Chapter 46: Nearly Starved to Death in Japan

Sun Tongwei was bewildered. “Young Master Zhang, I have no objections to you recommending Miss Su as the boss, but why are you calling her the ‘Big Sister’?”

Zhang Yunjie replied obsequiously, “Brother Lu is my boss, but his wife is even higher than him. Of course I have to address her as Big Sister!”

“Oh, I see!”

“Miss Su, please give us the honor and let us call you Big Sister too!”

A bright smile blossomed on Su Qianqian’s pretty face. “No problem!”

With this, even the looming threat of the Xu family from the capital was dispelled.

No matter how powerful the Xu family might be, their main focus had to remain on the capital.

Even if their influence stretched far enough to meddle in Pearl City, could they really topple all six of the city’s great families in one stroke?

What had started as a peace-making banquet instantly turned into a celebratory alliance, to everyone’s delight.

Once the spoiled heirs had all returned to their own homes, Su Qianqian glanced back at Lu Ye with a meaningful look. “You little rascal, was this all your arrangement?”

Lu Ye responded with a gentle smile. “I’m just a live-in son-in-law. How could I possibly orchestrate all of this? I think they were simply awed by your overwhelming presence!”

“Get out! You’re the one with an overwhelming presence—an overwhelming turtle’s presence, that is!”

“And you’re the female turtle. We make quite the pair, don’t we?”

“Ugh, disgusting!”

Indeed, with Zhang Yunjie’s emotional intelligence, he could never have come up with the idea of maintaining the Young Masters’ alliance on his own; it was all orchestrated by Lu Ye behind the scenes.

Lu Ye wasn’t particularly afraid of the Xu family. He simply wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble down the road, and this was a perfect opportunity to help the old lady cement her authority in Pearl City’s business world—a win-win situation.

…

Three days later.

At Wealth Real Estate.

A young man stood in Xu Fugui’s office, speaking to him coldly, “Xu Fugui, headquarters is very disappointed in you.”

“You will no longer serve as president. From today forward, all operations will proceed under my command.”

Xu Fugui left his seat in dejection, surrendering the position that was once his to the young man.

His name was Du Sheng, a high-ranking officer from the headquarters of the Hongying Society.

The intelligence network of the Hongying Society in the Guangdong-East Province region was all managed and coordinated by Du Sheng.

With his status, he wouldn’t normally come in person to rebuild their Pearl City branch.

But after two consecutive presidents suffered setbacks here, he was forced to take things seriously.

Both of them had struggled in Pearl City; this could not be a coincidence.

There was definitely a formidable opponent hidden in Pearl City!

But who was it?

Du Sheng already had a name in mind.

Based on all the previous incidents, every time the Hongying Society took a hit in Pearl City, Lu Ye’s shadow was involved.

“You have three minutes. Bring me every scrap of information you have on Lu Ye and put it on my desk.”

Xu Fugui froze. “Boss Du, Lu Ye’s background is completely clean—there’s nothing to check! I could recite it from memory!”

“He served five years in the army, came back and worked as a lowly security guard at Yi Ren Group, then married into the Su family as a live-in son-in-law. Not long ago, thanks to his father-in-law, he became vice chairman of the Su Group. That’s all.”

Du Sheng barked, “Nonsense! Is that how you conduct an investigation?”

“Did you check what branch of the military Lu Ye served in? Did you look into his family network? How is it that a security-guard-turned-son-in-law has earned such trust from Su Shiming—enough to be entrusted with running the entire Su Group? Did you investigate any of this?”

Cold sweat broke out on Xu Fugui’s forehead; he couldn’t answer a single one of Du Sheng’s questions.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to investigate, but that he had no leads.

But Du Sheng would not listen to excuses—he wanted results.

“I’ll check on Lu Ye myself. I’ve brought a team with me from headquarters—they’re all top operatives. Go get them settled first.”

“Yes, sir.”

Xu Fugui, as if granted amnesty, fled his own office.

Du Sheng walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, where a telescope was aimed directly at the Yi Ren Group’s office building—Xu Fugui’s favorite tool for peeping at Su Qianqian when he was bored.

