19: Gunshots in the middle of the night

Magic City, Showa Jewelry.

Yamamoto Ichiro hurriedly knocked on the door of the president's office.

After standing at attention, he respectfully handed over a photograph and reported, "Father,"

"our people have observed that Louis Fan, who had been missing for three days, has reappeared at his villa."

"Yoshi!"

Yamamoto Yushin took the photo and looked at it repeatedly, a trace of a smile appearing on his unpredictable face.

He was pleased that his plan to purchase diamonds had been approved.

The consortium had allocated 100 million US dollars in funding, and he was in full charge of the operation; now, all that remained was the negotiation and signing.

His worry was that right under his nose, his trading partner had actually vanished into thin air for three whole days.

This situation made him feel a faint sense of unease.

To be able to disappear for three days under his nose meant he could also disappear forever.

He was deeply afraid that this was a trap.

With a solemn expression, Yamamoto Yushin ordered, "Ichiro, go to the Hongkou Tokkō immediately."

"Ask Colonel Momota Kanzuka if the background investigation on Louis Fan has been completed."

Yamamoto Ichiro's spirits lifted as he took out documents from his briefcase and handed them over with both hands.

"Hai! Father, I already obtained the documents before coming. Please take a look."

Yamamoto Yushin quickly browsed through the documents, and his solemn expression gradually softened.

This man was not only a genuine Englishman but also a pure aristocrat.

When he saw that Louis Fan, together with Tang Jifeng at the Deda Restaurant,

had blatantly disciplined their junior, Zhang Yunhua, in front of Wang Jingwei and Zhu Lichen,

an expression of astonishment appeared on Yamamoto Yushin's face.

One must know that although Baldy Jiang firmly controlled the center of power and Wang Jingwei was in a state of being sidelined,

he was still, at least nominally, the head of the Executive Yuan.

This Louis Fan was way too bold!

Beating the dog in front of its master—leaving him no face at all?

Thinking this, a thought-provoking smile appeared on Yamamoto Yushin's face.

When the snipe and the clam grapple, the fisherman profits!

So he casually struck up a conversation: "Ichiro, why was the Tokkō's information so timely this time?"

Seeing his father's relaxed expression, Yamamoto Ichiro felt much more at ease. "It's quite a coincidence,"

"Colonel Momota was eating at Deda that day. He witnessed the incident and also became interested in this man."

"So he conducted a preliminary investigation."

Yamamoto Yushin cast an appreciative glance at Yamamoto Ichiro. "What do you think this Louis Fan has been doing these past three days?"

Hearing this, Yamamoto Ichiro knew his chance to shine had come.

Thus, he began to analyze eloquently, "This man is like a newborn calf who doesn't fear the tiger; offending Wang Jingwei was likely an accident."

"However, after learning about Wang Jingwei's background in detail, he must have been terrified."

"I suspect he spent these three days finding someone to settle the matter before finally showing himself."

Yamamoto Ichiro spoke his baseless conjectures with such conviction that Yamamoto Yushin nodded repeatedly.

"Take my seal and go to the Tokkō again. Have them investigate thoroughly."

"You must find out exactly what Louis Fan has been doing these past few days. You may leave now."

Yamamoto Yushin dismissed Yamamoto Ichiro, a sinister plan brewing in his mind.

On the surface, he was the president of Shanghai's Showa Jewelry, but secretly, he was a member of the Ume Organ.

Wang Jingwei had always been a target for their Empire to win over, even though he was being marginalized and sidelined by Baldy Jiang.

However, progress had remained slow, and his attitude toward cooperation was unclear.

The appearance of this Louis Fan might be a good opportunity.

By instigating conflict between the two sides, fueling resentment, and squeezing Wang Jingwei's living space on a social level,

perhaps he could be pushed to lean toward the Empire more quickly.

Just thinking about it was exciting; as long as it was handled correctly, he could benefit from both sides.

While quietly making money for the Empire, he could also contribute to winning over Wang Jingwei.

Two birds with one stone. Perfect.

Meanwhile, in the Jinling Villa, Wang Jingwei put down the phone and leaned back on the sofa, eyes closed in thought.

Zhu Lichen, who was reading a book, asked casually, "Old Wang, who was on the phone?"

Wang Jingwei said in a low voice, "It was Old Li. That fake foreign devil has shown up!"

"What? That little animal has shown up?"

Zhu Lichen sat up straight, looking a bit agitated. "Old Wang, what do you plan to do?"

"This matter needs careful consideration. The current situation is delicate, and Baldy Jiang is keeping a very close eye on me."

"Besides, the last incident was suppressed by Tang Jifeng and wasn't exposed."

"If things go wrong this time, the previous matter will surely become known to everyone."

Wang Jingwei suppressed the frustration in his heart and replied weakly.

Zhu Lichen stood up with a start and pointed at Wang Jingwei's nose, rebuking him sharply.

"Coward! Afraid of this and that—what can you possibly achieve? We must get our revenge!"

"Do you think I don't want to save face? It's just that there are priorities."

"Look at my situation now; I'm being squeezed to death by Baldy Jiang."

"Instead of seeking a way to break the deadlock, you want to get bogged down in this trivial matter."

"Isn't that picking up a sesame seed but losing the watermelon!"

Even a clay Buddha has a bit of a temper; Wang Jingwei also lost his cool and raised his voice to strike back.

This argument from the perspective of the big picture immediately suppressed Zhu Lichen's momentum.

Famous for being henpecked, he finally had a moment of triumph.

Zhu Lichen let out a cold sigh and, after sitting back on the sofa, asked unwillingly, "So we're just letting it go?"

"Of course we're not letting it go. I, Old Wang, am not made of clay."

"Once the heat dies down, we'll find a time when that fake foreign devil leaves the Concession and, without anyone knowing..."

As Wang Jingwei spoke, he made a throat-slitting gesture with a ruthless expression.

At that moment, Lu Fan, who was at Xiafei Manor, sneezed several times for no reason.

Regarding such mysterious sneezes, he followed tradition: someone was thinking about him.

This made his movements in installing the surveillance cameras a bit faster.

That's right; the first thing Lu Fan did after traveling back through time in the middle of the night was install surveillance cameras and alarms.

Traveling to the Republic of China had many benefits, but security could not be fully guaranteed.

Even living in the famous Xiafei Manor, he still felt insecure.

It couldn't be helped; he was used to the absolute security of the modern era.

Coming here was a classic case of it being easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality.

Once you're used to fine grains, who would look twice at coarse grains!

By the time he finished, it was already 1:30 AM. Lu Fan lay in bed, opened the system, and checked his missions.

He had repeatedly studied the three main missions and basically had a good idea of what to do.

Especially the first one; he was confident he could push the completion rate past 100% and obtain extra rewards.

He had directions for the other two, but the specifics would depend on the execution; he didn't dare make any guarantees.

Looking back at his points, he had only a measly 2,300.

Switching to the mall page, the Space Expansion Rune had refreshed, and it was a rare 1-cubic-meter expansion rune.

But he could only look on with longing; at 20,000 points, he simply couldn't afford it.

Now he desperately hoped for dawn to come so he could go complete missions and earn points.

As he was thinking, his eyes closed involuntarily, and just as he was about to play a game of chess with the Duke of Zhou...

Suddenly, a succession of gunshots rang out from outside.