Chapter 291: Bounty
After getting in the car, Lu Jingyao learned that Xu Youyou had other matters to attend to. He didn’t seem very surprised and simply said, “I figured as much. I’ll go with you.”
Xu Youyou didn’t refuse. Although Lu Jingyao hadn’t officially proposed yet, their relationship was stable, and he had probably already sensed bits and pieces of her secrets, just choosing not to mention them.
The driver was from the Lu family. Although it was his first time driving for Xu Youyou, he was highly trained and didn’t question anything, even when she directed the car toward a strange location.
Eventually, the car stopped at a place called “Meilidu Building.”
It was an old building, looking extremely worn down from the outside. Inside, Xu Youyou followed the golden pointer of the system, and everyone was startled.
Pipes ran everywhere, the corridors were dimly lit, and a strange smell lingered in the air, making everyone feel uneasy.
“Why does Miss Xu insist on coming here? Wouldn’t it be better to go somewhere more lively?” someone muttered quietly.
Xu Youyou turned to look at the speaker, a young man in his twenties. It was said he had a master’s degree from overseas and was a relative of a senior executive at Lu Jingyao’s company, placed into Lu’s team to gain some experience.
Lu Jingyao frowned and glanced at Assistant Liu, who helplessly pulled the young man aside for a stern lecture.
Everyone present understood: even though the young man had powerful connections, his future at Lu’s Group looked bleak — he had already annoyed Lu Jingyao by speaking out of turn.
Xu Youyou said to Lu Jingyao, “It smells bad here. Maybe I should go in alone.”
Lu Jingyao shook his head. “It’s rare to have the chance to accompany you. It’s just a little smell.”
Compared to the sudden odor, he was more focused, his eyes sharp as blades, scanning their surroundings for any hidden dangers that could threaten Xu Youyou.
Xu Youyou felt a little more at ease and continued to follow the system’s golden pointer through the shabby hallways. After about ten minutes, she finally arrived at her destination.
It was a gray door covered in various stickers and ads.
Xu Youyou signaled for one of the bodyguards to knock.
They knocked for a full three minutes, but there was no response.
“Boss, should we keep knocking?” the bodyguard asked.
Xu Youyou sighed. After finishing the novice period, her tasks had gotten much harder. Whenever she had to find hidden treasures in places like this, the doors were always difficult to open.
“If there’s no one inside, forget it,” Xu Youyou said.
The bodyguard was about to leave when he suddenly froze, pressing his ear against the door, a confused expression crossing his face.
Seeing this unexpected move, Xu Youyou also stopped.
About thirty seconds later, the bodyguard returned and whispered, “Boss, it seems like someone is inside. I heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor, and I thought I heard heavy breathing too.”
Xu Youyou frowned slightly. “Someone’s inside but doesn’t want to see us?”
The bodyguard nodded.
Xu Youyou told him to knock again. After half a minute, there was still no response.
Xu Youyou wasn’t expecting to succeed on the first try anyway. Formal missions usually took several attempts to complete — she was used to it by now.
At least this time, they had confirmed the location. Xu Youyou turned to look at Xu Fang.
Xu Fang, fully in sync with her boss, whispered, “Boss, before coming to Hong Kong City, I already contacted a detective here. I’ll send them the address and have them investigate.”
Xu Youyou nodded slightly and gave Xu Fang a look of approval.
Although Lu Jingyao didn’t know why Xu Youyou wanted information about this place, just like countless times before, he leaned over and said, “If you trust me, let my people check it too. Two teams working together will get results faster.”
Xu Youyou’s eyes lit up.
Since the person inside didn’t want to come out, it wasn’t appropriate to continue standing around. But before leaving, Xu Youyou thought for a moment and left two bodyguards behind.
“Keep an eye on who’s hiding in there. I want to know why they keep avoiding us,” she said.
Her team had enough people that losing two wouldn’t affect them much.
About half an hour after they left, the person inside the room looked out through the peephole, saw the now-empty corridor, and licked his lips as he recalled Xu Youyou’s beautiful face.
“Such a pretty girl… if she closed her eyes, she’d definitely be extra obedient… too unruly right now…”
After muttering to himself, he changed into a food delivery uniform, slipped upstairs through a hidden stairway, and swaggered out through the main entrance — leaving behind only the humming of the freezer inside the room.
Despite keeping watch, the two bodyguards hadn’t noticed anyone leave.
Xu Youyou couldn’t shake the matter from her mind, even while sightseeing with Lu Jingyao.
When they returned to the Lu family villa that evening, they saw Old Master Lu sitting in the living room, sighing heavily.
“Grandpa, did something upset you today?” Xu Youyou asked, concerned.
Old Master Lu said, “It’s not me. It’s an old friend of mine — his granddaughter is missing.”
“How old is she?” Xu Youyou asked.
Old Master Lu said, “About your age. She just finished a master’s degree overseas and came back.”
He suddenly turned to Lu Jingyao. “Jingyao, you should remember her. She’s your Grandpa Chen’s granddaughter. She’s four years younger than you. She even went to the same university as you abroad — your junior. Always had excellent grades since she was little.”
Xu Youyou’s heart tightened. She recalled her experiences abroad last year and asked, “Did she go missing overseas? Like traveling in Southeast Asia?”
Old Master Lu shook his head. “No, she had just returned and went missing here in Hong Kong City. Her family wanted her to take over the business, but she wasn’t willing and wanted to start her own project. Then one day, she just disappeared…”
Xu Youyou thought the situation sounded strange.
Old Master Lu hesitated for a moment, then added, “You might not like hearing this, Youyou, but originally, the Chen family wanted to match that girl with Jingyao. But before they could discuss it, you two started dating, so the matter was dropped.”
Xu Youyou wasn’t upset by this. After all, the Lu family had never tried to interfere or force them apart and had always treated her respectfully.
“Poor old Chen… he only has three grandchildren, and that girl was his favorite. He poured so much love and effort into her. Now she’s missing, and it’s been almost two weeks. They even posted a bounty of over a hundred million Hong Kong dollars, but there’s still no news. If I hadn’t gone to visit him today, I wouldn’t have known about it either.”
