Chapter 419: Untitled
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Everybody knew well to remain silent, and Rong Yan was calm as though whatever Ye Wei did was not the slightest related to her. She peeled several walnuts in a row, and the sound made by the walnuts being peeled cryptically filled the room.
Fang Ying looked at Chu Li aggrievedly whilst Chu Li looked at Rong Yan glumly. Fang Ying called out to Brother Chu with tears in her eyes and Chu Li then turned back to say, “What happened? Do your wounds still ache?”
Everybody looked down in unison and broke into a smile. Chu Li did not hear what Ye Wei said, and even if he did, he would not be able to say much. A few days after Rong Yan left, everybody knew how he went crazy thinking about her. Given how tough it was for him to see her, he clearly could not bear to see her leave.
Fang Ying looked down and seemed especially pitiful, being on the verge of tears. As Chu Li frowned and looked around, several tall men started to peel their walnuts. Ye Wei scooted next to Rong Yan and flatly said, “Yan Yan, you ought to cry sometimes. Tears are really useful at making people heart’s ache. How stupid can you get?”
Rong Yan smiled. Cry? Would people take pity on her if she cried? How many times had she cried in the past 5-6 years? She could no longer count them, and what really hurt her most was the number of times she had cried when she had considered giving up on Chu Li.
Nobody knew how her heart became numbed after the crying and aching. What was the point of crying when what would never belong to one would never belong to them however much they wanted?
“Yan Yan, show me your tears!” Ye Wei smiled and Eleven goaded her on. While Fang Ying was embarrassed and frustrated, she could not say much even as Ye Wei and Eleven insulted and secretly mocked her.
“I drank too little water last night and am dehydrated.” Rong Yan gently smiled as she accurately threw the peeled walnuts into Ye Wei’s mouth.
Ye Wei was slightly baffled. “That’s not quite the case. I once saw you cry intensely, like really intensely.”
Chu Li’s face changed and his gaze became even darker.
Rong Yan smiled and did not reply.
Fang Ying looked at Ye Wei with slight indignation as she sounded a tad sad, “Wei Wei, must you talk about me this way?”
Ye Wei slammed the table with slight anger on her face. She spoke with an elegant arrogance, her words shooting out like bullets. “Fang Ying, are you getting too used to slandering people? I am freaking talking to Rong Yan here, and what business is that of yours? Who do you think you are for me to talk about?”
When Ye Wei flew into a rage, the men present wisely avoided being collateral damage. Simply put, getting popcorn and watching the exchange was quite a kick in itself.
Fang Ying’s face became perplexed. She looked on with hatred and anger. As she was no slouch, she pushed back and said, “I am not referring to you. You know very well that this is between the three of us, so why are you sticking your finger in it?”
“So the world revolves around you, huh? Why can’t we interfere? Wei Wei did not even call out names. Are you connecting the correct dots?” Eleven coldly replied.
“Cut it!” Chu Li shot a warning gaze at Ye Wei and gently said, “Little Ying has yet to fully recover from her injuries. Cut her some slack, will you?”
Ye Wei coldly smiled. Black J tugged at her sleeve and whispered into her ear. “Look at his face. That’s done the trick.”
Ye Wei really wanted to tell him that she actually wanted to call it a day, but Rong Yan was still stepping on her. She knew that Rong Yan was an expert at proxy warfare, and she was, however innocently sitting there, fated to play the villain this time around.
“How long has she been wounded? Eleven and I recover from gun wounds in a few days. Are you treating her like some precious rich man’s daughter? Are you suggesting that we did not take bullets before? I can take a slash to my abdomen and walk after these many days,” Ye Wei coldly replied in increasing anger as Rong Yan was varying the intensity she was stepping her on.
‘Yan Yan, my legs are legs too. There is no need for you to step on me this hard.’
Fang Ying’s heart ached and her tears were about to break free. Chu Li, on the other hand, was slightly angry and Fang Ying was rejoicing in her heart seeing as he was still protecting her. When Chu Li was about to say something, Rong Yan softly gasped. She accidentally allowed splinters from peeling the walnut to pierce her and some blood oozed out.
As Bai Ye was the nearest to her, he could not help but grab her hand and take a look. Chu Li was shocked and looked at Rong Yan’s hands. It was, after all, a flesh wound that was not particularly severe, and there was little blood as though it was jabbed by a silver needle.
