Chapter 101 Traitors
Lin Su barely took the business call after work unless there was an emergency. The whole company also knew this unwritten rule. If her friend had called her, it would have been impossible for her to leave anxiously. After all, Qin Sheng was sitting here, and the soup of the hot pot had just boiled and the dishes had not yet been put inside.
Yan Chaozong called Lin Su and said that her grandmother had come to Shanghai and just arrived at Sheshan Golf Resort and that she thought her granddaughter had got off work, so she asked him to call her.
It seemed that Lin Su’s grandmother had not come to Shanghai for a year. Last time she came to Shanghai to mourn an old friend of the Lin family, who did help the Lin family a lot and was a relative of hers.
As her grandmother arrived in Shanghai, Lin Su naturally had to hurry to meet her. Hence, she said those words to Qin Sheng after receiving the call.
Hearing that Lin Su might have to go, Qin Sheng was stunned for a while. As they had just sat down, he said in puzzlement, “Is there something urgent?”
“Well, my grandmother has just arrived in Shanghai, so I have to rush to meet her. Sorry!” Lin Su said helplessly, “When you come back from Hangzhou, I will treat you to a meal of hot pot. How about it?”
“It turned out to be that.” Qin Sheng could understand. After all, the family was the most important. If his grandfather were still alive and arrived in Shanghai at this moment, Qin Sheng would definitely rush to meet him no matter what he was doing.
“Well, then let me send you there?” Qin Sheng got up as he said.
Lin Suyi refused euphemistically, “No, don’t bother. I’ve called the driver. She has just driven me here and hasn’t gone far, so she will pick me up.”
Qin Sheng nodded silently. “Don’t be anxious. Wait for the driver to come over and go downstairs. Come and eat some. You must be hungry.”
Lin Su did not reject the good intentions of Qin Sheng, so the two sat down to dig in. Lin Su behaved gracefully while Qin Sheng started eating savagely, as if there were expensive delicacies in front of him. He gulped a large piece of meat. If there were a big bowl of wine, he would take a swig of it.
Within ten minutes, Lin Su’s driver arrived. Hence, Qin Sheng walked Lin Su downstairs. A low-key and stable Audi Q7 stopped at the roadside. The driver saw Lin Su coming over and immediately opened the door.
“When you come back from Hangzhou, remember to call me.” Lin Su waved at Qin Sheng and said before getting into the car.
Qin Sheng laughed and replied, “It seems that I don’t have to find a reason to ask you out for the next time.”
“Brilliant.” Lin Su flashed him a bright smile and got in the car.
As the Audi Q7 rolled out of his sight, Qin Sheng went upstairs and continued to have his hot pot. After all, they ordered so many dishes. The food would go to waste if he didn’t eat them. Moreover, he was still hungry.
After dinner, Qin Sheng went back to Shilin Huayuan to pack up things. On his way home, he bought a high-speed train ticket to Hangzhou with his mobile phone. Unexpectedly, when he returned to Shilin Huayuan, in addition to Hao Lei, Han Bing was in there, cleaning up their room.
“Why are you here?” Qin Sheng asked unexpectedly.
Han Bing chuckled and said, “I’ve been busy during the period of time and I have no time to visit you. I got off work earlier today and thought that you guys must make the house messy, so I came over to do the cleaning.”
“Miss Han really can do housework. It is really like the Seventh Fairy who fell into the mortal world.” Qin Sheng habitually teased Han Bing.
Han Bing glared at Qin Sheng with the garbage bag in her hand as she said, “Don’t tease me, or you will have to do the cleaning by yourself. I won’t help you.”
“I was wrong, my dear lady.” Qin Sheng immediately asked for mercy.
Han Bing did the cleaning while Hao Lei helped her by her side. Qin Sheng directly walked into the bedroom to take a shower. After that, he started to pack up things. Han Bing came in and asked curiously, “Where are you going?”
“Go to Hangzhou and do some private affairs,” Qin Sheng said truthfully.
