Chapter 062: The Genius Xu Ling, Overwhelmed

Song Kai stretched his muscles and suddenly remembered Liu Miaoyu. He wondered how she was doing. He dialed her number, but her phone indicated she was out of service. After thinking it over, Song Kai decided there was no need for him to worry too much. After all, Liu Zhishan was not a simple man; if he had killed even martial artists at the Divine Courage level, his unit must be extraordinary.

Song Kai changed his clothes and truly went out to eat mutton. After finishing his meal, his fatigue eased a little. That night, neither Wu Hongying nor Tang Ying returned home. Song Kai looked at the empty room and sighed—life was hard for the people’s doctors and police.

Thinking about tomorrow, Song Kai reckoned that since Xu Ling had said there would be danger, things probably wouldn’t be peaceful. He prepared two daggers, then headed to a barbecue stall, ate over a hundred skewers of grilled meat, and casually took all the steel skewers with him when he left. Back home, he cut the skewers in half with pliers, washed them clean, and found them quite handy—they could be used as throwing darts, and in a pinch, even as acupuncture needles. Not bad at all.

As Song Kai was working with the skewers, he suddenly thought of the woman from that night, the one with eyes like a lynx. He wondered whether that female assassin had left Tengyun City yet.

The next day, Song Kai received a call, shouldered his backpack, and went downstairs. Xu Ling was standing beside the Audi, wearing a porcelain-patterned long dress, elegant and alluring. Song Kai hopped down and waved to Xu Ling.

“Let’s go,” Song Kai said.

“Huh? Song Kai, where are you off to?” Wu Hongying arrived just then on her motorcycle, took off her helmet, her eyes red from lack of sleep.

Song Kai waved to Wu Hongying, saying, “Going with my wife to attend a meeting.”

“Wife… wife?” Wu Hongying perked up instantly, looking from Song Kai to Xu Ling, graceful in her dress.

Xu Ling speechlessly patted Song Kai’s shoulder. “Don’t say such things!”

She smiled and nodded to Wu Hongying, “Hello, I’m Xu Ling, Song Kai’s friend.”

Song Kai shrugged. “Alright, alright, let’s go, Xu Ling.”

“Wait!” Wu Hongying grabbed Song Kai, pulling him five or six meters away, then reached into her chest pocket.

“What are you doing?” Song Kai looked at Wu Hongying. “Men and women should keep their distance. Are you trying to get fresh with me in broad daylight?”

“Cut the nonsense.” Wu Hongying pulled out a wad of cash. “Just got a two-thousand-yuan bonus, take it.”

“Huh?” Song Kai looked at Wu Hongying, puzzled.

Wu Hongying patted his shoulder. “Listen, Song Kai, you have to work hard. Chasing a woman like this, you can’t look shabby. When you get home tonight, I’ll tell Tang Ying. If we’d known you were so ambitious and chasing such a beautiful woman, Tang Ying and I would have supported you financially sooner. Go win over that rich and beautiful lady.”

Song Kai was amused and exasperated.

Wu Hongying turned, smiled at Xu Ling, and headed upstairs.

Song Kai got in the driver’s seat. He didn’t have a license, but his driving skills were solid.

“Are you close with that policewoman?” Xu Ling asked.

“Yeah. She saw how pretty you are and insisted on giving me two thousand yuan to pursue you.” Song Kai laughed.

“That’s quite nice.”

Xu Ling commented simply.

Song Kai didn’t dare discuss Wu Hongying much with Xu Ling, since they lived together and he felt a bit guilty, though Xu Ling didn’t seem to mind.

Song Kai asked, “Xu Ling, what’s going on? Where are we headed? Why did you say there’ll be danger?”

Xu Ling pointed to the car, “Just follow the GPS. We’re going to Shuiyun Manor in the suburbs. This trip is to negotiate a partnership with an enterprise group regarding facial recognition security locks.”

“Facial recognition? Isn’t your group focused on cosmetics and health products?” Song Kai was curious.

