The woman frowned and yelled in a shrill voice, her voice full of impatience.

"Yes, Miss," the bodyguards replied in unison, their voices deep and powerful.

Gu Ling stomped her feet in anger, secretly complaining that she couldn't understand why her mother insisted that she make the trip herself.

They're just a bunch of unsophisticated country bumpkins. They were completely fooled on the phone yesterday. Why don't they just send anyone?

She felt as if she had been tainted by the unpleasant smell of the train, and a wave of nausea washed over her.

Finally, the bodyguard managed to find a car.

Gu Ling pinched her nose and reluctantly sat down inside.

Along the way, the road was rugged and bumpy, and the car swayed left and right on the muddy road. Gu Ling felt like her stomach was about to be shaken out, and she vomited several times in a row on the way.

She finally made it to the village, but she was in such a hurry that she had no idea which household belonged to the Meng family.

A group of strangers suddenly appeared in the village, driving a car, and this unusual event instantly attracted everyone's attention.

The villagers stopped what they were doing in the fields and looked around curiously.

Gu Ling got out of the car and took out a wad of cash from her handbag. She didn't count it carefully; the cash looked thick.

She was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had exquisite makeup, which contrasted sharply with the villagers around her who toiled in the fields and were dressed in simple clothes.

"Whoever tells me where the Meng family is, I'll give them the money." Gu Ling held up the money, her chin slightly raised, her posture as proud as a peacock.

The crowd looked at Gu Ling with suspicion. The money in her hand was indeed tempting, but the group of strong men behind her didn't look like good people at all.

The villagers were always wary of outsiders, and for a moment, no one responded to her.

Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, Gu Ling gritted her teeth in anger.

These villagers are a bunch of greedy bastards. They must feel that the money they were offered was not enough, which is why they were unwilling to answer. This made her feel utterly humiliated, and her anger surged.

She took out another wad of cash from her bag, even thicker than the previous one.

Just then, a sharp, ingratiating voice rang out: "Miss, I know where the Meng family is. Just give me the same amount of money you just gave me, and I'll personally take you there."

Liu Xiaoli squeezed out from the crowd, her face plastered with a fawning smile and her eyes gleaming with greed.

"You're the one. Lead the way."

Gu Ling glanced at Liu Xiaoli, making no attempt to hide the disgust on her face, and covered her mouth as if Liu Xiaoli carried some kind of contagious disease.

At this moment, Liu Xiaoli's clothes were tattered and smelled sour, indicating that they hadn't been washed for several days.

When everyone saw that Liu Xiaoli was really going to take Gu Ling to the Meng family, they were surprised to realize that what this glamorous young lady said was true!

Many people immediately regretted it, blaming themselves for being too slow to speak, and thus missing such a good opportunity to make money.

Judging by the thickness of the bills, there must be quite a lot, and they're all large sums of money, at least a hundred dollars!

At this moment, someone mustered up the courage to step forward and say, "Miss, are you serious? I can take you there too, you just need to give me ten yuan! I'm cheap and clean."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaoli was furious. Someone was actually trying to steal her business!

She turned her head and glared fiercely at the older woman, her eyes seeming to want to devour her.

Coincidentally, she recognized the person; it was Aunt Qian, with whom she had a past conflict, which made her even angrier.

"Have you no shame? I agreed to this first!" Liu Xiaoli shouted.

Aunt Qian was not to be outdone, and the two immediately started fighting.

They grabbed each other's hair and scratched their faces, their movements crude yet full of power.

Gu Ling had never seen such a direct confrontation in the city.

In the city, even if people have conflicts, they only put on a brave face and have to consider the family's reputation. They won't fight openly; they'll just scheme behind each other's backs.

At this moment, Gu Ling watched all of this with great interest, a slight smile playing on her lips, seemingly quite satisfied with this farce.

Just as the two were locked in a fierce fight, an old man stepped forward with a fawning smile on his face and said to Gu Ling, "I know where the Meng family is. I'll take you there right away."

Once the person was brought there, the old man stretched out his hand, waiting to ask for money.

Gu Ling waved her hand, signaling the security guard to stop the old man, and then walked towards the Meng family's courtyard.

The old man stared wide-eyed at the two tall bodyguards in front of him and demanded in a loud voice, "What do you mean by this? I've already brought you to the place, why aren't you paying me? Are you playing me for a fool!"

The bodyguards had clearly dealt with this kind of situation many times. One of them, with a fierce expression, kicked the old man in the stomach without saying a word, and said menacingly:

"When did our young lady say she would give you money? Don't you know who you are? It's your good fortune that you're leading the way for our young lady!"

The old man coughed up a mouthful of blood.

He never expected that the other party would actually make a move. Looking at Gu Ling's glamorous appearance, he never imagined that her heart was so vicious.

"You...you've gone too far!" the old man shouted weakly.

When Liu Xiaoli rushed over and saw the seriously injured old man lying on the ground, a chill ran down her spine and a look of lingering fear appeared on her face.

But soon, her expression turned sarcastic, and she sneered, "That rich young lady is asking for money. You want to make money you shouldn't have? Serves you right, pshaw!"

The Meng family courtyard was quiet, with the gate tightly closed and secured with a large iron lock.

The security guard had to use a lot of effort to kick the door open.

The courtyard was empty; there wasn't a soul in sight.

Seeing this, Gu Ling flew into a rage and shouted, "Where are they? Didn't we agree on the phone that they were all home? Where have they all gone? There's not a trace of them!"

The security guards searched the courtyard and even the neighboring courtyard, but they couldn't find a single member of the Meng family.

Just then, Liu Xiaoli, her face bruised and swollen, walked in. She bowed and scraped to Gu Ling, smiling obsequiously, and said, "Young lady, I really know where the Meng family is."

Gu Ling put her hands on her hips, glared fiercely at Liu Xiaoli, and demanded, "There's no one from the Meng family here right now. Do you know where they are? Tell me now!"

Liu Xiaoli trembled with fear at Gu Ling's imposing manner, and knelt on the ground with a thud. Remembering the old man's fate outside the door, her voice trembled with terror:

"I...I'll tell you now, but you have to give me the payment first."

As long as I get the money, it's worth getting beaten up.

Gu Ling snorted coldly. In her eyes, Liu Xiaoli was nothing more than a greedy peasant woman who dared to negotiate with her.

She casually pulled out a wad of cash and slammed it down on Liu Xiaoli's head, scattering the money all over the ground.

Hmph, let's see if she'll live to spend this money.

Liu Xiaoli looked at the money on the ground, and her eyes instantly flashed with greed.

She quickly picked up the money and held it tightly to her chest, as if afraid it would fly away at any moment.

"Meng Shuyun's family left the village in the dark yesterday. I guess they went to the train station. They had a lot of bags and packages with them."