Release that Man

It was an unknown number that sent the message, but Ye Shuang knew it belonged to the workshop that Lawyer Lin represented. Since it was a workshop, it had people who specialized in different fields. However, looking for a missing person was hard to define, so it would normally be given to the person who was most free and convenient.

It just so happened that there was one member of the workshop who was out on a mission near the district that Ye Shuang mentioned, so this case naturally fell on his lap. The minute the contract was signed, the person received the details and hired a cab to go to the location given. By then, the project manager was getting off from work. The man tailed the manager and eventually found Chen He’s mistress.

The person from the workshop planned to wait for the manager to leave before intercepting the mistress, but as they waited… they saw the manager enter the bedroom with the mistress. The person was stunned. It was understandable for the manager to be tasked with helping the mistress with some daily needs, but what was the meaning to enter the bedroom together?

Ye Shuang could not say too much in Yao Zhixing’s car. Even though the latter was a close friend, this involved the client’s privacy. Therefore, Ye Shuang waited until she was home to call back and ask for more details.

It was already 8 pm. It was a spirited young man who answered the call. After chatting with the new agent, he volunteered the surveillance report. “I suspect that this project manager is having an affair with the mistress. The extended period of interaction probably caused love to bloom; in any case, they share an intimate relationship.”

Ye Shuang sighed. “Perhaps you don’t understand the case. We’re looking for someone, not investigating their private lives. After you’ve confirmed that the target has been found, just send the address back, and the mission will be completed.”

“Don’t need me to persuade the target to come back?” The young man cracked his knuckles. “If we bring her home, we’ll get an extra 50,000. If the woman has that intention, we can try to persuade her, but I’m not that good at talking, so I want to ask your opinion…”

Indeed, bringing her home would add 50,000 to the reward. The commission rate for E rank mission was twenty percent, so this meant that Ye Shuang would get an additional 3,000. However, this had a certain risk. If the mistress was willing to cooperate, it would be perfect, but if she refused to and started to run, then the 150,000 would have disappeared along with her.

Ye Shuang thought about it and said, “The case belongs to your workshop, so I’ll leave the decision to you. Personally, I suggest you discuss this with Lawyer Lin; this is his forte.”

“You’re right!” It sounded like the man had not thought of that. Then the young man hung up before going to harass Lawyer Lin. Ye Shuang assumed that the young man called her first because she was the new agent, and there was curiosity involved.

Ye Shuang did not know what the suggestion given by Lawyer Lin was, but she did not receive a message with the address of the mistress. She believed that the workshop had changed the plan and decided to try to negotiate. Lawyer Lin told Ye Shuang that the workshop had sent another individual to negotiate with the mistress while the young man would continue to keep an eye on the mistress. If she moved, he would follow her to the new hiding spot.

On the third day, the negotiator arrived at the village to liaise with the mistress, but before that, the negotiator also hid himself for a whole day to fill up his camera with pictures of the project manager interacting with the mistress inside the house.

Even though they did not do anything over the line, it did not look that way in the pictures. For example, one of the pictures framed it in such a way that even though it was just the manager standing up to help the mistress with some dishes, it looked like they were locked in a kissing embrace. There were other pictures that looked like they were hugging or touching and one that created the impression that the project manager was placing his hand on the mistress’ chest.

The pictures were time-stamped on the bottom right, and it started from the minute the project manager entered the room, followed by the many misunderstanding-prone pictures, and finally the manager leaving the room. There was a half an hour empty space in the middle for the viewers to fill in the blanks on their own.

When Ye Shuang received the pictures, she asked around and realized that the negotiator’s day job was one of the paparazzi.

After getting all the leverage that he needed, the negotiator approached the woman on the fifth day. The woman tried to deny it, and when the project manager heard the news, he quickly arrived to toss the negotiator out. That night, the negotiator went to print out a few of the pictures and slid them under the door, and on the sixth day, he was finally allowed entry.

With the threat of the pictures and the promise of money from the An family, the mistress finally agreed to return to San Lin City to see Mother An. At the same time, she requested that the person delete the pictures and keep them away from Chen He. She was a close relative to the project manager, so they could not have an incestuous relationship. She merely went there to prepare for the pregnancy.

The reason the mistress did not want Chen He to know about this relationship was because the project manager was involved in taking bribes and embezzlement. It was because the mistress had been covering for him that he had not been exposed. If this fake affair was exposed, Chen He might look into the situation, and the many horrible things that the project manager had done and the ways the mistress had benefited from it would be exposed.

