Chapter 114: The Critical Condition of Little Ye Zi

  Under the sign of "serving the people", a certain director personally received Zhou Yi and his party. To be honest, this was still giving face to Guan Wei, otherwise it would have been easy for Zhou Yi and the two drunkards to be relegated to the silk-piled room and wait.

  As expected, Director So made a phone call and then followed procedure to give an explanation to the people.

  "Officer, the missing person has been filed, and we will handle it according to procedure. However, we are also having difficulties now, you know, with such a large area to cover, how easy is it to find someone? Her legs are her own, not mine, right? Of course, I understand that your family member is missing, which is a big deal, but our police force is limited, look at the few dozen officers we have, responsible for such a large area. It's unbearable, the officers haven't had a holiday in a long time, don't laugh, our auxiliary police haven't even received last month's salary yet. It's unbearable, they're about to rebel, can your newspaper...?"

  Guan Wei was speechless, Zhou Yi shook his head, and Er Lai Zi stared blankly.

  What others said is actually not wrong, every family has its own unspeakable difficulties. It was originally just a land temple, how many things can it control? Do you think you are the Great Sage Sun? A god who summons the four directions will come to wipe your butt with his ass up, what do you think?

  "Uh, thank you, Fei Suo, then we'll be off..."

  Guan Wei was somewhat unable to calm down, so he politely shook hands with him and turned around to leave.

  "Hey, Guan journalist, what I just said..."

  Out of the police station, Zhou Yi and Guan Wei exchanged a glance, shaking their heads at each other.

  "Big brother, it's still better to take care of yourself and have enough food and clothing. Can you help me check if there are any major MLM dens near Fen Nan recently, such as in the suburbs near the city..."

  "What's with this 'pyramid scheme' stuff, Uncle Zhou?"

  Two silly children are very innocent, basically belong to the kind that can't find relatives in the city and get cheated, so they heard a lot of nonsense.

  "You don't need to ask too much, just stay at home honestly for a few days and it will be fine. If you don't listen, Uncle won't care about Shufen's matter..."

  Ji Yi didn't want Er Dai Zi to join in... "Those people are fierce and will bite when provoked."

  "Alright, uncle, I'll listen to you. I'll stay at your home and won't go anywhere else, is that okay?" Er Dai Zi was panicked upon hearing this and hastily guaranteed it without pause, almost as if he were swearing an oath.

  "Lao San, you wouldn't be thinking of going alone..."

  Guan Wei looked at him with a worried expression and said, "Those people are all inhumane lunatics, I think it's better to investigate the clues first and then ask the police to take action."

  "No way, that would take too long." Zhou Yi sighed: "If the police could solve it, there wouldn't be such news all day. You're a reporter, you understand."

  "It's also a case of drawing a salary for doing nothing..."

  "Then I'll start investigating first, and once we have a lead, we can go together. Back in college, we brothers made a vow to share good fortune and bad, and only compete for girls after we've found one. You haven't forgotten that, have you?"

  "Of course I haven't forgotten that you definitely have a share of heart..."

  The Book of Changes chuckled and raised its fist, lightly pounding Guan Wei once.

  ……

  Night falls, and the once bustling city seems to have entered a maiden's first love, also learning to blush with spring.

  Tonight, dark clouds covered the sky, no moonlight, Shi Tou Village in the southwest suburbs was completely shrouded in darkness. Occasionally, a few lights flickered on, either villagers getting up to pay their respects at night or mischievous children rummaging through piles of stones for autumn's crickets, which were said to be treasures that could be sold for a lot of money in the city if they survived until this time.

  "Work hard, strive for excellence, and never be a frog in warm water! We must become the leaders of big sales, diamond-level and ruby-level sales stars! Brothers and sisters, my present is your future! Are you up to it? Do you have confidence? Tell me! Tell me!"

  "Go, I go, I'm going! Haha."

  In a certain village-built rental building, waves of intentionally suppressed yet passionate voices were heard. Even though the windows were sealed with thick plastic sheets and cotton, these sounds still managed to escape, blending with the howling of stray dogs outside and the last mournful cries of autumn insects, adding a few shades of eeriness to this small village in the night.

  In the spacious room, a tall and fierce-looking man stood under the blackboard, waving his arms like a mad dog, inciting with a charming voice. Below him stood a group of men and women with strange colors on their faces and eerie lights in their eyes, worshipping him like an idol, following his calls, and going crazy with him. Each one seemed to have lost their soul at the hands of the devil, completely losing themselves...

  "Uh, everyone did a great job today, you can all go back to your rooms and rest now. Tomorrow, everyone should continue to contact their relatives and classmates and ask them to join our big family as soon as possible, or else they will definitely blame you guys in the future, right?"

  At this point, the fierce man surprisingly winked at everyone.

  In the face of this nauseating scene, the group of men and women below, who had already been possessed by madness, let out another ear-piercing scream, as if they had just seen the smile of the Virgin Mary.

  "We must all listen to our teachers and elder brothers! Hurry up, hurry up, go contact our relatives and friends quickly, otherwise they will miss the opportunity to make money..."

