Have You Seen Infernal Affairs?

In the morning, after Xiang Kun Li Yang catch his flight and helping Tang Baona, Yang the Third, and others buy clothes for the Little Chubby Girl, Xia Tianhuo went to town to explore the area.

However, after wandering around the town for a short while, they ran into the young couple Liu Chuang and Chu Xiaoting.

Zicheng also had a good impression of Lao Xia's cousin, thinking he was a straightforward person who could make friends, so he invited him to have lunch together and go to Wushu Mountain together in the afternoon.

Xia Tianhuo didn't have any specific plans, so he readily agreed. He knew that Zicheng was Xiang Kun's college classmate and roommate, and a very good friend. He should know Xiang Kun well, so he thought he would ask him some questions about Xiang Kun. He was still very curious about this bald man who could "lure" his Lao Xia to some remote and impoverished place to set up a Research Base.

However, during his casual conversation with Zicheng, Xia Tianhuo discovered that Xiang Kun in college didn't seem to have anything special about him. He was just an ordinary person, not bald, and just like the information he had briefly looked up before.

After returning from Wushu Mountain in the evening, the three of them went to "Youlong Restaurant" for dinner, where they ran into Chu Xiaoting's second uncle, Chu Xiuwen, Liu Feibao, and Qi Haoguo.

It wasn't exactly a coincidence. After the "Youlong Restaurant" opened, Chu Xiuwen and his two companions would come over for a meal every few days.

At first, they might have just come to support the restaurant, but after eating there once, they were completely captivated by the food. Even without the connection with Xiang Kun and You Meng, they would definitely come back often just for the local specialties.

There were three people on each side, and Chu Xiaoting and Chu Xiuwen were uncle and nephew, so the two tables naturally joined together and went into one private room. This also freed up a private room for You Meng and his group to entertain other guests.

"Mr. Xia, you've been in Chongyun Village for several days now. How are you feeling? Are you settling in?" Chu Xiuwen asked with a smile.

Xia Tianhuo said, "I'm used to it, and I'm living very well. To be honest, I haven't slept so soundly or with such high sleep quality in a long time. I'm not the kind of person who stays in the city all the time. Whether in China or abroad, we often go to work in places with relatively poor economic conditions, like many villages in Southeast Asia and Africa. There are big problems with electricity and drinking water. Compared to that, Chongyun Village is a completely different world. It's developed very well. There's a road that leads directly to the town, and there are streetlights that are always on at night. There are also public security cameras everywhere. Walking in the village is very reassuring. There's a kind of... indescribable sense of peace."

Liu Feibao laughed and said, "That's mainly because Mr. Xia only came this year. If he had come last year, the road from the town to the village was still a dirt road, full of potholes and unpaved. If he had come a few months earlier, the village roads wouldn't have been paved yet, and streetlights and surveillance cameras would have been out of the question. It's all thanks to the Mr. Xiang, President Qi, and Brother Chu that Chongyun Village, and even the entire Tongshi Town, are different now."

Xia Tianhuo asked curiously, "It's understandable that Xiang Kun invests in the infrastructure of Chongyun Village. After all, he and my cousin set up Research Base there, and these supporting facilities will provide them with convenience. Plus, with his investment in the catering industry in Chongyun Village Tongshi Town, he'll also benefit from the development of the livestock industry in Chongyun Village. It's also understandable that President Chu is spending money in Chongyun Village, since he's from Tongshi Town. But President Qi... I heard that your Haoguo Group's development focus was previously in the provincial capital. Why would you suddenly come to such a relatively remote place as Tongshi Town? Why would you pay attention to Chongyun Village, a village with no resources, no advantageous location, and no people?"

Although Qi, Liu, and Chu, who were at the same table, were all elders and relatively successful businessmen, Xia Tianhuo had been traveling around for many years and had been in contact with regional heads and senior executives of various multinational companies, as well as tribal leaders and high-ranking officials of small countries. In addition, unlike Chu Xiaoting, who had a natural relationship with Chu Xiaoting and was a generation younger than Chu Xiuwen, Xia Tianhuo was not at all reserved when chatting.

