Chà Chà Novel

Ji Shileng already had an answer in mind, but he wanted to be sure.

After all, if most of the young women here had been abducted or trafficked, surely someone would have risked their life to expose the laboratory by now.

“Yes”

As they waited for the elevator to descend, A-Kuan said, “Young women these days don’t think things through”

“We put up flyers with our contact details in restrooms, on utility poles, and on streets where sex workers solicit. We get plenty of calls in a single day”

“Flyers asking women to sell their eggs?”

“That’s right”

Perhaps thanks to Su Ke’s three gold bars, A-Kuan was remarkably forthcoming.

“We run separate ads for surrogacy and egg sales, though. The numbers on both get called off the hook”

Ji Shileng: “…”

As he recalled, about eighty percent of the employees on Joker Studio’s art and writing teams were women.

He made a mental note to arrange a few talks for the studio when he got back. The idea was to encourage them to look after themselves before giving themselves to others, and to say no to surrogacy and selling their eggs.

“So do you take anyone who comes to you?” Ji Shileng asked as casually as if they were making small talk.

The elevator dinged to announce their arrival.

“No”

A-Kuan stepped out first.

“We sort them into four tiers based on looks, education, physical condition, and so on”

“I see”

“We only take women who meet the criteria for one of the tiers,” A-Kuan said jokingly. “Our clients are rich, after all. They’re awfully particular”

Then he asked, “What’s your type, Brother Leng?”

Ji Shileng, who had no type when it came to women: “…”

Damn it. He hadn’t thought to prepare for that question.

He wasn’t into women at all.

“Well…” Ji Shileng stopped walking. “There’s something I haven’t told you…”

A-Kuan stopped beside him and gave him a puzzled look.

“Just say it, Brother Leng. There’s no need for secrets between us”

Ji Shileng beckoned him closer and whispered in his ear, “I’m not into girls”

Then, as though the words were difficult to get out, he asked, “Don’t you ever feel like you can’t breathe around women? Like you’re about to suffocate?”

Realization dawned on A-Kuan’s face.

“No wonder…”

No wonder the driver, Su Ke, had said there was something a little off about his young master.

Apparently, he had trouble being around women and talking to them.

Girls with so few scruples these days would sell their own eggs. Why would they balk at being with a disfigured man if there was money in it?

So Coldhearted was the one with a problem.

Seeing A-Kuan’s gaze wander, Ji Shileng hastened to smooth things over.

“You know how it is. I’m an only child. Whatever happens, I still need an heir, don’t I?”

A-Kuan patted him on the shoulder.

“I get it, Brother Leng. Getting an heir is easy. We’ll see what sort of woman catches your interest”

The man had seemed perfectly normal as they talked on the way in. Who would have guessed he was hiding something like that?

After passing through countless narrow gates, they finally reached a silver-white steel door. A-Kuan unlocked it with his fingerprint.

“Brother Leng, since you’re uncomfortable around women, why don’t we go to the office first and see which type you like?”

Ji Shileng nodded. “All right”

Cold white lights flooded the porcelain-white interior, making him squint.

After a few more twists and turns, they reached the office.

A-Kuan’s men stood guard outside. Ji Shileng went in with Liang Jian, and the assistant came in last, closing the door behind him.

“What’s your budget, Brother Leng?”

A-Kuan pulled out a form and handed it to him.

“Fill this in first. You only need to put down your budget”

Ji Shileng took the form.

“I don’t need to fill in the rest?”

The sheet was crammed with questions. It asked for everything from his birth chart and religious beliefs to the sex he wanted the child to be.

“The rest is up to you. If there’s anything you need us to avoid, put it down”

A-Kuan turned on the computer.

Ji Shileng sat with his back straight, pen in hand, eyes lowered in thought.

Under “Budget,” he cautiously wrote a range of one to five million star credits.

He made up a birth chart on the spot and said as tactfully as he could, “My family’s a little superstitious. Ideally, our birth charts shouldn’t clash too much”

What if he barely had time to investigate Gaopei Laboratory before A-Kuan called to say he’d found someone who met his requirements?

What would he do then?

The obvious answer was to invent a birth chart and stall for as long as he could.

Sure enough, the moment A-Kuan heard the words “superstitious” and “birth chart,” his enthusiasm wilted.

Rich people always had to make things complicated, he grumbled to himself.

But when he took the form and saw the budget Ji Shileng had written down, his smile returned.

“Got it. The birth charts can’t clash, right? No problem”

“We’ll need a deposit up front, though, Brother Leng,” A-Kuan said. “Our fortune-teller won’t start until he’s paid a deposit”

“No problem,” Ji Shileng agreed readily. “Is a million star credits enough?”

A-Kuan quietly swallowed the figure of five hundred thousand he’d been about to name.

“That’ll do just fine”

“How should I pay?”

Ji Shileng looked a little troubled.

“I didn’t bring a card”

He’d deliberately left his bank cards behind. A card payment would show both parties’ names.

His cover would be blown on the spot.

A-Kuan had clearly done this plenty of times before. He pulled up a QR code.

“Scan this, Brother Leng. Just pick an item and place the order”

Ji Shileng took out his communicator. The moment he scanned the code, the words “Gaopei Laboratory” popped up.

There were only four items, priced at five hundred thousand, four hundred thousand, three hundred thousand, and one hundred thousand star credits.

Ji Shileng ordered two of the five-hundred-thousand-credit items. Luckily, he’d transferred some money to this account, which wasn’t registered under his real name.

If he’d used a verified account, the transaction record would have displayed the name Ji Shileng for all to see. That would have given him away just as quickly.

Then he’d have to talk his way out of it. Too much trouble.

Going by the budget on the form, A-Kuan took a stack of files from a drawer and handed them over.

Ji Shileng noticed an S in the upper-left corner.

“These are profiles of the women who supply our egg bank,” A-Kuan explained. “The S-tier women generally have good looks, a solid education, and are in good physical condition. Have a look, Brother Leng”

Ji Shileng looked down. The woman in the ID photo looked radiant and self-assured. She’d graduated from a top university and worked at a venture capital firm in the Federation…

Looking at all those details together, he couldn’t imagine why a woman like her would come here to sell her eggs.

A message came in for A-Kuan, and he hurried to his feet.

“Brother Leng, an investor is coming. I have to go greet them. If there’s anything you want to see, my assistant can show you around”

Left in the office with the stack of files in his hands, Ji Shileng exchanged a blank look with A-Kuan’s assistant.

The assistant scratched his head.

“Must have been last-minute. Usually, when investors are coming for a tour, we hear about it in advance”