Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 923: The Snake Swallows the Elephant

"Thank you!"

Song Da quickly nodded to a passerby in front of him, as he had just learned from this person where Yuna was—inside a mixed-type tea house ahead.

Searching for someone is always difficult, but Yuna’s characteristics were so distinct that it wasn’t too hard. Song Da hurriedly made his way into the tea house.

As soon as he entered, he heard the chaotic sound of gongs and drums... What kind of third-rate opera troupe is scaring people here? Song Da frowned in disdain and looked around the hall. He quickly spotted Yuna sitting in a private room on the second floor.

He hurried up the stairs and headed toward the small private room.

At this moment, a tea house waiter pushing a cart came toward him, slightly bowing his head. Song Da didn’t pay much attention and just hurriedly passed by, quickly entering the room where Yuna was.

The young waiter of the tea house turned his head, smiled, and then disappeared—Luo Qiu.

...

"Finally, I found you."

Song Da lifted the bead curtain and immediately saw Yuna silently eating. He seemed relieved, but also slightly scolding.Frowning, he sat down and instinctively said, "It’s dangerous for you to go out like this, you know that?"

Yuna was momentarily stunned, suddenly recalling the sight of this man wearing an apron yesterday. She thought he was probably a very responsible person.

"I'm fine," Yuna shook her head and said slowly, "At least I’m feeling a little better now... It's so strange. I didn’t do anything, just ate a little food, and somehow it feels different."

Song Da opened his mouth, scratched his head, unsure how to continue. Despite Song Er and Song San being skilled with women, Song Da had always avoided them.

Partly because of the technique he practiced, and partly because he was naturally awkward around women, not knowing how to interact.

"Well, eating does make people feel better, especially when you’re hungry." Song Da nodded. "I remember when I used to train with my master, I was often punished with no dinner for being too slow. During those times, I could never cheer up... Actually, what I meant to say was, you should eat something. After all, you haven't eaten anything since yesterday. You'll starve eventually."

"Maybe," Yuna responded half-heartedly.

Even now, she still didn’t have much appetite, yet strangely enough, she could manage to eat a few of these snacks... Perhaps it was because of something that young man had said.

In fact, he hadn’t really said much at all.

But it somehow changed some of her thoughts... Thinking this, Yuna suddenly found that young man a bit mysterious.

She glanced down at the tea house’s main hall, but didn’t see the young man. Yuna put down her chopsticks and looked at Song Da, "Why did you come to find me? Is there something else?"

She used the word “else.”

To Yuna, Song Da had brought news of Natasha’s death. In truth, she didn’t feel any sorrow but rather some resentment... If Song Da hadn’t shown up, perhaps she would never have felt such pain.

However, she had no reason to blame him—so she used the word “else.”

Song Da didn’t seem to catch the nuance in her words and directly said, "It’s like this: I brought a friend with me, and he's really skilled at treating illnesses. I thought maybe he could help you, and perhaps you might recover."

Mr. Blind is really amazing! Song Da thought to himself.

However, Yuna didn’t react with the joy Song Da had expected. Instead, she seemed uninterested, frowning, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because..." Song Da opened his mouth, unable to speak the truth. However, coming up with a lie on the spot wasn’t something he was good at either.

He suddenly became speechless.

Yuna asked coldly, "Are you Natasha’s colleague?"

Song Da shook his head.

Yuna asked again, "Are you her friend? Or were you there during the disaster and couldn’t save her, so now you feel guilty?"

Song Da remained silent. He hadn’t expected that this woman, with her limited mobility, would have such keen insight, nearly uncovering the truth.

And Yuna’s words became sharper.

"I’m not fully disabled, just limited in mobility. I can take care of myself," Yuna said calmly. "I don’t need sympathy or pity, because those things won’t last a lifetime. So... you don’t need to worry about me. But I am genuinely grateful to you for bringing back Natasha’s belongings."

