Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 837

It seems that once one find a target, one become more proactive.

Caroline had this feeling—she began to examine Room 403 carefully, exploring it for the first time.

She walked to the wardrobe and opened it, looking at the clothes inside… this must be 403’s wardrobe. You can usually get a sense of a person's character from their clothing style.

Caroline had some confidence in her ability to do this—not from formal study, but from practical experience. As for what kind of practical experience, well, you can guess that yourself.

403 probably used to be a cheerful and sunny person… Caroline flipped through the clothes one by one.

Suddenly, a photo slipped out from one of the garments. It was a picture of a man and a woman, the man was handsome and the woman was beautiful.

It was a photo of them embracing each other, taken at sunset—a nostalgic memento.

The man clearly wasn’t "Arnold" or "Hailey" because he had a different appearance… could this be 403? Is this what he used to look like?

Caroline couldn't help but think of 403's current terrifying appearance: his face wrapped in white bandages, with only bloodshot eyes, a bit of scalp, and some hair exposed.

She sat down at the desk. Unlike Arnold’s neat desk, this one was a bit messy. Due to not being used for a long time, a thin layer of dust had settled on the books on the shelf.Caroline casually pulled out a book and opened the first page, where a name was written—a personal mark, indicating this was 403’s real name.

Caroline placed the photo beside the name written on the page. Looking at the man's bright smile in the picture, she softly read the name: Lucas.

Lucas…

Caroline leaned back in the chair, holding the electric baton 403 had given her, making herself feel a bit safer, and began thinking about her next move.

Revenge was a very tempting suggestion.

…

When "Arnold" returned to the dormitory, it was already past six in the morning. "Arnold" looked somewhat tired.

As soon as he opened the door and turned on the light, his eyes immediately fell on Caroline, who was sitting on the bed, hugging her knees, looking as if she hadn't slept all night.

Seeing "Arnold" return, Caroline quickly got off the bed and rushed toward him, grabbing his arm anxiously, "Where have you been? I thought something happened to you, and I was wondering whether I should go out and look for you."

"I… I just went from the library" "Arnold" said, surprised by how tightly Caroline was holding his arm. "You waited for me all night?"

Caroline nodded silently, "I was too scared to go out, but you didn’t come back. I was afraid that boss Boston had come after us. I didn’t even dare to turn on the lights..."

A vulnerable woman can easily stir a man's emotions.

"Arnold" patted the back of Caroline’s hand and smiled, "I was feeling a bit down, and with exams coming up, I thought I should review. Before I knew it, I lost track of time… I won’t do that again."

Caroline nodded and casually said, "No wonder you're so good at your grades, you're really a bookworm."

"Arnold" gave an embarrassed smile.

Caroline poured "Arnold" a cup of warm water, then yawned and said, "Now that you're back, I can relax... Oh, there's some food in the microwave. If you're hungry, just heat it up. I just threw things together, so it might not taste great."

"Arnold" was momentarily stunned and instinctively glanced at the microwave, about to say something, but Caroline had already climbed into bed, lying down lazily, completely unguarded, and mumbled sleepily, "I can't do this anymore, I'm so tired... Do whatever you need."

"Arnold" stared blankly at Caroline's back.

Holding the water cup, he stood there for a long time before silently opening the microwave. Inside was a bowl of pasta that had been left too long and had gone mushy.

He took the bowl, sat down, and quietly ate.

Quietly, silently, bite by bite... slowly, slowly.

...

In the morning, Mr. Alfie came downstairs feeling groggy. He hadn’t slept well all night.

Barbara seemed to have been busy in the kitchen for a while. When she saw Mr. Alfie coming down, she quickly wiped her hands on her apron and approached him, looking concerned, "Sir, you're awake?"

Mr. Alfie frowned and asked, "Has he... hasn't he come out yet?"

Barbara nodded, "Since last night when you said to lock Mr. Franky in, he hasn't stopped. I fell asleep because I was so tired, and when I checked this morning, Mr. Franky was still in there, working alone."

