At this point, a hint of panic appeared on Lu Chengzhe's face.
Chen Xiao glanced at Uncle Tian and the other two behind him and saw that the three unscrupulous men were completely unmoved. Uncle Tian was leisurely sipping his tea, Zhu Rong was smoking, and Gong Gong... was still obediently leaning on his wife's shoulder...
"And then?" Chen Xiao asked helplessly.
"The night after the deadline, I received a phone call. The voice on the other end was a metallic, synthesized voice. The caller threatened me, saying that it seemed I didn't trust their power, so they would gradually show it to me. After the call ended, I was just a little worried, but the next morning..." Lu Chengzhe shuddered, his face grim. "When I woke up, I found a piece of paper next to my pillow! On the paper was an account number, the very same account the extortionists had instructed me to transfer money to."
Upon waking up in the morning? Beside the pillow?
Lu Chengzhe gritted his teeth: "I have bodyguards at home, and the houses I live in have high-level security systems, with very tight doors and windows. But how could they so quietly break into my bedroom and leave something like this while I was sleeping—if they had wanted to kill me then..."
Chen Xiao nodded, also involuntarily drawn to the matter.
"The next morning, I carefully questioned the bodyguards and servants. The interrogation yielded no results, but I became more vigilant and increased security. However, on the third day, something strange happened again. In the morning, the entire swimming pool in my house turned red!" Lu Chengzhe rubbed his temples, distressed. "But no one can figure out how they did it! The red wasn't blood; it was dye. But to dye such a large pool red, it would take at least two or three buckets of dye. Bodyguards patrol my yard at night, but no one noticed anything unusual!"
He paused for a moment, then continued with a wry smile: "On the fourth day, before I left home, the driver was horrified to find that several cars in my garage wouldn't start. It turned out that someone had cut the wiring in the cars... and there was a note left on the garage door that read: 'Now you should know our power.'"
Lu Chengzhe's face grew paler and paler: "What I'm worried about is that, thankfully, they only cut the wiring to prevent the car from starting. If they had broken the brakes... then..."
"Have you offended anyone recently?" This time it wasn't Chen Xiao who spoke, but Uncle Tian. The uncle's expression finally became slightly more serious, but he still leisurely held his teacup and calmly blew on it: "You're a very wealthy man, aren't you? Have you had a business conflict with anyone?"
Lu Chengzhe's expression was somewhat helpless: "My business is quite large, but when it comes to business conflicts, I've never been one to completely destroy business rivals. I'm a traditional Chinese businessman; I believe in leaving room for others, that we'll meet again someday... Even if there are business rivals, it wouldn't warrant such deep-seated hatred. Besides..." His voice was tense: "I feel these things are too strange, I'm afraid, I'm afraid..."
"I'm afraid it's not something a normal person could do, right?" Uncle Tian took a sip of tea, slowly put down his cup, and glanced at Chen Xiao: "What about you? Have you made up your mind?"
Chen Xiao looked at Uncle Tian with some doubt, then gave him a wink, as if to say: Are you really letting me make the decision?
Old Tian smiled, winked at Chen Xiao, and nodded slightly.
Sigh... Chen Xiao was helpless. Were these monsters playing a trick on him?
“Mr. Lu,” Chen Xiao said, forcing a smile, “we need to discuss your matter. We will get back to you as soon as we have a result. Regardless of whether we accept the commission or not, we will give you an answer.”
Lu Chengzhe's expression showed a slight disappointment: "Could it be that my offer wasn't enough...? If so, I can..."
“No, no.” Chen Xiao immediately shook his head, trying to remain calm, and said, “This… we can’t just take on this matter rashly. You have to give us some time to discuss it.”
Before Lu Chengzhe could say anything more, Zhu Rong suddenly tapped the table lightly: "Hey, Lu, where did you find out about this place? Who told you to come here to accept a commission?"
“I have a friend surnamed Xu,” Lu Chengzhe said with a wry smile. “He’s in the real estate business. He noticed I’ve been acting strangely lately, and I told him the truth. He introduced me here. He said that no matter what problems I face, as long as you’re willing to take on the case, you can help me resolve them. He also said… your organization’s actions are very unusual, and I must be very careful. As for this sword, it’s also…”
"He's the one who told you we don't like cash, we prefer weird and wonderful things, right?" Zhu Rong laughed rudely. "So it was that old bastard surnamed Xu. Humph, he's even trying to introduce us to business. Alright, you can leave now, but leave the sword behind."
The last sentence, "Leave the sword behind," immediately brought a look of joy to Lu Chengzhe's face. He quickly prepared to take his leave, as if afraid that the others might change their minds.
