It was almost 9 or 10 in the evening.
Cao Ziqian was still sitting in his office.
The babysitter he hired was excellent, she could be trusted to take care of his child.
The light outside his office was on, Cao Ziqian just remembered that his secretary was still there, waiting for his orders.
His secretary was quite a hard working young fellow.
Just as Cao Ziqian intended to allow his secretary to leave, the door to his office opened.
Two people came in. They were the panicked secretary and the familiar…Jin Zifu.
The secretary said in fright: "Manager… the chairman…I…"
"It’s nothing, you can go home." Cao Ziqian said calmly.
The secretary hurried out of the room and , after tidying his things, left quickly. As the sound of footsteps faded, Cao Ziqian said: "Dad, why don’t you have a rest at home? It’s better to sleep early at your age and stop worrying about the factory issues."
"Hum…you certainly wouldn’t want me to come, it would be better if I stopped appearing here forever, wouldn’t it? The chairman is only a title, in reality the factory is already yours."
Cao Ziqian frowned and sat down: "Dad, don’t worry about the business here. And I’ve saved enough money for you for your retirement. Plus we have a house up north, maybe you can live there. Take it as a vacation."
"We?" Jin Zifu laughed grimly: "Phew! Don’t call me dad! I’m not your dad! Cao Ziqian, we are no longer family ever since you took my factory! I promoted you and even gave my daughter to you, but unexpectedly you wanted to steal my factory! Do you think I no longer have any power here?"
Cao Ziqian took a deep breath: "Dad, so you knew…Don’t do anything you shouldn’t do. I don’t want to destroy our relationship and call the security guards."
Jin Zifu fished out the documents on him with a sneer: "You haven’t dared to release this to the public yet, have you? They’re in my hands! I still own this factory! We’ll see whom the security guards will listen to? Have a look at the documents!"
While saying this, Jin Zifu threw the documents on the table.
Cao Ziqian had a glance at them, it turned out they were all photocopies…but he knew Jin Zifu should not have the photocopies.
"That’s impossible…The documents are actually locked in my steel safe at the bank!" Cao Ziqian said emotionally.
"There’s nothing impossible in the world." Jin Zifu snorted, "If you understand, get out of here now. I never want to see you again! I’ll let you off just this once due to your contribution to the factory!"
"Old fart… you push me too far!"
Cao Ziqin raised his head, rushed over to Jin Zifu, and pushed him over.
He pressed Jin Zifu’s down and squeezed his throat: "A way? Do I have a way? How did you treat me all these years? You borrowed a large amount of money from the bank in my name without any way of returning it! Plus you’ve lost all your property through ceaseless gambling! Without my efforts, this factory would have went bankrupt a long time ago! So I won’t let you rob what is rightfully mine!
"You…you…" As Jin Zifu struggled, he reached to his pocket stealthily.
He never thought Cao Ziqian would lose his mind and pounced on him. Now, Jin Zifu regretted that he came up alone.
He finally found his pistol!
While pulling out his pistol shakily, he aimed at Cao Ziqian’s waist. Once he pulled the trigger, he could escape the clutches of death.
However, just then, his pistol disappeared.
"Mr. Cao, if you strangle him, you’ll have nothing left. Don’t you want to accompany your child during his birthday?"
A slow voice resounded through the office.
Cao Ziqian was shocked, he then let go Jin Zifu’s throat, standing up with a panic, looking towards the source of the voice.
"It’s you!"
Cao Zifu screamed, his eyes was full of fear.
Because he saw Luo Qiu and You Ye…but he remembered clearly that they had been killed.
The gun! It was that woman who grabbed his gun!
Jin Zifu was too panicked to do anything after realizing the USP45 was in You Ye’s hand.
"That’s impossible! You two…No way! No way! No…way!" Jin Zifu trembled, and continued moving backwards.
Luo Qiu said quietly: "Mr. Jin, do you remember we haven’t completed the deal? Didn’t your grandfather tell you the club’s rules? Because you didn’t fulfill your promise, I have the right to confiscate the goods you want."
Jin Zifu said in a quivering voice due to fright: "No way! I’ve destroyed all the documents the first time!"
Luo Qiu picked up all the messy documents, then smiled: "Do you mean these white papers?" No problem, you can destroy as many as you want."
Those documents filled with details and signatures instantly became pure white papers.
After watching this, Jin Zifu went crazy—so did Cao Ziqian, who was totally astonished.
He wondered how did the young man and the woman came in…and why did the documents magically went blank.
"You…you liars!" Jin Zifu roared: "You lied to me from the very beginning! You broke the promise!!"
