Liu Shanmin finished his business early and hurried back from Wu City to the County Seat, hoping to have a good chat with Li Long.
But with something like this happening, neither of them felt much like chatting. After Liu Shanmin made his calls, he sat with Li Long in the reception room, waiting for news.
They knew perfectly well that there probably would not be any results from Kazakhstan anytime soon. After all, something like this required checking leads and casting a wide net, with no guarantee of catching anything. Still, both wanted to wait, hoping to get the call the moment news came in.
When lunchtime arrived, neither particularly wanted to go out, but they could not skip eating either. So Li Long sent Liang Shuangcheng to the State-Run Canteen to buy several portions of mixed noodles, have them mixed in a large basin, and bring them back along with a few dishes.
Li Long and Liu Shanmin ate in the reception room, neither in much of a mood to talk. After eating and clearing the conference table, they continued sitting there in a daze.
Liu Shanmin suddenly asked, "What do you think these people are after? They kidnap businessmen for money. But what are they after, kidnapping technicians from a state-owned enterprise?"
Li Long paused, then said, "I reckon they didn't know these people worked for a state-owned enterprise when they kidnapped them. Once they found out, they probably didn't dare let them go."
Never mind this period-even twenty or thirty years later, Chinese people traveling abroad would still be treated as easy marks by people around the world. It was hard to say why. All one could say was that they had been protected too well at home, only to discover after going abroad that the