Han Bing said with concern, “What’s the matter with you? You’ve been to Nanjing recently and you’ll go to Hangzhou in a while. Are you doing something illegal?”
“I’m smuggling drugs and munitions and trafficking women and children. Beauty, I think you’re very good and I’m ready to kidnap you into the deep forest.” Qin Sheng laughed.
Han Bing walked to Qin Sheng with an enchanting look and hooked her arms around Qin Sheng’s neck, quipping, “Handsome Boy, no matter where you are going, I will follow you. I won’t get married without you.”
Qin Sheng immediately bowed to her and said, “My dear lady, don’t make trouble. I am leaving. Please drive me to the high-speed railway station.”
“Why do you rush to go?” Han Bing wanted to stay with Qin Sheng for a while, but she did not expect Qin Sheng to leave in a hurry.
Qin Sheng explained. “I had no choice. I can only do the job arranged by my boss. Unlike you, I’m not rich.”
“Let me support you. Be my lover then.”
“Do you need to check the goods first in case I am a pretty good-for-nothing who can’t satisfy your desire?” Qin Sheng deliberately showed his body.
Han Bing rolled her eyes and said, “Hooligan.”
Han Bing personally drove Qin Sheng to the Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. She and Qin Sheng chatted about the recent life on their way to the station. Qin Sheng asked about the situation of Guoping Group and the design company. Guoping Group went well, but the design company’s recent business was not good. People had intended to do business with them because of Han Guoping’s personal connections. Now that Han Guoping had pa.s.sed away, some people would not give face to his company.
On the high-speed train from Shanghai Hongqiao to Hangzhou, Qin Sheng sent a message to Zhao Quan, who had contacted him. Then he started studying “Thick Black Theory”, which was an amazing book in modern times. He had read it before and agreed with many of the ideas in the book while having different opinions about the others. However, the commentary of the former owner of the book made Qin Sheng widen his horizon and change his way of thinking to interpret the meaning of the difficult words.
It was ten o’clock. Qin Sheng arrived at Hangzhou East Railway Station. The moment he walked out of the station, a messy-haired middle-aged man in sloppy clothes slowly walked to Qin Sheng and said with a big smile, “Are you Mr. Qin?”
“You are Brother Zhao,” replied Qin Sheng, who did not expect this man to recognize him. He had planned to call him. It might be Jiang Xianbang who had sent the man a photo of him.
Zhao Quan was not tall, 1.7 meters in height. His skin was dark and he had a scar on his neck. He looked thin.
“Nice to meet you. Mr. Qin, this way, please.” Zhao Quan did not chatter on and led Qin Sheng out directly.
A Buick GL8 was parked on the side of the road. A young man sat on the driver seat. After Qin Sheng got into the car, Zhao Quan introduced the young man. “Mr. Qin, this is my nephew, Zhao Song.”
Zhao Song was like a dead man, expressionless. He wore a baseball cap and just nodded slightly without looking back at Qin Sheng.
Qin Sheng made up his mind on the high-speed train. He would not trust anyone in Hangzhou before the cause and effect of the matter was determined. It was strange that Jiang Xianbang’s henchman was missing, not to mention the thing in his hand. Qin Sheng wondered, “What is the thing that makes Jiang Xianbang care a lot?”
The Buick GL8 headed downtown. On the road, Qin Sheng began to ask about some specific information. “How long has Brother Hong been missing?”
“This is the fourth day,” Zhao Quan said with a grim look.
Qin Sheng seemed to ask casually, “Tell me about the specifics.”
“Four days ago, after we finished midnight snacks on Gudun Road, Brother Hong left alone. He said that he had something to deal with. Then we went back to the place where we lived. The next day, we called Brother Hong and his phone was turned off. We couldn’t get in touch with him all day and I realized that things were not right, so I immediately reported to Mr. Jiang.” Zhao Quan explained slowly.
Qin Sheng continued to ask, “Do you have any suspicions?”
