The Hidden Objective
Chapter 7/8
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“Although it’s well-hidden, my eyesight would prove to be the better of the two,” Yang Chen said as he giggled before winking at Tang Wan, as if he had won a hide-and-seek game.
Tang Wan rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you are still in the laughing mood. If even this place has a listening device, does it mean that my company, house, and other places are all bugged as well?!”
Yang Chen nodded. “It would not be too far off to think so.”
Tang Wan took a painfully long deep breath. With high expectations, she asked, “You’ll help me locate them, won’t you?”
Yang Chen scratched his head. “I can, but even I will take some time. Let’s have lunch first, I’m really hungry now.”
Tang Wan was quite helpless towards that fellow’s behavior. He somehow still had the appetite for lunch at this situation when something like this was going on.
Tang Xin who appeared to be surprised and curious asked, “Elder Sister, your friend must be a woodpecker in his past life. I’m impressed that he managed to locate it.”
Yang Chen who had incredible hearing, almost fell down as a result. But Tang Xin’s words managed to please Tang Wan, causing a smile to surface on her face.
Under Tang Wan’s command, the two nurses sent Master Tang who was still asleep on his wheelchair back to his room.
Pain surfaced in Tang Wan’s eyes as she watched them roll him away. “I can still remember the days when I was young and Grandpa was still in the standing committee, Grandma was still healthy and well. At that time, although Grandpa was a busy man, making me smile would be the first thing he would do when he got home. I used to feel that Grandpa was the greatest being in the world; there was nothing he couldn’t achieve. As long as Grandpa was present, our Tang clan would be the most impressive one in existence. It felt like it was yesterday. Unfortunately, Grandpa isn’t the same man he was. Not anymore.”
Tang Xin’s eyes turned water when Tang Wan spoke. “Elder Sister, let’s not dwell in the past shall we. I’m going to cry again.”
Tang Wan smiled apologetically. “Tang Xin, are you still staying to take care of Grandpa?”
“Of course. I only came here from Beijing to look after Grandpa. Elder Sister, you don’t need to stay here with me. You may go with your friend. I’ll be sure to take good care of Grandpa,” Tang Xin said obediently.
Pleased, Tang Wan nodded her head before glancing at Yang Chen and leaving the courtyard.
Yang Chen waved his hand to Tang Xin before following Tang Wan out. After catching up to Tang Wan, he asked, “Has Tang Xin always been responsible to take care of the old man? She looks so young. Ladies at her age would usually be out and about doing things. Why is she here instead?”
“It’s not me who asked her to do so,” Tang Wan said, dissatisfied. “Do you think I would force her to do this? She’s the only daughter of Third Uncle, also my most obedient younger sister. She has a kind heart and has clung onto Grandpa since young. Once the news of Grandpa’s sickness reached her ears, she has stayed by his side ever since. No one is able to pull her away from this.”
Yang Chen nodded as he understood the situation. “When I entered the courtyard earlier, the old man was shouting ‘Lun’ something. Who’s Lun? Is it possibly the nickname of Tang Huang? The two names sound so different.”
Tang Wan suddenly stopped moving and remained quiet for a bit. Softly, she said, “Grandpa was shouting my father’s name, Tang Lun.”
“Oh, it’s Uncle? Why did he shout Uncle’s name?” Yang Chen asked, confused.
Tang Wan turned her head away and replied gently, “I’d rather not answer that question. I don’t feel like talking about it.”
Yang Chen was surprised. He hadn’t seen Tang Wan want to avoid a subject this much before. He wouldn’t force her into doing something, so he chose to keep quiet.
However, Yang Chen just noticed that Tang Wan seemed to have mentioned her second and third uncles, while nothing about her parents was even remotely mentioned. Tang Tang also hadn’t mentioned her grandparents before which was rather weird.
Upon Yang Chen’s request, Tang Wan asked the employees in the sanatorium to prepare a hearty lunch. She also invited the police for the meal.
Gao Xin who hadn’t left yet brought a few of his subordinates and had their meals together with Yang Chen in the same room. He felt rather uncomfortable with all that has happened, so he quickly finished eating and continued his investigation work.
Tang Wan on the other hand had lost her appetite. Before Yang Chen finished eating, she couldn’t help but ask, “Yang Chen, I’m quite sure you know quite a few experts from your past, don’t you? Do you happen to know a doctor like Professor Andre who can treat Grandpa?”
Yang Chen almost choked on his food after listening to Tang Wan. Smiling bitterly, he said, “My dear Tang Wan, that professor just died just now, but you’re asking me to ask my friend. Isn’t it too ominous?”
“I—I don’t wish to have to do this…” Tang Wan frowned. “But even the best hospital in the country failed to diagnose Grandpa’s illness, let alone getting him treated. As you saw earlier, Grandpa isn’t in a good condition now. I’m running out of options and the only thing left for me to do is ask you for help.”
Having been an independent woman who seemed to have everything under control, she hadn’t spoken in such a manner to Yang Chen before. Yang Chen wasn’t used to the way she talked. Seeing Tang Wan’s exhausted face slowly lowering, Yang Chen sighed and said, “I know someone in fact who’s an expert in solving this kind of rare cases. But that person is abroad and may not necessarily be able to come to Zhonghai as of right now. Also, you’ll have to take care of the logistics. I’ll have a chat with that person and will give you an answer later.”
