Left with no other choice, I could only say, "Tong Yuan, please make the trip." After weighing the options carefully, I felt this was the best option. First, Tong Yuan doesn't represent any particular faction and has good interpersonal relationships; second, she's the only one with extensive experience leading a team in competitions; and finally, having a beautiful woman lead the team can build popularity and make the opponents lower their guard.
Tong Yuan readily agreed, "Sure."
I said, "When you arrive in Singapore, please be mindful of your manners and etiquette. I've heard that the country still retains the punishment of spanking. There will be short training sessions for you on the specifics. Do you have any other questions?"
Fang Zhenjiang suddenly stood up and asked, "May I bring my family?"
Everyone was stunned. Now, almost everyone at Yucai knew about him and Tong Yuan. The two of them were inseparable and affectionate every day.
I asked in surprise, "Isn't Tong Yuan the team leader? Who else do you want to lead?"
Everyone chuckled and looked at him, while Tong Yuan squinted her eyes...
Fang Zhenjiang stammered, "I...I'm asking for Old Wang."
Then it dawned on me, and I said, "If you want to bring your family members, just let me know, and we'll see how it goes." I glanced at Hua Rong and said casually, "If any of your family members can speak English, bring them along; we still need a translator." Hua Rong nodded gratefully at me—Xiuxiu was the English teacher.
It wasn't until the day of departure that I realized how talented Yucai was. From the team leader to the members, everyone was full of energy, and even the translator, team doctor, and driver were self-sufficient. Fang La, in particular, took his wife on a publicly funded trip to Singapore as a carpenter from Yucai.
After dealing with this matter, I realized I hadn't seen Xiang Yu. I grabbed Fang Zhenjiang, who was passing by, and whispered, "Where's Brother Yu?"
Fang Zhenjiang said, "You just went to my room to lie down before the meeting."
I exclaimed in surprise, "He really stayed up all night watching the flowerbed yesterday?"
Fang Zhenjiang nodded: "I told him I wanted to switch places with him, but he wouldn't let me."
"Then why isn't he watching it anymore?"
Fang Zhenjiang said, "The flower—no, the grass—fell off on its own. Doctor An said it was because it had matured, and Brother Yu was relieved."
I rushed to Fang Zhenjiang's room. Xiang Yu was lying on his bed, probably having not slept soundly. Hearing someone open the door, he jumped up, looking quite wary.
I simply reached out and said, "Where's the grass? Let me see."
Xiang Yu relaxed when he saw it was me. He carefully placed the cactus-shaped "temptation grass" in my hand from beside the pillow, and its pleasant fragrance immediately filled the whole room again.
Xiang Yu said, "This thing is indeed strange. I only put it next to my pillow and slept for a while, and I had strange dreams for a long time. All the dreams were about things that happened when I was very young."
I said, "It seems it really can restore memories. But what are you going to do with it? You can't just give it to Zhang Bing like this, can you?"
Xiang Yu shrugged: "Is there any other way?"
"...Won't anyone die?"
"An Daoquan has checked it and said there are no toxins, but it's hard to say whether there are any other side effects."
It was clear that Xiang Yu was still hesitant. I held the grass up to my eyes and examined it closely, saying, "This thing seems to be starting to dehydrate. Have you made up your mind?"
Xiang Yu snatched the tempting herbs into his hand and said resolutely, "This is the only way. If anything happens to A Yu, I'll die with her—come on, let's go find her!"
I shuddered. Xiang Yu asked, "What's wrong?"
I said, "I've just remembered an idiom."
"What?"
"...Disregarding human life!"
Just as Xiang Yu and I got into the car, my phone rang. I hurriedly answered and asked, "Who is it?"
A voice on the other end asked with a chuckle, "Xiao Qiang?"
"I am. Who are you?"
The other person's smile remained unchanged: "My surname is He, He Tiandou."
Chapter Ninety-Nine: Han Xin?
The name alone made me furious. I turned off the car I was starting and said fiercely, "If you're going to fight against the heavens, why are you bothering me? Aren't you rich? Why don't you buy satellites and missiles from the US and just bombard the sky? Or buy every Chinese person an Alto so they can drive it while showering and using the toilet, speeding up the destruction of the atmosphere and making those bastards fall down from the sky."
He Tiandou said with a smile, "That's one way."
Xiang Yu carefully held the "temptation grass" and looked at me with a puzzled expression.
He Tiandou said, "You stole a 'temptation grass' from my house, didn't you? It should be ripe by now, right?"
"...How did you know?"
"How could I not know? I brought that grass down from the sky! You and Xiang Yu are going to find Yu Ji now, right?"
I looked around warily. He Tiandou seemed to know what I was doing and said, "No need to look, I was just guessing. Xiaoqiang, it's nothing to give you a blade of grass, but you know how hard it is to get these things. I only have one plant for each plant, so could you give it back to me?"
Hearing him speak so seriously, I couldn't help but laugh and say, "Fine, are you sending someone to pick it up or should I deliver it to you?" Xiang Yu also gave a slight cold laugh.
He Tiandou sighed dramatically and said, "Forget it, I know you won't agree, but I'm planning to use that medicine to save someone. If you take it... tsk tsk, this is going to be difficult."
I cursed, "Don't fucking try to fool me. How can this medicine cure anything? Is it because Lao Ai (the famous man with the big penis in the Records of the Grand Historian) was impotent for life?"
He Tiandou chuckled and said, "It's similar in nature. A once-powerful figure is now living a life worse than death—you'll see for yourself when you go take a look. Here's the address..."
I hurriedly called out, "Wait, why aren't you going?"
"I don't have much medicine left. Don't be ungrateful, kid. If I hadn't turned a blind eye, your Hua Rong would have been reduced to ashes. If I'm not mistaken, Xiang Yu wants to give the grass in his hand to Yu Ji. But aren't you afraid that the unprocessed Temptation Grass might have side effects?"
His words startled both Xiang Yu and me. He Tiandou seized the opportunity to leave an address and a name before quickly hanging up the phone.
I looked at Xiang Yu and asked, "What should we do?"