75: Chapter 75 She got the two hundred million US dollars, he didn't get a penny.

Li Li glanced at it and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

No reply. We'll see each other in a moment. Besides, replying to one message wouldn't stop the bombardment of the next six hundred and seventy-two.

Beside him, Jiang Rumu leaned against the cabin wall, her plaster-cast leg resting on the edge of the folding seat, phone pressed to her ear.

"Mhm... I'm fine, really. I just twisted my ankle, it's a minor issue."

She lowered her voice, using a cooing, coquettish tone Li Li had never heard before.

"No, please don't book a ticket, we have an evacuation flight... Dad!"

The final "Dad" was pitched an octave higher.

Li Li turned his head to look.

Jiang Rumu's ears were burning red; she scrambled to turn her phone away, and the moment she turned her head, she locked eyes with Li Li.

She turned even redder.

"You—don't listen."

"I didn't lean in."

"Your eyes were listening."

What kind of logic is that?

Li Li sensibly turned his head back, staring at the sea outside the porthole.

But his ears remained open.

"...Mhm, someone is taking care of me. Yes, a guy, just that amateur."

A pause.

"...What does he look like? Well... he's alright."

The words "he's alright" were mumbled, the tail end of the sentence trailing off.

Li Li rotated his left wrist.

In the dictionary of female celebrities in the domestic entertainment industry, "alright" is equivalent to "I don't want to praise him in front of the person involved, so please don't ask."

Jiang Rumu said a few more intermittent words, hung up the phone, curled up in her seat, and tucked the cracked phone under her plaster-cast leg.

"Family?"

"Mhm."

"Worried about you?"

"My dad said he wanted to send a helicopter to pick me up. I told him there was already one on the aircraft carrier. He didn't believe me."

She paused.

"He also said he wanted to check if the captain of the 001 was his old comrade."

Li Li didn't respond to that.

Some questions didn't need an answer right now.

The helicopter flew for over an hour.

Looking down from the porthole, the color of the sea gradually changed from deep blue to the cyan-green of the coast.

Abu Dhabi.

The helicopter didn't land at the airport, but instead touched down on an open patch of ground beside the outer highway.

The rotors kicked up a cloud of sand and dust.

Li Li jumped down first and turned back to help Jiang Rumu out of the cabin door.

She balanced on one foot on his shoe, one hand gripping his forearm.

"There's gravel on the ground, don't hop around."

Parked at the edge of the clearing were a Li MEGA and four G-Wagons.

The streamlined MEGA sitting alongside the uniform military-green G-Wagons looked exactly like a whale that had wandered into a school of crocodiles.

The door of a G-Wagon opened first.

Fahd.

He wore a white robe, his headscarf tied neatly.

There was a ring of stubble on his chin, and his eye sockets were sunken, making him look like a completely different person from the Middle Eastern rich kid who had been drinking with Li Li in the palace three days ago.

But the moment he saw Li Li, Fahd's whole face lit up.

He strode over, arms spread wide— "Brother!"

He grabbed Li Li in a hug, bringing Jiang Rumu, who was hanging onto Li Li's arm, into it as well.

The three of them were stacked together; Jiang Rumu's plaster-cast leg got squashed, and she gasped in pain.

"Mr. Fahd, my foot—"

"Sorry, sorry!"

Fahd let go, stepped back, and looked them up and down.

"You—are still alive."

"Alive."

Li Li helped Jiang Rumu sit on the hood of a nearby G-Wagon.

"We took a slight detour."

"A slight detour?"

Fahd's facial muscles twitched.

"You stole an F-18 from Israel! The whole world is looking for that plane! Six hours ago, the US Fifth Fleet just issued an investigation notice!"

"Don't say it so loudly. Technically speaking, that was a strategic relocation."

Fahd shook his head.

But the corners of his mouth curled upward.

There was a two-second silence.

"About Delia... I received the intelligence transferred from the aircraft carrier."

Fahd's hands hung at his sides, the cuffs of his white robe crumpled in his grip.

"I have applied for the title of National Hero for her. The Royal Mosque, with the highest honors, even though it is only a cenotaph."

He slowed his enunciation.

"But at least—she won't have to stay in the corner of a public cemetery anymore, and her mother will be moved there as well."

Li Li nodded.

"She would be happy."

Fahd's gaze landed on Jiang Rumu's neck.

The amethyst necklace.

The USB drive and camera module had already been removed, but the crystal itself remained, hanging below her collarbone.