“This time the matter is more complicated. We grabbed the item back from Changsha and encountered a lot of things during the period. A few forces got involved in it. We lost a few brothers. They chased us all the way to Hangzhou. Brother Hong planned to bring the item to Shanghai and disappeared that night.”
“Where is that thing?” Qin Sheng asked with concern.
Zhao Quan shook his head and said, “I don’t know. Only Brother Hong knows where the thing is. If you want to get it, you have to find him first.”
“What is that thing that so many people want?” Qin Sheng said curiously.
Zhao Quan’s face changed slightly as he replied, “Mr. Qin, I really have no idea. It was Brother Hong who made a trade with the seller. Brother Hong had been contacting him on his own, so we have never seen him. Mr. Qin, you don’t know either? Mr. Jiang hasn’t told you?”
Qin Sheng shook his head thoughtfully.
There was no clue. He had no idea what the thing was and where it was; he did not know why Brother Hong was missing: someone kidnapped him or Brother Hong betrayed Jiang Xianbang.
“It’s really troublesome,” Qin Sheng sighed inwardly.
“In those days, have you felt that something was wrong?” Qin Sheng asked again.
Zhao Quan thought for a while and said, “Yeah, I felt like we were being watched, so we evacuated the hidden spot on Gudun Road. Now we’re living in an old tea plantation in Meijiawu. It’s relatively safe.”
“Well, I know. We’ll discuss it in detail after we arrive there.” Qin Sheng could only say those words.
Hangzhou was a nice city. Qin Sheng often came to Hangzhou during his college days. His favorite cities were Hangzhou and Chengdu. There was a saying that there was heaven above and there were Suzhou and Hangzhou below. West Lake was a freshwater lake in Hangzhou and famous for its natural beauty and historic relics with the mountains on the west and the Qiantang River on the east. Hangzhou was really a good place with mountains, lakes, and rivers.
It took them 40 minutes to drive from Hangzhou East Railway Station to Meijiawu. It was an interesting trip for Qin Sheng from the downtown area to the deep forest, but it was a pity that they did not pa.s.s by West Lake. Qin Sheng thought when his work was done, he would hang around West Lake, go to the Lingyin Temple to burn incense and go to Zhiweiguan to eat Hangzhou dishes.
The Buick GL8 went to the tea hills of Meijiawu and stopped at the entrance of an old courtyard, which was located in a high place without other houses around. If someone looked around, only tea plantations would come into view. The scenery must be good in the daytime.
Zhao Quan and his nephew led Qin Sheng into the courtyard. There were two men standing in the yard and they were Brother Hong’s relatives. One was Brother Hong’s brother-in-law, Bi Yong and the other was Brother Hong’s cousin, Hong Tao. Qin Sheng could not help but guess the ident.i.ty of the group of people and wondered whether they had got involved in Jiang Xianbang’s previous business. After all, only those who followed Jiang Xianbang at that time were reliable. “Is this thing an antique?” Qin Sheng thought.
“Mr. Qin, welcome.” Bi Yong greeted Qin Sheng in a polite manner. They had made some dishes and waited for Zhao Quan and Qin Sheng to have a drink. However, when they saw Qin Sheng was young, they started to take him lightly. After all, the matter was very complicated. Mr. Jiang sent a young man here. Did he treat it playfully?
The chubby Hong Tao, who had two small dimples on his face, said with a grin, “Mr. Qin must be hungry. Sit down and dig in. Those are the dishes we made. Please settle for it.”
Qin Sheng did not refuse. After all, these people would fight together with him. It was important to form a good relationship with them. Hence, everyone sat down.
They all toasted Qin Sheng to welcome him. After a few drinks, they were excited and started to talk about the event this time. Only Zhao Quan’s nephew kept silent while eating.
Qin Sheng was pondering what they said. Suddenly, all the lights in the yard went out, leaving them in darkness.
Zhao Quan cried, “d.a.m.n, something happened.”
The crowd instantly scattered. Qin Sheng subconsciously thought that there were traitors among the group of people.