I am a Big Player
Chapter 218 - 216. Overseas Organization (Second Update)_1

Chapter 218: 216. Overseas Organization (Second Update)_1

In the afternoon, as soon as school ended, Yang Xi was picked up by a pure white nanny van and taken to her teacher’s place for vocal lessons. She had vocal classes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and dance classes on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. She didn’t have any aversion to this routine; after all, girls always wish to better themselves, whether they want to be a star or not.

Now, Yang Xi was famously low-profile in the entire entertainment industry. Apart from making an appearance on the day her album was released, she hadn’t participated in any commercial activities and seemed to have vanished from the entertainment scene altogether.

Is she really going back to school? Some big shots found it inconceivable that she could still focus on her studies after gaining popularity. It was quite a challenge. Moreover, weren’t they at all worried that the lack of exposure over a prolonged period could lead to premature obscurity?

Many sponsors and event agents were eager to invite Yang Xi to perform, raising the appearance fee from $100,000 to $400,000. Even so, the other party always politely declined, which was starting to cause some anxiety. It was obvious that she was currently the most popular young female star, yet she wasted such valuable resources by not participating in any events. Although many people knew Su Ruqin was wealthy, surely she wasn’t so wealthy as to casually ignore the annual income of over ten million dollars from commercial performances, right?!

In fact, although Su Ruqin had many assets, they were mostly fixed assets. Her annual cash earnings seemed to be only on par with Yang Xi’s album income and weren’t considered truly wealthy.

People in the circle slowly began to notice that this young girl who had suddenly risen to fame truly disliked all commercial performances, just like the calm words she spoke at her album release: she just wanted to sing well.

Many wished to follow her talent-based path, that is, to increase exposure without relying on any other means, without scandals, without seeking news headlines, and without commercial performances. However, most lacked the capability to do so.

To take the path of talent, at the very least you need great singing!

After Yang Xi’s official album release, seven of the ten songs from her album entered the top ten of the music charts, and the remaining three were within the top fifteen. This achievement had been maintained for two months, and not even the release of new songs by big names could shake the position of these ten songs.

What did this signify? People in the entertainment industry understood.

Of course, it was too early to say that Yang Xi was a talent-based idol; if her next album still maintained this level of quality, only then could she solidify her current position.

However, everyone was also aware of the current state of the entertainment industry. Who could be confident about consistently producing hit songs? No one.

Thus, Yang Xi’s future prospects remained elusive and unpredictable for the entire entertainment industry. No one dared to conclude.

When Yang Xi left her teacher’s place, it was already 7 o’clock in the evening. The driver of the nanny van, after picking her up, said, "The boss asked me to take you back to Gongyuan."

Gongyuan? Su Ruqin’s residence? Yang Xi hesitated for a moment. Obviously, the ’boss’ the driver referred to was Su Ruqin, but since Yang En was her guardian, she still returned to Yang En’s place every day, up until now.

For Yang Xi, Yang En had completely moved back from Luo City.

She called Su Ruqin: "Hello?"

"Stay with me tonight. Your dad said his place might be a bit unsafe," Su Ruqin explained calmly and then hung up the phone.

Unsafe? In the Capital, there were unsafe situations? Could it be a follow-up to the previous kidnapping incident? Although Yang En didn’t live with Sir Yang in the large compound, this was still the heart of Imperial City. Could someone really be so bold as to cause trouble here?

Although Yang Xi was young, she had witnessed a lot with Yang En. She didn’t display the panic that someone her age might show when facing such situations; instead, she was very calm. Since Yang En was already forewarned about the danger, he must have been prepared for it.

...

Capital Skydrive headquarters.

Located in a small alley, this small two-story house had no signs indicating its presence, seemingly just another residence.

Wang and the Monkey were sitting by the window on the second floor, enjoying their tea and reading the newspaper quite contentedly. From their vantage point, they could see if anyone passed by the small path behind the building. The towering greenery sheltered the entire small building under its branches and leaves, like a large umbrella unfurled.

At that moment, the telephone on their table suddenly rang, and the red light flashing indicated the call was from the Inner Star Dust office. Wang smacked his lips and said, "Monkey, you answer it."

"Why should I answer? Why don’t you do it," Monkey retorted, not budging.

"I’m over thirty, and being scolded all the time by a little girl... it’s really embarrassing. You’re a bit younger than her, so being scolded a couple of times doesn’t matter. Hurry up!" Wang asserted righteously.

"Oh," Monkey rolled his eyes and picked up the phone, "Hello, Sister Xingchen."

"Is Wang there?"

"Yes," Monkey handed the phone to Wang...

Hissing in surprise, Wang thought to himself, ’Monkey’s move was really freaking underhanded...’

"Cough cough, this is Wang," Wang glared at Monkey and took the phone, saying.

"There’s a foreign organization that has entered the Capital," Xingchen’s icy voice stated, "The same group that tried to kidnap Yang En last time. We only found out about these two people entering the Capital through international channels. The intelligence shows that their target is still Yang En, so I’ve sent Lin Hao to protect him, but that’s not enough. You and Monkey should go too."

"Forget about it, Zhao Junyi is also idle; have him go. Whenever Lin Hao and I work together, something bad happens," Wang grumbled, "I’m still keeping an eye on Ren He. I’ve got a mission and can’t go."

In reality, for organizations like Skydrive that the government had outsourced to, things were actually a bit looser. Similar situations existed in every country, with these types of organizations handling matters that were convenient or inconvenient. Domestically, they were a branch of the intelligence agency, while internationally, they had no connection to the state.

However, Skydrive was the country’s top and laziest unit...

Such organizations were never as sacred as imagined, and the nature of their personnel varied widely. There were upright individuals like Zhao Junyi, but also slippery old hands like Lin Hao and Wang...

In a previous life, an organization similar in nature to Skydrive was Blackwater Company. It had been a major military contractor for the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan. Since June 2004, the Bush administration had paid Blackwater a total of $320 million for "global diplomatic security services," and the company, in turn, spent a large portion of its profits on supporting the Republican presidential campaign, making it a political group in itself.

Still, Skydrive has always adhered to a policy of elitism. In contrast, Blackwater was keen on hiring officials who had previously worked in the U.S. government, including former CIA counterterrorism chief Cofer Black and former Pentagon Inspector General Joseph Schmitz, as well as a large number of special operations veterans. Skydrive, however, always had fewer members, whether it was Wang, Monkey, Lin Hao, or Zhao Junyi – all were once the cream of the crop in the military.

Of course, there were certainly more organizations like Skydrive within the country.

Wang didn’t want to go on a mission with Lin Hao just as Lin Hao didn’t want to team up with Wang, so Xingchen had no choice but to contact Zhao Junyi in the end.

And Wang said to Monkey with irritation, "You really are a traitor, aren’t you? Come on, you absolutely have to treat me to a meal today. After we eat, we’ll stake out Ren He. This guy has been acting a little strange lately."

Before they set off, Wang suddenly had an ominous premonition—he should stay a bit further away from that kid...

...

As usual, time to grab a bite to eat.