"Something she wore."

"Mhm."

Jiang Rumu touched the crystal.

"I want to keep it."

Fahd didn't bring it up again.

He pulled a gold-stamped leather folder from the door of the G-Wagon behind him, his posture extremely formal.

"Ms. Jiang. Global Tourism Ambassador for Ala Country. Exclusive endorsement. Ten-year contract."

He opened it.

"Two hundred million dollars."

Li Li almost choked.

Two hundred million dollars, ten years.

In his past life, when he was laying bricks at a construction site, he made three hundred a day.

By that calculation, he would have to lay... never mind.

Better not to calculate, it's depressing.

Jiang Rumu glanced at it.

The wording was formal, and it was signed with the joint seal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Tourism of Ala Country.

She closed the folder.

"Mr. Fahd, thank you very much. But I need one month."

Fahd raised an eyebrow.

"After I return home, I need to deal with my contract with my agency first. If I sign now, according to the terms, Company will take sixty percent."

She paused.

"I don't want to let those people make this money."

It was a light sentence, but every word was laced with ice.

Fahd looked at her for three seconds.

"Sign whenever you want. This offer is permanently valid."

He took back the folder and turned to look at Li Li.

"As for you—sorry, there's nothing for you."

"...Huh?"

"You're too conspicuous. Stealing a plane, fighting an air battle, landing on an aircraft carrier. Israel and the US military are jointly investigating the whereabouts of that F-18, and for now, they are still bickering, so the fire hasn't reached you yet."

He lowered his voice.

"But once you appear in public—it's only a matter of time. I suggest you don't return to the Middle East for the time being."

Li Li rotated his left wrist.

"Understood."

A seventy-million-dollar fighter jet vanishing into thin air couldn't just be treated as if it never happened.

He needed to disappear during this window of time.

"Welcome to China."

Li Li reached out his hand.

"Next time, I'll treat you to authentic Chengdu Hotpot. Beef tallow base, nine-grid pot, tripe, duck intestines, and aorta—I'll serve it all."

Fahd shook his hand firmly.

"It's a deal."

He stepped back, held up two fingers, and gestured between Li Li and Jiang Rumu.

"Are you two... together?"

"No."

They said in unison.

Fahd's mouth twitched.

"Alright, alright, no."

He turned to walk toward the G-Wagon, but before opening the door, he turned back to add— "I also watched Delia's video, the part where she locked your fingers together."

Jiang Rumu's face turned bright red instantly.

Li Li remained expressionless.

"That was her unilateral performance art; it has nothing to do with the position of the parties involved."

Fahd laughed and climbed into the G-Wagon.

The convoy started, and the four military Jeeps drove off one after another, kicking up a trail of dust.

The Li MEGA sat quietly in place.

Li Li opened the car door—in the back were two sets of clean clothes, two pairs of sneakers, a case of mineral water, a bag of Arabian flatbread, and a note.

Fahd's handwriting, flamboyant and cursive: "The clothes were bought in a rush, please make do. The flatbread was made by my mom. P.S. I didn't dare ask for Ms. Jiang's dress size, so I had my female assistant guess it by eye. Please forgive me if there is any offense."

Jiang Rumu flipped through the clothes—a white T-shirt, a sports jacket, and loose trousers.

The size was just right.

"This estimation skill is not bad."

"Basic training for a Middle Eastern tycoon's assistant."

The MEGA started, the motor making almost no sound, and the car drove onto the road.

Jiang Rumu leaned against the window and suddenly spoke up.

"Li Li."

"Mhm."

"That endorsement... two hundred million dollars, aren't you envious at all?"

"Is being envious useful? They said it themselves, I'm too conspicuous."

"Do you feel a bit short-changed?"

Li Li stepped on the gas.

"I stole a seventy-million-dollar plane and handed it over to the organization. In terms of contribution, it's not bad. In terms of return—"

He glanced at Jiang Rumu in the rearview mirror.

"We'll talk about that after we get back."

The MEGA turned onto the access road around the airport.

In the distance, a China Eastern boeing 777 wide-body airliner was parked at the end of the runway.

Jiang Rumu's hand quietly gripped the seat armrest.

The car stopped outside the terminal.

Li Li opened the door, just about to go to the back to help Jiang Rumu—a few locals ran over quickly.

"Mr. Li, Prince Fahd has arranged a fast track for you, covering customs, security, and boarding."

"Please have your car follow us."