Chapter 250

Sixty-Ninth Chapter Trade

“The other party proposed to meet at three o’clock in the afternoon. This time of day should be when there are the fewest people in the commercial area, which is quite reasonable.”

Linhua reported the information she had gathered from the Scorpion Man, and Cherry Sauce communicated through telepathy:

—”That female drunkard is still in the supermarket. If we haven’t mistaken her identity, she’s probably planning to come out before the meeting time.”—

So she wasn’t buying alcohol?

Even if she was as addicted to drinking, she wouldn’t drink too much before such an important transaction. Going to the supermarket might just be because she felt it was safer there.

—”It could also be that we’ve mistaken her identity. Maybe she has a large sum of money for reasons other than being a public relations officer for the Glorious Family.”—

There was still an hour left. I looked at AJ, who was studying the broadcasting equipment in the corner, and asked, “Is the live stream ready?”

She aimed the camera at us.

“Almost done. Although there are a lot of parameters I don’t understand, Sister Yǐjī can already see the live scene.”

The lens had magic. Realizing they were being filmed, all the girls straightened up, and even Sister Shan quietly tidied her hair, suggesting, “Set the live stream to have a delay of three to five minutes to prevent the Glorious Family from reacting too quickly.”

AJ: “No problem, I’ll talk to Sister Yǐjī about it.”

“Afterward, give the camera to Cherry Sauce. She can hide her presence and take covert photos nearby. I and Linhua will go with that Scorpion Man for the trade, meeting that female PR officer from the Glorious Family.”

Originally, Linhua wanted Cherry Sauce to accompany her, but since Cherry Sauce now had to act as the cameraperson, she couldn’t handle both tasks.

—”It’s not impossible; multitasking is easy for me.”—

… Can you give this protagonist a chance to show off?

To avoid being recognized by the Scorpion Man and his group, Linhua made significant adjustments to my face. This wasn’t cognitive interference; it was special effects makeup from Hollywood.

“I’m done.”

After the makeup, Linhua put away her makeup kit, sticking a few pieces of tape on my face. My face felt tight, and the cost of forcibly changing my facial features was becoming a face without expression—ugly, at that.

—”Your eyes look a bit naive. You’re playing a local bully; shouldn’t you be more intimidating?”—

No, if I squinted or grimaced now, the tape on my temples would fall off…

So, Cherry Sauce put on a pair of tinted glasses like Bingbing’s, covering my big eyes.

Feeling the dimming vision, I asked again, “When will the Scorpion Tattoo Man and his group arrive?”

“They’re already on their way. But it’s not ‘they’; I made the Scorpion Man come alone. Besides making the Glorious Family’s PR officer lower her guard, I also need to be cautious of him himself.”

This made sense.

“Everything is almost ready, so let’s start…”

A strange feeling came over me, causing me to cry out.

“What happened to Kǎi-Chan?”

Linhua asked, and Xiao Lei, who had been eating rice noodle rolls, looked worried.

I shook my head and said, “…It’s nothing, just got drained by Cherry Sauce.”

Cherry Sauce suddenly started draining my divine power, the pump working at full capacity, leaving me feeling weak and shaky.

—”Don’t panic. Given your unreasonable speed of response, you’ll recover this divine power quickly. After my consumption, you can support me a little; it won’t be a problem.”

Is this considered a little?

I felt completely drained!

—”For me, your entire divine power is just a little. Besides divine power, I need to use some dark matter to disguise and move the camera.”—

I took off my jacket, but Cherry Sauce thought it wasn’t enough and even shrank my breast implants. The dark matter taken was wrapped around the camera in AJ’s hand, and gradually the camera became transparent and disappeared… Well, it wasn’t that magical; careful observation revealed its outline, but it was barely noticeable when stationary.

This wasn’t magic-based invisibility but scientific optical camouflage.

Ten minutes later, Linhua, who had been looking out the window, suddenly said, “Yin Tianjie is here. Let’s go down and meet him.”

The muscular man in black with a scorpion tattoo on his arm hovered around the entrance of Temüjin BBQ, then took out his phone, seemingly preparing to send a message to Linhua. Linhua rushed down from the second floor of the rice noodle roll shop and kicked him in the knee, nearly making him kneel.

“You…!”

The angry man, once he saw Linhua’s face, immediately changed his attitude.

“…Well done.”

Although it was hard to tell from his long sleeves, his arms, injured by Sister Zi, were clearly unable to exert force, even lifting them was difficult. After all, it wasn’t something that could heal in two days.

Thus, there was no need to worry about him being a threat, as his condition was far from fighting fit.

Linhua asked, “Did he suspect anything? Do you know what kind of person he is?”

The Scorpion Man shook his head.

“We only communicated via messages; he didn’t reveal anything else. I don’t even know if he’s male or female.”

