LWDC Chapter 132

Chapter 132 – The Deal

Chapter 132 – The Deal

Chapter 132 – The Deal

Even on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Ning Fei still made plans to have dinner with Yu Zhou.

At first, Yu Zhou thought Ning Fei was just bored and wanted someone to eat with. However, when Ning Fei mentioned the person he wanted to bring along, Yu Zhou was shocked: “Huh? Duan Yunhong? Why is he coming? When did he arrive?”

Ning Fei was alone in the master bedroom, making the call: “Last night… no, I guess he arrived in the evening. Didn’t the base’s system remind you?”

“Even if there’s a record of someone entering, it won’t directly remind me. Otherwise, if every Tom, Dick, and Harry who came to the base triggered a reminder, I’d spend all day just looking at that and wouldn’t get any other work done,” Yu Zhou replied. “However, Huichuan hasn’t sent any official documents saying he’s coming. Did this guy sneak away again?”

Ning Fei said, “He reported it. No need to worry about Huichuan asking you for him.”

“Oh…” Yu Zhou said knowingly, “He came to find you.”

Ning Fei hadn’t even replied when Yu Zhou continued teasingly, “But didn’t you say yesterday that you were going to have dinner with Zheng Liwen and the others? Didn’t you go?”

Ning Fei: “…I went.”

Yu Zhou: “Duan Yunhong went too?”

Ning Fei: “He didn’t. I only saw him waiting downstairs when I got back. I didn’t even know he was coming.”

“Oh—!” This time, Yu Zhou’s tone was filled with playful jeering. “He even came to give you a surprise. You’re something else! One for dinner, another when you get home, and one from a week ago. Why am I not surprised at all? I can only say, it’s just like you!”

“Stop spreading false rumors about me. I haven’t touched a single one of them and I’m still being bothered to death by these people,” Ning Fei said. “I’m not going to waste time talking nonsense with you. Duan Yunhong said he’s willing to support sharing Wang Haiyang’s research results. You guys can meet up and decide on a direction and outline for how to operate and how to draw up the agreement.”

“…Damn it, I was wondering why you were showing off about a man going to so much trouble to come and find you, but it turns out you want me to work overtime!” Yu Zhou was instantly unhappy. “Why work overtime during the New Year? We can have dinner, but the sharing agreement can wait until after the holiday.”

“The longer it drags on, the more problems will arise,” Ning Fei’s tone was calm, but it was clear that his attitude was firm. “Only by getting things settled can I justify opening this door for him.”

Yu Zhou sensed the emotion in his voice and raised an eyebrow: “What’s wrong? Did you guys have a fight?”

“No fight. I just don’t trust his words anymore,” Ning Fei leaned against the window and scoffed. “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. I can’t keep being fooled over and over again, can I?”

“Still remembering the last time? You two are like a debt collector and a Qi thief, already in a gamble. Isn’t it normal for him to deceive you? Didn’t you deceive him too?” Speaking of this, Yu Zhou’s tone gradually became meaningful. “Oh, I get it now. It’s because last time you were genuinely worried about his safety and went to save him, going to great lengths and risking your life. But he pulled something like that on you, so you feel like your sincerity was wasted on a dog, and that’s why you can’t forgive him, right?”

“Very dramatic and full of cliches, but that’s just your imagination,” Ning Fei replied indifferently. “The reason I decided to save him was because he gave me Qi. What I can’t forgive isn’t that he used this to deceive me, but that I actually fell for it.”

“Everyone makes mistakes. You don’t need to punish yourself like this,” Yu Zhou didn’t quite agree with his approach. “And since he deceived you, why are you getting angry at yourself? You should be angry at him, torment him, target him. Why are you exhausting yourself?”

“So, I need to take the benefits he’s offering first, so I can take action later,” Ning Fei replied. “Are we definitely going to talk about the results sharing at dinner tonight?”

“Yes, yes, yes. You’ve already said that much. If I don’t agree, won’t you blame me for hindering your plan?” Yu Zhou agreed. “Then should I bring Old Yue with me? Does Duan Yunhong know that we’re going to talk business at dinner tonight? Don’t let me bring up the topic and he’s not prepared at all.”

