Cui Len'an took a detour to Wang Ling's place, to convey a message to Old Lao in case he was in danger. They would know where to exactly locate him and will be able to rescue him if they wanted to though.
"Wang Ling, I have a message to convey to Old Lao," He took out his phone and began typing words, "I am sending you, my location. I am on a mission and I am not certain if I am going to be safe, I may need Old Lao's help."
"Also, here's the money for the margarita last night," Cui Len'an opened Alipay and glanced at him, asking him with his eyes, "Let me scan your QR code."
Wang Ling appreciatively took out his phone and extended the QR code, "80 RMB."
80 RMB?! Isn't that too expensive for a glass of margarita?
Cui Len'an's eyes darkened and quickly transferred the money to him, also the tracking location of his whereabouts.
"Are you sure you will be able to take them on?" Wang Ling received the money and the location, and spoke worriedly, "What if it is a trap, or perhaps you in a battle against dozens of people?"
It's an operating gang after all and few people would be a rarity if they were to kidnap someone, mainly the reason I told Old Lao about this in advance. I have been planning things in my head before I decided to head here although I am not certain the plan will run smoothly.
"One of two main reasons I am here, of course. Old Lao may provide me a bit of help in this field," He let out a bitter laugh. Wang Ling glanced at him with curiosity and slight confusion.
"Any weapons?"
"No, but I do have a plan in mind," Cui Len'an smiled reassuringly, showing off his dimples.
"I am afraid you may not be able to win against them if you went there unarmed. They will be armed to a certain extent and you would have none to defend yourself," Wang Ling looked a bit disappointed, "I can lend you some help with this."
"I have something in my backroom," Wang Ling left for the back room and came back with one medium-sized and one lengthy box, "They may be of use to you."
"I can lend them to you for 1000 RMB," He continued with a deadpan face, "For only a day."
Wang Ling placed the boxes on the table and proceeded to offer Cui Len'an the opportunity to open the boxes. The first box was lengthy and slim, containing something with a certain amount of length inside.
Cui Len'an nodded and lifted the lid off, to discover something inside.
It was a gun!
Although the gun wasn't big or long in size, it was rather small. Cui Len'an didn't think such a small gun would be placed in a long box, he was a bit surprised.
"It's not a real gun because we can't really own guns legally as ordinary citizens, it is a paintball gun I had bought when I was out of the country."
How did he even manage to smuggle a gun into this country? I couldn't even bring my fish and chips from England into this country.
Cui Len'an wanted to ask but restrained, blinking his eyes repeatedly in confusion.
He proceeded to open the medium-sized box and a facemask of some sort appeared in his vision, Cui Len'an immediately recognized the mask.
A hazmat mask!
He inspected the mask carefully and discovered the lens was slightly green, and on the side were buttons for whatever reasons.
"It is a smoke-free mask and allows you to see through the smoke, it used to be a highly-secretive military weapon," He pointed at the hazmat mask as he explained.
"If you want to ask how I got them, it was obtained illegally and with Old Lao's help, of course," Wang Ling glanced at him with a blank expression, noticing the mutual blank look on Cui Len'an as well, "If you need help smuggling something illegal, you can come to us at any time…"
These two are doing black-market businesses…
The more he knows about Old Lao and Wang Ling, the more appalled he gets.
I wonder if they could smuggle a paintball gun in here, why don't they smuggle an actual gun…
I may never understand how their brains work…
"This may not end a person's life but it can cause enough damage to their body parts, specifically their eyes," Wang Ling smiled and explained with a confident smile, "One shot in the eyes and they're done for…"
He proceeded to pretend to point at his left eye and closed it, acting as though he was being shot in the eyes.
"If you're looking for an actual gun, I can recommend you some places," He stopped his actions and continued speaking, "Although you mustn't bring up my name when you're buying a gun because we are law-bidding citizens who harm no one in everyone's eyes. We can't afford to lose our own reputation in an attempt for them to give you a discount."
"…"
I can see why they decided not to smuggle a real one…
"I wanted to ask if you know a place where someone sells or makes mannequins," Cui Len'an blurted out after some thoughts.
"Mannequins? Why do you need them?" Wang Ling couldn't help but give Cui Len'an an inquiring look.
'I hope you aren't buying them to fulfill your manly fantasy…'
His eyes seemed to convey a certain message to him, Cui Len'an couldn't help but twitch his eyebrows.
I completely understand where his thoughts are coming from but I am definitely not buying them to have a roleplay in my home. Any man who buys mannequins has always received suspicious looks from others…
"I need them to proceed along with my plan, I may even need a dozen of them…"
"Hmm," Wang Ling hummed slightly and casually looked through his contacts, "I know an artisan specializing in mannequin-making."
"Here is his contact number," He commented with a strange look, "He makes the best-looking mannequins in Beiying although he isn't well-known due to many people considering mannequin-making to be a suspicious job."
Wang Ling gave him his number and glanced at him with the paintball gun meaningfully, "Are you willing to rent the paintball gun and the hazmat mask?"
"Hmm, I am," Cui Len'an nodded his head and shot him a glance, "Do I have to proceed with payment now or after I'm done using it?"
"I think proceeding now has always been the norm," Wang Ling smiled at him.
