Chapter 640: Following the Cable Right to the Door

"Mm?"

Just as Heishanyang suddenly went back on its word and demanded that Li Ang take it back immediately, in the editorial department of the Sun newspaper, a female reporter wearing a wide-brimmed wool hat suddenly stirred. She reached back to touch her own bottom, and a look of astonishment surfaced in her two dark, glossy eyes.

"Nicole?"

Although her movement was quite large, the female reporter did not make any sound at all—not even the rustle of clothing—so she was not noticed. Only the colleague beside her, whose sleeve had been brushed, sensed something was off, tilted her head, and whispered a reminder:

"Be careful, the chief editor is just itching to yell at someone—don't let him set his sights on you!"

"Mm-hm, but don't worry, he won't be throwing his weight around for much longer."

After giving a slight nod to the well-meaning colleague, the female reporter habitually tugged her wool hat down a little, pressing flat a small tuft of hair that had stuck up at her temple. Then she secretly twitched her nose at the chief editor, who was currently scowling as he lectured, and tilted her head with a beaming smile as she quietly quipped:

"Old Martin's standing at home is way too low—he can't hold his own at all, completely henpecked by that two-hundred-pound battle-ax wife of his. So the only place he can take it out on us is during meetings.

So getting yelled at a couple of times right now doesn't matter. Once I become head of the news department next month, I guarantee these useless meetings—good for nothing except letting some impotent old man blow off steam—will never be held again!"

"Mm…"

Amused by the female reporter's words, the colleague beside her nearly bit through her own cheeks. She held it in until her face was beet red, barely managing not to burst out laughing on the spot.

After secretly gasping for breath several times and pulling herself together from the fit of laughter, the female colleague couldn't help but whisper a complaint:

"Nicole, don't you go getting me in trouble! If I'd laughed out loud just now, Old Martin would've probably pointed at my nose and yelled at me for a whole hour!"

"Sorry, sorry."

After offering an apology completely devoid of sincerity, the female reporter gave her wrist a slight twist, fished out a theater ticket, and stuffed her real sincerity into her colleague's hand.

"Consider this my apology—how about it?"

This is… a ticket to the Morning Star Theater troupe's performance? And it's the special edition, signed by the great Master Wang Wang Wang Erde, which lets you go backstage after the show and shake the master's hand!

After secretly lowering her head and glancing at the ticket in her palm, the female colleague was overjoyed. But she quickly caught herself, looked warily at the smiling female reporter, and said with eyes full of suspicion:

"Not great at all! You suddenly giving me such an expensive ticket means you've definitely got some troublesome favor to ask—maybe even want me to take the fall for you!"

"Ding ding! You got it! Aren't you smart!"

After giving her a playful wink, the female reporter pressed her thighs together slightly. Her pretty little face seemed to flush as if powdered, and she squirmed with an embarrassed look in her eyes as she said coyly:

"Um… I went to bed late last night, and this morning I was worried I wouldn't be able to stay awake, so I drank a few extra cups of coffee. And Old Martin's nonsense today is unusually long—he's been droning on for over an hour and still hasn't finished—so could you maybe…"

Got it. You urgently need to pee and want to slip out, and you need someone to cover for you, right?

But today's the topic-selection meeting. When it comes time to stand up one by one and pitch news topics, if Nicole still isn't back, I'm probably going to have to take double the scolding for her.

Double the scolding… Master Wang Wang Wang Erde's ticket… sigh! Worth it!

After hesitating for a while, clutching the ticket, the female colleague sighed, tucked the ticket into her pocket, then scooted her chair forward to block most of the female reporter's body.

"Then hurry back!"

"Mm-hm, you're the best, Maggie~ mua~"

After blowing her good friend a kiss full of sincerity, the female reporter—who had found her human shield—leaned her upper body back slightly, using her colleague's body to block the view of the others. Then she secretly stretched out a foot clad in a little calfskin boot and deftly hooked open the meeting room's loosely shut back door.

