Chapter 185

“…”

Leon watched as Amy’s smile froze on her face across from him. Then, without realizing it, she reached out to touch her chest, causing Leon’s lips to twitch involuntarily. His toes instinctively started wriggling.

To avoid any even more deadly comments from the other room that would push this awkwardness to new heights, Leon quickly stood up, opened the door to his room, and extended an invitation:

“How about… we talk in my room?”

“Alright…”

Upon hearing Leon’s invitation, the doll-faced girl with a slightly flushed face nodded hurriedly, then picked up her handbag and followed Leon into his room.

When Leon slammed the door shut, blocking out all those embarrassing keywords like “papaya soup,” “size,” and “sister-in-law,” Amy let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Leon somewhat sheepishly and said, “Mr. Leon, I actually came here today to invite you over to my place. You saved me from the Marcellini family, which is a huge favor to my entire family. My parents really want to meet you! If it weren’t for my mom not being fully recovered and needing my dad to take care of her while also maintaining the company situation, they would have come with me this time. Please believe us; we just want to thank you properly!”

“Um… sorry.”

After pondering for a moment while looking at Amy, whose eyes hadn’t left him for a second, brimming with sincerity, Leon finally declined:

“It’s not that I’m refusing outright to visit, but I’ve been incredibly busy with work lately. I might not even be home some nights. In fact, after speaking with Anna for a bit, I’ll have to rush back to the bureau again. Lately, I really haven’t had the time.”

“Well then… sorry for disturbing you.”

After her sincere invitation was rejected once again, the doll-faced girl couldn’t help but lower her head slightly, her eyes flashing with deep disappointment.

Gripping her fists tightly with some reluctance, she didn’t continue pestering Leon or trying to change his mind. Instead, she lifted her head, filled with hope, and asked, “Mr. Leon, is there anything related to your work where I could lend a hand? Ah! Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not forcing you to come over to my place.

It’s just… since you’re busy and can’t accept our gratitude in person right now, at least let me do something within my capability to help you. Give us a chance to express our thanks. Would that be alright?”

“Hmm…”

Looking at the doll-faced girl who had lowered herself so much, her big watery eyes full of sincerity, Leon found it hard to refuse such earnestness. After hesitating for a moment, he spoke:

“Recently, our bureau has been monitoring rebels, but their tracks are extremely difficult to catch. Even the Secret Investigation Bureau within the Public Security Department hasn’t made much progress. If your family has ways, could you help me keep an eye on them? Hmm… but remember, absolutely no other actions. Just observe. These rebels possess things you can’t possibly deal with.”

Rebels?

Upon hearing Leon’s words, Amy blinked her eyes, seemingly recalling something.

After hesitating briefly, she softly replied, “As for the rebels… our department store used to have a little connection with them. If you, Mr. Leon, want to find them, perhaps we really can be of some help.”

Ah, this… unexpectedly gained information? Surprisingly raising his eyebrows, Leon, who had originally intended to send the guest off soon, took a deep breath. He then invited her to sit on the only bed in the room, while he grabbed a small stool and sat opposite her, asking seriously, “Miss Amy, could you please elaborate a bit more?”

“Ah? Alright!”

Mr. Leon truly is a capable and reliable man.

Looking at Leon in front of her—calm demeanor, focused gaze, even though his clothes were rather cheap, he still possessed a unique charm that couldn’t be ignored—Amy couldn’t help but bite her lower lip lightly before beginning her explanation:

“Mr. Leon, our family runs the largest department store in the capital city, you should know that, right?”

“Hmm, and the prices are the lowest too.”

“That’s right. Besides being the largest in scale, having the lowest prices, and the widest distribution of stores, our department store also offers the most comprehensive range of goods.

My father, as the vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, has good relations with the Lower House and several departments, securing sales qualifications for almost all categories of products. Before the total gun ban in the capital city, we even sold a few reduced-range small firearms in limited quantities…”

After briefly explaining the characteristics of Chal Department Store, the doll-faced girl recalled carefully: “Just before the complete gun ban policy was implemented in the capital city, someone took advantage of our store not yet removing these items, purchasing nearly a hundred civilian nail guns in batches across dozens of our branches.”

“My father was worried that these people might cause trouble with these weapons, affecting our Chal Department Store. So he tried to investigate and was shocked to discover that, apart from these firearms, these suspicious individuals had been doing business with us for many years.”

Business for many years?

Without a single mistake, the content is inside 69 Book Bar!

Furrowing his brows, Leon asked, “Are these people the rebels? Meaning they bought a lot of nail guns from your Chal Department Store?”

“Not many nail guns actually.”

Hearing this, Amy shook her head and said, “My father is very cautious. Even though selling firearms was profitable, he never mass-distributed them. He only kept a few counters in some stable stores.

What they really bought a lot of were various ordinary supplies, like seasonal clothing, oil, salt, alcohol, quilts, blankets, ingredients, cookware, etc.

And it wasn’t just once or twice; it was long-term and continuous covert purchases. Clothes twice a year, oil and salt every one to two months, fresh ingredients in large quantities every week.”

After finishing recounting what Lao Chaer had discovered, Amy, sitting on the bed, looked at Leon, who seemed to have understood something, and continued:

“So far, these people’s purchases haven’t stopped. My father calculated the quantity of these supplies and found that they could sustain the normal lives of around seven to eight hundred people. In the busiest half-year period, it even reached the amount needed for a thousand people.

The terrifying thing is that these nearly a thousand people have never drawn any attention. If they hadn’t suddenly purchased a large number of nail guns before the gun ban, drawing my father’s attention, probably no one would have noticed their existence.

After discovering the anomaly, although my father, out of caution, did not deeply interact with them, by comparing news of rebel activities with changes in their consumption patterns, he guessed the identity of these people.”

(End of Chapter)