In the end, Li Caiyi decided to tackle whatever problems that might come in the future.
She glanced wearily at Meng Renshu beside her and heaved a long sigh, wondering whether this was a good idea.
The latter didn't notice her staring and focused on the Ye Wang gate in front of him. "So this is where the person you talked about lives? It doesn't look really low-profile if you ask me."
Li Caiyi ignored his sarcastic comment and walked forward. Unlike last time, some guards were standing in front of the gate this time. They scrutinized them from behind their dark sunglasses before raising their hands.
"Stop. State your name and business." One of the guards said.
"I'm Li Caiyi, and I have business with Mr. Ye Huizhong. He said you will let me go through if I show you this," Li Caiyi responded as she raised the pocket watch in her hand.
"That is…!"
The guard took the watch from her and examined it closely. After exchanging a few words with his partner, he returned the watch to her. "Alright, you may pass."
Then, they opened the gate for them. Li Caiyi was relieved because apparently Ye Huizhong really wasn't tricking her. Detective Tang's assessment of him was spot on.
Once inside, Li Caiyi immediately went toward Ye Huizhong's work room. There seemed to be more people than before. She wondered whether one of them knew what had happened to Dai Zhiqiang.
Meng Renshu hadn't said anything since they entered. She thought he would ask her a bunch of questions, but he silently followed her as he observed his surroundings.
They smoothly arrived at Ye Huizhong's office not long after that. Surprisingly, no one was trying to stop them. She wondered if he was already aware of her visit.
Li Caiyi turned to Meng Renshu before speaking in a stern tone. "I'm going to have a serious talk. You wait here."
"I can't do that. How can I leave you alone with an unknown man? What if something happens to you? Besides, I want to know how you will convince him to help us."
"Not this again…." Li Caiyi groaned.
"Just give up, Xiaoyi. You know you can't stop me."
Li Caiyi grumbled in annoyance before knocking on the door several times.
"Enter."
She could hear Ye Huizhong's heavy voice from inside almost immediately, almost like he was waiting for her to come.
When Li Caiyi opened the door and entered, Ye Huizhong was sitting in the same exact spot as before. "It's been a while, Mr. Ye Huizhong."
Ye Huizhong stared at them closely. He didn't seem surprised to see her coming with an additional one. "Yeah. I predicted you would come. Now, what do you want to ask me?"
He went right to the point. Li Caiyi straightened her back. "Please tell me where Dai Zhiqiang is now."
She could feel Meng Renshu's gaze on her, but she kept her gaze on Ye Huizhong.
"I can't tell you that. Not because I don't want to, but because he doesn't want me to tell anyone about it."
"Why?" Li Caiyi frowned.
"How should I know? Why don't you ask him yourself?"
"But you said you would answer my question!"
"You asked me after I promised him not to tell anyone about his whereabouts. As a man with honor, I won't break my promise."
Li Caiyi gritted her teeth. He was just saying whatever he pleased. If it weren't for him suddenly having to leave in the middle of their conversation the other day, wouldn't she already have asked him about it?
Li Caiyi calmed herself down. She couldn't get agitated here and offend this person. There were still a lot of things she wanted to ask him.
"I understand. But can you at least tell me whether he is safe or not?"
"He is injured but recovering well."
Her heart sank a bit upon hearing it. "What kind of injury? Is it severe?"
"I can't answer that."
Talking with this old man was frustrating. What made this even more infuriating was that Li Caiyi couldn't force him to talk when he could threaten her anytime.
"Is that all you want to ask me?" Ye Huizhong rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "I'm sure you didn't come here just to ask about your boyfriend's condition."
"That's right. I have a favor I want to ask from you as well."
Ye Huizhong snickered. "I allow you to ask me some questions, but I never said you could ask for a favor from me."
"Of course, I never intended to get help for free. I assure you will get something beneficial out of this as well."
Ye Huizhong didn't react, so Li Caiyi took this as a cue to continue. "Don't you want to capture Huang Zhen? I heard he stole something very important from you before."
Only then did Ye Huizhong show some reaction. He looked at her sharply, with darkness creeping inside his eyes. "Young Miss, it's better if you don't push your luck with me. As you can see, I'm not very patient."
Li Caiyi resisted the urge to recoil from the pressure. Chill ran down her spine, imagining what this person could do to her if she provoked him.
Meng Renshu, who saw her getting intimidated, immediately stepped between them, leaving her to stare at his back wide-eyed.
"Pardon her rudeness. Xiaoyi is a little agitated because she has been concerned about many things lately. I have heard many things about you, but I believe this is the first time we have met?"
Ye Huizhong laughed in amusement. "Hoho, at least there is one sensible guy here. I know who you are, but what makes the Young Master Meng come to visit our humble abode?"
"Please, this is a great place. As for me, I came here to accompany my childhood friends since she said she has something to talk about with you." Meng Renshu spoke amiably, with no trace of fear in his voice.
Li Caiyi grabbed him by the arm, but the latter only looked back with a reassuring smile. "It's okay. Let me do this."
He looked forward again, this time with a worried expression. "As you have probably heard, we are currently in the middle of investigating something important. After a long time, we finally found something, but we need that final push to crack a hole in the enemy's defense. Thus, we need your help."
"Alright, I will hear you out. What kind of benefit will I get from this?"
"I believe Xiaoyi can explain that."
Then, he looked back again and patted her shoulder. He leaned closer and whispered, "Be more subtle this time. Don't lose this opportunity."
Li Caiyi nodded. Meng Renshu had helped her once again. She was against bringing him along before, but it seemed it wasn't a useless decision.
"We suspected that Huang Zhen and my father had something to do with that organization. If you help us, we can determine whether that theory is correct. If yes, you might find more clues about where he hid your item."
"We have checked on your father before, but we found no relation between him and Huang Zhen."
As expected, Ye Wang did a thorough background check on the Li family. Detective Tang was right.
"There might be no relation between him and my father personally, but what if they are connected through one proxy? There is a possibility that a third party is involved in this."
Ye Huizhong fell silent for a moment. It wasn't like he had never thought of it before, but it was almost impossible to figure out Huang Zhen's movement. And he didn't want to provoke the Meng needlessly by checking on their employee. It would be too risky.
"I assume you have an idea who this third party is?"
"Yes. But their meeting place is somewhere hard for us to enter."
"And that's where I come in," Ye Huizhong tapped the table with his finger while looking deep in thought. His emotion was unfathomable.
"That's right. If we find something else in the future, I promise you will be the first one to find out." Li Caiyi put her hand on her chest, trying to convey her sincerity as much as possible.
"Very well. Let's talk more about this mission of yours. You'd better not forget your promise today, Miss Li Caiyi. I don't treat traitors well."
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