She smiled and introduced him to Little Ze. “This is my friend, Big Ben.”
She then introduced Zhao Liangze to the Caucasian man, saying, “This is my friend, Mr. Zhao.”
“Hello, Mr. Zhao.” The man offered his hand politely.
Although Zhao Liangze felt very uncomfortable, he still reached out to shake hands with the man.
“Big Ben, please come and sit down. You came just in time; we are about to have a great dinner.” Bai Shuang warmly invited the man to sit down.
“Hmm! This looks really good!” The man quickly got acquainted with his surroundings and began to chat with Zhao Liangze.
Zhao Liangze didn’t speak as eloquently as Yin Shixiong did. He was also in a bad mood, so he didn’t talk too much and merely exchanged a few polite words.
Bai Shuang smiled and drank her wine for a while before putting her hand on the man’s shoulder and saying, “My dear, I have something to ask you. I was wondering if you could do me a favor.”
“Honey – as long as you ask me, and as long as I am able to, I will definitely help.” The man took Bai Shuang’s hand and kissed the back of it.
There was fire shooting out of Zhao Liangze’s eyes.
He raised his glass and emptied it bitterly.
Bai Shuang pretended not to notice Zhao Liangze’s reaction and leaned into the man’s ear to whisper in a very quiet voice, “…My friend’s relatives rented a safety deposit box in the basement of your bank, but they forgot to bring their credentials. Can you help them open the safe and let them take a look at the contents inside?”
The man shook his head regretfully and said, “No. Even if you have the credentials, you can’t open the safe without the key. We don’t have the key here.”
For the sake of security, they implemented a complete destruction policy for the safety deposit boxes in the sixth-floor basement. In other words, if the customer did not come to redeem the contents at the expiry of the rental period, the contents of the safety deposit box would be destroyed rather than being claimed by the bank.
This was also one of the reasons why the rent in the basement was more expensive than that of the upper floors.
“No keys? We don’t have them either.” Bai Shuang blinked. “Well, why don’t you let us go in and take a look at the safety deposit box? We’ll just look at the box, take a photo of the contents, and then verify it with her relatives? Maybe he will remember where the keys are?”
“If that’s the case, I’ll consider it. But…” The Caucasian man glanced at Zhao Liangze and said, “I don’t have the authority to make this decision on my own. I have to notify several colleagues…”
He was blatantly asking for bribes.
Zhao Liangze sneered inwardly and put on a false look of understanding. He looked at Bai Shuang with a smile.
Didn’t she say that he was pursuing her? Why was he still asking for money?
Bai Shuang’s expression was a little uncomfortable, so she pouted her lips and said, “A friend is a friend, and business is business. These are two different things.” She then handed over a cheque she had prepared in advance, saying, “This is a small gesture of our appreciation. Thank you for helping us.”
The Caucasian man gracefully put the cheque into a secret pocket in his suit. He smiled casually and still appeared personable as he continued chatting and laughing with them.
Only the voices of Bai Shuang and the Caucasian man could be heard consistently talking and laughing during the dinner.
At first, Zhao Liangze would interject briefly, but eventually, he stopped talking completely and just downed one drink after another.
It was a pity that there was only beer since he couldn’t get drunk no matter how much he drank. All he managed to do was make his stomach hurt, and he ran to the bathroom several times.
…
When Gu Nianzhi awoke from her sleep, she saw that it was already around six in the evening.
She got up and went to the bathroom to wash her face, then changed her clothes and went outside to find something to eat.
She was surprised to see Bai Shuang flirting with a random Caucasian man in the dining room. Gu Nianzhi stopped in her tracks and looked at them with a surprised expression before glancing around.
That’s right; she was still in her hotel room. This wasn’t a dream?
Gu Nianzhi blinked vigorously once again.
Seeing Gu Nianzhi’s reaction, Bai Shuang laughed and waved to her, saying, “Nianzhi, come over for dinner. I didn’t see you earlier and thought you were away.”
A spark of excitement flashed in the eyes of the Caucasian man sitting next to Bai Shuang.
This was the Gu Nianzhi that their big boss wanted to kidnap?!
The knife and fork he was holding trembled slightly, gently clanging against the dinner plate.
Gu Nianzhi glanced at his hand calmly before coolly shifting her eyes to Bai Shuang.
She pursed her lips and asked quietly, “Where is Brother Ze? Why are you sitting in our dining room and eating dinner?”
“Little Ze drank too much just now and had to go to the bathroom. It’s not convenient for me…” Before Bai Shuang even finished speaking, she saw Gu Nianzhi turn and head towards the bathroom.
Bai Shuang stared at her back. After a while, she withdrew her gaze nonchalantly and took a sip of beer.
The Caucasian man remarked quietly, “…Bai, it seems that Mr. Zhao loves you very much. He was looking at me like he wanted to break my body into a million pieces…”
Bai Shuang smiled. Wiping her mouth gracefully with a napkin, she replied almost inaudibly, “Did you think that I was lying to you? I told you, Little Ze loves me. That’s how I was able to break into their circle.”