  People left the "classroom" with laughter, their faces filled with excitement, each one proudly holding their heads high, as if they were billionaires.

  "Wu Ge, you're really something! I admire you to death."

  As everyone left, a thin man with yellow hair on his head walked over and handed the fierce-looking man a cigarette, taking out a lighter to light it for him.

  "Stop flattering and just do your job."

  A man with the surname Wu took a deep drag on his cigarette, exhaling several rings of smoke: "Let my brothers keep an eye on that Wei guy and that woman with the surname Liu, as well as that little brat. Make sure nothing happens to them."

  "Haha, don't worry, Brother Wu, can we still capsize in this ditch?"

  Huang Mao accompanied him, smiling and saying: "But I just don't understand, those two women, since they don't listen to us and are not willing to help us deceive people, why do we still waste food to raise them? Isn't this a loss for our side?"

  "Serves you right! Continue starving them. If they can't make any money in a day, starve them for a day. Only allow two steamed buns per day!"

  A man with the surname Wu cursed: "You don't understand anything, if you don't control them, won't they reveal our secrets?"

  "Just go ahead and do it for them! And that little brat too."

  Huang Mao finally found the opportunity to show off his heroic skills in front of Lao Da, and with a flourish, he wiped his neck with his hand, making a signature move he had learned from TV.

  "Damn it! Who are you pretending to be? You want to die, but I still want to live!"

  A man with the surname Wu kicked him hard: "Remember, we are all business people, it's just business! Not some brainless killer, do you want to die?"

  "Hey, boss, you're kicking me again," said Liu Huangmao, covering his butt with a look of grievance. "We can't let them go, and we can't kill them either. It's more cost-effective to raise two pigs than to keep them around! Why don't we just let the brothers have some fun? We've been stuck in this shithole for three or four months now, and there's no entertainment to speak of. The brothers are getting restless!"

  "Shut up, nobody is allowed to touch those two women! Do you think I'm running a charity here? Those two are both virgins, and that one with the surname Liu is even a university graduate. I've already got San'r contacting people, and it won't be long before some big shots come to buy them off us. You're not going to make me sell fake goods, are you? Do you think I'm running a family business here? Don't you have any professional ethics?"

  "Yes. Brother Wu, you are the most professional businessman, if placed in ancient times, that would be a top merchant."

  "You're just uncultured. That's called a red-hatted businessman! I told you to study more, look at me, the big boss, can't even keep up with the times?"

  The man with the surname Wu kicked it again.

  "Yes, yes, I'll study hard and make progress every day!" Huang Mao is so annoying, what kind of person always kicks others' butts...

  In the cramped room, there was no common furniture or electrical appliances. Two wooden boards on top of bricks served as a bed. On the windowsill, a large white ceramic bowl contained half a bowl of lard. With just a little bit of fuel rope, it would emit a foul-smelling black smoke. If not lit, even this small amount of light would be gone.

  A three-year-old girl lay on the cold, hard temporary bed, occasionally letting out low moans: "Auntie, Yezi is in so much pain... Yezi wants to eat Uncle Zhou's cooking..."

  Her face looked round and chubby, but if you looked closely, it was completely a kind of unhealthy puffiness, even pressing on her eyes, making her use all her strength to barely open a slit. The clay oil lamp seemed to have become her last light and hope, making her always want to raise her arm to grasp that point of light, but she didn't even have the energy for that.

  "Yeh Zi Auntie is sorry, it's all Auntie's fault."

  On another bed, two girls sat shoulder to shoulder. One of them was Wei Shufen, and the other was Liu Xue, whom Zhou Yi had been unable to contact for a long time, once a proud and beautiful rich girl, later a fried rice sister, now a prisoner.

  Liu Xue's beautiful oval face had turned into a pointed melon-shaped face, and her rosy complexion had become pale and sallow; she stretched out one hand to gently stroke Ye Zi's cheek, sobbing uncontrollably, her heart filled with sorrow.

  If I weren't so stubborn, if I hadn't listened to a fellow patient, if I could have swallowed my pride and followed their requirements to deceive Zhou Yi, perhaps things wouldn't be this bad.

  Can you do it yourself?

  Willow wanted to seek help, but she was unwilling to make a deceptive phone call to Zhou Yi under the surveillance of those people. As for relatives, did she and Yezi have any relatives? Friends? Since her family went bankrupt, those wealthy friends from that year probably didn't remember her anymore.

  Even Wei Shufen, this newcomer, knows that she cannot cheat her own relatives and friends for the sake of her own safety, would Liu Xiu do such a thing?

  Leaf, Auntie is sorry for you, maybe this is your and Wen's aunt fate "No one can change all of this, Uncle Zhou also cannot"

  Liu Xue's heart was shattered. At this moment, if heaven could give her a chance to start all over again, she would definitely not hide anything from Zhou Yi anymore. But everything was too late... Ye Zi probably wouldn't last more than a few days... If Ye Zi left, how could she go on living alone?