Volume 1: The Beginning Chapter 6: Planning Matters

  "I'm not here to play, I'm here to find someone." Xia Wenjie's face broke into a bright and harmless smile.

  "Looking for someone?" The waiter glanced around subconsciously and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

  "Van Ge." Xia Wenjie said.

  The waiter heard this and frowned, re-examining Xia Wenjie before turning his head to shout towards the inner end of the dance hall: "Wang Ge, someone is looking for Fan Ge here."

  As he shouted, a man in his thirties slowly emerged from the dimly lit corner of the dance hall, with his chest open and a large tattoo visible on his chest.

  "Who's looking for Brother Fan?" The big man came up to Xia Wenjie and the waiter, his eyes scanning the waiter before landing on Xia Wenjie's face, sizing him up from head to toe, and asked, "You're looking for Brother Fan?"

  The person in front of him may not be Jin Er, but a real underworld figure. Xia Wenjie's heart beats faster, his nerves tense up, but the expression on his face doesn't change, still smiling. He nodded and said, "Yes, I want to see Fan Ge."

  "Hey kid, Van Ge isn't someone you can see just because you want to. What's the matter? Tell me first." The big man said with a smirk, his hands in his pockets and his head tilted to one side.

  Xia Wenjie hesitated for a moment, nodded and said: "Alright, brother, I... know where Jin Er is."

  "What?" The big man's eyes widened immediately upon hearing this, and even the waiter next to him was shocked, looking at Xia Wenjie in disbelief.

  "You said you know where Jin Er is?"

  "Yes."

  "Where is he?"

  "I want to see Van Ge." Xia Wenjie said seriously.

  "Alright, you wait here." The big man gave Xia Wenjie a deep look, then signaled to the waiter with his eyes, and turned around to walk towards the inner end of the dance hall.

  After he left, the waiter seemed to intentionally and unintentionally move behind Xia Wenjie. Xia Wenjie understood that he was cutting off his own retreat, preventing himself from suddenly running away.

  He secretly smiled to himself, since he had come, he would absolutely not leave before seeing Zhang Fan.

  It wasn't long before the big man who had just left returned, walked up to Xia Wenjie and said with a flick of his head: "Van Ge has agreed to see you, kid. Follow me." After finishing speaking, he turned around and headed back. Xia Wenjie took a deep breath and followed behind him.

  The big man walked into a corridor and finally stopped in front of the door at the far end of the corridor. He first knocked on the door twice, then pushed it open, turned his body sideways, and nodded to Xia Wenjie behind him: "Come in."

  To see the legendary Zhang Fan, Xia Wenjie would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. His mouth was tightly shut, afraid that if he opened it, his heart would jump out of his throat.

  He took several deep breaths and then stepped into the room.

  The room was much brighter than the dance floor, with a haze of smoke inside. There were several people sitting or standing around, some dressed in suits and ties, while others wore only tank tops and shorts. Behind the office desk sat a middle-aged fat man who looked to be over 40 years old. His height was hard to gauge, but his build was certainly sturdy enough, likely weighing no less than 200 pounds on the scale. Looking at his face, he had a big head with small eyes, possibly due to his weight, as the fatty flesh on his face squeezed his already small eyes into an even smaller slit, making him appear to be smiling with narrowed eyes.

  This must be Zhang Fan! Seeing him, Xia Wenjie could also understand why his wife would get together with Jin Er. Although Jin Er wasn't much more handsome than Zhang Fan, at least he wouldn't crush someone to death with his body.

  Xia Wenjie was sizing up the middle-aged fat man, while the latter was also sizing him up.

  Staring at him for a moment, the people in the room burst into snickers. The middle-aged fat man didn't laugh, staring at him intently and asking word by word: "Little brother, I am Zhang Fan! I heard you know where Jin Er is, where is he now?"

  It's Zhang Fan after all! Xia Wenjie smiled, revealing two rows of small white teeth, and shook his head, saying: "Brother Fan, I still can't determine Jin Er's specific whereabouts..."

  Before he could finish speaking, someone on the sofa on one side of the room jumped up and pointed at him, cursing: "Damn it, kid, are you here to make fun of us today?"

  As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Fan had already stared at him fiercely, scaring the man into hastily sitting back down on the sofa. Then, Zhang Fan and Yan Yue smiled at Xia Wenjie, opened the drawer of the office desk, took out two stacks of 100-yuan bills, threw them onto the desk, nodded his head, and said: "Speak up, as long as what you say is true, this money is yours."

  Xia Wenjie shook his head.

