“You really didn’t have to do this.” Bai Ruoxi looked at the ring box in her hand, then glanced at Jiang Fei, who was smiling cheerfully beside her. Her voice carried a hint of helplessness, but also a touch of sweetness.
“I knew you’d probably think I was being a bit of an idiot for doing this, which is why I said what I did earlier.” Jiang Fei shrugged and reached out to hail a taxi on the side of the road.
Meizhou City wasn’t very large, and Jiang Fei’s home was located in a prime gold-coast area within the city’s first ring road. When he went out shopping, he usually couldn’t be bothered to drive. He’d either take a walk, or if he didn’t feel like walking, he’d just grab a taxi.
After the two of them had settled into the back seat, Bai Ruoxi shook her head and said, “I’m not saying you’re being an idiot. It’s just that spending so much money on a single ring feels a bit wasteful.”
Jiang Fei put his arm around Bai Ruoxi, pulling her closer, and said with a smile, “Don’t worry. You know how big Jiang’s Pharmaceutical Company is now. For me, three hundred and eighty thousand really isn’t much different from three thousand eight hundred. It’s not enough money to make me wince. This ring isn’t all that beautiful anyway. Wait a while, and I’ll give you one that’s much bigger and prettier.”
“This one is already very beautiful. You can’t just give away rings casually, you know. I’ll wear this one from now on.” As she spoke, Bai Ruoxi opened the ring box, slipped the ring onto her finger, and her face lit up with a happy smile.
No matter what kind of woman it is, most don’t have much resistance to rings or sparkling diamonds. Bai Ruoxi was okay, though. She didn’t care much about the ring’s price; what mattered to her was who gave it to her.
For instance, if the ring had been a gift from Li Hao, no matter how expensive it was, she wouldn’t have thought it was pretty at all. Instead, she would have found it disgusting and wouldn’t have touched it. But the very same ring, given by Jiang Fei, filled her with joy.
Jiang Fei felt that meeting Bai Ruoxi in this lifetime meant he had no regrets.
And wasn’t it the same for Bai Ruoxi?
————————————————
The fastest days of the year are probably the Spring Festival holidays.
But even after the Spring Festival is over, for the next half month or so, the entire land of China is still enveloped in a festive atmosphere. Even when it’s time to go back to work, many workers will try their best to take an extra couple of days off, using up their annual leave, sick leave, or whatever they have, all on this short period.
However, in this world, there will always be a small group of people in special professions who, even when millions of families are reunited and enjoying their happiness, must stay at their posts and work overtime, unable to leave.
For example: doctors, nurses, police officers, soldiers, firefighters, television and radio broadcasters, train conductors, pilots…
Because of the demands of their jobs, many of these people can’t leave their posts even for the New Year. They have to diligently continue their duties. Only after the holiday period passes and a colleague comes to take over their shift can they finally have some time off to rest.
Besides these special professional groups, there’s an even more unique category of special personnel. Not only do they not have time off during the New Year, but they actually have to go out on missions.
Europe.
London, the capital of the United Kingdom, which many internet users jokingly call the ‘Country of Gentlemen’.
Brown’s Hotel is one of the top-rated hotels in this city. Many wealthy people from around the world choose to stay here when they come to London. And many large financial conglomerates and top-tier companies also consider this hotel when hosting meetings or events.
In the brilliantly lit, spacious lobby, which is decorated to look very classy and extremely luxurious, a man and a woman of East Asian appearance were sitting and drinking beverages.
The man and woman sat facing each other, chatting and laughing casually. Occasionally, they would look down and play with their phones, behaving just like ordinary Chinese tourists visiting London, completely unremarkable in every way.
However, if Jiang Fei were here and saw these two faces, he would definitely be quite surprised.
Because he knew both of these people; they were acquaintances of his.
The woman was very thin, with long, flowing black hair. She was probably a little over one meter sixty (about 5’3″), but looked like she weighed no more than ninety jin (about 99 lbs). She was dressed fashionably. Not a great beauty, but above average. The man, in contrast, seemed much more somber and serious. Even when he occasionally cracked a smile, it couldn’t hide his naturally expressionless, taciturn demeanor.
