Chapter 443 - Haitang Village
Chapter 443 Haitang Village
Hearing that this girl came to uncover the underground workshop, Ding Ning was immediately in awe. For Ding Ning, he extremely respected those reporters for secret investigation who risked their lives to expose the dark reality.
“But this girl is too dumb-headed, isn’t she? She openly hangs a camera and goes here and there to ask about the underground workshop. Isn’t she afraid that she is found and put into a sack and thrown into the river?”
Giving a wry smile, he shook his head and stepped out of the car to follow her. Since he had run into this situation, he could not turn a blind eye to it. After all, such an underground workshop was quite terrible indeed. In order to make money, it could do anything. Once these people found that someone had kept an eye on them, they would make reckless moves to cover up their crimes. Making her disappear from the human world was also possible.
“Why are you following me?”
Zhao Chenxi looked at him unkindly and cursed him inwardly, “A lecher indeed.”
“You are doing a secret investigation like this? Those who make money with evil methods are not kind people. Besides, you asked about the gluten workshop here and there, and that has alerted those guys with bad intentions. It is a miracle if you can find them.”
Ding Ning was speechless about this girl’s intelligence quotient.
Zhao Chenxi blushed. This was her first secret investigation. She just thought that this was exciting but didn’t think so much about it.
Although she knew what Ding Ning said was reasonable, she was still unconvinced and asked, “Then what do you say?”
“Take down your camera and put it in the car. Only bringing your cellphone is enough. Exposing the dark reality is good, but you need to make sure you can go back alive first.”
Ding Ning was speechless and shook his head. “I thought she is an experienced stalker, but now I find that she is only a passionate greenhorn. Dose she really think doing a secret investigation is of great fun? It may cause bloodshed and death.
“Fortunately, I came by coincidence today, or I guess today of next year will be her death anniversary.”
“No, how can I shoot a clearer picture with a cellphone than with an SLR?”
Zhao Chenxi hurriedly covered her camera, looking like she would never submit.
Ding Ning had a serious headache and touched his forehead with a hand helplessly. “Girl, even if you want to take photos, you should find the underground workshop first. If you bring a camera, they will know what you are going to do before you say anything. Put away the camera first, and ask about the whereabouts of the nearby gluten factories in the name of buying gluten. When you find the place, make your decision depending on the situation.”
“Oh, it sounds quite reasonable, okay.”
Thinking about it, Zhao Chenxi felt that Ding Ning’s words were suitable, and then she put the SLR into her canvas bag and put it in the car.
“Let’s go!”
Holding her cellphone, Zhao Chenxi said negligently.
Ding Ning rolled his eyes. “This is your secret investigation, not mine. You just go and ask about it. I won’t go.”
Finishing his words, he turned around and got in his car. Zhao Chenxi was angry and stamped her feet. “Humph, you are a coward without public morality.”
Ding Ning closed his eyes to rest and did not care about her at all. With a cold snort, Zhao Chenxi turned around to leave. “I don’t believe I can’t find the hideout.”
“This girl is so stupid but still dared to come and do the secret investigation. I’m not sure if she has watched too many brainless TV series. Does she really think she is born lucky and can easily find the underground workshop?
“Those people have guts to make this kind of money, so they must have a safety net behind them. In order to make profits, they dare to do anything.”
Looking at her stubborn back, Ding Ning shook his head speechlessly. Although he was not interested in her, he could not bear to see such a beautiful young girl perish like this, so he contacted Xiaojin in the Sea of Spirit, asking it to come and protect her.
The members of the underground workshop would not be martial arts masters, and it was enough for Xiaojin to deal with these ordinary people. He still needed to continue his practice and hurry up to recover to his peak state.
But he told Xiaojin that it should not take action until the girl fell into a desperate situation. This should be a lesson for her, making her remember: It was not easy to be a reporter for secret investigation, and she should be willing to sacrifice herself at any time, or she might die an idiot.
Everyone has their own ways of living. Since she had chosen to be a reporter for secret investigation in the future, she had to see the dark side and cruelty of society, or she would never grow and would only treat the secret investigation as a game.
Since he had come with her due to a lucky chance, Ding Ning did not mind doing her a favor incidentally. Anyway, he appreciated the girl’s courage very much.
Time passed second by second. Like a bored and lonely old monk meditating, Ding Ning was absorbed in his practice.
After inquiring, Zhao Chenxi finally found a clue. According to several workers working in the nearby factories, every morning a few small trucks carrying gluten would come from Haitang Village and pass through the industrial park.
Haitang Village was 1km east of the industrial park, not far from here and near the riverside wharf. Initially, Zhao Chenxi wanted to ask Ding Ning to go with her, but when remembering his previous attitude, she suddenly became angry. “I can also handle it without you.”
Feeling wronged and angry, Zhao Chenxi walked rashly to Haitang Village. Fortunately, this place was not far from the riverside; otherwise, only the early autumn’s scorching sunlight could take her skin off.
Even so, she, who had been spoiled, felt light-headed and sweated a lot. Luckily, she was not utterly stupid. When she came here, she especially put on a pair of sports shoes, but if she had come with her usual dressing habit, she would have worn her high-heeled shoes.
No sooner Zhao Chenxi entered Haitang Village than she drew the attention of many old men and old ladies who were playing cards or enjoying the coolness in the shades.
At first glance, others would know that she was not like a country girl because she wore a floral dress and was also beautiful. A girl like this was sure to draw much attention.
A few lascivious-looking punks whistled at her and fell their eyes on her as if there were hooks in their eyes, and the only thing they hadn’t done was dribbling.
