0103 103 Many absurdities exist among petty people.
The bodyguard continued driving, following the route Song Yusheng remembered. To make it easier to see the road, Qi Shuyao simply pressed down the back of the passenger seat, and they sat side by side in the back.
"So, this Pan Yiqing used the church's name to brainwash a bunch of brainless businessmen into his camp. So the Pei family had financial problems? Then how could Pei Youwen's mother still be in the mood to go on vacation to Changgang?"
"Then she wasn't going on vacation."
"Didn't they say his mother didn't care about anything? Now she's showing some backbone."
"Don't forget, his mother is also a member of the Yang family. This group of people hasn't been quiet either."
Upon hearing her mention the Yang family, Song Yusheng quieted down, suppressing her emotions which had already subsided, and calmly spoke.
"Actually, Yang Xun told me about it before he ran away."
"What did you say?"
“He said that the lives of all the Yang family members were intertwined. If one person was crippled, the others would not be able to have a good end either, unless a bigger backer emerged. His escape that time was to find that bigger backer, following his father’s instructions.”
"Is there anyone in the Yang family older than Yang Jianlin?"
"I don't know, but it seems he didn't go back to China either. He's just someone who could save his life."
As they were talking, the bodyguard had already stopped the car, turned to her, and asked,
"Miss Song, is this the place?"
The abandoned dock was just as dilapidated as she remembered, but thank goodness the tin shack was still there.
But the house was empty, and the furniture was covered with a thick layer of dust.
Song Yusheng's bag fell to the ground, the old metal frame shaking violently. She turned to leave, but the bodyguard quickly signaled them to be quiet and stay put.
He bent down and walked towards the direction from which the sound came, lifted the partition curtain, and silently pushed open the back door of the tin shed.
In that instant, the dark-skinned man hiding under the cliff held up a homemade crossbow and confronted the bodyguard who had grabbed an iron pipe from the door. Song Yusheng heard the noise and ran over, only to find Qi Shuyao standing behind him, seeing that the bodyguard's other hand had already grabbed the pistol tucked into his waistband.
"Uncle Yuan, it's me, Xiaoyu."
When the man saw that Song Yusheng had calmed down, he put down the weapon in his hand. Qi Shuyao also went over and patted the bodyguard on the shoulder, straightening the hem of his shirt for him.
Yuan Ajian lived on a dilapidated boat on a cliff below the tin-roofed house. After the Song family went bankrupt, countless teams came to search this area, and the tin-roofed house was turned upside down, but no one could find Yuan Ajian hiding in the boat.
The man took off the cloak he was wearing, his trembling hand trying to touch Song Yusheng, but his fingers were covered in indelible oil, which had completely stained the skin on his hands black.
Song Yusheng casually tossed her bag aside, her hands trembling with excitement as she gripped Yuan Ajian's. The man looked at her, all his unspoken words condensed into his final sentence.
"She's grown up, she's a young lady now."
"Uncle Yuan, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."
Qi Shuyao walked closer to observe the man, tilted her head slightly towards the bodyguard, and asked softly,
"Is that oil? It's stuck to the ship."
The man had very sharp hearing and was very agile. In an instant, he picked up his crossbow again and pointed it at them, while Song Yusheng stood protectively behind him.
"Uncle, it's alright, it's alright. She's my friend, she can help us."
"Are we really friends?"
His voice was extremely hoarse; after years of exposure to the sun and torrential rain, he could barely make a sound.
"Uncle, it's okay, trust me."
"How is your father now?"
"My dad... is okay, he's just in the hospital, his leg is giving out."
Song Yusheng winked at Qi Shuyao from behind Yuan Ajian, signaling her not to say anything more.
"So, what are you here for?"
Qi Shuyao stepped forward and stood on the same sandy beach as them.
"Uncle, have any boats still come this way in the past three years?"
The man cautiously surveyed his surroundings, then waved for them to enter the boat first. He covered the hull with weeds before crawling inside himself.
Why are you asking this?
"The higher-ups have been keeping an eye on this route. Some people are afraid that it will make a comeback, and some want to take it for themselves. But the sea is so dangerous that no one dares to make a move until a specific route is obtained. But yesterday, a cargo ship took the route that you usually take."
"A cargo ship? What's it carrying?"
"oil."
“Then it’s not ours; oil has never been transported on this line.”
"Who else knows about this line?"
Yuan Ajian plunged the short knife into the body of the small fish he had just caught, and blood flowed into a basin, staining his hands, whose lines were no longer visible.
"This route is the most dangerous one on the entire sea. Even with the government's protection, it's not guaranteed that we can reach the shore safely. The Song family spent three generations of their wealth and resources to open up this route, and they built up countless connections. Whether it was the Gu family, the Lin family, or the current He family, no one wanted this route. No one was clean, no one was innocent, and no one could give up this route. But the Song family has its own rules. We never smuggle oil."
"And what you have in your hand..."
"This means that in recent years, another group of people have taken over the air routes."
Who do you think it could be?
"I don't know anything about the people; I'm only in charge of the dead things on the ship."
"How much do you know about the Pei family?"
