Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 933: Breakfast

That morning, Song Ying returned to work at the Song Dynasty as usual. On one hand, it was because Old Master Song had issued the order to return to the country, and she needed to arrange the internal affairs of the group within a short period, which was no small task. On the other hand, news of Song Ying being attacked had spread somewhat, and since she had also been delayed in the hospital for a while, she hadn’t appeared in the eyes of the employees at the Song Dynasty Group for a long time. Therefore, she had a reason to come back.

Of course, after experiencing these events, Song Ying was now much more cautious when going out than before, and Old Master Song had assigned Song Da for close protection, along with a small team selected from the village, who were always lurking in the shadows.

The best way to dispel rumors is to let the rumors themselves be dispelled. The moment Song Ying appeared at the group looking energetic, the claims about Miss Song being seriously injured and on the brink of death were immediately disproved.

……

“Can’t find the person?”

In the office, Song Ying frowned as she looked at her secretary, Su Mei. Su Mei was reporting to her about a missing employee from the finance department.

“There was a leave request on the desk. But I asked the department supervisor, and the supervisor said there was no signature.” Su Mei quickly explained, “Additionally, we checked the accountant's computer and found that all the data had been formatted.”

“What does the internal affairs department say?” Song Ying continuously tapped her fingers on the desk.

“They’re afraid he may have fled with the funds.” Su Mei said seriously, “Because a batch of money that was supposed to be deposited at the bank that day has disappeared.”

Song Ying let out a cold snort, causing Su Mei to become immediately silent.The accountant's sudden disappearance, along with the theft of the hotel’s daily revenue… These incidents happened after Su Mei asked Accountant You to provide the accounts for expenditures in Chinatown over the past few years.

“It seems we can only ask the chamber of commerce president. They should have a backup.” Song Ying shook her head.

Su Mei quickly replied, “I’ll inform President Bai from the chamber of commerce right away and let him prepare.”

Song Ying bit her lip lightly and suddenly said, “No need. After the temporary meeting later, prepare the car. I’ll go over directly. You’d better not tell anyone.”

Su Mei nodded… It seemed Miss Song was planning a surprise visit… Indeed, if something really went wrong, only such an unexpected visit could uncover some clues.

“Miss, you haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? I’ll have someone prepare something for you.” Su Mei continued, “There’s still some time before the meeting, and there’s a whole day’s work ahead. If you don’t eat something, you might not hold out.”

Song Ying had indeed left early that morning; it was still dawn when she set out… She was almost always the first to wake up in the Song family.

“Um… fine, let’s get something to eat.” Song Ying nodded.

Su Mei asked, “How about eggs Benedict with black coffee?”

That was a breakfast Song Ying often had—Su Mei had long memorized her preferences.

Unexpectedly, Song Ying suddenly said, “I don’t want to eat that today… How about congee? I want something lighter today; plain congee will do. Su Mei, the congee you made last time was quite good. Let’s stick with that. Is there a problem?”

Su Mei was momentarily taken aback, then hurriedly said under Song Ying’s puzzled gaze, “Okay, I’ll go prepare it right away.”

Su Mei quickly left the office, and as she closed the door, she saw Song Ying had already lowered her head to start looking through the documents piled on her desk.

“Oh no, I was too sleepy then and couldn’t quite remember the steps… But plain congee should have a similar preparation, right? There shouldn’t be any problems.” Su Mei absentmindedly walked toward the kitchen.

……

Not long after Su Mei left, a senior manager from the Song Dynasty Hotel knocked and walked in.

There wasn’t anything particularly important; he only brought a request from environmentalists, along with a proposal.

“Miss Ying, the initiator of this project is Mr. Kua Di Ke. As you know, Mr. Kua Di Ke comes from an aristocratic background and has many influential connections. He’s an environmentalist, so we need to give him some face.”

“A petition to rectify all severely polluting non-compliant factories?” Song Ying casually flipped through a few pages and then disinterestedly tossed it aside. “You handle it. After all, we don’t have much in the heavy industry sector. But these environmentalists can indeed be quite troublesome, so see what else they need, and give them something as a gesture… who knows, it might come in handy later. Hmm… ‘Green Guardians,’ is that the banner they’ve raised? How idle…”

Song Ying shook her head, not paying much attention. The senior manager, having received authorization to handle the matter, directly left the office.

At this moment, only Song Da and Song Ying remained in the office—Song Da was sitting on the sofa, sitting upright with his eyes closed, seemingly practicing breathing exercises.