"Wait a minute!" Uncle Tian suddenly smiled, walked over, and gently patted Lu Chengzhe's shoulder. His hand seemed to casually brush against Lu's shoulder as he smiled slightly. "Leaving the sword doesn't mean we accept the commission. The person with the authority to decide is this young man. If he says no, I will return the sword to you. Don't worry, we won't take your treasure for granted."
Lu Chengzhe quickly shook his head: "I wouldn't dare! I wouldn't dare!"
After saying that, he hurriedly left the store and got into a car and drove away surrounded by bodyguards.
After everyone had left, Chen Xiao turned around and looked at the three of them seriously. His expression was not very good. Without saying a word, he walked directly behind the counter, slowly took off his apron, folded it, and put it in the cabinet under the counter.
He picked up his backpack, didn't say hello, and turned to walk out the door.
He had only taken two steps when he heard Uncle Tian call out behind him, "Wait! Where are you going?"
Chen Xiao turned around, his tone cold: "Please tell old man Edward that I'm quitting."
Uncle Tian wasn't surprised. He crossed his arms and asked with a smile, "Why?"
"I came here because I agreed to Lei Hu's request... I'm just an ordinary person and didn't want to get involved in anything too troublesome. I'm already very unhappy about being dragged into this and inexplicably put on some 'watch list.' Lei Hu also promised that this job would have absolutely nothing to do with your 'service agency,' which is why I agreed to come! But now, things are obviously not that simple!" Chen Xiao pointed to his nose: "I'm just a mortal, you're superheroes. You can set fires, fly, do whatever you want, but none of that has anything to do with me, right? I just want to go to school, work, and earn money to support my family."
Zhu Rong and Uncle Tian exchanged a glance and both laughed. Then Zhu Rong stood up, her metal chains jingling as she walked to Chen Xiao's side. She affectionately put her arm around Chen Xiao's neck, and Chen Xiao immediately felt a pair of large breasts almost pressing against his face. Startled, he quickly shrank back, his face flushing red. "You..."
"Oh dear, you're shy." Zhu Rong smiled, her eyes crinkling. "What are you shy about! I could be your grandmother! You're just a little kid, why are you shy with me?"
Grandma?!
Looking at Zhu Rong's delicate skin and flower-like face, Chen Xiao was initially surprised, then angrily said, "You people with superpowers, do you just enjoy making fun of people?!"
"You don't believe me?" Zhu Rong paused for a moment, then sighed. "You should know that we're all retired! Look at me, if I were about your age, would I look like I'm retired?" She moved closer to Chen Xiao's face, staring intently into his eyes, and sneered, "Little guy, listen carefully, your sister Zhu Rong is almost a hundred years old this year!"
What? One, a hundred years old?
Chen Xiao immediately refused to believe it: "Do you think you're some kind of ancient Chinese fairy?"
Zhu Rong pursed her lips: "He's a newcomer after all... It's normal that he can't accept it for a while. Tell me he's not the oldest here. The oldest guy here is this Uncle Tian! He's the real old monster who's lived for hundreds of years." As she spoke, she winked and poked Chen Xiao's nose with her slender finger.
Chen Xiao couldn't help but turn around and look at this "Uncle Tian".
“She wasn’t lying. I’m over four hundred years old this year…” Uncle Tian shook his head: “I was born during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, which is 1546 AD.”
Duke, AD, 1, 1, 1546? ?
Chen Xiao felt a headache coming on and couldn't speak for a moment. He just stared blankly at the two of them. After a long while, he managed to say with difficulty, "I don't care how old you are! I just have absolutely no interest in joining your service agency!"
"Hahahaha..." Zhu Rong laughed: "I already told you, we are retired now, and we didn't ask you to join the service society."
The woman deliberately leaned close to Chen Xiao, giving him a flirtatious wink: "As for this job, it has absolutely nothing to do with the agency. It's just that we retirees are all tired of running around. We finally found a stable place to live a few peaceful days. But we old folks still need to eat, right? We need to spend money, right? Since we're retired, we don't get paid anymore, so we had to set up this job to earn some money for our retirement... Did you hear that? Lei Hu and the others aren't lying to you. This place really has nothing to do with the agency's business. It's just something we retired old folks set up to earn some extra cash."
Chapter 42 [Ultra-thin?]
Earn money, earn money for retirement?!
Chen Xiao glanced subconsciously at the antique sword on the counter—worth over ten million US dollars.
And all those gold bars and diamonds in the safe upstairs...