Chapter 20: Bloodthirsty and Wild (Not) part 1
Cheng Xun. He is a core shareholder of multinational corporations, a tech upstart, Chairman of a top-tier technology company, Founder and CEO of EchoMech, a financial titan, and a new energy mogul.
He is a mathematical genius, a polyglot, and the youngest postdoctoral fellow in physics from Westminster School.
He is the founder of a legendary e-sports club, a three-time inductee of “New Canaan’s Person of the Year,” a recipient of the highest achievement for young entrepreneurs, the “Imperial Landscape Medal,” and a recipient of the New World Charity Award Lifetime Honor Medal.
He was selected as the 56th most influential person in the New World by Fubusi (Forbes). As of this year, he has been New Canaan’s leading young entrepreneur for five consecutive years.
He is domineering, cold, dignified, and noble.
He is sharp, wicked, profound, and unruly.
He is reserved, poised, lazy, and stylish.
He is wild, bloodthirsty, arrogant, and looks down on the world.
Qi En made the “old man on the subway looking at phone” face.
He didn’t understand. How could wild and cold, domineering and reserved, poised and looking down on the world be put together to describe the same person?
And is “bloodthirsty” used to describe people? Cheng Xun isn’t a vampire.
Should he not have searched for Cheng Xun on Miro?
These marketing accounts reported chaotic news just for traffic; reports about Cheng Xun were half true and half false.
Qi En thought for a moment and realized why it was like this.
It must be Cheng Xun confusing others to protect his real information.
Thinking this, Qi En searched for Cheng Xun’s company location.
Found it. It matched the real company address.
But aside from this kind of public knowledge, other information was scarce, with barely any rumors.
Scrolling down, it was all educational marketing accounts posting things like “The Rise of the New World: New Canaan,” “The Up-and-Comer of the Star Universe Federation: New Canaan,” or “Why New Canaan Rose from a Wasteland to Today’s New Commercial City.”
Qi En remembered he used to love reading this kind of stuff. Because he hadn’t had much schooling, reading these marketing accounts made him feel like he was learning a lot of new knowledge.
But he didn’t like reading them now because he knew many of these accounts were fake.
“Arriving at Jinhua Apartment. If it’s convenient, please give a five-star rating.”
Qi En got out of the car with his luggage.
After checking in, he began to coordinate progress with Dai Mu.
Little D: [He is still at the company now. Tonight at seven, there is a drinking party in the Xiagang CBD, at Jinhua Tower, 100th floor.]
Little D: [[Address] Tianshe INKINK · Cloud Cuisine (Jinhua Tower Branch)]
Qi En organized his equipment, changed into a set of casual daily clothes, and set off.
Just as Dai Mu had said, “This is the first mission. Don’t think about taking Cheng Xun down in one go. Test the waters first. Remember not to attract Cheng Xun’s attention; the most important thing is to hide yourself well.”
Qi En looked at the small note, feeling a little more secure inside.
When he arrived at EchoMech, it was already past six in the evening. The sky was still bright; he wasn’t sure if it was the city lights or if the sky in Zone S just got dark later.
The office building was still lit up. Not many employees were entering or exiting the main gate; instead, it was figures of delivery riders going in and out.
But Qi En had checked the data; EchoMech’s clock-out time was six o’clock.
He added another crime to Cheng Xun’s list: Likes overtime, severe rat race culture.
Though it would be a different story if there was overtime pay.
Qi En sat on a stone bench in the small plaza downstairs, holding the brim of his hat, looking up at the top floor.
The topmost floor had a large, continuous floor-to-ceiling window. That should be Cheng Xun’s office.
If only there was a way to blow up that floor directly.
Oh no, if he did that, other people would get hurt too.
There was another rule in the hitman code: During mission execution, one must not create mass chaos.
LMS hitmen emphasized one word: Steady.
Qi En felt he was very steady. Sitting steadily.
He sat downstairs for an hour, not even playing with his phone, just waiting dryly.
