"Did you see anyone unusual looking for him?" Qin Xiaoyu continued to prompt.

“We only met once during shift change, there wasn’t that much time. Oh right, I think he got a text message on his pager, and he ran to reply to it. I glanced at it, and it looked like someone surnamed Huo…”

"Surname Huo?"

"I understand!" A Lei snatched the phone, hung up, and pulled Qin Xiaoyu outside.

"Huh? Could it be Linda?" Zhang Dahai seemed to understand as well.

"Who is Linda?" Qin Xiaoyu began her interrogation as soon as they got in the car. This wasn't the first time the name had appeared; she had heard it in Hong Kong, but A Lei had evaded the question.

"The eldest daughter of the Huo family, the most domineering, a real sassy. My brother used to chase after her relentlessly, but she was probably blind to it, she only had her eye on Alex..."

“Shut up, nobody thinks you're mute,” A Lei said resentfully.

"Oh... but why did she take our model away?" Qin Xiaoyu still didn't understand.

"You should ask your husband. He was the one who took Linda to Northeast China. Linda ran away and came back on her own. She's hated him to death ever since. How would I know why?"

"Northeast?" Qin Xiaoyu suddenly understood, and gestured with her hand as if cracking open a skull. A Lei nodded helplessly.

So this is the guy who cracked A Lei's head open at the post office restaurant last time. Looks like he's an enemy.

A Lei's car quietly stopped outside a villa, and the three of them got out.

"Is this Linda's place?" Qin Xiaoyu saw that the villa was dark, with only the door light on, and it didn't seem like anyone was there.

"No bus? Did we guess wrong?"

"That's definitely right. She called me the day before yesterday, but I didn't want to talk to her and hung up. It was my mistake," A Lei had to confess.

"How many things are you hiding from me?!" Qin Xiaoyu puffed out her cheeks again.

"Gentlemen, stop flirting now. Let's find someone right away." Zhang Dahai waved his hand, signaling them to get in the car.

Do you know where they are?

"Young Master Huo owns a karaoke bar. I know where it is. Let's go check it out." This time, Zhang Dahai drove the way.

Before even reaching their destination, Qin Xiaoyu spotted the bus parked in the green belt, indicating that she had come to the right place.

The karaoke room was packed with people and filled with smoke. Qin Xiaoyu glanced around and didn't see any members of the model team. Hu Xing and Da Ya stood out too much, both over 1.75 meters tall, towering over the crowd.

She spotted a waiter and walked straight up to him.

"Have you seen any tall girls come in?" she said, and her subordinate immediately took action, rolling up a foreign exchange certificate and stuffing it into the waiter's hand.

"I didn't see it." The waiter remained unmoved. A Lei went over and stuffed a roll of foreign exchange certificates into his hand.

"I didn't see it." The waiter kept shaking his head, but gestured towards the private room inside.

A Lei and Da Hai rushed over, but after searching room by room, they couldn't find a single person.

"Alex, what a rare guest! What brings you to my humble abode?" A slick-haired, fair-skinned young man walked out.

"Young Master Huo, I need people. Hand over the model team." A Lei demanded the people directly.

"What model team? I don't understand what you're saying." Huo Shao waved to the waiter, "Arrange seats for these three and bring them drinks. I have other matters to attend to, excuse me."

Qin Xiaoyu gave A Lei a wink. The karaoke bar had a second floor, but the stairwell door was locked.

"Let's go up to the second floor, the second floor has VIP rooms." Zhang Dahai must have been here before, a regular customer, so he went straight up.

"The second floor is closed today, they're cleaning up. Come up another day," Huo Shao said without any politeness.

At this moment, several tall and burly men suddenly appeared out of nowhere. They looked like Huo Shao's men. A Lei, who was with Qin Xiaoyu, was afraid that she would get hurt in a fight, so he had no choice but to take her out.

"What should we do?" Qin Xiaoyu looked at the dark window on the second floor and panicked.

There's no way to guess what's going on inside. These girls are all very naive; their petty cunning is nothing to these rich young men. They could probably be fooled with just a few words.

"We don't know the situation upstairs, so calling the police might not be a good idea. Without solid evidence, I'm afraid no one will dare to investigate the Huo family's businesses," Zhang Dahai said helplessly.

"If the two of us force our way in, I'm afraid we won't be able to get in." A Lei considered the fighting strength of the people they had just met and wasn't entirely confident.

"Help!" Suddenly, a window on the second floor shattered completely. A bleeding hand reached out; it was Hu Xing's voice.

The three of them hurriedly ran to the window. Hu Xing had already pushed the window open and leaned most of her body out of the window.

Her clothes were disheveled and her hair was messy; it was unclear what had happened.

"Hu Xing! I'm here!" Qin Xiaoyu shouted to her.

Someone came over to pull Hu Xing away, but she seemed determined and jumped out.

Outside the window was a flower bed planted with large-leaved privet. When Hu Xing hit it, the elasticity of the leaves cushioned her fall, and she rolled over and lay down beside it.

Qin Xiaoyu rushed over to help her up. She had many scratches on her body and face, but fortunately, her life was not in danger.

Someone jumped off the building, and the people upstairs couldn't stay calm.

A group of people poured out of the building.

Huo Shao walked at the front, and he didn't look well.

"You want me to call the police?" A Lei said coldly.

"Alright, you can have them all. It's just for fun, it's not that serious." Young Master Huo waved his hand. Soon, sounds came from inside, and the girls from the modeling team ran out.

"Where's the driver?" Qin Xiaoyu asked Daya.

"I don't know, he brought us here and said it was for dinner, then he disappeared." Da Ya's face was streaked with tears.

Not knowing the extent of Hu Xing's injuries, Qin Xiaoyu didn't dare waste any more time and asked Zhang Dahai to take the girls back to the Fang family. She and A Lei took Hu Xing to the hospital.

Hu Xing is lucky; she only suffered a minor bone fracture. She just needs some rest.

Qin Xiaoyu helped her with the hospital admission procedures and, seeing that she was still emotionally unstable, stayed by her side.

"Director Qin, we're finished." Hu Xing said tremblingly after the nurse left.

"What are you talking about? She's back safe and sound, what's wrong with that?" Qin Xiaoyu comforted her.

"Director Qin, I can't live anymore." Hu Xing's tears fell in a downpour.

"You..." Qin Xiaoyu looked her over. When the doctor examined her, she specifically told the female doctor that the examination results showed that Hu Xing had not been violated, which put her at ease.

But judging from her appearance, something seemed off.

"Director Qin, please save me! I'm still young. You said you only get one chance, but this time it's really not my fault. The driver tricked us into coming here!" Hu Xing pleaded.

"Explain yourself clearly, what exactly happened, before I can help you!"

“They tricked us into drinking, and when we got drunk, they took pictures of us and said they would publish them in a magazine.”

Qin Xiaoyu's head throbbed with shock; she finally understood what trick Huo Shao was playing.

These indecent photos, once released, are morally offensive, and it's likely that Riyue Clothing will never be able to wash away the stain on their reputation.

There will be no more government support in the future.

This is the most ruthless move, still one that kills without shedding blood.

Fortunately, they arrived in time, and it was also because Hu Xing had a strong personality; otherwise, the consequences would have been even more unimaginable.