Chapter 107: How About a Collaboration?
"Haven't you stared long enough?" Chen Yao looked up. Seeing Zhou Fan's unblinking gaze on her, she couldn't help but blush and stomp her foot petulantly.
"Ahem. Aren't you going to wring out your pants? You'll catch a cold wearing them like that!" Zhou Fan said with a straight face, feigning concern.
"Get lost, you stinky Durian!" Chen Yao cried out in a mix of shame and anger, raising her fist to punch Zhou Fan.
After several hours on the road, the car stopped in front of Divan. When Zhou Fan saw that Chen Yao wasn't getting out, he sighed softly. "You just need to know that Chen Feng isn't as bad as you imagine. As for the specific plans we have, I can't tell you that for the time being."
"Then can I go find him and ask him myself?" Chen Yao asked, her lovely eyes fixed on Zhou Fan.
"No. Not only can you not go, but if you run into him in the future, you have to treat him the same way you always have. Keep what I just told you to yourself and don't ruin our plans, understand?" Zhou Fan shook his head. 'It would be a complete waste if months of preparation were ruined because of Chen Yao!'
"I get it. I was just asking. Do you really take me for an idiot?" Chen Yao rolled her eyes and then glared at Zhou Fan. "Why aren't you getting out? Don't tell me you forgot this is my car, did you?"
Damn!
Zhou Fan was speechless. 'Damn it,' he thought, 'I really did forget!'
'This girl is so stingy,' he grumbled to himself. 'What's the big deal if I borrow her car for a bit?'
Seeing it was the end of the workday, Zhou Fan headed straight back to the villa. He took a shower, changed his clothes, told Qian Rong about what happened at the cemetery, and asked him to investigate the identity of the old man he'd met. After that, he went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
After dinner with Chu Yan, while in the middle of her cross-examination, Zhou Fan suddenly looked up toward the entrance. He saw a figure lingering in the distance.
"Honey, why is it him?" Chu Yan asked in surprise as she recognized the person's face. She immediately clung tightly to Zhou Fan.
"It's all right, I'll go check," Zhou Fan said, gently stroking Chu Yan's hair before getting up and heading outside.
Staring at the familiar figure before him, Zhou Fan casually offered a cigarette. After lighting one, he said nothing.
"Aren't you curious why I came to find you, and how I dared to?" After taking a long drag that burned through half the cigarette, the visitor looked up at Zhou Fan with a solemn expression. 'This isn't how I imagined this would go at all!'
"Oh? Shouldn't you be the one who's curious? About why I haven't killed you on the spot? After all, you're the one who threw my wife into the river," Zhou Fan said with a faint smile, his expression hidden by the swirling smoke.
Indeed, the visitor was Zhang Lei—the very man who had kidnapped Chu Yan, thrown her into the river, and tried to manipulate Zhou Fan into killing Chu Yifeng and Chu Peiyu to avenge his own family.
"I'd like to propose a partnership. What do you think?" Zhang Lei chuckled. Clearly, the fact that he dared to show up meant he had gambled that Zhou Fan would at least give him a chance to speak.
"You don't seem to be doing so well for yourself these days. What gives you the right to talk about partnering with me?"
Zhou Fan's attitude remained as noncommittal as before, his tone betraying neither good nor ill will.
"What if I told you I know Chu Yifeng's whereabouts?" A confident light flashed in Zhang Lei's eyes.
"I know that, too. He's arrived in Jiang Province," Zhou Fan chuckled. "If that's all you've got, then before you die, I'll give you credit for your guts and offer you one last cigarette."
Zhou Fan's meaning was obvious: if Zhang Lei couldn't say something more interesting, he was going to kill him.
Regardless of Zhang Lei's original motive for kidnapping Chu Yan, the fact that he had nearly gotten her killed was ironclad.
"No. His being in Jiang Province was yesterday's news. He's on his way to Nanjiang City right now. In fact, if my intel is correct, he might have already snuck in!" Zhang Lei couldn't help but feel his estimation of Zhou Fan rise yet again. "And there's a mysterious figure supporting him. That's the real reason I haven't dared to make a move."
"The person is always dressed in a black robe. My men don't dare get too close, but they've heard people like Chu Yifeng and Wang Tianhao call him Grand Elder. A few others, whom I don't recognize, call him Elder Witch. Is that enough to warrant a partnership?"
Zhang Lei's eyes were filled with confidence and anticipation—confidence that his intel was something Zhou Fan didn't have, and anticipation for Zhou Fan's answer.
"You're saying Wang Tianhao is also connected to this Grand Elder of the Witch Race?" Zhou Fan slowly turned around. The flash of killing intent in his eyes made Zhang Lei gulp, but it also made him even more certain of his decision to come here.