CHAPTER 1555: CHAPTER 1607: THE SIGNING CEREMONY

But obviously, Tonohei miscalculated. He also didn’t know what happened last night, so seeing Li Yifei again, he was somewhat surprised, but only for a moment. He quickly found a reason for himself, thinking that the reason Li Yifei hadn’t died was because the assassins hadn’t made their move yet.

Knowing Li Yifei could fight, Tonohei didn’t bother to think about using force against Li Yifei, so he just sneered and looked at Li Yifei with unfriendly eyes, saying, "You really are like a ghost that won’t disperse!"

Li Yifei, as if he just noticed the other party, responded to Sarama before turning his head to look at Tonohei, his expression unchanged. However, Sarama, beside him, wasn’t having it when she heard Tonohei’s sarcasm. She glared and said, "Daring to wander around looking like that? Aren’t you afraid of scaring people, or maybe flowers and plants or something? Truly a crime, it’s only through Allah’s mercy that your kind hasn’t faced extinction yet."

"You..." Tonohei was about to retort, but realizing that this beautiful and sharp-tongued woman was a princess of the royal family, and that her martial strength was equally astonishing, he wouldn’t gain any advantage if he angered her.

Thinking this way, Tonohei could only snort heavily, leaving a sentence behind, "Today is the signing ceremony. You had better behave, or... if you provoke the royal family, even as a princess, it’s no use."

Sarama wanted to retort, was about to open her mouth but was pulled back by Li Yifei, who shook his head, gesturing for her not to speak.

This time, no security guards blocked them, and the two went straight into the venue, seeing Wu Shuwei and Angelina from afar, standing in front of an official dressed in Arab robes, saying something.

But the other party seemed impatient on his face, said a few words, and turned away.

Li Yifei happened to lead Sarama over, entering the venue. Sarama still held Li Yifei’s arm, seemingly never thinking about letting go and indifferent to the gazes around. Li Yifei glanced at his arm, but Sarama didn’t care about his gaze, so he had to let her be.

As they walked over, they heard Angelina mumbling, "What’s with this attitude, did he forget when he begged us before? And now he dares act like this, it’s really excessive."

Wu Shuwei didn’t say anything, but she was visibly angry too.

"Who is this person? Two sisters, tell me, and I’ll go find him!" Sarama asked unhappily as she walked over.

"He’s an official from the Ministry of Commerce, truly excessive!" Angelina said.

Wu Shuwei pulled her, but it was too late, Sarama nodded, turning around ready to teach that official a lesson, Li Yifei held her hand, saying, "No need, he will come over and apologize soon."

"Why?" Sarama asked in confusion, and Wu Shuwei, as well as Angelina, seemed not to understand, looking at Li Yifei.

Li Yifei just smiled mysteriously, saying, "Just wait."

Pretending to be mysterious and keeping them in suspense, the three women had no choice. Wu Shuwei had no mind to play guessing games with Li Yifei, Angelina didn’t care, and although Sarama was curious, if Golden Eagle didn’t say, she wouldn’t ask, no matter how much she wanted to know.

At eleven o’clock, the official host asked the audience to quiet down, first introducing the people signing this time, and who was on both sides, giving a brief introduction of the guests. Following this, another official came on stage, gave a speech, and then it was Tonohei’s turn. He wore a suit, his hair meticulously combed, shiny with oils, but had to adjust the microphone downward as, despite wearing a suit worth tens of thousands, he was too short to reach it.

Seeing this scene, Sarama chuckled. That Japanese man was only about one meter and sixty, while Sarama was around one meter seventy, she had to slightly bow her head to look at Tonohei.

Li Yifei also chuckled, looking at Sarama, which made her laugh even more.

Wu Shuwei didn’t laugh although it was somewhat comical, because unless a miracle happened, today’s signing ceremony would continue as usual. It would be nice if the person on stage suddenly collapsed, although it wouldn’t change the outcome, it might at least delay it, giving her more time.

However, this was merely a hope, Wu Shuwei pursed her lips, thinking somewhat helplessly.

On stage, Tonohei didn’t bring the manuscript. He thought people who delivered speeches without notes were very impressive; therefore, he prepared weeks in advance to memorize his and deliver it without a script. He began by thanking the Dubai side and those present.

However, he excessively brought up Wu Shuwei and the others, specifically pointing them out, saying directly, thanking the competitors, thanking those people for their efforts, but the Japanese side was evidently more outstanding. Hence, this successful signing.

Between the lines, he implied those people served as a foil to the Japanese company. Without these ’green leaves’, the excellence of the company Tonohei represented wouldn’t stand out.

