Chapter 269: Chapter 261: The Portrait
Fu Zai had no idea that Boss was in a towering rage, still obliviously gazing at Sisi, nearly toppling the soup bowl without noticing.
Sisi frowned slightly; she felt uncomfortable being scrutinized by a young man like this. However, Fu Zai’s gaze was strange, not that of admiration or lewdness upon seeing a beautiful girl, but filled with surprise and confusion.
What’s going on?
Sisi was puzzled, and A Ji, irked, snapped at Fu Zai, "Fu Zai, where the hell are your eyes looking at?"
Fu Zai jolted, seeing his own Boss looking at him with a gloomy expression; he broke into a cold sweat. He had indeed lost his mind just now. Boss, when angry, was the kind to draw blood. Fu Zai’s body trembled.
"Brother Ji, it’s just that this girl looks a lot like someone, so I took another look. Don’t be angry," he pleaded.
He Xuewen and Sisi were both taken aback and asked in unison, "Looks like who?"
A Ji initially thought Fu Zai was just bluffing, but seeing the reaction of the old friend and his daughter, he knew there was something to it and demanded, "Spit it out, explain yourself clearly."
"Yes."
An excited Fu Zai thought, as long as Brother Ji isn’t furious, he might even get rewarded. Being new and always tasked with trivial chores around A Ji’s place, Fu Zai, a clever man, of course, understood the importance of seizing opportunities, and went on to tell the whole story.
Turns out, before joining A Ji, Fu Zai worked under a human trafficker by the seaside, but that trafficker was too ruthless, with countless lives on his hands, so Fu Zai left and sought out the more righteous A Ji.
Fu Zai was too verbose, rambling on and on without getting to the point. A Ji grew impatient and barked, "Get to the damn point!"
"Yes, I’m getting to the point, Brother Ji. I had to lay some groundwork first or the rest won’t make sense."
Had it not been for He Xuewen’s somber face, Sisi would have definitely laughed. This Fu Zai was quite humorous.
Before A Ji could kick him, Fu Zai hurriedly added, "A couple of years ago, some sketches were sent over from Hong Kong. They depicted a pretty girl, about a teenager, younger than this lady, but resembled her. I heard Brother Hao, my former boss, say that they were looking for a girl, about twelve or thirteen years old—ouch, no, that’s not right. She should be about fifteen or sixteen now."
Joy crossed He Xuewen’s face as he asked, "Do you still have that sketch?"
"Yes, yes, I’ve kept it safe. They said anyone who has news will get a reward of one hundred yuan. I’ve been keeping it, thinking about when I could earn that one hundred yuan. This lady here looks just like the one in the sketch, though she is somewhat prettier."
"Go get the sketch, now!"
A Ji was almost driven mad by his own man. Fu Zai usually seemed sharp; how could he be so oblivious today? Didn’t he see that Brother Wen was so anxious he could hardly sit still?
If A Ji were modern, he would know that Fu Zai wasn’t being dense; he was simply a chatterbox, an incurable condition unless his tongue was cut out.
Fu Zai was quick and soon brought over a sketch the size of an A4 paper. The black-and-white sketch was lifelike, a portrait of a girl, indeed resembling Sisi about sixty to seventy percent.
A Ji also leaned in to inspect the sketch. After looking at it for a while, he seemed to recall something, "Speaking of this sketch, I do have some memory of it. In the past few years, they seemed to have sent it here too, but I was too busy at the time to bother with it."
He Xuewen shook with excitement. It must have been Xiulian’s doing. She must be in Hong Kong, and she’s alive!
Now that his friend had said this, he hurriedly asked, "A Ji, do you know who sent out this portrait? Where is she now? Can she be contacted?"
"I’m not very clear about this matter, but I do know that the person who had this portrait made is Boss Qiao, who’s one of the big brothers of the three major gangs on that side, the Yaoxing Gang. He’s ruthless and ferocious but also quite loyal. Quite a character, I’d say."
"Boss Qiao? The big brother of Yaoxing Gang? How could Xiulian have anything to do with Boss Qiao?"
He Xuewen muttered to himself, a sudden ominous premonition arising in his heart.
Sisi was already ninety percent sure that Mu Xiulan must have had a deep connection with this gang leader known as Boss Qiao. A lover? Or perhaps a wife? Or even a collaborator?
Sisi’s mind was in a hectic state, merely hoping He Xuewen wouldn’t be too distressed. As intelligent as he was, he’d surely come to the same conclusion she had—knowing that one’s wife was with another man would be unbearably painful for anyone.
"Daddy."
Hearing his daughter’s voice, He Xuewen came back to his senses. Seeing his daughter’s anxious expression, his heart softened, and he smiled, signaling to her that he was fine.
Indeed, he still had his daughter. Even if Xiulian really had gone on to find a new path for herself, he couldn’t blame her. Given the circumstances she was in, it was already difficult enough for a young and beautiful woman to survive. How could he demand that Xiulian Guard her Body like jade?
"Brother Wen, are you okay?" A Ji looked at his friend with concern.
"I’m fine. I was just reminded of some past events."
Fu Zai hesitated to speak at this moment, and Sisi quickly asked with a smile, "Brother Fu, is there anything else you haven’t mentioned?"
"Yes, I know something that might be of use to you?"
The beautiful girl was speaking so politely to him that Fu Zai felt like he was on cloud nine, eager to spill everything he knew.
"Spit it out, what’s with all the nonsense!" A Ji kicked over, completely irritated.
Fu Zai nodded hurriedly, "Actually, it’s something some old brothers told me, they said that around 14 years ago, probably in ’63, there was a very beautiful young woman who wanted to take a boat over there. That woman looked a bit like the lady in this portrait. At that time, she boarded Brother Hao’s boat. When the boat was halfway there, Brother Hao, seeing how pretty she was, tried to take advantage of her. But that woman had a strong will and wouldn’t submit to him, no matter what. In the end, she jumped into the sea."
"What happened after!"
He Xuewen clenched his teeth in anguish, his fists tightly clenched. It was his fault; as a man, he had failed to protect his wife and child. It was his fault!
Fu Zai hadn’t expected that his story would elicit such a strong reaction from Brother Ji’s friend, and he became somewhat flustered. He glanced at A Ji, unsure whether or not to continue, but A Ji signaled to Fu Zai to keep going. He understood He Xuewen’s situation to some extent, knowing that he had been searching for his wife and child all these years; this portrait must be related to his missing wife.
Fu Zai continued, "That woman was a good swimmer, just lacked the strength. Brother Hao originally planned to wait until she was exhausted and then pull her out of the water, but suddenly a big ship arrived, and the people on that ship rescued her."
"Brother Hao said that the big ship belonged to Boss Qiao, and he regretted many times that he couldn’t control himself. If the woman hadn’t jumped into the sea, he intended to sell her off to those places, and he definitely could have made a lot of money."
"Bang"
He Xuewen’s fist smashed onto the table, producing a thunderous noise, his face as cold as ice.