True Solution of the Sword Dao

Chapter 75: Chapter 70 He Wewen

Chapter 75 -70 He Wewen

“Wenwen, where are you?” a somewhat hoarse voice came through the phone.

“I’m shopping,” He Wenwen replied calmly.

“What are you buying? There isn’t much in the way of good snacks in Ping City, right? Didn’t I bring you some food? Weren’t we supposed to meet later to pick up someone? Li Xiang’s flight is at two in the afternoon; we could grab something to eat first, then head directly to the airport. The timing is just right.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Let’s do that, then. I’ll drive over to pick you up now; where are you?”

“At the entrance of Lijiang Supermarket, just below my house.”

“Alright, I’ll be there soon. Yes, ten minutes, just right, no traffic.”

“Yes, thank you, Sister Sisi,” He Wenwen responded in an extremely even tone.

“Let’s leave it at that.” The call from the other side then ended.

He Wenwen fell silent, just about to put away her phone, when suddenly it vibrated again in her hand.

“Hello, Mom, what’s up?”

“Isn’t your Sister Sisi going back to the United Kingdom the day after tomorrow? Ask her if she’s free tomorrow; your dad and I would like to invite her for a meal,” her mother’s voice sounded slightly weary over the phone.

“I’ll try to ask her,” He Wenwen’s voice quivered slightly.

“Yes, remember that. Also, Li Xiang, if you can invite him as well, that’d be great.”

“Got it, Mom.”

The call ended.

Just as the person in front of her finished checking out, it was her turn.

He Wenwen piled everything in the basket onto the checkout counter. She watched as the staff member skillfully scanned each barcode.

“That will be 104.4 yuan.”

She numbly pulled out her wallet from her small shoulder bag.

****************

Three hours later.

A fiery red Beetle sped onto the highway back to Ping City.

At the driver’s seat was a beautiful, languid girl. He Wenwen sat in the passenger seat, silent and somewhat restrained. In the Beetle’s back seat, a girl with thick eyeshadow stretched her long, shapely legs, lying across the entire rear seat.

“Sisi, what happened to that Wiesmann of yours?” the girl in the back casually asked.

“I left it at Dad’s,” the driving girl replied nonchalantly.

“This car is really uncomfortable to lie in.”

“It’s borrowed from my aunt. Where do you expect me to find a good car to pick you up in such short notice? Be satisfied,” Sisi said, somewhat irritated.

“Whatever.”

No sooner had Sisi spoken than she immediately realized, and with a sheepish smile, she apologetically looked at He Wenwen. The “aunt” she referred to was actually He Wenwen’s mother. This car was also Sisi’s mother’s car.

He Wenwen managed a shy smile. “It’s okay,” she said softly.

Li Xiang in the back noticed and immediately changed the topic. She started talking to Sisi, who was driving, about life in the United Kingdom. Their conversation completely surpassed He Wenwen’s realm of understanding. Sitting in the passenger seat, a profound sense of inferiority surged constantly from within her; the excellence she thought she possessed seemed like a vast gap, unattainably distant in front of her two cousins.

She looked at Sisi sitting beside her, talking about topics completely foreign to her, discussing a lifestyle far beyond her level, as if she and they were from two different worlds.

An intense emotion led her to a wildly fanciful daydream where a perfect man with strong family background, wealth, talents, and great looks, supreme in every sense, would suddenly appear at this moment, stop the Beetle, and declare his love for her in front of her cousins. This unreal imagination intoxicated her deeply.

Sitting in the passenger seat, He Wenwen felt as if she were enduring hellish torment. Her family’s livelihood entirely depended on the support of Sisi’s and Li Xiang’s parents, a disparity rooted in the previous generation that almost suffocated her.

The two casually chatted in the car, and after a while, probably due to a dry throat from talking, Sisi stopped the conversation to drink some mineral water.

It was then that He Wenwen remembered what her mother had asked of her. Seizing the moment, she decided to speak up.

“Sisi,” she mustered up her courage.

“Hmm?”

“My mom would like to invite you and Li Xiang for a meal.”

Just then, a transport truck overtook them, passing by the Beetle. The roar of its massive engine completely drowned out He Wenwen’s words.

Sisi hadn’t heard a thing.

“What did you just say?”

He Wenwen was about to repeat herself.

“Oh right, Sisi, I have something to take care of in the Xiangyang district. Just drop me off there. I’m going back to Italy the day after tomorrow anyway, and we can go together.” Li Xiang suddenly spoke from the back seat.

“Sounds good, I’ll just rebook my flight then, and by the way…..”

Listening to their conversation, He Wenwen bit her lip, no longer possessing the courage to speak as before. The gap between her and the likes of Li Xiang and Sisi was too great— their parents ran enterprises with billions in assets. Her parents, however, were just ordinary relatives who relied on them for support.

For some reason, the image of that terrifying night suddenly flashed in her mind—blood flowing under her feet, a young man in a pristine white shirt holding a sword, smiling.

**************

Rainbow Hotel

General Manager’s Office.

Lu Jun sat in the leather chair, shaking his head helplessly.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Zhao, our president does not want to meet with you.”

The slightly overweight middle-aged man sitting opposite him, his face slick with nervous perspiration, sat uneasily on the sofa. Upon hearing this, he immediately plastered a smile across his face.

“No problem, no problem. When your president has time, I’ll visit again.”

“I’m really sorry about that,” Lu Jun apologized. The man sitting in front of him, President Zhao, was a renowned provincial business magnate with a fortune in the billions. Somehow he had unearthed some connection to this place, motivated by issues concerning Chen Chen, and had come to appeal to Lin Fei for leniency.

After all, once Lin Fei took on the role of city branch head, not only did he manage over ten billion in assets from Rainbow Group alone, but he also held significant other privileges and influences, including strong sway over the police and commerce bureaus, making him a quintessential local boss. Looking at this huge entity, not just private enterprises worth billions, but even those worth ten billion, would not wish to clash with him.

Though Shueisha held an awkward position in the Inner World, it was incredibly mysterious and powerful in the ordinary world. With someone like Lin Fei, already a branch head at his young age, his future potential for rise was unfathomable. President Zhao was naturally terrified.

An even more critical factor was that Shueisha’s members were all criminals with heavy cases on their backs, and stepping into such an environment was like a sheep walking into a wolf pack, naturally invoking a fear of the “survival of the fittest.”

President Zhao carefully walked out of the office, his face wearing a humble smile from beginning to end. Only when he exited the hotel did he breathe a deep sigh of relief.

“Bang.” Slipping into his sedan, President Zhao hurriedly pulled out a tissue to wipe the sweat from his face.

“Dad, is it really that scary?” The driver was a handsome young man. Seeing his father’s demeanour, he was somewhat skeptical.

“What do you know? The people we were supposed to meet today are all desperados. One wrong move and you could lose your life in there,” President Zhao snapped irritably.

“Really? But we live in a society ruled by law.”

“It’s true that there is rule of law, but they are the law enforcement. They could suspect you of anything, use an investigation as a pretext, and pin all sorts of charges on you. More crucially, do you think that in this world, every murder ends in a solved case?”

“Isn’t that the case? Our rates of solving cases are among the best in the world,” the young man said, puzzled.

“Chong Chong, remember, the cases that get exposed are those that are solved. The vast majority of cases actually remain unsolved mysteries. For the sake of credibility, the authorities can’t reveal the major unsolved cases. This world is not as simple as you see it,” lamented President Zhao, a deep expression on his face. “Although I, as the head of a major enterprise, wield significant influence, and it’s unlikely that they would target me, sometimes you must be vigilant. What if you encounter someone petty…..”