Chapter 141 Hide and Seek

When Xiao He chased Han Xin under the moonlight, he secured the Han Dynasty's foundation for centuries. When Liu Bei paid three visits to the thatched cottage, the Longzhong Plan laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Kingdom of Shu. A single talent in the right position can allow a dynasty to endure for a hundred years. Even in today's peaceful era, such a person can still change the world and lead an era.

"You should know that the Boss is a figure who creates miracles, right?"

Yun Shisan nodded, though he did not fully grasp Seventh Master's implication.

"You are now accustomed to the position the Boss holds today, but when I first met him, he was merely a high school student. Think about it, what should a normal high school student be doing? And he was at a key high school, at that!"

Yun Shisan had joined the military as soon as he came of age and had not even finished high school, but he understood this principle well enough.

"Studying?"

"And do you know what the Boss was doing at school? He put a bed in the back row of the classroom! You've probably seen people sleep in class, but have you ever seen anyone lie down on a real bed to sleep in a classroom? He even had a pillow and a quilt! We all believed students ought to study, but while the Boss was still in high school, he founded a computer interest group, taught the classes himself, and in less than a semester, he led us in establishing Busy Friend Company!"

That was the predecessor of the current commercial empire—the Busy Friend Group: Liu Mang and His Friends Co., Ltd.

A herd of pigs would be eating and running around, while the one named Liu Mang was thinking.

"A competent person is someone who can complete tasks exceptionally well within a given framework; such people are easy to find. A genius is not constrained by frameworks and can repeatedly achieve results that exceed your expectations. But monsters like the Boss and Wen Xiaocheng can see ten years into the future, and they have the ability to mold that future into their ideal image!"

Yun Shisan gradually began to understand.

"Therefore, I hope to be friends with them, but absolutely never become their enemies—unless you want your head filled with urine! So, Shisan, pull back. Another day, we will use our true identities to formally issue an invitation to him. Do not ruin a major venture for a minor grievance."

Shisan nodded. In Seventh Master's eyes, Wen Xiaocheng was not merely a clever middle school student, but a monstrous talent capable of creating miracles and even leading an era. In Xiaocheng, Seventh Master saw the shadow of the Boss from his youth.

"Very well..."

"I will report this matter to the Boss first, and then we can plot our next move. You return for now."

"Alright... Oh crap! Seventh Master, I'm afraid I can't return!"

Yun Shisan, who had been perfectly calm just a moment before, suddenly changed his expression as if he had seen a ghost.

"What is it?"

"Damn it... Damn it... Look at this yourself!"

The camera angle slowly pushes forward, shifting to the doorway of the room. On the welcome mat lay a surveillance camera and a pair of old sneakers!

The camera was the high-tech model installed at the entrance of the alley near Xiaocheng's house in Old Well Village. It was solar-powered and featured wireless transmission, completely unavailable on the open market; not even official government agencies used a version this advanced. And those sneakers were precisely the ones upon which Shisan had installed a tracker. The minuscule signal transmitter, smaller than a paperclip, was stuck to the sole of the shoe and was utterly undetectable.

The items had been sent back, which not only meant that he had discovered he was under surveillance, but also that he had thoroughly traced Yun Shisan's hideout!

Needless to say, Shisan and Seventh Master simultaneously pulled up the surveillance footage from the military district guesthouse corridor. The timestamp showed that just twenty minutes prior, Wen Xiaocheng had walked calmly to the door of Room 611, gently placed the sneakers and camera on the floor, faced the lens, shook his smartphone, and then raised his middle finger...

"Damn it, this kid knew we could see the hotel surveillance! He's provoking us!" Yun Shisan said angrily.

Seventh Master, however, appeared quite calm. "Actually, we were the ones provoking him; he is merely striking back."

Yun Shisan fell silent. Indeed, no one would be in a good mood upon discovering they were being watched. Although he knew they meant no harm, the other party had no way of knowing that.