Mr. Alfie sensed something was wrong and rushed outside, quickly arriving at the workshop behind the yard. Through the window, he saw Dr. Franky pacing inside, holding a football.

On the walls, the floor... everywhere, the chalk formulas seemed to have multiplied since last night.

Dr. Franky muttered to the football, but Mr. Alfie couldn't hear what he was saying. He hurriedly unlocked the door and went inside.

Dr. Franky didn’t seem to notice, continuing to mutter incomprehensible formula conversions and experimental data.

"That's enough." Mr. Alfie said, his voice filled with pain. "That's enough, already! I've arranged for you to return to the research institute, isn't that enough?"

Dr. Franky acted as if he hadn't heard, but then suddenly seemed to think of something. He abruptly threw the football aside, grabbed a piece of chalk, and started writing on the table again.

"Have you really gone mad?" Mr. Alfie muttered to himself, but the next moment, his face turned to one of horror!

Dr. Franky had picked up a cup and taken a drink, then put it back down... It seemed like the casual action of a man deeply absorbed in his work, drinking water.

But the contents of the cup... Mr. Alfie was shocked and rushed forward. Under the table, he saw a container—a container filled with cleaning solution.

"Spit it out! Father, spit it out!!" Mr. Alfie cried in alarm, shaking Dr. Franky desperately.

At this moment, he finally noticed that Dr. Franky's face was unusually pale, and his lips were colorless.

"Stop bothering..." Dr. Franky glared at Mr. Alfie, but before he could finish his sentence, he began foaming at the mouth and collapsed on the ground, his body convulsing.

Mr. Alfie quickly picked up Dr. Franky and rushed out of the workshop. At that moment, Barbara came out carrying a tray of breakfast, and seeing the scene, she was so frightened that she dropped everything. "Sir! What happened?"

"He drank cleaning solution, probably quite a bit..." Mr. Alfie said hurriedly, "Go get my car keys!"

Barbara ran upstairs in a panic.

Mr. Alfie's car sped out of the driveway at high speed. His hands trembled as they gripped the steering wheel, his lips quivering as he alternated between watching the road ahead and glancing back at the unconscious Dr. Franky in the passenger seat, breathing heavily.

Suddenly, Mr. Alfie remembered something and used the car's built-in phone to make a call to his workplace.

"Good morning, sir..."

"You have five minutes to have the traffic police close off the road from my house to the hospital! I need a clear path!! That's an order!!"

With that, Mr. Alfie hung up and stared anxiously ahead. "Please, nothing must happen to you..."

The power of the security department was immense, so much so that the streets of Rio suddenly experienced a morning traffic jam as multiple traffic lights on major streets turned red. Yet, a single black private car sped through, recklessly running through red lights one after another.

"Doctor!! Doctor!!! Someone, help!!!"

Nearly roaring, Mr. Alfie carried Dr. Franky in his arms and rushed into the hospital.

In the hospital lobby, still dressed in pajamas and slippers, his face pale, Mr. Alfie, cradling his father, felt the world spinning around him. "Doctor!!!!"

Emergency personnel rushed out with a stretcher, quickly placing Dr. Franky on it, with Mr. Alfie following closely behind, all the way to the emergency room.

He watched as the emergency room light turned on, then collapsed to the floor, sliding down the wall in exhaustion, utterly defeated.

A short while later, Barbara hurriedly arrived at the hospital and soon found Mr. Alfie sitting on the floor outside the emergency room. She helped him up and said, "Sir... it’s going to be okay. He will be fine."

Mr. Alfie silently glanced at Barbara. He stared at the corridor lights, took a deep breath, and slowly said, "It was the same back then..."

"Sir?"

Mr. Alfie smiled bitterly, "Maggie, my wife. She was in there, and I couldn’t do anything. And today... Barbara, do you think I made a mistake?"

Barbara didn't know how to comfort him, so she quietly patted his shoulder and said, "Sir, I brought you some clothes. Why don’t you change first... I saw a lot of reporters outside."

As a prominent public figure in the country, Mr. Alfie was easily recognizable.

