Golden Cicada

America, San Francisco International Airport.

As soon as the plane landed.

Lin Yulong, who was responsible for arranging their itinerary, took them to their booked hotel to rest for three days and adjust to the time difference.

Their destination, however, was not San Francisco.

This time, his mentor Tie Dongqing's academic exchange partner was an old friend of his, Dr. Zhang Feng from MIT.

Dr. Zhang Feng had made significant achievements in CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology and was one of the first researchers to apply CRISPR-Cas9 technology to human and animal genes.

Li Qingye's research on CRISPR-Cas9 technology had also drawn upon many of Dr. Zhang Feng's papers and ideas.

Since MIT was in Boston on the East Coast of America, and San Francisco was on the West Coast, they needed to transfer flights here to Boston.

In the hotel room.

Li Qingye had a room to himself. As soon as he entered, he opened his suitcase and took out three miniature listening devices.

He then took out his phone and set it to silent mode. He checked his watch; it was 1 PM North American time.

Shortly after, the hotel delivered lunch. He casually handed the waiter a piece of paper and a hundred-dollar tip.

[My throat is inflamed and I can't speak easily. I need to adjust to the time difference and rest tonight, so please don't send dinner. Thank you.]

The blonde waiter smiled and tucked the tip into the pocket of his uniform. "OK, it was a pleasure serving you. Enjoy your lunch."

Li Qingye waved his hand, and the blonde waiter closed the door.

After quickly finishing the milk and bacon sandwich, he knew that the blonde and the squinty-eyed guy were in the rooms downstairs, while Tian Nanxing was in the room next door.

He drew the curtains, took a shower, and changed his clothes. He then left a letter for his mentor. About twenty minutes later.

He put his suitcase aside, took out a small recorder, and pressed the play button. Loud snoring sounds filled the room.

Standing by the door, he activated his enhanced senses.

Six minutes later, he gently opened and closed the door, then silently slipped into the fire escape and left directly from the hotel lobby on the first floor.

Under the shade of a tree by the hotel entrance.

He casually hailed a taxi.

"Where to, buddy?"

"The nearest UBS branch."

"OK." The driver could tell Li Qingye didn't want to talk much and didn't ask any further questions, stepping on the gas.

California Street.

UBS branch.

After paying the fare and giving a $10 tip, Li Qingye, carrying only his ID and bank card, entered the UBS branch.

"Sir, how can I help you?" a short-haired female employee in uniform asked with a smile.

"I need to make a large withdrawal."

Upon hearing the words "large withdrawal," the employee's smile became even sweeter. "Right this way, sir."

In the VIP room, besides the short-haired female employee, there was also a middle-aged fat man with a receding hairline.

The fatty smiled and asked, "Sir, please enter your card number."

[601277-6]

"Please enter your account number."

[CH04-0015-5713-7706-7410S]

"Oh..." The fatty's eyes lit up, and his smile widened. "Please enter your password."

[387****371]

[Password correct.]

"Sir, your account balance is a total of $183,672,300. How much would you like to withdraw?" the fat man continued.

Li Qingye remained very calm. "Please issue me an internationally usable bank card and transfer $10 million to it."

"OK." The fatty immediately instructed the female employee to issue Li Qingye an anonymous UBS bank card.

While sipping afternoon tea, Li Qingye received the freshly issued bank card. The fatty then solicitously asked, "Sir, is there anything else UBS can do for you?"

"How does the immigration service work?"

The fatty replied skillfully, "Immigration? No problem, but I don't recommend America. Canada, New Zealand, or Northern Europe are more suitable."

"Then Northern Europe! When can I get it the fastest?"

"I'll arrange a VIP channel for you. One month."

Li Qingye casually continued, "Hmm, I want to go to Transvaal today, but I don't want to take commercial flights, and it needs to be kept confidential. Money is not an issue."

"Leave it to our company. I will arrange a private jet for you. It will take off within two hours, and no one will know your whereabouts. Making our clients happy is our company's motto."

As expected of capitalism, money makes the world go 'round.

Of course, that so-called absolute secrecy is just for show.

Perhaps ordinary forces couldn't pry information out of UBS, but if a major rogue like America wanted something, UBS wouldn't dare refuse, unless they wanted to go out of business.

However, Li Qingye understood that at least Du Shuping and his ilk couldn't reach North America or Europe.

The sun set.

A special new flight was quickly added to San Francisco's international airport: a Gulfstream private jet, landing and taking off silently.

Meanwhile, at the hotel, the blonde and the squinty-eyed man were still listening to the incessant snoring. Even though they were on a rotating shift, the pure snoring sound was still incredibly irritating to their ears.

The next day at noon.

The sound of a server knocking and her surprised voice made the blonde, who was on duty listening, feel something was wrong. "Something's happened. Hurry up and get that kid Tian Nanxing to check it out."

The squinty-eyed man quickly texted Tian Nanxing.

Tian Nanxing, still groggy, woke up a bit more when he heard his phone's notification. He grabbed his phone, took a look, and immediately jumped up.

Without bothering to change, he ran out of the room in his pajamas.

The door to Li Qingye's room next door was wide open. A female server was reporting the situation to the hotel manager over a walkie-talkie.

"Excuse me, what happened?"

Seeing Tian Nanxing's Asian features, the server asked, "Sir, is the guest in this room one of your companions?"

"Yes, he's my classmate."

"Oh, thank God." The server patted her chest. "This guest left a letter, along with his luggage and a tape recorder. You'd better take a look."

A flicker of panic crossed Tian Nanxing's eyes. He then walked into the room and saw the tape recorder and a letter on the bedside table, as well as the suitcase beside them. He realized the situation was beyond his imagination.

He quickly opened the letter.

[Boss, don't worry. I've already headed to Toronto and will meet you all in Boston after some time. I'll entrust the suitcase to you. -- Li Qingye, May 23rd.]

Damn it... Tian Nanxing wasn't an idiot.

Soon, their mentor Tie Dongqing and Lin Yulong also arrived in the room. After reading the letter, the mentor didn't say anything, merely instructing, "Pack up Qingye's things. He's in a bad mood, just let him be!"

Downstairs in their guest room, the blonde and the squinty-eyed man received Tian Nanxing's report, and their faces immediately darkened.

Thinking about listening to snoring all night, the blonde couldn't help but curse, "Motherfucker!"

"We've been exposed," the squinty-eyed man said with a frown.

The blonde naturally knew they had been exposed. If Li Qingye had simply left without a word, it might not have been a big deal. But the fact that he deliberately played snoring sounds from a tape recorder clearly indicated he had discovered the listening device in the suitcase.

"What do we do now? Should we go to Toronto?"

The squinty-eyed man shook his head. "Do you really think he went to Toronto?"

The blonde's expression stiffened.

The squinty-eyed man waved his hand. "Report this to the boss. Us searching blindly in North America is less effective than letting them handle it."

"Shit... my bonus..." the blonde grumbled dejectedly.

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