The first glimmer of dawn pierced the pitch-black canopy of the sky, casting golden rays of light upon the Earth.
Fan Fan sat up in bed. She looked in the direction of the window, and happened to see Xia Lei calling someone, but she couldn’t hear what Xia Lei was saying. She climbed out of the blankets and then got out of bed to come to Xia Lei side.
Xia Lei watched her quietly like he was appreciating a work of art.
“Seen enough?” Fan Fan coquettishly feigned her anger as she rolled her eyes at Xia Lei.
“You’re so beautiful. I can’t see enough of you for as long as I live,” said Xia Lei.
A sweet smile blossomed on Fan Fan’s cheeks. No woman didn’t like these sweet words. Moreover, these warm and romantic sweet words came from a man like Xia Lei. The same words would definitely feel different if they came from Beckham and Tyson.
Fan Fan put her shirt and short skirt on and said, “Who were you talking to?”
“That woman. She’s already here and I have to go see her. Do you want to come with me?” said Xia Lei.
“Me?” Fan Fan paused. “Is it appropriate if I go?”
“What’s inappropriate about it?” Xia Lei said, “I like you being by my side.”
“What’s with you today? You’re saying so many sweet words to me.” Fan Fan laughed.
“People change. Don’t you like it?” said Xia Lei.
“I like it.” Fan Fan grabbed Xia Lei’s arm. “I’ll go with you to see that woman then.”
Xia Lei and Fan Fan hadn’t been in his office for long when Su Xiao came in with Long Bing. Long Bing’s complexion seemed very bad.
Xia Lei and Long Bing’s eyes met. Even though they didn’t communicate verbally, their gazes seemed to pass on what needed to be communicated: concern, worry, and love.
Su Xiao put a document envelope on Xia Lei’s office table and cut straight to the chase. “Mr Xia, let’s just do what we’d agreed on yesterday.”
Xia Lei opened the document envelope and took out the contract inside. There were a total of six contracts inside, two which required a legal representative’s signature from Thunder Horse Military Factory, two which required a legal representative’s signature from China Industrial group, and two requiring a signature from a legal representative of Hanwu Weapons.
Xia Lei skimmed the contracts that needed his signature and then said, “Why aren’t the Hanwu Weapons and China Industrial Group’s legal representatives here?”
“You only need to sign where you’re supposed to. As for the signatures from China Industrial Group and Hanwu Weapons, I will handle that separately. But don’t worry, there aren’t any problems with this,” said Su Xiao.
“Don’t sign it!” Long Bing cried, “Don’t make me become your stumbling block, or this will plague me forever.”
“Shut up!” Su Xiao glared angrily at Long Bing.
The corners of Long Bing’s lips went up, but her expression was cold. “The person who should shut up is you, bitch! I despise people like you who sacrifice the nation’s benefits for their own personal gain the most! Even if people like you did more than generals, you’d only be vermin!”
“You—” Su Xiao was about to flare up when she saw Xia Lei glaring at her fiercely. She suppressed her anger and only said, “Forget about it, I won’t bicker with you anymore. Mr Xia, sign it.”
“What does my one signature count as in such a big matter? My Thunder Horse Military Factory is worth a billion, and you’re just making me sign and give in. That’s rather negligent of you, isn’t it?” said Xia Lei softly.
Su Xiao frowned. “What else do you want to do?”
“Wait for everyone to get here before signing it,” said XIa Lei.
“Wait for everyone to get here?” Su Xiao suddenly realised something. “Who else did you invite?”
“I invited everyone who should have been invited. I bet the uninvited ones will hurry here as well so don’t worry, there will definitely be an outcome that satisfies everyone. We just have to wait a moment,” said Xia Lei indifferently.
Su Xiao’s gaze fell upon Fan Fan.
Fan Fan’s face was blank and seemed calm but the expression in her eyes became more complicated.
Xia Lei walked over to Long Bing and whispered, “Believe in me. You’ll be all right.”
Long Bing nodded lightly.
Just then, Lu Sheng walked in. “Director Xia, they’re here.”
“Let them in,” said Xia Lei.
“Yes.” Lu Sheng got closer to Xia Lei’s ear and whispered, “I’ve prepared everything you told me to prepare and Qin Xiang is ready.”
Xia Lei nodded. “Go, go.”
Lu Sheng left and Su Xiao seemed to sense that something was wrong. “Mr Xia, what’s going on? We came to an agreement yesterday, so what tricks are you playing now?”
“Am I playing tricks?” Xia Lei shrugged.
Su Xiao’s expression was cold and her speech had filled with a threatening tone. “You better think about what the consequences will be if you don’t sign this document.”
Xia Lei only laughed flatly. “No rush.”
“You…” Su Xiao was furious.
Xia Lei walked over to Su Xiao and looked at her, face to face. Then, he got up to her ear and whispered, “Miss Su, I know who you’re working for.”
