Three days later.
A few printers chugged fervently in the background, printing out sheets of designs. The desk in Xia Leiâs office was crowded with rolls of design plans, each of it reaching a diameter of an inch. These were all the refined products of the designs Xia Lei had âduplicatedâ off suppliers from America and Europe. Some of them were for Alloy X and the remaining were for the drone.
These design plans were categorized and separated neatly. A majority held information about the spare parts and standard to comply with its components. Xia Lei had done his job to its fullest and the only thing left now was to send it off to domestic suppliers along with negotiations about the quotation.
The rest would be handled by Liang Siyao and the Thunder Horse Organizationâs employees.
After he confirmed that the last of it was printed, Xia Lei entered the relaxation room. The man had turned into Li Youdun by the time he exited the space.
Liang Siyao, who had just retrieved the last sheet from the printer, was stunned upon seeing âLi Youdunâ. It took her a while to respond accordingly. âHubby, are you sure about this?â
Xia Lei nodded. âOf course, this plan is very important to me. Just do as I say.â
âBut you havenât told me where youâre going to be for the time being? When will I see you?â Liang Siyaoâs worry was apparent.
Xia Lei gulped. âYouâll see me in half a month or maybe twenty days. I can assure you that it wonât stretch beyond a monthâs time.â
Liang Siyao furrowed her brows. âSo how long will this take? Half a month? Twenty days? Or a month? Also, donât you dare escape my question. Where are you going to be?â
âHaizhu.â Xia Lei answered, âI wish to go back and visit the city. Iâm familiar with that place. Thereâs no way for the CIA to notice me. But you all need to act like you know nothing of this and you must not travel to Haizhu to look for me.â
âAre you really sure about this?â
Xia Lei nodded solemnly. But he was certain that this was just a white lie. The place he was heading to would be dangerous but he didnât wish to overwhelm his wives with worry.
âCall Zhengnan over. Heâs done preparing,â instructed Xia Lei.
A few minutes later, Liu Zhengnan entered Xia Leiâs office. The man had donned a human face mask that Xia Lei had created for him. He was once again, Xia Leiâs imposter.
âTake a seat on my chair, I need to touch up a few things,â said Xia Lei.
Liu Zhengnan plopped himself down on the seat. âBrother, how⊠How long am I expected to play dead?â
âIâd say ten days to half a month?â Xia Lei grabbed his cosmetic brushes and began his attempt to make Liu Zhengnan appear dead.
âWhat? Ten days to half a month?â Liu Zhengnan was positively pouting. âCanât you have someone else do this job instead?â
âHey, stay still. Youâve played this role several times now. Youâre the best at this, no one is fit to be my imposter.â
âDude, Iâm your brother in law!â
âShut up or Iâll have Xia Xue beat the shit out of you.â Xia Lei warned sternly.
âFine, Iâll do it.â That seemed to do the job.
Xia Xue was Liu Zhengnanâs weakness. One mention of her was enough to finish him.
Moments after finishing up the look, Xia Lei left the office.
âHubby? HubbyâŠ! Aaaaaaaaaaah!â Liang Siyaoâs cries of despair boomed through the corridor outside Xia Leiâs office.
Her cries surprised the employees in the office block, prompting them to run over to its source. Before they could enter Xia Leiâs office, Eâer Demutu was there to halt them. They could only see Xia Lei on his chair from a distance. Xia Leiâs face was purple with blood trickling out of his eyes, nose, lips and ears. The man was even foaming at the edge of his lips. It had appeared that Xia Lei was dead.
âWhat the hell?â
âHow is this possible?â
âSob⊠Director Xia⊠SobâŠâ
âDirector Xia, you canât leave us! Wake up! You said that youâll lead us to defeat Lockheed Martin! How can you leave the world just like that?!â
âAaaahhh! Director Xia!â
Cries and sorrow overwhelmed the office building. Xia Lei was Chinaâs national hero and he was well-received among his subordinates. The employees of the Thunder Horse Organization loved and respected him to bits.
Xia Leiâs other three women had arrived at the scene. Eâer Demutu had only stepped aside to allow their entrance before resuming his station at the door. No one was permitted to enter.
The four women surrounded Xia Leiâs lifeless body, crying their lungs out like no tomorrow.
âHubby, how could you do this to us? What do we do now? What will happen to our children?â Fan Fan cried.
âSob⊠Sob⊠Sob⊠Hubby⊠Wake up⊠Please⊠Wake up! Sob⊠SobâŠâ Jiang Ruyi was inconsolable.
âWake up! You canât die on me! Who did this?! I swear Iâll rip them apart! SobâŠâ Long Bing seethed with both sorrow and anger.
âHubby⊠Hubby⊠You were alright just now. Why did you die in a blink of an eye? SobâŠâ Liang Siyao mumbled.
Four women with vastly different personalities displayed their sorrow differently.
As if influenced by their tears, more began to sob. In that split second, Thunder Horse Organization turned gloomy, grief heavy in the air.
