Trafford's Trading Club - Chapter 18

Not long after that, You Ye brought a few masks to him.

The three masks were some of the things left behind by the former boss. Now, it was time for him to make a difficult choice.

The original function of these masks were for hiding the boss’s face and to conceal their identities. As such, they were all pretty well made.

Luo Qiu grabbed one and touched the decorations on it. The decorations showed that it was a Venice mask— ‘Bauta’ that hid half of the face. Luo Qiu tried it on.

He felt the mask quickly stuck itself onto his face and then disappeared. Now, it was as if the mask had integrated itself with his own skin. He didn’t feel stuffy and, even more amazingly, it seemed as if the mask had become weightless.

‘You can become invisible after wearing the mask.’

He felt the information flow into his mind. He then looked at You Ye in curiosity. “Can you see me? “

“Not visually,” You Ye answered. “However, I’m conscious of the presence of the master.”

Luo Qiu was stunned and took a mirror, but nothing could be seen in it. After a while, he took off ‘Bauta’.

He was only unwilling to reveal his identity to the customers, but not to the point where he would become invisible.

It was but a mere toy to him.

Next, Luo Qiu picked up the second mask—a mask made from paper pulp. It had golden eyes and cracked lips painted red…actually it was just a Japanese style fox mask.

Luo Qiu tried it on.

‘It’s Inari’s face, used to pray for good harvest.’

Yeap… it might be useful in areas that were poor or without farming technology. The mask also didn’t match Luo Qiu’s suit which You Ye chose.

The third one—a clown mask.

He felt comfortable wearing this one. As it coalesced on his face, information also flowed into his mind.

‘It’s a real clown, who has the ability to see through all magic.’

The magic stated here was the sleight-of-hand kind, not the supernatural one.

“I’m lucky it’s a white face mask, instead of those colorful ones.” Luo Qiu joked, “Nobody would want to meet Ronald McDonald in such a solemn place.”

You Ye didn’t know what he was talking about.

“I’ll take this one, it goes better with the suit. Though its ability is probably rather useless.” After saying that, Luo Qiu stood up.

He didn’t feel that it was awkward to be wearing the clown mask with his suit. Instead, he felt that it gave him a mysterious feel… but something felt wrong.

Luo Qiu tried to find out what was wrong as he looked in the mirror. At this moment, You Ye came up with a top hat, a black cane and a pair of white gloves from the cloakroom.

Luo Qiu wore the hat and gloves, and brandished the cane experimentally. It gave him a good feel.

“Good, call me Mr. Clown from now on,” Luo Qiu joked. “Well, a clown would lighten the mood in this place which is seeping with strong desires.”

“Master, as long as you’re happy.”

Right as Luo Qiu wanted to complain about the overuse of this reply, the club’s bell rang.

Luo Qiu had no time to enjoy his new costume. He walked down to the hall and prepared to serve the customer.

It was a young man standing at the entrance, looking around nervously.

He should be several years older than Luo Qiu.

Other than that, he looked like a successful man, one that was either a rich second generation or social elite.

“Welcome to Trafford’s Trading Club, what can I do for you?”

Luo Qiu grabbed the cane and walked downstairs step by step, observing the youth’s further reaction.

“Who are you?” The young man held still and stayed at the entrance, with a vigilant expression.

“Me?” Luo Qiu wanted to smile…but he figured out he was wearing the mask, so just answered, “I’m the boss of this club, you can call me boss or… Mr. Clown.

Luo Qiu then walked to him and found that there was a familiar scent coming from the man… It was the scent of a black card.

Hm, this was the third customer that came while bearing the black card. It was only Dance that was an exception, as she had come here by coincidence.

While he was wondering of the number of black cards that had been handed out, Luo Qiu made sure to not stop conversing with the customer. “Please come in and take a seat.”

The man frowned and asked, “Is this the place that can help people achieve anything they desire?”

Suddenly, Luo Qiu snapped his fingers, and then opened his palm. A black card was floating above it. He said with a smile, “As a cardholder, you should trust the club, right?”

The young man touched his chest, even unbuttoning his suit to check inside the pocket only to find that his card had disappeared.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself down before introducing himself in a deep voice, “Hi, Mr. Clown, I’m Zhong Luochen, today I come to make a deal with you.”

One should never refuse business that knocks on your door. Luo Qiu made a gesture, inviting the customer to come in, saying with pleasure, “You Ye, entertain our guest please.”

……

……

In the bedroom, Cheng Yun lit a cigarette while looking at the enchanting woman lying on the bed contentedly.

She was a receptionist of Gu Yue Zhai.

She didn’t have powerful connections, but was pretty and clever. She had chosen the most efficient and fastest way to get promoted—seducing the assistant of Zhong Luochen.

Cheng Yun knew what certain women wanted—and so he was able to get the receptionist before his boss got Zhang Qingrui.

However, it was true that this girl couldn’t be compared to Zhang Qingrui, whether it be in family background or ability.

Cheng Yun was aware of what kind of women he could get.

“Why are you available today? You didn’t follow your young boss?” The girl looked at Cheng Yun with an obsequious smile.

Cheng Yun felt puzzled as well, wondering where his boss had gone to ever since they came back from Gu Yue Zhai.

He had always followed his boss, helping him in various ways. He thought the reason his boss left him was due to the words of that old woman.

Damn it! He was quite clear about his situation. If he lost the recognition of his boss, even his job, and this scheming woman would leave him.

However, she was good in bed, plus he wanted to enjoy her for a few more days— above all, he’d like to stand beside Zhong Luochen, to get a higher status at the capital.

“Who were the two guys Ms. Zhang led to the collection chamber this morning?”

The girl didn’t mind selling out Zhang Qingrui to gain the favor of Cheng Yun. She knew if his boss got Zhang Qingrui, then she would be able to get what she wanted from her man—Cheng Yun, the boss’s assistant.

“She was the subeditor of a local newspaper office and had come by twice.” The girl recalled. “She knew our manager ever since then. As to the man following Ren Ziling, I don’t know him. Maybe a close friend or a brother as can be seen from their intimate relationship.”

Cheng Yun inhaled a smoke hard, breathing it out slowly. “A subeditor? Hm…”

—Chapter End—