In fact, he was quite interested in Qi, Liu, and Chu, especially Qi Haoguo. He had heard about Yang the Third from Yang Laosan. When Qi Haoguo and Liu Feibao first met them, there was actually a minor conflict. Qi Haoguo and the others were overwhelmed by Xiang Kun's imposing manner, scolded a few times, and then gave in and left.

Unexpectedly, not long after, this big boss with the same "hairstyle" as Xiang Kun actually moved to Tongshi Town. It is said that he closed down or transferred his various businesses and assets that were doing well in the provincial capital, and focused his attention on Tongshi Town. He was enthusiastic about public welfare, cooperated with the government, invested in infrastructure, and even repaired the road from Tongshi Town to Copperstone Chongyun Village with local businessmen such as Chu Xiuwen and Liu Caifu. After Xiang Kun came to Tongshi Town, he frequently tried to curry favor with him.

This change struck Xia Tianhuo as odd and intriguing. He knew something must have happened, or Qi Haoguo must have received some information; otherwise, there was no reason for such a successful businessman to make such a radical and abrupt change.

Xia Tianhuo remembered that a few days ago Yang the Third had told him that the Liu Gaoshang Liu Zhengyi, who were looking after Xiang Kun at the construction site, had had a minor conflict with them before, and had staged an accident to extort money from them on the road.

Not long after, the two brothers actually became Xiang Kun's employees, and they seemed to be particularly obedient to Xiang Kun, and were very dedicated to their work on the construction site.

According to Yang the Third, "Chef Xiang has a talent for 'recruiting and accepting traitors'."

But he felt there might be a deeper reason behind this.

Upon hearing Xia Tianhuo's question, Qi Haoguo laughed heartily, "On the one hand, I feel that the previous business model has reached a bottleneck and has no future. On the other hand, I am truly optimistic about Tongshi Town, including the surrounding villages, which all have great potential for development. Of course, most importantly, like Mr. Xia, I also feel a sense of peace... a peace that can only be felt in Tongshi Town. A sense of security is priceless, isn't it?"

Xia Tianhuo didn't quite understand what he meant, but she had a gut feeling that his last two sentences were sincere and not just a pretense.

They ate and chatted like this until around eight o'clock. After they had almost finished eating, Zicheng and Chu Xiaoting prepared to say goodbye and leave to go somewhere else to have fun.

Xia Tianhuo originally wanted to get up and leave as well. Even if he didn't want to continue being a third wheel with Zicheng and the others, he could find something to do on his own. He could stroll around the pedestrian street, find a bar or cafe to have a drink, and then find a car to go back to Chongyun Village. Maybe he could even catch Xiang Kun having a late-night snack?

However, Qi Haoguo stopped him, saying he wanted to ask about some overseas investments. This time, he immediately realized that Qi Haoguo's real purpose was not that. You see, Haoguo Group had previously withdrawn many of its overseas investments, even at a loss. In their previous casual conversation, Qi Haoguo had not shown any interest in his family's business at home or abroad.

However, he stayed, because he was also curious about what Qi Haoguo wanted to say to him.

Qi Haoguo found another excuse to get Liu Feibao to do him a favor. Only after he, Xia Tianhuo, and Chu Xiuwen were left in the private room did he say, "Mr. Xia, I have to apologize to you."

"Apologize?" Xia Tianhuo asked, puzzled. He glanced at Chu Xiuwen beside him and saw that Chu Xiuwen's expression was normal, as if he knew what was going on.

"Mr. Xia, were you kidnapped in Myanmar before?"

"Yes, that's true. I just returned to the country not long ago. But... why is President Qi apologizing?" Xia Tianhuo asked. His kidnapping wasn't exactly a secret, so it was normal for Qi Haoguo to know.

Qi Haoguo then recounted in detail how, after Xia Tianhuo was kidnapped, his third uncle contacted Chu Xiuwen through Officer Xu of Citong, who then contacted him, asking him to help find out the situation through Montamira's connections.

