Sirius Chapter 7: Chapter 6: The Other Side

Read chapter 7 of Sirius by Dealer on NovelPedia.

In a café in the city center, a young blond man sat at a table, sipping from a cup. His appearance drew the attention of everyone who walked by. When he saw another man come through the door, he stood up and waved to catch his eye. "Mr. Li, it's an honor to see you again." The blond greeted him. "Michael, right?" Jihan sat down at the table. "Green tea?" he asked, glancing at Michael's cup. "Yes! I'm glad you recognized it." The man smiled. "The smell is unmistakable, though I prefer coffee." Li waved down a nearby waiter and ordered a cup of the bitter liquid. "You know, tea is the best pairing for a quick bite." "Quick... let's get straight to the point then." Li took a sip from his cup and continued. "What do you want from me?" "Direct as always!" The man opened a briefcase and placed an A4 sheet on the table. "You talk as if you know me." Jihan reached out and picked up the paper. "A contract?" Michael laughed. "And I do, more than you might think!" Michael smiled. "We've been watching you, Jihan. Originally, this contract was a credit transfer. We intended to 'buy' you from Tai Lung, so to speak" "I'm not for sale." Li cut him off. "And I don't want to be bound to another place. If that's all you're looking for, I think we're done here." "You misunderstood me! We don't want anything from you; on the contrary, we want to offer you an opportunity." "Hm. What kind of opportunity?" "Mr. Li... what if I told you I could give you a new start? A life somewhere else, where nobody knows you. On top of that, you'd only depend on yourself and on this to survive." Michael pointed to Jihan's hand. "You genuinely wouldn't be interested?" "Am I interested? Very!" Li smiled, then closed his expression, showing distrust of the man. "But what I don't understand, Michael, is what you get out of this. I mean, so far you've only said good things to me. I may not be the sharpest person in the world, but I'm not an idiot either. What do you get in return for giving me all this?" "Well, my commission! It doesn't affect you at all, but if you do bad things, I'm negatively affected, and if you do good things, I'm positively affected." "Hahaha, that sounds great... almost too good to be true. Tell me, what do I have to do then? Beat up some thugs?" Li scoffed. Honestly, he wasn't entirely buying the man in front of him. The only reason he was still sitting there was because of what happened in Tai Lung's office. He wanted to understand more about who Michael was. "Yes and no." Michael, for the first time in the conversation, dropped his smile. "What I want... is for you to kill some demons for me." Li burst out laughing. When he saw the blond wasn't laughing, he closed his expression and stared at the young man. "You're starting to sound like a lunatic to me. Give me one reason not to get up and walk out right now." "I can give you ten!" Michael picked up the briefcase beside him, set it on the table, and opened it, revealing ten blocks of hundred-dollar bills fitted perfectly inside. "What do you say?" "You can't buy me with money. I'm not that person anymore!" Li snapped; the man seemed to be treating him more like a luxury item than a person. "Indeed, it can't." Closing the briefcase, he continued. "But you still have debts to pay, don't you, Jihan?" The smile returned to his face. "Even if you paid off your money debts in theory, you know you haven't paid even a fifth of what you truly 'owe'." Making air quotes with his fingers, Michael provoked him. "Bastard!" Li was calmer than usual, but that didn't mean he had become a saint. "He knows exactly what he's talking about." "You're not wrong." Jihan took a deep breath. "But I can manage on my own. I don't need your money, so I think we're done here." And he stood up, intending to head for the exit. Michael, calm and wearing the same smile, was completely unfazed by the refusal. "And what about your father?" Li stopped. "What did you say?" Turning around, a vein jumped in his neck. "You heard me.