, and seeing Song Ying was somewhat at a loss, she covered her mouth with her small hand, smiling mischievously, “But at first I was really startled. I thought such a big company, its CEO, if not middle-aged, at least wouldn’t be too young… and even a woman.”

Song Ying felt displeased but resisted the urge to roll her eyes, smiling and saying, “I didn’t intend to hide anything. I guess most people wouldn’t believe if I mentioned my status right away… Please, have a seat, don’t stand while talking.”

The two attractive women sat facing each other.

Ren Ziling recalled the day she met Song Ying, “Wait… didn’t you say you were majoring in performing arts?”

Song Ying blinked and said, “I did minor in theatrical performance during school, but my main job is managing family business.”

Seeing Ren Ziling starting to jot down notes, leaving no details out, Song Ying was a bit surprised. She actually liked diligent workers.

Their identities were somewhat peculiar when mentioned… Song Ying couldn’t help but ponder.

Ren Ziling worked for a company that Song Ying secretly acquired, so theoretically, she was the behind-the-scenes boss of President Ren… But the company officially belonged to Luo Qiu, and in the dramatic palace intrigue setup, Mammy Ren was like the ‘Empress Dowager’ of the new company—Song Ying was actually working for Luo Qiu.

She clearly understood the complex relationships, but Ren Ziling knew nothing about it… Yet here they sat, one conducting an interview, the other being interviewed.

Thinking about it, it was all that dead fellow’s fault… Miss Ying’s mind echoed with dissatisfaction.

“Family business?” As soon as Ren Ziling slipped into her role, she quickly set aside personal curiosity and focused on the topic: “Yes, I saw from the invitation about your company. Your company plans to make a grand entrance in the field of biotechnology. Miss Song, could you briefly introduce your company’s situation?”

“Of course.” Song Ying smiled slightly.

What followed was a straightforward yet dull Q&A session.

Ren Ziling found this young, attractive CEO of the company far from simple compared to her appearance. For her questions, Song Ying didn’t straightforwardly dodge, revealing some information but leaving more room for imagination, even cleverly handling harsh questions with minimal disclosure… This basically matched the type of interviews President Ren encountered throughout her years of career.

Unknowingly, forty minutes flew by.

Song Ying suddenly said, “…Ms. Ren, regarding more detailed information about my company, I’ll have my assistant organize a set and send it to you later.”

Ren Ziling was taken aback, instinctively glanced at her watch… Realizing the other party intended to wrap up the interview, but she had gathered enough material, even exceeded expectations, and they even proactively offered to send organized information, leaving her no room for dissatisfaction.

“In that case, I will…”

The sentence was left incomplete.

Song Ying unexpectedly asked, “May I call you Sister Ren?”

“What?”

Song Ying said gently, “For some reason, when I first saw you, I felt particularly close to you, like you’re my sister. I haven’t been here long, strictly speaking, Sister Ren, you’re the first friend I’ve made.”

This feels like being set up… Mammy Ren couldn’t help but ponder, but no matter how she thought about it, there seemed no way she was being set up?

Was the other doing PR work… But there were media far better than her little magazine out there?

As for setting up other things, there was even less possibility, Mammy Ren still had twenty years of mortgage and three years of car loan to pay off. Although she got a promotion and raise, she was still part of the miserable working dog category.

“It’s no problem.” Ren Ziling didn’t give herself much time to think, purely a social response—solely from a journalist’s angle, befriending influential individuals wasn’t a bad thing; these superficial connections might come in handy someday.

Yet as a woman, Mammy Ren suddenly sensed an intriguing sixth sense, feeling that this mysterious foreign girl investing in China seemed to have a different target than her.

“Speaking of, how did you and my son meet?” Mammy Ren recharged her intellect before probing, “By logic, you should have completed your studies abroad… How could you and Luo Qiu be classmates?”

“You guess.” Song Ying smiled faintly.

Probably met during this period… Ren Ziling started consciously pondering some issues—thinking of it, she just noticed, Luo Qiu indeed took several trips during the past year, and she didn’t clearly know what Luo Qiu had been doing since he dropped out of school.