Finally, Qi Haoguo said with a wry smile, "I had some business dealings with Wu Lun of Montamira before, so this time I directly asked him to help investigate Mr. Xia's kidnapping. It turns out that Wu Lun was actually the culprit behind Mr. Xia's kidnapping. Although he didn't originally intend to kidnap Mr. Xia... In short, my unintentional actions not only failed to help rescue Mr. Xia, but also increased Mr. Xia danger. Fortunately, Mr. Xia is lucky and escaped safely."

Xia Tianhuo only realized the connection after hearing this. However, Qi Haoguo meant well, and this action would not actually have any real impact on his life or death, because he knew that the kidnappers and Wu Lun had already lost trust in each other, otherwise they would not have gone to sea.

Next, Qi Haoguo and Chu Xiuwen naturally steered the conversation to Xia Tianhuo's kidnapping and escape.

For those interested in learning more about this case, there are related announcements and news reports, but the information is very general, only providing a rough outline and lacking many details.

Because Qi Haoguo and Chu Xiuwen had promised their third uncle to help rescue him, even though it didn't work out in the end, Xia Tianhuo was still grateful. So, he naturally felt closer to them. Thinking that there was no need to keep the information secret, he repeated what he had told Yang the Third and the others in the car, detailing how he was kidnapped, how he was transferred to the ship, and how, due to various strange events, he was released by the only seriously injured kidnapper after a fight between the kidnappers and the crew.

Of course, he still didn't mention that he called Lao Xia "Mom" on the phone when he first demanded the ransom.

When Xia Tianhuo mentioned that the seriously injured kidnapper was muttering about a "sea monster with many hands and many eyes," Qi Haoguo and Chu Xiuwen exchanged a glance, both seeing the "I knew it" look in each other's eyes.

Xia Tianhuo reiterated his point. "You two must have seen the major event that happened in Montamira around that time on TV or online, right? To be precise, the mass hallucination event in Montamira and the strange occurrence I encountered on the kidnapper's ship happened on the same day, only a few hours apart. So I've always felt that there might be some connection between these two events. The so-called sea monster and the giant hallucinations in Montamira might be the same thing, or rather... the same event. What happened at sea was a prelude to the Montamira event, or perhaps, the Montamira event was a continuation of the sea event."

"That is indeed possible," Qi Haoguo and Chu Xiuwen both nodded in agreement.

"It might sound a little funny, but to be honest, Mr. Qi and Mr. Chu, after I learned about the Montamira incident and that Wu Lun was the mastermind, I've always had this thought: that sea monster, or rather, giant, appeared in Montamira perhaps to help me get revenge and deal with Wu Lun. As for stopping the riot in Montamira, that might just be a coincidence. Of course, it's also possible that it was originally going to stop the riot, but it just happened to run into me, saved me, and helped me 'get revenge' in the process," Xia Tianhuo said somewhat embarrassedly.

However, Qi Haoguo and Chu Xiuwen did not think that what he said was a fantasy or a childish imagination; on the contrary, they nodded in agreement.

"Mr. Xia, could you describe again what you felt when you sensed something amiss in the cabin?" Qi Haoguo asked.

"The specific feeling... is fear, terror, but that fear and terror doesn't seem to be directed at any specific thing, but rather at some kind of emotion, memory, or... feeling within myself? It's hard to describe..." Xia Tianhuo described as he recalled.

Qi Haoguo slowly said, "That sea monster—I mean, if there really is a sea monster, or something else—and according to your understanding, it actively saved you, then you naturally have no reason to be afraid. So your fear doesn't stem from external factors, but from within yourself. External influences, whether it's a sea monster or something else, merely gave you a push, making you aware of your own state. I think... you can make good use of this feeling to think things through, to understand your own situation clearly."

Xia Tianhuo was taken aback. "President Qi, why do you seem to understand that feeling so well? Have you experienced it too?"