Song Ying wasn’t quite used to having someone beside her who couldn’t help with work. However, her maternal grandfather, Song Tianyou, had already issued orders; even if she went to the restroom, Song Da had to wait outside.

At that moment, Song Ying received an international long-distance call.

It was a woman’s voice.

Song Ying suddenly remembered that she had asked an assistant to head to China ahead of time… But so much had happened in the past half month that she almost forgot about it.

“Oh… how did it go?” Song Ying casually asked.

“Miss Ying, I’ve successfully infiltrated the editorial office. I’m using the identity of a foreign graduate, and I’ve completed the onboarding procedures. I can start working officially tomorrow.”

“That’s good.” Song Ying nodded.

“I’ll look for an opportunity to approach the target person tomorrow. Miss Ying, don’t worry; I will definitely expose this scammer’s true colors.”

“Well, actually…”

Song Ying opened her mouth—earlier, she had quietly sent someone to China intending to investigate the person’s life closely starting from Luo Qiu’s living situation, and assess his character along the way.

But now there was no doubt about whether Luo Qiu was truly a member of the Song family… Song Ying suddenly didn’t know how to rescind that order.

“Miss Ying, actually what?”

Song Ying secretly glanced at Song Da, cleared her throat, and said, “It’s nothing; you’re doing great. Just continue with the original plan. If you need anything or have any news, contact me!”

“Okay.”

Song Ying finally breathed a sigh of relief… After all, that guy had saved her and Gan Hong, and it seemed he truly didn’t intend to ask for anything in return…

“Idiot, all day long talking about strange and nonsensical things…”

At that moment, the office door was knocked again, and Secretary Su Mei entered, holding a bowl of plain congee and some freshly made Chinese crullers by the chef.

Song Ying, who had been busy since early morning and was now famished, immediately began to eat—however, after taking a couple of sips of congee, she suddenly stopped, looking up at Su Mei in confusion, “This flavor seems a bit different?”

“Ah? Impossible! I followed the…” Su Mei exclaimed, instinctively covering her lips.

“Followed what?”

“Nothing… I meant I followed the steps to make it,” Su Mei quickly explained.

“Su Mei, are you hiding something from me?” Song Ying’s expression suddenly turned cold.

Su Mei was taken aback and had to come clean: “I’m sorry, Miss Ying. The white porridge that morning wasn’t made by me; actually... it was made by Young Master Luo Qiu himself. He was worried you wouldn’t eat and feared you’d be hungry after staying up all night, so he asked me to bring it to you... I didn’t mean to deceive you, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“This dead guy…”

...

...

This was the third time Luo Qiu had come to Chinatown. When he passed by the fruit shop where he first inquired about things, the employee who was playing on his phone actually recognized him—most importantly, he recognized Song Haoran.

“Persimmons! We just got a small batch of persimmons; do you want to buy some this time?”

The employee even remembered that time when Song Haoran and Luo Qiu planned to buy something. Song Haoran seemed to be in a good mood, so he walked into the shop, and when he came out, he was already holding a bag of persimmons.

When it was time to pay, the employee only then realized that the president of the Bai Shuitang Chamber of Commerce was standing beside him and hurriedly said that the bag of persimmons was on the house.

Song Haoran really didn’t pay anything, taking advantage of the situation with no pressure. He seemed oblivious to the fearful expression on the employee's face when he saw Bai Shuitang and joked, “President Bai, it seems I've benefited from your influence. Your reputation really works wonders in Chinatown.”

There was a double meaning in his words, which Bai Shuitang understood completely—he initially thought Song Haoran would head straight to his destination, but unexpectedly, after arriving in Chinatown, Song Haoran leisurely strolled around.

At this moment, Song Haoran took a persimmon from the bag, peeled it casually, and started eating, even handing one to Luo Qiu, saying, “It’s quite sweet, try it.”

“Indeed.” Luo Qiu accepted without reservation.

Just then, Bai Shuitang walked over to Song Haoran and said quietly, “Young Master, I think it's about time. If we take too long, I’m afraid they’ll notice you, and it will be difficult to find these people next time if they run away.”

Song Haoran nodded. “That’s true... Where did you say the place was?”

Bai Shuitang replied, “It’s in a restaurant not far behind on this street. They’ve been keeping an eye on a particular room... The restaurant is called Tianxiang Lou.”

Song Haoran nodded and turned around, saying, “Did you hear that? Tianxiang Lou, let’s take care of this.”

At this moment, O'Neil, who was following behind Song Haoran, grinned and said, “Okay, I’ll go right now!”

