Qi Yun turned his head, puzzled, and asked, "Is there anything else?"
Wei Yong leaned in again, grinning, and said, "The day after tomorrow is Sisi’s birthday. If you’re not busy, why not bring your daughter over to our place for a meal?"
Qi Yun was taken aback; his sister-in-law’s birthday?
He paused for a moment before answering, "I’ll try. Not sure if I’ll be free. If I can’t make it, don’t hold it against me."
"Alright." Wei Yong patted Qi Yun’s shoulder and said, "I know you have a lot going on. Come if you have time, it’s okay if you don’t."
It was already afternoon when Qi Yun left the fruit supermarket and drove back to Quanji Hotel. Earlier, Ignacio had called to set up a meeting in the hotel’s café.
Qi Yun walked through the lobby and immediately spotted Ignacio sitting in a corner. He adjusted his clothes and walked over to him.
"Mr. Ignacio, thank you for taking the time to meet with me," Qi Yun said with a smile, extending his hand.
Ignacio stood up and shook Qi Yun’s hand, replying politely, "No need to be so formal, Mr. Qi. Please, have a seat."
Qi Yun nodded and, after sitting down, said, "Mr. Ignacio, your Chinese is impressive. Have you been living in China for a long time?"
"Thank you for the compliment," Ignacio smiled and explained, "I’ve been in China for two and a half years and am currently teaching at Shizi University." ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢~𝔫𝔢𝔱
A hint of surprise flashed in Qi Yun’s eyes: "I see, that’s a renowned institution. Do you teach courses related to history?"
Ignacio nodded, "Yes, I teach courses related to European history and archaeology. Chinese students find these subjects fascinating, and interacting with them has given me many new insights."
After some conversation, Qi Yun found this bearded man quite likable, not arrogant, and very easygoing.
After thinking for a bit, he then apologized: "I’m sorry, Mr. Ignacio. I deceived you. I’m not actually the hotel’s guest room manager. I only pretended to be because I wanted to ask you a question."
Qi Yun originally thought the other person would be very angry after hearing this, but he was wrong.
Ignacio simply smiled and shook his head: "Actually, I already knew, because I’m a regular at this hotel and know the guest room manager."
Qi Yun was slightly taken aback and asked, "Then why didn’t you expose me?"
Ignacio took a sip of coffee and answered, "Because I could sense you had no ill intentions, and I really liked the gift you brought."
"Haha, is that so?" Qi Yun laughed awkwardly, "Thank you for your generosity."
Ignacio waved his hand, "No worries. If you have any questions I can help with, I won’t hesitate to assist if I can."
Qi Yun, hearing this, nodded and took a piece of paper out of his pocket to hand over.
"This is a set of numbers I came across by chance. I heard they’re related to the 19th-century Spaniard Jose Echegaray. They look like they’ve been encrypted, so I wanted to ask for your help to take a look."
These were coordinates he had copied down before leaving that morning. Being cautious, he only copied half of them onto the paper.
He thought that if the other could crack it, he would ask for help with the other half when the time was right.
Ignacio took the paper, his gaze moving to the set of numbers.
He frowned slightly, his fingers unconsciously tapping lightly on the table, deep in thought.
After a long while, he looked up and said to Qi Yun, "This set of numbers has indeed been encrypted. It should be a set of coordinates, but the numbers you have are incomplete; a part is missing."
Qi Yun nodded, not denying it.
"That’s right, that’s what I deduced as well. I’m still looking for the other half of the coordinates."
Although he felt the other person was sincere and probably had no ulterior motives, Qi Yun still didn’t reveal the whole truth.
After all, they had only met once, and he couldn’t easily trust the other person yet.