The private room was extremely quiet, with Mr. Morgan and Edward's gaze towards Luo An filled with speechlessness and surprise.
The entire case, from being entrusted to Luo An for investigation to him messaging that the case had been solved, took just over a week, not even two weeks.
Upon receiving the message, Mr. Morgan and Edward exchanged glances, both seeing disbelief in each other's eyes.
The two called around to confirm the news was true. After hanging up, Mr. Morgan's brow was furrowed with tension and Edward was dumbfounded.
Both shocked and awed, they now understood how Luo An's investigation team managed to maintain a one hundred percent case-solving rate and realized they had underestimated Luo An's excellence.
Taking a deep breath to calm their shock, the same question emerged in both of their minds: How exactly did Luo An do it? They decided to have a detailed chat when they met today.
But Luo An told them it was a secret.
Seeing the displeased expressions on the faces of the two white elder men, Luo An chuckled calmly and said:
"Both of you are old players in the business field. You must understand the importance of patents.
Solving cases is my patent. What if I told someone else and they learned to imitate it?"
Mr. Morgan laughed, shaking his head, guiding them with the attitude of someone experienced:
"A market can only thrive with competition, maintaining a company's drive to constantly strive and innovate."
"Exactly."
Edward, very keen to satisfy his curiosity, continued Morgan's sentiment, coaxing:
"Once there are no competitors, a company will inevitably lose its momentum and direction.
Luo An, you're still young, the waters here are too deep for you to handle alone, so you mustn't work in isolation. Morgan and I can help you spot issues and summarize some experiences."
Luo An: "..."
Seeing the two old men shamelessly trying to hoodwink him, a naive young person with little worldly experience, Luo An repeatedly shook his head and said:
"Although I'm just an ordinary person graduated from Massachusetts University, I know one thing: in any business, monopoly is the most profitable."
"..."x2
The room quieted down again, Mr. Morgan and Edward exchanged a wry look, then simultaneously picked up their wine glasses, with Morgan remarking:
"Luo An, you truly are a very impressive young man."
Edward added:
"At least you've got a thicker skin than other young people your age."
Luo An raised his glass and nodded with a smile:
"Much of the credit goes to you, my respected seniors. I'm sincerely grateful."
Edward's eyelid twitched, his hand shaking slightly holding the wine glass, while Morgan laughed loudly:
"Truly a kid who hates to be at a loss!"
The three of them tacitly changed the subject to something else, chatting casually for a while before Luo An asked:
"Mr. Morgan, is this place a branch of our alumni club in Washington D.C?"
"No, this place belongs to a private club of a friend."
Mr. Morgan shook his head and smiled:
"I don't come here often, but the dishes are quite good. The chef is a world-renowned chef from the French Republic; you should definitely try it later."
"By the way."
At that moment, Edward's eyes lit up. He patted Luo An on the shoulder and whispered:
"Luo An, have you ever seen the movie 'Eye-Opener?'
'Eye-Opener' was released in 1999, starred by that famous Hollywood couple, and the film's plot and content are also very well-known.
Luo An had not seen this movie in theaters, but he had critically reviewed the... plot of this movie at home.
Hearing Edward's words, something clicked for Luo An, a peculiar gleam in his eyes:
"Does this place also host the kind of parties seen in 'Eye-Opener?'"
"Not currently."
Edward smiled and did not continue.
Luo An was silent for a moment, took a small sip of the red wine, shook his head, and did not continue the discussion on this topic. Seeing this, Edward did not say more. Mr. Morgan looked at his watch and stood up saying:
"Luo An, it's almost dinner time, let's go to the restaurant and talk while eating."
"OK."
The three men tidied up briefly and left the private room for the restaurant. The food prepared by a renowned chef from the French Republic was indeed very delicious, similar to the restaurant that Mona and Luo An had visited the day before, with the only drawback being that it was not quite filling.
During the meal, Luo An casually inquired about Charles Greenwood from Mr. Morgan and Edward, as they had previously mentioned knowing Charles.
Mr. Morgan and Edward indicated that they didn't know much about that area and suggested that Luo An could use Gold Coins to post a reward within the club, perhaps to obtain useful clues or information.
Luo An did not discuss this matter further after hearing this. After finishing the meal and some small talk, he prepared to leave and return home.
"Here is the business card of this private club."
Before leaving, Edward handed Luo An a pale gold card and an odd-shaped mask without eyebrows, smiling:
"You can come more often and meet some friends."
"Thank you."
Luo An put away the card and mask and turned to leave under the guidance of the staff.
Watching Luo An's disappearing figure, the smile on Edward's face slowly faded. After a few seconds of silence, he asked in a low voice:
"What do you think Luo An will choose?"
"Luo An is not Jewish, and he does not have close relations with Jewish people, nor are there any Jewish people around him."
Mr. Morgan took a sip from his glass, turned, and walked back, nonchalantly saying:
"He has his own thoughts and understands the story behind that history, which is enough."
Edward nodded slightly, chuckled, and walked back with Mr. Morgan, then asked:
"Shall we have another round of bets?"
"..."
————
Downstairs, Luo An casually tossed the mask onto the passenger seat and started the car, driving off slowly.
This time, Luo An drove very slowly, preferring to wait at red lights rather than speeding past as he usually would.
After turning at some intersection, Luo An glanced at the rearview mirror, his usually expressionless face suddenly smiling.
Returning to the villa, Mona was in the living room organizing clothes she had bought. Seeing Luo An return, she immediately stood up, walked over to him, and asked in a low voice:
"Did you find any clues at the club?"
"No, and I don't intend to ask."
Luo An changed into his slippers, hugged Mona, and walked into the kitchen, saying:
"I'm thinking of making something to eat; the food at that club was good but not filling. Would you like to join?"
Mona's brow furrowed upon hearing this:
"Luo An, what do you mean? Are you not investigating?"
"We still need to investigate, but not now."
Luo An scooped up Mona, sat her on the kitchen counter, and whispered in her ear:
"There's no hurry."
Mona was even more puzzled, but as Luo An continued talking, the confusion in her eyes slowly disappeared and she finally nodded, quietly saying:
"I didn't eat enough tonight either; let's have some steak."
"OK."
Luo An smiled, kissed Mona for a moment, then went upstairs to change clothes before returning to the kitchen to prepare a late-night meal.
Over the next month, Luo An led a special investigative team of agents handling follow-up on cases during the day, and returned home to rest or went out to dine and play with Mona. His lifestyle was very regular.
A month later, Luo An drove to Wall Street in New York, and as the car moved, another car slowly followed him.