476: Chapter 469 Qingqing’s Return 476: Chapter 469 Qingqing’s Return Returning from the market, Chen Hai found that the birdcage in his hand had disappeared.
The pet chicken had finally passed away peacefully, gutted and plucked clean, and now rested in a plastic bag he carried in his hand.
He had spent five yuan at the market to have someone specifically handle the chicken for him.
After keeping it for over a month, he had grown somewhat attached.
Chen Hai himself couldn’t bear to do it, so he had no choice but to find someone to help.
When the vendor was slaughtering the chicken, Chen Hai deliberately kept his distance, so as not to become sentimentally upset by the sight.
When he finally got home and was about to cook the chicken, he wondered whether he should recite the Rebirth Mantra a few times to help it transcend.
He specifically remembered locking the gate to his courtyard in Liuhua Alley before he left!
But now, coming back from the market, he found not only that the courtyard gate was open but also the doors of the house inside.
“Got robbed?
Someone’s got guts to try stealing from me…”
He curled his lip, scoffed dismissively, and, swift as lightning yet silent as a shadow, he darted into the living room.
Inside the living room, the television was on, playing commercials.
It was the sound of the TV that stopped him from checking the other rooms and drew him directly to this spot.
He wondered about the brazen thief who had slipped into his home and had the audacity to lounge on the sofa watching TV.
Chen Hai didn’t get a clear look at the person’s face, just a glimpse of a large hat perched on their head, obscuring most of their features.
Before the figure could notice or react, he suddenly appeared behind them.
He then pressed one hand on their shoulder and with the other, he lifted the big hat right off their head.
Theft is not a capital offense.
Chen Hai had no intention of causing harm; his plan was to subdue the intruder and call the police to take them to the station.
The next moment, however, he was completely taken aback.
What lay beneath the hat was the unmistakable gleaming bald head.
“Damn it, Chen Hai, sneaking up on me silently and snatching off my hat, you scared the hell out of me…”
The owner of the hat was unmistakably Ye Qingqing.
Chen Hai’s sudden move indeed gave her quite a fright.
Turning around and seeing it was Chen Hai, she gave him an annoyed look and complained.
“Why did you suddenly come back without any notice?”
With a sheepish chuckle, Chen Hai flipped over the back of the sofa and sat down next to Ye Qingqing.
After completing the nuclear resistance test and returning to the Capital City, he continued his midnight visits to Yongning Temple as usual.
However, considering the negative image it might project and the dent it could put in his reputation if discovered, his visits had become less frequent than before, generally only once every two or three days.
He could sense that there had been quite a few new faces moving into Liuhua Alley recently.
Who were these people, and what were their purposes there?
With a bit of thought, he could guess.
After exhibiting his invincible strength during the physical resistance to the nuclear test, the higher-ups were wary and would not act rashly against him, but that didn’t mean they would let Chen Hai stay in the Capital City without any supervision.
Chen Hai could understand the thoughts of those at the top.
Although he knew he was being watched, as long as they did not disturb his normal life, he pretended to ignore it.
This was precisely why his visits to Yongning Temple had become less frequent.
The last time he had been to Ye Qingqing’s place was two days ago.
He had stayed there for over an hour and never heard her mention that she would be coming back to live here.
“Isn’t this a surprise for you?
What, aren’t you happy I’m back?” Ye Qingqing replied with a snicker.
“Happy?
I’m a hundred times happy!”
“I’ve always told you to renounce your monastic life, but you were the one who refused, saying something about losing face.”
“This time you’re back, have you figured it out and decided not to return to Yongning Temple?” Embracing Ye Qingqing, Chen Hai spoke with a smile.
“Mm!” Ye Qingqing nodded, adding, “What exactly have you done?”
“Not only did my dad, but several uncles and elder relatives too have gone to Yongning Temple to persuade me to renounce Buddhism and return to you.”
“Even worse, someone told me that serving you well was a political task assigned by the authorities…”
Ye Qingqing complained about Chen Hai, raising her fist and punching him hard several times in the chest.
“Following the authorities is never wrong!”
“This courtyard has a nice environment and isn’t some temple retreat.”
“Since it’s a political assignment, come on, I’m giving you the chance right now to fulfill your duty well…”
Getting punched a few times by Ye Qingqing only stoked Chen Hai’s interest even more.
