This scene left everyone around in stunned silence.
Who would have thought that Lian Dong, who was so arrogant just a moment ago, would now kneel before the fishing uncle without any dignity.
Life truly is absurd.
Even Li Chonglou hadn't expected that the uncle he saved was actually from the tax bureau.
And now, they were in charge of Lianchuang Group.
It would be a miracle if Lian Dong could still be arrogant.
"You made a mistake? What was your mistake?" the fishing uncle remained unmoved.
"I shouldn't have forced sales, I shouldn't have bullied others with my influence, I..." Lian Dong was almost in tears.
He stammered, unable to get to the point.
"You're not apologizing to me, but to him. You've lived your life in vain compared to someone your age," the fishing uncle said, pointing at Li Chonglou.
It had to be said, he had a certain official air when he reprimanded people.
Lian Dong quickly turned to Li Chonglou on his knees, "I shouldn't have called you a bumpkin. I have a loose tongue."
*Slap, slap!*
As he spoke, he started slapping himself.
He didn't want to lose what he had just gained, so he had to sacrifice his dignity.
In that moment, face was meaningless.
He had caused trouble for the sake of face, only to find that face was worthless in the end.
Truly, disaster comes from the mouth.
He wished he could slap his own mouth until it bled.
Li Chonglou naturally didn't hold it against him.
Although he was Lian Zijian's nephew, they had no direct enmity.
He was too lazy to deal with it and wouldn't pursue it further.
He got up, picked up the fish, and with Jiang Yuxin, prepared to leave.
He carried the hundred-pound fish with one hand, showing no signs of strain.
This sight instantly turned Lian Dong's face ashen.
So, the real formidable force wasn't the fishing uncle, but this Qin Province bumpkin he had looked down upon.
"Young man, please wait." The fishing uncle knew he wouldn't be able to fish anymore. He reeled in his fishing rod, placed his fishing platform by the riverbank, and followed Li Chonglou.
He said gratefully, "If it weren't for you today, I would have gone to see the King of Hell."
"Please leave me your phone number. I'll treat you to a meal later."
"Forget it. You're from the government. They're cracking down on dining now, so let's not eat." Li Chonglou politely declined the offer.
The uncle chuckled, "Do you really think I'm from the tax bureau? I was just bluffing that rich second-generation brat!"
"Was my acting good?"
"My name is Fang Bin, I'm a dentist. My phone is broken and I don't have my business cards."
"You can take down my number!"
Hearing this, Li Chonglou exchanged a glance with Jiang Yuxin, and they couldn't help but laugh.
This uncle was quite interesting.
A dentist went fishing by the river, almost got caught by a fish, and then pretended to be a high-ranking tax official, scaring Lian Dong into kneeling and begging for mercy.
Beneath this ordinary exterior, there was undoubtedly an interesting soul.
Since he wasn't from the government, it didn't matter anymore.
Li Chonglou took out his phone from his jacket pocket, noted down Fang Bin's number, and then bid farewell.
Driving the fish back to the mansion happily.
"Clang clang clang..." Li Chonglou, like a playful child, made sound effects with his mouth as he proudly entered with the large fish.
This caused a chorus of gasps.
"Not bad, junior fellow disciple. You went out to buy clothes and came back with a fish. It's almost a spirit now," Lin Ying said, supporting Zheng Xiumei's wheelchair and marveling at the fish.
"He probably stole it from someone's fishpond. If he bought it, would he be so smug?" Ning Lang laughed heartily.
Zhang Dongxu quickly took the fish, almost stumbling under its weight, and said with a wry face, "Master, your fish is bigger than me..."
"Did you catch it?"
"Ah, only you guessed correctly. He actually caught it," Jiang Yuxin replied with a smile.
Then, she recounted the situation to everyone. Hearing that Li Chonglou had gone into the water to save someone, Lin Ying wasn't worried at all.
She knew the effects of the sheepskin scroll cultivation method too well.
Holding one's breath was just a basic function.
As long as he wasn't knocked unconscious by a rock, he would be fine.
Ning Lang called for an aunt to help carry the fish to the kitchen to prepare a whole-fish feast.
"Don't cook it. Yelowtail fish meat is like rough wood, not tasty," Li Chonglou stopped him. "I brought it back for you to make a fish print with."
"After you're done, bury it."
Such a large yellowtail fish would require a tremendous amount of oxygen and couldn't live long after being pulled ashore. It had already died on the way.
Its only remaining use was for a fish print; otherwise, it could have been kept to guard the house.
"Good idea!" Ning Lang's eyes lit up.
A fish print, as the name suggests, is a technique of applying ink or paint to a real fish and then pressing its complete image onto paper.
Originating in the Song Dynasty, it recorded the fish's length and appearance while possessing artistic merit.
It was very commemorative.
Rare fish species were usually used for this purpose.
The yellowtail, an absolute freshwater overlord, was undoubtedly the best choice.
No sooner said than done, Li Chonglou was adept at this.
He asked Zhang Dongxu to find paints and carefully brushed the entire yellowtail fish with ink, then made a print on Xuan paper that Ning Lang had treasured for many years.
It took more than three hours, with one print on each side.
Two majestic and lifelike yellowtail fish appeared on the paper.
They were more vivid than any painted fish, as if the souls of the deceased yellowtail had transferred onto the paintings.
Ning Lang marveled at them, unable to put them down.
While Ning Lang was admiring the prints, Li Chonglou asked Zhang Dongxu to take people to properly bury the fish.