Xu Ling sat in the passenger seat, the seatbelt crossing her chest and leaving a mark. She adjusted it to a slightly more comfortable position and said, “Facial recognition was actually a project I worked on while studying at Harvard. Four years ago, when facial recognition wasn’t popular yet, I invested five million dollars and recruited some talent.”

Song Kai drove, listening intently.

Xu Ling continued, “About half a year ago, my studio achieved some results—a bit better than the best facial recognition algorithms currently on the market. You don’t know much about this industry, but if it’s promoted worldwide, it could be a market of over ten billion dollars.”

“Pfft!”

Song Kai nearly crashed into the guardrail. “Over ten billion? Dollars? Just from your lab’s project?”

“More or less.” Xu Ling remained calm. “Four years ago, fingerprints had just become widespread. No one expected facial recognition would reach today’s level. I anticipated it, so I invested early in talent and technology. The applications are vast—you’ve seen Skynet systems in Hollywood movies, or facial scanning to replace ID cards for anything, automatic identification of criminals, and so on. All of this relates to facial recognition. In the coming years, it will be a hot market.”

Song Kai muttered, “Sister-in-law, you’re truly a business genius.”

Xu Ling sighed. “Three months ago, before I returned to China, several designers in my studio were killed one after another, even the manager died. I knew things were bad, so I quietly returned home without even collecting my Harvard diploma.”

Song Kai frowned, realizing this was the real crux of their trip.

Xu Ling went on, “After coming back, I’ve been very cautious about safety. Except for essential meetings, I seldom go out. Domestic security is much better than in the States, so I thought things would be fine. I hold all the code for the facial recognition algorithm in this single flash drive.”

Xu Ling took out a special drive.

“This contains goods worth tens of billions,” Song Kai exclaimed.

Xu Ling nodded, “Yes. Our Xu Group can’t develop this application on its own, so I chose to cooperate with the Penguin Group. They have the strength to turn the algorithm into various facial recognition products and sell them worldwide. Even if I only get a thousandth of the profits, that’s more than a billion dollars.”

Song Kai realized the gravity of the situation. “So you think someone might try to steal the facial recognition algorithm from you.”

“Definitely. Back in the States, half the company’s employees lost their lives because of it. I contacted people from the Penguin Group last month, and today we’re signing the contract at Shuiyun Manor. Once the contract is signed, I won’t have to worry about safety anymore. But before that, someone might try to take it from me.”

Xu Ling placed the drive in Song Kai’s palm. “So, Song Kai, you must keep it safe. If I… if I really get killed, you can use it to secure at least a billion dollars.”

Song Kai frowned, “If it’s this serious, why not ask the police for help?”

“It’s useless. If the enemy really wants to strike, no amount of bodyguards will help. That’s why I asked you—to be my hidden protection. Besides, I’ve hired plenty of guards at Shuiyun Manor, but I still don’t feel at ease.” Xu Ling frowned as she spoke.

Song Kai knew Xu Ling was extremely cautious, and she was relying on him as her last line of defense.

She had already arranged for guards at Shuiyun Manor.

Song Kai smiled, “Alright, sister-in-law, just relax. I’ll keep you safe. Leave the drive with me and focus on negotiating with the Penguin Group.”

“Mm.” Xu Ling looked ahead, her expression calm.

Song Kai sighed inwardly. As expected, he felt immense pressure. His own family bankruptcy made him unworthy of Xu Ling to begin with, but she was even more impressive than he imagined. She casually picked a project and invested a few million, and now the returns were calculated in billions!

Ah, he really needed to work hard!

Driving Xu Ling’s Audi forward, after about two hours they arrived at Shuiyun Manor, a vast estate on the outskirts.

As soon as the car stopped, four people came out to greet them. The one in front was a familiar face—Ai Hao!

Ai Hao laughed heartily, “Xu Ling, wonderful! I heard you’re coming to Shuiyun Manor to do business. It’s truly an honor… Wait, why has your poor relative come along too?”