Overjoyed, Tang Wan raised her head and said, “Really? That would be great. Which country is that professional from? Do you need me to send someone to pick them up? I’ll ensure that the same thing would not happen again. I’ll assign a large number of bodyguards to take care of your friend’s safety.”
Yang Chen smiled and answered, “I’ll provide that. That person is rather special. You’ll find out soon, in good time. It’s best if you can finish your meal now. If this continues, I bet you’ll collapse before the old man does.”
Tang Wan too noticed that she was overly excited. Blushing, she displayed a little shyness on her elegant face before obediently moving her chopsticks.
After dealing with the matter at the sanatorium, Yang Chen followed Tang Wan to the headquarters of Maple Group as promised.
It was his second time coming to her office. Expectedly, he managed to locate a listening device beneath her office table. It was the exact same model as the one found earlier.
Tang Wan terrified, causing her face to turn cold. “Luckily there haven’t been any industrial secrets recently. Otherwise the consequences would have been severe.”
“I believe they’re not trying to harm your company that whoever did this, is not out to harm your company. Anyone who has access to this type of listening devices wouldn’t use them for this insignificant purpose,” Yang Chen said.
As Tang Wan planned to bring Yang Chen to check her house, one of her assistants rushed into the office anxiously.
“Boss, a law firm just contacted us via the phone. They’re extremely pissed after finding out of Professor Andre’s death. They’re now considering filing an international lawsuit to Maple Group. Boss, The Johns Hopkins University has had influence beyond what we could imagine. Lots of hospitals and well-known individuals are closely related to Professor Andre. If we don’t find a solution to the problem soon, we’ll definitely be targeted from all sides,” the assistant said, worried.
Tang Wan had already been troubled by various headache-inducing matters. After listening to her assistant, she smiled coldly and said, “We’ll face the lawsuit if they want to file one. Are we the ones who have poisoned him? Why blame the victims? Go and meet them with our lawyer. Use any means necessary to see that it gets done.”
The assistant was a little stunned. He had never seen her employer this resolute before. But he dared not say a word so he chose to back off instead.
Yang Chen tapped Tang Wan’s shoulder. “Don’t dwell in it too much. They won’t win the lawsuit.”
Tang Wan looked at him doubtfully. “Why? They indeed have the ability to sue us. And if we fail to find out the reason, we’ll likely be the one who loses.”
“I said they won’t win it no matter what. For only one reason—because I say so,” Yang Chen said with a smile.
Tang Wan finally displayed a smile on her face. Rolling her eyes, she said, “Let’s go to my house.”
Yang Chen felt that he had become Tang Wan’s temporary secretary today. He followed Tang Wan everywhere and obeyed the boss’s orders.
When he came to Tang Wan’s house, Yang Chen realized that although he had come here a few times before, this was his first time entering the place.
Tang Wan’s warmly decorated living hall was filled with a pleasant fragrance. Since Tang Wan and her daughter Tang Tang stayed at that place, it was naturally clean.
Yang Chen looked around. “Tang Tang isn’t home, is she?”
“Why? Do you miss my daughter already?”Tang Wan joked. “You’re right, she isn’t. The college entrance exam will be here in three months’ time. I’ll smack her ass into the next new year if she dares to skip school now.”
Yang Chen smiled bitterly. “There’s no need to be no strict, is there?. Tang Tang isn’t a child anymore. Her maturity index has risen significantly over the past few months.”
Tang Wan nodded and said, “I would’ve forgotten about it if you didn’t mention. That girl has indeed grown up a lot after knowing you.”
Yang Chen thought, That’s for sure. She has experienced the edge between life and death before, let alone the two times when she left home.
After searching Tang Wan’s living hall, Yang Chen went upstairs and walked around. Although the house had a complex structure, which made the locating of the devices relatively difficult, based on Yang Chen’s rich experience, he managed to locate two listening devices from a lamp and a fake bouquet.
Tang Wan gazed upon the two little things that somehow ended up at her home. She couldn’t help but murmur, “I don’t have many visitors. Only a few of my employees have ever come here before. My daughter and I have stayed here all the time. Are these listening devices planted by a betrayer from my company?”
“I don’t think so.” Yang Chen tossed around the two tiny, silver-colored items. He said, “Your house isn’t guarded very well and you don’t exactly have very many security features to this place. A professional spy only needs seconds to break into your anti-theft door.”
Tang Wan frowned. Confused, she said, “But if that person dares to kill using such an impressive means, why is Professor Andre the only target? The only outcome of his death is Grandpa’s delayed treatment. No one from my clan is able to be benefited from this. My business also won’t be majorly affected. What purpose do they have for doing all of this?”
Yang Chen contemplated for a while. Softly, he said, “If I’m not wrong, the reason that person has only killed Professor Andre is because they need to maintain the current situation in your clan. If the old man isn’t able to recover, everything you own will be under his control. Regarding your Tang clan internally…”
“Conflict.” Tang Wan also finally thought of a crucial point which she had almost missed. Surprised, she said, “They want the internal conflicts within the clan to intensify?!”