The three of us stepped into the inner chamber. Drawing out my phone, I swiftly composed a message and sent it forth.
No more than twenty minutes later, the door to the office creaked open. Soon after, Miriam’s voice pierced the silence:
"It's usually as difficult to see you as scaling the heavens, yet now at talk of parting, you arrive with such haste..."
Guo Shuang had arrived.
His tone remained irritable:
"Enough of these idle words. Let’s part amicably. The money you demanded is here. Now, where are the materials?"
Miriam tapped the table lightly and replied,
"Here, just these few discs—take them!"
A heavy silence settled beyond the door. After a moment, Guo Shuang’s voice rang out again, tinged with disbelief,
"Miriam, don’t think I’m a fool—how can it be only these discs? Where are the original recordings?"
A cold, mirthless chuckle escaped Miriam’s lips: