Chapter 1082: Xu Damao Turns the Female Secret Agent

He Daqing's birthday banquet was held as usual; all the guests who should have come arrived, and amidst the clinking of glasses, the scene was lively and bustling.

Su Ying stood alone by the side of the road, feeling empty inside, as if all her spirit and energy had been drained away.

She hailed a taxi at random, pulled open the door, and sat inside.

The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror: "Miss, where to?"

Su Ying was stunned for two seconds, and only after a long while did she speak: "Drive a lap around the Third Ring Road, then stop at the Great Wall Hotel."

Upon hearing this, the driver laughed: "Big sister, are you joking? From here to the Great Wall Hotel, it's just a step on the gas pedal. A lap around the Third Ring takes at least forty-plus minutes; what are you after?"

Su Ying leaned back against the seat and said indifferently: "I want to sort out some things I can't figure out while in the car, is that not allowed?"

"Allowed, of course it's allowed! You don't look like someone short on money, but I have to make it clear, we have to go in the opposite direction." After the driver finished speaking, he drove toward the North Third Ring Road.

When the car was about to reach the Beijing Television station side, Su Ying's phone suddenly buzzed. She looked down and saw the caller was Yan Yan.

She answered the phone, her tone cold: "Yan Yan, does it take that long to pour a glass of hot water?"

"I'm sorry, someone wants to find me to invest in a movie; this is a huge opportunity, I can't miss it."

"We are finished; don't call me again in the future." Su Ying's tone was flat.

"You're being too much! I'm doing legitimate business, and this is so we can live better in the future!" Yan Yan hurriedly defended himself.

"No need to explain, we are over."

"Over then, who cares!" Yan Yan said, and hung up the phone directly.

Su Ying knew clearly in her heart that this relationship should come to an end.

But what worried her most right now was how to report to her superiors.

If this mission failed, the superiors might just eliminate her. But she also knew clearly that even if the mission were completed perfectly, she still wouldn't be able to escape the pursuit of the He Family.

Just as she was feeling agitated, her phone lit up again; this time it was Xu Damao calling.

She answered almost instantly, her tone immediately becoming formal, carrying a hint of distance and courtesy: "Hello, Mr. Xu, is something the matter?"

Xu Damao's devil-may-care tone rang out again: "Baby, where did you run off to? I only came out a few minutes after you, and when I turned around, you were gone."

Listening to his unserious tone, Su Ying's nose suddenly felt sore, and her voice was muffled, carrying a trace of grievance: "Mr. Xu, to put it plainly, we are just a transaction. What should be taken has been taken, what should be given has been given; neither of us owes the other."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment, then Xu Damao's casual voice came through again: "Little Su, actually I saw long ago that you have something weighing on your mind. If it were before, I, Xu Damao, wouldn't bother with such meddlesome matters. But I don't know what's going on, now I really feel a bit sorry for you. How about this, let's go sit at that small courtyard in Qianmen; if you have any grievances, tell Brother Xu. I won't brag about anything else, but offering ideas and lending a hand, I can still manage that."

As soon as these words were finished, Su Ying's tears fell with a plop. She bit her lip, forcing herself not to make a sound, but the teardrops flowed down like beads from a broken string.

She suddenly recalled the days in New York, the desperate scene of being cornered and bullied by several white men in a small alley, where calling to heaven brought no response and calling to earth brought no answer, flooded into her mind.

Strangely enough, Xu Damao was glib and didn't look like a serious person, but hearing his shameless voice, she felt settled instead.

She wasn't stupid; she knew clearly what the men circling her were after. But Xu Damao was different; he talked business with her at a set price and was very generous. At this moment, she even felt that Xu Damao might be her benefactor, even though his appearance was ordinary and he was indeed a bit old.

On the other end of the phone, Xu Damao continued: "Little sister, Brother Xu is not a good person; I did plenty of scoundrel things when I was young. But now that I'm older and have enough money to spend, I actually want to be a good person again. Why don't we meet up and just chat."

Su Ying raised her hand to wipe the tears from her face, took a deep breath, and her voice was hoarse: "Fine, one hour later, at that small courtyard in Qianmen, we'll meet and talk."

On the other side, Yang Xiaoyu and Guo Xiaochuan were driving, biting hard onto the taxi in front, following one after the other.

Guo Xiaochuan muttered while turning the steering wheel: "Sister Xiaoyu, what exactly is this woman up to? Why is she circling the Third Ring Road? Could she have discovered me?"

