"You..." Just as she was left speechless by Jiang Cheng, Zhou Guanshan entered carrying a teapot.
Qiu Yihe, feeling a bit guilty, moved her chair slightly away from Jiang Cheng.
She then stood up to take the teapot from Zhou Guanshan.
"Let me do it..."
After pouring a cup of tea for everyone, Zhou Guanshan spoke up. "Young Master Jiang, Chen Ping gave me a general idea over the phone. Can you tell me specifically who you're looking for?"
Jiang Cheng pulled up a photo on his phone and handed it over.
"Snake Girl. She was abducted by local militants thirty kilometers outside Tachileik yesterday," Jiang Cheng said.
Old Zhou didn't ask why, nor did he ask who this person was...
He nodded, took out his phone, and walked to the side.
The call went through.
Old Zhou said a few words in a low voice. Jiang Cheng only caught one sentence: "The Old Master's person."
Three minutes later, Old Zhou walked back. "I've found her, Young Master Jiang. She's still forty kilometers north of Tachileik. A group of mercenaries from Wa State did it; the leader is named Kun Tui."
Jiang Cheng looked at him.
"Do you want her dead or alive?" Old Zhou asked.
Jiang Cheng was silent for a second. "Alive."
Old Zhou nodded and picked up his phone again.
Old Zhou chuckled. "Conditions? Let him name them. Once the person is delivered, everything is negotiable."
He gave an "Mhm." "Alright, I'll wait for word."
He hung up.
The whole process took less than two minutes.
He turned back and looked at Jiang Cheng. "There will be news by tomorrow afternoon."
Qiu Yihe's eyes widened beside them.
"That's... it's settled?"
Old Zhou smiled but didn't say anything.
The way Qiu Yihe looked at him changed. "Uncle Zhou, you're that powerful?"
Old Zhou shook his head and pointed at the photo on the wall. "It's not that I'm powerful. It's that the Old Master's name is powerful."
Old Zhou gave a small smile, and there was something in it—it was hard to tell if it was pride or a memory.
"When Elder Jiang was here back in the day, the heads of these armed groups had to kowtow when they saw him. Now that Young Master Jiang has arrived, they wouldn't dare not give him face."
Qiu Yihe asked, "Uncle Zhou, you said 'let him name his conditions.' What kind of conditions would they ask for?"
Old Zhou smiled, a glint of an old fox's cunning in his eyes. "Letting them name a price is giving them face. But do they dare to ask for a high price?"
He shook his head. "They don't. Because they don't know whose person you really are. If they ask for too much and provoke the Old Master, they won't be able to handle the consequences. So..."
He paused. "They will honestly deliver the person and then say,'Since it's Brother Zhou's person, we wouldn't dare ask for money.'"
Qiu Yihe was stunned. "So they won't be paid?"
Old Zhou looked at them, his smile fading as he said seriously, "We pay. We must pay. But it can't be from Young Master Jiang. I'll pay for you when the time comes. It won't go through your hands. That way, they can take the money with peace of mind and know whose person it is. Next time something happens, a single phone call will be enough."
Jiang Cheng nodded upon hearing this.
Zhou Guanshan's words made sense.
Without this connection, Jiang Cheng might have been able to find the person eventually.
However, it would likely have cost a lot of money in rewards and required navigating various channels.
But now, all the trouble could be bypassed because of one person.
Power truly is more useful than money!
Night quickly swept over the Ruili border...
The bougainvillea in the old courtyard swayed gently in the evening breeze, and the dim yellow light from the window frames blurred the distant mountains of Northern Myanmar into a hazy black shadow.
Zhou Guanshan had already arranged everything inside and out.
Wang Sheng was also leading his men, guarding various hidden outposts outside the courtyard.
Qiu Yihe sat in a grandmaster's chair. Watching Jiang Cheng look down at his phone, she couldn't help but speak up. "The person you're looking for... it wouldn't happen to be a woman, would it?"
Jiang Cheng's fingers didn't stop. He gave a hum of affirmation.
