茶杯狐 -CUPFOX

It was already past midnight, and Xia Libing’s third uncle and aunt had been bustling about for a whole day due to the kidnapping of Xia Tianhuo, without any rest.

“Did Xiao Bing sleep?” Just after hanging up the phone, the third uncle asked in a low voice as he sat down next to his wife.

“Yes, she slept.” The third aunt nodded, her eyebrows wrinkled all day without being able to relax. After she made a hot drink for the police officers who were still busy adjusting their equipment in the living room, she returned and sat down and sighed softly, “Xiao Bing is also very tired. She received a phone call yesterday in the middle of the night and came straight away. She didn’t have a good rest the whole day, it’s heartbreaking to see her like that. Ah, this situation is really…”

The third uncle said: “Right, is Xiao Bing always in Jianzhou now? Is she with Mr. Xiang all the time?”

“Well, they said they wanted to run a breeding research center, I do not know why Xiao Bing suddenly became interested in these things.”

“So what is their relationship now?”

“I felt before that they might have been together already.” The third aunt said thoughtfully, “But this time… when Xiao Bing arrived this morning, I asked her if Xiang knew about this situation, and she said he did. Since he knows… and he let Xiao Bing come alone by bus, without appearing in person, I feel a bit uncomfortable about it. You’ve also seen how tired Xiao Bing was when she rushed here. I think… after this situation is resolved, we should have a good talk with Xiao Bing.”

The third uncle said, “Mr. Xiang… Xiang Kun should have been busy with something.”

The third aunt frowned: “If he really cares about Xiao Bing, what could be more important than this situation now?”

But the third uncle said, “Didn’t I just talk to a businessman with connections to Burma that I contacted through old Xu? That person is very enthusiastic. He promised to help us out by getting in touch with influential locals in Myitkyina and assured us that he would communicate through a more private channel as much as possible to avoid alarming the kidnappers. After I thanked him, do you know what he said in response?”

Instead of keeping them in suspense, the third uncle went straight to the point: “He said there’s no need to thank him, because he owes Mr. Xiang a big favor. He assured me to rest easy and that he would do everything in his power to help.”

The third aunt was stunned: “Owe a favor? What kind of favor?”

The third uncle shook his head: “He didn’t say what kind. However, I knew him to be a prominent business owner, so what I think is… The things Xiang Kun is involved in are probably not simple.”

The third aunt looked thoughtful.

Since receiving a call yesterday from Xia Libing informing them of the situation, the couple had been busy dealing with it. Today, their home was like a temporary command center, and their two children had already been sent to a friend’s house temporarily.

As for Xia Tianhuo’s parents, like Xia Libing’s parents, they are also abroad. After receiving the notifications from the third uncle and Xia Libing this morning, they are now on their way back. Since the kidnappers contacted Xia Libing believing that she was the “parent”, everything was temporarily in the hands of the third uncle.

The third uncle first consulted the Citong police using his contacts. Then, they suggested that they directly contact our consulate in Myitkyina for assistance in the rescue operation.

However, what the consulate can do is mainly to urge local officials and the police to investigate and rescue, and rely more on the capabilities of local departments, institutions, and organizations.

If this were inside our country, no doubt the best option would be to report to the trustworthy police. Countless cases have shown that putting all the initiative in the hands of the kidnappers, fully relying on their integrity will most likely result in loss of both money and the kidnapped family member. By doing so, the best opportunity to resolve the issue and apprehend the kidnappers could be missed.

But that’s under the circumstance that our country has a strong police force and Skynet system for assistance. If it happens in foreign countries, there will be hesitation about contacting local police when the local situation is complicated and the kidnappers are not understood.

Of course, as the phone demanding for ransom was directly dialed to Xia Libing’s mobile phone in China, the Citong police could also provide technical support to help locate the position of the kidnapper. If necessary, they could request help from the International Criminal Police Organization.

But the capability of Interpol in that region is very limited, they only have the responsibility to assist in the investigation. If someone needs to be rescued or if the kidnappers need to be captured, it still relies on the local police.

That’s why during the day, the third uncle and aunt tried to find someone with influential contacts in Burma and Myitkyina, hoping to figure out the identity and background of the kidnappers, or even have a direct contact with them.

If possible, with a local strongman in Myitkyina acting as the middleman and ensuring safety, exchanging ransom for the victim is an option.

