Chapter 13 : Locating a Missing Person
Chapter 13: Locating a Missing Person
“Zhou Minghan was a teacher here. He and Li Yunsheng were not only friends, but also university classmates. After graduating, Li Yunsheng entered a financial company, while Zhou Minghan stayed here as a teacher.”
At this moment, the three of them were standing at the entrance of No. 46 Middle School. The reason it was three people was because Zhang Haiyang had also come along.
Of the thirty million, both Zhang Haiyang and Old Zhong each took a three percent commission. This had been agreed upon beforehand. After all, as a broker, one made a living off commissions—something Shen Qingzhou could understand.
“Are you sure we can find him here?” Shen Qingzhou asked.
It was dismissal time, and the school entrance was crowded with parents picking up their children.
“We can only try. We checked flights, high-speed rail, and highways—there’s no record of him leaving Huinan City.”
It had to be said—rats had their burrows, snakes had their paths. This kind of information was something Shen Qingzhou had no way of accessing.
“I’m not afraid of him running. I’m afraid he’s already spent the money,” Old Zhong said.
“What if he fled abroad?”
“That would be even easier. There are still some constraints domestically, but abroad, any means can be used. No need to worry about him not coughing up the money,” Old Zhong said calmly.
“You have connections overseas too?” Shen Qingzhou asked in surprise.
“Old Zhong has a brother who specializes in debt collection,” Zhang Haiyang said.
“I knew that.”
“That brother of his is from Fujian.”
Shen Qingzhou still didn’t understand what that had to do with anything.
“Fujian people are spread all over the world, so companies like that exist everywhere, and they cooperate with each other.”
“Damn, it’s a franchise?” Shen Qingzhou felt like his horizons had been broadened.
“Those who run abroad do it to live comfortably and enjoy life. So as long as you make their lives uncomfortable, that’s enough. Complaints, reports—everything can be arranged. You can even hire a few foreigners to rob or assault them. It can drive a person straight to collapse…”
“And they even cooperate with major airlines. The moment you land, your movements are already tracked…”
Shen Qingzhou: …
He was still too inexperienced. This was truly eye-opening.
“You two wait here. I’ll go ask around,” Old Zhong said as he walked toward the school security guard.
Only Zhang Haiyang and Shen Qingzhou were left where they stood.
“I don’t think we’ll find him at school. If I had taken the money, I’d have run long ago. Why would I stay here waiting for you to find me?”
Shen Qingzhou took out a cigarette, but seeing so many students passing by, he put it back.
“Actually, we never expected to find him at school,” Zhang Haiyang said with a grin.
Shen Qingzhou froze for a moment, then said, “You’re planning to make it known to everyone that Zhou Minghan owes money and refuses to pay?”
He finally understood why Old Zhong insisted on coming to the school at the busiest dismissal time.
At a time like this, just a little commotion would spread Zhou Minghan’s situation everywhere.
Zhang Haiyang was somewhat surprised that Shen Qingzhou caught on so quickly.
But thinking about it, there weren’t many fools in their line of work. Fools couldn’t survive in it, so it wasn’t strange.
“These educated types are the most shameless, but sometimes they care the most about face. And based on what we know, Zhou Minghan is someone who cares about face…”
Shen Qingzhou picked up, “If a person cares about face, then they’re easy to control. No matter where he hides, once this spreads, he’ll eventually slip up.”
Zhang Haiyang glanced at him in surprise. “Not exactly. You’re overthinking it. We just want to ruin his reputation, cut off his retreat, and teach him a lesson. After all, we’re law-abiding citizens. Even if we catch him, we can’t just kill him, right?”
Law-abiding? Old Zhong had just buried someone at noon.
Naturally, Shen Qingzhou didn’t mention this to Zhang Haiyang.
Moreover, Old Zhong’s actions were partly for revenge, but also likely to leave himself a way out.
Yes—a way out. Because Old Zhong probably believed that going to prison would still be better than falling into Shen Qingzhou’s hands.
How could Shen Qingzhou not see through this? He simply chose not to expose it.
Old Zhong was still thinking too simply. Did he really think that once he was in prison, nothing could be done to him?
While the two were talking, a commotion suddenly came from the school gate. Soon after, Old Zhong returned with a furious expression.
“What do we do next to find Zhou Minghan? Go to his house?”
Shen Qingzhou calculated inwardly—if they couldn’t find Zhou Minghan, going to his home might give him a chance to find some hair and use the same method he used to find Old Zhong.
“No. We’ve already found him,” Zhang Haiyang said, raising his phone.
“So fast?” Shen Qingzhou was surprised.
“Already slow. From the moment I knew he ran with the money until now, more than two hours have passed,” Zhang Haiyang said casually.
That sounded extremely pretentious.
Shen Qingzhou was curious what method he used. Damn, it was far more efficient than his techniques.
When he had asked Wu Ying to find Old Zhong, it had taken an entire night.
However, Shen Qingzhou didn’t ask. It was the same principle as when Zhang Haiyang had almost asked how they found the access key earlier, then immediately apologized.
In their line of work, everyone had their own methods and connections—tools for survival—so it wasn’t appropriate to ask casually.
But even though Shen Qingzhou didn’t ask, Zhang Haiyang volunteered, “We located his phone.”
Only then did Shen Qingzhou understand. There were only two possibilities: either a trojan had been planted on the phone beforehand, or there was someone in the communications department.
By this time, Old Zhong had already returned, the anger on his face gone.
“Let’s head to the next place,” he said.
Zhang Haiyang didn’t waste words. “I’ll drive.”
Old Zhong directly tossed him the car keys.
Following the navigation on his phone, Zhang Haiyang quickly drove them to a location in the western district.
This place had originally been a “Third Front” factory built by Shanghai. After the relocation wave in the late 1980s, it gradually fell into disuse and was eventually abandoned.
There were many deserted residences and factory buildings—indeed a good place to hide.
Cars couldn’t enter, so they had to proceed on foot.
“How accurate is your positioning?”
“Millimeter-level,” Zhang Haiyang said boastfully.
Shen Qingzhou knew he was definitely exaggerating, but one thing was certain—
Zhang Haiyang must have used a trojan method to locate Zhou Minghan, because only a trojan continuously transmitting signals could achieve such precision.
Old Zhong took out a cigarette, handed one to Shen Qingzhou, and lit it for him before lighting his own.
Meanwhile, Zhang Haiyang kept his head down, constantly adjusting the direction and position of his phone.
“Do you think that once we find Zhou Minghan, we’ll get our money back?” Shen Qingzhou suddenly asked, exhaling a ring of smoke.
“What do you mean?”
Old Zhong turned his head, looking at him in surprise.
“When you entrusted me with this matter, I didn’t ask for details about your client because of our relationship. But I’ve just looked at Zhou Minghan’s background—a middle school teacher. I don’t believe he has the ability to launder 300 million and transfer it back into the country…”
Old Zhong relaxed upon hearing this and said, “Don’t worry about that. As long as we get the money, I have ways to clean it. Of course, the fees won’t be small. But that’s none of your concern—you just wait to receive your share.”
Shen Qingzhou said nothing more. He took a deep drag of his cigarette. The thin smoke obscured his face, leaving only his eyes visible through the haze as he stared at Old Zhong.
The look made Old Zhong uneasy, and he quickly averted his gaze.