“Rest assured and wait here. I’ll be back in two hours. Be good,” he said, staring at her.
Seeing that he was adamant about not letting her tag along, An Xiaoning conceded, “You must be careful of your own safety, then. I don’t want you to get injured.”
“Alright.”
An Xiaoning was ill at ease. She thought to herself, We’re in M Nation now, just where is he off to?
To her surprise, the doorbell rang soon after he left.
Xiao Chenyang dragged Jin Qingyan back to the room.
“Why have you come here too?” An Xiaoning asked in puzzlement, for she remembered that they didn’t inform Xiao Chenyang about the matter.
“How could I have not come? I was the one who killed Xihou Jiaping with my bare hands. They launched an attack on the Jin Corporation and killed so many innocent lives. It’d be inappropriate for me to sit back and do nothing.” He then looked at Jin Qingyan and continued, “I know you’re hot-headed and fuming right now, but you mustn’t act rashly. You must understand that this matter has gathered the attention of citizens all around the world. We all know how much everyone detests the DK Organization. We can’t afford to be reckless at this juncture.”
He had initially wanted to bring Fang Erlan along since he wanted to make sure she followed him everywhere he goes. However, the situation in M Nation was too chaotic and he decided that it would be safer for her to stay in B Nation.
Before Jin Qingyan even said anything, he received a call from Pei Yi.
He swiped to answer the call and turned on the speaker mode.
“I just found out that the attack launched on your office tower was instigated by two people from the headquarters. The rest of the underlings have no clue about what had happened. We’ve decided to negotiate with you and come to a truce.”
Xiao Chenyang mouthed some words, which Jin Qingyan understood. He then answered, “How would you like to settle this amicably?”
Pei Yi answered, “We’ll pay and compensate for all the losses incurred.”
“Can the lives of innocent humans be exchanged with money?”
“How do you want us to settle this, then? Jin Qingyan, I hope you’ll consider this carefully and view this from the bigger picture. DK is a massive organization, and we’re definitely not short of manpower. Once we get into a war with no end, your corporation is going to suffer a huge blow too. There’ll be even more lives lost by then That’s the reason why so many nations have been afraid of declaring war with us. Hence, the best solution at hand is monetary compensation. We’re willing to fork out as much as you’re asking for.”
Xiao Chenyang gestured for him to concede. However, Jin Qingyan answered, “I’ll give you an answer after I think about it.”
Xiao Chenyang said, “The compensatory sum is going to be huge. There are so many casualties and it’s going to take at least billions to recover the losses. Since they’re willing to give in, it just shows that the instigator is perhaps not the main figure of authority in DK Organization. If that’s not the case, it would mean that DK is paying you to make you drop the matter. Regardless of what it may be, the best thing we can do now is to get them to compensate us with money and kill the two instigators, so as to warn the rest. To top it off, we must do everything we can to publicize and expose the evil misdeeds of the DK Organization. Although the general public detests them now, people often forget easily. We must constantly remind them of the acts of terror that the DK have committed. We must make them the public enemy. That’ll help keep things under control for a while.”
Finding Xiao Chenyang’s words to have made sense, An Xiaoning chimed in, “Yes, Qingyan, that’s the best solution for now. Although many nations have been trying to go against the DK Organization, none of them have dared to openly declare war with the organization, even until today. The main reason behind their constant hesitation is that they fear the possible economic losses and deaths of countless innocent citizens that would be brought about by war. Xihou Jiaping has established this organization a long time ago. We must view things from a greater perspective.”
Jin Qingyan remained silent and pondered over their words. At last, he nodded and said, “However, I must make them promise not to do this again. Otherwise, I will never come to a truce with them, no matter what they offer.”
“I doubt they’d dare to do this again. No matter how affluent they may be, billions of dollars is not a small sum.”
“…”
―
After registering their marriage, Mo Li and No. 8 had been living peacefully without any major changes, except that they now addressed each other differently.
They had been living a blissful married life as well. Hence, Mo Li suggested that they don’t hold a wedding.
She initially wanted to don a wedding gown again because this time, she would be walking down the aisle with him.
However, she changed her mind after having their wedding photos taken.
The reason being, she felt that they were already a married couple even without a wedding.
No. 8 handed her the medicinal soup. “Honey, here.”
Mo Li took it from him and chugged the entire bowl of medicinal soup down in one go. The immense bitterness of the medicine made her frown involuntarily.
No. 8 handed her a glass of water, and she took a few gulps of it to wash down the bitterness.
“Have you called Xiaoning to ask her about the situation?”
“There’s no need to ask her. Sis must be vexed and anxious right now. Everything happened too quickly and too suddenly. If Sis needs No. 5’s and my help, she’ll definitely call me.”
Mo Li had become much healthier lately after quitting her job at Long Tianze’s bar and nourishing herself with a daily dose of medicine.
“There’s nothing for us to do now anyway. Shall we go shop for some storefronts?”
“Alright.”
They were initially planning to buy a storefront and set up their own business so that Mo Li would have something to occupy her time with.
The two of them visited several property agencies together, hand in hand. At last, they set their sights on a storefront in the city center.
The spacious storefront was in a prime location, but it was also extremely costly.
However, they decided to purchase it immediately after much discussion.
It cost them more than six million dollars.
After deducting the costs of renovation and other miscellaneous items, they would not have much left of the compensatory sum that they had received.
However, they had faith in their business.
After a thorough discussion and research, Mo Li decided to open a café.
It was an ideal location since it was right in the city center and there were many office towers within the vicinity.
They proceeded to settle the handover procedures as well.
After making sure everything was in order, they headed to Mo Li’s parents’ place.
The breakfast bistro had long closed for the day and they entered right away because the door had been left wide open.
They could vaguely hear the sounds of an ongoing commotion and argument.
Mo Li and No. 8 looked at each other before walking in quickly. They arrived at the door, only to discover that Mo Li’s sister-in-law was arguing with Mrs. Mo.
Mo Li figured out what was going on after eavesdropping for a few minutes.
Upon the sight of Mo Li, who pushed the door open, Mo Xun eagerly explained, “Sis, I wasn’t thinking of chasing Father and Mother away.”
Mo Li was well aware of what her brother was like. She felt as if her heart was stabbed by a million daggers the moment she saw her mother, who was weeping uncontrollably.
“Since Chun Ling wants you to take over the breakfast bistro, go ahead so long as she can tend to the bistro while she’s still pregnant,” said Mo Li.
Chun Ling retorted agitatedly, “I can always hire someone to help out. Your brother is busy all the time but he barely makes enough to make ends meet. Our child is going to be born soon. We’ll need money for everything. I was just thinking of taking over the bistro since Father and Mother are already old in their years. What’s wrong with that?”
Mo Li could not be bothered to argue with her and instead answered with a nod, “In that case, why don’t Mother and Father move in with me from now on? I have a vacant apartment that I was planning to let them move into anyway. You guys may leave Father and Mother to me. I’ll take care of them myself.”
