Chapter 29: Trying to Make Me Clean Toilets Again

“So, Sis, why are you heading to Japan?”

Chen Xi replied, “Because last night, Chen Qi handed that hard drive over to someone from the Hongying Society’s headquarters.”

“I checked the yacht’s route. He went out to international waters last night and briefly crossed paths with a Japanese fishing boat. So I’m certain the hard drive is probably in Japan now. I have to intercept it!”

Lu Ye suddenly understood. “I see.”

“But isn’t it too dangerous for you to go alone? Let me come with you,” he said, concern in his voice.

Chen Xi shook her head. “No. There are still plenty of Hongying Society remnants in Mingzhu City waiting for you to deal with. You have to clear them out as soon as possible. If they get wind of what’s happening and go into hiding, they’ll become a major threat in the future.”

She was right. Lu Ye had no grounds to argue, so he nodded. “All right.”

After a hurried farewell, Chen Xi left alone for the airport.

Lu Ye suddenly noticed the golden compass still lying on her desk. Maybe Chen Xi had left it behind in her rush. He walked over, meaning to put it away.

But Liu Yiyi suddenly pointed at the golden compass and exclaimed, “I’ve seen that before!”

Lu Ye was surprised. “You have?”

She nodded earnestly. “Yes, in a book about electronic devices. Can I take a closer look?”

Lu Ye was skeptical—an electronic device? But he handed the compass over anyway. What harm could come from letting her examine it?

Liu Yiyi turned the golden compass over and over in her hands, then decisively pulled out the north-pointing needle.

“I knew it!”

She pointed to where the compass and needle connected. “Look, that’s a data port.”

Lu Ye leaned in for a look. “Damn, it really is!”

So it was a portable hard drive all along?

“Can you open it up and see what’s inside? Use my sister’s computer.”

Liu Yiyi nodded. “Sure, just get me a data cable.”

Lu Ye pulled a charger from his pocket. “Will a phone cable do?”

“Perfect.”

She connected the golden compass to Chen Xi’s laptop and fiddled with it for a while.

Suddenly, her face changed dramatically. With a snap, she closed the laptop.

Lu Ye was puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

Liu Yiyi stammered, “I’m sorry, I… I saw something I shouldn’t have!”

He was stunned. Something she shouldn’t have seen? Did she mean, well, those kinds of videos?

That couldn’t be. His mother wouldn’t store anything like that.

Liu Yiyi stood up, nervously moving aside. “You’d better see for yourself.”

Lu Ye, baffled, opened the laptop. What appeared before him was a list of undercover agents sent out by the Apostles over the years—Meng Meiren’s name stood out among them!

Lu Ye logged into the internal network and checked each name on the list.

Aside from Meng Meiren, who had re-registered her details a few days ago, all the others came up as nonexistent.

There were eight names in total. In other words…

Apart from Meng Meiren, there were still seven undercover agents unaccounted for?

But this list was over ten years old! Finding those comrades now would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Lu Ye’s eyes turned thoughtfully to Liu Yiyi, a mischievous glint appearing. “Hey, you just saw classified files. How do you think I should deal with you?”

She shrank under his gaze, fear creeping into her heart.

Gulping, she whispered, “Are you going to kill me to keep me quiet?”

Lu Ye rolled his eyes. “Do you want to die that badly?”

“Of course not! But I’ve already seen it—what can I do now? Even if I gouged my eyes out, it’d be too late!”

Lu Ye suddenly grinned. “Would you like to join the Apostles?”

Her eyes lit up. “Can I?”

He nodded. “Yes, I happen to need a computer expert.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “I’d be honored, I really would!”

If she hadn’t been coerced by Chen Qi through threats to her parents, forced to do so many shameful things for the Hongying Society and left with indelible stains on her life, Liu Yiyi would have dreamed of becoming an agent.

But after a moment’s calm, she hesitated. “But can you really trust me? After all, I was an executive in the Hongying Society until yesterday, and I even tried to kill your father-in-law and sworn brother.”

Lu Ye answered frankly, “To be honest, I don’t trust you completely yet. But considering how fiercely you protected national secrets, I’ll make an exception and give you a chance to prove yourself. But let me say this up front: if I find out you have any malicious intent, you’ll have to face the consequences.”

In this era of information overload, Liu Yiyi’s exceptional computer skills could make her Lu Ye’s right hand—if used properly.

Though she hadn’t cleared all suspicion, he already trusted her seven or eight tenths. After all, people as guileless as her rarely made good liars.

Once the outcome of Chen Xi’s journey to Japan was known, it would prove whether Liu Yiyi’s words were true. If she was honest, Lu Ye wouldn’t mind having her as a comrade.

Liu Yiyi took a deep breath and vowed, “I won’t let you down!”

Lu Ye nodded in satisfaction. “Very good. Your first assignment is…”

She widened her eyes warily. “You’re not going to make me scrub toilets again, are you?”

He was caught off guard for a second, then burst out laughing. “Did I leave you with such a traumatic impression? My apologies!”

She grumbled, “You sure did! I’ll never forget it for the rest of my life!”

“Haha, all right, back to business. Your task is to help me track down the people on this list. They’re senior Apostles, missing for over ten years. I want to bring them home.”

“It’s a difficult mission. Do you have confidence?”

Liu Yiyi nodded solemnly, clenching her fist. “I’ll do my best!”

…

At the end of the workday, Lu Ye drove to Yi Ren Group.

When Su Qianqian walked out of the building and saw him, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Haha, little rascal, when did you realize you had writing on your face?”

Lu Ye feigned a grievance. “I never noticed at all, okay? I went downstairs this morning with ‘rascal’ written all over my face—almost made your mother laugh herself silly.”

Su Qianqian laughed and scolded, “Oh, get out of here! You’re the silly one—your whole family’s silly!”

“Careful what you say—we’re family now,” he teased, opening the passenger door for her.

When she saw the bouquet of flowers on the seat, her surprise was obvious.

“You even bought me flowers?”

Lu Ye grinned. “Dream on, these are leftovers from yesterday’s wedding.”

She looked confused. “Weren’t all the flowers thrown out yesterday?”

He glanced at the clouds, muttering, “I just thought it was a waste, so I fished them out of the trash.”

“You’re such a scoundrel!”

Of course, Su Qianqian knew he was joking to get a rise out of her. The receipt from the florist was lying on the floor mat, timestamp and all.

Hmph, Chen Xi was right—he really is a hopeless tsundere!

“Old lady, I’ll be really busy for a while. I might not come to work every day.”

He was thinking about the upcoming operation to wipe out the Hongying Society remnants—there would be plenty to keep him occupied, so he gave her a heads-up.

She scoffed, “You hardly do any work when you’re here anyway—what’s the difference?”

“But I am curious—what could possibly keep you so busy?”

He thought for a moment, then came up with a brilliant excuse: “Isn’t your mom and her friends planning to crowdfund a beauty salon for me? That’s moving forward now.”

“It’s my first time as a boss—I’ll need to keep an eye on things, right?”

Sure enough, Su Qianqian was pleased. “Wow, you’re actually making progress! Not bad!”

Lu Ye put on a solemn look. “It’s all thanks to my wife’s good influence!”

Ha—his bootlicking was becoming more and more refined.

Just look at how happy this old lady was!