Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 1259: We’ve Met Before!

Luo Qiu had not returned the entire night. Naturally, Ren Ziling… didn’t know. Or even if she did, her subconscious would automatically avoid acknowledging that fact.

Back in the earlier days, Miss Maid’s abilities had been needed to assist with hypnosis and modify small portions of memory—You Ye once said that using such methods too often would eventually burden the brain and cause negative effects.

So once Luo Qiu was able to freely control her perception of his existence, that method was no longer used afterward (in fact, it had only been used once or twice).

Just a small interlude.

The world continued turning.

“My sesame rice rolls!!!” In the office, Li Zi pitifully stared at the breakfast that had half been stolen from her, guarding it like a snarling dog. “Sister Ren! Don’t you usually have those love-filled breakfasts from your precious son?!”

“Huh… now that you mention it, I guess I really didn’t eat this morning?” Ren Ziling had eaten two bites before the odd feeling hit her, but she didn’t think too hard about it. She casually brushed it off. “Fine, fine, I’ll help lighten your load a bit. Otherwise you’ll turn into a fat pear in the future.”

The moment she said fat pear, Li Zi only gave two cold laughs. She was the type who wouldn’t gain weight no matter how much she ate. Ren Ziling, on the other hand, had been spending more time in the office lately, and her hips seemed to have grown a little…

Seeing that Li Zi still looked like a guard dog, Auntie Ren—who had been promoted from deputy editor-in-chief to Ren-general—rolled her eyes. She dug out a chocolate from her drawer and threw it like tossing food to an animal.

Li Zi actually caught it mid-air. Her reflexes were so good that Auntie Ren was stunned. “...You really are part dog!”“Woof woof!!” Li Zi bared her teeth.

Ren Ziling sighed and returned the less-than-half breakfast with a bitter smile. “With you like this, how am I supposed to feel at ease living with you?”

Li Zi had already agreed—in Luo Qiu’s absence, she would move in and live with Ren Ziling… Ren was someone who loved lively environments, and suddenly she had the idea that since Li Zi was moving in, why not invite Forensic Nan too?

It was absolutely out of kindness—worried that a girl like Forensic Nan had nobody to take care of her. It definitely was not because Ren wanted access to first-hand information from Nan all the time.

Auntie Ren felt she was really a good person… She glanced at the blissfully munching Li Zi and wondered whether she should buy a dog bowl. It might actually come in handy.

“Hurry up and finish. We’re heading out for an interview soon.” Ren tapped her pen on the desk. “We’ve scheduled an interview with an outside investor today.”

“Got it.” Li Zi replied casually.

Just then the phone rang. Ren Ziling glanced at the caller ID and signaled for Li Zi to head out. Only then did she answer.

The call was from Hong Kong… from Uncle Seven.

“Godfather, good morning!”

“Girl, I found some leads on the person you asked me to look for. Three months ago, he boarded a snakehead ship from Macau and went to Thailand.”

“Thailand?” Ren froze for a moment, then nodded.

For wanted criminals already under arrest warrants, fleeing overseas was common… traveling from Hong Kong or Macau by sea to Southeast Asia was also common—though this happened three months ago, so there was no guarantee the person was still in Thailand.

But Uncle Seven being able to trace things this far was already a huge favor. At least she had something to report to Wang Yuegang.

After chatting for a bit, Ren called Wang Yuegang and informed him. Learning that his younger brother had fled to Thailand months ago, Wang was silent for a moment, then thanked her.

He didn’t say much, but Ren knew that she had earned a big favor.

Feeling pleased, Auntie Ren smiled like a cat. Not long after, Li Zi came knocking, fully equipped.

As they were leaving the magazine office, Akiko walked up. “Sister Ren, Sister Li Zi, you’re heading out for an interview? Take me with you?”

“I’d like to,” Ren said, “but the company has rules. Akiko, you just passed probation. Your position is typesetting and proofreading. Once you're more familiar with things, we can consider letting you join interviews… hang in there. I spent almost four months squatting at the proofreading desk before I got to go out.”

Akiko knew Ren meant well… but this time she really wanted to tag along—because today’s interviewee wasn’t anyone else but Song Ying.

“I still don’t get what Miss Ying is thinking… She actually agreed to an interview?” Akiko sighed helplessly.

…

A new day again. Wei Zidào entered Liu Minghao’s room with two cups of coffee. Thanks to Dragon Consultant’s presence, this city rarely allowed Management Bureau agents to linger long-term.

But the two had not technically completed their mission—although they had located 24’s movements, they couldn’t act yet.

“It’s been days. Bu Bugao and Wang Hu have been watching outside the building nonstop, but the target hasn’t appeared. Are they planning to just keep dragging this out?” Wei placed the cups down and sat, frustrated. “No instructions from above on how to proceed, Brother Hao?”

Liu Minghao frowned deeply.

“What happened?” Wei Zidào asked.

Liu Minghao tossed a stack of documents to him. After skimming through them, Wei’s eyes widened. “This is… the Čimir family?”

The report from headquarters actually contained two things—

First: Dragon Consultant had officially left the city this morning at 7 a.m., heading abroad, return date unknown. A good thing for their mission.

Second: the intelligence division abroad had sent a report—ten mercenaries had arrived in this city. They belonged to a foreign non-human family.

Liu Minghao nodded. “Yes, the Čimir family… a member family of the Thirteen Vampire Clans’ Banquet Alliance.”

Wei Zidào frowned. “What the hell? They dare reach into our territory?”

“Technically,” Liu Minghao said, “these ten mercenaries are ordinary humans… so they don’t violate any non-human accords. Headquarters doesn’t intend to formally confront the Čimir family. This intel is just to warn us to monitor their actions.”