Although it’s extremely laborious and difficult for the entire Xia family to gather 5 million dollars in cash in a short time- as long as the safety of Xia Tianhuo can be guaranteed, they were willing to pay this price.

However, among the people who the third uncle knows, there are only a few who have business dealings with Burma, and are familiar with the local situation. Furthermore, their foreign trade orders are not large and they do not directly know anyone influential in Myitkyina. Thus, they would need to transfer information through others to get a response.

The third uncle did not dare to exaggerate the situation while contacting them. Before he was certain that there was a reliable channel, he dared not tell them the specifics of the situation, thus no progress was made.

In the end, Officer Xu from Citong, who came to assist, made a connection and found a local boss in Myitkyina with “connections”.

After chatting, that “connection” turned out to be a local big shot named Wu Lun, and the third uncle had heard this name when he enquired from other people. They said something like “Basically, you can know everything in Myitkyina if you can access Wu Lun”, but no one had any past dealings or contacts with Wu Lun.

Not only did the person have a contact with Wu Lun, but he also showed an extremely proactive and enthusiastic attitude. If it weren’t for old Xu’s introduction and his knowledge of the man’s identity, the third uncle would suspect him of being a scammer.

Though the person has only promised to do his best to help and no results have been delivered yet, the third uncle, who had been tense all day, could relax a little now — at the very least, after being kept busy all day, it wasn’t entirely fruitless.

What perplexes him is the enthusiasm of the other party towards this matter because generally, people with no deep relationship would not be willing to get involved with such incidents.

Based on the man’s words, it can only be inferred that Xiang Kun has a great deal of influence, and many people know about Xiao Bing and Xiang Kun’s relationship.

But he finds it difficult to understand, what kind of ability does Xiang Kun have that could make such a prominent business owner show such an attitude in front of a third party?

Isn’t Xiang Kun a programmer?

Didn’t he go to Jianzhou to raise livestock and open a restaurant?

Oh, does he also make games?

Could it be that the big boss wants to participate in Xiang Kun’s game project?

But that shouldn’t warrant such an attitude.

…

Tongshi Town.

Qi Haoguo, who had just finished talking to Wu Lun, sat in his study, leaning back in his large chair, squinting his eyes and stroking his chin, pondering over their conversation.

Although Wu Lun was Burmese, he had been doing business with the Chinese for many years and had a quarter Chinese blood. They communicated half in Chinese and half in English, surprisingly, no translator was required and they both communicated effectively.

Yes, the big boss with the “connections” in Myitkyina, which Uncle Three was looking for through Old Xu, was Qi Haoguo.

The person Old Xu initially contacted wasn’t Qi Haoguo, as they weren’t familiar with each other.

Old Xu first contacted Chu Xiuwen, because he heard Chu Xiuwen had done business in Myanmar and was even planning to set up a factory there. Old Xu thought Chu might have some connections there and could help Uncle Three by asking around.

While Chu Xiuwen did have some connections in Burma, like the others Uncle Three had contacted before, they were either not in Myitkyina or were all related to the business field and couldn’t help.

When Old Xu made the call, he didn’t elaborate on the specifics, so it was normal that he couldn’t help.

However, Chu Xiuwen later learned more about the situation from others Uncle Three had asked for help from. He found out that the one who needed connections in Myitkyina was the husband of the vice dean of the third hospital, which was Dr. Xia Libing’s Uncle Three. He was quite familiar with the background of Dr. Xia who had come to Tongshi Town and Chongyun Village with Xiang Kun.

He then realized that something might have happened to the Xia family, so he took the initiative to contact Old Xu again and learned some of the basic details, knowing that a relative of the Xia family had been trapped in Myitkyina.

Chu Xiuwen initially wanted to contact Xiang Kun to find out about the situation, but after some consideration, he changed his mind.

Although he himself couldn’t help, he did know that Qi Haoguo had done business in Myanmar before and had interacted with high-level contacts, so he decided to give Qi a call directly.

Chu Xiuwen asked him directly if he had a good relationship with Wu Lun, a powerful local figure in Myitkyina.

Qi Haoguo’s first reaction was to deny it, saying that he had already withdrawn all his investment and cooperation in Myanmar and was no longer in contact with anyone there.