On any other day, he would have avoided such situations, but now he didn’t care. He shook his head, "There are security guards at the door, they won’t let the reporters in easily... Barbara, don't tell Louis about this for now. Let’s see how things go."

Barbara nodded.

After a long while, the light above the emergency room finally turned off, and the doctor came out, removing his mask. Mr. Alfie hurriedly approached to ask about the situation.

"He's fine now," the doctor smiled. "Thankfully, he was brought in just in time. We performed a gastric lavage, and now we just need to wait for him to wake up. But given the patient's age, be more careful in the future so he doesn't accidentally ingest anything again. Luckily, it was just regular cleaning solution this time. If it had been something like pesticide, it would have been much worse."

"Thank you, doctor," Mr. Alfie said gratefully.

The doctor shook his head and respectfully replied, "No need to thank me, Mr. Alfie, it's my duty... But you might want to change your clothes."

Clearly, the doctor had recognized Mr. Alfie, the Minister of Security, still dressed in pajamas and slippers.

Mr. Alfie nodded, then took the phone Barbara handed him. Now that Dr. Franky was out of danger, he needed to address the road closures. This was technically an abuse of authority, but at this point, Mr. Alfie could only try to minimize the impact.

...

"Young Master, please have some tea."

Gan Hong respectfully brought a cup of warm water and, after setting it down, stood quietly by the side—reminding Luo Qiu of the old-fashioned maid roles from earlier eras.

In fact, having people follow him everywhere was something Luo Qiu had long grown accustomed to. However, the current situation was quite different from what he had experienced in the past.

"—Local news: Rio experienced a traffic jam this morning..."

A line of text scrolled across the bottom of the television screen, but the main news being broadcast was of little concern to those present.

"Alright, I'm heading out now," Song Haoran said as he finished the rest of his fried dough stick, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and stood up.

Luo Qiu shifted his gaze away from the TV and nodded at Song Haoran, "Safe travels."

After watching Song Haoran leave, Song Tianyou turned to Luo Qiu and asked, "Luo Qiu, I'm going to the Buddhist hall next. Would you like to come with me?"

The Cold Residence was large, and having a Buddhist hall was not unusual. Seeing Luo Qiu's curiosity, Uncle Wu explained, "The master has a daily habit of chanting scriptures."

Luo Qiu shook his head, "I think I'll pass."

Song Tianyou didn't press the matter, as it was a personal practice. He nodded, "Alright. If you feel bored, you can ask Gan Hong to show you around. She will make arrangements."

And so, the scene where Gan Hong stood quietly after bringing warm water unfolded.

Luo Qiu, setting aside the History of the Ming Dynasty in his hands, looked curiously at Gan Hong and asked, "Did I ask for anything?"

Gan Hong quickly replied, "If I wait until you say something, it will be too late, so I thought it would be better to bring it to you in advance."

Luo Qiu nodded and then lowered his head to continue reading.

Suddenly, Gan Hong asked, "Young Master Qiu, aren't you curious?"

"Curious about what?"

Gan Hong bit her lip and said, "About what happened on the train..."

Luo Qiu casually replied, "The Song family is not simple, so I’m not really curious anymore. You appeared twice, and there must be a reason for that... Sit down; don’t just stand there. There’s no one else here."

"I can't do that," Gan Hong quickly shook her head. "I’m your servant now; it would be improper."

Luo Qiu was surprised. "It seems the Song family still maintains many unnecessary traditional rules. Don't you find that annoying?"

Gan Hong said slowly, "My life was given to me by the Song family. I will do whatever the master asks me to do."

"What if he were to give you to me?" Luo Qiu asked, looking up.

Gan Hong nodded seriously and replied, "But Young Master Qiu, you didn’t refuse, did you?"

Luo Qiu shook his head. "I just thought that if I directly refused in front of so many people, it would be quite embarrassing for you as a girl. I will talk to Old Master Song later and come up with some reason to let this matter fade away."

Gan Hong stared blankly at Luo Qiu.

Luo Qiu smiled and said, "With so many people watching, it must be uncomfortable for you."