These two were none other than ‘Qiaoqiao’ and ‘Shouqiang’ (Handgun), members of the Seven Kills Group!
The first time Jiang Fei had encountered the Seven Kills Group was through these two.
Back then, in the capital, Jiang Fei was investigating the mastermind behind the scheme to discredit the Traditional Chinese Medicine Association. His investigation had led him to Du Ziliang, the heir of the traditional Chinese medicine Du family. This mentally unstable individual had murdered his half-brother and then pretended to be innocent, trying to use his family background and connections to weasel his way out of the situation.
It was Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang who appeared, presenting the token of the Seven Kills Group, and directly ignored all resistance, forcing Du Ziliang to reveal his true nature.
It was because of meeting these two that Jiang Fei learned just how formidable the Seven Kills Group was, and he had wanted one of their tokens for a long time.
“Something seems a bit off lately…” Shouqiang was holding a newspaper, seemingly reading it, but his lips moved slightly, producing a very soft sound, ensuring only he and Qiaoqiao beside him could hear.
“What seems off? The Sky Net organization always holds their meetings in this hotel. It’s just that they’re very good at hiding, using legitimate public identities, so even when they appear in broad daylight, no one notices. Their showing up like this isn’t really unusual.” Qiaoqiao pulled a large pair of sunglasses from her bag and put them on, also speaking softly.
After putting on the sunglasses, her gaze subtly followed another man and woman, both Westerners, who had just entered the lobby, moving slowly.
This man and woman, the man wasn’t carrying any luggage or backpack. His right arm was wrapped around the woman’s shoulder. Only the woman was holding an LV handbag. They looked very close, just like any ordinary couple, checking into the hotel.
Shouqiang glanced at them from the corner of his eye, then quickly looked back, not daring to stare.
He moved his lips slightly, producing a very low, deep voice. To any outsider, it wouldn’t even seem like he was speaking. “It wasn’t a big deal for these Sky Net killers to swagger around in a hotel like this before. But this time, our Seven Kills Group has already started operations. Even Lion King has personally made several moves, wiping out many of their members and strongholds. With their sensitive intelligence network, they can’t possibly be unaware. At the very least, they must know they’re in big trouble. They might have even directly guessed that our Seven Kills Group is serious and intends to completely annihilate them…”
“In this situation, they shouldn’t be so reckless as to gather here. Can’t they guess that after we’ve successively wiped out several of their strongholds, we might have picked up some information and know that their headquarters meeting is here in this hotel?”
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Shouqiang looked like a man even colder and more expressionless than any woman, a naturally stoic guy. But listening to his analysis, you realize that this dull-looking man actually had a very meticulous mind. His analytical insight was even sharper than that of many women.
Hearing Shouqiang’s analysis, Qiaoqiao also nodded, feeling it made sense.
However, her expression didn’t change much either. Using her sunglasses as a shield, she continued to monitor the man and woman, saying, “Maybe the Sky Net killer organization does have some kind of plan this time. But our Seven Kills Group has made thorough preparations. Besides, Lion King is coming personally in a couple of days. The Sky Net organization is definitely doomed.”
“Better to be careful. After all, the Sky Net organization has managed to be considered a top-tier organization in the killer underworld. They’ve survived safely for so many years, assassinated so many big shots, and still haven’t been eliminated. That shows they have some special skills. They probably aren’t as simple as they appear on the surface.” To appear more natural, Shouqiang forced another smile.
Unfortunately, his face was too uncooperative, too ill-suited for smiling. So the smile came out looking very unnatural. He tried it for a moment, then immediately gave up and returned to his usual expressionless state.
Qiaoqiao gently rubbed her red lips with her right thumb, looking somewhat charming. She took a sip of tea, her eyes following the man and woman who had finished checking in and were leaving, and said, “So, should we go do some reconnaissance first?”
Upon hearing this, Shouqiang immediately nodded and said, “Reconnaissance is possible. Those two are pretty good targets to work on.”
They both agreed, so without hesitation, they naturally stood up from their seats and followed at a leisurely pace, neither too fast nor too slow.
