Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The hard evidence and circumstantial evidence caused York to be at a loss for what to say to justify himself. The evidence looked very familiar. However, hadn’t he framed someone like this in the past?
He wouldn’t have it. It’s all fake! All fake! He didn’t know how it happened. Was it from when Seth killed Li Haiqing, or when they planned Seth’s escape, or when they kidnapped that female lawyer!?
After thinking about it for a while, he felt like it had something to do with Seth kidnapping that female lawyer. He remembered how much manpower, money, and resources the person behind the scenes had expended to kidnap that female lawyer. If it weren’t for that person popping out of nowhere, and if they hadn’t done anything to the female lawyer, Seth would have been in North Africa by now. None of this would have happened. So, if he wanted to get out of this mess, he would need to find that woman.
York thought things through as he sat in the detention center’s cafeteria and ate all the food on the tray in front of him. Although he had no appetite, now was not the time to go on a diet. He needed to live. Only then could he address this injustice.
As he was about to leave the cafeteria, a guard came over and said, “York, someone’s here to see you.”
York was dazed. Someone wanted to see him at a time like this? Even Ramona didn’t want to talk to him. Who would want to see him? York followed the guards to the visiting area. Strangely, this person didn’t take him to the visiting area specially designed for criminals.
In the standard visiting area, there was thick, bulletproof and sound proof glass between the visitors and the prisoners. They could only look at one another and talk through the phone. This person took him to a normal-looking visiting area. There was no bulletproof and sound proof glass separating the visitors and prisoners.
The moment he walked into the visiting area, he saw a tall man in a dark suit standing in front of the window with his hands clasped behind his back. The suit the man wore was extremely well-ironed. One could tell it was high-quality, handmade clothing, not something off the rack.
York greeted him by coughing twice. The man turned and looked at York expressionlessly. As his peach blossom eyes moved, they had traces of murderous intent.
York was shocked. The person who had come to see him was He Zhichu. York knew of him. He was the head prosecutor from the team of lawyers in Li Haiqing’s case. Although he didn’t appear in court to argue, York believed the prosecution team’s arguments were all from this lawyer, America’s biggest law firm’s youngest partner. It was definitely this person who was standing in front of him, but why was he visiting?
York smiled coldly. “Mr. He? Mr. He, you have come to see me. This such a surprise.” York sat down without reserve, feeling not a bit of unease.
He Zhichu sat down across from him. He placed one hand on the table between them and the other in his pocket. He appeared carefree, yet his manner was cold and indifferent. He Zhichu leaned forward as he spoke nonchalantly. “York, I froze your Swiss bank account.”
The color on York’s face changed immediately. “Impossible! That’s impossible!” he growled and glared at He Zhichu, wanting to shred him to pieces.
He Zhichu laughed as he leaned back in the chair and raised his hand. “If you don’t believe me, call your bank’s representative.” He took out his phone, opened it, and put it in front of York’s face.
Without saying a word, York took the phone and tapped on it. He suddenly came to his senses as he was dialing. He put down He Zhichu’s phone and slid it back to him. He smiled coldly. “You’re trying to trick me.” If he used He Zhichu’s phone to call, then He Zhichu would have all of the information about the person he was going to talk to.
He Zhichu shook his head as he sneered. He caught his phone and said, “Do I even need to trick you? Why would I need to trick you when I know even your Swiss bank account’s password?”
York’s eyes narrowed in fear, and his cheeks twitched. He sat down slowly and stared at He Zhichu. After a while he asked, “What do you mean? If you know everything, then why are you here?”
He Zhichu played with his phone and said with no spirit in his voice, “Can’t I be bored?”
York was speechless. Not wanting to talk anymore, he stood up. “If there’s nothing else, then I’ll take my leave.” York turned and began to walk away.
“Wait,” He Zhichu said unenthusiastically, and he stood up as well.
York halted, not turning his head and said, “What is it? You have more to say, Mr. He?”
Of course He Zhichu had something to ask him, or else why would he be talking to someone he hated? To find Gu Nianzhi’s whereabouts and to discover who was playing these tricks behind the scenes, He Zhichu had to feign civility with this hateful person. “Yes, you know the trouble you are in, right? Civil claims, bribery, murder—these three big charges are against you. Life sentence with parole is considered light. Plus, do you need me to remind you how many enemies you have in prison who are waiting for their revenge?”
York couldn’t move when He Zhichu finished talking. He had forgotten how many “enemies” he had in prison. Cold sweat dripped down York’s back as he felt his lung capacity becoming inadequate. What does He Zhichu want? York turned around and stared at He Zhichu intensely but couldn’t get anything out of that cold expression of his. “Mr. He, sir, what are you trying to say?” York unwittingly used the honorific.
He Zhichu took a few steps while clasping his hands behind his back. He said, “What I’m trying to say is simple. Who were you working for that let your stepson kidnap Lawyer Gu? Tell me. I can help you walk free.”
