Chapter 12 : Rescuing Old Zhong
Chapter 12: Rescuing Old Zhong
Old Zhong opened his eyes and saw a familiar figure squatting above the pit, staring at him. He smiled. Although his mouth was sealed with tape, even his eyes were filled with laughter.
Shen Qingzhou reached out and tore the tape off his mouth, angrily saying, “You dared to embezzle my money, and even wanted to use your daughter to repay the debt?”
“Really?” Upon hearing this, Old Zhong’s face lit up with joy.
“You damn bastard, embezzling my money is one thing, and now you even want to be my father?”
Shen Qingzhou reached down and hauled him up out of the pit.
Only then did Old Zhong notice Huang Dayuan and Tang Xiaolan lying beside the dirt pit, their life or death unknown.
“Are they dead?” Old Zhong asked with a complicated expression.
“What nonsense are you thinking? Do you think you’re some beauty? Others get enraged for a woman, and I get enraged for an old man? Has my brain gone faulty?”
Shen Qingzhou looked full of disdain as he reached out and untied the rope on Old Zhong’s hands.
Old Zhong plopped down onto the muddy ground, trembling as he tried to undo the ropes himself. After being bound for so long, his wrists were bruised purple, and his fingers were stiff and unresponsive.
Yet he didn’t ask Shen Qingzhou for help again. Instead, he joked, “My daughter is a beauty, a great beauty. If you’re willing, I’ll tie her to your bed.”
“Bah, you old thing, don’t try to fool me. I’ve seen your daughter’s photos—she’s just a four-eyed girl with braces.”
“She just hasn’t grown into it yet. My daughter takes after her mother. Her mother was a great beauty when she was young.”
“Don’t think saying that means you don’t have to repay the money.”
Seeing that Old Zhong had undone the ropes on his feet, Shen Qingzhou kicked the two people lying on the ground.
“These two are yours to deal with. I’ll wait for you in the car.”
After saying that, Shen Qingzhou left the backyard without looking back.
Old Zhong didn’t call after him. Just as Shen Qingzhou had said, this was his matter, and he had to handle it himself.
Shen Qingzhou’s BYD was parked on the road at the village entrance. By the time he finished his second cigarette, Old Zhong finally staggered over.
“Let’s go.” Old Zhong opened the passenger door and sat down directly.
Shen Qingzhou flicked the cigarette butt out the window and said, “Getting soft in your old age? You’ll die at that woman’s hands.”
Clearly, even though Shen Qingzhou had been sitting in the car, he knew exactly what had happened in the yard. Old Zhong, however, didn’t find it strange at all.
“She’s a good woman,” Old Zhong sighed.
Then, gritting his teeth, he added, “Also a cheap woman.”
Shen Qingzhou said nothing and simply started the car.
“Head back and give me a ghost-expelling talisman.”
“Ten thousand.”
“You’ll get your share.”
“And the thirty million?”
“You’ll get that too.”
Old Zhong said this, but his brows were already furrowed. Clearly, things weren’t as easy as he made them sound.
“Where are we going?”
Seeing Shen Qingzhou driving in silence, Old Zhong shifted uneasily in his seat.
He was truly afraid Shen Qingzhou would use all those strange methods on him.
“Of course I’m taking you home first. You stink.”
“Do I?” Old Zhong lifted his arm and sniffed. “I don’t smell anything.”
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“Waiter, bring me another bowl of chicken soup.”
Old Zhong loudly called out to the server. He had already bathed and was now dressed in a tight-fitting small suit, his slicked-back hair shining brightly, carrying the air of a successful man.
Unfortunately, the way he ate completely ruined the image—wolfing down food, smacking his lips, occasionally picking his teeth and slurping, utterly lacking any sense of decorum.
“Do you want one too? Their chicken soup is very nourishing.”
Old Zhong crossed his legs, looking relaxed and content, with no trace of his earlier bedraggled state.
“No thanks. Watching you has already ruined my appetite.”
“You just don’t know how to appreciate it.”
He took the chicken soup from the server and gulped it down noisily.