"In the surveillance footage, he shook his phone, which clearly indicates he also knows his mobile location data is within our control. To be able to inversely trace your lodging to this hotel means our identities are likely no longer hidden either. The reason he didn't simply throw the phone away is that he must know the operating systems of all smartphones on the market are developed by us; discarding it would be useless. Let's see where he is now."

Yun Shisan rapidly switched to the tracking signal map page. The display showed that the signal source was located right in Dongfeng Town, by the banks of the Siyuan River—at an abandoned, unfinished building?

At that exact moment, the hotel room telephone suddenly rang. Shisan and Seventh Master simultaneously constricted their pupils, their expressions turning grave. A call at this hour could likely mean only one thing, pointing to a single person!

"Hello," Yun Shisan answered the phone.

"Know where I am? Come out, let's meet face to face. Stop hiding and sneaking around!"

Only those words came from the other end before the phone was hung up.

"Damn it, this kid is arrogant! Seventh Master, what should we do?"

"Go. Since he was able to track down your lodging, he surely already knows who you are. Right now, you represent the company; if you don't go, he will look down on us. But avoid conflicts and try to clear up the misunderstanding. Call me once you arrive. I'm setting off right now to head your way and should arrive in about two hours! Ah, had I known this kid was so troublesome, I wouldn't have come out here fishing."

...

Yun Shisan had never been reduced to such a flustered state!

At his young and hot-blooded age, he had originally believed the overall situation was entirely within his grasp. He never expected a complete reversal in a mere single day—not only had all his surveillance methods been exposed, but his very lair had been discovered as well. How could Yun Shisan not be furious?

By the Siyuan River, the unfinished building.

There was no longer any need for concealment. The Fukang vehicle drove directly into the courtyard of the unfinished building. Shisan took out his phone to check; his current distance from the target was less than thirty meters. Clearly, Wen Xiaocheng was right inside the three-story building across the way.

A lingering resentment churned within Shisan's chest, and he no longer had the patience to play hide-and-seek. He dialed Xiaocheng's number directly, and after a round of ringing tones, the call connected.

"I've arrived. Come out and let's meet."

Over the phone, Xiaocheng's voice sounded rather mocking, "You're quite proficient at this kind of work, aren't you? Are you a professional private detective? Do people hire you whenever they suspect their wives are having affairs?"

Yun Shisan was choked with anger. Was he not a veteran of the reconnaissance troops?

"No."

"Oh, so you're self-taught then. Must have spent plenty of childhood practicing peeping at women, huh? You've refined quite a polished set of skills! Do you prefer lolitas, young wives, or mature matrons?"

"You're the one who likes mature matrons!" If Seventh Master had not instructed him to avoid conflict, Yun Shisan would have already started cursing. For now, however, he had to suppress his temper and say, "I admit that observing you in secret was my fault, but I harbor no malicious intent. Since you asked me to come out, show yourself."

"Can't you see my location right now? Then come find me." With that, Xiaocheng hung up the phone.

While satellite signal positioning could achieve precision down to about a meter, it had one major weakness: the map was two-dimensional. He only knew that Xiaocheng was hiding somewhere in the L-shaped building ahead on the western side, but which floor remained a mystery.

Yun Shisan shook his head with a bitter smile. He figured the kid must be harboring some resentment as well, which was understandable—nobody would be in a good mood after being monitored for no reason. However... the mere thought of Qiu Zeyan's miserable state with his head full of urine made Yun Shisan shudder. He prayed he wouldn't fall victim to this fellow's schemes.

Inside the unfinished building, there were not even handrails on the stairwells. The original design had been intended for three apartments per floor, resulting in an abundance of small rooms. Following the coordinates on his phone, Yun Shisan began his search from the ground floor, then the second... Throughout the process, the red dot indicating the target's position never moved an inch.

On the third floor, near the balcony of a certain room, Yun Shisan located the phone broadcasting Xiaocheng's signal. At that exact moment, a gun barrel pointed out from the opposite balcony, aiming straight at him: "Don't move."