York stared at He Zhichu, and after a long time, he suddenly laughed and said, “So it’s like that, but Mr. He, my memory is not very good. I can only remember after thinking about it.” He was not willing to tell He Zhichu right away.
He Zhichu was burning with impatience, but he couldn’t let York see it. If he did, there would be no further negotiation. He nodded indifferently and said, “That’s fine. Let me know when you remember, but let me tell you something. I hate people who bargain. If you are willing to tell me, then tell me. If not, then forget it. I already told you my side of the bargain, but if you don’t want it or want a better bargain, sorry, I won’t be able to help you. I’ll take my leave.” He Zhichu turned on his heels without hesitation, but as for York, he was stupefied.
York called out without thinking, “Mr. He! Let us talk!”
He Zhichu didn’t stop moving his feet and didn’t turn his head as he said, “We’ll talk when you make up your mind. Don’t force it, if you haven’t made up your mind.”
York was at a loss for words. He hesitated. He did not know if he should make this deal with He Zhichu. Besides, he hadn’t contacted that woman, and he should at least hear what she had to say. If that woman was impervious to his misfortune, it would not be too late to betray her.
After all, that woman was too difficult to deal with. Not only did she have the wealth to give him ten million euros in cash and deposit it in a Swiss bank account, she also had power enough to mobilize the Copernicus Global Satellite Navigation System. If York betrayed her, a person with that kind of power… He’d better think it through, or else he would be in big trouble.
After He Zhichu left, York did nothing when he went back to his room in the detention center, but the day after that was the day he could go to the library to read and go online. He sent an email to a strange email address saying, “Mrs. Yamaguchi, we need to talk. What do you think of this?”
The email was intercepted by He Zhichu, who was constantly surveilling York, but what was strange about the email address York was sending his missive to was that He Zhichu couldn’t find it. No matter what he did, he couldn’t find the origin of that email address. It was like a stone dropped into the sea.
He Zhichu’s heart sank as stared at this outcome. Even with his computer skills, he couldn’t track this email down. Was there a person in the world with better computer skills than his? Looking at the name in the email York sent, it seemed like a Japanese woman. Was there a Japanese person with such amazing computer skills?
He Zhichu didn’t believe it. He sat in front of the computer for a long time and finally thought of a possibility. Color started to drain from He Zhichu’s face. With this strange email appearing, he remembered his slight unease from before. It was probably just as he had guessed. No wonder he couldn’t track it down.
Oh no! He Zhichu suddenly stood up from his desk. If the other person was really on par with him, and if he was not wrong, York was in danger. He picked up his phone and immediately called the detention center and said, “I have something urgent that I need to talk to York about. Please let him come to the phone.”
The person on duty was not happy being woken up from his sleep and said, “Who are you? It’s late. Whatever it is, call back tomorrow.”
“My last name is He. Look at York’s visitors’ record. I went to see him the other day,” He said in a deep voice while controlling his worry.
The man on duty turned the pages of the visitors’ record impatiently, and when he saw He Zhichu’s name and the remark next to the name, he immediately did a 180 and promptly said, “Mr. He! Yes, Mr. He! Please wait! I’ll go get York immediately!” The man on duty was fully awake and ran to the room holding York. He opened the door with a key and yelled, “York, you have a phone call.”
It was three in the morning. York must have been sleeping because there was not a sound. The man on duty couldn’t do anything about it, so he turned on the light while swearing and went over to lift the blanket on York’s bed.
York was dead on the bed with blood coming from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth.
“Ahhh!” The man was so scared that he took some steps back and fell on the ground. He scrambled up and frantically got out of the room screaming, “Murder! Murder! Someone in the detention center has killed someone!”
…
He Zhichu realized he was too late when he received the news of York’s death. They probably made their move the moment they received York’s extortion email. Although he didn’t know who was in the shadows plotting these schemes, judging by how fast they buried York, it showed that they didn’t want He Zhichu to find out. Why did they not want him to know? Ahh, the probability of it being someone he knew was nine out of ten. He Zhichu didn’t have many friends, but he did have a lot of enemies.
His sparkling peach blossom eyes narrowed as his mind quickly thought of ways to find Gu Nianzhi. His leads, Seth and York, were gone. Gu Nianzhi’s phone for sure had been thrown away, so even using satellites to locate it would not work. Where was she? In the Alps? So far, the worst possibility was her being stuck in the Alps, but the good thing was winter wouldn’t arrive for a while yet. If it was winter, then she wouldn’t survive with mountains full of snow.
He Zhichu muttered to himself for a long time and decided on two things. One, he would immediately dispatch people to search for her in the Alps. Even if he had to turn over every inch of the mountain, he would find Gu Nianzhi. Two, he had to do something. He had to appear in the media, had to appear in public, had to be where he could get a lot of attention. That way, no matter where she was, she would know that he was back and that he was waiting for her.
