Working long hours on construction sites, drinking with the foreman and fellow workers at noon, and loafing around residential areas at night, he quickly got to know a large group of people.
Lin Xuan hadn't seen Long Xiao for two days. She asked Xiao Ming, who said Long Xiao was in the capital doing geomancy. Not at ease, she called Long Xiao, confirmed it, and then felt relieved.
Long Xiao disappeared in the East Sea, and Hu Lei lived at the bottom of society, unnoticed by anyone.
Everyone at Xinglin Caotang went about their own business, and everything was calm. Xiao Ming and Luo Tianshui wandered around every day, occasionally helping out at Xinglin Caotang.
Chen Meijia transferred over thirty Martial Alliance disciples, divided into three shifts to be responsible for the security of Xinglin Caotang in rotation.
With Long Xiao gone, Ye Xiao and her over a hundred subordinates were even busier. From several high-rise buildings a kilometer away from Xinglin Caotang, several people peered through high-powered telescopes, carefully observing the situation around Xinglin Caotang.
To enable Ye Xiao to rapidly expand her intelligence network, Long Xiao transferred another one hundred million yuan to her bank card after returning from the capital.
Ye Xiao's people were busy every day. She had infiltrated various prominent families, forces, and even official institutions in the East Sea, and a large amount of information poured into Ye Xiao's hands daily.
In Ye Xiao's office, over a dozen people analyzed the received messages daily, identifying and recording valuable intelligence.
After Long Xiao's disappearance, Ye Xiao's subordinates noticed an increase in surveillance around Xinglin Caotang, and Lin Xuan's family and Long Kui were also being monitored.
Ten days passed quickly. One day, as Long Xiao arrived at the construction site, two fellow workers ran towards him.
"Hu Lei, hurry up and come with us. Brother Pang is in trouble."
"What happened?" Long Xiao asked curiously.
"Hurry up, we'll talk in the car."
Getting into a beat-up minivan with the two workers, Long Xiao found several other workers already inside. As the van drove off, the two informed Long Xiao that Fatty had gone to Xiaohan Group to demand wages for his fellow workers and was now threatening to jump.
The minivan didn't go to Xiaohan Group but stopped in front of an old residential building. Fatty was standing on the rooftop, with a crowd gathered below and several police officers shouting.
"Didn't Brother Pang go to Xiaohan Group?" Long Xiao asked curiously as he got out of the car.
A fellow worker said, "He did go to Xiaohan Group, but he couldn't even get in the door before being beaten out."
He had come out to hide for a few days, and unexpectedly encountered this.
Long Xiao scratched his head and said, "What's all this nonsense? Risking his life for a bit of money. Tell him to come down quickly."
A fellow worker glared at Long Xiao and said, "If you can give him the money, tell him to come down. The bigger the scene now, the more attention it attracts, and the greater the chance of getting the wages back."
"It's that scoundrel Zhao Xintian again. Tell Brother Pang to come down, I'll get the money for you."
Seeing that the fellow workers weren't moving, Long Xiao walked directly towards the building.
Before he reached the entrance to the stairwell, Long Xiao was stopped by police officers.
"Where are you going?" a police officer asked.
Long Xiao pointed upstairs at Fatty and said, "I'm going to call him down."
"Will he listen to you?"
Long Xiao nodded and said, "Of course. Isn't it just about getting wages from Xiaohan Company? I'll take them to get it now, and we'll definitely get it. Of course, he'll come down."
"Can you get the money from Zhao Liang?" a police officer asked doubtfully.
"Of course I can. I, Hu Lei, never lie to people."
Long Xiao followed the police officers to the rooftop. Fatty looked at them nervously, ready to jump.
Long Xiao smiled and said, "Brother Pang, what are you jumping for? Let's go, I'll take you to get the money."
"How could that scoundrel Zhao Xintian readily give up the money?" Fatty asked doubtfully.
"Don't worry, I'm old acquaintances with Zheng Dongyang of the Martial Alliance. If he dares not to pay, I'll have Zheng Dongyang send a group of Martial Alliance members to surround Xiaohan Group."