Ten minutes later, two helicopters landed on an empty square before Thunder Horse Organization.
Tang Yuyan and Shi Boren scrambled out of the aircraft and began to dash into the office block.
Tang Yuyan ran as fast as her legs could carry her. âYou damned bastard, you fucking bastard! How could you die?! You made me fall in love with you and yet you had the heart to leave me behind in this world⊠You bastard!â
Love and hate were two strong emotions, not always separate.
Shi Borenâs expression was solemn. Xia Leiâs death was certainly complicated. It definitely didnât require much brainwork to figure out that it had something to do with America. What was even more worrying was how far could Thunder Horse advance without Xia Lei? How would the country respond to this massive loss? Every issue he considered was important to the country.
Behind Shi Boren were medical assistance from Bureau 101. They trailed behind the dashing pair closely, medical kit and stretcher in their grip.
âMove aside!â Reaching the top floor, Tang Yuyan squeezed herself between the crowd of employees standing along the corridor. Before they could even make way, she slammed herself into them ruthlessly.
âHold it!â Eâer Demutu raised an arm to barricade Tang Yuyanâs path.
âWhat the hell are you doing? Fuck off!â Tang Yuyanâs emotions were long out of check.
âYou canât enter.â There was no aggression in Eâer Demutuâs tone.
Tang Yuyan drew her Viper pistol and pointed its muzzle at Eâer Demutuâs forehead. âI said fuck off!â
The man remained stationary. âYou canât enter.â
âWhat gives? Arrest him!â Shi Boren arrived at the door, anger written all over his face.
At this moment, Fan Fan finally peeled herself away from Xia Leiâs side to stand behind Eâer Demutu. âHeâs doing his job under my order.â
For some reason, hearing those words from her lips filled Tang Yuyan with the violent urge to shoot her.
âOfficer Fan, do you know what youâre doing?â Shi Boren roared at Fan Fan.
Fan Fan wiped her tears. âMy husband is dead and I donât wish for you to disturb his peace.â
âWeâre here to investigate his death! We need to avenge Xia Lei! Also, why are you rejecting medical assistance? There could be a chance for resuscitation! Let us in, please!â Shi Boren pleaded with his words.
Shi Boren had a point.
However, Fan Fan wasnât having any of it. She replied, âThunder Horseâs private doctors had already conducted checks. Thereâs no mistake about this. Iâve already reported his death to the authorities. A designated investigation squad will be arriving shortly. Bureau 101 has no right to be involved in this case.â
âYouâŠâ Tang Yuyan couldnât stop her tears, fury roaring in her heart.
The person she loved had left this world. He was only a few metres away and yet she was not spared the grace of seeing him one last time? This pain was agonizing! Her heart felt like it was ripped into a million pieces!
âTang Yuyan, put away your gun!â Fan Fan raised her voice. âIâm telling you, this isnât my personal decision. This is the decision made by the authorities. If you wish to barge in, there will be consequences!â
Tang Yuyan reached an abrupt arm to push at Eâer Demutu.
Before Eâer Demutu could respond, Shi Boren restrained her. âYuyan, calm down. This is what the authorities had decided to do. We need to wait outside for further instructions.â
Tang Yuyan gritted her teeth, heart pounding with pain. How she wished she could kick Eâer Demutu and Fan Fan away and dash to Xia Leiâs side. How she wished to hug him tightly one last time then send him off to the afterlife. Despite that, her brain began feeding her images of Tang Yunhai and Tang Tianlong. She thought of the Tang family and her urges died down just then. Shi Boren was right. This was a decision made by the higher-ups. If this case had not required the involvement of Bureau 101 and she had stubbornly insisted to enter the scene, her leadership position would be threatened.
She had told Xia Lei that she would leave the Tang family for him. However, this was easier said than done. It was just too difficult.
Shi Boren was worried that Tang Yuyan would lose her cool again. The older man quickly pulled her aside to a window and whispered into her ear. âDo you remember what that Folsom revealed during the Boao Forum? Xia Lei is an advanced human. His body is a valuable resource. His death is marked with an unknown price. The authorities must be aiming to ship his body away for further research. These are things you canât change.â
Tang Yuyan trembled and hunched forward onto Shi Borenâs shoulder. She fell apart. âGodfather, how⊠How is he dead? Sob⊠I loved him so much and yet I cannot have him⊠SobâŠâ
Shi Boren wanted to comfort her but he didnât know what to say. Words paled in a situation like this.
Soon after, a bigger helicopter arrived. Tens of personnel from an unspecified department exited the aircraft. Every ounce of them radiated piercing coldness. They showed a slip to Fan Fan and brought away Xia Leiâs body.
Fan Fan followed the team, leaving Liang Siyao, Long Bing and Jiang Ruyi to grieve in the office.
Making it onto the helicopter, the dead Xia Lei cracked an eye open. âSister⊠Where are we heading to now?â
âThe funeral home. Resume your act.â Fan Fan turned to look at him. âNext time, pop a sleeping pill in.â
Liu Zhengnan was speechless.
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