Chapter 218: Chapter 216: Where’s the Person? Lost?

"What’s going on here? Why is all your luggage on the floor?"

Walking into the villa, the first thing he saw was luggage neatly arranged on the living room floor. Each quilt was folded into neat squares, like blocks of tofu.

Over at the coffee table, Qi Xiaotian and Liu Yishou were writing something. The other three were nowhere to be seen.

Puzzled, Fang Chenyi walked over and asked. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

Hearing his voice, Qi Xiaotian and Liu Yishou put down their pens. They turned, stood up, and snapped to attention before Fang Chenyi, then greeted him.

"Chairman!"

Fang Chenyi gave him a light, exasperated rap on the head.

"Didn’t I tell you to call me Brother Fang? Still with the ’Chairman’ this and ’Chairman’ that. Well now, are you guys drawing? Let me see what you’ve got."

His gaze fell upon the paper on the coffee table, and he was surprised to see that the two of them were actually drawing.

Looking closer, he saw that the paper depicted a cluster of buildings, along with the flowers, plants, and trees within the complex.

Fang Chenyi’s brow furrowed slightly as he studied the drawing, feeling that the scene was very familiar. After a moment’s thought, he looked up at the two of them in surprise and asked:

"Is this our villa complex?"

Qi Xiaotian scratched his head and chuckled.

"Yes, Brother Fang. We spent the afternoon surveying the villa complex and plan to reorganize its defense layout. Oh, right, Brother Fang, this is a list of the cameras and models we need. After our inspection, we found that the current surveillance system has many blind spots; it’s not a logical setup. Also, I tried talking to property management this afternoon about taking over their cameras, but they flatly refused. So I’d like to dismantle theirs and install our own. According to our defense map, this is how many more we need. With these, we can monitor every area except for Villas 11 and 12. Do you think you could help us procure them?"

Fang Chenyi was very satisfied. They had only been here one afternoon and had already mapped out the entire surveillance system, even providing a design for a new layout. ’Looks like bringing these guys over was the right call.’

He nodded and said directly,

"Right, don’t worry about property management. Just cut the lines to their cameras later. We don’t need to give the cameras back to them. We paid for the villas, so any cameras that still work, we’ll keep for our own use. Also, I just bought Villas 11 and 12, so you’ll need to include those in your new layout too."

At that, Fang Chenyi suddenly thought of something. He casually pulled a bank card from his pocket and handed it to a dumbfounded Qi Xiaotian, saying:

"Here. There’s three million in this bank card. The PIN is the last six digits of the card number. You take it for now. From now on, just buy whatever equipment you need yourselves. I have too much going on every day. When it comes to security, you have full authority. Also, what I want is absolute security, so don’t worry about the cost. If there’s a need, spend what you must. If you run out, just ask me for more."

After listening to Fang Chenyi’s explanation, Qi Xiaotian decisively reached out and took the bank card. He then made a solemn promise:

"Don’t worry, Brother Fang. I will make this entire villa complex as impenetrable as a fortress."

Smiling, he nodded, then pointed again to the five bags on the living room floor and said:

"You still haven’t told me, what’s with this? Are you guys planning to sleep on the floor or what?"

Qi Xiaotian was taken aback by Fang Chenyi’s question. He glanced at the luggage on the floor, and then it dawned on him.

"Oh, I had everyone start surveying the area as soon as we got out of the car. We haven’t had a chance to unpack yet."

Fang Chenyi was speechless for a moment. He looked at Qi Xiaotian again.

"Then where are the other three?"

Qi Xiaotian pointed to three locations on the map he and Liu Yishou had drawn and answered:

"Brother Fang, they’re all here."

He looked at the three locations. One was at the entrance/exit of the villa complex, the point connecting to the residential community behind it. The other two were at separate points at the rear of the complex. At a glance, the three men formed a triangle.

He smiled and shook his head. "Hey, there’s no need to be so tense. You guys can just take a stroll around when you have free time. The rest of the time, just stay here with the AC on and watch the monitors. Hey, speaking of the AC, why isn’t it on in this heat? Alright, you two, stop fiddling with that for now. Come with me to see the other three, and then you can all meet my family."

Fang Chenyi already had a decent read on the two men in front of him from their previous interactions. As for the other three, he didn’t know them well. This was a good opportunity to see if they were taking their work seriously.

Hearing Fang Chenyi’s words, the two men instinctively snapped to attention, then followed him out of Villa 6 with large strides.

The villa complex was quite large overall. The distance between each villa was over fifty meters. Walking from Villa 6 to the complex exit would take at least five minutes. Usually, when Fang Chenyi went to the residential community behind to collect scrap, he would ride that solid gold bicycle of his.

He thought about the three men’s positions. Visiting each one in turn would take at least twenty minutes. So, he simply took Qi Xiaotian and the other man straight to Wei Yilong’s Raptor.

This time, however, Fang Chenyi didn’t drive. He sat in the passenger seat, enjoying the feeling of having a driver.

The truck headed for the entrance first. The Raptor covered the five-minute walking distance with a single push of the accelerator.

From a distance, he saw a figure standing stock-still at the passageway between the villa complex and the residential community, straight as a javelin.

Fang Chenyi nodded in satisfaction. ’On a hot day like this, a normal security guard would have probably hidden somewhere cool long ago. Only a soldier from Huaxia could maintain such a posture without moving!’

The truck screeched to a halt less than half a meter in front of the dark-skinned young man, yet he didn’t even flinch. After the truck stopped, Fang Chenyi couldn’t help but break into a cold sweat. ’If the brakes had failed, the consequences would have been unthinkable.’

Just as Fang Chenyi was lost in thought, Qi Xiaotian, in the driver’s seat, rolled down the window and shouted:

"Get in!"

"Yes, sir!"

The reply to Qi Xiaotian was loud and clear. As soon as the words were spoken, the young man in the security uniform nimbly hopped onto the truck’s running board.

Once the young man was on, Qi Xiaotian stepped on the gas, and the Raptor shot off toward the next location.

But when the truck stopped again, Fang Chenyi looked around and saw no one at all.

[To be continued...]