Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 677 Inquiry into Xiaoli

Brother Long has an office upstairs. He seems to have a particular fondness for hidden doors; his office also uses a hidden door, though it's the same size as a normal door. It was that waiter who led Xiao Wei here; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to find it at all.

"Shi Xiaoyan said that Shi Jing, Xiao Qin, and Xiao Li are close friends. I want to ask them about the situation and do my part, just in case we find some clues." Xiao Wei and Brother Long were talking on the sofa when Manager Han pushed the door open and came in.

"Those guys just now told me to call them about anything related to the power industry in the future, and told me not to escalate things, saying it wouldn't be good if I went to the top. What does that mean?" Manager Han asked Xiao Wei as soon as he came in.

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, keep the business card safe. Just contact him for things like this in the future. If you have the chance, treat him to a meal to build a relationship. You don't need to be too deliberate."

What kind of people could a hoodlum like Brother Long possibly know? His relationships are all built on bribes and gifts; frankly, he has nothing. He glanced at Manager Han, then turned to Xiao Wei and asked, "Who is it?"

Xiao Wei said, "I don't know anyone from the municipal power company. Just contact him at the power company; as long as he doesn't go too far, it should be fine. And don't bother with those underlings who try to extort money from you."

Brother Long clasped his hands together and bowed to Xiao Wei, saying, "Thank you, thank you, this is a huge help. You don't know, it's easy to get things done these days, right? But these little devils are the hardest to deal with. You can't just go along with them, they're endless and never satisfied. You can't just ignore them either, or they'll cause trouble for you every day. If I could kill them, I would have done it long ago."

Manager Han glared at Brother Long and said to Xiao Wei, "Officer Zhang, don't be so nitpicky. Brother Long is just a scoundrel with no education. He speaks in a foul mouth full of slang. I've told him many times, but he just won't change. He'll always be like this."

Xiao Wei waved his hand and said, "It's okay, I understand. As long as you don't mention 'Mom' in every sentence, I can accept it."

Brother Long realized it too, and a little embarrassed, he scratched his head and said, "I forgot, I just can't control my mouth when I get excited. Sit down, Xiaoyun, make some tea." Manager Han gave Brother Long a blank look, swayed her waist and went to the side to make tea. At this time, tea taverns were not yet popular in Northeast China, so making tea was just making tea, just pinching some tea leaves in a cup and pouring boiling water over them.

Xiao Wei sat down and said, "I just have a few words to say. My buddy and my wife are taking a shower downstairs. Do you have two girls here, Xiao Li and Xiao Qin? I need to ask them something."

Brother Long then saw Manager Han and asked, "Are you there?"

Manager Han brought over a teacup and placed it in front of Xiao Wei, saying, "Xiao Li is here, but Xiao Qin left without saying a word, and we don't know why."

Brother Long said, "Go and call Xiao Li over."

Manager Han hesitated for a moment, then turned and left.

Brother Long said, "Wait a minute, what do you want with her? Xiao Hong?"

Xiao Wei said, "Yes, Miria said that the two of them are closest to Xiao Hong, so they might know something."

Brother Long said, "These people always use aliases when they go out. They're nowhere to be found. I guess they just think they can make more money somewhere and are too embarrassed to tell me, so they just leave. I can't let anything happen to them. Is Xiaoya doing well with you?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's alright, she's started doing it. She's in the learning phase now, and I plan to make her a store manager in the future."

Brother Long shook his head and said, "It's not easy. In this society, you just have to get through it. She's had a stroke of good luck, that's a good thing."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "You don't act like a scoundrel."

Brother Long laughed and said, "What's a big thug? It's all about being forced into it. Who wouldn't tremble with fear holding a knife? There's no other way; if you don't fight, you have no future. Our generation is tragic. Schools didn't teach us anything, and now we're old and unemployed. What else can we do if we don't 'hide our way through life'? How many of us truly want to be 'hide our way through life'?"

Manager Han pushed open the door and came in, followed by a girl who was less than 1.6 meters tall, of average height, with a decent figure. She was wearing a loose dress. At that time, "breast bras" were still a luxury for a few people, and few ordinary families could afford them, so it was normal for her two nipples to tremble slightly.

"Brother Long, what do you want? I'm on call right now, and that bastard's got it all out of control, paying for two for one. Whose money is that?" It turns out Manager Han hesitated because Xiao Li was on call. At this time, there weren't clear time limits for calls; it was all up to the girls themselves. Calling someone halfway through meant they'd have to arrange another one for her.

Brother Long pointed at Xiao Wei and said, "Officer Zhang wants to see you. Just tell him the truth."

Xiaoli shuddered, her face turning pale instantly. She looked at Xiaowei and asked, "What? What's wrong?"

Xiao Wei said, "I heard you and Xiao Hong are the closest. I'm asking you about Xiao Hong's situation. It's none of your business."

Xiaoli relaxed a little and patted her trembling chest.

Xiao Wei asked, "On the last day she was here, she received a pager from a regular customer, you know?"

Xiaoli nodded and said, "I know. There are fewer customers here during the day. If a regular customer calls Brother Long, he doesn't really care. So everyone goes out to hang things up to earn more money."

Xiao Wei asked, "Did she tell you about her regular customers? Where they live, how old they are, what they do, their surnames and given names, etc."

Xiaoli said, "Yes, we do talk about it. Sometimes when we sit together and chat, we'll say things like, 'What happened to this person?' or 'What happened to that person?' We tell it as a joke."

Xiao Wei said, "Do you know anything about the person who called her that day?"

Xiaoli shook her head and said, "I don't know. I couldn't go to bed for those two days because of my period, so I went out shopping. I only found out from Xiaoqin when I got back that she had gone out again. I just knew it was an old man. Everyone laughed at her for not being picky about food, but I didn't ask any more questions."

Xiao Wei asked, "Hadn't you mentioned this person before?"

Xiaoli said, "Nobody would ask anyone else, that would be too much trouble. They just come back and tell it as a joke, and other people just listen to it as a joke. Sometimes they go into detail, sometimes it's just a few words. There's no way to ask about it. I wasn't there that day, so I couldn't find the details. You should ask Xiaoqin, she'll definitely know."

Xiao Wei said, "How can you be so sure that Xiao Qin definitely knows?"

Xiaoli said, "Xiaohong is a chatterbox. If she receives a pager, she will definitely tell Xiaoqin who is looking for her or something. If I'm home, she can tell me too. Usually, the three of us hang out together when we're not doing anything."

Xiao Wei asked, "Does she have many regular customers?"

Xiaoli thought for a moment and said, "There are probably a few, maybe seven or eight in total. They've all been out before, and they're not young, so I can't match them up with you. We usually don't go out with younger guys, because it's easy to get into trouble and get beaten up. And after all that trouble, they might not even pay us."

Xiao Wei asked, "She said she was going to Wuma Road, do you remember?"

(End of this chapter)