Li Fan took out a very small notebook from inside his clothes pocket and placed it on the table.
Looking at the notebook, Yang Yi's heart fluttered suddenly, then he said in a deep voice, "Is this address book for me?"
Li Fan replied calmly, "Not necessarily, it depends on your final choice. Before you make your decision, we'd better have a talk first."
Yang Yi nodded. He looked at the notebook on the table and fell silent for a long time before finally saying in a low voice, "If this is an address book, then how did you get it?"
Li Fan replied calmly, "Your father was worried he might encounter some misfortune, so he wanted to leave you some lifelines. On the day he met with me, which was the day something happened to him, he said a few meaningless words to me. But having interacted with him before, I was able to understand the significance of those words. After I met with you, I found the marks he left in the textbook in your backpack and pieced together this address book."
Yang Yi was very confused and asked, "Nowadays, communication is so advanced, we have cellphones, we have email, what information can't be said over the phone that must be discussed in person instead?"
Li Fan smiled, shook his head, and said, "You don't understand these things. Phones and computers cannot secure any secrets and are certainly not foolproof communication tools. If your father knew he was being watched and was about to face a deadly crisis, would he risk speaking to me on the phone? Besides that, he would undoubtedly choose the most primitive and safest method of face-to-face communication to pass on information."
After finishing, Li Fan said with a sorrowful expression, "Unfortunately, your father misjudged the situation."
Yang Yi exhaled and then said in a low voice, "My father died because he was trying to give you a piece of information."
"Yes, that's the only reason."
"Can I ask what the information was?"
Li Fan was silent for a moment, then nodded and said, "It's not that I can't tell you, but that I genuinely don't know. Before our meeting, your father wouldn't have told me what the information was. However, this information is related to the Grey-cloaked People, and it's because of this information that he was brought to a violent end."
"The Grey-cloaked People? Who are they?"
"The Grey-cloaked People aren't a person but an organization, a very mysterious transnational intelligence organization with a long history and great power. I suspect your father was one of them, or at least had connections with them, but this is just speculation."
"Tell me more about this Grey-cloaked People organization."
Li Fan pondered for a moment, then spoke in a low voice, "The Grey-cloaked People are old opponents of ours, not just of Huaxia, but of every country. It's safe to say that the Grey-cloaked People are the enemy of every sovereign nation. This organization is extremely secretive; otherwise, they wouldn't have survived until today. So, aside from knowing there's a mysterious organization called the Grey-cloaked People, we know nothing else about them."
After speaking, Li Fan waved his hand to emphasize his tone and said seriously, "I must also emphasize that 'Grey-cloaked People' is the colloquial name used in the international intelligence community because the members of this organization often wear grey suits. This is the accepted nomenclature rather than their actual name."
Scratching his head, Yang Yi said with a look of distress, "A mysterious transnational organization is the prime culprit behind my father's death, and you can't even deal with them. This really feels quite chilling."
Lowering his hand, Yang Yi looked at Li Fan with a puzzled face and asked, "Why suddenly tell me this, I mean, after so many years, why did you suddenly appear today? And such a coincidence, showing up right when I was taken away by the police. You should be very busy, right? Are you saying you've been keeping a covert watch over me this whole time? Have you had someone surveilling me? This feeling is even more chilling. Could it be that I'm harboring some huge secret?"
Li Fan shook his head and whispered, "There's no huge secret hidden on you. I have indeed been keeping an eye on you, but today's incident is just a coincidence."
"A coincidence? It's a bit too coincidental, isn't it? You come right after I've been taken into custody."
Li Fan sighed and then whispered, "Alright, consider today's incident an opportunity. I've always been unsure whether I should tell you about this, but after learning about today's events, I suddenly made up my mind. You are old enough to know all this, so I came."
With a look of surprise, Yang Yi exclaimed, "Ah, so Xiao Ran wasn't arranged by you."
Li Fan paused, then said, "Xiao Ran? The girl who got into trouble with you? Why would I arrange for her to do anything? Meeting you is simple for me; there's no need for subterfuge."
Yang Yi forced a smile and said, "Alright, I just felt that Xiao Ran was acting, it seemed genuine at first, but later when she cried, I always thought it seemed fake, so I was thinking all this while whether it was a play you had arranged."
Li Fan suddenly turned serious and said sternly, "Acting in front of you?"
Frowning and pondering for a moment, Li Fan suddenly stood up, opened the door of the interrogation room, and spoke in a low voice to someone Yang Yi couldn't see outside the door, "Go check the others carefully."
Li Fan sat back down, and Yang Yi whispered, "No way? You think there's something wrong? Targeting me?"
Li Fan said, "A check will make it clear, the possibility of it being directed at you isn't high, but you still need to be careful. All right, let's continue with your story, do you want to join the intelligence department?"
