Villain Boss Chapter 227
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 227: Clue
The man's gaze lingered on Jiang Ran for a moment, then he smirked, a smile appearing in his eyes. "What a coincidence, Miss Jiang."
Jiang Ran's lips twitched twice, and she replied, "Captain Pei, it's been a long time."
It was indeed quite a coincidence to meet here, but it was also reasonable. Pei Xiao and the Huo siblings were cousins, so it was normal for them to visit each other occasionally.
After the two greeted each other, Huo Sichan looked at Jiang Ran with surprise. "Miss Jiang, are you and Pei Xiao acquaintances?"
"Acquaintances... I guess so." Not wanting to bring up the feud between Pei Xiao and the Shen family again, Jiang Ran glossed over it. "I met him once when Captain Pei went to Xiling base for an inspection."
Pei Xiao continued, "Miss Jiang is Marshal Shen's granddaughter. When we were at Xiling base, I was very grateful to Miss Jiang for being my guide."
Huo Sichan pondered for a moment: "I remember Shen Yao is your classmate. Why did you trouble Miss Jiang to be your guide?"
Pei Xiao's smile froze, and he glared at Huo Sichan as if giving him a warning. Huo Sichan understood and wisely changed the subject.
"Miss Jiang, this is Mr. Tusu." Huo Sichan pointed to the man in blue next to Pei Xiao and said gently, "He’s the head of the research laboratory of our Beichen base and also a doctor with superb medical skills."
Tusu? That was a rather unusual name. Jiang Ran asked, "Is it the Tusu as in Tusu wine?"
The young man nodded slightly in agreement.
Jiang Ran nodded in greeting. "Mr. Tusu, it's a pleasure to meet you. I’m Jiang Ran."
The man addressed as "mister" merely glanced at Jiang Ran, his slender fingers tightening around the black-covered book. He said to Huo Sichan, "It's too noisy here. I'm going back to the research lab tonight. If anything happens, you can find me there."
He lowered his eyes, avoiding Jiang Ran's scrutinizing gaze, and turned back into the inner room.
Worried that Jiang Ran would feel awkward, Huo Sichan explained, "That's just how he is, Miss Jiang. Don't take it to heart."
Jiang Ran hadn't really thought much of it. She was just curious. "He looks so young. How come he's the head of a lab too?"
The reason she used "too" was because she thought of Si Xu. But Si Xu came from the laboratory and was practically a glitch in the system. This guy looked so young, and he didn't have any special abilities, yet he was in charge of such an important project concerning the survival of humanity?
Jiang Ran murmured, "He must be a genius."
Huo Sichan agreed with this statement. "Mr. Tusu is indeed a genius." He seemed to recall something, and his tone became slightly hesitant. "When he was young, he studied at Xiling base. It’s said that he worked as an assistant to your father, Professor Jiang Yize, for a period of time."
Jiang Ran's pupils contracted slightly, and she felt her heart beat two beats faster. She felt as if she had grasped some key information, but she couldn't quite make sense of it.
During his time at Xiling base, Pei Xiao knew that Jiang Ran and the Shen family didn’t have a harmonious relationship. The reason for this, besides Shen Lang and Si Xu's hostility towards outsiders, was likely also related to Jiang Yize's accident back then.
It was said to be an accident, but who could say for sure how many forces and interests were involved behind the scenes?
Tu Su quickly tidied up and came out of the inner room. As he passed the three silent people, he nodded as a farewell and left without waiting for Huo Sichan to speak.
The remaining three looked at each other and remained silent.
The atmosphere in the small building suddenly became somewhat strange.
……
Huo Sichan said that Mr. Tusu had worked as Jiang Yize's assistant when he was young, so perhaps he would know something about the materials left behind by Jiang Yize.
Actually, the research on the reagent had already made some progress in Xiling laboratory, but unfortunately, all sorts of troubles happened later, and Si Xu took her away from the laboratory. Now, she heard from Si Xu that the laboratory was blown up by that psycho Qin Huai...
If Mr. Tusu could be trusted, perhaps they could borrow the research laboratory at Beichen base.
Of course, that was a story for another time.
At this moment, Jiang Ran just wanted to break the awkward atmosphere in the room.
Since the two grown men remained silent, Jiang Ran had to speak up herself. "Marshal Huo, is there something you need from me?"
Originally, she and Si Xu could have gone directly to the party with Huo Lingyin, but before they set off, Huo Lingyin suddenly said that Huo Sichan wanted to see her, so she had no choice but to follow Huo Lingyin here first.
Huo Sichan snapped out of his daze, first inviting her to sit down, then pouring her a cup of tea before getting straight to the point. "Miss Jiang, I'm here to talk to you about Chengzhi and Miss Luo."
Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow.
For Xie Chengzhi and Luo Rui? How could she forget that this Marshal Huo and Xie Chengzhi were good friends?
Jiang Ran didn't reply. Huo Sichan sighed and continued, "To be honest, the situation at Beichen base isn’t looking good right now. As you can see, although Beichen base is under the control of our Huo family, the Huo family doesn't actually have much power in its hands."
"You have your eye on Xie Chengzhi and Luo Rui?" Jiang Ran continued Huo Sichan's words. "You expect them to become the backbone of your Huo family in the future?"
Huo Sichan frankly nodded. "They need someone to support their ambitions, and I happen to be that person."
Jiang Ran thought to herself, They were the male and female leads and had no shortage of protagonist halo. You shouldn't be too confident in yourself.
"If I die, Lingyin will be in a dilemma. At that time, I’ll need someone to wholeheartedly assist and support her."
Huo Xuan was eyeing the current Beichen base covetously, while the other two teams were wavering. He didn't have much time left, and the forces he could use were far too few... It so happened that Xie Chengzhi and Luo Rui arrived from Xiling base.
They helped Beichen base settle the zombie horde and had already accumulated a certain level of prestige. With a push from behind, they could easily be used to contend with Huo Xuan.
"You expect Luo Rui and Xie Chengzhi to assist Huo Lingyin?" Knowing his good intentions, Jiang Ran suppressed a laugh and shook her head. "If you came to me for this purpose, hoping that I would stop bothering those two, I'm sorry, I can't agree."
"Miss Jiang, cough, cough, cough..." Huo Sichan covered his mouth, bent over and coughed, his trembling body seemingly enduring great pain.
Pei Xiao immediately got up and went into the inner room to get him a few pills.
"Mr. Tusu said that if you have a bad cough, eat this first."
Huo Sichan raised his hand to block Pei Xiao's hand and shook his head.
Jiang Ran pursed her lips, refusing to back down. "They won't be content to serve Huo Lingyin. If you groom them, they’ll become even more formidable enemies than Huo Xuan after you die."
Huo Sichan took a breath, not accusing her of sowing discord, but instead asking, "Would that happen?"
"Yes." Jiang Ran's answer was firm. "Because I know very well that neither Xie Chengzhi nor Luo Rui are people who are willing to be subordinate to others."
Huo Sichan forced a bitter smile and pursed his lips. "I know." He knew that, but he simply had no other choice.
"Not a day goes by that I don’t think about what will happen to Lingyin and Lingge if I die, and what will become of Beichen base… I’ve been thinking about this all along, but I can’t find the answer."
"If you really want to protect Huo Lingyin and Huo Lingge, there’s a very useful method." Unable to understand his pain or the reason for his struggle, Jiang Ran said calmly, "Before you die, eliminate all the enemies who may threaten the Huo sisters."