Qi Haoguo smiled and said, "We had a very pleasant chat today, but it's getting late. Xiuwen and I are both old folks; we need to go to bed early and get up early. Mr. Xia, are you planning to stay in town tonight, or go back to Chongyun Village? I'll have the driver take you."

Xia Tianhuo didn't press further, and smiled, "The moonlight is lovely tonight. I'd like to take a walk, and I can call a taxi home later."

After Xia Tianhuo left the "Youlong Restaurant," Chu Xiuwen stood up by the window and sighed, "I suddenly want to see the giant illusion or the sea monster in Montamira and experience what it's like to be dominated by fear."

Qi Haoguo glanced at him, shook his head, and smiled, "You don't need it."

"The more I know, the more I yearn for those things. Ha, am I courting death?" Chu Xiuwen shook his head helplessly and muttered to himself.

After chatting with Chu Xiuwen for a while, Qi Haoguo called over "Xiao Liu," who had been working at the "Youlong Restaurant" recently, and asked him to drive him home.

When they arrived at the villa that Qi Haoguo had purchased in Tongshi Town, they found a man in a black tracksuit standing timidly to the side, waiting for them.

"What do you do?" After parking the car, "Xiao Liu" went over and asked first.

The man in sportswear looked past him and towards Qi Haoguo, who was getting off the bus behind him. "Brother Hao, do you remember me?"

Qi Haoguo looked at her for a while using the light from the courtyard wall outside, and said, "You are... 'Duck Leg'?"

"It's good that you remember me." The man in sportswear said, glancing at "Xiao Liu," then turning back to say, "Isn't Old Zhang with you anymore?"

"He went back to his hometown to get married and started a small business," Qi Haoguo said calmly. "What do you want from me?"

"I'd like to speak with you privately." The man in sportswear glanced at "Xiao Liu" again.

"Say what you have to say here," Xiao Liu said, frowning.

Although he was very obedient in front of Qi Haoguo, he was a brave and fearless guy back in his hometown, essentially a ruthless character. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been sentenced to reform through labor. As soon as he saw the man in sportswear, he sensed the same "scent" as himself, so he was very wary. Although his current life was different from what he had imagined—being powerful and influential under Qi Haoguo —he inexplicably enjoyed it and genuinely respected his Qi Haoguo, so naturally he was very wary of this dangerous individual.

"Mr. Qi, do you remember that bidding process in the provincial capital 10 years ago? I have some things here that you might be interested in," the man in sportswear said with a hint of threat.

"Xiao Liu" turned around to look at Qi Haoguo with some nervousness, but saw that her cousin-in-law was still calm and composed, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Qi Haoguo said, "Xiao Liu, you wait in the car first."

"Uncle, this won't do, this person..." Xiao Liu said urgently.

But Qi Haoguo waved him off, went over first to press the fingerprint lock, and walked into the lobby on the first floor.

"Duck Foot" gave "Xiao Liu" a defiant look, then followed him inside, turning back to close the door.

Neither the calm Qi Haoguo nor the nervous "Duck Foot" and "Xiao Liu" knew that as soon as "Duck Foot" entered this villa area, all the surveillance and electronic equipment in the area, including their mobile phones, had been taken over by a certain entity.

Everything that happened at that moment was transmitted to a bald man far away in Chongyun Village.

Entering the living room, "Duck Foot" surveyed the surrounding decor and furniture, then scoffed, "Brother Hao, this decorating style doesn't suit you at all. You're really... getting more and more out of touch with reality!"

Qi Haoguo sat down on the sofa and said calmly, "Sit down. Tell me what brings you here so late. I don't owe you anything. I'm no longer involved in the business in the provincial capital."

"I know, Boss Qi has made enough money and is now coming to this rural area to repair bridges and roads. But Boss Qi, General Manager Qi, Brother Hao, while you've had your fill, we little fish and shrimps are still hungry."

"Duck Foot" walked over and sat down opposite Qi Haoguo with an air of authority.

Despite his impolite tone, he was actually quite insecure in front of Qi Haoguo.

