"I used to worry that you'd be crushed, retreat into monasticism, and lose all desire for women. Who knew that the moment you met someone you liked, you'd become so obsessed with them that you'd ignore everyone else!"
Bai Yuqi complained as she sat down and started eating heartily. "This food is really good. Xia Qingtian, your cooking skills are impressive!"
"It wasn't me," Xia Qingtian said with a slight, embarrassed smile, then glanced at Gu Yaoyang sitting beside her.
"!" Seeing this, Bai Yuqi immediately understood and covered her chest in mock shock. "You scoundrel! When did you learn to cook? How come I didn't know! Before, when I was stranded and stayed at your place, you never even made me a bowl of noodles. I had to cook for you! Gu Yaoyang, you heartless wretch!"
"Are you going to eat or not?" Gu Yaoyang put on a stern face. This Bai Yuqi, ever since childhood, would come to his house to freeload whenever she had a falling out with her family. She used his pocket money, yet she had the nerve to complain!
"Of course, I'm eating! Why wouldn't I!" Bai Yuqi immediately picked up her bowl and continued to eat with gusto.
Seeing this, Xia Qingtian and Gu Yaoyang exchanged a smile, a hint of helplessness in their eyes.
"Right, I've got news about the Tang family's Mingzhu that you asked me to look into," Bai Yuqi said after her hunger subsided. "They say that after the explosion, Tang family's Mingzhu went missing, along with her confidant, A Long. I heard that guy is from Z City. The surveillance showed a truck heading towards Z City near the explosion site, destined for a warehouse at Z City port."
"So, it's very possible she's in Z City," Gu Yaoyang mused. "But Z City isn't exactly small. If they intend to hide, it will be difficult for us to find her."
"Yeah, so if you want me to keep looking," Bai Yuqi said, picking up her soup bowl and taking a big gulp. After swallowing, she added meaningfully, "You'll have to pay more."
"Keep looking," Gu Yaoyang replied. "If you get any news, don't act rashly. Although A Long isn't skilled in poisons, his martial arts are excellent, and he's very loyal to Tang family's Mingzhu. With him around, Tang Youxi should be safe for now."
"A Long?" Xia Qingtian frowned at the mention of the name. "What does he look like?"
"Miss Xia, are you also interested in this matter? Why don't you give me some payment as well? I'll inform you when I find Tang family's Mingzhu," Bai Yuqi's eyes lit up at the prospect of business.
"No need," Xia Qingtian smiled and shook her head.
"That's true. With just a wave of your hand, that obsessed-with-women-and-ignores-everyone-else person will surely tell you everything," Bai Yuqi clicked her tongue. "No way, the more I think about it, the more I feel cheated! Gu, you scoundrel, this time I'm raising my fee on top of the original... 1.2 million!"
"Fine," Gu Yaoyang agreed without hesitation.
"You agreed so readily? I feel like I'm losing out..." Bai Yuqi rolled her eyes. "Let's raise it to 2 million!"
Hearing Bai Yuqi's revised price, Gu Yaoyang raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Why don't you ask me instead? I'll only charge 1 million," Xia Qingtian offered.
"Tsk," Bai Yuqi couldn't help but scoff at Xia Qingtian's words. "Miss Xia, you don't actually think anyone can do this job, do you? You know, just this one piece of information, that Tang family's Mingzhu is in Z City, took me a huge amount of time to investigate and verify." As if afraid Xia Qingtian wouldn't understand her hardship, Bai Yuqi tapped the side of her bowl. "Didn't you see I'm almost starving to death!"
"I'm not doubting Young Master Bai's professional ability, nor do I think this is an easy task," Xia Qingtian took out her phone and edited a message to Li Xiaoxiao, asking her to send a photo of Da Ya. "It's just..."
With a "ding," she received a reply. Xia Qingtian placed her phone face up on the table, pressing the edge with her fingertip and pushing it forward. "I'm just quite lucky."
Seeing the photo on Xia Qingtian's phone, it was indeed Tang Youxi, Tang family's Mingzhu, curled up on a sofa, scooping out a box of green tea and cheese flavored ice cream. Her eyes looked slightly surprised and taken aback as she looked towards the direction of the camera, seemingly startled by the sudden photograph.
"Holy crap! This... This is really you finding luck through skill! Oh my..." Bai Yuqi was so astonished she didn't know what to say.
"She seems to be safe," Gu Yaoyang said, quickly accepting the situation after a moment of surprise. Everything unreasonable became reasonable when it involved Xia Qingtian. It was always like this.
"Oh dear, my 2 million is gone just like that," Bai Yuqi said, lamenting, "I'm really upset!"
"Don't get upset so quickly. I do know where Tang family's Mingzhu is, but I don't know about that A Long you mentioned. Can you help me find him?" Xia Qingtian said, propping her chin with one hand. "Just... 200,000."
"Hmm..." Bai Yuqi pursed her lips. 200,000 wasn't as appealing as 2 million, but since she found luck through skill, he couldn't do anything else. Even a small mosquito is still meat. "Alright! Let's exchange contact information. I'll notify you immediately if I get any news. Oh, and I require a 50% advance payment for my work, which is non-refundable."
"No problem," Xia Qingtian said with a smile. "I just earned 1 million, so I have the money."
"Sigh..." Bai Yuqi sat on the chair, shaking her head for a while with a disappointed look. After exchanging contact information with Xia Qingtian, she was driven away by Gu Yaoyang.
Before closing the door, Bai Yuqi couldn't help but exclaim, "You obsessed-with-women-and-ignores-everyone-else scoundrel!"
With a "bang," the door closed, shutting out Bai Yuqi's protestations.
Finally getting rid of Bai Yuqi, Gu Yaoyang turned around and saw Xia Qingtian clearing the dishes. He immediately rolled up his sleeves to help. "I originally wanted to treat you to a nice meal as an apology, but that kid ruined it."
"It's fine, Young Master Bai is quite interesting too," Xia Qingtian said with a chuckle.
"You don't actually want to find A Long, do you?" Gu Yaoyang took the stacked dishes from Xia Qingtian. "You want Bai Yuqi's contact information. What is it, do you have something you want him to investigate?"
"Who knows what the future holds? What if I need it," Xia Qingtian smiled. "Besides, I really haven't seen that A Long. Tang family's Mingzhu is at Li Xiaoxiao's place now. Although she's safe to a certain extent, what if something unexpected happens... I don't want Xiaoxiao to be in danger."
"I'll increase the security around the Li family's residence," Gu Yaoyang said.
"Don't arouse suspicion," Xia Qingtian reminded him.
"Don't worry."
The two cooperated tacitly and quickly cleared the dining table.
Just as Xia Qingtian was about to leave, she received a call from an unknown number. "Hello?"
"Hello? Is this Xia Qingtian? It's me, it's me~ I'm Miao Tong, Miao Sang's younger brother~ Do you remember me~" A cheerful and excited young voice came from the other end of the phone. "I'm in Z City to see my older brother, whom I've only met once! I'm at the airport now. Can you pick me up? I want to surprise my brother, okay? Oh, and I brought you a gift too~"