They randomly found a breakfast shop where Xu Wuyan ordered two bowls of savory tofu pudding. Making sure no one was around, he finally spoke up.
"Captain Shen, have your people look into that old woman. Her shop has a problem."
"Alright, I'll arrange it right away."
"Aren't you going to ask why?"
"It's already like finding a needle in a haystack. We'll investigate first and figure it out as we go."
"Aside from using me as bait, are you running any other operations?" Xu Wuyan suddenly asked.
"Yes, but that has nothing to do with you, so it's not convenient to tell you," Shen Yue answered bluntly, without hiding anything.
Xu Wuyan nodded, finding this completely reasonable. Still, he felt obligated to offer a word of warning.
"Assuming this agricultural market is a distribution center for Lan Bing, who's to say other agricultural markets aren't as well?"
Shen Yue's fingers, which had been typing a message, paused. She looked up in surprise.
"You're right. I overlooked that."
"You're just in too much of a hurry. Ever since I saw you last night, I've had the feeling that this wasn't your first time encountering Lan Bing. You have some kind of obsession with it, which makes me feel like you're desperate to track down the source as quickly as possible."
"But haste makes waste, and you're going to miss a lot of details. Sister Shen, my life is on the line with your arrangements, so don't get me killed. My college life hasn't even started yet, and I haven't even had a girlfriend. To check out like this would be a total rip-off."
Xu Wuyan let out a wistful sigh, which caused Shen Yue to let out a sudden chuckle.
"When is it your turn to lecture me? If you want to lecture me, wait a few more years, you brat."
"I'm already eighteen and a man now. You're not allowed to call me a brat. A man, understand?"
"Fine, fine, fine, everything you say is right. I've noticed your brain works really well. Do you have any other thoughts? Tell me all at once."
"If you want to hear them, I can, but don't laugh at me if I get it wrong."
"Naturally. I'll screen whatever you say."
"Alright, then I'll lay out my analysis for your reference."
Xu Wuyan paused for a moment, then calmly and clearly presented the analysis he had prepared long ago.
"Tracing Lan Bing boils down to three elements: the source, the distribution center, and the destination. We should be thankful that the first thing we found was a distribution center. It both takes in goods and distributes them. As long as we keep a tight watch on this place, we can follow the vine to get the melon."
"If you can confirm that the old woman from earlier is a problem, then surveillance operations can be launched accordingly."
"Then there's the source. Anyone capable of manufacturing this stuff in Lucheng must have tremendous backing. Who knows, there might even be people from higher up involved. These are all things you need to be on guard against. Don't be upset with me for saying this, but without a protective umbrella, this kind of stuff can't get in."
"As for the destination, it's bound to be various high-end entertainment venues. I know of a club called Night Club. You could investigate it, and you might make some unexpected discoveries."
Simple and concise, three sentences summing up three directions. Of course, the main thing he wanted to tell Shen Yue was the third sentence: Night Club had a problem.
"You're different. Your perspective is very targeted," Shen Yue said with a solemn look.
"What I just gave were suggestions. How to handle things is up to you and the others, Sister Shen. I'm just a little nobody, not worth mentioning."
"No, what you said is very constructive, and it's actually what we discussed in our meeting last night. But I have a question: why are you so sure that old woman is a problem, and as for Night Club, how do you know about that place?"
Shen Yue frowned deeply, causing Xu Wuyan to shrink his neck. He silently cursed himself for messing up.
He had spoken too carelessly and exposed a flaw! He couldn't possibly tell her that he knew about Night Club from before his rebirth, could he?
"Night Club is a gathering place for all kinds of rich second-generation kids in Lucheng. That doesn't seem to be any secret. As for that old woman, didn't you see the green snake tattooed on the back of her hand?"
"Do you think an old woman who's weathered wind and sun all day would go get a tattoo?"
"Just based on that?"