“You?” Su Xiao stared blankly.
Xia Lei didn’t say more, but backed away instead.
Footsteps came from outside the door. It wasn’t one person’s footsteps but a whole group of people. Ling Han and Yu Shanhe appeared at the entrance of the office, followed by Mu Jianfeng and Ye Kun and a few people from the Equipment Department, including Tang Tianlong.
When she saw these faces, Su Xiao’s face suddenly turned dark.
Fan Fan had remained quiet but she couldn’t keep quiet any longer when she saw these faces.
Ling Han’s gaze fixed onto Fan Fan when he appeared in the entrance. He was smiling at first but the smile on his face disappeared when he saw Fan Fan.
“Haha.” On the contrary, Mu Jianfeng was happy. He laughingly said, “Xia Lei, you’ve finally thought it through. This is a great thing that benefits our country. See, I got your call and I prepared the contract.”
Yu Shanhe laughed as well. “Xia Lei, sign it in front of everyone today and from now on, the three companies will become a family, and this new company will become the biggest military factory company in Asia! You have done a great meritorious service!”
“Yes, this is indeed a good thing, but you guys came a step too late.”
Mu Jianfeng’s smile froze on his face. “What do you mean?”
Yu Shanhe’s gaze fell upon Fan Fan as well, and it looked like he realised something.
Xia Lei pointed at the six contracts on the office table and pointed again at Su Xiao. He said, “Miss Su came up to me first and she prepared the same contracts for me. Whose should I sign? Yours or hers?”
The office immediately went silent, and the atmosphere became strange. No one spoke but their eyes didn’t stop moving. Everyone’s eyes met each other’s in the air like a net. This net trapped everyone, some were prey and some were hunters. Some people thought they were hunters but they were actually prey. Some people seemed like prey but were actually hunters. Everything in the world worked like this. It was possible that what one saw with one’s eyes and heard with one’s ears was fake.
“Xia Lei.” Ling Han spoke. “What do you mean by this? Did you call me here to play tricks on me?”
“Brother Ling, how would I dare trick you? I’m just someone with a low status, and I only hope to survive among people of high status like you. I wouldn’t dare offend anyone. You guys want to take my Thunder Horse Military Factory and I’m willing to hand it over. I’m being so cooperative — did I do something wrong?” said Xia Lei.
“You called us here but you called her here too. What do you mean by this?” said Ling Han as he looked at Su Xiao.
“Brother Ling, are you sure it’s Miss Su?” Xia Lei smiled. “And not anyone else?”
“What do you mean?” Ling Han frowned.
“Hehe, I was just saying that casually. I don’t mean anything else.” Xia Lei shrugged. “Returning to the topic, let’s talk business. Whose contract should I sign?”
“You called me here, so you should sign my contract, of course,” said Ling Han.
Su Xiao glanced at Fan Fan and said, “I was the one who discussed this with Mr Xia and I came first. You should sign my contract, of course.”
“You? You’re not worthy!” Ling Han was furious.
“You…” Su Xiao hesitated. She seemed very afraid of Ling Han.
At this, Yu Shanhe said, “All right, all right. This is a big matter that benefits our country. It doesn’t matter who you sign with. We should care about the result and not the process. Let me help decide. Mr Xia, you should just sign with Elder Mu and Ye Kun.”
“I agree!” Ye Kun impatiently said, “Mr Xia, we can start right now.”
“Yes, first sign the contract and then let’s discuss everything else.” Mu Jianfeng was impatient as well.
Ye Kun and Mu Jianfeng all handed their contracts over, preparing to have Xia Lei sign it.
Ling Han and Fan Fan looked at each other with complicated expressions.
Mu Jianfeng and Ye Kun were all ready but Xia Lei calmly said, “What are you guys so anxious about? With such a big matter, even if it’s signing, we should probably make some things clear first.”
“Mr Xia, what else do you have to add? Please speak, please speak.” Yu Shanhe was very polite.
“It’s not like I won’t allow you guys to have my Thunder Horse Military Factory but I have to say something ugly beforehand…” said Xia Lei slowly.
He stopped talking at the most crucial point, whetting everyone’s appetites.
“You can speak whatever’s on your mind,” urged Yu Shanhe.
Boom! A violent explosion sound came suddenly. In the instant the explosion rang out, the office shook lightly and the glass of the window shattered into pieces. The timid Ye Kun was practically lying on the ground, grabbing his fat butt like a fat hamster hiding from danger.
Fan Fan suddenly rushed to the window and looked in the direction of the villa. Her expression darkened immediately.
The explosion had been her laboratory, and thick, heavy smoke came from inside the broken windows and the hole in the wall. The flames and chemical reagents’ disorderly reactions then entered her view, and in that moment, her heart sank into an icy valley.