Chapter 2009: Chapter 1912: The Agent Arrives

In fact, at this moment, Zhang Chao’s eyes were almost popping out of his head.

As he sat on the hospital corridor bench, having just sent a text to his former headteacher, he sensed a shadow appear before him.

Zhang Chao felt something was off and instinctively looked up.

At some point, a stranger in a suit, looking to be in his twenties, stood in front of him, smiling.

Zhang Chao was taken aback, just about to ask who the man was, when the stranger spoke first, "You are Zhang Chao, Mister Zhang, correct?"

Zhang Chao didn’t recognize this man, but the voice sounded familiar, leaving him momentarily at a loss. As he slowly stood from the bench, he searched his mind for information about this person and hesitantly asked:

"You are...?"

The man smiled, extended his right hand, and said, "Hello, Mister Zhang, I called you earlier; I’m Huo Sining’s agent, my name is Liu Cheng."

Zhang Chao’s mind buzzed, leaving him momentarily stunned.

In that instant, a single thought crossed his mind: nowadays scams are really intense, this scammer actually rushed from the Imperial Capital to Fucheng in three hours, isn’t this scam’s cost a bit too high?

Liu Cheng seemed to know Zhang Chao wouldn’t believe him and laughed, "Here’s my ID and the plane ticket from the Imperial Capital. If you still don’t believe me, you can call the airline to verify; they keep the ticket stubs, this should be impossible to fake."

Faced with this man’s openness, who didn’t seem to be lying at all, Zhang Chao was taken aback, half-doubting, half-disbelievingly asking, "You’re really Huo Sining’s agent?"

Liu Cheng nodded and said, "Absolutely. Miss Huo called you this morning, but you hung up before she could explain, so she sent me here."

Saying this, Liu Cheng appeared to think of something, took a card from his wallet, and handed it to Zhang Chao:

"This is my business card. If calling the airline is too much trouble, you can also check my information online. All the details on my card, including my phone number and photo, are public, so you shouldn’t think I’m a scammer now, right?"

Though it’s wise to be cautious of others, suspecting a strange call is a scam call is understandable, yet when the actual person stood in front of him and voiced his thoughts, Zhang Chao felt overwhelmingly embarrassed, his face turning beet red, feeling awkward and a bit ashamed.

He nervously rubbed his palms together, awkwardly saying:

"Mister Liu, I’m really sorry, I didn’t realize you were truly Miss Huo Sining’s agent, I thought... I’ve never met a big celebrity before, nor imagined Miss Huo Sining would personally call me, so I misunderstood, truly my apologies."

Liu Cheng patted Zhang Chao’s shoulder understandingly and said with a smile, "No need to be nervous. Even though you haven’t met a big celebrity before, we’re all just people, no different from ordinary folks. Don’t see us as too divine."

Zhang Chao nodded, yet still couldn’t shake an unspeakable anxiety and nervousness, even his smile was a bit stiff.

Seeing this, Liu Cheng couldn’t help but get straight to the point: "You’re the one who’s ’I am Superman Zhang’ from the Hai Jiao forum, right? I saw your reply; you’ve been to Oregon?"

Zhang Chao was startled, then shook his head vigorously, explaining, "I haven’t been, Mister Liu, to be honest, that forum reply was just a prank. I thought the original poster was crazy about getting rich, and coincidentally, I had read an article beforehand, remembering there was a Volcano Park in Oregon where you could dig for diamonds, so I gave this bad idea just to tease the poster, but I never expected..."

"You never expected that by a twist of fate, someone actually believed you, really went to Oregon, and found diamonds?" Liu Cheng said, half-smiling at Zhang Chao.

Zhang Chao nodded, even more embarrassed now.

Liu Cheng found Zhang Chao’s honest response rather endearing. He had been curious as to why Huo Sining took extra notice of this Zhang Chao just because of a phone call, but upon meeting him in person, he admired Huo Sining’s intuition.

Typically, in his position as Huo Sining’s agent, people would embellish, exaggerating achievements or even concocting dramatic stories, using the forum reply as a major accomplishment to be remembered by Huo Sining;

But Zhang Chao did not do this; instead of taking credit, he revealed the actual circumstances and intentions behind his reply.

Judging by his attire, he wasn’t from a wealthy family, yet in such a situation, he remained factual, a truly valuable quality.

Liu Cheng couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, his formal smile reduced, genuine sincerity appearing in his eyes:

"It’s understandable. If one day I saw such a post online, I’d probably do the same, reply with some sarcasm, no blame in that. Even though your intent wasn’t to help us, Miss Huo indeed got inspiration from you and solved the Philadelphia issue, so ultimately, the credit still belongs to you."

Liu Cheng smiled, "I’ve come on behalf of Miss Huo to thank you. I assume you’ve seen the news; Miss Huo found quite a few diamonds in Oregon, not only brought back two of the twelve zodiac animal heads but also made a handsome profit."

"I saw the news conference that day."

Zhang Chao nodded, indicating he was aware, but immediately shook his head and said, "Miss Huo’s success is due to her extraordinary ability and incredible luck, nothing I can take credit for, no need for thanks. Compared to Miss Huo’s charitable endeavors, my initial intent was rather narrow."

Liu Cheng laughed, "I can’t make that decision; this is a task given by Miss Huo, I’m just executing her wish. Besides, you should know, as Miss Huo’s status stands now, the one thing she’s not short of is money, but what she fears most is owing a favor, so, regardless of the amount, you shouldn’t refuse this recompense."

Zhang Chao knew Liu Cheng was telling the truth; Huo Sining didn’t lack money, but he was indeed in dire need of it. Yet, accepting such recompense without reason didn’t sit right with Zhang Chao.