"Do you really know Zheng Dongyang?" Fatty still didn't quite believe Long Xiao.
After Long Xiao's persuasion, Fatty finally gave up the idea of jumping.
After going downstairs, two police officers wanted to detain Fatty, saying he endangered public safety.
Long Xiao leaned in and whispered to a police officer, "If you detain Brother Pang because of this, and more migrant workers jump, will you be responsible?"
The police officer nodded. Long Xiao continued, "He's demanding wages for his fellow workers. If you dare to detain him, I guarantee at least a dozen people will jump."
"Are you threatening me?" the police officer asked with displeasure, looking at Long Xiao.
Long Xiao nodded and said, "I am threatening you. If you dare to arrest him, I'll post the whole thing online with a headline: Police and capitalists colluding to force migrant workers to death."
"If you dare to cause trouble, I'll arrest you too," the police officer said angrily, staring at Long Xiao.
Long Xiao chuckled and took a few steps back, "Do as you see fit. You decide."
Before the two police officers could decide whether to arrest him, a Hummer stopped not far away, and two young men got out.
"Excuse me, are you Hu Lei?" a young man asked, approaching Long Xiao.
Long Xiao nodded, looking at the two men curiously. He had disguised himself to hide for a few days, and was surprised someone was looking for him.
The young man who spoke to Long Xiao extended his hand and said, "Hello, my name is Xue Lianming. My master is Ming Tianya, the Vice Chairman of the China Martial Alliance."
Long Xiao had thought his identity was exposed. Hearing Xue Lianming say his master was Ming Tianya, he breathed a sigh of relief. Ming Tianya had seen Hu Lei fighting in the arena and greatly admired him.
When the police officers heard Xue Lianming say he was from the Martial Alliance, they no longer dared to say anything to Long Xiao, nor did they dare to detain Fatty.
After the police officers left, Fatty, seeing that Long Xiao really knew people from the Martial Alliance, said happily, "That's great, brother! With the help of our Martial Alliance brothers, Zhao Xintian won't dare to refuse."
Xue Lianming asked curiously, "Brother Hu Lei, are you in some trouble?"
Long Xiao explained the situation to Xue Lianming. Xue Lianming nodded and said, "I'll help you with this. Xiaohan Group dares to owe migrant workers' wages, they're practically asking to be shut down."
Long Xiao called all the migrant workers into the vehicles. The minivan followed behind the Hummer, and soon both cars arrived in front of the Xiaohan Building.
Xue Lianming and the other young man got out and headed straight for the Xiaohan Building. As they reached the entrance, they were stopped by two security guards.
"I am Xue Lianming of the China Martial Alliance. Tell Zhao Xintian to come out and see me," Xue Lianming said.
The security guards didn't know who Xue Lianming was and scrutinized him. "Our President Zhao is not here. You cannot enter."
Xue Lianming raised his hand and slapped one of the guards, sending him spinning. The young man standing behind Xue Lianming stepped forward and kicked the guard away.
The other security guard, terrified, quickly called the head of security. Long Xiao stepped forward, kicked the guard who was making the call down, and said, "Brothers, let's go."
The fellow workers, surprised that the smiling Long Xiao was so formidable, followed him towards the elevator.
After waiting for the elevator for a few minutes, the doors opened, and a middle-aged man emerged with several security guards.
"Who are you? How dare you trespass into Xiaohan Group headquarters?" the middle-aged man said sternly.
The young man behind Xue Lianming stepped forward and slapped the middle-aged man, "We are from the China Martial Alliance. Call your chairman to come see us."
Hearing that they were from the China Martial Alliance, the middle-aged man recoiled in fear and quickly took out his phone to call Zhao Liang.
Zhao Liang, who couldn't afford to offend even Zheng Dongyang of the East Sea Martial Alliance, was so frightened upon hearing it was the China Martial Alliance that he rushed out of his office.
As soon as Long Xiao and his group exited the elevator, they saw Zhao Liang and several Xiaohan Group executives hurrying towards them.