Yang Xiaoyu leaned against the passenger seat and curled her lip, "She hasn't discovered us; she probably failed the mission and is afraid of not being able to report back, so she's looking for a way out!"

Guo Xiaochuan blinked, looking puzzled: "That's not right, isn't it said that spies from M Country are treated very well? Eating and drinking well, could they be so ruthless to their own people?"

Yang Xiaoyu said: "Uncle Zhuzi has taught us since we were young that those white people believe in the law of the jungle. If your fist is hard, they will hold you up; once you fall into a disadvantage, in their eyes, you are not even as good as a blade of grass."

Guo Xiaochuan asked: "Sister Xiaoyu, do you think Uncle Damao can pull this off this time?"

Yang Xiaoyu shook her head: "Hard to say. Looking at this woman's physiognomy, her will isn't considered firm; she might just be taken down by Uncle Xu's sugar-coated bullets."

Guo Xiaochuan frowned: "Why did Uncle Zhuzi show mercy to her this time? This doesn't look like his style of doing things."

Yang Xiaoyu couldn't help but laugh after hearing this: "It's because Uncle Ershuan said that this woman only managed to get into the compound by relying on Yan Yan, and her skills are just so-so, at most a small shrimp, likely being used as a pawn by those above. Uncle Zhuzi doesn't know which nerve went wrong, but he actually listened to it."

Guo Xiaochuan's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief: "Just for this reason? This is too outrageous!"

Yang Xiaoyu turned her head to look at him, her smile hidden deep: "What did you think? Many big figures make decisions sometimes just in a split second; there aren't that many twists and turns."

In the small courtyard at Qianmen, Xu Damao had already arrived first, holding a cigarette in his mouth, waiting under the pomegranate tree in the yard.

Seeing Su Ying push the door and enter, he stepped forward quickly and reached out to take her hand.

Su Ying's body stiffened for a moment, but she did not pull away.

But as soon as she stepped into the room, Su Ying was stunned on the spot.

The furnishings in the room were pitifully simple, even more shabby than the poorest families in Si Jiu Cheng.

The wall plaster was mottled and peeling, the wooden table had lost its paint, and there was only a dirt kang in the room, with a few old wooden boxes piled in the corner.

Su Ying turned to look at him, her eyes full of doubt: "Mr. Xu, you brought me to such a dilapidated place, what exactly do you mean?"

Xu Damao chuckled, the roguish air on his face restrained a bit, rarely showing a bit of seriousness: "This place is where I lived when I was struggling to make a living in my early years. Back then, I didn't have the money to buy this courtyard; it was my Siqiang who helped me set it up. Later, when I got married, I lived here, and after the divorce, I left the courtyard to my ex-wife. After my Siqiang passed away, I felt empty inside, always wanting to keep some memory, so I insisted on finding my ex-wife and spent a sum of money to redeem this courtyard."

Su Ying listened, her heart moved slightly, and her voice softened: "Then what do you want to tell me?"

Xu Damao looked at her, the frivolity in his eyes fading for the first time, and he sighed softly: "Heroes don't ask about their origins... I want to tell you my story."

Su Ying's mood suddenly eased a lot, and she said: "You speak, I'm listening."

Xu Damao slowly began to recount the past: "When I was a child, my father was beaten by He Yuzhu's father. My father found people to kidnap He Yuzhu, but the people sent out were killed by He Yuzhu... The boss behind those people kidnapped me instead. I fought to the death and killed a kidnapper, and after barely escaping, I was almost silenced by the pursuers; it was at this moment that I met my Siqiang..."

Xu Damao told the story in detail, recounting all the hardships and tribulations he had experienced in his life.

After listening, Su Ying's mouth hung open, unable to recover for a long time.

"I really didn't expect that you could reach today, it hasn't been easy. You have such a big grudge with He Yuzhu, yet now you've become good friends; it's truly admirable." Su Ying sighed with emotion.

"I always felt I was better than He Yuzhu; before the nineties, I wanted to kill him every moment. But later I discovered that this kid is like a cockroach that can't be killed. After figuring this out, I changed my mind and decided to be friends with him." Xu Damao said.

Su Ying asked: "Is He Yuzhu really as broad-minded as you say? If someone wanted to harm him, but regretted it and also wanted to be friends with him, do you think this is feasible?"

Xu Damao nodded.

Su Ying could no longer hold back; she threw herself into Xu Damao's arms and sobbed, crying for a long while before breaking into a smile through her tears.

She looked up at Xu Damao: "Brother Xu, I am willing to be with you..."