I have never met anyone as materialistic as Wang Ling. No wonder his business managed to operate so well and smoothly for more than ten years now. My father used to often praise him in every family meeting and call him a man with inner wealth, I wonder if my visits were ever reported to my father.
I am a bit discreet but doing things the way I am doing right now has always been something the old me has done. Either making trouble or engaging in 'illegal' trade, Cui Len'an was rather skilled with them.
I can rest assured a bit now, my father wouldn't be surprised if I was reported purchasing a bomb…
After all, I am in character!
He looked at Wang Ling a bit differently after thinking a bunch of things through.
He scanned the QR code again and transferred 1000 RMB to him, taking the boxes and placing them in the back of his car, covering them in a blanket.
Now I have to find the artisan's location…
I think before I do that, I have to buy some clothes and scents…
Cui Len'an went through some clothing stores and bought a handful of clothes from these places; shirts, trousers, and shoes. Others would think he came on a shopping spree for himself but he really wasn't.
He had other plans for these clothes and decided to take a detour to a scent store.
A scent store is a place where they sell all kinds of scents. Although, they aren't popular as the other businesses, the few businesses they had still operate pretty smoothly.
Cui Len'an stopped by one place and went inside, approaching the counter.
"Do you have anything that smells extremely pungent but isn't toxic, just enough to make one wants to vomit?" He asked awkwardly with an awkward laugh.
The person in front of the counter: "…"
Cui Len'an came outside with a bag of scents; a bug repellent, a fart-smelling perfume, and a bunch of expired fragrances.
They didn't cost much; they were rather cheap due to having expired some months ago and donated those to him. The fart-smelling perfume was the most expensive out of them all, it cost 225 RMB which was pretty expensive when one could have made one by themselves for free.
He planned to mix them all together and create the strangest-smelling fragrance people have ever smelled, enough to make them cry and have no will to live on.
I am not exactly how I came up with such ideas but I do hope it is enough to get my brother back…
He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He quickly tied the bag as tightly sealed as possible in case the fragrances leaked out in his car or he may not be able to drive to get his brother back.
He dialed the number Wang Ling had given him,
"Hello…" A rough and hoarse voice echoed into his ears, he sounded rather worn out.
"Hi, are you the mannequin-maker in Beiying?" Cui Len'an spoke solemnly, to avoid any misunderstandings between him and the person on call and get straight to the point.
"Uh, yes. I am!" There were some abrupt sounds before he spoke out.
"Tell me your location, I want to have to look at them before buying some."
The man divulged to him the location of the store; it was located slightly outside of the city, a 15 minutes ride from here.
I have enough time to prepare as I planned to launch an attack at night, especially when most people have gone to bed and they are the most active.
That is when their guards are down!
He deliberated with rather callous eyes; his dark eyes glowed a slightly unnoticeable silver as he planned out his plan.
The store was a rather concealed and inconspicuous place, one wouldn't notice there is a store located right next to them if they didn't look closely.
Cui Len'an had to listen to the description multiple times before eventually finding the place, it was too ordinary-looking. There weren't any banners to indicate it was a mannequin store and it was rather antiqued and old.
I would have thought it was only a house if it wasn't for the fact I was looking for the mannequin-maker.
Cui Len'an politely knocked on the door and a loud-sounding noise was heard from the inside, he was a bit flabbergasted.
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged-looking man presumably in his 50s, he had worn a black apron and donned stringed black-rimmed glasses. He had a white beard with silver hair, appearing aged and experienced, and appeared in brown trousers and black boots.
His apron and pale brownish shirt were covered in dirt as he stared out at this young-looking fellow outside the door.
"Welcome," He smiled wrinkly as he opened the door widely.
Cui Len'an returned the smile, "You must be one of the few artisans in town."
"Haha, I am extremely flattered you managed to find me here," He let out a sincere laugh as he guided Cui Len'an to his room.
The room was covered in wooden crumps, which must have been from all the carving he did. Cui Len'an observed his surroundings for quite some time, briefly astonished with the place.
There were mannequins everywhere and they all appeared realistic!
He noticed one mannequin was holding a broom as it pretended to brush off the dirt off the ground, it was dressed in a maid's outfit and stood stiffly, imitating a human's way of doing chores.
Another one was sitting on a table along with a couple of other mannequins, it was donning a hat and smoking a pipe as it held a newspaper and the other mannequins were holding cups of tea, as they appeared to be engaged in a conversation.
This!
Their body structures and appearances were human-like, causing Cui Len'an who had never seen such things before to shudder.
It feels a bit strange to be in a room with one human and a dozen of artificial humans.
"Ah! Amazing, isn't it?" The middle-aged man smiled as he observed Cui Len'an's stunned look, he extended his hand to Cui Len'an in a friendly manner, "I am Gong Feng and I am also known as Artisan Feng."
Cui Len'an snapped out of his daze and shook Artisan Feng's hand roughly as he continued to glance at the mannequins, "It is a fascinating sight, I am too impressed with your works."
He couldn't resist complimenting his work.
"Took me many years to develop this skill, although the final result was worth the hard work," He smiled genuinely, "Wang Ling told me about you."
"What type of mannequin are you looking for?" He asked softly with a complex look in his eyes.