Afraid that sitting in one place for too long would attract attention, he changed seats every ten minutes or so.
He chose positions that couldn’t be seen from the company’s front desk.
Finally, Cheng Xun came out.
There was a man following beside him, saying something to Cheng Xun. Cheng Xun nodded as he listened.
Qi En immediately hid behind the fountain and pulled his hat lower.
A black car slowly stopped in front of Cheng Xun, and then Cheng Xun got in.
Dai Mu had also hailed a car for Qi En in advance.
The driver wasn’t one of their people, just a random ride-share.
This was to avoid being too professional, which might make Cheng Xun sense something was wrong.
Given Qi En’s current relationship with Cheng Xun, it was better not to let their own people intervene too much, or it would be easy to give the game away.
Dai Mu didn’t tell Qi En these things. He was suspicious of Cheng Xun’s attitude; he didn’t believe Cheng Xun would really be this good to Qi En.
Jinhua Tower.
Qi En arrived two minutes later than Cheng Xun. He got out of the car in a hurry. Dai Mu’s calm voice sounded in his earpiece, a sharp contrast to him.
“Don’t rush, he can’t run away.”
Qi En caught his breath and pulled up his mask.
After getting out of the car, he walked towards the main entrance of the tower.
Suddenly, his footsteps paused.
Why hadn’t Cheng Xun gone up yet?
Who else could that be standing outside the main entrance but Cheng Xun?
There were two people and a car in front of Cheng Xun. Those two seemed to have just arrived and gotten out of the car.
Qi En wanted to turn around, but doing so suddenly would be too deliberate.
And he was less than fifty meters away from Cheng Xun now; he couldn’t walk straight ahead either.
At this moment, the car drove away. Cheng Xun was talking to those people when suddenly, he seemed to look up in this direction.
Qi En quickly lowered his head, pretending to send a voice message.
“Little D, he’s still at the entrance.”
Qi En slowed his pace, turning his head slightly to look at both sides as if looking for someone.
Dai Mu: “It’s fine, don’t stare at him for now.”
“I know.”
At this time, Cheng Xun and the others finally went inside.
They went to take the elevator. Qi En walked slowly directly behind them.
To avoid getting on the same elevator as them, Qi En lingered at the entrance of other shops for a while.
Only after seeing from the reflection on a pillar that they had all entered the elevator did Qi En walk over.
Who knew, the elevator didn’t go up.
Qi En lowered his eyes, quickly ducking his head. His steps, about to turn into the elevator, halted abruptly, and he continued walking forward.
A boy wearing glasses was holding the elevator button, watching helplessly as Qi En walked past the elevator.
General Assistant Chen looked back at Cheng Xun: “President Cheng, no one wants to come up.”
Cheng Xun looked at the reflection on the wall outside the elevator. That petite figure wearing a hat was walking further and further away, steps without a hint of hesitation. “It’s nothing, I saw wrong. Close the door.”
Qi En stood in a corner of the atrium, looking up at the transparent elevator moving upward to his front-left. Only when it was out of sight did he lean against the wall and pull down his mask to breathe.
He had almost gone to press the elevator button just now. Who knew Cheng Xun’s group was still inside and hadn’t left?
Dai Mu also saw the scene just now through the micro-camera on Qi En’s chest.
He asked suspiciously, “Why did he have someone hold the elevator? There was no one waiting for the elevator there.”
Qi En still had lingering fears. “Little D, has he already discovered me?”
Dai Mu: “How do you feel right now? Is anyone following you?”
The hairs on Qi En’s body stood up. “Me, me? Followed?”
“Don’t panic.” Dai Mu’s voice calmed Qi En down a bit. “Cheng Xun has already gone upstairs and arrived at that restaurant. I can see from here that they have been seated.”
Qi En calmed down. “I’m not being followed.”
Dai Mu: “That’s good. You shouldn’t have aroused Cheng Xun’s suspicion just now. Continue according to our plan.”
“Okay.”
Recommended Reads