Nothing seemed particularly special, but just as the Western couple entered the elevator, Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang managed to catch it, stopping the doors just as they were about to close.
“Thank you.” Qiaoqiao nodded to the couple with a smile, saying in English.
“You’re welcome.” This Western couple also seemed very approachable.
The elevators in this hotel were designed with high security. To prevent random people not staying at the hotel from using them, you had to swipe your room card to activate the elevator to go up.
So, the Western couple, who entered first, swiped their card first and pressed the button for their floor, the 11th floor.
Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang, on the other hand, pressed for a floor two levels lower, the 9th floor.
The four had no interaction inside the elevator, all behaving very reserved, not acting overly familiar.
Ten or so seconds later.
Ding—————
The elevator stopped. The 9th floor, Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang’s floor, had arrived.
The elevator doors opened. Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang smiled again at the Western couple, then stepped out of the elevator.
Soon after, the elevator doors closed again.
Only then did the expressions of the Western couple in the elevator change. Both became very cold, their faces completely devoid of any emotion. The approachability they had shown earlier had vanished without a trace.
The woman muttered something in a very obscure language, and the man replied in the same obscure language.
After speaking, both of their faces became even colder and more guarded. When the elevator reached the 11th floor they had initially pressed, neither of them got off. Instead, they waited for the doors to open and then close again. They then pressed the button for the 10th floor below, getting off only when they reached there.
So, their room wasn’t on the 11th floor at all. It was on the 10th floor.
Seeing Shouqiang and Qiaoqiao enter the elevator, they had appeared outwardly to be unsuspecting, but secretly, they had taken precautions, just in case.
On the 10th floor, they found their room, swiped their card to open the door, went in, and closed it…
Throughout, the man had kept his arm around the woman’s waist. After getting off the elevator, they put their approachable smiles back on, and they wore them even as they opened the door.
But the moment the door closed behind them, their expressions changed dramatically.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
In an instant, the couple who looked like ordinary people transformed into exceptionally agile, elite killers. Each of them took cover behind something to hide their bodies, then produced two oddly shaped pistols from somewhere, immediately preparing to fire into the room.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two more sounds of rushing air followed. Two figures, moving like phantoms, were even faster than the Western couple of killers by several degrees.
Just as the Western couple fired their first shots, hitting the floor, the two figures closed in on them, engaging in close-quarters combat. In an instant, they knocked the pistols from their hands to the ground.
Without their pistols, they had no choice but to rely on hand-to-hand combat.
All four moved very quickly, their actions extremely clean and efficient, each more formidable than the last.
The Western woman was wielding a military spike, while Qiaoqiao held a bright, gleaming silver razor blade. The confrontation between the two women was like a dance, both performing all sorts of highly difficult moves. The bedsheets, pillows, and curtains in the guest room were all sliced into ribbons.
The battle between the sturdy Shouqiang and the Western man was much more raw and bloody. It was blow-for-blow, flesh against flesh. They didn’t use any blades, using every part of their bodies as weapons. A single punch to the wall could leave a faint fist-shaped dent!
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The fight lasted about half a minute. Just as this luxury guest room was almost completely destroyed, the Western male and female killers were both subdued by Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang, pinned to the ground, completely neutralized with no strength left to resist.
Both of them had sustained serious injuries. If Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang hadn’t kept them alive to extract information, they would surely be dead.
Of course, although Qiaoqiao and Shouqiang had won, they also had some minor wounds. Fortunately, the injuries weren’t serious, just superficial scratches that didn’t affect their overall condition.
Just as they were relaxing a little, preparing to interrogate their captives—
Suddenly—
Both of their faces changed dramatically. Almost without hesitation, they both delivered killing blows, eliminating the prey they had worked so hard to capture alive. They then stood up and moved together, their eyes fixed warily on the direction of the door.
Creak…
The tightly shut door was opened without warning from the outside. In walked a young man, dressed in a pure white suit, looking like a prince, a smile on his face.
“You’ve finally made your move. I’ve been waiting for you for a long time…” the young man said, his voice cheerful.