The ginseng stewed old hen soup of Huinan City was considered a local specialty and quite famous.
Because of this, it had become a must-order dish for many tourists visiting Huinan. As a result, authentic versions had become rare.
Typically, one old hen and a single ginseng root could be simmered for several days—the soup would be sold, then diluted with water, and when the chicken flavor faded, concentrated broth cubes would be added.
Of course, the place Old Zhong chose wasn’t like that. Their soup was sold by the bowl, ladled fresh from a large pot—whatever you got was what you ate.
Shen Qingzhou had originally worried that Old Zhong would take the money and flee abroad. Now that he had seen him in person, he was no longer in a hurry.
Shen Qingzhou was very patient, simply watching him quietly and waiting for him to finish eating.
Old Zhong felt uneasy under Shen Qingzhou’s deep gaze. Even while drinking chicken soup, he felt a chill down his spine. After finishing only half the bowl, he couldn’t continue.
Seeing that Old Zhong had “finished,” Shen Qingzhou finally spoke, “Where are we going now?”
“To meet someone in the same line of work as you,” Old Zhong said.
Then he added, “On the surface, at least.”
When the sign for “Zhixin Information Consulting” appeared before Shen Qingzhou, he finally understood what Old Zhong had meant.
Because the law prohibited detective agencies, such businesses operated under the guise of security companies or information consulting firms.
Compared to Shen Qingzhou’s one-man workshop, this company was much larger. Including the person in charge, there were eight people in total.
“Old Zhong, what brings you here today?”
The person in charge of Zhixin Information Consulting was Zhang Haiyang, a middle-aged man about the same age as Old Zhong. He had a slightly overweight build, thinning hair, and wore thick glasses. When he smiled, he looked like a friendly neighbor.
Old Zhong didn’t immediately answer. Instead, he said, “Let me introduce you two.”
But before he could, Zhang Haiyang cut in, “No need. President Shen from Qingzhou Office, right?”
“You investigated me?” Shen Qingzhou’s deep eyes fixed on him.
Zhang Haiyang felt a chill under that gaze and let out a dry laugh. “No—just some understanding of others in the same line of work. In our profession, information is everything.”
Only then did Shen Qingzhou nod and withdraw his gaze.
Many people didn’t dare meet Shen Qingzhou’s eyes—not because they were fierce, but quite the opposite. His eyes were the most striking feature on his body, beautifully shaped and as black as ink.
But one couldn’t look at them for long. The longer one stared, the more they felt like those eyes were a deep, cold pool capable of pulling one’s soul in.
“Alright, enough of that. I came here to find someone.”
Old Zhong stopped wasting words and got straight to the point.
“Find someone?”
Zhang Haiyang looked at Shen Qingzhou in surprise.
A policeman coming to report to another policeman?
Seeing his confusion, Old Zhong explained directly, “I’m looking for Zhou Minghan.”
“Zhou Minghan? You’re still following that commission?”
Zhang Haiyang showed a look of shock.
“What do you mean?” Shen Qingzhou asked, puzzled.
“At the beginning, we took on that commission. But after investigating for several months, we couldn’t find any clues at all, so we passed it on to Old Zhong.” Zhang Haiyang glanced at him.
The reason Zhang Haiyang had transferred the commission was simple—he didn’t want to keep wasting manpower and resources, and he also wanted to earn a referral fee. In short, he couldn’t lose either way.
Old Zhong knew this as well. Most of the cases that reached him were difficult commissions—high profit, high difficulty.
“He ran off with the money,” Old Zhong said.
“What?”
Zhang Haiyang shot up from his seat in shock, the few strands of hair on his head fluttering.
“You completed the commission?” His voice even became shrill from surprise.
“How did you complete it? Where did you find the access key?” Zhang Haiyang pressed urgently.
But the moment the words left his mouth, he realized his mistake.
“Sorry, I got too excited.”
According to industry rules, such questions shouldn’t be asked—and even if they were, there would be no answer.
Old Zhong waved his hand and said directly, “That’s not the point right now. Give me Zhou Minghan’s information.”