"Could she have cuckolded you and then fled over there? Is that why you want her alive?"
Jiang Cheng looked up at her and reached out to rap her on the forehead. "What are you thinking about?"
Suddenly feeling the pain, Qiu Yihe's hand instinctively reached up, wanting to strike back.
However, she didn't follow through in the end and could only cover her forehead and glare at him.
Jiang Cheng ignored her, initiated a video call on his phone, and stood up. "I have things to do. I'm going back to my room first."
As he finished speaking, the call was picked up on the other end.
Soon, a woman's voice came from Jiang Cheng's phone, soft and with a hint of a spoiled lilt. "Honey?"
Hearing this, Qiu Yihe's fingers tightened slightly on her knees.
Jiang Cheng had already reached the door, his silhouette stretched long by the dim yellow light.
The light from the phone screen reflected on his face; she couldn't see what the woman in the video looked like.
She only saw what seemed to be a head of golden hair.
"Are you back at the apartment?"
Just now, Jiang Cheng's tone with her had been lazy and a bit teasing.
But now, video chatting with this girl, his voice dropped and softened, as if he were coaxing someone.
After a muffled grunt, Qiu Yihe instinctively looked away, staring at the old photos on the wall.
She shouldn't be listening.
What was her relationship with Jiang Cheng?
Just a transaction.
Who he video chatted with was none of her business.
But her ears wouldn't listen and she held her breath to eavesdrop.
"I'm exhausted. Another day of running to the hospital..." The voice from the phone came through vaguely.
"If it's too tiring, hire a caregiver," Jiang Cheng's voice said.
"No need. With the doctor you contacted for me, we don't even have to wait in line... My mom's condition is very stable..."
Qiu Yihe's finger tapped lightly on the armrest of the chair.
So he helped her contact a doctor for her mother?
She stole a glance toward the door.
Jiang Cheng had already walked out of the main hall. His voice grew more distant and harder to hear.
She lowered her head, staring at the tips of her shoes.
There was still red soil from the day on her shoes that hadn't been wiped clean.
She suddenly felt a bit ridiculous.
He's video chatting with his girlfriend, and here she is eavesdropping.
Qiu Yihe took a deep breath, stood up, and walked to the door.
"Crazy," she cursed herself in a low voice.
She originally wanted to leave, but in the end, she couldn't quite bring herself to.
Turning back into the main hall, she sat back in the grandmaster's chair, picked up her phone to scroll through it aimlessly for a bit, then put it down again.
The night in the old house was very quiet.
So quiet that she could hear the sound of Jiang Cheng's phone call in the yard. It was blurry, and she couldn't hear what was being said, but that tone was always there.
She leaned against the back of the chair, staring at the dim yellow lightbulb overhead, suddenly feeling a bit irritable.
She had been at the border for over half a month.
Every day she ran along the border with Old Zhou, learned things, was baked by the sun, and soaked by the rain, thinking she had become tough enough.
Yet as soon as he arrived, with just a few words, she lost her composure.
She was the one who said it was a transaction, and she was the one being awkward.
Jiang Cheng was still the same, as if nothing had ever happened.
On the second floor of the main house, the door to Jiang Cheng's room was slightly ajar.
After finishing the video call with Lin Qingxue, Jiang Cheng leaned by the window and began checking the unread messages on his phone.
It had been a while since he returned to the Magic City. Yu Xiaoxiao, Su Wan, Qiao Yinyin, Bai Xiaoxiao, Zhou Ying, Lin Qingxue, Zhu Yan, Xiao Xia, Xia Meng, Si Nian, and Si Qing—these women were already waiting hungrily.
Fortunately, girls like Yu Xiaoxiao and Su Wan, Qiao Yinyin and Bai Xiaoxiao, Xiao Xia and Xia Meng, and Si Nian and Si Qing were the type who could all be handled together in one night.
Although the relationships between these girls hadn't evolved to the level of Chen Jiaxue, Zhao Yihan, and Chloe...
...they were still at a stage where they could coexist in the same room.
So, by seeing two at a time, he could finish his "tour" in a week.