Lu Chengwen hurriedly said, "Stop hitting him for now."
He turned to Guangmu. "Brother, how about this? Do me a favor, okay?"
"It's not that, Chengwen... This isn't about doing you a favor. This is my assignment. If there weren't pressure from above, with one word from you, I'd let him go, buy him a plane ticket, and stuff two hundred yuan plus an Oreo into his pocket, no problem. The thing is... I won't be able to report back. I won't have any way to explain it to Old Ancestor afterward!"
At that moment, they started hitting again behind him, and Tang Xiaohao wailed like a ghost.
"Ah—! Chengwen! Chengwen, save me! Ah—ow—!"
Lu Chengwen turned around. "Hey, hey, hey, I said stop hitting him for now. Can you understand 'stop hitting him'?"
That man nodded honestly. "I can."
"Wait a bit. I'm going to talk with Big Brother Guangmu."
"Oh."
Lu Chengwen turned back around. "Then stop first. I'll go talk to Old Ancestor."
Guangmu said, "Isn't the procedure wrong? You should go speak to Old Ancestor first. Once I receive new orders from that side, I'll stop immediately."
Lu Chengwen looked displeased. "No, I mean... if I get the paperwork, why would I still need you to do me a favor? Wouldn't that just be Old Ancestor's normal order?"
Behind him, Tang Xiaohao started screaming again:
"Ow! It hurts so much, boohoo, stop hitting me! Chengwen! Chengwen, hurry and save me!"
Lu Chengwen turned around and looked irritably at that big man. "Why do you keep beating him!?"
The man was very simple and honest. With a blank expression and clear eyes, he pointed at Tang Xiaohao, who was tied to a long wooden bench with his pants pulled halfway down, exposing his backside. "He won't confess."