Luo Qiu said calmly: "I think Mr. Jin broke the promise first. You have been lying to us ever since you came into the club, haven’t you?"
By looking at speechless Jin Zifu, Luo Qiu said slowly: "You can lie using any means but your eyes will always betray you. Actually I believed your words that Cao Zifu usurped your factory and you’d like to take it back for the workers…but I didn’t feel any sincerity at all from your eyes. In addition, when people are lying, they will expose some little actions unconsciously."
"So you doubted me just because of this?" Jin Zifu felt inconceivably.
Luo Qiu said: "I only suspected you the first time. It was not until I came over here did I discovered the truth…um, those are not important now."
Then Luo Qiu shifted his focus on Cao Ziqian: "The most important point is, I met your factory manager."
After saying that, Luo Qiu walked to the office table, "First, I remembered Mr. Jin said your daughter died of an accident several years ago, but her photo was still set there."
In the photo, there was a woman was holding a newborn baby with a happy smile.
"The photo proves that Mr. Cao is a sentimental man. That gave me a good impression. So I’m more interested in the so-called "bastard" described by Mr. Jin."
Jin Zifu couldn’t say a word.
Then Luo Qiu said: "His table was full of documents, and he was working when I came here in the afternoon. Moreover, the quilt and pillow on the sofa shows Mr. Cao often rest here, even sometimes sleeping. Furthermore, he hired a male secretary."
"There is no reasonable explanation besides that he works too hard and often loses track of time, thus has to sleep here…" Luo Qiu said.
After that he looked at Jin Zifu without a hint of expression: "A man who still loves his dead wife, works overtime for the factory, along with such a simple office that doesn’t match his manager position…why did Mr. Jin deem him as a dirty dog who wanted to seize your family’s property?"
Jin Zifu finally showed his atrocious nature: "Right! I lied to you! So what? How can I believe you at random…by the way, you never had those documents, did you?"
Luo Qiu shook his head, "You’re wrong, I’ve got the documents you need."
He stretched out his hand, a bright light flashed, then a file packet appeared in his hand, "I indeed wanted to complete this transaction with Mr. Jin…but unfortunately, Mr. Jin doesn’t trust me."
Jin Zifu stared at him blankly. He watched as the documents came flying out, then after appearing before him, they flew back into the packet. He trembled with fear once more.
He...he actually shot someone with such terrifying powers!
Just then, he was reminded of his grandfather's final words before handing over the black card and leaving: Never cheat the club, or you’ll pay for it with a price you cannot afford!
Jin Zifu suddenly kneeled on the ground in fright: "I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have cheated you! I’ll finish the transaction! 18 years and 6 months! You can take it!"
"No." Luo Qiu said calmly: "The land will still be worth a lot after liquidation even though the factory will go bankrupt. However, you won’t have so much after 8 to 10 years, due to your love of gambling. If you want this factory, and considering that you’re the black card holder thus getting a discount …33 years and one and a half months would be the transaction fee you need to pay in total."
"33 years…" Jin Zifu mumbled.
How long would he live if he lost 33 years?
If so, he wouldn’t enjoy anything even though he got back the factory…this was not what he wanted!
"No! I don’t want it! I don’t want the deal!"
Then Jin Zifu promptly rushed towards the door like crazy!
However, a black flame appeared in front to stop him. The black card he left in the club re-emerged from the burning flame suspended in the air.
"The eighth rule of Trafford’s Trading Club is, once the black card is used, the transaction can’t be cancelled."
With Luo Qiu’s voice, the black flame dashed towards Jin Zifu’s body.
He screeched, then fell down to the ground.
As for the black card, it flew back to Luo Qiu’s hand, and the golden stamp carved on the card gradually vanished.
Luo Qiu threw the file packet back to Jin Zifu, then said: "The transaction is complete."
...
...
The office fell deathly silent.
Cao Ziqian looked pale and his breathing rate went faster…because Luo Qiu was walking to him.
Our releasing schedule: 5 chapters/week on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for your attention!
The inconceivable scenes Cao Ziqian witnessed left him in extreme shock.
But he was worried about his child. He didn’t want to court the same fate as Jin Zifu. What should he do?
"Don’t worry." Luo Qiu said slowly: "The deal was with your father-in-law, it has nothing to do with you."
Cao Ziqian collected himself, and looked at Jin Zifu who was lying on the ground. He didn’t know anything about the transaction, yet he was dragged into something ridiculous.
"My father…Jin Zifu, died?" Cao Ziqian asked nervously.
You Ye answered for him: "No, he’s sleeping now."
