Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
âHow is he?â asked Hu Mei, who was beside him.
âHeâs alright,â Jia Zizai replied.
âThatâs good,â she said.
They did not know the situation at that time. They were just worried that Wang Yao might be injured. After all, he was the key to the planâs success.
âWho was the man who died?â Hu Mei asked.
âI donât know. Maybe it was his substitute,â Jia Zizai replied.
âDoes he still have a substitute?â she asked.
Jia Zizai suddenly came up with a bold hypothesis. âItâs quite possible. Perhaps the person weâve interacted with at the company regularly might not be the real chairman.â
âHow is that possible?â Hu Mei asked. âWe meet him quite often. If it isnât him, wouldnât we have found out?â
âHeâs a substitute after all, with an emphasis on similarity, making it hard to distinguish between the true and the fake,â Jia Zizai said. âOtherwise, why would he be called a substitute? That would just be an actor.â
âWhat about his skills?â she asked.
âHe couldnât possibly have learned that, but he must know some things,â Jia Zizai said. âOtherwise, it would be easy to be exposed. Besides, with the identity of the chairman of the board of directors and the hegemonic measures he used to take, who would question him? He comes late every day and leaves late. He either stays in his office or goes out without seeing anyone. In fact, think about it. Do we really meet him a lot? Weâre only meeting him once or twice a week at most.â
âThat is to say, Chairman Zhang may not be in the company at all,â Hu Mei said. âThe person weâve been seeing these days is the substitute.â
âThatâs quite possible, but now the substitute is probably dead,â Jia Zizai said. âMr. Wangâs presence is quite effective. We havenât thought of this problem before.â
âWhat an old fox,â Hu Mei said. âBut where is he now?â
A man with a baseball cap stood on a hill near the sea somewhere in Dao. He sighed, âWhere did this strange person come from?â
âYouâre here,â a man said.
âIâm still not thoughtful enough. You found me.â The man in the hat sighed softly.
âLast night, your house was blown up, but youâre looking at the sea here,â the other man said. âYouâre in such a good mood!â
âWhat should I do? Call the police and let the other party know that Iâm still alive?â the man in the hat asked.
âWho was the person?â the other man asked.
âHe is a highly skilled person,â the man in the hat said. âAs you know, although that substitute of mine was not as strong as me, he was also a first-class master. In front of others, he could make them collapse with just a flash of his face. I donât think I can do it, and what he said...â
âWhat did he say?â the other man asked.
âHe asked me to pay my debts,â the man in the hat said.
âPay your debts? What kind of debt do you owe?â the other man asked.
âIâm in excess of debt,â the man in the hat said. âHow do I know who hired him? Is there anything going on in the company?â
âOn the surface, everything is calm and normal, but it is quite turbulent beneath the surface,â the other man said. âEveryone is investigating whether you are really dead or not, and where are you now if you are not dead.â
âThese individuals are restless,â the man in the hat said.
âDonât you know what theyâre thinking?â the other man asked. âThey would love to see you die.â
âIf Iâm dead, theyâre not going to be OK,â the man in the hat said. âKeep all those things secure for me.â
âRest assured, if there is an accident, it will be exposed immediately,â the other man said.
âThatâs good,â the man said.
The waves crashed against the rocks.
Cough! Cough The man with the baseball cap coughed incessantly.
âYou should go back and have a look,â the other man said.
âGo back? Are you also advising me to go back? My life will be gone if I go back.â The man in the hat took out a bottle of medicine from his pocket, poured out several pills, and took them.
âWith the state you are in, the more you delay, the worse you become,â the other man said.
âI know that too,â the man in the hat said.
âThe Dongying people are unreliable,â the other man said.
âThey are not my race. Iâm just using them.â The man in the baseball cap took a few deep breaths. âYouâre responsible for the experiment. Get it done as soon as possible.â
âAlright, I know,â the other man said.
âIf thereâs nothing, you can go back,â the man in the hat said. âWatch the company closely for me.â
The other man left. Not long after he walked down the hill, he got into his car, drove into the city, and walked around until he entered a teahouse.
âManager Li, itâs busy here!â In this teahouse, someone was already waiting for him. âWell, yeah, youâre quite capable, huh, seeing the chairman behind our back. Youâre the undercover he arranged among us, right?
âWhat are you saying?â Manager Li asked after pouring himself a cup of tea. âDonât make it sound so bad. I also want to make a living.â
âCan you be considered cheating on both sides as a two-sided spy?â Jia Zizai said. âYouâre not human here or there.â
âJia Zizai, I find it a miracle that you are still alive,â Manager Li said.
âWhew, youâre so full of anger. Drink some tea,â Jia Zizai said. âWhat did you think about the matters I told you last time?â
âItâs not that good,â Manager Li said. âTo tell the truth, the chairmanâs wisdom is much higher than yours and mine. What he gives me might also be given to a third person and a fourth person, but these people may not be the most reliable. In the end, he will give it to the most reliable person.â
âWho?â Jia Zizai asked.
âHow would I know?â Manager Li took a sip of tea.
âBased on your words, is there anything we can do?â Jia Zizai asked.
âI donât recommend taking action for the time being,â Manager Li said.
âWhere is the chairman now?â Jia Zizai asked.
âI donât know,â Manager Li said.
âReally?â Jia Zizai asked.
âOf course. Even if I knew it, I wouldnât tell you,â Manager Li said. âThink about it. I just met with him. If you went to him, wouldnât that be outright telling him that Iâm a traitor?â
âWell, we canât just give up like that,â Jia Zizai said. âWeâve been preparing for several years, and weâve finally gotten a good opportunity. It would be a pity if we missed it.â
âWhat? Could this all be part of his plan?â Manager Li asked.
âNot likely,â Jia Zizai said.
The man opposite was hiding something from him, so he would not reveal his greatest trump card.
âA highly skilled master has arrived in Dao,â Manager Li said.
âHow skilled is he?â Jia Zizai poured him another cup of tea.
âMore skilled than the chairman,â Manager Li replied.
âHow do you know?â Jia Zizai asked.
âThe chairman personally admitted it, so can it be fake?â Manager Li asked.
âHey, his words are hard to judge.â Jia Zizai lit a cigarette. âTell me the truth, donât you have thoughts of rebelling?â
âIâll tell you the truth,â Manager Li said. âIf I didnât have thoughts of rebelling, would I come here to see you?â
Jia Zizai shook his head and said. âYou and Hu Mei are two votes, and Iâm alone. Did you think I didnât know about you and the old man Du?â
In their company, several of the directors had formed small circles of gangs.
âAlright, shall we end it here?â Manager Li asked.
âYour sonâs illness is not better yet, right?â Jia Zizai asked. âItâs getting worse!â
The man who just got up sat down again. âWhat are you saying?â
âI know someone who can cure your sonâs illness,â Jia Zizai said.
âThatâs impossible,â Manager Li said. âI took him to seven countries. All the top doctors say he doesnât have long to live. All the treatments were just to delay his death.â
âIn that case, why donât you give it a try?â Jia Zizai asked.
âWhere is the doctor?â Manager Li asked.
âDepends on your attitude.â After Jia Zizai had finished speaking, he got up and went out.
âYou know the consequences of deceiving me,â Manager Li said.
âOf course, my blackmail material is still in your hands, isnât it?â Jia Zizai replied with a smile.