“He’ll know,” Ning Fei said. “I’ll tell him later.”

“So it’s all your plan,” Yu Zhou sighed. After a moment of silence, he suddenly changed the topic. “Ning Fei, I’m reminding you, you need to be clear-headed. According to what you said, Duan Yunhong traveled thousands of miles during the New Year, secretly appearing downstairs at your place. To get into your house, he even offered the most advantageous card he currently has. When you let him in, was it really just because he was willing to share the research results?

“You just said that you want to ‘learn from your mistakes’. Then he used Wang Haiyang’s results to knock on your door. In fact, isn’t that just using something that originally belonged to you to get a favor? And it seems like you’ve already forgiven him?”

After saying this long speech, there was no sound on either end of the phone for a while, as if the call had already ended.

But both Ning Fei and Yu Zhou knew that the call hadn’t been hung up.

After a long while, Ning Fei’s voice finally rang out again: “…I know what I’m doing.”

“You always know what you’re doing, and I don’t want to interfere too much in your love life,” Yu Zhou replied. “After all, I’ve also been in love with someone who jumped out of time, and the result was terrible, so I’m not really qualified to give you too much advice. I’ll just remind you of one thing – Qi thieves are ruthless and lawless people. Don’t think that just because he’s making concessions to you now and even moderately following your rules, that he’s safe for you.”

“…I understand,” Ning Fei heard the sincerity in his words, knowing that Yu Zhou was genuinely reminding him. He lowered his eyes and replied, “I understand very well. That’s why I hope that the research results can be handed over to the Jinghui people for joint research through the cross-base joint research mechanism. The matter of ‘saving the world’ needs to be accelerated.”

Yu Zhou understood that Ning Fei didn’t mean that he was a workaholic who wanted to finish the work as soon as possible.

But rather, he wanted to end the mission in this world and leave this place as soon as possible.

At that time, the positioning mark he had given out would also be completely crushed.

*

When Ning Fei told Duan Yunhong that they were going to have dinner with Yu Zhou and the others tonight to talk about sharing the research results, Duan Yunhong didn’t agree right away.

“I think I said that I don’t want to talk about work now,” the man replied. “Dinner is fine, but no work.”

“Unfortunately, I didn’t agree to that, and you have no credibility with me here,” Ning Fei said. “If you don’t talk, then you’re just deceiving me with empty promises. Do you think I’m someone who can be easily fooled with just a few words? And you’re treating me like this again and again. Do you think I’m that cheap?”

Duan Yunhong narrowed his eyes slightly: “I didn’t deceive you. You don’t need to use such wording.”

“I’m cursing myself, is it any of your business?” Ning Fei stared at him. “So, are you going to do it or not? If you don’t plan to fulfill your promise, then please leave as soon as possible. I can’t be sure if you’ll really keep your word. Rather than paying first and then gambling, it’s better to end this deal now.”

“…Fine, I can go talk,” Duan Yunhong didn’t want to say it like this, but Ning Fei had pushed him to this point, so he couldn’t help but follow the other party’s words and say, “Then, you can accept me staying here with you? You know that what it means for a big man to come to your house is not just to find a place to live. As long as I give out the results, you’ll accept that too?”

“I’m not going to pretend to be pure with you,” Ning Fei said. “Yes, only for the duration of this New Year’s holiday that you stay here.”

“So you’re putting a price on this too?” Duan Yunhong was really angry now, but he also understood that Ning Fei was deliberately saying it this way, so he could only suppress his temper and say, “Then I want to make a deal with you too. If you talk to me properly now, I can pay you by the hour.”

When he said this, he was prepared for Ning Fei to ask for an exorbitant price. However, Ning Fei met his gaze for a few seconds, but didn’t say an astronomical figure. Instead, he said, “I know what you want to talk about. That’s too much of a waste of time. Let’s just get straight to the point.”

“What?”

“2 million Qi, and I can be your lover,” Ning Fei said slowly. “But only limited to this world. Once the bet is over, the mark is abolished, and the relationship is also abolished.”

Duan Yunhong really wanted to laugh out loud in anger: “Do you think I want to talk to you about the issue of being lovers?”

“Whether you do or not, I only agree to this condition,” Ning Fei didn’t get anxious with him this time. “If you don’t think it’s necessary, then there’s nothing to talk about. Leave after the holiday, and from now on, it’ll just be normal work interactions. And don’t take it upon yourself to come here again. Oh, no, it’s your freedom to go wherever you want, but don’t come looking for me without permission. I’m very troubled and don’t want to play this game with you. If you keep stalking me like this, don’t blame me for using some underhanded methods to deal with you.”

These words directly blocked all the topics that Duan Yunhong wanted to talk about.

His mind quickly and uncontrollably churned through various thoughts, and finally came up with a sentence: “So, if you don’t become my lover, who are you planning to be the lover of? Zheng Liwen, or Wang Moye?”

Ning Fei didn’t get angry when he heard this, but simply said, “You even know that Wang Moye came here. Okay, then I admit that when I told the people from Jinghui that we used to have something, I was talking to Wang Moye.”

“So, you’re planning to be with him…?” Duan Yunhong narrowed his eyes. “Just to join forces to deal with Huichuan?”

“I have no obligation to answer these questions,” Ning Fei’s tone was cold. “Who I want to find has nothing to do with you. You’re not even my lover.”

“You don’t need to use such rhetoric to provoke me,” Duan Yunhong said. “I also heard something. There’s a rumor that Jinghui is going to hold a gathering for people with special abilities after the holiday. Is that true? Are you going too?”

“It’s true. I just remembered that my special ability got attention because of that video you uploaded. Otherwise, Jinghui wouldn’t have specifically asked me to go,” Ning Fei raised his eyebrows slightly. “You’ve tricked me again.”

“This was definitely not intentional on my part. Think carefully, I bet with you on being the leader who ends the zombie tide. Why would I want to increase your reputation?” Duan Yunhong didn’t expect that there was this cause and effect relationship, and explained, “I wanted to explain how I escaped the attack of the mutated creatures and why I didn’t ask for help from the nearby base later. To prove that I did ask for other rescue, I provided some videos taken by drones.”

“OK, I accept this explanation,” Ning Fei’s tone was indifferent, and it was hard to tell if he really didn’t care about this matter. “Then we’ll leave for dinner to talk about things at six o’clock tonight. Don’t forget.”

Duan Yunhong sneered: “You’re just circling back to the first topic like that? You want to pretend that all those words in between didn’t exist?”

“I don’t want to have a paid conversation with you, and you don’t want me to be your 2 million lover. What else is there to talk about?” Ning Fei shrugged. “If you want to stay here with me for six days, I suggest you stop thinking about unrealistic things. I’m only letting you stay so that I can do something relaxing and venting with you sometimes, but not to tolerate and cater to all your fantasies.”

“What, do you think I’m here on a dream-fulfilling journey?” Duan Yunhong said. “I don’t know what you’re afraid of. Aren’t you incredibly brave? How will talking harm you?”

“It won’t harm me, but it’s a waste of time,” Ning Fei replied. “And I’ve been deceived by you. I’m just afraid of falling in the same place again. Can’t I be?”

Duan Yunhong felt that he was saying more and more absurd things: “You’re afraid of me? What kind of joke are you telling?”

“You’re a Qi thief. Shouldn’t I be afraid?” Ning Fei laughed instead. “I’m not only afraid that you’ll deceive me, but also that the Bureau will punish me because of our interactions. By the way, Chonglin has sued me for colluding with a Qi thief. You didn’t know, did you?”

“You’re afraid of the Bureau?”

“I don’t want to discuss the issue of standing with you,” Ning Fei said. “If you want to cause the Bureau to abandon me through some action, to make me a ‘wanderer’ too…”

Duan Yunhong: “You’ll hunt me down?”

“No, then I’ll end everything,” Ning Fei said something ambiguous, and then pulled the topic back again. “We’ve said another round of nonsense. In short, tonight’s dinner, can we confirm it?”

Duan Yunhong stared at him and said slowly: “…I’ll give you 2 million.”

——————–

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!!