Xu Keke whirled around and saw a man in his thirties standing behind her. The man was wearing a black oil-paper shirt, had short hair, and a long, slanted scar on his chin, making him look somewhat fierce.
This person looks somewhat familiar. Xu Keke searched her memory quickly, but couldn't find any recollection of him. Logically, this person's features were very distinctive; she shouldn't be able to forget him.
Xu Keke handed him the newspaper, pointing to the missing son notice from an elderly woman in her fifties, "I'm looking for this person. It says she lives here."
The man glanced at the newspaper in Xu Keke's hand, a glint of shrewdness flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure. He sized Xu Keke up and down for a while, a forced smile on his face, and raised an eyebrow at her, saying, "I know, come with me."
The small hotel was eerily quiet; all the doors were tightly shut, and no one was moving. The only sound was the crunching of shoes on the floor.
Following behind him, Xu Keke resembled an innocent, naive little girl. Or rather, not quite. Although Zhou Shaoqiu was a northern girl and taller than most, he was only sixteen, and the immaturity on his face hadn't completely faded. Plus, Xu Keke was wearing Zhou Shaoqiu's school uniform today, making her appear even more youthful.
Xu Keke followed him up the stairs. As the man turned the corner, he glanced at Xu Keke out of the corner of his eye, a slight smile playing on his lips. Xu Keke remained expressionless, as if she hadn't noticed anything, and followed him up to the second floor.
The man stopped at the corner, took out his key, opened the door, and said, "Come in."
Xu Keke didn't move. She watched the man enter the house before following him inside.
The room was small, containing only a bed, a wardrobe, and three dilapidated chairs scattered around. There was nothing else. The man sat down in a chair by the window, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit it slowly. "What do you want with them?"
Where are they?
The man glanced at her sideways. "They've already been picked up. You won't be able to find them."
"I don't believe you. Hand him over." Xu Keke didn't back down but instead took a step forward.
The man threw his half-smoked cigarette on the ground and stomped it out. He sneered at Xu Keke, "Do you know who I am?"
"If you don't hand over the person, I'll call the police, and I won't care who you are then." Xu Keke's face turned cold, and she confronted him without showing any weakness.
The man kicked the chair next to him, and two people rushed in from outside. The one on the left, upon seeing Xu Keke, immediately put on a lewd expression, "Hey bro, this guy's not bad!"
He raised his hand and reached for Xu Keke's chest, while the man on the right just watched and smiled, standing there with his arms crossed.
Xu Keke laughed. She grabbed the man's outstretched hand, twisted it behind his back, and heard a cracking sound. With the man's scream, Xu Keke had already kicked another man, who was about to make his move, hard in the groin. Xu Keke's movements were swift and ruthless; both men almost simultaneously collapsed to the ground in pain.
The scarred man realized he'd misjudged her and run into a tough opponent, so he charged at Xu Keke. Xu Keke released her grip, turned around, grabbed a chair, and brought it down hard on the scarred man's head. The scarred man dodged the chair and kicked Xu Keke in the stomach, but Xu Keke easily avoided it, then slammed her right elbow into the man's lower back. The scarred man lost his balance and fell forward, landing face-first between the two men.
Xu Keke didn't give them any time to react. Without any politeness, she slammed the stool down in her hand. The man's head drooped, and he lay motionless on the ground.
"Should you take me there, or should I beat you up and then search room by room myself?" Xu Keke asked, looking at the two who were still conscious.
They clearly knew what Xu Keke was looking for. The one whose hand Xu Keke had broken pointed outside the door, saying, "It's in the third room."
Passing by several people, Xu Keke walked to the third room, shook the doorknob, and found the door locked. She walked back and looked at the three men. The one who had been kicked in the groin was still sitting on the ground, clutching his groin and unable to get up. The one with the broken hand, without Xu Keke needing to say anything, resignedly trembled with his unharmed hand as he pulled the key from the scarred man's pants and handed it to Xu Keke.
Opening the door to the third room, it was the same size as the previous one, with the same furnishings. The difference was that in this room, an old woman and a four- or five-year-old boy were sitting on the floor, their hands tied behind their backs.
They probably hadn't had a chance to suffer much yet; apart from being a little frightened, neither of them was injured, and they didn't shout or yell when they saw Xu Keke.
Xu Keke untied the two of them. "Can you walk now?"
The old woman held the child in front of her, leaning back, her cloudy eyes looking at her helplessly.
Xu Keke sighed softly, "I know where the person you're looking for is. Will you come with me?"
"Ah! Ah!..." The old woman nodded frantically, her mouth open and shouting for a long time. Xu Keke then realized why these people hadn't stuffed anything in her mouth; it turned out she was mute.
Xu Keke let the two walk ahead of her. When they reached the stairwell, she heard a creak behind her—the sound of someone accidentally opening a door. Sensing someone was spying on her, Xu Keke turned around abruptly and heard a loud bang! The person inside quickly slammed the door shut in fright.
Xu Keke laughed. The people living here were either too clever or terrified of being beaten. No one stood up for her, and no one came out to stop her. She then led the old woman and the child out of the hotel with an air of nonchalance.
She walked along the alley to the street. She casually flagged down two rickshaws; Xu Keke wasn't worried the two men would run away. This was something she'd prepared for in case of emergency, and their absence wouldn't affect her much now.
Xu Keke let the two of them ride alone in a rickshaw, following behind hers.
Xu Keke didn't spend much time on this trip. When she arrived at the Zhou residence, the ladies who had arranged to play cards with Wang Shujin had just arrived.
The Zhou family's rules were a blend of Chinese and Western styles. Apart from Wang Shujin, the other masters all valued freedom and equality for all. Only Wang Shujin had a personal maid, Sister Hua. Everyone else did their own work.
Of course, there were only so many things they could do. So the household also employed other servants. Two young local maids did the cleaning, laundry, and other chores. The cooks in the kitchen were Old Sun, Hua Jie's husband, and their daughter-in-law, Yuegui, who had come with them from the capital.
Actually, there was another driver in the mansion, Sun Cheng, the son of Hua Jie. He originally worked for Zhou Zi'an. After Zhou Zi'an bought a car, he had him learn to drive. However, his current salary was received from Zhou Zi'an within the Nationalist government, so he was essentially a government employee.
A young maid was serving inside. Sister Hua was on her way to the kitchen when she saw Xu Keke leading the two of them in, and she was immediately startled.
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