This won't do... Song Da gritted his teeth. If he were to leave Yuna alone now, he felt he’d lose his mind. He had thought this over thoroughly the previous night.

"You... don’t you want to stand on stage again?" Song Da said seriously. "Now you have an opportunity in front of you. If you recover, you can continue your dream! Even if you don’t, you won’t be worse off than now... Why not give yourself a chance?"

Yuna was silent for a moment before finally shaking her head, "Because... you haven’t given me a reason. That makes it hard for me to accept. To me, this world is full of countless difficulties, and I don’t have the confidence to overcome them all. So, I don’t want to receive such random help. I don’t know what kind of price I might have to pay for such help in the future."

"You don’t need to pay anything. There’s nothing required of you for treating your condition," Song Da assured her. "Once you’re better, you’ll just be better, simple as that. No strings attached."

"That makes me even more unable to accept it," Yuna shook her head, quickly propping herself up and grabbing her cane. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave. Please don’t come looking for me again."

"Wait... Think about it!" Song Da quickly stood up.

At this moment, Yuna coldly stared at Song Da and said, "There's one more thing. Just because you helped me doesn't mean you can casually pry into my privacy. It's despicable."

Song Da was speechless again, as he had indeed sneaked a look at Yuna's writings over the past few days.

It turns out there would come a day when, no matter how skilled in martial arts, words could overpower everything. This time, Song Da did not chase after her. Instead, he suddenly recalled something the old monk at the temple had said when he was still an apprentice.

"Words are the most powerful force in this worldly realm."

Song Da sighed and quietly glanced at the few steamers on the table in the small private room, thinking to himself: At the very least, the woman was willing to eat something.

He took out his phone and dialed Mr. Blind’s number.

Sounding deflated, Song Da said, "Hey, Blind one, should we head back for now?"

…

…

——"My king, how did today’s battle go?"

——"I speared several generals of the Han camp, but their numbers overwhelmed us. This is the downfall of Chu, not the fault of the war."

——"Victory and defeat in war are common. Why worry? I have wine prepared, let’s drink a few cups to ease the frustration."

On the stage, the opera titled Farewell My Concubine was being performed. The gongs and drums struck intermittently, spreading a tragic atmosphere through the music.

"Excellent!"

Suddenly, a low cheer came from another private room in the teahouse. The one cheering was a middle-aged man in a white suit with gold-rimmed glasses.

This man in white was none other than Bai Shuitang, the president of the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce. Accompanying him was a man in his late thirties, thin in appearance. This man was also surnamed Bai and was Bai Shuitang's cousin, Bai Zhan.

However, Bai Zhan seldom called Bai Shuitang "Big Brother" directly, and like everyone else, he usually addressed him as "President Bai."

Originally, this teahouse didn’t have opera performances, but Bai Zhan had arranged it to cater to Bai Shuitang’s taste by hiring a group of performers from China.

Not long after, a panicked man was brought in, holding a medium-sized bag. As soon as this man saw Bai Shuitang sitting there, he fell to his knees with a thud, his panic turning into terror as he stammered, "P-President Bai..."

"Accountant You, I heard you were planning to go on vacation?" Bai Shuitang leisurely picked up a teacup and glanced at him, saying calmly, "Do you have any good recommendations? I’ve been thinking about taking a break myself."

The man, known as Accountant You, crawled toward the table in fear, pleading, "President Bai, I was wrong! I was really wrong! Please, I beg you to let me go… If you don’t, the Song family won’t let me off!"

Bai Shuitang replied calmly, "With me here, why wouldn’t the Song family let you go?"

Gripping Bai Shuitang’s leg, Accountant You desperately pleaded, "President Bai, two days ago, Miss Sakura sent someone to the finance office to ask for the account books, along with all the receipts and payment records."

"And?" Bai Shuitang took a small sip of tea, then set the cup down, turning to fix a cold gaze on him. "Your books have always been in order, haven’t they?"