This realization was quite odd… it’s as if she never consciously paid attention to this issue, and didn’t think of paying attention either, which seemed illogical.

People say pregnant women get silly for three years, lower intellect… Yet she didn’t even have a man?

Could it just be age catching up…

Seeing Ren Ziling’s puzzled face, Song Ying smirked, sharing words that began unfolding a vivid narrative in Ren Ziling’s mind, “Sister Ren, if I say I’m life-and-death friends with Luo Qiu, would you believe it?”

“Life…life-and-death friends!” Ren Ziling was startled, instinctively asking, “To what extent! No, what danger did you encounter… wait, is this another performance of yours?”

Song Ying smiled without a word.

Ren Ziling felt the lady had a witch-like personality, unpredictable, shaking her head slightly with some dissatisfaction, her tone cooling, “Miss Song, I’m just a humble journalist; my family is ordinary, with nothing really exciting. Although saying this might offend, I still want to say, if Miss Song sincerely intends to befriend me, even if it’s beyond my reach, I don’t mind others’ opinions. But if Miss Song just wants to have fun… then I must kindly decline.”

How does she resemble that dead fellow’s personality… flip attitudes so suddenly.

Miss Ying felt a bit counterproductive, so she said pitifully, “Sister Ren, I truly didn’t intend to tease you, it’s just he wouldn’t let me speak… I’m worried he might get angry.”

Act! Keep acting!

You’re a bad woman!

Ren Ziling was already half-suspicious, now feeling emotionally unaffected.

Song Ying felt trapped by her own actions, sighing helplessly, “Ms. Ren, sorry for all this misunderstanding… This exclusive interview is just a small compensation for deceiving you before. My acquaintance with Luo Qiu was purely by accident, I’ve no ulterior motives. Please don’t misunderstand.”

With this statement, Ren Ziling’s half-suspicious attitude leaned slightly towards belief… or rather, this seemed more reasonable.

She nodded, accepting this explanation, thinking this wealthy girl managing family business might just be having some typical heiress behaviors, more self-centered, which was normal—she didn’t intend to sever ties too harshly, only puzzled by Song Ying’s sudden softening.

“Talking things out clears the air.” Ren Ziling smiled slightly, “Miss Song, you’re busy, I know… Since the interview is over, I won’t disturb you. Of course, if Miss Song thinks of me next time and lets me interview you again, I’ll be quite happy… very grateful you accepted my interview today.”

Song Ying opened her mouth, originally intending to say something to keep her, yet couldn’t get out the words… feeling quite stuffy and uneasy—originally wasn’t supposed to be like this.

“Let me see you off.” She managed to squeeze out only this sentence from all the words she had in mind.

Just as they were about to go out, Mammy Ren suddenly turned around. Caught off guard, Song Ying heard Ren Ziling suspiciously say, “I say, you wouldn’t perhaps have a thing for that brat from my family, would you?”

“How could I ever like that damned…” Song Ying immediately cut herself off, feeling the back of her ears heat up.

“Oh~” Mammy Ren squinted her eyes. Compared to the reasonable explanation earlier, her sixth sense leaned more towards Song Ying’s expression… Mammy Ren chuckled, “But your opponent is quite formidable! However, I won’t meddle in young people’s affairs, so… good luck~”

Until Ren Ziling left gracefully, Song Ying wasn’t able to say a single word.

…

Later, Zi Yun brought over a pot of coffee, only to see Song Ying resting her chin on her hands while sitting on the cushion in the lounge area, staring out the window lost in thought.

“Ms. Ren, didn’t you find out anything about Young Master Qiu’s girlfriend?”

“What are you talking about!” Song Ying grunted lightly, displeased, “It’s not like I actually want to know! That deadbeat at least is a descendant of the Song Family, and in the future, he’ll definitely inherit the Song Family’s estate from Grandpa! Of course, I have the obligation to investigate clearly, I can’t let some questionable woman in!”

“Yes, yes, Ms. Ren is right about everything.” Zi Yun chuckled, “This is all for the Song Family!”

