Li Songyan looked down at his unscathed foot, clicking his tongue in amazent as if he had never been injured. Was this superpower? And they were still only half-finished!
Yet Yaha was still dwelling on that earlier phrase, "expendable piece."
"Do you know Ishmael? What do you want to do to him?" Yaha asked seriously.
"I have no ill intentions toward him, besides... damn it, if I had any ill intentions toward him, I wouldn’t be alive right now," Li Songyan responded.
As he spoke, he went to pick up the rcenary leader’s handgun. Starbucks coughed twice and pointed the muzzle at him.
"Thank you for healing , but I can’t be left completely unard, can I?" Li Songyan said to Yaha.
"Should we trust him?" Starbucks turned to Yaha.
Yaha pondered for a mont and then said, "If Ishmael trusts him, then there shouldn’t be a problem. The mission is complete, let’s go."
With that, the group turned to leave the tent.
"But if it’s not too much trouble, take with you. I don’t even have a pair of shoes on my feet," Li Songyan said.
Yaha took another careful look at Li Songyan, his gaze filled with animosity.
"I thought you would be easy to get in touch with... It seems you have a worse temper than Wei Tianyang," Li Songyan said with a bitter smile.
"You’re not planning on recruiting him in the future, are you?" Yaha suddenly asked.
"Ah... what are you talking about..." Starbucks was a bit surprised.
But Li Songyan seriously said, "You’ve noticed it too... You should have known by now, he is not one of you, you and he are different matters."
"It’s a bit rude to say this, but you should see the situation clearly. Do you know how many spy satellites are watching you from the sky? In this world, anything related to the pharmaceutical industry is under close surveillance; there are no secrets. Your hotel would have been taken down by the forces of Chicken Snake Country long ago if it wasn’t for the tacit approval of Red Pharmaceutical and Sethiyan Federation."
Li Songyan said this, but still picked up the handgun.
"After all that, if others see us together, it will be trouble for both sides. Let’s part ways here," Yaha said.
"Don’t... I have evidence that could topple Tiantai Pharmaceutical, and with Wei Tianyang as a witness, they’d have to switch to selling down jackets. Trust ! Just give a ride, ah, a lift. At least get out of this forest and drop at Konse Suburb," Li Songyan said with a grin, almost pleading.
"No way... That’s all, you’re not going to smoke in the car, are you?" Yaha said, rubbing his forehead, sowhat helplessly.
"I don’t smoke, but right now I’m really thirsty, I need so water, and I want to eat sothing..."
Li Songyan followed them out of the tent and suddenly rembered sothing. He searched the camp and finally found his phone. Then, he quietly followed everyone into the vehicle and silently departed from the woodland.
anwhile, Wei Tianyang had just gotten off the Sethiyan Federation’s car yesterday and had asked Li Bin to look for Li Songyan. Within one night, he received a call from Li Fei.
"You’re still in that hotel, right?" Li Fei’s voice on the phone sounded too soft, making him a bit uncomfortable.
"Why do I feel like everyone knows where I am?" Wei Tianyang said.
"Let’s talk, just you and . My car is parked next to the cafe, don’t make wait too long." Li Fei said.
Li Fei hung up the phone after speaking, leaving him no chance to refuse.
Last night, Yaha had left with Starbucks, Kacha, and a few others. They wouldn’t be back for a while.
He called out for Li Bin in the open room but received no response.
Theses people are getting weirder and weirder... He had a premonition that sothing bad was about to happen.
Wei Tianyang got dressed, left for the cafe, and saw a black business sedan parked at the corner. When he appeared, it flashed its lights.
Wei Tianyang approached, and soone from inside pushed the door open.
"Here already?" Li Fei sat in the back seat, dressed in a maroon business suit and black won’s trousers, with her long hair draped over her shoulders. Although her skin was dark, she looked more refined than when they first t.
Wei Tianyang got into the car, sitting beside her.
The car drove for a while and then stopped in front of a newly opened tea house with two floors.
The two went upstairs and entered a private room.
Unlike Starbucks and the others, Li Fei didn’t drink coffee, she preferred Yin Country’s tea. The waiter set out the tea set, a teapot, teacups, and an assortnt of unfamiliar vessels on the table, which dazzled Wei Tianyang.
Li Fei was obviously knowledgeable about tea ceremony and skillfully prepared the tea. The white porcelain cup held a steaming small portion of pale red, the aroma delighting the senses.
