The car drove steadily.

After the accident, Du Zhaohui had learned his lesson.

It wasn’t that he suddenly learned to respect common people, but rather he discovered that the ordinary people walking on the streets might not be so ordinary after all!

Mainland China was different from Hong Kong, where rich people practically wanted to write “wealthy” on their faces – without luxury cars and houses, tabloids would write about certain tycoons going bankrupt, and businessmen one tier below tycoons had to show off their wealth or else their partners would suspect financial problems… The mainland was different – forget about high-end tailored suits and shoes, even branded ready-to-wear clothing was rare. Leaders maintained an old cadre style that Du Zhaohui found unfashionable.

The saying goes that clothes make the man and saddles make the horse, but this didn’t apply in mainland China in 1985. Having learned his lesson once, Du Zhaohui was unwilling to cause new trouble. He had reduced his driving speed significantly since he didn’t know what schemes Kang Lianming might be plotting. Du Zhaohui’s current strategy was to avoid trouble!

He held a note in his hand, studying it with interest.

The note had been delivered to Xia Dajun a few days ago, with the messenger disappearing immediately after dropping it off.

Xia Dajun had gone to the address mentioned in the note – it was a small hair salon.

In Du Zhaohui’s opinion, it was just a disguised red-light district!

Though he found the place, Xia Dajun couldn’t find the person. Who would pay attention to someone in a wheelchair without help?

Now, Xia Dajun was also in the car, sitting nervously beside Du Zhaohui.

Du Zhaohui glanced at him, “You should have told me when you got the note. Did you find anything by going alone?”

Xia Dajun couldn’t lift his head after Du Zhaohui’s rebuke, having indeed overestimated himself.

“Young Master, I’m… I’m sorry…”

“Dajun, this isn’t trouble. You’ve taken hits for me twice. I said I’d look after you!”

Du Zhaohui’s casual words moved Xia Dajun, a grown man, deeply.

Xia Dajun had seen Du Zhaohui busy with company matters and wanted to resolve things himself, but ended up having to trouble the Young Master anyway. Initially, someone was supposed to accompany him to Yangcheng, but then the Young Master came personally. What could Xia Dajun say? Even giving his life to Du Zhaohui wouldn’t be enough to repay him.

Du Zhaohui handed the note to his bodyguard in the front seat. Bai Zhenzhu would recognize this person – the one she had fought with.

“Ah Hua, take a look.”

Ah Hua examined the note thoroughly, “Young Master, the cry for help is genuine, though how the note was smuggled out is strange. Let’s assume she met a kind-hearted customer. The person has been moved elsewhere. There’s no point confronting the hair salon – even if we caught their people, they wouldn’t talk… For this kind of thing, we need help from Yangcheng’s local underground forces to ransom the person. Since they were trafficked together, they must be from the same seller.”

Ah Hua’s meaning was clear: finding Xia Hongxia would essentially lead them to Wang Jingui and Xia Hongbing, as all three were trafficked together, following the same trail.

If they pressured the hair salon’s people, they might find Xia Hongxia but lose the trail, making it impossible to find the other two.

Those capable of such operations must be part of a significant gang. Fearing exposure, once alerted, these people might simply dig a hole in the mountains to bury Wang Jingui and Xia Hongbing, leaving no trace to follow.

Du Zhaohui understood Ah Hua’s reasoning.

The Du family’s business had always straddled the line between legal and illegal, and Du Zhaohui had plenty of exposure to this in Hong Kong.

He realized why human life was considered so cheap – smugglers had internal conflicts, betrayals were common, and there were shootouts with police. No number of lives seemed enough.

Xia Dajun half-understood; he just knew that the Young Master had especially traveled to Yangcheng for his family’s matter, investing time and effort, and now needed to meet with Yangcheng’s underground figures.

Seeing Du Zhaohui was receptive, Ah Hua continued:

“We’ve investigated the background of the person I fought with at the hospital. Her surname is Bai, she’s from Yangcheng, and her family used to run a famous martial arts school there that trained many disciples. Though the school has declined, she now does business in Pengcheng. A lean camel is still bigger than a horse – the Bai family martial school’s name still attracts quite a following… The person we’re meeting is a rising newcomer in Yangcheng’s underworld these past few years. He’s gathered various unsavory characters under him, extending from the train station outward. Asking him to find people won’t be wrong.”

Ah Hua thought to himself that since Xia Dajun’s family members were tricked after getting off the train, they were essentially lost at the station. It’s possible that this Ke fellow might not know about it – they probably did this often, and not every deal needed to be reported to the boss.

But asking Ke for the people definitely wouldn’t be wrong.

Ah Hua kept these thoughts to himself. As just a bodyguard, he’d shared what he knew – how to analyze it was the boss’s business.

There was certainly a boundary between bodyguards and bosses – bodyguards were hired, and bosses paid the salaries.

Ah Hua felt Xia Dajun had crossed this boundary with the boss, unable to see his position… but Ah Hua wouldn’t say anything. Perhaps Xia Dajun and the boss had been through multiple life-and-death situations, making the boss treat Xia Dajun differently.

Du Zhaohui pondered Ah Hua’s words. His previous reward notice offering a million should have been very attractive on the mainland.

Yet there had been no news, only false leads from people trying to scam the reward.

Who wouldn’t want to earn such money?

It could only mean that the underworld figures couldn’t claim this money. The people Du Zhaohui was looking for had either left mainland China or been silenced.

Du Zhaohui went to meet Ke Yixiong personally, giving this gang leader a proper face. Upon arrival, Ke Yixiong was already waiting.

Both were young – Du Zhaohui dressed flashily while Ke Yixiong was plain, with a friendly face whose features weren’t quite distinct, making him appear harmless.

Was this kind of person Yangcheng’s underground rising star?

Du Zhaohui found him interesting and also sensed that the mainland’s crackdown on criminal forces must be truly fierce – how else could someone so young rise? The older generation must have been thoroughly subdued, staying quietly in their corners.

Ke Yixiong was also sizing up Du Zhaohui.

Upon meeting, he felt that Hong Kong’s young master wouldn’t be easy to deal with. Some people’s shrewdness was obvious, while others hid it in their bones – Ke Yixiong believed Du Zhaohui was the latter.

However, he wasn’t trying to scam money – getting a few tens of thousands from the Hong Kong fellow wasn’t Ke Yixiong’s goal.

“Boss Du, I’ve long heard your name in our circles. It’s truly my great fortune to meet you.”

Du Zhaohui had Ah Hua hand the note to Ke Yixiong, “Boss Ke, right? I’ve come to ask for your help in finding three people. Once successful, I’ll naturally provide appropriate compensation according to custom.”

Ke Yixiong made a show of carefully examining the note:

“Please have a seat, Boss Du. Let me understand the situation first. As long as the people are still in Yangcheng, I’ll help you find them!”