At the mahjong table, Brother Liu, Brother Zhang, and Sister He were chatting animatedly. Lin Xi, while playing her tiles, seized the right moment to join their conversation.
"Brother Liu, Brother Zhang, from what you're saying, these two people also run factories in the Wuxin Industrial Park?"
Today's game saw Lin Xi losing the most. In just this short while, she had already fed winning tiles to the other three players several times.
The people at the table were all regulars at the mahjong table. Doing a rough calculation, they figured Lin Xi had already lost nearly two thousand.
Sister He hadn't really liked playing high-stakes games with unfamiliar faces before. Some people had poor "tile manners"—often, if they lost a bit of money, it showed on their faces, and their mouths became unpleasant.
Someone like Lin Xi, who showed no sign of her substantial losses, was especially likable to Sister He.
When you go out to have fun, it's all about being happy. If there are people who ruin the atmosphere, even winning three or five thousand wouldn't make Sister He happy.
Brother Liu and Brother Zhang, who played with Sister He often, shared similar views.
Hearing Lin Xi's question, Brother Liu, who had just won a hand, collected his chips. With a smile, he said, "Yes, they also run a factory in the Wuxin Industrial Park. They operate a printing factory, usually taking orders from garment manufacturers."
Brother Liu's use of "also" was quite telling—it meant that at this table, apart from Lin Xi who was a salaried worker, everyone else was a factory owner.
The tiles were dealt again. Brother Zhang was the dealer. He rolled the dice and started drawing tiles: "We were among the first batch of factories to move into the industrial park. To be honest, Lingzhou has offered quite substantial preferential policies to us early birds who relocated from other places over the years—tax reductions, rent cuts, and regular gatherings to foster networking and exchange."
"I hadn't heard about any problems at Li Fuming's factory before. Could it be he lost money gambling?" Brother Zhang speculated reasonably.
Brother Liu called "pong!" and took the Red Dragon tile Brother Zhang had discarded. "That's possible. That Li Fuming has quite the gambling streak. We play for just a hundred or two per round, but last year Li Fuming was introduced to games where they play for a thousand or two."
With everyone chiming in, the topic quickly veered off course. Lin Xi didn't mind, being a good mahjong companion. When the conversation strayed too far, she gently steered it back.
The mahjong session lasted from 11 am to 4:30 pm. Over those hours, Lin Xi lost two thousand yuan. The other three all won varying amounts, with Sister He being the biggest winner. In her good mood, she invited Lin Xi and the two brothers for a meal at a nearby tea house.
Brother Zhang and Brother Liu had no objections. Their main purpose for playing mahjong was fun; they didn't really care much about how much they won or lost.
Usually, after playing, they would go for a meal together. By custom, the biggest winner would treat, and often the winnings weren't even enough to cover the meal.
Lin Xi couldn't refuse and was pulled along. The food had been ordered in advance. They had just sat down in the private room when the dishes started arriving.
Being bosses, their conversation inevitably turned to work. Halfway through the meal, the topic circled back to the couple, Li Fuming and his wife.
"What do you all think Zhang Lihua is holding onto? Li Fuming started his business with her dowry. After he made a little money, he started bringing women around one after another. I've personally seen several, all young and pretty. I even talked to Zhang Lihua about it before. She listened, but did nothing about it," Sister He said, utterly perplexed.
She had a good relationship with her own husband, who had never engaged in such philandering over the years. Putting herself in Zhang Lihua's shoes, she couldn't understand her mindset at all.
Brother Liu and Brother Zhang exchanged a glance. As men, they couldn't comprehend Zhang Lihua's thinking either.
Brother Zhang said, "What's the use talking about this? We're not them. But she is indeed pitiful. She handles all the factory work alone. Because she couldn't bear children, Li Fuming treats her with extreme disrespect."
The three of them continued discussing. Lin Xi quietly focused on her meal, being very observant. She refilled their wine glasses when they were empty and answered any questions directed at her with utmost sincerity.
After the satisfying meal and drinks, they parted ways downstairs at the tea house. Lin Xi had already identified the suspect in Liu Zhong's kidnapping. The next step was on-site investigation.
She took an invisibility pill in a mall restroom nearby and headed for the villa district.
She moved quickly. By the time she reached the villa area, Sister He was using a key to open her courtyard gate. A little girl of six or seven ran out from the house and threw herself into Sister He's arms.
A white Mercedes drove out from their garage. Sister He opened the rear door for the girl to get in, then took the passenger seat herself. After settling in, she shared a kiss with the man in the driver's seat.
Their life seemed sweet. Sister He had mentioned at dinner that strange things had been happening frequently in the villa area lately, so she was taking her husband and daughter to stay with her in-laws for a while.
Her in-laws had bought a plot of land in the countryside early on and built a large, new Chinese-style compound. If it weren't for the proximity to the factory, Sister He wouldn't want to live in the villa.
A villa couldn't compare to the comfort of a standalone house with its own yard.
Watching them drive away, Lin Xi began surveying the villa area. Then, on the side of the house next to Sister He's, she found the window from Liu Zhong's drawing. From that angle, one could just see the tip of the heating company's tower. Closer by, under the eaves on the side of Sister He's house, hung a Bagua mirror.
Sister He had also mentioned that, finding the situation too strange, she had specifically sought out and hung that mirror, though it had been up for less than a month.
Because of this Bagua mirror, Sister He had argued with Li Fuming several times.
Lin Xi didn't plan to enter the house directly. She had already found out that Li Fuming and his wife usually returned to the villa around 8 p.m. She intended to follow them inside.
