Chapter 237 — Half of Whatever They're Asking

"Who exactly are you looking for?" Wei Zhao asked.

"I'm looking for Mr. Wei Zhao, the great bandit..." Sun Jingyan could not understand why Wei Zhao would not admit it.

"And you are?" Wei Zhao was sweating. The call really was for him, but since when had he become a great bandit?

"I'm Sun Jingyan. Do you remember, that day at the Powerful Cloud Bar..." Fearing Wei Zhao would hang up again, Sun Jingyan got it all out in one breath.

"Oh... so it's you..." Sun Jingyan's elegant, mature figure surfaced before Wei Zhao's eyes. "What can I do for you?"

"I'd like to ask you to come out of retirement..." Sun Jingyan said cautiously.

"Come out of retirement? Don't tell me it's to pretend to be your boyfriend again?" Wei Zhao was taken aback. This Sun Jingyan was rather amusing, coming up with a phrase like "come out of retirement." But the girl was foolish enough too — he had told her he was a great bandit, and she had actually believed it?

"No... it's something else I'd like your help with." Sun Jingyan said, "I want you to go to a certain company and steal a piece of data for me."

"Steal data?" Wei Zhao was stunned. So the girl really did take him for a great bandit? Going off to steal data?

"Yes, Wei Zhao, can you help? I can pay a very high fee!" Sun Jingyan said.

"Oh?" Wei Zhao had been about to refuse, but when he heard Sun Jingyan mention a very high fee, he changed his mind. "What data? How much are you prepared to pay?"

Wei Zhao was short of money these days. Although Gu Pengzhan had given him a credit card with an unlimited overdraft, Wei Zhao always had the feeling of living off a woman, and besides, there were times when he could not spend that money however he liked.

For instance, paying Xiaofen's medical fees. Wei Zhao could spend his own money without a care, but if he spent from the credit card and Qingbo happened to ask about it, the explaining would be a headache. So Wei Zhao planned to earn a lump sum as quickly as possible.

Besides, his own start-up plans would need a large sum of capital. Even with a few formulas in hand and Guan Xuewen's name behind him, opening a company and building a factory was no easy matter; the seed money required was more than a little.

"A recording of an employee of mine giving kickbacks to an executive of a certain company," Sun Jingyan said. "You know my company is in trading. Kickbacks and rebates are no secret in this industry at all, but a competitor filmed it and is preparing to hand it to the news media..."

"Oh, and then?" From Sun Jingyan's explanation Wei Zhao had a fair grasp of the situation. It was nothing complicated.

"If that happens, the company will face penalties and damage to its reputation..." Sun Jingyan said.

"Then surely they've made some demand as leverage? Instead of agreeing to their terms, you'd rather pay a high price to have me steal the data back — doesn't that seem to me a bit like going the long way round?" There was one more thing Wei Zhao did not say: that is, do you think hiring me to steal the data will cost you less than the other side's terms?

Lin's rates had never been low. Did Sun Jingyan really think it would be like last time, a matter of a thousand yuan?

"The other side's terms..." Sun Jingyan gritted her teeth. It was not that she had not approached the other company, but their boss had put out the word: let her sleep with him for one night, and the whole matter would be wiped clean, the recording returned to her. But how could Sun Jingyan possibly agree?

"How about this: whatever their terms are, I take fifty percent. My rates are fair — honest weight, no shortchanging!" Wei Zhao finished and added, "I have things to do. Call me when you've made up your mind!"

Seeing Sun Jingyan hesitate, Wei Zhao simply hung up. They had met only once — did the girl take him for a coolie? Coming out of retirement came with a fee...

Zhong Yongliang limped into the classroom, his eyes full of hatred, and looked toward Wei Zhao's seat with a chill in his gaze.

Yet he dared not let even a trace of that hatred show. Brother Black Panther had actually been sent to prison by Wei Zhao again! And beaten half to a cripple! Zhong Yongliang had learned the news the night before. Zhong Fabai was a name that rang loud in the Songshan area, so naturally he had friends in the police station too.

Though he did not know how Wei Zhao had beaten Brother Black Panther half to a cripple and sent him to prison, Wei Zhao's strength was certainly not to be underestimated. Brother Black Panther's strength had already reached the peak of the late Yellow Rank, enough to leap across roofs and walk walls, and yet he had fallen into Wei Zhao's hands again. So just how formidable was this Wei Zhao?

If he did not avenge this, he would be less than a man! The humiliation Zhong Yongliang had suffered the night before was something he would be unable to look back on for the rest of his life! And all of it was thanks to Wei Zhao!

Wei Zhao, the moment I, your young master, find an opening, I will make you regret ever being born into this world! Zhong Yongliang clenched his fists.

"Boss, I'm really sorry about last night. I failed to look after Sister-in-law Tang Zhi..." Kang ** was full of self-reproach.

"I can't blame you. That taxi was probably rigged from the start!" Wei Zhao said. "By the way, how are you? Nothing wrong, I hope?"

"I'm fine. They probably weren't after me!" Kang ** said. "Right, boss, how did things go after you had dinner with Zhong Yongliang last night? How come he's walking with a limp today? Hemorrhoids acting up?"

"Pff..." Wei Zhao's eyes went wide with astonishment. Surely Zou Ruoming wasn't really so blind that he had mistaken Zhong Yongliang for Tang Zhi? Otherwise, how could such a result have come about? Wei Zhao speculated with ill intent...

"Who knows. Yesterday Zhong Yongliang brought Black Panther in to deal with me again, but I sent him to the police station once more." Wei Zhao gave a brief account, glossing over the matter of Tang Zhi being taken; he did not want to say much about Tang Zhi.

Kang ** could tell that Wei Zhao did not want to bring it up, so he asked no more. What mattered most was that Tang Zhi was safe and sound.

"Right, boss, do you think Xiaofen and I... are really suited to each other?" Kang ** had been mulling this question over for the past few days, and it left him somewhat at a loss.

If it was not love at first sight, it was rather that Kang ** had been taken by Xiaofen's beauty. Though she could not compare to Tang Zhi, to Kang ** she was already a stunning beauty.

After learning of Xiaofen's misfortune, Kang ** had felt genuine pity for the girl and sympathy for what she had endured! Especially when he saw that helpless, pitiful look on Xiaofen's face, it stirred in Kang ** a *** to protect her for the rest of his life!

This was also why Kang ** had been so eager these past few days! Eighteen was an age when *** one would go through fire and water for love! But once the *** had passed, Kang ** could not help but consider more deeply the future between him and Xiaofen.

Xiaofen's leg was lame. Even if it could be treated, the medical expenses would be no small sum. Could he bear that burden? And would he, in the days to come, continue to love Xiaofen and care for her as he did now?