"Sleeping…"
You Ye nodded and smiled: "Yes, except that his sleep will last 33 years, one month and 15 days. When he wakes up, he can continue living."
"How come…"
Cao Ziqian didn’t want to believe it, but everything that happened told him what You Ye said was absolutely true.
There was a brief silence, Cao Ziqian looked at Luo Qiu suddenly: "I don’t know you…why did you help me?"
Though Jin Zifu got back the documents, during his 30 years sleep, Cao Ziqian could easily regain it.
Preventing him from making a serious mistake and also solving Jin Zifu’s problem. From another perspective, Cao Ziqian could be said to have obtained the most this time..
Luo Qiu looked at Jin Zifu and said: "I’ve met with the property developer cooperating with you this afternoon. They plan to build two apartment blocks for those senior workers of the factory."
Then he smiled: "You can have a good life with your child. The money obtained by selling the land and the liquidation of the factory will be enough to repay your bank debt."
Cao Ziqian suddenly felt touched.
He stared at this mysterious young man, choking back sobs.
"Thank you."
"No problem."
Luo Qiu walked to Cao Ziqian and waved the black card.
At this moment, the vanished stamps on both sides of the card once again floated into it. Then Luo Qiu stuffed the black card back into Cao Ziqian’s pocket.
He said softly: "You can find us through this card if needed. With that, you are now a member of the Trafford’s Trading Club."
"We can provide you with whatever you want. Dreams, treasures, intelligence, a spouse, health… even life, but only if you can name a satisfactory price. In addition, we don’t accept any sort of currency as the transaction fee."
"Then, we look forward to your visit."
With those words, Luo Qiu and You Ye stepped back, then vanished little by little, disappearing out of Cao Ziqian’s sight.
"Wait! What’s your name?" Cao Ziqian persuaded him to stay subconsciously, "Why do you know about my child’s birthday?"
But Luo Qiu and You Ye had already disappeared.
Cao Ziqian felt his strength leaving him and sat down. Then he realized his back was soaked in sweat due to the nervousness and fright.
Just then, a wind rose in front of Cao Ziqian, then Luo Qiu appeared into his sight once more.
It gave him a fright.
Luo Qiu didn’t say nothing, instead he merely turned the desk calendar to face Cao Ziqian. With a faint smile, he left again.
This time he really left.
On the calendar, a date was circled, labeled "The Present" by the side.
Upon seeing this, Cao Ziqian couldn’t help crying.
...
...
According to You Ye’s instructions, Luo Qiu went down to the altar on the third floor of the basement in the club.
He opened his hands, a lump of grey fog appeared, then floated into the altar slowly.
At this time, a voice was heard in his mind.
"The tribute has been completed, and your lifespan has increased by 30 days."
Perhaps it wasn't a sound…but more like information flowing into his mind.
As for the hourglass which he brought down, the sand at the top seemed to increase a little, while the speed of its descent became slower.
Because of the club’s rule, he wouldn’t die of illness, or from being shot, he even wouldn’t age.
Nothing could hurt him except when all the sand flowed down.
After waiting for a moment, there was still no change from the alter. Luo Qiu mumbled: "It’s not fair to barter 33 years’ life of Jin Zifu in exchange of 30 days’ lifespan of mine."
"That’s because what you took wasn’t his lifespan to be exact, but his time to live by forcing him to sleep for 30 years. In addition, each of the former bosses would reserve part of the transaction fee, instead of giving them all to the altar as tribute." You Ye said.
"..."
"Things are getting better."
Luo Qiu breathed deeply and said: "That explains why there’re so many strange items. Are those the items that the former bosses obtained?"
You Ye nodded.
Luo Qiu no longer wanted to stay at the gloomy altar, so he took You Ye back to the hall. Then he stretched himself and asked: "You Ye, do you know how to cook stewed meatballs with brown sauce? I’m hungry."
You Ye nodded: "Yes, I do. I’ve learned how to cook various dishes. Just give me a minute."
"Let me help you." Luo Qiu laughed: "And from now onwards, please continue to advise me."
You Ye nodded, her dark blue eyes blinked, shining like beautiful gems.
...
...
Late at night, the bustling shopping district became quiet.
Only tramps and drunkards were sleeping or stumbling outside. However, they didn’t noticed that there was an old European style lamp shining its light on the words "OPEN", which were hanging on the wooden door, in the dark street.
Legend has it that only people in need could see it.
Then, if you saw the European lamp lighting up that doorway, would you...have any requests to make?
Our releasing schedule: 5 chapters/week on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Thanks for your attention!
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