Song Ying gave a sideways glance, snorting, “No playing on phones anymore!”

“Can I apply to go back to school for retraining…”

“I’ll remake you first!” Song Ying coldly smiled, unexpectedly pounced on Zi Yun on the tatami mat, reaching out to tickle her.

“Ms. Ren… don’t… the instructor didn’t teach this class… ah~”

…

…

In the evening, when she returned to the apartment building, Nan Xiao Nan suddenly received a text message—she glanced at it, momentarily stunned.

The message was from Ren Ziling, asking if she wanted to stay at her place for a while, with a genuinely sincere tone.

Nan Xiao Nan was quite tempted by the offer… Knowing Ren Ziling’s actual situation, she understood that staying with this woman would significantly enhance her safety to the maximum level.

But whose idea was this exactly… did Mr. Luo approve of it?

Without figuring things out, Nan Xiao Nan didn’t plan to act rashly—she pressed the elevator button, walked into the elevator, while also pondering about the matter of Auston Pharmaceuticals.

After the cultivation tank in the underground lab exploded that night, she left amidst the chaos—the following night, she actually attempted to investigate again, but Auston Pharmaceuticals unexpectedly caught fire the night after.

She had no choice but to give up—for some reason, those who originally monitored her seemed to have withdrawn—at least, in her true sight, there didn’t seem to be any danger.

Looks like another inquiry at Auston Pharmaceuticals is in order… let’s go again tonight, Nan Xiao Nan mused as she exited the elevator and reached for the apartment door key.

Someone was inside.

Nan Xiao Nan’s pupils slightly contracted, but showing no hesitation and without pausing, she unlocked the door and entered the apartment.

She saw a man standing next to the bookshelf beside the computer desk, holding and examining a photo frame—which had previously been broken by Ren Ziling, and she later casually replaced it—this was a relic associated with the identity of ‘Nan Xiao Nan’.

She scrutinized the man.

She remembered that night, he was also in the underground lab, as Mr. Haus’s assistant—from the end of that night, she realized this man had covertly sabotaged her, and upon reflection, she had a gut feeling that the explosion of the cultivation tank was also related to him.

Seems like his name was… jimmy?

Click… clack.

She gently closed the door, placing her palm on the switch at the entrance, a faint dark red mark appeared on her hand, quietly merging into the switch.

“I don’t remember giving keys to outsiders.” She said nonchalantly.

Jimmy… ‘Tang Tianlin’ placed the frame down, turned around and, after scrutinizing for a moment, said after a pause, “Relax, Nan Fayi, I didn’t come today to deal with you.”

Nan Xiao Nan chuckled coldly, walking into the living room, “Really… I can’t tell, given the arrangement of people to kill around my house, by the masterminds, doesn’t seem to want to deal with me.”

‘Tang Tianlin’ however sat down, “I’ve withdrawn all those people, no one will be monitoring you anymore… and no one will harm you, you can rest assured.”

“Thanks a lot.”

‘Tang Tianlin’ furrowed his brow slightly, somewhat puzzled, “When did your skills improve so much, that night…”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nan Xiao Nan stood motionless.

‘Tang Tianlin’ stared at her a little longer, then shook his head, “You’ve changed, somehow… but maybe I never truly understood you.”

“I don’t understand you either.” Nan Xiao Nan said offhandedly.

‘Tang Tianlin’ thought for a moment, then suddenly said, “Haus is almost finished, Auston Pharmaceuticals is now under my control.”

“So what?”

‘Tang Tianlin’ looked at her, “You know why I was born… you were involved in the experiment back then too. My betrayal of Haus this time, you should understand.”

Dammit, who understands… she bitterly smirked inside, she was just inexplicably dragged into this sub-world, and miserably inherited the identity of ‘Nan Xiao Nan’!

“You came to find me, just to tell me about your ambitions?” She could only sneer.

‘Tang Tianlin’ shook his head, seriously, “Miss Nan, I want to invite you to participate in the experiment again. Moreover, I have already found the news about the Perfect Human Cells…”

She opened her mouth.

Perfect Human Cells are… what?