  A faint glint flashed in Zhang Fan's narrow eyes, but it quickly disappeared. He nodded and took out three bundles of banknotes from the drawer, throwing them on the table, asking: "Is this enough?"

  Xia Wenjie shook his head again and said seriously: "Fang Ge, I really don't know where Jin Er is now..."

  Zhang Fan sighed, picked up the cigarette box on the table, pulled out a cigarette and put it in his mouth.

  Without him saying a word, the big men around them also stood up in unison and walked towards Xia Wenjie.

  Xia Wenjie was so scared that his blood almost froze, but his face didn't change at all, and he continued to say: "However, I can get him out."

  This sentence caused those big men who were walking towards him to stop in their tracks and turn their heads to look at Zhang Fan.

  Zhang Fan exhaled a mouthful of smoke and slowly asked with a smile: "You, do you know Jin Er?"

  "I had met him twice before. Once at a police station and once in front of the Tang Dynasty Hotel."

  "You've only met him twice and you're confident you can ask him out?" Zhang Fan shook his head with a smile.

  "I have my own way of doing things."

  "What's the solution?"

  "I'm not saying anything now, but I can tell Brother Fan the time and place to meet him. I just want to know how Brother Fan will deal with him?"

  "Haha." Zhang Fan was delighted and asked in response: "Little brother, how would you like me to deal with him?"

  "Whatever Brother Fan does, it won't be what I hope for, I just want to hear what's in Brother Fan's heart."

  "Little guy." Zhang Fan smiled and shook his head, raised his chubby big hand, pointed at Xia Wenjie, and said: "You're not afraid to talk to me like this, but I quite like it. I'll kill him, are you satisfied with this answer?"

  "Deal." Xia Wenjie nodded with a smile without hesitation.

  "Do you have a grudge against him?"

  "I don't want to know about Fang Ge's grudges, and I also hope that Fang Ge won't ask me about the relationship between him and me."

  "Haha." Zhang Fan burst out laughing, looking like a young man of only 16 or 17 years old, with a delicate appearance, slender build, and a clean and tidy student-like demeanor. But his courage was really big, and his reaction was also quick enough. Now he was actually quite interested in Xia Wenjie.

  He suddenly picked up a dozen banknotes and flung them at Xia Wenjie. The latter subconsciously caught them, looking at him in confusion.

  "This will serve as a deposit, and after everything is settled, I'll give you another 1 million."

  Xia Wenjie looked at the banknotes in his hand and asked: "Isn't Fang Ge afraid that I'll run away with your money?"

  "If I dare to give you the money, I have the confidence to find you again. If you can hide in a place where even I can't find you, then with your skills, you won't care about this 10,000 yuan." Zhang Fan said with a smile.

  He is indeed a big brother of the underworld, with audacity and enough confidence, even if he speaks with a gentle tone, it will still make people feel a sense of intimidation.

  Xia Wenjie put the stack of cash back on the table, shaking his head and saying: "Fang Ge, I didn't come for the money."

  Money is a good thing, it can be used to do many things. However, Zhang Fan's money he did not dare to accept. He understood in his heart that once he accepted his money, he would probably not be able to shake off the relationship with him for this lifetime. And after finishing the matter of Jin Er, he did not want to have any more dealings with Zhang Fan.

  The people in the underworld were his most hated and detested individuals.

  Zhang Fan stared at him for a long time, and after a while, he smiled and didn't force him to take the money. He handed Xia Wenjie a business card with two fingers and said: "Little brother, get in touch with Jin Er, call me, remember, my promise is still valid, ten thousand after it's done."

  "Thanks, Fan Ge, I still say what I said before, it's not for the money."

  Zhang Fan shrugged.

  Xia Wenjie said: "I should go."

  "Take it easy." Zhang Fan nodded at him.

  Watching Xia Wenjie walk out of the office, after a moment, the office was like a pot exploding, with everyone surrounding the desk, asking in unison: "Fang Ge, do you think this kid can really bring Jin Er out?"

  "Yes, Jin Er was so scared by us that he became a startled bird, does he dare show his face now?"

  Zhang Fan slanted his cigarette, looked around at the crowd, hummed a laugh, and asked in return: "Do you think this little guy really came to look for us to have fun?"

  "This..."

  "Wait and see, maybe he really has a way to get Jin Er out. However, you can't rely solely on him, you still have to continue investigating for me. As long as Jin Er is in D City, no matter what it takes, even if you have to dig three feet underground, you must bring him out for me."

  In the end, Zhang Fan was gritting his teeth, and the kindness on his face had disappeared, replaced by a ferocious scowl.

  "Understood, Brother Fan."