Zhou Shuyan didn't even need to search intentionally.
As soon as he opened the news website, he saw a headline on the front page.
"Head of the Zhou family missing, fate unknown to this day."
Zhou Shuyan clicked in, and the gist of the article was that the Family Head of the Zhou family, Zhou Shuyan, had gone missing and his life or death was uncertain.
Zhou Shuyan's father had passed away early on, leaving only his widow mother at home.
Therefore, all affairs of the Zhou family were temporarily being managed by Zhou Shuyan's second uncle, Zhou Xueyi.
Zhou Shuyan then searched for other news related to the Zhou family.
Many personnel changes had also occurred in the Zhou family's company, Chengzhou Group.
Zhou Shuyan noticed that Zhou Xueyi had promoted some people, or made lateral moves, or subtly demoted others, or even directly dismissed some people.
And these people just happened to be Zhou Shuyan's confidants.
They were not only Zhou Shuyan's confidants but also executives and key members of the Chengzhou Group.
All were talents Zhou Shuyan had personally promoted.
Based on their abilities in various fields, he had assigned them to their respective positions within the Chengzhou Group.
And they all did not disappoint Zhou Shuyan's trust and promotion.
During the period when Zhou Shuyan was in charge of Chengzhou, the company continually widened the gap with its competitors in the industry, becoming a dominant force with few rivals in Hua Country.
Zhou Shuyan meticulously collected the online news, leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and sorted through this information.
His second uncle, Zhou Xueyi, had always been coveting the position of Family Head and was not short of schemes.
But this time, he had actually aimed for Zhou Shuyan's life, and even though Zhou Shuyan had been on guard, it was ultimately impossible to guard against every eventuality.
From the current information, his mother was very safe.
In the eyes of Zhou Xueyi, Mrs. Zhou knew nothing and posed no threat to him, she served as a mascot for the Zhou family, and he could also gain a good reputation for treating his elder sister-in-law well.
Zhou Xueyi just needed to deal with those die-hard loyalists of Zhou Shuyan who could actually threaten his position.
Zhou Shuyan began to tally up a list of his close confidants in his heart.
This trip of his was naturally confidential, and the fact that Zhou Xueyi knew of it meant there was a traitor among his close confidants.
He knew his mother must be worried, but he could not contact her now.
His mother was a simple person, easily tricked, and facing Zhou Xueyi, an old fox, contact from him would only put her in danger.
As for those confidants, Zhou Shuyan repeatedly reconsidered them in his mind but ultimately didn't contact any of them.
He wouldn't randomly suspect anyone without any clues, but he also didn't dare to trust anyone blindly.
In the end, Zhou Shuyan logged off the internet.
He was unsure whether the network café's system would allow the next user of the computer to see the previous customer's records.
At least when he used it, there was no trace of someone else's records.
But Zhou Shuyan still cautiously cleared all browsing and search histories before shutting down and leaving.
Upon leaving the internet café, he didn't immediately head back to Hexing Village but instead found a telephone booth by the roadside and made a call.
"Hello?" The person on the other end picked up, his deep voice brimming with obvious impatience.
Qi Sishenn always treated unfamiliar numbers without a contact name as telemarketing calls.
Only this time, his mobile phone didn't indicate it was a telemarketing or scam call, so out of the principle of not wrongfully ignoring a call, he still picked up.
Hearing his good friend's familiar voice, Zhou Shuyan's lips curled up slightly, and for the first time in days, he felt genuinely relaxed and at ease.
"It's me," said Zhou Shuyan.
If there was one person in this world he could trust unconditionally at any time, it would undoubtedly be Qi Sishenn.
Qi Sishenn's tone changed instantly, "Where the hell have you been!"
Being able to make a call and speak meant he was still alive.
And judging by the sound, he seemed to be in good health too.
Otherwise, Qi Sishenn would have found the word "dead" too ominous to use.
"Ran into some trouble, indeed nearly died. But a kind person saved me," Zhou Shuyan explained.
Qi Sishenn immediately said, "Your second uncle's doing?"
Zhou Shuyan dared to contact Qi Sishenn not only because of trust but also confident that Zhou Xueyi could not meddle with Qi Sishenn himself.
He was also not worried that his call with Qi Sishenn could be monitored or leaked to Zhou Xueyi.
"I've just gone missing, and the Zhou family has been wholly taken over by Zhou Xueyi, it's too obvious," Zhou Shuyan said sarcastically. "He's so impatient, no wonder he's never succeeded at anything."
"Glad you're okay, when are you coming back?" Qi Sishenn sighed in relief.
"I can't go back right now," Zhou Shuyan said. "There's a traitor among my people, I need some time to take a good look at this."
"What can I do to help you?" Qi Sishenn immediately offered.
Zhou Shuyan pinched the bridge of his nose, "First, I need you to get me an identity card."
He couldn't keep being undocumented forever.
Qi Sishenn: "..."
"Boy, you're really in a tough spot now," Qi Sishenn, now knowing Zhou Shuyan was okay, had the mood to joke, "Where are you? I'll come in person, take a look at you. And since we know it's Zhou Xueyi, I don't trust anyone else to handle your affairs."
"I'm in Hetai Town." Zhou Shuyan didn't mention Hexing Village, not out of distrust of Qi Sishenn, but he estimated it would scare the villagers if Qi Sishenn ran to Xing Village.
Even if the villagers didn't recognize Qi Sishenn, they would know he wasn't an ordinary person.
So, it was safer to meet in Tai Town.
They agreed on a time to meet, and Zhou Shuyan cautioned him, "Be careful yourself, don't get targeted by Zhou Xueyi."
"Got it, don't worry," Qi Sishenn told Zhou Shuyan, and without delay, hung up the phone to start arranging his trip to Tai Town.
The two deliberately chose a date a few days out.
This gave Qi Sishenn time to schedule his work and prevent leaving too hastily which might draw Zhou Xueyi's attention.
Qi Sishenn was reliable in handling things and Zhou Shuyan was at ease.
By the time Zhou Shuyan had handled all these matters and returned to Hexing Village, it was already dark.
Lu Youxi, worried about Zhou Shuyan, had been silently keeping watch and seeing Zhou Shuyan returning so late, grew suspicious and paid more attention to Zhou Shuyan's every move.
Suddenly, the day arrived for Zhou Shuyan to meet with Qi Sishenn.
In order to avoid drawing attention, Qi Sishenn didn't dare to stay away from the Imperial Capital for too long.
So he came and returned on the same day.
When Qi Sishenn arrived at Hetai Town, it was already past four in the afternoon.
Zhou Shuyan and Qi Sishenn had arranged to meet at an inconspicuous little restaurant in Hetai Town.
Although the small restaurant wasn't eye-catching, it still had private rooms.
The two discussed some matters in the private room.
Zhou Shuyan gave Qi Sishenn two names, "Keep an eye on these two people for me; if there's no issue, I'll contact one of them."
"Okay," Qi Sishenn memorized the names and took out his lighter, burning the list on the spot.