Chapter 105: Journey to Tokyo

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At first glance, Yang Tang was somewhat taken aback upon seeing Gui Hai Youde, but he quickly recovered and plunged back into the water with a swift dive.

One had to admit, Yang Tang’s reaction was impressively quick. In the blink of an eye, he caught sight of Gui Hai Youde, but Gui Hai Youde failed to recognize Yang Tang, who was wearing swimming goggles—he didn’t even find him vaguely familiar, only feeling a bit puzzled.

After swimming underwater for several hundred meters until his enhanced body was nearly exhausted, Yang Tang finally surfaced to catch his breath.

“Damn it! What’s the Security Bureau on Lu Island playing at? Why hasn’t that bastard Gui Hai been caught yet?” Yang Tang muttered angrily. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he lamented aloud, “It must be the Security Bureau casting a long line to catch a big fish. Maybe there were Security Bureau agents watching the area nearby just now, which means I was probably caught on camera too. What rotten luck!”

Just as Yang Tang guessed the truth, three people were lingering near the Wind and Wave Pavilion atop the hill, with a telescope set up beside them. They appeared to be sightseeing but were actually monitoring the southern beach.

At that moment, a voice came through the communication channel: “Monkey, Monkey, did you get a photo of that fish just now?”

The sharp-chinned man among the three immediately replied, “Got a profile shot, sent it back to headquarters for analysis. If this guy turns out to be the contact, we’ll save ourselves a lot of trouble.”

“Cut it out, close your crow’s mouth. Every time you say that, something bad happens.”

Another voice interjected, “Monkey, Monkey, does the half-face shot guy have a name yet?”

“Squirrel gave him one—‘Handsome Guy.’”

“Damn, great minds think alike!”

“Where is Handsome Guy now?”

“Near the shark net, near the shark net.”

“What’s he doing there?”

“No idea. Should we send Salmon and Flower Carp to check?”

“No need. Until headquarters sends new info, just keep an eye on the boss!”

“Understood.”

Meanwhile, at the Lu Island branch of the National Security and Protection Bureau:

“Why did the latest photo from Unit 8, Group 2 show a student?”

“A student? What kind of student? Not local, right?”

“Not local. According to records, he’s from Mist City, just finished the college entrance exam this year, top liberal arts scorer there. Should we dig deeper?”

“Heh, top scorer in liberal arts? He’s basically the literary star incarnate. By protocol, we have to check everything. See if he has any connections with that Gui Hai guy.”

“No apparent connection. But they did take the same train to Lu Island.”

“Same train to Lu Island, then they ran into each other at Gulangyu Beach the next day. You call that no connection?”

“But Director Wang, after digging through their timelines for the past three years, those are the only two overlaps. Going back ten years, the Yang kid never left Mist City—he was only seven or eight then. Even if someone wanted to turn him, he’d have to understand what that meant, right?”

“Heh, Xiao Liu, don’t forget, there’s this thing called the internet. What if he’s been brainwashed online in the past two years?” Director Wang was clearly the type to rather risk a false positive than let someone slip through. “Check his financials. If he’s clean—”

At that moment, Xiao Liu’s voice changed, “Director Wang!!”

“What’s wrong? What did you find?”

“This—this Yang Tang’s bank account has—has—”

“He’s a top scorer; having tens of millions in prize money is normal!”

Director Wang leaned closer to Xiao Liu’s screen, scanning the total amount, eyes widening like cowbells. “Seven—seven zeros, am I reading that right?”

“Yes. His account balance is over 280 million. What do we do?”

“Check every deposit. If they’re from legitimate companies, mark his profile as safe for now.” Director Wang sighed. It wasn’t that the Security Bureau feared the wealthy, but no espionage organization would invest that much money to recruit or turn someone—and even if they did, they wouldn’t put such huge sums into a national bank account linked to a social security number.

Xiao Liu felt the headache too and quickly found four companies that transferred money to Yang Tang: Chenxun, Qiandu, Qin Chuan Catering Group, and Minshang Bank. The largest transfer—270 million—came from Minshang Bank.

Director Wang was stunned.

“Should we investigate this 270 million transfer more thoroughly?”

Director Wang hesitated, then said, “I’ll handle it myself.” He grabbed the phone and quickly called Minshang Bank’s headquarters. “Yes, yes, we fully support your legitimate business activities. Bang!”