Yang Yi expressed his indignation, "This topic really gets me angry. I know my dad was a spy, and I always believed he was sent by the state, so I truly wanted to serve my country. As graduation approached, the security department came to our school to recruit, and I applied. I passed the written exam and the interview, but then I was bewildered. I had been officially accepted, yet a week later, someone notified me that I had been rejected, and the reason—get this—was because I was too handsome! What kind of reason is that? If you're going to mess with me, at least find a proper excuse!"
Li Fan gave an awkward smile and said, "Well, you probably don't know that you passed both the written test and the interview with full marks."
Yang Yi waved his hand dismissively, "I didn't know, but it's not surprising."
Li Fan cleared his throat twice and said, "It was me who had you rejected. Your identity doesn't suit joining our nation's intelligence agency because your overseas connections are too complicated and too sensitive. So even though I believe you're the best prospect I've seen, I can't allow you to join. It's an ironclad rule that can't be broken. I'm sorry, although people are keeping an eye on you, they're not always watching you, or else you wouldn't have been accepted in the first place."
What could Yang Yi say? He could only wave his hand helplessly.
Li Fan also spread his hands and then said with a face full of helplessness, "As for being too handsome, that reason was serious as well. You really are too handsome, handsome to the point where you aren't suitable to be a spy. If you were placed in an office to do clerical work until you were old, you wouldn't be happy, right?"
Yang Yi touched his chin, still feeling wronged, "So there's something wrong with being too handsome. Fine, my dad blends into a crowd, and it's the same with you. It seems that being a spy really doesn't work with being too handsome."
"007 is just a movie. The life of a real spy is hard, exhausting, dangerous, ordinary, boring, and not fun. Sometimes, you even have to give up many pleasures that normal people enjoy. Your conditions and talents are perfect for being a spy, but your personality isn't fit for it."
After voicing his opinion, Li Fan spoke with a lot of emotion, "Your mother really was very beautiful, and you take after your mother. If you had taken after your father, then you wouldn't have been so handsome."
Yang Yi spoke with some frustration, "It seems that you don't want me to become a spy or a special agent. So why are you telling me all this today? What's your real purpose?"
Li Fan said gravely, "I owe your father a huge favor, an enormous one, and thus it's my obligation and responsibility to protect you, at least until you grow up. I really would like you to lead a simple, happy, and fulfilling ordinary life, but I'm not your father or your guardian, so I don't have the right to plan your future life. I intended to tell you all this when you turned eighteen, but I felt you were still too young, so I postponed it until you were twenty, and then again until twenty-two. Today, I finally feel it's time to tell you everything and to pass on the most important legacy your father left you."
Yang Yi pointed to the small booklet on the table, "That one?"
"That's the one."
Yang Yi took a deep breath, smiled, and said, "Then give it to me."
Li Fan placed his hand on the booklet and said solemnly, "You need to think carefully. This address book seems simple, but once you've looked through it, it signifies your farewell to a peaceful life."
Yang Yi frowned, "Why? Can't I just look and then decide what to do? Maybe after reading it, I won't do anything at all."
Li Fan shook his head and said somberly, "I can tell you that it contains names and phone numbers, all of whom were your father's former friends or business partners, and each of them is a spy. This small booklet is a spy network. Once you look through it, it means you can establish contact with a spy network. With your father's status and connections before he passed away, this address book is enough for you to complete a lot of major tasks."
Yang Yi laughed, "That doesn't mean I'll necessarily contact them."
Li Fan still shook his head, saying gravely, "Once you have this address book, it means you pose a threat to any country, or at least you're an unstable element. I have only two choices: either have someone watch over you for your entire life or have you leave this country. What do you think I'll choose?"
Yang Yi sighed deeply. He wiped his eyes, then he spoke slowly, "As for revenge, I don't see much point in it, but I've always been suspicious about how my mother died. So I've also been contemplating revenge, although I've never mentioned it to anyone or shown any signs over the years."
Li Fan just watched Yang Yi calmly.
Yang Yi laughed softly and said in a low voice, "I have too good a memory; never forgetting anything sounds great but it's a curse for me because I can't forget my mom. I can't forget every little moment from my childhood, can't forget how my mom loved me, can't forget how I loved my mom. My dad rarely came home, so my feelings toward him aren't very strong, but he is still my dad and he was good to me. My yearning isn't intense but it's not absent. As for my mom..."
Yang Yi ran his fingers through his long hair, then he said with a grave voice, "Do you think I wouldn't avenge my mom, whom I've missed day and night for eleven years?"
Li Fan sighed deeply and said softly, "Have you thought it through?"
Yang Yi replied calmly, "From the second I saw you, I knew my opportunity had arrived, an opportunity I've waited for eleven years, and which I thought would never come. So you don't need to ask these questions anymore."
Li Fan slowly removed his hand from the booklet, then he said expressionlessly, "I'm giving you a month to leave Huaxia. Wherever you want to go, I'll arrange it for you. Additionally, I'll personally give you a hundred thousand yuan from my own funds. I don't have much in savings, this is all I can offer. Now, you can take the address book."