Whether it was true or not, he continued, “Miss Huangfu, that… Where are the materials for the transaction?”

He seemed to have figured out Linhua’s identity, and his attitude was now respectful.

“Here, I’ve printed them out.”

Linhua took out a leather envelope from her shoulder bag and handed it to the Scorpion Man.

It was easy to guess that these were the bargaining chips Linhua provided: fake, PS-ed images with me as the main character… It was unclear when she prepared these, had she acted alone recently?

However, there was still some risk. Although the photos were fake, the faces were real. If they fell into the hands of the Glorious Family, it would still negatively impact my reputation.

“All the printed photos and USB drive are here.”

The Scorpion Man glanced at the envelope, raising his eyebrows and widening his nostrils, taking a deep breath.

“Hmm… These are artificial photos? Tsk tsk, they could easily pass for real.”

His reaction piqued curiosity about the contents of the envelope. No matter what kind of photos they were, I felt at a disadvantage… I needed to find a way to make this person also part of the photos.

Linhua continued, “Don’t rush to hand over the items after the meeting. You must answer our questions first.”

“I don’t think he’ll honestly answer, and he might leave directly. Then the cooked duck would fly away.”

The Scorpion Man was dissatisfied with Linhua’s demands and rebutted, “Miss Huangfu, don’t make things difficult for me. There were no such requirements before. I just want to get the final payment and avoid trouble. If there are any problems, solve them after I get the money, okay?”

“No.”

Linhua frowned, exuding an imposing aura without anger.

Though not as cold as Sister Zi, Linhua could be stern.

She calmly said, “Follow my instructions, or I’ll reclaim these photos. You won’t get a single cent… If she really runs away, I’ll cover the eight thousand yuan.”

“Uh, rich people speak with authority.”

Linhua clarified her stance, leaving the Scorpion Man with no reason to refuse.

Between the non-local “Glorious Family” and the city’s “Granddaughter of the City God,” if one had to offend one, anyone with a sound mind wouldn’t choose wrongly.

With determination, he gritted his teeth and said, “Fine, since I’m not losing either way, I’ll follow Miss Huangfu’s instructions.”

————

Under the tense atmosphere, three o’clock arrived quickly.

But…

I pushed my sunglasses (for disguise) and asked, “Why did you start eating?”

Linhua was right in front of us, grilling lamb chops, and even retorted.

“Aren’t you planning to sit here without ordering anything? That’s too uncivilized! Don’t hold back, eat whatever you want!”

Although Linhua said this, neither I nor the Scorpion Man moved.

My face was stiff due to the special effects makeup, and the Scorpion Man couldn’t lift chopsticks with his useless arms… So we could only watch the sizzling lamb chops drool.

This girl’s pranks were getting more outrageous.

But she did leave a set of utensils for the Glorious Family.

—”She’s here.”—

Cherry Sauce, who was “invisible” filming nearby, transmitted telepathically.

—”We didn’t mistake her. The PR officer dressed like an office lady is indeed the person sent by the Glorious Family. She came down from upstairs.”—

It made sense. If someone could navigate from the Underground Street to the Balance Commercial District for the first time, their sense of direction would be terrifying.

The female drunkard, wearing dark red stockings, walked out of the elevator. She looked around and fixed her gaze on us.

“She’s here.”

I said this, and the Scorpion Man followed my line of sight.

“Ah? A woman?”

Looking at the approaching female drunkard, Linhua, who was gnawing on lamb chops, said, “Since the Glorious Family is a live streaming union, maybe they sent someone who is also a female streamer… But those types are harder to deal with. Don’t be fooled by her.”

Despite her standing right in front of us, Linhua continued without lowering her voice, completing her derogatory comment. The female drunkard’s face was already very unpleasant, but she had to pretend not to hear and sit down.

“Are you Yin Tianjie?”

She looked around, focusing first on the Scorpion Man, but before he could respond, she added, “Indeed, you don’t have the final say.”

“So, Miss, how should I address you?”

Then she looked at Linhua, apparently believing her to be the leader… After all, only she was eating lamb chops, while I and the Scorpion Man naturally appeared like underlings.

“Huangfu Linhua, I met you at the juice shop before, but I never expected the madwoman who demanded alcohol to be the Glorious Family’s representative for the trade… Come, have some grilled meat.”

Linhua picked up a piece of lamb chop and threw it into the female drunkard’s plate, but the latter frowned and didn’t move.

She asked, “…So you are really here for the trade? Or do you have other purposes?”

“Trade! Have you brought the money?”

“I don’t want this to drag on. Show me the item, and the money is yours.”

She placed her handbag on the table, slightly opened, revealing the red bills inside.

The Scorpion Man’s eyes widened, but Linhua didn’t speak, so he didn’t dare to make any move.

—”Sister Yǐjī has gone live.”—

Our counterattack was about to begin.