With that, O'Neil walked into the crowd while pulling out his phone, talking about something… Bai Shuitang wanted to listen in but he had already walked far away.

Song Haoran then draped his arm around Luo Qiu’s shoulder, grinning, “Just a few small fries. Let’s wait for good news here… President Bai, don’t you think?”

“Of course!” Bai Shuitang smiled, “I was just too anxious, thinking you’d take matters into your own hands… Haha. Actually, this is better; we can just sit and wait for good news… How about we go to the tea house in front for some tea? At this hour, we can still catch a performance, wouldn’t that be nice?”

But Song Haoran said, “I don’t like watching opera... President Bai, is that place still open?”

“What place?” Bai Shuitang didn’t react at first.

Song Haoran squinted and smiled, “The Red Building. I brought Luo Qiu out today specifically to take him to the Red Building for some fun. Catching people is just a side job.”

Before Bai Shuitang could respond, Luo Qiu asked curiously, “What is the Red Building?”

Song Haoran said with a mischievous look, “If we use ancient terminology, it’s a pleasure house~ Exciting, isn’t it?”

Luo Qiu froze; he obviously knew the meaning of a pleasure house... he just had never been to such a place.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like it?”

“Not at all, let’s go,” Luo Qiu thought for a moment and agreed.

This caught Song Haoran by surprise; he said incredulously, “How strange, I thought you’d try to skip the topic and act like you didn’t hear it. I didn’t expect you to actually agree; that’s unexpected… Aren’t you breaking the mold?”

Luo Qiu casually said, “I thought maybe I could see a lotus flower in the mud... with that in mind, there’s no reason to refuse.”

“Is that so…” Song Haoran thought for a moment and nodded, “Emerging from the mud and not stained, so you like this type? But it’s easy to find someone with a pure appearance, but difficult to find someone whose heart is also pure... Let’s do our part and leave the rest to fate. President Bai, aren’t you going to lead the way? My uncle treats Luo Qiu like a treasure, don’t let him down. Otherwise, you’ll be in trouble!”

“Young Master, Mr. Luo, please follow me. I’ll have someone prepare everything right away!” Bai Shuitang adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses with a smile.

He then made a call, speaking seriously, “Hello, it’s me. Go to the Red Building right away and prepare for me, just say I have important guests wanting to have some fun inside. Make sure the best treasures are brought out! Remember, they are the most important guests, don’t let them down!”

It didn’t take long for the phone call to give results, and Bai Shuitang smiled, “Young Master, I’ve already sent someone to prepare... Shall we go over now?”

“Not in a hurry.” Song Haoran suddenly shook his head, “Since we’re already here, I’ll go to the Chamber of Commerce building first to offer some incense and ask for blessings from the divine.”

“That’s true.” Bai Shuitang agreed.

...

However, what surprised Song Haoran was that as soon as they arrived at the Chamber of Commerce, they ran into Song Ying at the entrance—this time, Song Ying arrived in the company bus along with Song Da and Su Mei, followed closely by a team responsible for protecting Song Ying.

“Uncle, and…” Song Ying pouted, purposely skipping the rest of the words after ‘and,’ “What are you doing here?”

Song Haoran shifted his gaze and said, “Luo Qiu said his stomach was a bit uncomfortable and wanted to grab some traditional medicine, so I came with him… How about you? Looking for President Bai for something?”

Song Ying secretly glanced at Luo Qiu, who was slowly walking up behind them, but when she met his gaze, she quickly turned back to Bai Shuitang, saying, “Second Uncle, I have something I’d like to discuss with you, do you have time?”

“This…” Bai Shuitang looked a bit troubled as he glanced at Song Haoran.

Song Haoran shrugged, “President Bai, this is important. Xiao Ying is looking for you on business, you should help her first.”

“Well… alright.” Bai Shuitang nodded decisively, “Little Ying, come with me; let’s go to my office first.”

Song Ying nodded, just as Luo Qiu walked over and greeted Song Ying, “Song Ying, you’re here too.”

Song Ying shot Luo Qiu a glare and noticed he was still holding a persimmon, “Stomach hurts and you’re still eating persimmons; serves you right if it hurts!”

Luo Qiu: “??”

Song Ying huffed and followed Bai Shuitang inside.

Luo Qiu then looked at Song Haoran, “Stomach hurts?”

“She’s feeling unwell today.” Song Haoran said seriously, “Her mood is a bit down.”

But I’m the one eating persimmons… what does that have to do with my stomach ache??