Heartache flashed through him, and Chu Li’s face became even darker. Bai Ye and Rong Yan were simply too close to each other. It was no major wound, but they were so close to each other and he looked extremely worried whilst Rong Yan smiled and said all was fine. Rong Yan’s smile was the gentlest smile he had seen in a while. As Chu Li saw the adulterous pair whose heads were almost stuck together, the anger in his eyes burned even brighter.
Ye Wei really wanted to cheer her comrade, Bai Ye, on. ‘You are sure gentlemanly enough to play along this well.’ Rong Yan finally lifted her leg and spared her.
Fang Ying looked at Rong Yan with a grudge in her eyes that was a mix of blame, unwillingness, and anger. If she weren’t bandaged, Chu Li would have stood up for her.
Rong Yan, why did you choose to come back despite having left once?
She hated it!
Jason was extremely hot-tempered and was about to flare up as he could not stand the atmosphere. He calmed down after Eleven stepped on him. While they seemed extremely casual with how they sat, there was a meaning behind it. Jason’s temper was the most explosive and Eleven was the coldest. Hence, the two of them sat together. Eleven was the only person who could most effectively keep Jason’s explosive temper in check. He stared at Fang Ying in anger, and things today wouldn’t have ended up like this if the lady in question weren’t Fang Ying.
They had always cut Fang Ying extra slack because she had endured three years under Chu Li. In the eyes of others, Chu Li was enough of a brute to disappoint her as it was nearly impossible to find a girl so hopelessly in love with him. Back then, she had told Chu Li extremely mean words and decided to leave for whatever reason. They had clearly separated and she returned when Chu Li now had Rong Yan.
One could not fulfill both love and duty simultaneously.
She took two bullets for Chu Li, and Chu Li ought to take care of her out of guilt. She, however, had become too greedy and had the audacity to appear before Rong Yan, the princess apparent. She was clearly bragging.
“Fang Ying, since you are this frail, quickly go back to the room and rest. There are, after all, insufficient teacups to go around,” Ye Wei said as she pulled the tray over. She poured a cup for Rong Yan and then poured a cup for herself which she drank a mouth from.
The rest of them poured their own tea. Fang Ying was feeling extremely awkward and could not help but turn to Chu Li for help. Chu Li suddenly stood up, flung Black J’s hands away, and pulled Rong Yan.
“Brother Chu…”
“Unless you want to die, stay away!” Chu Li loudly ordered as he brutally pulled Rong Yan along with him. The maidservants in the corridor saw them and stepped aside. Everybody knew that he was not in the best of moods and did not have the balls to call him out on it.
Fang Ying was stunned and she was as pale as a ghost. She dazedly looked in the direction they disappeared to. Her reddened eyes gave way to tears that flowed down her pale face.
Ever since she returned, how many times had he brought her away in this manner? Rong Yan used to watch their silhouettes, stunned. However, today, he led Rong Yan away instead and had her look at them in a daze.
Her heart was aching as though a knife had stabbed it.
‘Unless you want to die, stay away!’ Was he so angry to the point he was out of his mind? Save her, who else would call him Brother Chu? He knew it was her, but he warned to stay away unless she had a death wish. Did he want her to die?
No, he must have said it when he lost his mind.
He would not simply leave her as she was.
Ever since Rong Yan appeared, he had always kept his temper in check. Even if he was angry, he hid it. Despite how Ye Wei made things difficult for her, he ignored Ye Wei as he only had eyes for Rong Yan. When Bai Ye got too up close and personal with his Rong Yan, he could no longer keep it in.
With his jealousy this evident, she had no way of deceiving herself.
He had never, because of her, lost control of his emotions. When she was still his woman back then, Chen Yang was full of admiration for her and she felt that Chu Li was a tad cold toward her. She would, intentionally or unintentionally, walk closer to Chen Yang. He had never treated her the same way he treated Rong Yan.
She did ask Brother Chu whether he was not the slightest jealous.
His reply was, “I trust Chen Yang.”
She felt extremely sweet then and thought their love would stand against everything as they trusted each other.
But…
He would not allow anyone to even slightly touch Rong Yan. When compared to Chen Yang, Bai Ye was even more convincing. Why did he not trust Bai Ye?
No, he would not allow anybody else to touch his woman, not even their hands.
He was in love with Rong Yan!
She was long aware of the truth but was unwilling to admit that she had completely lost him. She was, however, unwilling as she surely would have a place in his heart despite those ten-over years of friendship.
It was Rong Yan’s appearance that turned all those feelings into coldness. It was all Rong Yan’s fault!