He rose to his feet and picked up Ye Qingqing, heading toward the inner room.
“Deadbeat, your hand reeks of blood, where have you been?
You’re filthy.
Take a bath before anything else!”
“A moment in spring is worth a thousand gold, bathing can wait.
Later, we’ll shower together.”
“Bam…”
He casually shut the door, tossed Ye Qingqing onto the large bed, and like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, Chen Hai leaped onto her.
…
Japan, Toyota Group headquarters.
After reviewing the last document on his desk and scribbling his name on it, Toyoda Shonan massaged his head.
He leaned back into his chair, exhausted.
Sales of Toyota cars had clearly declined globally this quarter compared to the last.
Given the circumstances, Toyoda Shonan had no good solution.
Countries around the world were now vigorously developing new electric vehicles.
While Toyota had perfected the internal combustion engine segment, they were somewhat behind in the new energy sector.
Preserving their current market share in internal combustion vehicles and planning for new energy…
Even for Toyoda Shonan, thinking of certain troubling issues still gave him a headache.
“President, the attorney’s letter from Yanhuang Country is very urgent.
Please have a look…”
The wide-open doors to the office were followed by a few knocks.
Then, a white-collar beauty with black stockings and a short skirt entered hastily, her face flush with urgency.
The woman’s name was Inoue Keiko, Toyoda Shonan’s executive secretary.
Whether or not the corporate culture of having secretaries handle both business and personal matters was popular at the Toyota Group wasn’t something outsiders would know.
However, Inoue Keiko’s attire looked quite sexy.
Whether her responsibilities included providing Toyoda Shonan with certain “special services,” beyond her official secretarial duties, was another question.
“An attorney’s letter?
From Yanhuang Country?” Toyoda Shonan was taken aback.
Initially, his eyes were fixed on Inoue Keiko’s black-stockinged legs.
After listening to her, Toyoda Shonan quickly redirected his gaze and took the letter from her.
“Chen Hai, who is this person?”
“The Snow Mountain Sect was wiped out twenty or thirty years ago, wasn’t it?”
“How is it that their mortgage loan agreement with Toyota Company ended up in his hands!”
…
Toyoda Shonan had only glanced at the attorney’s letter, and his face turned pale as he sprang to his feet.
“President, is the loan agreement mentioned in the attorney’s letter genuine?”
As his executive secretary, Inoue Keiko had naturally reviewed the content of the letter before bringing it into Toyoda Shonan’s office.
It also included a photocopy of the mortgage loan agreement.
Taking away thirty percent of the Toyota Group’s shares with just one agreement?
To Inoue Keiko, the matter seemed utterly inconceivable and hard to believe.
If it hadn’t been for the signatures of several renowned international lawyers at the end of the letter, she might have treated it as a prank and thrown it straight into the trash.
But now, seeing Toyoda Shonan’s reaction, it seemed as though the loan agreement was real.
“That’s none of your business.
Just do your job!”
“I want you to leave immediately, right now…”
Toyoda Shonan, embarrassed to have been seen losing his composure by Inoue Keiko, seemed somewhat enraged.
Pointing towards the office door, he all but yelled the command at her.
“Understood, President.
I’ll leave at once!”
Her face turning pale, Ono Keiko apologized with a bow to Toyoda Shonan.
She slowly backed away until she reached the door, where she turned and exited.
Of course, when she left the office, she made sure to close the door behind her.
Toyoda Shonan picked up the attorney’s letter again and scrutinized it carefully.
He then paced back and forth in his office, his expression anxious.
As the helmsman of the Toyota Group, he naturally knew something about the agreement.
The Snow Mountain Sect had fallen due to certain events and secluded themselves in Hokkaido’s Great Snow Mountain, rarely showing their faces in the secular world, which is why the agreement had been temporarily shelved.
Originally, with the complete disappearance of the Snow Mountain Sect, Toyoda Shonan thought the agreement would never resurface.
But now…
Not only had the agreement resurfaced, but it was also in the hands of an unheard-of Yanhuang national.
If the agreement had been obtained by some major financial conglomerate or powerful faction within Japan, forcing Toyoda Shonan to honor it and surrender shares, he would have been willing to begrudgingly accept it.
But a Yanhuang national, who somehow obtained this agreement, wanting to take away thirty percent of their group’s shares?
That was something Toyoda Shonan absolutely would not allow to happen.