Chapter 1108: Chapter 317: Strike First
Chapter 317 Strike First
"I’m going to eat you up!"
"Eat me up? That doesn’t sound good." Li Yan shrugged and smiled, "I’m not Tang Monk meat, eating me won’t make you more beautiful."
Jiang Xueyin gave him a blank stare, refusing to entertain his poor attempt at humor. She labeled him in her mind as ’cunning’ + ’stingy’, turned around, and left.
As soon as she was out, Li Yan immediately snapped out of the playful mood, and dialed a number he had already found on his phone.
"Sun Hui, it’s me, Old Li. How’s it going lately? Feeling better?"
Before heading to work, Sun Hui was intentionally approached by Liu Yunyun, who, upon confirming that Li Yan was going too, informed the assassin hired by Liu Yuyang. They planned to hit Li Yan with a car, but ended up breaking Sun Hui’s leg when the quick response failed. Afterward, Li Yan arranged for the perpetrator to be caught and settled the matter privately, paying for Sun Hui’s medical costs and compensating him.
Once work resumed, Li Yan didn’t have time to visit the hospital every day. A few days ago, Sun Hui was discharged, but he was still recuperating and hadn’t returned to work yet.
"Haha, what else can I say?" Hearing it was Li Yan, Sun Hui spoke freely without hesitation.
"What kind of weather is this! It’s not even summer. Even if it’s not cold in the hospital, it’s cold going to and from work. You pervert! Perfect time to rest up."
"Rest? I’ve already gained weight. I’ll be back to work in a few days!"
After some small talk, Li Yan began to subtly inquire, "By the way, what about Liu Yunyun? Does she come to take care of you every day after work?"
He wasn’t at the company every day, and with the vast headquarters of Heaven Mansion, he hadn’t been paying attention to Liu Yunyun.
Liu Yunyun was sent to Paradise Group on paid leave by Liu Yuyang, instructed to get close to Sun Hui to approach Li Yan, keeping tabs on his whereabouts to stage an ’accident’. Later pressed by Li Yan, she confessed and admitted everything she knew, insisting she was just a pawn, unaware of the assassin’s plans. She promised to cut ties with Liu Yuyang, not to inform him or return to Anxin Investment, and pleaded with Li Yan to be let off.
Back then, Li Yan hadn’t retaliated against Liu Yuyang yet and, recalling Sun Hui seemed smitten with her, he softened and let her be, allowing her to continue working at Paradise.
After such an incident, Liu Yunyun, even if unaware of the cause, could guess the consequences. Soon after, news of Liu Yuyang’s suicide came out. If she couldn’t associate it with Li Yan, she’d be more of a fool than a pawn. Given her awareness, how would she react?
Panic?
Fear?
Avoidance?
Or report back to the Liu family?
Being a minor character, coupled with Sun Hui’s apparent affection for her, Li Yan relented and didn’t silence her. On reflection, she was an employee of Anxin, which wasn’t a big company, and hadn’t worked long at Paradise but was still on payroll. The Liu family could easily discover and locate her. Her actions were suspicious; even if she didn’t want to talk, the Liu family would pressure her.
To Li Yan, she was fearful; likewise, the Liu family could instill fear. When crushed between both sides, she would have nothing to lose.
But for such a minor role, Li Yan never paid attention. He hadn’t noticed if she returned to the company in recent days or said anything about her while visiting Sun Hui in the hospital among other colleagues, so he remained unaware of her situation.
Sun Hui, unaware of these details, thought Li Yan was just joking and laughed loudly, "Underestimating me, huh?"
"..." Knowing Sun Hui’s tendency to brag but not excessively, Li Yan sensed something was amiss. Mulling it over, he realized it was impossible. Except for recently going home post-hospital, he’d been hospitalized, and his relationship with Liu Yunyun hadn’t progressed that far.
"Did Liu Yunyun... stop visiting you?"
"..."
Li Yan’s serious inquiry silenced the previously excited Sun Hui.
After a while, Sun Hui sighed, "You guessed it... I was bluffing. She... hasn’t come to the hospital since. She used to call and check in, but later, I lost contact with her. After the company reopened, I tried calling her there, but nothing. Colleagues said she never came back after the New Year, and her phone’s always off. Earlier, when you visited, I didn’t bring her up because you didn’t ask specifically. I was kidding earlier; she’ll never know."
Li Yan sighed inwardly. This situation was troubling. "You couldn’t possibly have fallen for her, right? Given your nature, you shouldn’t be that involved."
"..."
Sun Hui spoke a bit dejectedly, "I thought so too. Sometimes it’s just a game for me, or for others, often it’s mutual play. People use my connections and I’m fine with it. But with her... she felt different. Over New Year, I confided in her things not even close pals like you know.
That’s what I realized after she left. At first, like you joked, although the injury was bad, if having her by my side was possible, I wouldn’t think it’s a loss; it’s like everything balances out. But she never returned... Haha, I laugh it off among you guys, but honestly, I don’t want you to worry. In truth, I’m just bored and down!"
Li Yan felt helpless. His initial decision to let Liu Yunyun go had been somewhat influenced by Sun Hui. If he killed someone Sun Hui liked, facing him would be awkward. Yet, she ultimately left, unable to endure pressure from him or the Liu family. She was just a small clerk, following orders for a better income.