Du Sheng bent down to peer through the telescope. The first thing he saw was Su Qianqian’s silhouette, and across from her, Lu Ye, grinning impishly.

Du Sheng suddenly froze, for he noticed that Lu Ye’s gaze was fixed directly at him.

The next second, Lu Ye casually picked up a fountain pen from Su Qianqian’s desk and walked to the window.

Whoosh!

The pen shot across the thirty-meter-wide street, piercing through the telescope’s lens with pinpoint accuracy, then continuing through the eyepiece to embed itself in Xu Fugui’s solid wood desk.

If Du Sheng hadn’t dodged in time, he would have lost an eye.

Shaken, he looked back at the pen, then glanced toward the Yi Ren Group. Lu Ye responded with a middle finger before pulling the curtains closed.

“Is this a warning?”

Du Sheng gave a self-mocking laugh. “Pearl City just keeps getting more interesting.”

…

Su Shiming and Li Shuqin had finally returned from their vacation.

Lu Ye promptly resigned as vice chairman and returned to Yi Ren Group to resume his post as a humble security guard, unmoved by Su Shiming’s attempts to keep him.

That evening.

After work, Lu Ye picked up Su Qianqian and drove straight to Pearl City Airport to meet someone—

Chen Xi was coming home.

She had spent nearly a month matching wits and courage against the three major intelligence organizations.

The authorities in Japan had failed to capture the one responsible for blowing up their key port. In desperation, they lifted the border lockdown and announced to the public that the explosion was an accident.

Seeing Chen Xi so much thinner made Lu Ye’s heart ache. After leaving the airport, he took her straight to a restaurant, ordered a table full of dishes, and watched her devour the food ravenously.

While shoveling rice into her mouth, Chen Xi grumbled, “Honestly, your big sister here dodged bullets from the Self-Defense Forces, evaded relentless pursuit by three intelligence agencies, but in the end, I almost starved to death in Japan!”

Lu Ye chuckled, “Nothing I could do—the lockdown was so tight I couldn’t even wire you money.”

Su Qianqian watched and listened in astonishment.

In her eyes, Chen Xi had always been the kind of goddess who was aloof, unattainable, and utterly formidable—even Su Qianqian willingly admitted to looking up to her.

Yet now, Chen Xi looked like a starved orphan, her clothes ragged and her eating manner rough and unrestrained.

Su Qianqian simply couldn’t reconcile the image of a gunfire-filled battlefield with the woman before her.

“Honey... so your sister is just like you?” Su Qianqian stammered, almost blurting out her usual nickname for Lu Ye.

Lu Ye nodded. “Yep. She’s the deputy captain of the Apostles.”

Chen Xi looked up at Lu Ye. “Even your sister-in-law knows now?”

“Everything. Last time, when I was talking business with Liu Yiyi, she mistook us for having an affair, hid in the trunk, followed us the entire way, and then tried to catch us in the act.”

Pfft!

Chen Xi’s cheeks were stuffed like a hamster, but at that, she burst out laughing, spraying rice all over Lu Ye’s face.

“Hahaha! Looks like Qianqian has the makings of a secret agent! Even our little war god didn’t notice her following—your tailing skills are impressive!”

Though it sounded like praise, it was really just teasing Su Qianqian’s jealous tendencies.

All girls understood each other; Su Qianqian immediately caught the meaning and blushed crimson. “No way, sister, please don’t make fun of me.”

Lu Ye wiped the rice from his face, laughing. “Sis, Liu Yiyi has found an undercover agent we lost contact with over a decade ago. You came back just in time—we need to figure out how to reach her.”

After Lu Ye finished outlining the details about Luo Ying, Chen Xi’s expression grew serious.

“Luo Ying has climbed so high to become the CEO of Riley International. Do you really think she’s willing to give up her wealth and status to return to the Apostles?”

Indeed, it was a question with no clear answer.

There had been plenty of cases where, during long-term undercover missions, agents lost themselves and fully assimilated into the very villainous roles they were meant to play.

And Luo Ying’s connection to the Apostles had been severed for over a decade…

“No matter what, we need to see her—at the very least, we should let her know that the Apostles have never abandoned her.”