Chapter 135: Yun Thirteen's Task

Who has been secretly protecting me? Could it be my mother?

This thought pierced my heart like a thorn. Father is imprisoned, which means father and son cannot be reunited; at least I can visit him in prison every month, at least I know where my father is, even if others call him a murderer! But mother… she left quietly without a word, not even a note.

Fortunately, father is a murderer, so no one says, “Your mother ran off with someone else,” otherwise, Little Cheng might have wanted to kill someone too.

What if mother left to protect me…

Little Cheng wanted to cry.

…

No one knew what Little Cheng was thinking. Seeing him clutch the birth certificate, initially shocked and then gradually growing sad, everyone assumed he missed his mother. In a way, they weren’t wrong, but the feelings in Little Cheng’s heart were far more complicated.

“No need to thank me. Keep it safe,” Dr. Zhang Yu said uncertainly, patting Little Cheng on the shoulder before turning to leave. Lv Qi stood and came over to give Little Cheng a bear hug. No words were needed—this embrace between men spoke volumes: It’s okay, at least you still have brothers!

I must go to the town hospital archives and take a look! Little Cheng thought to himself.

………………

The largest and most luxurious hotel in Dongfeng Town was undoubtedly the guesthouse of the Provincial Military District Equipment Department. But even as the undisputed number one in town, it was still far from living up to the word “luxurious.” The hotel was imbued with the rugged, sturdy style of soldiers; even the pillows were hard.

Fortunately, Yun Shisan wasn’t picky.

From Shengyang to Xiangyang, then from Xiangyang City to Hongxing County, and finally settling in this godforsaken Dongfeng Town, Yun Shisan had been here for half a month. People used to big cities usually find such small places hard to adapt to and get tired of them within days, but Shisan was full of enthusiasm—his work was interesting.

“Shisan, has the target made any major moves recently?”

At that moment, Yun Shisan was speaking on the phone with Master Qi. The target they referred to was Wen Xiaocheng.

“This kid never behaves normally. I wouldn’t mind if he skipped class every now and then, but he skips attending class just as often! He runs everywhere! Master Qi, what kind of major moves are you referring to?”

“Ahem! Actually, our boss was like that at school too. I said this kid has the boss’s style. By major moves, I mean anything unusual in the past week—anything out of the ordinary?”

Yun Shisan sighed helplessly and explained, “Master Qi, you’re making it hard for me. This kid hardly ever does anything conventional! You know who he associates with? Street thugs, factory night guards, repair shop laborers, billiard hall supervisors, and even a retired professor—Dai Yaoguo, from the IP address we traced before. At school, he’s always hanging around a little beauty. What’s worse, it’s not just one! You say he’s unconventional, but it seems he’s never done anything conventional. Otherwise, shouldn’t a kid his age be studying diligently in the classroom?”

Master Qi couldn’t help but laugh on the other end, saying this was basically a high school version of Liu Mang! But in terms of chasing girls, he seemed a bit worse than the boss—back then, the boss was surrounded by four beauties and five golden girls!

“Let me put it this way. I found that this kid’s bank account suddenly has over a million. Has he been in contact with that Starry Education or any other institution recently?”

Yun Shisan thought for a moment, then answered firmly, “No, he hasn’t been to the city lately. Can’t you trace the source of the funds? Who deposited the money?”

“He made the deposits himself, tens of thousands each time, at different banks and branches.”

Yun Shisan was shocked. When did he do that?

He was stunned because the target had earned over a million right under his nose, and he hadn’t noticed at all!

Master Qi’s real name was Tang Zhi, nicknamed Lord Tang Qi, hence everyone called him Master Qi. He was one of the original shareholders of Mangyou Group and once headed the country’s largest B2B e-commerce platform, “Mang Trade.” But Master Qi was naturally indifferent; after finding a suitable successor, he withdrew from the core circle and now spent his days traveling and enjoying life.

However, this carefree man was still drafted by Liu Mang as muscle, because the “fishing” plan to scout talents for Mangyou Group was led by Master Qi. So, when a “big shark” was discovered, the task of investigating the talent fell to him. Yun Shisan was an orphan previously sponsored by Master Qi. After serving in the army, he became Master Qi’s bodyguard. They had a mentor-mentee friendship, and this kind of talent scouting was not their first time working together. Both enjoyed the thrill of spying on others’ secrets.

“Have you checked Starry Education’s fund transfers? Could there be an agreement between them and him?”

“Yes, I checked. Starry hasn’t had any large expenditures recently. This money isn’t related to them.”

Yun Shisan blushed a little. Although Master Qi hadn’t ordered him to monitor the target 24/7, just to gather information about his family, personality, and preferences—basically acting as a scout or talent spotter—Yun Shisan had also installed surveillance and GPS tracking. Yet he hadn’t discovered that the target had earned over a million right under his nose, nor did he know how!

“Master Qi, when was this money deposited? Give me three days—I’ll get to the bottom of it!”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s better if you find out, but if not, it’s okay. Be careful not to alarm the target or offend him. We’re here to recruit talent, not spy on him.”

“Understood.”

Investigating someone without alerting them is very difficult. It’s nothing like a private detective catching an affair. Luckily, Yun Shisan had plenty of high-tech equipment and network resources. In the army, he was a reconnaissance soldier, so this kind of work was second nature.

Using the phone as a natural tracker, Shisan pulled up Wen Xiaocheng’s movements for the three days before the deposits, finding nothing unusual. The places where he stayed longest were precisely located—a restaurant where he was dining and drinking with friends, quite normal; a hospital where he visited that tall guy, nothing special; a repair shop where a small worker was his friend. Wait, what about that farmhouse? Who did he visit there?

It didn’t take long before Yun Shisan found a news report: “Police recently uncovered an underground casino while arresting suspects.”

Shisan gasped, reading the article carefully. Using the time provided, he repeatedly checked Xiaocheng’s location in the hours before the raid and discovered that 40 minutes before the casino was raided, Xiaocheng had been there—though only for less than half an hour. This kid was ruthless. Half an hour, winning over a million at the casino, then turning around and reporting it?

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