Zhou Yaoyun briefly explained that during this period, he had been undergoing physical training and developing various skills, all in preparation to take over the family business one day. That’s why Ji Chenai would occasionally see him at a casino with a bunny girl in his arms, or surviving deep in a jungle with a gun—real or fake, who knew.

Because of these experiences, Zhou Yaoyun’s entire demeanor had changed. He had completely transformed from a naive boy into a mature man.
The change was so drastic that Ji Chenai sometimes felt Zhou Yaoyun had become a little unfamiliar to him.

After finishing his story, Zhou Yaoyun asked about how things had been at Ji Chenai’s home. Ji Chenai gave a simple summary, mentioning two major recent events involving Lu Yuanyuan and Zheng Ji’guo.

After listening, Zhou Yaoyun said, “If anything comes up at home that you don’t know how to handle, give me a call, alright?”

Ji Chenai nodded in agreement.

Although Zhou Yaoyun would be leaving again soon, his return was still something to be happy about—especially during the New Year.
Was there anything more heartwarming than having the whole family reunited during the most important holiday of the year?

That night, Ji Chenai and Zhou Yaoyun slept on the same bed. Ji Chenai fell asleep to the sound of Zhou Yaoyun’s voice, slowly drifting into a deep slumber.
Zhou Yaoyun watched him quietly, gently touched his cheek, then closed his own eyes and followed him into the world of dreams.

The next day, the whole family gathered for a reunion meal.

Just like last year, it was held at Wang Zhixiu’s house. Lu Yuanyuan and Zhou Leling both came. When Zhou Leling saw Zhou Yaoyun, she was overjoyed, holding onto him and bombarding him with questions, eagerly expressing how much she had missed him.

Zhou Yaoyun listened to her chatter with a constant smile. Although he wasn’t much older than Zhou Leling, he looked and felt far more mature now.

Moments like these were meant for putting all worries aside. But just as Ji Chenai was savoring this precious time, Xiao Qi’s voice suddenly popped into his mind:

“Ai Ai, something big just happened on Xu Yunchong’s end!”

Ji Chenai froze. He had been keeping an eye on Xu Yunchong for a while now, but he hadn’t expected Xiao Qi to suddenly bring news at a time like this.

“What’s going on?”

Xiao Qi replied, “A large amount of money was just transferred into one of his accounts—the one he hasn’t used in ages. I traced it back and found that the sending account seems to be connected to human traffickers.”

Ji Chenai had already suspected Xu Yunchong’s involvement in trafficking, but now, solid evidence was falling into place.

“Which trafficker is it?”

Xiao Qi immediately pulled up the person’s information. The human trafficking group that had once kidnapped Ji Chenai was largely made up of relatives. It was because of Ji Chenai that one of their cousins ended up in prison, which led to the group seeking revenge.

According to the information Xiao Qi provided, this new individual was also a cousin of those same traffickers.

Ji Chenai skimmed through the file. “Do you know where he is now?”

Xiao Qi replied, “He bought a plane ticket here just yesterday. He should already be in the city.”

A large influx of money usually meant a deal was about to go down. Ji Chenai had a suspicion brewing. “Can you get his phone number?”

Xiao Qi: “I think so. Give me a second”

While Ji Chenai was communicating with Xiao Qi, he appeared to be spacing out to everyone else around the table. Zhou Yaoyun’s voice drifted over to him, “Brother, what are you thinking about?”

Ji Chenai blinked and quickly replied, “Oh, nothing.”

Zhou Yaoyun clearly didn’t believe him. “I remember you used to space out like this all the time when we were younger.”

Ji Chenai gave a dry chuckle, unsure how to respond.

Seeing that Ji Chenai didn’t want to elaborate, Zhou Yaoyun didn’t press further. Instead, he simply reached over and placed another piece of fish into Ji Chenai’s bowl.

Xiao Qi worked quickly. Using the man’s plane ticket, it pulled up his ID information, and from there, tracked down the phone number he had previously registered.

There’s just too much personal data floating around online these days—for a system like Xiao Qi, it was practically a cheat code.

Ji Chenai glanced at the number and told Xiao Qi to save it.

He drifted back into thought again, staring off into space. Zhou Yaoyun kept watching him. He knew this man was hiding far too many secrets. If it hadn’t been for Zhou Yaoqin’s overly simple social circle back then, he might never have picked up on the small details that led him to discover Ji Chenai’s existence at all.

There was something different in the way Zhou Yaoyun looked at Ji Chenai now—something more than curiosity.

But Ji Chenai’s entire focus was locked on Xu Yunchong and the man he was dealing with. He had a strong feeling that if he could take care of this situation, he’d be one step closer to rising up again.

The man working with Xu Yunchong was named Wang Mingwu—originally just a farmer from a remote, impoverished area.
Desperation breeds danger. When survival becomes impossible, people would do anything to stay alive—even things they once thought unimaginable.

Wang Mingwu had clearly chosen his own path to survival—but it wasn’t a clean one.
He and his extended family, under the guidance and connections of certain middlemen, had chosen to engage in human trafficking.

Adult women could be sold off to remote mountain villages as wives, each worth tens of thousands of yuan. Children were even more profitable—boys could fetch over 30,000, and girls around 10,000 to 20,000.

