Chapter 275

Lao Wai took a puff of cigarette and said: "Today, I went to Dragon Head Road to check the situation."

Coincidentally, I passed by a villa,

The villa's walls were very high, and the big iron gate was tightly shut.

I saw through the crack in the door,

Inside the courtyard there were more than ten men in black clothes, all looking especially tense; at the slightest sound they immediately lifted their heads and looked around.

I deliberately knocked on the door, asking if they had any junk for sale. They directly cursed at me, telling me to get lost.

I thought they must be holding someone important inside; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many people watching. So I reported to Brother Ding Li.

I hurriedly asked Lao Wai: 'Dragon Head Road, do you still remember the location of that villa?'

Lao Wai said: 'Of course I remember.'

I then said to Xiao Long: 'Xiao Long, drive, let's go check it out now.'

Xiao Long replied: 'Okay, Boss.'

I said: 'Lao Wai, Ding Li, let's go, we'll go check it out.'

Lao Wai said: 'It's already night; what are we going to see? Let's wait until tomorrow.'

I said: 'No, we must go check it out tonight.'

Ding Li said: 'Lao Wai, let's go; we all listen to Brother Zhao.'

So Lao Wai reluctantly stood up.

Shi Yong wanted to follow, but I didn't let him come.

Because we were just scouting the situation; we didn't need too many people.

Xiao Long drove the car and quickly brought us onto Dragon Head Road,

At that time the weather was cold, and there weren't many people on the road.

Following Lao Wai's directions, we soon arrived in front of a villa.

This villa was built on the left side of Dragon Head Road, behind the Dragon Head Market.

We got out of the car at a distance from the villa,

I quickly walked to the villa's exterior, staring at the black iron gate tightly closed.

There were streetlights on both sides of the gate.

The courtyard inside was dead quiet, as if no one was inside.

We walked around the villa's gate once.

Xiao Long suddenly pointed at the standing stainless steel pipe and said: 'Boss, look, there's a camera on it. Let's quickly retreat into the darkness.'

I looked up, and indeed there was a camera on that stainless steel pipe.

I quickly pulled Lao Wai backward.

We retreated to the dark side of the road,

Xiao Long said: 'Boss, the security here is really good; you see infrared sensors installed on the wall tops—anyone approaching the wall triggers an alarm.'

I pondered for a moment,

'But the pitch-black courtyard doesn't look like anyone's there. Lao Wai, I ask you, did you really see more than ten men in black inside?'

Lao Wai patted his chest and said: 'Zhao Jianqiang, when have I ever spoken nonsense? If you don't believe me, forget it—really, being with you is a hassle.'

I didn't argue with Lao Wai,

I said to Ding Li: 'Brother, you and Lao Wai pretend to be drunk, deliberately smash the gate to test, and see if anyone comes out.'

Ding Li nodded,

Then he said: 'Come on, let's smash the gate.'

Lao Wai shook his head and said: 'What if the people inside beat me up?'

Ding Li said: 'They dare? This is our turf—what's there to fear?'

Lao Wai chuckled,

'Yeah, I almost forgot that. Let's go.'

Ding Li supported Lao Wai as they pretended to be drunk, walking staggeringly toward the villa's main gate.

As they approached the gate, before they could smash it, they heard the alarm sound.

Lao Wai and Ding Li paid no attention to it,

The two raised their fists and began smashing the villa's gate,

'Open the door, open the door, hurry up, hurry up. I want to have some fun.'

Soon, there was noise from inside the villa, and many people were making a racket.

The villa's gate opened, and more than ten people came out, all muscular and clearly trained.

'Who are you, and what are you doing?' one of them asked.

From a distance I clearly heard his accent—it wasn't the local Zaocheng accent, but a southern one.

Ding Li deliberately said: 'Isn't this the Xin Yue Club? Hurry and let us in; we're looking for Miss Lan Lan.'

At this moment Lao Wai also deliberately stuck his head forward, walking toward the villa interior.

Seeing that, the group of black-clad men wasted no words, grabbed Lao Wai's arm, and with a heave threw him out.

Lao Wai cried out 'aiya' and fell to the ground.

Ding Li deliberately shouted loudly: 'You dare hit my elder brother? You don't even bother to find out who we are. I'm about to call for backup and wipe you out.'

Having said that, he was about to pull out his phone.

At that moment, a voice from inside the courtyard asked: 'Who is Old Cai, coming to cause trouble?'

The man called Old Cai replied: 'Mr. Ruan, they're just two drunkards.'

The people in the courtyard said: "Come in quickly, ignore them, close the door."

"Yes, let's go, we're heading back. If you keep smashing the door, don't blame me for ruining you two drunks." Old Cai pointed at Ding Li and Lao Wai and said.

Ding Li shouted back: "Grandpa isn't afraid of you, I love playing with you."

Those people didn't waste words, quickly went back into the villa, and then swiftly shut the door.

At this moment, Ding Li helped Lao Wai up.

Lao Wai pointed at the door and shouted angrily.

After Lao Wai finished venting, Ding Li supported Lao Wai as they walked over to us.

After they arrived,

I said to Ding Li and Lao Wai: "Come on, let's get back to the car."

Lao Wai then pulled me and said: "Today I exerted myself and even made someone fall; how will this be compensated?"

I said: "Lao Wai, how about giving you two thousand dollars?"

As soon as I said I'd give two thousand, Lao Wai's mouth couldn't stop smiling.

"We agreed not to change our minds," Lao Wai said.

"We'll settle it when we get home. Come on, hurry back to the car." I said.

Our group got back into the car, Xiao Long drove, and we quickly returned home.

After we arrived home,

I first had Shi Yong take out two thousand dollars to give to Lao Wai.

Lao Wai looked at the money and his eyes lit up immediately.

"If I'd known, falling once could earn two thousand, I should have let him knock me down a couple more times."

I said: "Alright, Lao Wai, tomorrow there will be plenty of chances to get knocked down."

Lao Wai didn't understand what I meant by that, he tilted his head thinking.

Shangguan Zhuren hurriedly asked me: "How's it going, Jianqiang, did you find anything?"

I said: "Shangguan Zhuren, let's talk inside."

After entering the house,

I happily said: "The information Lao Wai found should be about right. I suspect that the villa is where Li Ming is being held."

"What's your basis? Have you seen Li Ming?" Shangguan Zhuren asked.

I said: "I haven't seen Li Ming, but I heard that the group of black-clad people spoke with a southern accent, and one of them was addressed as Mr. Ruan."

"There aren't many people with the surname Ruan here,"

"and I know a Mr. Ruan who previously was a representative of the Southern Group and had visited the Da Heng Group; Shi Yong has also met him."

Shi Yong said: "Is that Ruan Wei?"

I said: "I'm not sure if it's that Ruan Wei, since I haven't met him in person, but from the accent it feels very similar."

"If it really is that Ruan Wei,"

then I can confidently say that Li Ming is being held here. Because Ruan Wei, Liu Shiru, Kong Shi, and Zhang Zong are all in the same gang; Ruan Wei wouldn't come to the old district of Zaocheng unless it was something important, and only Li Ming is important enough, so they sent Ruan Wei personally to guard him.