Chapter 147: Arriving in Anxi

Lin Jian had indeed received a few calls from unknown numbers. The callers either wanted to discuss business partnerships or hire him as a bodyguard. He knew his phone number had probably been leaked to a wider circle. As a result, when he arrived in Anxi in the middle of the night, his phone remained turned off.

Tan Jian came to pick him up at the airport; Xu Xiaohui and Wang Chuang didn’t tag along. After getting into the car, Lin Jian introduced Qin San’Er to Tan Jian before breaking into a smile. "Good job. I didn’t expect you guys to track him down so quickly."

He had been keeping in touch with Xu Xiaohui and the other two these past few days, receiving daily reports from them. Just yesterday at noon, Xu Xiaohui sent a WeChat message saying Old Cat had appeared. Surprisingly, they had bumped into him completely by accident. As luck would have it, the trio had gone to a noodle shop for a meal and spotted Old Cat eating there as well. Having seen his photo beforehand, they were absolutely certain it was him.

After finishing their noodles, the three of them tailed him briefly and discovered that Old Cat lived in a residential complex in the county town, very close to the noodle shop. However, to avoid spooking him, they didn’t dare follow him inside the gates. The complex was quite large, consisting of over twenty buildings, so they couldn’t pinpoint Old Cat’s exact location.

Of course, this was only the situation reported yesterday afternoon. Upon receiving the news, Lin Jian decisively ordered them to stop searching and wait for his arrival.

"Boss, are we staying the night in Anxi or heading to Lantian right away?" Tan Jian asked after they left the airport.

"To Lantian," Lin Jian replied. "The sooner we find Old Cat, the sooner we can return to Jiang City."

"Boss, I heard from Long that we’re going to be sailors from now on? With a monthly salary of fifty thousand?" Tan Jian asked curiously.

Lin Jian thought for a moment. "Something like that. There are a few overseas mines, and you might also end up working there as safety officers."

"That sounds pretty good."

"Yeah, we’ll talk more about it after this is sorted out. For the specifics, we’ll take a trip out to sea. If it seems viable, we’ll keep at it. If not, we’ll find something else to do."

"Sure. We don’t know anything anyway, so we’ll just follow your lead!"

Tan Jian, Xu Xiaohui, and Wang Chuang all knew they had no capital to their names. The only thing they had was Lin Jian’s trust. Therefore, moving forward, they just needed to obey his every command. Lin Jian would certainly never let them get the short end of the stick.

Lantian was only a few dozen kilometers away from Anxi, so the three of them arrived at a small motel in just half an hour. The conditions were poor; it was a semi-basement room, damp and cramped. Lin Jian knew that even though the trio had made some money, they wouldn’t dare spend it lavishly on the road. Still, he hadn’t expected them to be this frugal.

Without even taking a seat in the cramped room, Lin Jian furrowed his brows. "Pack up and check out." With that, he turned and walked right back out.

Ten minutes later, Xu Xiaohui and the other two sheepishly checked out of the motel. Fortunately, dawn had already broken, so the group of five headed straight to the noodle shop they had visited the day before.

"He lives in the residential complex at the very end of the street. It’s in the rural-urban fringe, so there’s a lot of transient population, and it’s quite chaotic. The management isn’t strict at all; anyone can come and go as they please!" Xu Xiaohui explained while pulling out a blank piece of paper. He had drawn a rough sketch on it, marking a dozen or so exits.

"These are all the entrances and exits. Directly north of the complex is the Lantian North Ring, to the east is an undeveloped shantytown, and the west side borders the interprovincial highway.

"There are twenty-nine buildings in total. Nine of them are high-rises, and the rest are multi-story residential blocks."

Lin Jian pondered for a moment. "Can outside vehicles get in?"

"Yes, the automatic gates have been broken for a long time, and no one cares."

"Let’s eat, then. After we finish, we’ll drive into the complex and look around."

The group of five didn’t waste any more words and all ordered noodle soup for their early morning meal.

Half an hour later, Lin Jian drove Xu Xiaohui and the other three into Renhe District. The complex was indeed massive, and there was practically no property management. He drove straight in without anyone stopping him. Upon entering, he pulled up right outside Building 1 and turned off the engine.

The others had no idea why he stopped there, but none of them asked.

Lin Jian smoked a cigarette, his eyes narrowed. After a short while, he restarted the car and continued forward. He quickly made a brief stop at each of the six entrances of Building 1.

Moments later, he drove over to Building 2. This time, he seemed to increase his speed, stopping once every two entrances. Then came Building 3... Building 4... Building 5...

They were all utterly confused by Lin Jian’s actions, unable to comprehend why he was creeping around building by building. However, just as they reached Entrance 3 of Building 7, Lin Jian suddenly let out a soft gasp of surprise, his expression shifting to one of shock!

The four passengers exchanged bewildered glances. They wondered what was wrong with their boss.

Lin Jian narrowed his eyes and pondered for a brief moment. He then swiftly drove away from Building 7, bypassed Building 8 entirely, and headed straight for Entrance 3 of Building 9. The moment they arrived at the entrance, Lin Jian let out a long breath, as if he had just figured something out.

A moment later, he made a wide turn and drove straight out of the complex without continuing his search.

"Boss, what’s going on?" The four men in the car finally couldn’t hold back their questions any longer as they watched him leave.

Lin Jian smiled. "Help me find a mobile carrier store. I need to buy a SIM card, and then we’ll find a nice hotel to settle down in."

"Boss, did you find something?" Xu Xiaohui asked curiously.

Lin Jian nodded. "Something like that. You guys just wait at the hotel. I already know Old Cat’s exact location, but now isn’t the right time to make a move."

The four of them stared at him, faces full of question marks. They wondered how he could possibly know. Had he really figured it out just by driving a single lap around the compound?

Qin San’Er, however, had a sudden flash of realization in his eyes. He seemed to have thought of something but still looked somewhat uncertain.

Soon, Lin Jian bought a new SIM card, copied his contacts over from the old one, and turned his phone back on.

"You four go find a hotel and settle in first. Text me your room numbers on WeChat later." With that, he hopped out of the car and quickly disappeared into the crowd.

The four men left in the car didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. What in the world was going on? Why was Lin Jian acting all mysterious?

Meanwhile, Lin Jian dialed Shen Ke’s number! However, her phone was surprisingly still turned off.

He smiled and shook his head, never having expected such a massive coincidence.

Up on the fifth floor of Entrance 3, Building 7 in Renhe District, there were four people staying in an apartment. One of them was Shen Ke, and the other three were men. Furthermore, there was a concealed spotting scope set up on the apartment’s north-facing balcony. The scope was aimed directly at the fourth floor of Entrance 3, Building 9.

And on the fourth floor of that specific entrance, there lived a plump man and a woman around thirty years old. The plump man was none other than Old Cat.

Shen Ke was here. She had already found Old Cat and was actively surveilling him. Clearly, she and her team were weaving a massive net, likely aiming to round everyone up in one fell swoop. Otherwise, since they had already located Old Cat, there was no reason not to arrest him immediately.

"Yeah, I better keep an eye on her from the shadows. Old Cat is a dangerous guy!" Lin Jian mumbled to himself. He decided that since he couldn’t contact Shen Ke directly, he would protect her covertly for the next few days.