Chapter 31: The Withdrawal Scandal

Back in the dormitory, Ye Feng lay down, exhausted both physically and mentally. Too many things had happened in these past few days—so many that he felt overwhelmed.
“Perhaps leaving is the best choice…” Ye Feng stared blankly at the bed above him.
“But I really can’t abandon Brother Long… However, if I take action, that woman, Pearl, will surely target those who share a room with me, and even classmates I’m usually close to might suffer unjustly.” Ye Feng slowly analyzed the situation before him.
“If Brother Long’s forces are truly eliminated by that woman, the next one she’ll target should be me. After all, I’m also a potential threat to them…”
“If I choose to leave, Pearl might think I’ve returned to that huge organization she imagined, meaning the potential threat is gone, and she probably won’t target Xu Qiang and the others. If she still attacks them after I leave, it would be an act of provoking me and the forces behind me—she shouldn’t do such a thing.”
“It seems leaving is my best option. By hiding in the shadows, I won’t harm those around me, yet I can still secretly help Brother Long…” With these thoughts, Ye Feng slowly closed his eyes.
The next morning, Ye Feng had breakfast as usual before calmly dialing the number Christine had given him.
“Ye Feng?” Christine was clearly surprised that Ye Feng had made up his mind so quickly. “Have you decided?”
“If I leave this time, where will our destination be?” Ye Feng took a deep breath before asking.
“New York, America! Yi Fan specifically picked out ten Class D missions for you—four of them are in New York, and the other six are in nearby cities. There are also many missions available in China, but to avoid conflicts with local organizations, we chose America, where there’s more freedom,” Christine explained.
“New York… Okay, I’ll join!”
After hanging up, Ye Feng headed to the counselor’s office.
“What? You want to drop out? Why? If it’s a tuition issue, I can help you figure something out. You can share any difficulties you have.” The counselor naturally knew this top student in his first year—Ye Feng, who had been admitted as the top scorer in the college entrance exams and had ranked first in various tests throughout his freshman year.

“I got a job, and I’m going to New York in a few days…” Ye Feng shook his head.
“Ye Feng, you’re still young. I think studying is more important than making money. With a degree, you won’t have trouble finding a job. After all, only a few people achieve great things by dropping out. There’s only one Bill Gates and one Steve Jobs in the world. I hope you’ll seriously consider my advice,” the counselor insisted.
“Director Wang, I’ve thought it through carefully,” Ye Feng remained firm.
“Surely you haven’t been influenced by anything, have you?” the counselor was puzzled. “Which company is it? What does it do?”
“Well, you should ask the new teacher, Yi Fan. I’ll be his new colleague,” Ye Feng said, having no choice but to use Yi Fan as a shield.
“Yi Fan?” the counselor was surprised. “Didn’t he just arrive yesterday? Why do you want to drop out today? Are you trying to fool me?”
“You can call him and ask! Or I can call him myself!” Ye Feng said, pulling out his phone and dialing Yi Fan’s number.
“Hello, Ye Feng. I just heard from Kristin that you agreed?” Yi Fan’s voice came through the phone.
“That’s right. That’s why I’m handling the withdrawal now,” Ye Feng nodded helplessly. “I told him I’d be your new colleague, but he didn’t believe me. Why don’t you come over and explain it yourself?”
“No problem. I’ll be there in three minutes!” Yi Fan said before hanging up.
“He’s coming right away. Let him explain it himself—it’ll be more credible,” Ye Feng said with a smile.
“How do you know him? Didn’t he just arrive at our school yesterday?” the counselor couldn’t help asking.
“I met him yesterday during his speech…” Ye Feng replied with a helpless smile.
Before the counselor could ask more, Yi Fan arrived.
“Hello, Mr. Yi. I’m Wang Xu, their counselor. Just now, Ye Feng told me he wants to drop out and said he’d become your colleague. What’s going on here?” Seeing Yi Fan arrive, the counselor immediately shifted the focus of the conversation.

“That’s how it is, sir. Actually, my main purpose for returning to the country this time is to recruit a student with both excellent character and academic performance to join our company. Yesterday, I happened to meet Ye Feng, so I invited him right away. After school yesterday, we conducted a series of tests on him, and he passed them all very well. That’s why we plan to hire him as one of our new members. Moreover, we don’t have much time—we need to take him away within ten days… That’s the whole story…” Yi Fan explained in detail.

“May I ask what kind of company you are? It should be fine to tell me, right?” The counselor was still worried that they might be involved in human trafficking and remained cautious.

“A small software company. You probably won’t know its name anyway. How about this? I’ll give you my business card, and then you’ll know.” Yi Fan said as he took out a beautifully printed business card from his wallet and handed it to the counselor.

“You’re the CEO of this company?” The counselor looked at Yi Fan skeptically. “Mr. Yi Fan, please forgive my rudeness, but for the safety of my student, I must investigate this thoroughly. Could you wait a moment? I’ll check information about this company online. You shouldn’t mind, right?”

Yi Fan shrugged. “No problem. You can look it up on Google. There seems to be an introduction to our company on Wikipedia too…”

The counselor typed each word into the computer and then clicked search. The first result was the company’s homepage in English, and the second was Wikipedia. He selected the second one with the mouse and clicked the left button.

“31 Billion… $31 billion in annual revenue?” The counselor stared at Yi Fan in astonishment.

“It was roughly that amount last year!” Yi Fan nodded. “In the software industry, besides software development, our company occasionally creates some games as well… Actually, it started just as a hobby, but we never expected it to grow this big… Maybe we were just lucky…”

After getting this information, the counselor finally let Ye Feng go, even seeing Yi Fan off with admiration on his face.

“Bro Yi, that company is fake, right?” Not long after leaving the counselor’s office, Ye Feng couldn’t help but ask.

“Five years ago, after mastering all computer-related technologies, I used the savings from being a hunter to start a software company. I set aside some of my own skills and hired some senior management and technical talent, then left it to them. A year later, they used my skills to develop several software products, and the company’s business kept growing. By the year before last, its revenue exceeded $10 billion, and last year sales tripled… This was completely beyond my expectations. I just did it out of curiosity…” Yi Fan touched his nose.

“Then why do you still continue as a hunter? You’re already a billionaire and can fully enjoy life…” Ye Feng was somewhat puzzled.

“I’ve actually tried that lifestyle too—living a comfortable life and losing vigilance. I’m just born to work hard…” Yi Fan shook his head. “Being a hunter means there’s never a lack of excitement, always new experiences, and friends you can trust your life to. I have no reason to give it up.”

“When will we leave?” Ye Feng remained silent for a while before asking.

“It will take a day or two to handle your visa and passport, and it should take another day or two to complete your withdrawal from school. It depends on when you’re ready to leave. We have plenty of time off these days.” Yi Fan’s gaze through his glasses held a hint of sincerity. “Welcome to the team! We now have another friend we can trust through life and death!”

“Thank you. I don’t have much to deal with here; I just need to say goodbye to some friends…” Ye Feng also smiled sincerely, but then his expression turned slightly sad…

“You’ll come back. This departure isn’t a forever goodbye. There’s no need to look so sad. There’s still a long time ahead. True friends will recognize you at a glance no matter how long you’ve been away! Those who forget you aren’t true friends!” Seeing Ye Feng’s expression, Yi Fan patted his shoulder to comfort him.

“Very philosophical!” Ye Feng flattered Yi Fan slightly. “I know what to do. Don’t worry. I’ll leave with you within three days.”