After that, He Zhichu would be different from his normal self, no longer being low key and no long avoiding the media. He repeatedly appeared on Germany’s big television channels, accepted interviews, went on shows, and even signed up for Germany’s social media accounts. The profile picture for his account was Gu Nianzhi’s back, and the profile page had, “waiting for you to come back” written on it.
At first, Smith and the others didn’t know why He Zhichu suddenly liked to make all kinds of public appearances and to be in the spotlight, but when they saw his social media account, they knew why. He wanted to stand at the highest place so that the person who was lost would know where to find him.
He Zhichu was extremely good looking and attractive from every angle. His peach blossom eyes overflowed with emotions and cool disposition. He displayed a conflicting disposition that was very attractive, not to mention he could speak standard Hanoverian German, and to top it all off, his manners were like those of royalty. German people were hooked. Fan boys and fan girls were on social media everyday.
To be exposed on such a large scale, Gu Nianzhi should have been able to see it, but too bad anything related to He Zhichu had been blocked from Gu Nianzhi’s phone.Therefore, she could not see the whirlwind of news about He Zhichu being in Germany. Besides, she didn’t like to look at the news, and Reinitz’s home didn’t have a television. That was why even when He Zhichu was basking in the spotlight on TV, she couldn’t see him.
Night came, and Gu Nianzhi was already asleep. Als quietly came to visit Reinitz. The two sat under the moonlight drinking draft beer, both thinking of He Zhichu’s unusual behavior.
“Reinitz, tell me, that He, is he still looking for her?” Als asked as he pouted in the direction of Gu Nianzhi’s room upstairs.
Reinitz took a sip of his draft beer and did not say anything. Under the silvery white moonlight, his face had an apathetic and nothing-to-live-for kind of expression. His blue eyes contained no trace of emotion. A glass of draft beer was finished. After a while, Reinitz said insipidly, “How can he not look?” If he had lost her, he would look for her, even if he had to go to from heaven to hell.
“That’s true, she’s a capable subordinate. He took her from the Hua Xia Empire to Germany, and when he came back, she wasn’t there anymore. Who could let her go?” Als gave Reinitz a thumbs up. “But you had better foresight. If you hadn’t blocked all news related to He Zhichu, she would have known He was back. He sure knows how to make a scene.”
Reinitz also recently learned of He Zhichu’s other identity in America. Even NATO’s supreme allied commander, Felix, was fawning over him. Luckily, their federal intelligence agency was a separate agency. They didn’t need to listen to those politicians who didn’t have any backbone and who kneeled before He Zhichu, licking his shoes.
Gu Nianzhi was in their hands. They wouldn’t give up. But they also didn’t want to invite trouble. If they were not careful and let Gu Nianzhi contact He Zhichu, He Zhichu could directly ask their bureau for her. They didn’t know if they would let her go or not.
“It was only a small job, not hard at all,” Reinitz said coldly. “But Cereus is not used to being locked in a room. If she walks around outside and gets the news from other people, I need to know how to deal with that.”
Als poured himself another glass of draft beer. “How you should deal with that? Don’t you still need to obey orders? If they cave under He’s pressure, what do you think I should do?”
Reinitz smiled and didn’t say anything. He lit a cigarette, and his view blurred as he became surrounded by smoke.
…
That day, Hua Xia’s Ministry of the Interior finally saw a report about one of their citizens going missing overseas. The citizen’s name was Gu Nianzhi. She was one of the prosecuting lawyers handling Li Haiqing’s case that was buzzing not too long ago. The head Minister of the Interior had especially been following this story. The team of lawyers had been hired by the head of the department, Mr. Bai.
Seeing that the only Hua Xia citizen from this team of lawyers had gone missing, the person in charge of overseas citizens was taken aback. He specifically picked this report from Munich’s Hua Xia Empire’s embassy’s vice consul. The report went through all the processes, until it reached the head Minister of the Interior, Bai Jiancheng. It was late at night. His daughter, Bai Yueran, was helping him organize his files in his home office.
When she saw the report, Bai Yueran, stood up swiftly and rushed to Bai Jiancheng’s office and said, “Father, Gu Nianzhi went missing in Germany. I need to tell General Ji immediately.” They were supposed to contact Huo Shaoheng, but Huo Shaoheng was carrying out a mission abroad. He couldn’t get any messages. Bai Yueran knew she couldn’t use any means to disturb Huo Shaoheng. It was the iron clad rule. If she disobeyed, then a court martial would pass a strict ruling against her. Consequently, the fastest way was to contact General Ji. General Ji had more power than Huo Shaoheng, and he had a higher rank and could use more resources to find Gu Nianzhi.
Bai Jiancheng looked up from a thick file and took his reading glasses off. His brows were furrowed as he said, “What did you just say? Who went missing?”
“Gu Nianzhi,” Bai Yueran said as she composed herself. “Do you remember? The girl Huo saved from his aunt’s magnetic field experiment seven years ago is that Gu Xiangwen’s younger daughter.”