With Sun Hui’s disappointment, he couldn’t comfort him much. The truth was unspeakable, and finding Liu Yunyun unsuitable; she was caught between his conflict with the Liu family, with no peaceful resolution possible.
"Just focus on healing, return to work soon. But for your well-being, and to avoid ending up a cripple, don’t push it. You can fend off boredom at home; maybe hone your skills of flirting online!"
"Ha, that’s true. There are countless girls waiting for me online!"
After comforting Sun Hui with a few words, Li Yan hung up the phone and began to ponder.
Liu Yunyun has disappeared, but it may not necessarily be because the Liu family took her away. It’s also possible that she got scared and went into hiding after hearing about Liu Yuyang’s death. Now he needs to confirm this. If she really hid herself out of fear, at least she kept her promise, and letting her go wouldn’t be wrong. But if the Liu family has already captured her, preparations for dealing with the Liu family’s retaliation must be made.
Besides Liu Yunyun, Li Yan also thought about the people he met with Liu Yuyang at the hotel that time. They were Liu Yuyang’s friends, but he didn’t know to what extent they were friends and whether they had told them any detailed information about him. If all of them knew, it’s likely Liu Yuyang’s father also knew. However, even Liu Yuyang assumed he was Zhang Yurong’s boyfriend. That alone doesn’t prove anything.
Time to move!
If it were just him, or if Yue Yao and ’they’ were people capable of self-defense and counterattacks, Li Yan wouldn’t care about the potential retaliation from the Liu family. But now it’s different; if his connection to Yurong is discovered, the Liu family that lost their only son might seek revenge at any cost!
Li Yan called the Human Resources department to find a familiar person to check Liu Yunyun’s file. Sun Hui was the person he was most familiar with in HR, but he knew the others too. If it were just a business department staff member, others might decline the request, but now, as a manager of a subsidiary company, he easily obtained Liu Yunyun’s information.
The place was empty.
When Li Yan arrived at Liu Yunyun’s residence, he didn’t need to open the door to go inside. Using a tissue, he could tell that the door and lock hadn’t been touched for at least ten days!
Judging by the timing, it seemed that Liu Yunyun stopped going to work and moved out after learning about Liu Yuyang’s incident.
He felt that, similar to the two assassins Urlen who were driven away by Xie Xuanji, the possibility of Liu Yunyun moving due to sensing danger was higher. Since Liu Yuyang’s suicide, weeks had passed—if she had fallen into the Liu family’s hands, her utility would have been exhausted by now. Would Liu Yuyang’s father, grieving over his son’s death, really just hold back without taking action?
So should he preemptively deal with Liu Yuyang’s father?
The boss would never act without a target to shoot at; for ’him’ to give a reminder, there must be signs of movement.
...
Leaving Liu Yunyun’s place, Li Yan checked the time and decided to visit the Liu family again tonight.
He still had a vivid impression of the Liu family. Last time, when he went to ’deal with’ Liu Yuyang, he quietly sneaked in and went straight to Liu Yuyang’s bedroom. Now that Liu Yuyang has been in an incident, even if it was proven to be a suicide, if Liu’s father has any suspicions, he would probably increase security, right?
However, for Li Yan, this only added a bit of difficulty, but it couldn’t really limit him.
Li Yan didn’t return to the company. He drove slowly towards the Liu family’s location. This time, he planned to handle it himself. A significant number of ’their’ people had already been reassigned to Liguo by Yue Yao.
Including the logistics personnel promoted and left here, such as Xie Xuanji, whom Li Yan also fulfilled his desire to perform frontline missions, arranging for Yue Yao to send him to Liguo for training and learning.
If he really needed assistance, the retired mercenary Duan Haibo would be a good choice for action. However, a mere Liu family was nothing in Li Yan’s eyes; if he acted himself, he could solve everything.
When near the Liu residence, Li Yan found a parking lot and then went to a café, ordered something to eat, and got a cup of coffee to solve dinner and wait for nightfall.
He drafted a short text message and sent it to Yurong and Yue Yao, indicating that he had something to do and wouldn’t be home for dinner, telling them not to wait for him.
Zhang Yurong was probably busy at that moment, so she quickly replied with a simple "Got it," while Yue Yao, to leave as little evidence as possible on his phone, normally would not respond via text. Usually, such matters didn’t require a reply.
But this time, she called him back!
Li Yan felt a little curious, and since he was free at the moment, he immediately answered. "Is there something up?"
"Yes, I was just trying to reach you." Yue Yao lowered her voice and asked softly, "Can you talk now?"
"Sure."
"It’s like this, about the deal in Liguo, ’they’ have almost made contact and are ready, it will start in a few days..."
"Hmm." Since they weren’t in the same place, even phone calls weren’t secure, so their conversations avoided using sensitive words like ’kill’; they knew what was meant.
"I sense something off..."
"In what way?"
"We’re doing business over there, but now someone is also doing business on our turf. It seems there’s a big deal in S City recently; some people are coming over."
A big deal announced in S City?
That’s drawing some professional killers over?
Considering the timing, especially after the boss’s reminder, it would be odd for Li Yan not to associate this news with the Liu family! (Seeking subscriptions, monthly pass, rewards, recommendations...)(To be continued. To find out what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com, more Chapters are available, support the author, support official reading!)