She sent the information she had gathered over the past half-day to Liu Zhong. At that moment, Liu Zhong had already disembarked at a port along the route.
He was a crucial tool in First Madam Liu's, the original host's mother, revenge plot. Before she succeeded in dealing with Long Aotian's future father-in-law, she wouldn't let him escape.
First Madam Liu's maiden family were merchants; she would definitely pursue him. Liu Zhong wanted to break free from those lunatics completely. He planned to take the Disguise Pill given by Chu Qianmo at this port and then head south.
Long Aotian was heading towards the northern capital, so he decided to go in the opposite direction instead.
After reading the message from Lin Xi, Liu Zhong stopped in his tracks. He thanked her and then repeatedly urged her to be careful.
Lin Xi sent one reply and then fell silent, because Li Fuming and his wife had returned.
The couple drove a black pickup truck, its cargo bed sealed up tight.
Zhang Lihua got out of the car first. She personally went to open the side garage door of the villa. After Li Fuming drove the pickup into the garage, she came back to close it. Seizing this moment, Lin Xi slipped into the courtyard.
Zhang Lihua used facial recognition and a fingerprint to open the door. As she entered the house, Lin Xi followed right behind her.
Lin Xi glanced back at the door. From the outside, it looked ordinary, but the inside was reinforced with anti-theft stainless steel.
Good thing she was a cautious person and hadn't tried to force her way in just because she had her special abilities!
Li Fuming also opened the door and came in at this moment.
Without a word, the couple each went to their rooms to change clothes. Then, Zhang Lihua went to cook, while Li Fuming opened the door to the basement and went down.
Compared to the previous door, this one was even more secure, welded from iron and impossible to push open without considerable strength.
Lin Xi followed him down, her phone already raised to record video.
Perhaps because he was back in his own home, Li Fuming walked very relaxedly, already starting to undress as he went. Before long, a mass of pale, fleshy substance appeared before Lin Xi's eyes.
If she had the function, Lin Xi would really want to pixelate Li Fuming from head to toe.
Humming a tune, he turned on the light, and Lin Xi finally saw the full extent of the basement.
It was roughly a hundred and fifty square meters in size, divided by a wall into several small rooms. The largest area, resembling a living room, held an enormous iron-framed bed.
On the wall beside the bed were fixed a series of smooth, rounded iron rings.
Humming, Li Fuming walked into one of the rooms, dragged out a girl in her twenties by the neck, placed her on the bed and locked her in place, then pressed down on top of her.
The girl stared vacantly at the light overhead, as if trying to sear this moment of brightness into her mind. Lin Xi's eyes turned sharp, and a force shot out from her hand.
Li Fuming's head lolled to the side, and he fell asleep. Lin Xi released another surge of force, flipping him off the bed and onto the floor.
The young girl locked on the bed had already closed her eyes. When the anticipated pain didn't come, she opened them. Seeing Li Fuming lying on the floor, an unconscious smile appeared on her face.
Another gentle force arrived, and the iron chains locking her hands came loose. Compared to the force used on Li Fuming, this one was incredibly soft, so soft the imprisoned woman barely felt it.
The freedom she gained was unbelievable. After testing it several times, she leaped up from the bed and ran towards the other rooms.
Lin Xi followed behind the girl, recording the state of all the girls locked in the rooms. At this moment, the only thing Lin Xi felt grateful for was that they were all clothed, even if the clothes were tattered and torn, at least they covered their bodies.
Several girls rushed towards Li Fuming. Lin Xi didn't intervene further. Instead, she retraced her steps and went back upstairs.
The sound of the iron door opening and closing didn't attract their attention.
One of the girls said, "Hold back a little, don't beat him to death. We can't go to jail."
"We'll listen to you, Sister Xiaorou," the other girls agreed.
Lin Xi considered herself a person without excessive morality. These girls had suffered Li Fuming's abuse for so long.
As victims, why shouldn't they fight back? Even if they killed him, he would deserve it, it would be his just deserts, wouldn't it? What fault did these victims have? They were merely acting in self-defense.
Lin Xi went upstairs. Zhang Lihua was putting leafy vegetables into a large iron pot. The vegetables were chopped roughly and tossed right in. Lin Xi saw some leeks.
The leeks still had dirt on them.
Once it was done, she turned off the heat, poured the contents into a plastic bucket, and carried it downstairs on the other side.
Lin Xi followed closely behind.
The layout of this basement was similar to the one next door, except there were many more iron chains here.
Three young men were chained to three iron-framed beds, their mouths sealed with tape.
Under the bright lights, Zhang Lihua stood like a queen, a smile curling at the corner of her lips. "Time to eat."
"You should be grateful that as my men, you at least get a watery fill, unlike those women next door who don't even get one meal a day."
Mentioning the women next door, a flash of hatred appeared in Zhang Lihua's eyes, and her expression turned furious.
"That bastard Li Fuming, how could he, how dare he go to those women as soon as he gets back? I love him so much, I do whatever he asks, why isn't he satisfied? I was even willing to be a dog in an iron cage for him, why isn't he satisfied?" Her expression grew distant as she looked at the three men on the beds. "All you men are no good."
"Why doesn't he love me? How can he love me and still love those bitches? He's even willing with men... why isn't he willing with me... He said today, if I teach you all a lesson, then I can have him tonight."
She picked up a whip from the side and, with a look of madness, swung it towards the three men. A gust of wind stopped her.