Wei Tianyang carefully sipped his tea.
Bitter it was.
"After the war ended, you never took the initiative to contact ," Li Fei said.
"Now that this country is yours, I assu you’re quite busy, right?" Wei Tianyang retorted.
"You’re as blunt as I am. I’m not heartless. No matter how busy, I would make ti for you. The New Liberation Front couldn’t have gotten to where it is today without you— a third of the credit goes to you," Li Fei said with a smile.
"I hope you beco a good leader... Don’t let this country produce a few more like , cooperating with Red Pharmaceutical is not a wise move..." Wei Tianyang shook his head.
"You don’t sound like a 16-year-old kid when you talk," said Li Fei.
"These tis have taught a lot. I’ve been working in the streets since I was 10 years old. If I saw myself as a kid, I wouldn’t have made a living. But even if you have to be tough, there are lines you shouldn’t cross, and I’ve always understood that. Don’t treat like a child, Li Fei. I’ve killed no fewer people than you, and my 16 years have been no easier than yours..." Wei Tianyang said.
"I know, I’ve seen it all. I’ve always wanted to be a good leader, but I’ve also wanted to be a good mother..." Li Fei said softly.
Wei Tianyang accidentally dropped his teacup. With a clang, the white porcelain cup fell to the ground and shattered into four pieces.
But fortunately, he had already finished the tea.
Li Fei hurriedly called for a server to co in and clean up, replacing the cup.
After the minor interruption, Wei Tianyang was served another cup of tea, feeling uneasy inside.
This old woman... could she have taken a liking to ?!
"I’m not in the mood to think about matters of love right now..." Wei Tianyang said.
Li Fei snorted with laughter, then pushed Wei Tianyang slightly, saying, "What are you thinking about?!"
Wei Tianyang breathed a sigh of relief.
"Wei, the civil war is over, you don’t have to fight anymore; there’s no need to mix with those people in the hotel anymore. You deserve better..." Li Fei finally said.
Seeing that Wei Tianyang remained silent, she continued, "Co with . I can adopt you, go through the official process, and then you will be my legal child. I’ll compensate you a hundredfold, a thousandfold for what you’ve lacked... I’ll go to Yin Country to find the best tutors to catch you up on your studies, have you go to school, university, I’ll arrange the best dical team to take care of you... Even if you kill soone in Chicken Snake Country in the future... it won’t be a problem; you’ll be Li Fei’s son, and here you can do as you please," said Li Fei.
"Li Fei... I can’t accept... You shouldn’t think like that..." Wei Tianyang said in a stern voice.
His imdiate rejection made all of Li Fei’s prior assumptions null and void.
Li Fei had thought that Wei Tianyang might co up with all sorts of demands. How would she satisfy them? How would she negotiate?
But Wei Tianyang just plainly stated, "I cannot accept. You shouldn’t think like that."
She was sowhat stunned, asking subconsciously, "I shouldn’t think what?"
"Li Fei... you’re about to beco the very thing you once sought to overthrow... Don’t turn into that, or... I will co to find you myself..." Wei Tianyang said.
Having said that, he stood up and left the private room.
Li Fei was dazed for a few seconds. When she ca to her senses, she imdiately chased after him to the door, but the corridor was already empty.
Wei Tianyang escaped into objective reality, leaving the tea room, and wandered aimlessly until he reached Qiayang City, returning to the once-familiar slums and Sushi Delivery Logistics Company.
He had wanted a mont of reminiscence, but the reality was that everything had changed.
The slums, demolished by tanks, were now cleared, a vacant lot waiting for funds to start reconstruction, while the building of the Sushi Delivery Logistics Company was still standing but repurposed.
He stood in the small courtyard in front of the warehouse, right where the day laborers would gather in the afternoon, waiting to be paid.
"I want Civilian Coins!" he suddenly exclaid.
Then, he looked up at the sky, seeing the slowly eastward-moving nimbus clouds, like a mountain range of gas, blocking the sun behind them.
He couldn’t help but laugh heartily.
It was a laughter born of extre bitterness, so intense that even he couldn’t contain it.
After all his wanderings, he had co full circle. Everything had changed, yet nothing had changed.
Back in the tea room, Li Fei sat alone by the window. She picked up her phone and dialed a number.
"Moby Dick... My person will wait for your signal tomorrow at noon."
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