Accountant You's face turned pale, and he stammered, unable to speak. One of the men who had brought him in pulled out a gun, cocked it, and pressed the barrel against Accountant You's head.

Accountant You trembled all over, and in a fit of panic, began slapping his own face, sobbing, "It’s my fault! President Bai, I got greedy and tampered with the accounts. But it wasn’t much, really! I only took a few hundred thousand dollars, which is nothing to the Song Dynasty Group! But Miss Sakura is too sharp—she spotted such a small amount. I… I didn’t mean it, President Bai, you have to help me!"

Bai Shuitang asked coldly, "Did you hand over the ledgers and original financial documents?"

"No! I didn’t dare to!" Accountant You quickly replied. "President Bai, you know how much false accounting is in there! If I hand them over, we’ll all be implicated! So I stalled for time, saying I needed to organize them."

"Really?" Bai Shuitang snorted, interrupting him.

Terrified, Accountant You quickly corrected himself, "I mean… If I hand them over, I’ll be finished!"

Bai Shuitang leaned in close, mere inches from the man's face, and said with a regretful tone, "Accountant You, I’ve warned you so many times. We serve the Song family, and we must be diligent. Greed is unacceptable. Why didn’t you listen?"

"Yes, yes, I deserve to die. I was greedy… I deserve to die…" Accountant You hung his head, not daring to meet Bai Shuitang’s gaze.

Suddenly, Bai Shuitang grabbed him by the hair and slammed his head against the edge of the table.

BANG!

The impact knocked over several items on the table. Bai Shuitang erupted in rage, "And yet you still dared to fiddle with the accounts behind my back?!"

The blow left Accountant You dizzy, blood streaming from his nose, and even knocked out a couple of teeth.

But Bai Shuitang wasn’t done. He slammed his head to the ground again and again, shouting, "Why didn’t you listen? How many times did I tell you? WHY?! SAY SOMETHING! WHY WON’T YOU SPEAK?!"

With each hit, Accountant You was reduced to a semi-conscious state, battered and bloody.

Bai Zhan quickly stepped forward and grabbed Bai Shuitang’s arm, saying, "President Bai, killing him won’t solve anything. We should focus on how to clean up the mess."

Bai Shuitang exhaled sharply, adjusted his clothes, and replied calmly, "I’ve already arranged for someone to handle the aftermath. You don’t need to worry about it. Just focus on overseeing the Chinatown renovation project."

"Understood." Bai Zhan nodded, then glanced at the unconscious Accountant You on the ground. "What should we do with him?"

"He likes traveling, doesn’t he?" Bai Shuitang said as he sat down and resumed sipping his tea. "Send him on a trip. Chop him up and throw him into the ocean. Let him travel the world."

Bai Zhan gulped nervously but quickly waved his hand to his men, "What are you waiting for? Get to it!"

The two men swiftly dragged Accountant You away.

Now, only Bai Shuitang and Bai Zhan remained in the private room. Bai Zhan quietly asked, "Big Brother… What did you mean by ‘the aftermath is already handled’?"

Bai Shuitang looked down at the stage where Consort Yu was performing her final scene and smirked, "Farewell, My Concubine? Who’s really the king here is yet to be determined."

"This..." Bai Zhan felt a vague sense of unease but said nothing more.

Although Bai Shuitang was his cousin, some of his methods filled even family members with fear.

…

——"The Han soldiers have entered!"

——"Let me see..."

——"Ah! This—!"

As Consort Yu committed suicide, her maids helped her off the stage. The curtains fell.

Amid the applause, Luo Qiu, seated in the audience, glanced at the teahouse entrance. A middle-aged man had quietly walked in, keeping his head low.

Luo Qiu looked at his phone… The red dot on the navigation map, which had circled around for a while, had finally reached this location.

"Looks like it was just a backup plan after all…"

Luo Qiu pondered for a moment and then glanced up at the second-floor private room.