The country entrusted me to buy an aircraft carrier, Hou Liangping, do you dare to investigate?

He knew that Zhang Kai's words were not entirely unfounded, but he was unwilling to believe them easily.

Huang Feipeng moved through the busy night, his mind churning with thoughts, so much so that he didn't notice the strangeness under his feet. He kept recalling Zhang Kai's appearance and departure, glancing around warily, pondering the meaning of the question, "What do you really want?" He was always accustomed to calmly analyzing situations, meticulously planning and controlling everything, but at this moment he felt an unprecedented sense of helplessness, as if standing at a crossroads of choices, unable to move forward or backward.

As he was pondering these chaotic thoughts, he caught a glimpse of incongruous darkness out of the corner of his eye. Looking down, he discovered that his shoes... were gone!

Huang Feipeng froze, looking down at his feet, blinking in disbelief. One of his bare feet was on the cold, hard ground, the chill of the ground against his skin traveling up his calf to his heart, bringing an unusual coldness. He was startled; how had he lost his shoe? How could such a grown man not have noticed? Had he lost it in a moment of distraction when Zhang Kai left? As he pondered this, a helpless, bitter smile welled up inside him.

"Am I getting senile, or have I just been having a really bad run of luck lately?" he muttered to himself, scratching his head and giving a bitter laugh that was half self-deprecating and half helpless, with a hint of displeasure in his heart. He carefully recalled his steps just now, and it seemed that there was something loose under his feet, but he hadn't paid attention to it before, just thinking it was an illusion caused by his upset state. Who would have thought that his shoe had actually come off?

Huang Feipeng looked around, then crouched down to search for his "missing" shoe in the grass. He chuckled inwardly, amused that he'd been reduced to playing "hide-and-seek" with his shoe in the dead of night. The area was sparsely populated, even the streetlights were dim and blurry, and the surrounding vegetation seemed to be mocking him. He shook his head with a wry smile. What was even more ironic was that he'd been walking this path for quite some time; if the shoe had fallen halfway down, he'd probably have left it somewhere inconspicuous behind him long ago.

He stood up, sighed, and helplessly looked around, trying to find some clues in the blurry night, as if still clinging to a sliver of hope that the shoes would miraculously appear before him. But after searching for a long time, he only saw a few scattered, flattened leaves and some trampled grass on the ground; there was no sign of the shoes.

"What the hell!" Huang Feipeng muttered under his breath, then reluctantly took a few more steps forward, carefully searching the dimly lit roadside. He even half-squatted down and parted the grass, trying to find his poor shoes. He was filled with frustration and bewilderment. It was truly absurd that a grown man would lose his shoes in the middle of the night and have to search for them all by himself.

"Shoe, oh shoe, where did you hide?" He shook his head, sighed, and muttered to himself, his tone filled with helplessness, yet sounding utterly absurd in the silent night. He carefully examined all the surrounding bushes, even the corners, but still found nothing, as if the shoe had been swallowed by the night, vanishing without a trace.

Just as he was about to give up, resignedly thinking he'd get a new pair tomorrow, he suddenly heard a soft laugh coming from not far away. The laugh carried a hint of mockery and disdain, like a whisper in the night wind, gently drifting into his ears. His heart tightened, and he looked up in the direction of the sound, only to see a dark figure standing beside a large tree ahead, arms crossed, looking at him with a half-smile.

Huang Feipeng frowned, watching the man warily, his heart filled with suspicion. He knew this man was no good, and might even have some unknown motive, like Zhang Kai. However, he was currently in a terrible state, having even lost his shoes.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Huang Feipeng, you've really opened my eyes." The man slowly walked out, gently shaking the shoe in his hand. Huang Feipeng looked closely and found that the man was holding his missing shoe!

His heart sank. He stared coldly at the other person, his tone icy: "Is this your doing?"

The man chuckled and shook the shoe in his hand, revealing a smug smile: "We just happened to meet. I saw your shoe on the ground and kindly picked it up. I just didn't expect you to have been looking for it for so long. It's made me a little bored."

"Give me back my shoes." Huang Feipeng's gaze was icy, his tone filled with unquestionable authority. He had already reached his limit of restraint, silently warning himself not to act rashly, but the anger and humiliation he felt were hard to suppress.

The man shrugged dismissively, a hint of contempt in his eyes. "Huang Feipeng, you're still so impatient. Don't forget, you need to have the right attitude when asking for help, especially someone like you who's in a disadvantaged position." A provocative glint appeared in his eyes, seemingly extremely pleased with Huang Feipeng's reaction.

Huang Feipeng snorted coldly, a sharp glint in his eyes. He knew this man was clearly there to cause trouble, and might even have been waiting for him all along. Suppressing his anger, he calmly said, "I don't want to waste time. If you don't give me back my shoes, don't blame me for being impolite."

The other party merely sneered upon hearing this, a provocative smile on his face: "You're not polite? Huang Feipeng, have you forgotten what you look like now? Do you think I'm afraid of you?" He tilted his head slightly, his eyes filled with mockery, as if Huang Feipeng's threat was nothing but a futile struggle in his eyes.

Huang Feipeng narrowed his eyes slightly, secretly pondering the other party's intentions. He knew this person was clearly up to no good, likely related to the trouble Zhang Kai had mentioned, and since he was alone, it wasn't wise to act rashly. He suppressed his anger and calmly said, "Since you have my things, name your terms. Tell me, what do you want?"

The man was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting Huang Feipeng to be so calm. His smile froze for a moment before he regained his smug expression and gently shook the shoe in his hand: "As expected of Huang Feipeng, you can actually stay calm under such circumstances. However, you are right, I do have conditions."

Huang Feipeng looked up, staring directly at the other person, his tone icy and sharp: "What are the conditions?"

The man chuckled, a hint of mockery in his eyes: "It's simple. Just tell me what you and Zhang Kai were talking about, and maybe I'll consider giving your shoes back. Otherwise... you'll probably be going home barefoot tonight."