The Caucasian man completely believed it now.
Zhao Liangze’s painful and jealous glances had been completely instinctive and could not deceive other people.
If he could deceive people with such an act, then those Oscar-winning actors would die of shame.
“Yeah. I’ll tell our boss the news. I’ll leave now and send you the topographic map later. Take them to the basement floor after 9:00 pm. Remember, it has to be after 9:00 pm.”
“Why must it be after 9:00 pm?”
“Because a large-scale networking event is being held at our bank today. There is a speech and a cocktail reception from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm. After 9:00 pm, there is a dance and rock music performance…”
Bai Shuang understood.
He was saying that the security on the basement floor would be relaxed after 9:00 pm that night.
Until then, security would be extremely tight.
“Actually, can’t we change the time?” Bai Shuang hesitated for a moment.
If the bank was holding a networking event, then the local police would also be sending officers to maintain order.
The Caucasian man shook his head and said with a smile, “Bai, that’s what you don’t understand. This is a good time to blend in and take advantage. You see that there are many guards on duty, but it is actually because there are many people present. No one would think that something will happen, so they will be more relaxed than usual.
“Besides, the heavy traffic tonight is the best camouflage. There is usually no one there at night. Do you think you could even get close normally?”
The Caucasian man tapped Bai Shuang’s nose and called her cute before kissing her on the cheek. He stood up and said, “I have to go now. The networking event will be starting soon, so I must attend. This will be my alibi.”
He winked at Bai Shuang and took out his mobile phone. He waved at her before leaving the courtyard of Gu Nianzhi’s hotel suite.
Not long after he left, a topographic map showing the locations of the bank’s security guards for the night was sent to Bai Shuang’s phone.
It contained the location and equipment list of all security, military, and police personnel and notes on the security facilities of the building itself and the basement. Additionally, he included the elevator password to get to the basement floor and the basement entrance code.
With this information, they could avoid the security personnel and facilities and successfully enter the sixth-floor basement where the bank stored its safety deposit boxes.
…
In the bathroom, Zhao Liangze splashed water on his face to calm his boiling anger.
Gu Nianzhi stood at the door and looked at him with worry as she softly asked, “Brother Ze, are you feeling better?”
Zhao Liangze looked at Gu Nianzhi’s frowning face from the mirror and smiled, saying, “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me, Nianzhi.”
He turned around and said calmly, “I’m still waiting to show off my skills tonight. How could something happen to me?”
“Who was that man?” Gu Nianzhi bit her lip quickly before asking.
She didn’t want to be nosy at first, but she only had to look at Zhao Liangze’s expression to know that there were countless thoughts going through his head. He would suffocate if he didn’t vent.
As expected, Zhao Liangze stopped in his tracks. He was silent for a long time before finally saying, “…Bai Shuang’s boyfriend.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
Well, these two really knew how to create lots of drama.
One had a girlfriend, and the other had a boyfriend – yet they were deeply attracted to each other.
At that moment, Gu Nianzhi felt as though the relationship between herself and Huo Shaoheng was much simpler.
She patted Zhao Liangze on the shoulder sympathetically and bitterly remarked, “Was it Bai Shuang who told you that he was her boyfriend? She is too rude. How can she be shameless enough to bring her boyfriend to have dinner with us?!”
Gu Nianzhi was so filled with righteous indignation that she seemed to be as ready to fight as Zhao Liangze, so he couldn’t help but laugh.
He patted her head and asked, “What would a little girl like you even know?” After a pause, he chuckled and said, “Actually, Bai Shuang said that he was pursuing her.”
Gu Nianzhi, “…”
When she followed Zhao Liangze back to the dining room, she saw that the Caucasian man was no longer there.
Bai Shuang sat alone under the crystal chandelier inside the dining room. Her red dress was like fire, and she was so beautiful, yet there was an indescribable shroud of solitude on her face. It was a sharp contrast to her red dress.
Even Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but take a second glance when she saw this. When did Bai Shuang become so beautiful? she asked herself.
It could be seen that her beauty was not in physical appearance, but aura.
Genuinely beautiful people could seduce other people unconsciously. No one could ever describe how beautiful he or she appeared, and by the time they realized what was happening, they would have already fallen head over heels…
Zhao Liangze’s expression was extremely pained, as expected.
The woman he loved was becoming more and more beautiful, yet she was getting farther and farther away from him.
Bai Shuang looked up slightly to see Zhao Liangze and Gu Nianzhi standing at the dining room entrance and looking at her.
She immediately composed herself and sat up straight with a smile. “Little Ze, are you feeling better? Nianzhi, come get some dinner. Where is Huo Shao? Is he here? I have something to tell you.” Then she raised her hand and glanced at her watch, saying, “We still have two hours to make preparations.”
