Seeing me nod in agreement, the beautiful woman immediately asked, "The Qian Wang Ling is such an important item, you surely wouldn't carry it with you. Tell me, where did you hide it?"
"You... what do you mean?"
The beautiful woman's question caught me off guard. By the time I recovered, I had a vague understanding of her meaning.
Ignoring my expression, the beautiful woman said in a deep voice, "You have no right or qualification to question me. Just answer my question properly!"
Without thinking, I blurted out, "I can't tell you where I hid it, but it's definitely not on me!"
Upon hearing my answer, the beautiful woman looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, then immediately smiled.
"It seems you don't need my help to find that woman!"
"Since that's the case, then you can get out of the car and search for yourself."
"Let me remind you again, absolutely do not play any tricks, and don't even think about escaping!"
"Otherwise, you will definitely regret being born into this world!!!"
With that, the beautiful woman gestured with her eyes, signaling that I could get out of the car.
Without the slightest hesitation, I opened the door, got out, and quickly walked towards where Luo Tuo and Gao Jing were.
This beautiful woman in front of me was clearly problematic. She was likely a genuine accomplice of either the white-haired elder or the middle-aged man under Mr. He.
Moreover, this group... had their own agenda!
It wasn't difficult to reach this conclusion.
It all depended on what Mr. He wanted, and what his subordinates were helping him find.
It was certain that Mr. He wanted people.
Earlier, although he mentioned the Qian Wang Ling to me, his true meaning was that without half of the Qian Wang Ling, given the commotion I had caused in Haojiang at this juncture, he was justified in killing me.
Therefore, he gave me a chance to atone for my sins, making finding Yu Shuang, the true instigator of that farce, the top priority.
If I failed, the outcome would be being a scapegoat, coupled with the Qian Wang Ling being returned to its rightful owner.
As for his subordinates, on the surface, they were following his instructions. However...
Once back in the shadows, where no one could see, some people couldn't resist revealing their true nature.
They used Yu Shuang as bait, exploiting my desperate desire for self-preservation, to force me to reveal the hiding place of half the Qian Wang Ling first.
Although I wasn't entirely sure which of the white-haired elder or the middle-aged man the beautiful woman was coordinating with, secretly communicating, I knew one fact clearly.
That is: no matter what, I absolutely could not rashly reveal the whereabouts of the Qian Wang Ling.
I knew very well that if I grit my teeth and kept the hiding place of the Qian Wang Ling a secret, and then found Yu Shuang within the allotted time to hand over to Mr. He, there would still be a sliver of hope for survival.
Conversely, regardless of whether Yu Shuang was found within the specified time, as long as the news of the Qian Wang Ling was leaked, it would be a certain death, with my life held tightly in the hands of the beautiful woman's group!
If they were to keep their promise, I might have a chance to survive this desperate situation.
If their intention was to silence me, I would probably die the moment I spoke!
Rather than letting someone else decide a fate that was not clearly life or death, it was better for me to take a gamble myself.
Back in the Passat, without any further ado, I immediately instructed Gao Jing, the Haojiang local expert, to start calling everyone he knew to gather information about Yu Shuang and her group.
I understood Yu Shuang's personality too well; she was a woman who wouldn't give up easily until she achieved her goal.
Therefore, leaving was definitely not an option. She had to be in Haojiang, hidden somewhere unexpectedly safe...
...
According to relevant departments, surveillance systems were widely covered and popularized from 2008 to 2014.
Even though Haojiang's development and economic level far surpassed most of our country's cities, in '09, digital technology products were still in a stage of steady growth and hadn't reached a point of exceeding temporal dimensions.
To put it another way, trying to find someone through surveillance was completely unrealistic.
The most reliable method was to rely on the various social circles, the local power brokers of Haojiang.
I initially thought that for a small task like finding someone, the charging standards of Haojiang's social circles wouldn't be too expensive, similar to inland China.
But after Gao Jing made calls to all the friends he could use, I realized...
In such a city where every inch of land was precious, whatever required human effort, the price was simply unbearable!
Moreover, there was no such thing as a "friend's price."
A promise was a promise! The price was the price, and they absolutely refused to negotiate!
With my usual temper, even if the situation was urgent, I would never have bowed down knowing I was being ripped off.
But this time was different. Facing the super magnate Mr. He, who could turn things around with a flip of his hand, let alone fight back, I had no other choice.
Helplessly, I had to endure the exorbitant prices quoted by Gao Jing's group of shady friends.
Although I wasn't sure if these people could help me find Yu Shuang, pooling our efforts was much more efficient than running around like a headless fly.
I instructed Gao Jing to make it clear to his friends that regardless of whether they ultimately found Yu Shuang or gathered any information about her, they had to give me a definitive answer by 5 PM.
An extra hour was reserved to deal with the worst-case scenario.
Unlike my previous entanglements with Yu Shuang, where I always avoided her.
This time, I was constantly thinking about finding her as soon as possible, preferably face-to-face.
The sooner I found Yu Shuang, the greater my chance of survival.
Unfortunately, life is often unsatisfactory!
The more anxious a person is to accomplish something, the more likely they are to make mistakes and fail...
When I transferred money to Gao Jing's scoundrel friends, as soon as they received the money, they all acted like omniscient informants on the phone, saying that finding a woman was no problem and could be done in minutes!
But those "minutes" turned into me waiting until 5 PM.
That afternoon, around 5 PM.
After Gao Jing's last underworld contact called to report that the search had yielded no progress, I knew my time was running out.
After Gao Jing hung up the phone, Luo Tuo, who was beside him, immediately asked, "Boss, what's your next move?"