"Make bold assumptions and verify them carefully. At the very least, it's suspicious, isn't it?"Xu Wuyan smiled slightly, quickly lowered his head to eat his sweet tofu pudding, and secretly cursed himself for being careless. Holding hands with Shen Yue just now had lowered his guard and made him drop his vigilance, nearly causing his cover to blow.
However, his worries were clearly unfounded. Having spent years dealing with all sorts of cases, Shen Yue had long since developed a sharp intuition. Hearing Xu Wuyan put it that way, a sudden flash of insight hit her.
"What you said makes sense. I need to go back and make some arrangements. You'd better stay at home today, and I'll come find you as soon as I'm done."
With that, Shen Yue hurried off and drove away, causing Xu Wuyan to let out a long sigh of relief. He had finally seen this formidable young lady off.
The feeling of regaining his freedom was wonderful. Being with Shen Yue meant keeping his nerves on edge every second, terrified that she might see through him. He quickly finished his tofu pudding; he hadn't forgotten that he still had Yao Can to deal with.
Taking advantage of Shen Yue's absence, he needed to finalize the preparations for Yao Can to seize power as soon as possible. Wolfing down a couple of bites, he picked up his bags of groceries and hurried home.
Knocking on Yao Can's door again, he was startled to see that her complexion looked rather pale.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell again?"
He dropped the grocery bags straight to the floor and rushed over to support her.
"I'm fine. Why are you here? Weren't you supposed to—"
"Let's go inside and talk."
Xu Wuyan slipped right past her, ignoring the slight annoyance on her face, and plopped down onto the sofa.
"It's so much more relaxing here. The pressure of being with that woman is just too high."
"Really? From where I'm standing, you seemed to be having the time of your life. With a great beauty by your side, I suppose you must have been thrilled?"
"Stop teasing me. Look at you instead—why does your face look so terrible overnight? Do you need me to take you to the hospital?"
"I'm fine, just didn't sleep well last night. Let's talk about you. What's the situation now?"
As she spoke, Yao Can handed over a document.
"The police are setting a trap, and I'm the bait. So I won't be lacking surveillance around me lately—first to protect me, and second to flush the snake out of its hole."
Xu Wuyan took the document, gave it a quick glance, signed his name on the final page, and handed it back.
"Alright, now our contract marriage is official. Next, we need to think about how you're going to get your equity back."
Seeing him sign without a single moment of hesitation, Yao Can took the document back with satisfaction, her mood suddenly improving quite a bit.
"Just as you thought, Lin Zhiyue has already started rallying the major shareholders in an attempt to block my grandfather's will from taking effect."
"That was to be expected. What I'm afraid of is that not only will they ally with the shareholders, but they might also resort to other underhanded moves against you."
Xu Wuyan said with a worried expression.
"Such as?"
"Blocking your grandfather's will from taking effect is far less direct than completely invalidating it. If I were them, I'd choose to scrap the will entirely so you could never get your hands on that equity."
Yao Can frowned. "Would they stoop that low?"
"For assets worth tens of billions belonging to the Yao Family, is there anything they wouldn't do? So don't underestimate them. Tell me first, what do you plan to do next week?"
"Ever since my father fell into a coma, company decisions have been in the hands of my uncle. I'm going to seek his support."
"Using wolves to drive away a tiger—but if you do that, your uncle will end up holding all the power."
"I know. All I want is to freeze the equity. Four years from now, whether it's Lin Zhiyue or my uncle, I will personally take the Yao Family back."
Determination and resolve flashed in Yao Can's eyes, and her voice grew firm as well. This made Xu Wuyan nod inwardly.
"Since you have your own plan, I won't say any more. If you need my help with anything, just say the word. After all, you're my boss, and I still have that much professional integrity."
"Good. Clean up the kitchen trash for me, and tidy up this apartment. That's your morning assignment. Once you're done, accompany me somewhere."
With a smug smile, Yao Can stood up and left with the contract document, completely ignoring whether Xu Wuyan agreed or not.
Xu Wuyan's face twitched as he looked at the messy apartment and let out a long sigh.