Wen Siqiang told me on the way that Principal Sun suspected Zhou Yingying of betraying him. Last night, Principal Sun called back and asked if she had contacted us. Zhou Yingying said she had not. Principal Sun warned her that if she was disloyal, he would kill her. Zhou Yingying was scared and said she needed to see me to get advice on how to deal with "Mr. Sun."
I told her it was inconvenient to meet at the raw stone base and suggested our hotel. I asked her to contact me now.
After Wen Siqiang finished talking to her, I called Lan Ya to ask about the opening night yesterday and if anything had happened.
She said it was mostly smooth, with a few drunk troublemakers being kicked out by security. She also said that Qian Fugui was doing well, a clever young man with good martial arts skills, capable of handling several people alone.
I told her to let Qian Fugui help her keep an eye on things for the next few days, as I was too preoccupied.
When the car arrived at the hotel, Zhou Yingying was waiting for me at the entrance. I took her upstairs with the room card.
We went to the seniors' room, which they hadn't checked out of when we left yesterday and was still reserved.
I asked Zhou Yingying, "When did Principal Sun call you?"
Zhou Yingying replied, "A little after one. I was already asleep when the phone kept ringing. When I woke up and heard it was him, I knew you must have gone to find him."
I asked, "Did he trouble you?"
Zhou Yingying said, "He suspected me of leaking his whereabouts. I told him that with Li Hua wanting to kill me, how could I dare contact him? He cursed me for a long time before stopping, saying that if he found out it was me, he would retaliate fiercely."
I said, "As long as you stick to your story that it wasn't you, he has no evidence to prove it was you."
Zhou Yingying added, "He said you beat him up again and warned me to be careful, saying he would settle the score with you."
I replied, "He can do as he pleases. Besides, even if he didn't come looking for me, I would still find him. This old scoundrel is too deeply hidden; we need to keep digging. Even after being with him for so long, you probably don't know even a tenth of his affairs."
Zhou Yingying agreed, "Yes, he always acts one way in front of people and another behind their backs, living with a mask on. Sometimes I feel lost, not knowing which is the real him. Perhaps everything we see is an act, and the real him has never appeared."
I nodded and told her, "This time, when he returns, you must remain calm and not let him discover we are in contact. If there's an opportunity, we can stage a scene in front of him to dispel his suspicions about you. However, you'll have to endure some hardship then."
Zhou Yingying replied, "It doesn't matter. As long as we can apprehend him soon, I can endure any hardship."
I said, "Alright. When he returns, you arrange a chance encounter, and we'll put on a good show for him."
I sent Wen Siqiang off to take her back and also to wait for the divine doctor at the station.
I needed to use this time to consider Wu Guodong's situation.
To be honest, at first, I only wanted to get close to him to resolve Principal Sun's troubles with me. But the more I learned, the more I realized things were far more complicated than I had imagined. Principal Sun was involved in matters so vast they were beyond my comprehension.
And I was his biggest stumbling block in Ruili, which was why he was sparing no effort to get rid of me.
As the saying goes, "If you don't enter the tiger's den, you can't catch its cubs." Wen Siqiang and I entered the tiger's den but almost lost our lives. Should we venture in again?
In fact, the last time wasn't really entering the tiger's den; at best, we just brushed past its jaws.
I decided to truly enter this time, not just to brush its jaws, but to pull out a few hairs.
Just then, my phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number from the provincial capital.
I had a feeling this call was related to the senior, so I answered quickly.
It was indeed the senior. He said he had found out some inside information about Brother Hui.
He said Brother Hui had an import and export trading company in a coastal city, primarily exporting specialties from our province and surrounding areas. Business was good, with over ten containers going out each month. What was strange was that since he was in the import and export business, he only exported, with zero imports. He suspected there was more to these monthly shipments of local specialties.
I was taken aback. I didn't know much about import and export trade, but his large monthly export volume surprised me.
As everyone knows, our province and surrounding areas are mostly inhabited by our unique ethnic minorities. Local specialties and clothing, unless taken as souvenirs or collectibles, would become overabundant with ten containers a month, even with a vast world market. Where could such a large market exist?
As the senior said, there was definitely something going on here.
I asked, "Do you know where these items are being shipped to?"
He replied, "To my knowledge, these items are not sent to any well-known major countries but to an island, which is a special economic zone of the Japanese territory. All these goods are unloaded here, and their final destination is unclear."
I said, "Senior, I heard that export goods have customs declaration forms. Can you find a way to check the customs declaration forms he filed on our side?"
The senior responded, "I've already checked those. The containers are uniformly declared as for the United States, but each time they arrive at a Japanese port due to rough seas, they are unloaded for various reasons, and substantial penalties are paid."
This was strange. It was understandable to encounter rough seas once or twice, but every single time? This was clearly fishy.
What did it mean to be willing to pay hefty penalties just to abandon the containers here?
I said, "Senior, please check who provided the containers. I believe the local specialties are fine; the problem must be with the containers! Also, who signed the orders for the local specialties is also very important!"
The senior replied, "I understand. I'll find out and tell you."
As soon as I hung up, Wen Siqiang's call came in. He informed me that he had met the divine doctor and they were on their way.
Things were getting more and more complicated, completely overturning all my previous deductions.
I picked up my phone, hesitating whether to tell Lan Ya about the current situation. If my current deductions were correct, it would be necessary to inform her friends in the Public Security Bureau, as some matters would be better handled by them.
However, all of this was just my speculation, and I had not a shred of evidence to provide him. It was probably too early to reveal it now.
I held the phone for a long time before putting it down. I decided to wait until I returned from Wu Guodong's to form a concrete outline.
I called Jing Lei and told her I had decided to meet Wu Guodong and would return by tomorrow at the latest. If I couldn't be reached like last time, it might be due to no signal or not having my phone with me, so she shouldn't worry.
Jing Lei remained silent on the phone, neither encouraging nor discouraging me. After a while, she finally said, "Wait until you're back."
Those four words felt as heavy as a thousand pounds. I felt immense pressure on myself.
For her, Lan Ya, my parents, and everyone who loved me, I had to return safely.