"Creak~"

Accompanied by the soft groan of an old door hinge, the female reporter—who had just been sitting ramrod-straight at the table—wobbled slightly and slipped soundlessly out of the meeting room, without anyone noticing her departure.

……

Has she already left?

After escaping from the meeting room and hurrying to the newspaper's entrance, the female reporter felt the fluctuation that had already vanished. She couldn't help but frown slightly, then asked into the air, unsure to whom:

"Didn't you just tell me you sensed another part of yourself? Where did it go?"

No one answered for a long time.

By the time the female reporter's patience was nearly exhausted, a voice that sounded as if its owner hadn't woken up finally drifted out, unhurried.

'It ran.' As if I didn't know! I came all the way over and didn't see anyone—of course it already ran! The question is, where did it run off to!

The female reporter, whose face had turned a bit dark, snorted and demanded irritably:

"Direction! Location! Description! Quick! Whatever you've got, just say it! Stop making me ask! Where exactly did the other one-seventh of you go!"

'……'

"……"

'Don't know.'

"……"

This lazy, good-for-nothing demon deserves to be slaughtered!

Having spent a precious signed ticket just to slip out, only to come up empty at the door, the female reporter couldn't help but stamp her foot in frustration. But having absolutely no way to deal with a certain demon component too lazy to speak up, she could only grit her teeth and walk back into the newspaper building.

Damn demon! If I ever pay you any mind again, I'm a pig!

'Oh, right.'

Just as the female reporter was silently swearing vengeance, an invisible, fluffy sheep tail floating behind her bottom spoke up at a leisurely pace:

'There's someone from the Cleanup Bureau waiting in your office.'

?!!!

Hearing the sheep tail's reminder, the female reporter's brows lifted slightly. She immediately ignored the oath she had just sworn and said, her eyes full of wariness:

"Who's waiting? How many people? Are they here to catch me or what?"

'……'

"Say something!!!"

'A man. One person. Your fan.'

"Huh???"

……

"This is Mr. Li Ang, who collected three years' worth of dual-edition stamps and earned our newspaper's pass."

After introducing Li Ang's identity, the smiling usher raised a hand to gesture toward the female reporter in the wool hat and said with a smile:

"This is Ms. Nicole, a reporter from the News Department. In the six years since she joined the News Department, she has written over four hundred pieces of general news and over a hundred and twenty in-depth reports, and is beloved by the readers of our Sun newspaper.

"Whether it's the general edition or the quality edition, Ms. Nicole's reports have a large base of loyal readers. However, a reader like you who subscribed to both editions and kept up the subscription for a full three years straight is quite rare… You two chat, I won't disturb you."

After a concise introduction that boosted both parties' "status," the guide did not linger, but rose and left the office directly.

After the guide departed, the two people, each harboring guesses about the other's identity, were silent for a moment. Then the female reporter spoke first:

"Mr. Hearing Li Ang, you…"

"The reason I've come is to ask you a few questions."

As he spoke, Hearing Li Ang took the prepared newspapers out of the shopping bag one by one and laid them out on the table.

"Charles Department Store Mega Sale: Man Crushed Into Hospital by 'Heavy Gold'"

"Shocking! The Lane Family Massacred Last Night — The Killer Turns Out to Be This Person"

"Even a Duke Can't Beat a Cabbage? A Full Rundown of the Lane Family Crisis!"

"Slapping a Prince in Public — Does the Lane Family's New Duke Suffer from Mania?"

"Beauty Over Power? The Lionheart Duke Rumored to Be Marrying Into the Royal Family!"

"…"

"I just want to ask you."

After reaching out and poking the newspapers on the table, Hearing Li Ang observed the other party's expression while asking, his face full of displeasure:

"In this past month or so, you've already written about me eight times, and none of it was anything nice. What exactly is your grudge against me? When you write reports and look for material, do you have to keep picking on just me?"

(End of this chapter)