48 Hours a Day

Chapter 1059: Advice From a Friend

“Unfortunately, I can’t see it,” said Miss F. “If you were me, what would you choose? On one side is the man I’ve known for several years, who once saved me and is now my fiancé, our leader. On the other side is our enemy, the Shengtang Morgan. He’s using every means at his disposal to slander us.”

“If you’re willing, I can prove it to you,” Zhang Heng said patiently.

“Do you want that Shengtang Morgan employee in the car to convince me?”

“...”

“This is the first time I’ve seen a surprising expression on your face. Are you surprised that I know more than you think? I gave you a chance in the car to ask him who he is.”

“...and I told you that he was a police officer that I met by chance on the second floor.”

Miss F sighed. “If you want to convince someone to believe you, the best choice is to tell the truth from the beginning.

“The thing that surprised me was not that you knew more than I thought, but that he had prepared so well. I have to admit that I underestimated him this time,” Zhang Heng whispered. “You’ll never be able to reach the truth. All you’ll get is a different narrative method. Mr. G is indeed Baudrillard’s most outstanding disciple. He has completely turned Baudrillard’s theory into a powerful weapon.”

“Your three minutes are up.” Miss F looked at the time. “It seems you still haven’t been able to convince me.”

“Yes.”

“But you don’t have to worry. I won’t leak these words between us to a third person, including the guy’s identity in the car. In fact, Mr. G isn’t sure if Morgan will send someone to the first floor with you.”

“What’s the condition?”

“The condition is that you must keep an eye on him and don’t let him sow discord between us and Mr. G. And you, too. When you see Mr. G later, give him the thing. He has already fulfilled the agreement and has collected 50 shellac records for you. It wasn’t an easy task, and even he has mobilized all the manpower he can. Especially at this juncture, you should be satisfied with being able to divert your attention to do such a thing,” said Miss F.

“I know you had a lot of problems before, and he should not have broken your previous agreement, so your wariness and hostility toward him were justified. But this time he did everything he could, and fulfilled all your requirements without any discount, including the previous efforts to show you what we are doing. Thus, I hope you can join in and become one of us.

“You, however, don’t seem moved at all. But, of course, this is your freedom, and I respect it. This is what I have been working so hard for. I hope that in the future, our kind can have the freedom to make choices like you. However, since you are so close to your goal, you should try not to cause any more trouble.”

“Is this a warning?”

“No, just advice from a friend,” Miss F said. “It’s getting late; we should get back on the road.”

...

An hour later, the SUV arrived outside Mr. G’s private garden.

However, after getting out of the car, Zhang Heng realized that the garden door was locked, and there was no one inside.

Then, he looked at the other car parked outside the door and saw manager Zheng coming down from it. He was carrying a white metal box in his left hand and a black leather box in his right.

He walked straight to Zhang Heng and nodded at him. Then, he put down the white metal case and opened the leather case in his right hand.

“Fifty shellac records. They’re all here. You can count them,” manager Zheng said.

“No need to trouble yourself.” Zhang Heng took the leather case. After all, he didn’t collect shellac records from listening, and the system would automatically help him calculate how many records he had collected this time.

After receiving the notification that his game score had increased by 500 points, Zhang Heng took out a metal rod about the size of a finger from his pocket and handed it to supervisor Zheng. The latter took a look at the things inside, then opened the metal box on the ground, revealing in it a drone.

Supervisor Zheng carefully placed the metal rod into the drone’s abdomen.

Zhang Heng asked, “Where’s Mr. G? Is he not here yet?”

“That’s right. He thinks highly of you and has always wanted to recruit you. However, it seems that you don’t really want to join our cause. Since that’s the case, Mr. G doesn’t have any reason to contact you anymore. Anyway, I can complete the transaction with you. Oh, right...”

As director Zheng spoke, Zhang Heng received another notification on his wristband.

Zhang Heng opened it and saw that his account had just received a transfer of three million credits.

“Although your shellac records are hard to find, they are still far from the value of the thing you gave us. Therefore, this three million is an extra gift from Mr. G. It is also compensation for the unilateral breach of the agreement last time. So please, accept it.”

After saying that, supervisor Zheng activated the drone and took half a step back. He watched it rise into the air and fly into the distance. It became smaller and smaller until it disappeared behind the buildings in the distance.

“At least, our cooperation this time ended smoothly, right?” Supervisor Zheng smiled. “I have left the car over there for you. You can go wherever you want to go. We have to go back to our work.”

After saying that, supervisor Zheng followed the others into the SUV that brought Zhang Heng and Qiu Ming over, leaving the two of them behind.

Miss F also took one last look at Zhang Heng, her expression complicated. She opened her mouth and only uttered two words. “Take care.” After that, she also got into the car.

Half a minute later, only Zhang Heng and Qiu Ming were left outside the garden gate.

A moment later, the latter broke the silence and said, “So, let’s call it a day... on the first floor.”

Zhang Heng did not answer. Instead, he said, “You lied to me.”

“I lied to you? When?” Qiu Ming was somewhat baffled.

“Mr. G’s mole from Shengtang Morgan is not you, but someone else.”

“How is that possible? I’ve been secretly passing information to him all these years.” Qiu Ming looked incredulous. “Why do you say that?”

“You haven’t contacted him since I kidnapped you, right?”

“That’s right.” Qiu Ming nodded with certainty.

“But he knows that you’re with me,” Zhang Heng said. “That’s why he admitted to the others that he’s a member of Shengtang Morgan.”

“He told everyone the truth?” Qiu Ming’s eyes widened.

“No, it was only a small part of the truth, but it was enough to prove his innocence. In addition, he guessed that I would bring you here in advance, which further reduced the authenticity of my words.”