"If you're looking for work, I can indeed introduce you to some opportunities. There's construction going on everywhere in Tongshi Town right now, and they need manpower..."

"Listen to this first," said "Duck Foot," taking out his phone and starting to play an audio file.

In that audio recording, there was clearly a voice belonging to Qi Haoguo, who was giving orders to some people. It sounded like he was using illegal means to force his competitors in the bidding to back down.

Qi Haoguo's expression remained unchanged, but he had sat up straight, resting his elbows on his knees, his fingers interlaced, supporting his chin.

"So, Boss Qi, Brother Hao, how much do you want to spend to buy this back?" After playing the audio, "Duck Foot" stared into Qi Haoguo's eyes and said.

"It seems you had a backup plan all along."

"Stop talking nonsense! Five million, cash! I'll give you three days to prepare. I'll collect the money on the 29th. Don't tell me you don't have money. You've sold so many assets these past few months; you must have a lot of money in your account now! Don't even think about doing anything to me. Since I dared to come alone, I naturally have other brothers outside. If you dare to touch me, this recording will be posted online immediately. Then let's see how you pretend to be a great philanthropist! But don't worry, five million, we'll buy it outright. From now on, this recording will disappear from the world. We will never bother you again. You can be your great philanthropist and big capitalist, and I'll be our little fish, just trying to make a living." This sentence was obviously prepared beforehand. After "Duck Foot" finished speaking quickly, he couldn't help but take a few deep breaths, then stared nervously at Qi Haoguo opposite him.

From the moment he saw "Duck Foot" at the door until now, Qi Haoguo, who had maintained a calm expression, frowned for the first time. He crossed his arms, leaned back on the sofa, and looked up at the ceiling, seemingly caught up in some problem.

After a while, Qi Haoguo suddenly laughed out loud, as if he had figured something out. He was in a good mood and smiled broadly.

"What... what are you doing?" Seeing Qi Haoguo rubbing his bald head and staring at him with a smile, "Duck Foot" nervously said, "I'm warning you, if you touch me and I don't leave on time, my brothers outside will definitely know. That recording... and other evidence, will be posted online and sent to the police..."

"Here, send me a copy of that recording." Qi Haoguo handed over his phone and laughed, "You guys definitely have a backup anyway, sending me a copy won't make a difference."

"Duck Foot" was taken aback, wondering why Qi Haoguo had made this request. But after thinking about it, it seemed there was no difference, so he sent him the recording file as instructed.

After receiving the recording, Qi Haoguo fiddled with his phone for a while, then smiled at "Duck Foot" and said, "To be honest, I should thank you. You've helped me figure out something I'd never understood before."

"What do you mean by 'understanding' or 'not understanding'? What the hell are you talking about?" "Duck Foot" felt that Qi Haoguo seemed to be mentally unstable. How could someone be so cheerful when being threatened and extorted? In fact, he thought the smile was quite sincere.

Qi Haoguo's phone rang. He glanced at "Duck Foot," then immediately pressed speakerphone. A voice came from the other end. "Mr. Qi, what is this you sent? Something's not right. Did you send it? What does this mean? That voice in the background... is it yours?"

Qi Haoguo laughed and said, "Officer Xu, it was me who sent it. The voice in it is mine. It happened a few years ago during a project bidding in the provincial capital. I made a mistake. Someone tried to blackmail me with this recording last night, and they're still with me. This time, I'm giving you a double gift. Do you want to come over yourself, or contact the police officers in Tongshi Town to come over?"

While Qi Haoguo was on the phone with Officer Xu, "Duck Foot" remained wide-eyed and in a dazed state of disbelief. Only after the call ended and the officer said they would immediately notify their colleagues in Tongshi Town to come over did he speak up, "Qi Haoguo, I'm warning you, don't fucking try to play tricks on me. You think you can fool me by sending someone to impersonate a policeman? Do you think I'm stupid..."

Qi Haoguo suddenly asked, "Have you seen Infernal Affairs?"