Black J coolly looked at Ye Wei and Bai Ye and said, “Your acting was a tad too obvious, no?”
Ye Wei raised her hands in innocence. “I was forced.”
Bai Ye also raised his hands. “Doctor’s instinct.”
Jason stared at them unhappily. “Were you deliberately doing that?”
Eleven shot him an ‘are you an idiot look’. Jason was clearly prone to bursts of anger. Thanks to that mountain of ice next to him, he could not afford to act up. A few of them looked in Fang Ying’s direction silently and discussed recent happenings.
“Bai Ye, as for the chip, there must be an insider in London. Did you get to the bottom of it?” Ye Wei asked with a slightly cold look. The leak of information from their organization was no small matter, and they were thankful they had the ability to reverse the leak. If there were a repeat, the consequences could be disastrous.
They could not expect to recover the leaked information once and again, especially when Mo Ye and Mo Jue still had their sights set on them.
“There is no breakthrough as of now. Given that only Chu Li and I have access to the mainframe, Ning Ning has also confirmed that fingerprint access does not grant immediate access to the mainframe. Since the information was leaked from the mainframe, I am indeed baffled.” Bai Ye deduced without hesitation. “I am guessing somebody snuck in through the ventilation duct and copied information without leaving a trace. As extremely few people in the world are capable of doing that, I am extremely baffled at that possibility.”
The terrorist organization’s internal protective systems were extremely formidable. The mainframe was located in the most secret location in the castle and directly managed by Chu Li. There was only one computer in the server room and only one access point. Anybody who wanted to copy information had to enter the server room.
In order to access the server room, one had to go through four identification systems, the first being Chu Li’s fingerprint identification, followed by a password identification, then Chu Li’s voice identification, and lastly Chu Li’s iris identification. Nobody could expect access to the server room if they did not clear any of the four identification systems.
The temperature in the server room was consistent all year round. It had thermal sensors, IR sensors, and even weight sensors built into the ground. Once a person entered, the temperature in the server room would change and the alarm would ring. The IR sensors created an even more intricate web that was impossible to dodge. The weight sensors were triggered by even a drop of water dropping onto the ground.
With such extreme measures guarding the server room, he had no idea how the information was leaked. He checked all the ventilation ducts and confirmed that there was no human tampering. That explained why the loss of information was extremely baffling. Even Chu Li and Bai Ye, who were geniuses, were thoroughly baffled.
Back then, Jason and Black J had checked all the ventilation ducts to confirm there was no problem. Even Black J, the master thief amongst them, did not make it through the simulation Chu Li planned, which was to enter the server room through the ventilation duct in the roof. Even the master thief in Black J was unable to evade the heat sensor and IR sensors.
“If there is a first time, there will be a second time,” Eleven coldly replied.
“We’ve told Ning Ning about this last night, and he suggested adding a guard in the server room. Chu Li and I are discussing its suitability,” Bai Ye said. “His suggestions fit the current situations well. Even all the ventilation ducts are to be fitted…”
Bai Ye paused and said, “Fang Ying, what are you still doing here?”
Fang Ying did not seem to hear them and she looked in the direction that Chu Li and Rong Yan disappeared to, still in a daze. She seemed especially lost. Looking at her invoked pity. Everybody realized that that should not have been discussed before Fang Ying. While she would not betray them, rules were still rules.
As she seemed to be in a daze, Ye Wei shot a walnut at her spine. Fang Ying then responded and looked at Ye Wei in anger. “Ye Wei, when are you going to stop picking on me?”
“Who is picking on you?” Ye Wei coldly raised her eyebrows and impolitely replied. “We are discussing business, and you should not be sitting in. Scram.”
“I am not talking about that, but just now. What was going through your head when you made me so awkward before Chu Li?” Fang Ying was in extreme rage and glared at her. “Is there some unpardonable sin that I have committed that you have to pick on me?”
Jason also flew into a rage and said, “Little Ying, what are you saying? When did Wei Wei pick on you? I can’t pick that out, so stop slandering her, will you? What you did when you were much younger was nitpicking proper.”
Eleven curled her lips. That was aptly said. Did Jason really know whether Wei Wei was picking on Fang Ying? She was baffled.
“I… Brother Jason, that was ten years ago.” Fang Ying rebutted.
Ye Wei coolly had her arms akimbo and said, “I always forgot to ask you this question. What is your basis for staying around here? As Scheming Chu’s woman? Has he admitted? Try it. Rong Yan and I were talking earlier, and he was definitely planning to manipulate me.”