"The Pei family were originally native residents of Xiayang. They started as a triad in their early years, founded by Pei Yuzhou's grandfather. At first, they were just a local gang, but later they developed into a protector for most people. At their peak, even the son of a street thug could get away with murder. After the Pei family gang was passed down to Pei Yuzhou, he only used them to do three things: first, threaten the Lin family and make them his puppets; second, cooperate with him in a play and disband the gang; and third, make a high-profile appearance at his funeral and put on a show to take all the blame on him alone."
Yuan Ajian's voice was like an old sandpaper that had been worn through from overuse. He calmly and rapidly recounted the past while his hands were busy cleaning up the fish scales.
"By this generation, no one has bothered to calculate how many properties he owned. They're all his anyway. The most talked-about topic is his descendants. Everyone knows he had a son who was killed by his enemies. The Pei family says he's dead, while the enemies say they've avenged him. But no one ever saw this son when he was alive, and no one ever saw his body after he died. All that's known is that Pei Yuzhou later had twins. They were raised in a large compound and not allowed to go out when they were little. When they grew up, they became known for being irresponsible and were soon killed. Pei Yuzhou wasted half his life, and in the end, all he had left was a silly son who could only draw."
"So no one knows whether the older or younger of the twins died later?"
"Rumors say the younger brother died, but it was always the older brother who appeared afterward. However, no one has ever seen them together. Who knows who really died?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the small fish had already been cleaned. Yuan Ajian didn't care whether they wanted to say anything more or not, and got up to grill the fish. The bodyguard stood at the door, Song Yusheng squatted in the corner with her legs wrapped around her, and Qi Shuyao got up and made a phone call to Qi Yu.
"That's how it is, but I still suspect it's related to the Pei family."
Qi Yu did not reply immediately. His breathing sounded very uneven, and the environment over there was noisy with various alarms.
"What happened? Has someone been hurt?"
"It's alright. Have you asked Yuan Ajian if he can still find a place to pick up the boat?"
"Okay, but he insisted that it didn't belong to the Song family, and at most he could only take me to that place."
"That's enough. I'll arrange for officials to find a reason to inspect the contents. All we need now is a location."
"So, I'll go back to Jingyang after that?"
"You stay there for now and figure this out."
"Alright... but could you help me contact Tu Mi and ask her to come back from Pan Yiqing's place when she has a chance? It's inconvenient for me to contact her from here."
“She just contacted me. She said she saw something about Pei Youwen and would come back after she figured it out. After she hung up, I couldn’t get through to her anymore.”
"What... I'll send you the location first, that'll do for now."
Qi Yu hung up the phone, sent the secret address to the maritime administration department he had already contacted, and leaned against the hospital wall, exhausted.
Across from them was the emergency room with its red light flashing. On the left and right were a man and a woman, a brother and sister, Lin Bai and Li Qing.
It seems these kids inherited Xu Mei's wildness; they were even so decisive in jumping off buildings.
Li Qing's voice on the phone outside woke Lin Bai, who was not sound asleep. He moved his mother's arm away from him and quietly went out, only to see her two legs falling out of the window. In that instant, he didn't think of anything and rushed over. Snowflakes fell from his fingertips. He wanted to grab her just like she did, and he fell down just like her.
Mrs. Lin and Xu Mei both fainted. Old He quietly withdrew from the farce, leaving only Lin Zixu and Gu Chaodong wrestling and getting injured.
The cargo ship under surveillance docked at 2:37 a.m. and was immediately detained. Qi Shuyao changed into a uniform and mingled among the staff before boarding the ship with them.
Oil flowed smoothly from the oil hoses. After the oil tanker was emptied, it was already broad daylight. Qi Yu's people gave Qi Shuyao an "OK" sign from behind, and a group of staff disembarked.
Song Yusheng and the others waited in the car until two people in work uniforms got in on either side and drove away.
Before Qi Shuyao could even take off her clothes, she took the large box that had been transported hidden in oil from the man's arms, put on gloves and opened it. Inside, there were two uncut jade stones.
"What... what does this mean? Two pieces of jade, is it really necessary to make such a fuss?"
The group looked at each other in bewilderment, but Yuan Ajian, sitting in the passenger seat, remained calm.
"This is a tradition among the people of Xiayang. Before a newborn is born, a safety pendant is made and worn by the child so that he can live a peaceful and safe life."
Qi Shuyao looked at Song Yusheng's chest, and then looked down at the translucent jade pendant hanging around her neck.
"Your mother is a foreigner, right?"
Song Yusheng nodded.
"So, someone in the Pei family is going to have a child, and Pei Youwen really did become a surrogate? But who brought this in from abroad?"
The car pulled up to an intersection, and the staff member got out with the rough stone, returning it to the handover point. The bodyguard then parked the car on the side of the road, and the car was deathly quiet.
Finally, Song Yusheng's phone rang, breaking the silence, and Li Yihe's voice echoed throughout the entire carriage.
"Xiaoyu, you can play by yourself for now. My boss's girlfriend is pregnant and about to give birth. I'm taking them back to Changgang. I'll be back tomorrow, okay?
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