The sudden sound made Chuanliu's heart tighten, and he subconsciously stopped what he was doing.
The ringing of the telephone echoed in the quiet office, quickly drawing attention.
Chuanliu made a quick decision, restored the surrounding books, and climbed up the tall bookshelf in a few strides. He lay on the top of the second-tier bookshelf, calmly observing the office space.
Sure enough, not long after Chuanliu hid on the bookshelf, Cao He's men pushed open the door and came in, answering the incessantly ringing landline phone.
After hearing what was said on the other end of the phone, his face darkened, and he replied, "I'm sorry, we've run into a bit of an accident, and I can't make the decision regarding the final payment."
After hearing what was said on the other end of the phone, the subordinate looked displeased and rebuked, "I don't know how our boss negotiated the contract with you, but you didn't even kill anyone, and you still have the nerve to ask us for the final payment?"
"...Enough! We're not doing this deal!"
His subordinate, sounding agitated, hung up the phone immediately.
Now that Cao He is dead, why should he send money to others? It's better to save money where possible; perhaps those of them who worked for him can get some benefits when the family property is divided.
Even working people have their own little schemes.
After hanging up the phone, the subordinate looked around, saw nothing unusual, closed the door, and left the office.
After he left, Chuanliu leaped back onto the steps.
That was probably a call from "The Dark Gate." Because of Cao He's death, her kill order was canceled on the last day Tang Qing had fought for her.
Before she could think further, Chuanliu continued to use the hairpin to unlock the copper lock.
"Snap—"
The third lock was also opened, revealing a thick stack of documents.
Chuanliu immediately took it out and looked through it.
As Chuanliu expected, most of the materials here are related to events that occurred four or two years ago.
The earliest documents here are from Cao He's investigation materials before he launched the "9" and "10" disputes, to documents of his cooperation with some forces at the beginning of the fourth year, and then to the profit sharing of many forces after the start of the two-year "disaster". Important documents are preserved in this collection.
It's likely that only Cao He's closest confidants would know about the existence of these materials.
Chuanliu scrolled to the bottom and started looking at the earliest file.
The first document is Caohe's research information on the situation of the four suits at that time.
Constrained by a gentleman's agreement reached by the Little Devil and the leaders of the Four Colors, the residents of Paradise Island are prohibited from initiating internal or external wars; from interfering with the internal management policies of other cities; and from engaging in unequal trade practices.
This meant that Cao He, who was then known as the "Nine of Hearts," was never able to overcome the huge gap between himself and the "Ten of Hearts."
The absence of a "9" versus "10" debate means that under the corporate management model of City of Hearts, Caohe had virtually no chance of surpassing the then-current "10 of Hearts".
No matter how hard Cao He tries, he can't compare to the experience and connections that the original "Red Hearts 10" accumulated over the years.
It was after realizing this that Cao He began to have other ideas.
He secretly found a computer assembly expert on Paradise Island and imprisoned him in the red-light district base, making him study computer assembly day and night. He then connected this "computer's" system to the trading machine of the Red Heart Casino.
He fantasized that one day the "computer" would be successfully assembled, and a system would be developed to connect to the casino, allowing him to secretly transfer all the funds out of the casino.
When the "computer" was almost complete, Cao He knew he had leverage in negotiations.
This was four years ago.
To Chuanliu's surprise, Caohe did not initially intend to cooperate with "Ace of Clubs," but instead investigated Xiaogui's whereabouts first.
He wanted to win over the kid, leveraging the kid's resources and extensive network in the Wuwang District to gain even more support.
However, Cao He could not find out the whereabouts of the little devil; it was as if the person had suddenly vanished into thin air.
Just as Cao He was choosing his next ally, "Ace of Clubs" suddenly appeared.
"Ace of Clubs"!
It was actually the esteemed "Ace of Clubs" who came to find him in person!
The appearance of "Ace of Clubs" made Cao He both ecstatic and flattered.
Although he didn't know why "Ace of Clubs" had found him or why he had taken a liking to him, he still showed his sincerity by presenting the results of his "computer" research.
However, in the confidential cooperation agreement signed between "Ace of Clubs" and Caohe, "Ace of Clubs" did not ask for any share of the profits after the "computer" was successfully developed in the future. Instead, it asked Caohe to provide one person every once in a while.
Cao He didn't know what he wanted to do, but as the manager of the red-light district, providing people was not difficult for him, so he agreed.
Confidentiality Cooperation Agreement
Party A: Wu Lide, "Ace of Clubs"
Party B: Cao He, "9 of Hearts"
Party B agrees to deliver human resources to Party A according to Party A's needs.
Party A will fund a series of activities within the future City of Hearts for Party B. Providing financial support will help Party B acquire asset reserves and response capabilities no less than "10 Hearts".
Both parties shall keep confidential any confidential information of the other party that they learn during the performance of this agreement, and shall not disclose or leak it to any third party without the other party's consent.
Signature of Party A's representative: Wu Lide
Signature of Party B's representative: Cao He
Chuanliu had seen a contract with almost identical terms and conditions at his residence in Jiulong.
The difference is that one pair of signatories is Jiulong and Hou Yifan, and the other pair is Cao He and Wu Lide.
Another difference is that Hou Yifan has a greater need for the number of people, and he pays Jiulong based on the number of people; while Wu Lide's contract four years ago did not specify the number of people Cao He needed to provide, and it seems that the demand was not that great.
Cao He's records also show that Wu Lide asked him for manpower at most once a month, but when it came to Hou Yifan, he probably asked for more than ten people a month.
If they are both conducting human experiments, why are their needs so different?
In addition, judging from the timeline, Wu Lide, the "Ace of Clubs," should have first reached a cooperation agreement with Caohe, and then immediately announced the closure of the Ace of Clubs main city.
This aligns with what Tang Qing had previously told Chuan Liu at the "Dark Gate." Tang Qing had also said that it was very likely that Qiao Jie had leaked the news of Xiao Gui's disappearance to Wu Lide, which led to his subsequent actions.
As expected, after the main city of Meihua was placed under lockdown, Caohe had no further contact with any of the official residents of Meihua City, except for economic dealings with Wu Lide.
Since this concerned the upper echelons of the Plum Blossom Group, Chuanliu couldn't help but frown.
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