Jiang Tingchen wore a dark casual jacket and matching trousers. He looked casual, but still couldn't hide his uprightness and calmness.
As he stepped into the teahouse, the smell of old tea leaves and damp wood filled his nose.
He chose a seat in a dimly lit corner. From this angle, he could clearly see the entrance to the teahouse and the doors of most of the private rooms.
After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, Martin appeared, and his assistant named Xu Zhao was still with him, almost inseparable from him.
The waiter bowed and nodded as he led the two into a private room with a bamboo curtain.
Jiang Tingchen was not in a hurry. He picked up the teacup in front of him and took a sip slowly.
About an hour later, the bamboo curtain of Martin's private room was pulled open with a "rustle".
Martin and Xu Zhao walked out one after the other, with no special expression on their faces.
Just a few steps behind them, another person followed out. Jiang Tingchen paused slightly when he saw the person's face clearly.
It turned out to be Manager Song.
Manager Song paused at the door of the private room, and his eyes casually swept across the lobby, just in time to meet Jiang Tingchen's gaze.
Manager Song's steps seemed to be tripped by something and became a little stiff.
In that instant, a trace of imperceptible panic flashed across his eyes behind the lenses, like a frightened rabbit, but soon he seemed to remember something, and with difficulty he calmed down. He nodded hurriedly at Jiang Tingchen, turned around and wanted to walk out.
Jiang Tingchen stood up without hesitation and walked to Manager Song in a few steps, blocking his way. "Manager Song, what a coincidence?"
Manager Song tried hard to force a smile, but the smile was fleeting.
"Mr. Jiang, are you here for tea too?" He habitually pushed his glasses up. "My friend and I came here to discuss something, just a casual chat."
"With Martin?" Jiang Tingchen's tone was inarticulate, as if asking casually, but his eyes fell on Manager Song's face like a searchlight, "He doesn't seem like the kind of person who would just go to a place like this to 'chitchat'. Manager Song, when did you become friends with someone like Martin?"
"Well, you know this too," Manager Song began, his tone much faster than usual.
"In the business world, more friends mean more paths. Let's introduce each other to resources. I'm just a middleman, helping to connect and build bridges. That's all I have to say." His eagerness to leave was obvious. "I have an appointment over there, so I have to excuse myself."
"Matchmaking?" Jiang Tingchen pressed on slowly, his voice still gentle, yet carrying an unavoidable force. "What kind of cooperation specifically would have you, Young Master Song, personally come forward to make a connection with Martin? I recall that the Song Group's main business doesn't seem to have much in common with Martin's logistics and his current interest in new energy."
"It's just some half-baked ideas." Manager Song had already begun to unconsciously take a half step back. "Mr. Jiang, honestly, I'm just a messenger. Whatever grand plans Mr. Martin has, that's his personal business. It has nothing to do with me."
He forced another smile and said hurriedly, "Nice to meet you here, Mr. Jiang. I'm leaving now!"
Before he could finish his words, Manager Song slipped away in a hurry as if his feet were greased. On his way out, he almost tripped over the old threshold.
Jiang Tingchen watched him fleeing in panic, a soft snort escaping his lips. "Middleman," he repeated in a low voice.
The more Manager Song tried to distance himself from the matter, the more it showed that something was fishy going on. His suspicions about Martin's furtive actions grew even stronger.
If Manager Song is also involved, then the waters are much deeper than he originally anticipated. As for Nan Xue, she must be reminded to be more careful.
Martin and Xu Zhao had already left the teahouse.
Jiang Tingchen's gaze returned to Xu Zhao.
Xu Zhao stood at the door of the teahouse for a while, made a brief phone call, and then got into an inconspicuous black car parked on the side of the road.
Jiang Tingchen started his car and parked behind Xu Zhao's. Outside the car window, the neon lights of the city quickly receded.
Xu Zhao's car did not drive towards the hotel where Martin was staying, nor did it go to any known office building. Instead, it made many twists and turns, passed through several old industrial areas with increasingly sparse lights, and finally drove into a factory area that looked like it was about to be abandoned, and stopped in front of a lonely large warehouse.
The warehouse was some distance away from the main road and was surrounded by a circle of tall, rusty barbed wire, giving it a desolate look.
Xu Zhao got out of the car, opened a heavy iron door of the warehouse with his key as if he was familiar with the place, and then drove in.
Soon, the car lights and his figure disappeared in the shadow of the warehouse.
Jiang Tingchen parked his car in a darker place farther away, turned off the engine, and then walked closer.
The surroundings were eerily quiet, with only the faint hum of vehicles coming from the distant city and the rustling sound of the night wind blowing through the weeds that were more than a meter tall.
He walked around the warehouse and soon found a broken spot in the wire mesh. The bent metal mesh was just big enough for a person to squeeze through sideways.
The warehouse was even larger than he had imagined, and the lighting was extremely dim. Only a few low-power light bulbs hung alone in the air, casting a few pale halos of light.
With the help of this little light, he saw that there were many cargo boxes covered with canvas piled up in the warehouse, and in a corner of the warehouse, there was obviously a piece of open space that was densely packed with... some strange equipment.
He breathed lightly, stepped on the dusty concrete floor, and made almost no sound as he slowly approached the equipment area.
Those are definitely not ordinary production machines, each one has a complex and precise structure.
The metal shell gleamed coldly in the dim light, and various wires were tangled like a spider web. On some control panel-like devices, tiny indicator lights flickered on and off.
Some equipment components were even wrapped in the original transparent protective film. This place felt more like a makeshift, highly confidential high-tech laboratory than a warehouse.
The scene before him had nothing to do with the international logistics business that Martin usually did.
It is also completely different from the R&D projects that the Song Group has made public.
"The Song family also wants to get a piece of the pie?" This thought popped up in Jiang Tingchen's mind.
Or maybe, Manager Song was secretly doing something with Martin without telling them?
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