Even selling just one or two a month could earn more than a year’s worth of backbreaking farm work.

When the profit was high enough, people were willing to take risks.

Wang Mingwu’s second sister had been sent to prison because of Ji Chenai. His eldest sister and one of his brothers had died because of him. And now, it was Wang Mingwu’s turn—along with Xu Yunchong.

Human trafficking was just as unforgivable as drug trafficking. One missing child could destroy an entire family.
And if the person sold was unlucky enough to end up with a cruel buyer, they might be beaten, crippled, and left to beg on the streets. It was the kind of outcome that made your stomach turn.

Ji Chenai couldn’t help but remember the blank, numb expression on little Yang Yuyi’s face as she begged for money, and the hollow eyes of the women and children in that room during his own kidnapping.

If it weren’t for Xiao Qi, meddling in all this might’ve cost him his life.
But now that he had Xiao Qi—now that he had a chance of getting his legs back—he was willing to wade into the filth. Whatever it took.

Wang Mingwu had arrived in the city just yesterday. Ji Chenai wasn’t sure how long he planned to stay, so during a break in the meal, he slipped into the bathroom to make a call.

The call was made through an internet line provided by Xiao Qi—untraceable. Ji Chenai even used a voice changer, just to be safe.

The phone rang several times before it was finally picked up. A man’s voice, laced with a regional accent, came through: “Hello?”

“Is this Mr. Wang Mingwu?”

“Yeah. Who’s this?” Wang Mingwu replied warily.

“I have something I’d like to discuss with you—privately.”

“Who the hell are you? What do you want to talk about?”

Ji Chenai wasn’t in a rush. Calmly, he said, “You’re in City X right now, aren’t you? I sent a few things to your usual email address. You can take a look first.”

Wang Mingwu’s tone quickly turned aggressive. “Who the hell do you think you are? Just because you tell me to look, I’m supposed to go look?”

Ji Chenai answered coolly, “Of course, you don’t have to. But if your eldest sister were still alive, I think she’d strongly suggest you do.”

A string of furious curses exploded from the other end of the line.

Ji Chenai remained completely unfazed.
“I’ll be calling you again,” he said coldly. “I hope the communication between us stays strictly between the two of us. Otherwise… I can’t guarantee what might happen.”
With that, he ended the call without hesitation.

Xiao Qi spoke up, a hint of worry in its tone. “Ai Ai, are you planning to meet him alone? I don’t think that’s very safe…”

Ji Chenai replied, “He’s the biggest lead I have in this whole Xu Yunchong situation. I can’t afford to wait any longer.”
Fifty thousand positive energy points were on the line—it was a massive opportunity. If he hesitated now and missed this chance, who knew how long he’d have to wait for another?

Seeing that Ji Chenai had made up his mind, Xiao Qi offered, “Maybe you could ask Zhou Yaoyun to go with you?”

Ji Chenai frowned slightly. “What does this have to do with Zhou Yaoyun?”

Xiao Qi explained, “The training he’s received isn’t ordinary. And whatever’s going on in his family—I couldn’t dig up much about it online. If even I can’t find it, then it’s definitely not normal.”

Ji Chenai knew how powerful Xiao Qi’s systems were. Hearing that, he fell silent for a moment.
“But how would I explain your existence to him?”

“You don’t have to mention me at all,” Xiao Qi replied. “You can use your country’s mythology—come up with a more believable explanation that fits the cultural context.”

“Like what?” Ji Chenai asked.

Xiao Qi said, “For example—hypnosis, soul communication… things like that. You can get creative. The point is to redirect people’s suspicion away from you having some external power, and make them think it’s just an unusual ability you possess.”

Ji Chenai replied dryly, “Won’t that get me dragged off for dissection as some kind of lab specimen?”

Xiao Qi yawned lazily. “You’re overthinking it. There are all kinds of strange things in this world. Remember when that guy with the qigong made headlines for months? Nobody dissected him.”

Ji Chenai had to admit, it made sense. Every region had its share of fortune tellers and so-called spirit mediums. You never heard of any of them being locked up for being too accurate.

Xiao Qi went on, “You could bring Zhou Yaoyun with you. Just don’t let him know the full details of the conversation. I think that would give you a bit of extra protection. Xu Yunchong has too many people under him—I’m worried you’ll be walking into a trap.”

Ji Chenai nodded slowly. Ever since he’d had Xiao Qi by his side, he’d definitely gotten a bit careless. Hearing this, he realized Xiao Qi had a point.

“Let me think about it,” Ji Chenai said. “But if I do bring Zhou Yaoyun along… we’ll probably have to schedule the meeting for tomorrow.”

Xiao Qi gave a soft hum. “Wang Mingwu’s looked at the files I sent him.”

Ji Chenai asked, “How’d he react?”

Xiao Qi went quiet for a moment, seemingly observing the situation. After a pause, it reported, “Pretty pissed. Smashed a cup just now. As for now… hard to say. He kind of took the laptop down with the cup.”

Ji Chenai chuckled under his breath. “Good. If he’s that angry, it means those files mattered to him.”

The more furious Wang Mingwu was, the more it proved that the information had hit a nerve.

=^_^=