The moment Li Changyou walked into the room, I knew I had gained the upper hand in our confrontation.

Logically speaking, most people would feel embarrassed to return, but Li Changyou showed no embarrassment whatsoever. He still looked at me with a grin and said, "Boss, you're all people who make a lot of money, why make things difficult for an ordinary person like me? Since you don't accept the price I offered, let's discuss it again. Give me 30,000 yuan, enough for me to pay off my gambling debts. Is that alright?"

The moment he returned, I knew this matter could be accomplished for only five thousand. However, Jiang Man, who had extensive experience in business negotiations, seemed to feel that it was really unnecessary to haggle over such a small amount of money, and agreed before I could: "No problem, thirty thousand yuan, we'll pay in cash!"

"Alright! Then I thank you all, big bosses. I wish you all great fortune and prosperity!"

Li Changyou clasped his hands together and repeatedly bowed to us in gratitude.

Seeing that Jiang Man had already paid the money, I didn't say anything more and steered the conversation back on track: "How many days have those people been at your house?"

Li Changyou scratched his head: "Oh dear, it's been quite a while now, roughly four or five days! They're staying at my house, I don't have to worry about their meals, and each of them gives me fifty yuan a day for lodging!"

I tossed Li Changyou a cigarette: "During their stay at your house, did they do anything unusual?"

Li Changyou started talking: "There are so many unusual things! When the neighbors heard that a group of people who collect mountain goods were staying at my house, they all came to sell their things to them. As a result, this group would buy anything regardless of its condition or age, and the prices were all over the place. They were obviously not real mountain hunters! Moreover, these people did not go to the surrounding villages to collect mountain goods, but instead went into the mountains whenever they had the chance. What else could they be but a mining team?"

I pressed further, "Besides these, is there anything else? How many people are in their group?"

"There were six of them, one of the men had a limp, and there was a woman who was really beautiful! Wow, her figure and face..."

Li Changyou pointed at Jiang Man and said, "She's just as beautiful as this woman!"

"Shut up!"

Jiang Man interrupted Li Changyou: "Let's get down to business!"

"hey-hey!"

Li Changyou greedily sized up Jiang Man's face, then said, "By the way, these people rented my family's cellar! They said they wanted to store the mountain produce they'd collected! But mountain produce needs to be stored in a well-ventilated and dry place. If they put it in a cellar, wouldn't it all get stale? I've always wondered what they're going to do with the cellar, but it's guarded day and night, so I've never had a chance to go and see it!"

After listening to Li Changyou's introduction, I licked my lips and fell into deep thought.

When we left Ping'an Village, Qu Ruilin's group had many injured people, but Li Changyou now says that only one man among them is a little lame.

This person must be Song Laosan, whose leg was bitten by a spotted insect.

As for the other security personnel, they have probably all been replaced.

Furthermore, according to Jiang Man's analysis, Wei Shengnan and her group had also planted people in the neighboring courtyard, indicating that the group was definitely not limited to just the eight people in their team.

Seeing that Li Changyou didn't know much, Jiang Man took out a small bag from her backpack, took out several things that looked like button batteries, and handed them to him: "Help us hide these things in the rooms where those people are living, and you'll get your 30,000 yuan. Can you accept that?"

Li Changyou said without any scruples, "Yes, of course I can! If you give me money, you're my saviors! Don't even mention just putting things in their rooms, I can even drug them if you want the money!"

Seeing Li Chang nod, I gave Manjing a look: "Take care of him."

Upon hearing my words, Manjing walked over, grabbed Li Changyou by the back of his collar, and punched him in the stomach.

"Bang!"

With that punch, Li Changyou immediately curled up like a shrimp, cold sweat pouring down his face. He lay on the ground, gasping for breath, the excruciating pain leaving him no strength to even scream.

"Ouch...!"

After about three seconds, Li Changyou finally caught his breath. Seeing Manjing raise his leg, he cowered in fear and cried out, "Grandpa! Grandpa, don't hit me! I'll help you with the work, I'll do it for free!"

"Enough!"

I stopped Manjing and looked down at Li Changyou: "We will give you every penny of the money we promised. But I hope you will remember this pain. If you betray us or try to have your cake and eat it too, I guarantee you will suffer many times more than you are now!"

Li Changyou, his face covered in sweat from the pain, had lost his earlier cunning and obediently agreed, "Don't worry, I definitely won't do that!"

...

After bribing Li Changyou, we had a happy meal at Lao Zhou's house. After Li Changyou left, we chatted with Lao Zhou about everyday things.

Old Zhou lives alone at home and is usually very depressed. It's rare for someone to chat with him, so he pulled us into a long chat about everything under the sun until dark. After dinner, he even warmly invited us to stay at his house, but I declined.

After leaving Lao Zhou's house, we did not stay at the town government, but instead took advantage of the night to rush to the vicinity of Li Changyou's house.

Inside a woodshed in a residential house, I watched Jiang Man take out a device that looked like a router from her bag and asked, "The bugging device you had Li Changyou put in the house before, will it still work?"

"These receivers are for police use, and they work very well! They can receive a signal within a kilometer!"

As Jiang Man spoke, she connected a headset to the device and then frowned.

When I saw her expression, I picked up the headset and listened; all I could hear was a piercing static.

Jiang Man sighed: "They installed a signal jammer at their residence, which caused our equipment to malfunction!"

The monkey became frustrated: "Then all our work today has been for nothing?"

"The situation isn't that bad yet."

Jiang Man explained, "Those devices not only have eavesdropping capabilities but also recording functions. We'll have Li Changyou bring them back tomorrow, and we can still find out what they were saying!"

Lin Que pouted: "The mountainous area outside Qingyun Town is now blocked off, and they won't be able to go up the mountain for a while. How long will it take for them to get there?"

Jiang Man patted her travel bag: "I brought several sets of equipment this time. We can have Li Changyou change them every day so we can know what they are talking about. Although the information is delayed, it's still much better than not knowing anything at all!"

I glanced at my watch: "Since we can't eavesdrop, everyone should go back and rest. Tomorrow, Li Changyou will meet with us as agreed, and we'll give him this order then."