“Director Wang?”

“The commercial bank says it’s a normal transfer. If we want to dig deeper, we need solid evidence to convince them.”

Xiao Liu was silent for a moment, then asked, “Should we arrest Yang on suspicion of unexplained massive wealth?”

“Arrest? That’s not our jurisdiction unless state secrets are involved!” Director Wang scolded. “Yang doesn’t fit either category. Besides, Minshang Bank confirmed the transfer is legitimate. We should tell Unit 8 not to waste resources monitoring him.”

“Yes, sir!”

Yang Tang had been in the water for nearly two hours. Finally, he slipped ashore quietly, his “beast instinct” honed from countless night battles instantly alert. Yet, he sensed no one was “watching” him.

“What’s going on? Didn’t the Security Bureau trust my report and send someone to monitor Gui Hai Youde? Or did they just ignore me?”

Too many possibilities raced through his mind, making it impossible to decide. He covered himself with a rock, retrieved his bag from his ring, changed clothes, and nervously returned to the hotel.

After dinner, Yang Tang curled up in his room, using his laptop to circumvent the system and finally copied a decrypted version of the Lu Island Security Bureau’s database. Going through it line by line, he found logs of their inquiries into his past and financial records.

“Damn, these guys really dug deep. This is so unsettling!”

“The only relief is they haven’t listed me as a suspect for meeting Gui Hai Youde.”

“But that 270 million transfer is way too conspicuous. I need to ask if I have to pay taxes.”

Earlier, Yang Tang had been trying to save on taxes by keeping transfers secret, but now that the Security Bureau knew, what if the tax authorities found out? Better to pay proactively than risk jail.

“Hey, Sister Yun!”

“You brat, why only call me now?”

“I didn’t want to bother you if you were busy!” Yang Tang made a vague excuse. “By the way, the money from sales in the mezzanine at Minjiang Hotel has arrived—over 200 million. Should I pay tax on this?”

“Of course not. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious. Really no tax?” Yang Tang sounded skeptical. “What if the tax office finds out?”

“What can the tax office do? You sold private belongings; they have no say.” Yun Luyue explained patiently. “Think about it: if you bought a diamond ring for 100,000 yuan, part of that goes to tax through the seller. The ring becomes your private property. If you ever need cash, you sell it and pay tax again. Does that seem reasonable?”

“Well, it does seem a bit unreasonable!”

“Exactly. If the tax office tried to choke private sales like that, the whole country would be up in arms!”

“Since you say so, Sister, I feel relieved,” Yang Tang sighed.

“Why, is someone trying to use this against you?”

“No, just worried the amount is so big that if the tax office comes knocking, I won’t have a good defense.”

“I bet you’re just making money too easily and scheming new tricks,” Yun Luyue chuckled.

“Not as much as Yaoyao, right?”

“She’s already asleep; she was just talking about you.”

“Heh, at least she misses me!” Yang Tang felt a bit comforted and was about to chat more when an ill-timed international call came through. “Sister, I have a call coming in. I’ll call you back later.”

“All right, talk later!”

“Hello? Who’s this?”

“It’s me, Jiani!”

“Sister Jiani, what’s up?”

“Of course! At this hour, I wouldn’t dare disturb you if it weren’t important!”

“Cut the act, Jiani. Spill it.”

“Actually, it’s nothing much. I’ll let Lawyer Mao explain.” The voice on the other end shifted.

“Lawyer Mao?”

“Mr. Yang, it’s me.”

“What? The contract for my book is settled?”

“Yes, Mr. Yang. Everything is negotiated to your specifications. Now we just await your trip to Tokyo for signing.”

Yang Tang frowned. “Go to Tokyo to sign? Can’t they send the Americans here to sign?”

Lawyer Mao replied regretfully, “Mr. Yang, the contract with the U.S. side is for overseas publication and sales. Signing here would require a third-party guarantee, which adds substantial extra costs.”

“So signing in Tokyo avoids the third-party guarantee?”

“Exactly. Economically and militarily, Japan and the U.S. are on the same page.”

Yang Tang understood instantly. “All right, I’ll go to Tokyo then. But I don’t have a passport—how do I manage that?”

A new week begins—please remember to bookmark, bookmark, bookmark!

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