This statement was quite hateful. Today at the scene, no other companies were present, so count it, only the company represented by Wu Shuwei and Angelina had people there, making this an obvious mock at the two.

"Excessive!" Sarama said, clenching her fist.

Li Yifei shook his head, saying, "Typical."

"It’s not normal. Winning is winning, it’s just a business cooperation, no need to be so arrogant. Even on the battlefield, there are no eternal enemies, let alone in business. It’s foolish to offend your opponent to death like this!" Sarama said.

Li Yifei agreed with this statement, but he only said, "Most countries and people in the world are normal, but some countries and people are not normal."

"I get it, you’re saying these Little Japan aren’t normal!" Sarama covered her mouth, laughing as she spoke.

Li Yifei gave the other a knowing look, and Sarama kept raising her eyebrows.

On stage, Tonohei was still speaking, using all kinds of flowery language, but his Japanese-accented English was immensely obscure, even more difficult to understand than Indian English, leaving many reporters with bewildered faces, half understanding after listening for a long time.

"Thank you all, I’m done!" Tonohei finished speaking and led the applause, which resulted in a sparse round of clapping; it wasn’t very enthusiastic, but there are always people who suck up.

As he walked down, Tonohei asked Honda Takeshi, "How was it? If this speech is sent back home, many people will give a thumbs up, right?"

"Yes, yes, that’s a must. This speech was the best I’ve ever seen," Honda Takeshi exclaimed, giving a thumbs up and looking very excited.

After their bout of mutual admiration, officials from Dubai came on stage and similarly spouted a lot of nonsense.

At this moment, Li Yifei and the others realized a truth: it’s not only Huaxia officials who love talking nonsense, many officials from other countries are the same.

Once these people finished babbling, it was already eleven-thirty, the exact time for signing the agreement.

Tonohei looked pridefully at Li Yifei’s side, as if saying that the signing was about to happen, and once the contract is signed, they’ve completely lost. Suffer, I want to see more pain in your eyes.

Someone called Tonohei to the stage; he was Japan’s representative for signing, so he would get even more spotlight.

With both sides prepared, the smugness on Tonohei’s face became even more pronounced, almost breaking into a full-blown grin.

"Alright, let’s sign!" Tonohei struck a few poses, allowing people off-stage to take a bunch of photos, and then gently reminded the Dubai officials.

The other party nodded and prepared to sign, when suddenly, a few people walked in from outside. Leading them were two middle-aged men in Arab robes; one was very lean, and the other was somewhat fat. The fat one was Prince Parsons, and the thin one was Dubai’s Minister of Commerce.

As soon as they entered, they were noticed by the people on stage. Tonohei looked puzzled at Parsons. Most of his success in securing the signing was due to Parsons, though there were other efforts involved. Nonetheless, the credit mainly went to Prince Parsons. Didn’t he say he wouldn’t come today? Why did he show up, and who is that person beside him, causing those officials to be so respectful?

Off-stage, Wu Shuwei frowned, full of confusion. She knew the Minister of Commerce, but he usually appeared at major national-level business occasions, so why was he here now?

And why did that prince squeeze out a smile toward our side? Wasn’t he on very close terms with those Japanese?

Angelina was also puzzled, while Sarama seemed a bit irritated. She knew from yesterday that Uncle Parsons had already arranged for someone to assassinate Li Yifei. She had planned to deal with those killers today, but Li Yifei said it was settled.

She was puzzled as to how it got settled, but she had unconditional faith in Li Yifei, so she didn’t go looking for trouble with Parsons. Seeing him now, Sarama was still very angry.

Li Yifei nodded to Parsons, and the latter returned the nod, indicating for Li Yifei not to worry.

Not doing as I say is fine, but bear the consequences yourself! Li Yifei thought to himself.

A few officers huddled together, conversing in Arabic. They looked at the Minister of Commerce, full of confusion, repeatedly asking questions. Seeing his confident replies, they stopped asking further, but their faces still betrayed bewilderment.

Tonohei initially wanted to greet Parsons, but Parsons didn’t even look at him, so Tonohei never found an opportunity to say hello. Why is it so strange? Tonohei thought to himself, but then he reconsidered – having the Minister of Commerce come to sign is much better than those small fries. When this gets back home, won’t I look even better? Thinking this way, his mood improved further.

However, a Dubai official walked over, tugged at his sleeve, with a somewhat odd expression. Tonohei turned his head, tilted his head to look at the other, and asked, "What’s up?"

The other whispered a few words in Tonohei’s ear, and Tonohei immediately looked surprised, incredulous, and asked, "How could it be? Did you hear wrong?!"