It was a way to honor the connection.
For the remaining two days, Li Chonglou stayed indoors. During the day, he discussed antiques and history with Ning Lang, and at night, he was intimate with Jiang Yuxin in his room, but he never crossed the line.
It wasn't due to his leg injury, nor because he was staying at Ning Lang's.
It was because Li Chonglou had his own considerations.
Jiang Yuxin had not yet consummated their marriage.
He was going to see Li Hanlong the day after tomorrow; if he was lucky, he would return victorious, and if not, he would die.
He wasn't afraid of death, but he didn't want Jiang Yuxin to be a widow for him.
If he could get through this tribulation, he would pursue her then.
During these two days, Ning Lang also sent his subordinates to inquire about the situation.
For some reason, there was no movement from the Huang He side. After Lian Zijian's death, they seemed to have vanished completely.
It felt like the stillness before a storm.
Li Chonglou didn't have the time to dwell on this. Since they weren't making a move, he put it aside for now.
At noon on the third day, after lunch, Lin Ying gave Li Chonglou an address and phone number, telling him to find a girl named Xu Qing himself.
She was responsible for looking after Zheng Xiumei at home.
Perhaps sensing the calm before the storm, she had changed her plan and wouldn't leave her side.
"When you find Xu Qing, remember to show her this," Lin Ying said, pulling Li Chonglou's hand. Her slender fingers parted, and a small, exquisite half-jade bracelet appeared in her palm.
The jade bracelet was broken, the break looking somewhat old, but not ancient.
"Is this an earring?" Li Chonglou recognized the form of the jade bracelet.
"Don't ask too many questions. Give it to her, and she'll help you," Lin Ying replied with a smile, not elaborating.
After bidding farewell to his mother and Jiang Yuxin, Li Chonglou took Zhang Dongxu with him, had him drive, and headed straight for the Women's Street on Yongning Road.
Xu Qing, Shen Yishou's disciple, had a beauty salon on Yongning Road.
An hour later, they parked in a lot opposite Women's Street.
Looking at the scantily clad and sexy beauties passing by, Zhang Dongxu's eyes were glued to them.
His mouth watering, he said, "Master... this is a good place. I've been to Yong'an several times, but I've never seen so many beautiful women."
"Then you can look your fill. Wait for me here," Li Chonglou said dismissively.
He got out of the car and walked into Women's Street.
In reality, it was a small section of Yong'an Pedestrian Street, with countless small shops selling women's accessories, clothing, and beauty products.
Hence, it was named "Beauty Street."
It was true that there were many beauties here, of all heights and builds, and even foreigners of various skin colors.
Li Chonglou followed the address and found a small shop called "Qingcheng Jiaren" (Beautiful Lady of the City).
The shop sign was unremarkable, simple and casual.
A fluorescent board was placed at the entrance, displaying prices for makeup and nail services.
Entering the shop, he saw it was only about ten square meters, with two beauty beds.
On each bed lay a middle-aged woman, and two technicians, wearing masks that obscured their ages, were giving them facials.
Other than that, there was no one else.
"Excuse me, who is Xu Qing?" Li Chonglou asked after looking around.
One of the technicians looked up when she heard him, "Who are you? Sister Xu just left not long ago."
"Lin Ying from before arranged a meeting with her. That's me." Li Chonglou's brow furrowed slightly, and he thought to himself that this woman was truly unreliable. "When will she be back?"
His senior sister had clearly arranged a time with her, so why choose to leave now?
If she wouldn't be long, he could wait.
"I don't know. You can sit and wait," the woman said, then continued her work.
Knowing he wouldn't get any further information from them, Li Chonglou sat down on a swivel chair nearby and closed his eyes to rest.
Half an hour...
An hour...
Two hours later, Zhang Dongxu couldn't help but call.
Xu Qing still hadn't returned.
Li Chonglou was also getting quite annoyed. While he wasn't impatient, waiting for someone for so long was bound to be irritating.
Moreover, this woman hadn't even left a message.
Was she hiding from him?
Li Chonglou hung up Zhang Dongxu's call and dialed Lin Ying's number, but he heard a prompt indicating that the number could not be connected.
Several attempts yielded the same result.
A bad feeling began to rise in Li Chonglou's heart.
He tried Ning Lang's number again, and it was the same.
Jiang Yuxin's number also couldn't be reached.
No one answered his WeChat video calls either.
"Something's wrong, something's happened," Li Chonglou jumped up as if spring-loaded and prepared to leave for home.
Before he could reach the parking lot, his phone rang. It was an unknown number.
"Are you Li Chonglou? I'm Xu Qing," a gentle voice came from the other end when he answered.
"Yes!"
"Your senior sister Lin Ying asked me to help you with a disguise. I just went to get the materials. Are you at the shop now? I'll be back soon." Xu Qing's voice was calm and unhurried, full of grace.
But at this moment, Li Chonglou had no time to concern himself with her.
He immediately said, "I have something to attend to and need to go back now. I'll find you after I'm done."
With that, he hung up the phone.
He rushed into the car, asked Zhang Dongxu to sit in the passenger seat, paid the parking fee, and gunned the engine, the car shooting out of the parking lot like an arrow.
"Master, what happened?" Zhang Dongxu clearly sensed something was wrong.
Li Chonglou exuded a suffocating sense of gravity.
Besides, he was supposed to be here for a disguise, so why was he leaving without any changes?
"I don't know. I hope my feeling is wrong!" Li Chonglou said in a deep voice, his eyes profound.