But Chu Xiuwen’s statement “it’s related to Dr. Xia, a friend of Xiang Kun” made Qi Haoguo loosen up.

After hearing Chu Xiuwen’s explanation of the situation, Qi Haoguo instantly decided to agree to contact Officer Xu. He clearly knew that this Doctor Xia was the woman who lived with Xiang Kun in Chongyun village, and their relationship was rather unconventional. This might be a very good opportunity.

Afterwards, he contacted Uncle Three directly through Old Xu. After their communication, he found out about the specific situation of Xia Tianhuo and the predicament they were facing. He then promised to help contact the local strongman Wu Lun in Myitkyina, asking him to help find information, with Xia Tianhuo’s safety as the priority.

A few years ago, Qi Haoguo did have investments in Burma, and he had cooperated with Wu Lun on several occasions. They had business ties and even planned to set up a casino together.

But after that incident at the beginning of the year, not only did he withdraw some of his domestic businesses, he also basically stopped his operations in Myanmar. His cooperation with Wu Lun ended unilaterally, with only a few loose ends left to tie up. So when Chu Xiuwen initially called to ask about connections in Myanmar, his first reaction was, “I’m not, I don’t have, I’ve already withdrawn everything.”

He genuinely wanted to cut ties with his past self—who would do any business that was profitable—and he really didn’t want to be involved with certain people anymore.

Re-establishing contact with Wu Lun was indeed a bit hard, considering he hadn’t contemplated the prospect of further cooperation when he initially severed ties.

However, the business in Myanmar couldn’t be completely withdrawn just by saying so. To wind down the business, Qi Haoguo had to make concessions on certain profits, which was bound to benefit others. Transferring these benefits to Wu Lun would be a significant bargaining chip. If Wu Lun didn’t cooperate, he wouldn’t have been able to reap all the benefits.

In fact, Qi Haoguo had prepared himself to offer Wu Lun some monetary incentives, or even tease him with future profits, to secure his cooperation.

But after contacting him, Qi Haoguo found that despite Wu Lun’s attitude and pretentious demeanor, he, who was very familiar with the latter’s ways, could clearly feel that the man was quite willing to cooperate, as if he were clinging to a lifeline.

This made Qi Haoguo a little confused. Could it be that Wu Lun was also involved in this matter?

If that were the case, he would be reluctant to entrust the matter to Wu Lun.

If indeed, he not only failed to lend a helping hand but caused the Xia family’s child to be harmed in the process, then he really wouldn’t be able to justify himself.

…

Myitkyina.

Inside the scrap collection station.

After awakening from the dream, Xiang Kun immediately walked out of the room, approached the sleeping Jade Pendant Man, first retrieved the “Black circle graffiti”, then gave the couch where the man slept a rough shake before nonchalantly returning to his room and shutting the door.

Since he had already gained the information he wanted and exerted the corresponding counter-influence in the “Dream in A Dream”, with time pressing on, naturally, he wasn’t going to let Jade Pendant Man continue sleeping. He needed to wake him up and get him working.

On the other hand, for Old Xia currently at his Uncle Three’s house in Citong City, Xiang Kun hoped she would continue sleeping to recuperate.

Jade Pendant Man got up from the sofa, appearing somewhat confused. After rubbing his face and taking a glance at the long-haired man sleeping on the opposite sofa, and Tun Qin, the short and sturdy man who had somehow brought in a reclining chair and was sleeping in the room, he suddenly remembered the dream he’d just had, and certain ideas began to emerge uncontrollably in his mind.

Without considering the fact that it was already three in the morning, he got up, retrieved a satellite phone from a box under the TV cabinet, moved to the adjacent room, turned on the light, but found the switch seemed to be broken.

He wasn’t too concerned, as he knew the room well and could manage just the same with or without the lights. So, he started trying to contact Brother Kui.

He was unaware that he wasn’t the only one in this pitch-black room.

Xiang Kun, arms crossed, leaned against the wall, watching the Jade Pendant Man making the call not far from him, seemingly unfazed.

When he noticed the Jade Pendant Man was about to move into the room with the satellite phone, Xiang Kun had already come up with several coping strategies. For instance, he could use the “Super-connected Objects” to create sounds in the other rooms. While the man went to check it out, he could quickly leave the room. However, he ended up choosing to affect the light in the room using the “Super-connected Objects”, leaving the room in darkness and hiding himself to observe.