The next day, escorted by two members of the workshop, the mistress returned to San Lin City. Ye Shuang called a cab to intercept them at the train station. They arrived at Mother An’s place safely, and the case was thus completed.

…

“You have completed the case?” Han Chu called after he received notification of cash entering his account and the email from the workshop saying that the case had been completed.

Ye Shuang, who had money in her account, answered happily, “Yup, does Brother Han have any new cases to recommend?”

Han Chu was silent. “We’re headhunters, not private investigators. If not for the unique circumstances, I would not advise you to take these kinds of case.”

“Okay,” Ye Shuang answered easily. To be fair, nothing was going to rain on her parade. Han Chu could say anything he wanted, and Ye Shuang would answer similarly.

For this time period, the popularity of Brother Shuang was at its height, so it was no longer convenient for him to be An Zining’s personal assistant. Since Sister Shuang was not there when Han Chu came to negotiate, the position of personal assistant was naturally taken over by the intern. This meant that Ye Shuang had only done two weeks of work. When the contract was over, her original payment was going to be slashed by half to pay the intern.

When Ye Shuang held the salary that was halved, she felt like crying. Thankfully, the case for Mother An was finished in less than a week, and she obtained a commission worth 15,000; it was a great consolation to Ye Shuang, so how could she not be happy‽

“By the way, Brother Han, when I moved into the new apartment earlier, I planned a barbeque party housewarming, but I forgot about it thanks to the many things that have happened. Are you free tonight? If you are, do come.”

After all the jobs had been settled, Ye Shuang finally remembered that she was supposed to invite her friends over for the housewarming. Han Chu was naturally free. The only thing he could be busy with was being the middleman, but the work at San Lin City had already been taken over by Ye Shuang. In other words, Han Chu was on a short holiday, so his schedule was free.

After inviting Han Chu, inviting Yao Zhixing was a piece of cake. He would probably come even if invited at 3 am, much less during dinner time. Fang Mo said that he would arrive after work. Ye Shuang also invited Brother Wong, Lawyer Lin, and the rest whom she had worked with for almost two weeks.

There were eight people in total who accepted her invitation. After confirming their attendance, Ye Shuang went out happily to purchase the ingredients. The male Ye Shuang was still going viral on the internet, and there was a period when she did not even dare leave the house. Now that she was in her female form and had nothing to do, she was quite bored. Since there was a reason to go out, she jumped at it without a second thought.

After three hours of shopping, Ye Shuang returned home, dragging a whole cart of fresh vegetables and meat. She shoved parts of them into the fridge while she prepared the rest.

She busied herself in the kitchen until 4 pm, and half of the dishes were almost done. They were just waiting for the last step. Ye Shuang removed her apron to take a rest when someone rang the doorbell. Ye Shuang opened the door, and Han Chu was standing outside of it with the laptop, which did not seem to leave his side.

“New place.” Han Chu looked around and commented satisfactorily after he put on the slippers Ye Shuang provided him. The room was large and spacious, the furniture was brand new, and for a bachelor or bachelorette’s pad, this place was more than enough. In fact, it was big enough for a family of three.

“I was lucky,” Ye Shuang said embarrassedly. “The apartment was given by Sister An and the furniture by Chen He. They wanted to thank me for saving their lives.”

“Those are our clients.” Han Chu glanced at Ye Shuang. “If you’re free, I’ll get Yao Zhixing to prepare your gold card for various golf courses. Of course, you’ll need to pay for the membership fee yourself. The card can be used for discount and entry. If you’re free, expanding your social circle into the upper society can be good for business.”

Even if they might be looking for headhunters, the upper society would not broadcast that. At most, they would ask around among their friends. If her headhunting business was not that famous to make them go to her, then she would have to go to them.

Ye Shuang thanked Han Chu for the lesson. Han Chu realized that he was there as a guest, so he did not carry on with the lecture. He walked around the living room, adding, “In a few days, I’ll be leaving for Chao Hai City and then leaving the country to sign a computer expert. If you have nothing else to do, help me look around for empty apartment, I’ll be back around the end of next month.”

“Brother Han plans to reside in San Lin City?” Ye Shuang was shocked.

“Not permanently,” Han Chu said naturally, “but as a holiday house.”

“…”