Wei Zidào grimaced. “But we’re short-handed. Bu Bugao and Wang Hu already have tasks…”

“Looks like it’s just the two of us,” Liu Minghao sighed. “And since this involves foreign forces, I’m not comfortable letting the rookie Bu Bugao handle it.”

“Alright.” Wei Zidào stood. “I’ll prep our gear. Call me when we head out.”

After Wei Zidào left, Liu Minghao gathered the documents on the desk.

There was one file he didn’t show Wei Zidào—the one about the strange cell sample he found in the police forensic room last time.

That sample had long been sent to the provincial branch, then forwarded to headquarters in Beijing, and now a secret directive had come back—he was to locate more information about the cell’s origins.

“What exactly is the Second Research Institute planning… Why do they care so much about this sample?”

Liu Minghao couldn’t help sinking into thought—this directive hadn’t come through normal channels, but had been sent privately by the Second Research Institute, and they had explicitly demanded secrecy. That was why he hadn’t told Wei Zidào anything about it.

His mind quickly went over everything related to the Second Research Institute—and naturally, the First Research Institute came to mind as well.

The Management Bureau’s Technology Division was split into the First and Second Research Institutes. The overall head of the division was Dr. Zhao, who came from the First Institute. More than seventy percent of the equipment currently used by Management Bureau field agents came from the First Institute, and many were even designed personally by Dr. Zhao.

The Second Institute, on the other hand, leaned more toward biology and pharmaceuticals—for example, the miracle drug Duanpian, a standard item issued to agents during missions, was developed by the Second Institute.

Over the years, although the First and Second Institutes were both responsible for supplying tech to the Bureau, their private competition had been extremely intense…

Liu Minghao hoped the two tech departments wouldn’t cause trouble because of their internal rivalry. Shaking his head, he put on his coat and went to find Wei Zidào.

“We really are short on manpower. Maybe I should request two more people…” Liu thought to himself. “Dong Shaofeng has already been sent to the branch office for examination. Wonder if they’ll take him in… hehe, that interesting young man.”

…

…

Ren Ziling had already arrived at the company where the interview would take place. She and Li Zi were waiting inside the reception lounge.

She was looking at her small notebook, jotting down a few more questions that had come to mind on the way… she had always been very thorough with pre-interview preparation.

“When did such a big company pop up here?”

Li Zi looked around with curiosity. This area was practically the most expensive, fully developed district in the city, and this company occupied four whole floors of the building. But walking up, she noticed that much of the office space looked empty. Even though there were plenty of desks, the number of employees seemed small—clearly not full yet.

There was even a faint lingering smell of fresh renovation in the air.

“It popped up pretty mysteriously,” Ren Ziling said casually. “I walked past this building last month and this company wasn’t here. Must’ve appeared within the last couple of weeks… the boss of this company really isn’t short on money.”

“And their PR work is thorough too.” Li Zi glanced at the hallway outside the lounge.

They weren’t the only magazine scheduled to interview today. There were several others. The receptionist had mentioned earlier that it had been like this for days—pretty much every well-known media outlet had accepted the invitation.

“Miss Ren, the general manager can see you now.” A neatly dressed young woman in a business suit approached with a polite smile. “My name is Ziyun, assistant to the manager. Please take care of me.”

“That fast?” Ren was a little surprised.

Ziyun smiled. “Yes, please follow me… Oh, but Miss Li Zi will need to stay here. The general manager only agreed to meet you.”

“Only me?” Ren frowned slightly.

“The general manager doesn’t like too many people in the room,” Ziyun explained politely. “We’ll take good care of Miss Li Zi.”

Ren nodded, then leaned in to whisper, “Can I ask—are the other media outlets interviewing together with me?”

Know yourself and know your rivals; peers are competitors.

“No,” Ziyun said with a mysterious smile. “This time, our general manager is giving you an exclusive interview.”

“What?” Ren was stunned. “But those other media outlets outside…”

Ziyun simply smiled. “Those are being received by our deputy general manager. The general manager said he would only accept your magazine’s exclusive interview.”

…

Ren was baffled. She didn’t know this general manager at all, and she certainly didn’t think she had the kind of influence to earn an exclusive interview… While trying to analyze the complicated connections she could barely remember, she and Li Zi were led by Ziyun to the general manager’s office.

Exclusive interview… meeting alone… This setup felt very familiar.

“Miss Ren, please go in on your own.” Ziyun stopped at the door and made a polite gesture.

Auntie Ren stood at the entrance, reaching into her bag to check the pepper spray inside. Oh good—it was there.

She let out a slow breath, nodded, and pushed the door open.

But she didn’t see anyone inside at first glance… She frowned and closed the door—though not fully. She slipped a tiny piece of paper into the latch to keep it from locking. In this line of work, she tended to be cautious.

“Hello? Anyone here? I’m—”

“You’re here.”

Ren Ziling blinked. A woman’s voice came from the corner of the office. She turned and saw that a small rest area had been set up there—tatami mats, a low tea table, and cushions.

A girl with casual clothes and long pastel-purple hair sat there, smiling at her.

She looked like a blooming sakura blossom.

“You… you…” Ren Ziling stared, her lips moving several times.

The pastel-purple-haired girl watched her reaction with a hint of pride, her lips curving into a sly grin.

“And who were you again…” Ren Ziling finished.

The pastel-purple-haired girl—Song Ying—kept her smile shaped like a crescent moon… except this time, it was twitching.

“Song Ying!! We’ve met before!!” she ground out through clenched teeth.

And thus, all the elegance she had tried so hard to project just collapsed.

(End of Chapter)