Fortunately, everyone was watching these punks, and they and these seniors were from the same village, so they restrained themselves a little. Otherwise, before she found the gluten factory, she would have been molested by these hooligans.
Scared, Zhao Chenxi looked steadily forward and quickly walked through the crowd, but the murmurs of the villagers came to her ears.
“This girl is really beautiful, like a film star.”
A portly, fat old lady on a campstool shook her palmetto fan and praised her.
“Right, more beautiful than a film star. If only she could marry my Gouwa and be his wife.”
A chubby middle-aged woman on her side was looking her up and down like picking a daughter-in-law.
“Huh, how can your Gouwa match such a beautiful girl? He would ruin her, wouldn’t he?”
Another short-haired woman pursed her lips and said dismissively. Everyone knew that Wangmazi Family’s Gouwa was the leader of their villager’s punks. Before he graduated from primary school, he had always been fooling around with the bad guys outside their village all the time, and few villagers liked him.
“Humph, what’s wrong with my Gouwa? He is not ugly and has now opened a factory, and he can make lots of money each month.”
The chubby woman said angrily as if her tail had been trodden on. She also knew that her son was once disappointing, but now he had realized that he should do serious business, and the money he had earned was almost enough to erect a three-story building.
The short-haired woman was the wife of the village head, who hated others getting better most and had been in a bad relationship with her. “She must envy that Gouwa can make lots of money, so she pulled the rug from under me.”
“Opened a factory? Huh, everyone knows that the factory was opened by outsiders, and he is only the nominal factory director.”
The village head’s wife was very clear about the inside story. Previously, Gouwa came to her husband and rented a patch of land from him to build the factory, so she was clearer than anyone else about the inside story.
It was untrue to claim that she was not envious when she saw Gouwa make money. When the outsiders opened the factory in the village in the name of Gouwa, they could not do avoid meeting the village head. Each month, they would hand lots of money in to the village committee, but unfortunately, that was the village committee’s, and her husband could only get a small part of it.
“What’s that ‘in the name of’? A factory director is a factory director.”
The chubby woman said a little unconfidently. Gouwa always showed a striking look, but he was only a nominal factory director in fact. Yet, he did not need to work and was only on charge of the daily delivery.
Surprised, Zhao Chenxi stopped and smiled at the chubby woman sweetly. “Hello, aunt, you are Gouwa’s mother, right? I’m Gouwa’s friend and come to him for something. Do you know where he is now?”
“Ah, I said she came for my Gouwa.”
The chubby woman rose to her feet, proudly glanced at the village head’s wife, beamed, and holding Zhao Chenxi’s hand, said warmly, “Gouwa is in the factory. Girl, how did you know my Gouwa? What’s the relationship between you two?”
“Uh, aunt, Gouwa and I are friends. I heard that he opened a factory, and I especially came to take a look. Can you tell me where the factory is? I’ll go to him.”
Zhao Chenxi silently got rid of the chubby woman’s greasy hands and cheated her with a sweet smile.
“You are his girlfriend from the city Brother Gouwa spoke of, right? You want to see Brother Gouwa? Let me take you to him.”
A little punk with dyed yellow hair immediately came over and said lustfully, admiring Gouwa’s good luck on romance silently.
Gouwa told them that he had a beautiful girlfriend from the city and he would also take them there to enjoy the pleasure of women someday.
“Go, go, go, Erdan, go away, what does it have to do with you?”
Seeing Erdan’s lustful expression, the chubby woman felt angry, took one step forward to stand before Zhao Chenxi, and shouted. This was her future daughter-in-law, and she could not allow these punks to harass her.
She then turned around, held Zhao Chenxi’s hands, and said smilingly, “Go, let me take you to Gouwa.”
Zhao Chenxi cried to herself, “If Gouwa’s mother takes me to Gouwa, I will be exposed, won’t I?”
But Erdan and his partners were greedily staring at her, and she did not dare to stay here, either, so she had to allow Gouwa’s mother to take her to the inside of the village.
She cursed Ding Ning silently, “Coward, you should take the full blame. If you have come with me, how could I have fallen into such a plight now? Humph, a gigolo is not reliable indeed.”
“Girl, how did you know Gouwa?”
“Uh, aunt, I just met him a few days ago.”
“A few days ago, hahaha, good, good, that’s why he didn’t tell it to me. By the way, what’s your name?”
“That… My name is Ding Ning.”
Zhao Chenxi told her a fake name with a very evil intention.
“Ding Ning, good, this name is good. It sounds much better than Gouwa’s name.”
Gouwa’s mother grinned from ear to ear. “What do you like to eat? Gouwa is directing workers to work in the factory, he will come home to eat in a while, and I will go home to prepare a meal soon.”
“No, no need, aunt, I will have something to do in a few moments.”
Annoyed and embarrassed by her hospitality, Zhao Chenxi had to falter perfunctorily.
Seeing that she was absent-minded, Gouwa’s mother wrongly thought that she had a girl’s thin skin and was shy, so she did not mind that. Instead, she behaved more hospitably, making her much more embarrassed.
As she perfunctorily answered the questions of Gouwa’s mother, she tried to think about the ways to get rid of the woman. Although she disdained Ding Ning, what he said was reasonable: She should keep herself safe first.
“We have arrived. It is here, Gouwa…”
They walked around the village and saw a two-story building inside a red brick wall situated at the south end of the village. From a distance, Gouwa’s mother shouted to Gouwa but was stopped by Zhao Chenxi.
“Aunt, don’t shout. I’ve known the location, and that’s enough. Let me go inside and see him myself, and I, I want to give him a surprise.”
Zhao Chenxi nicely acted and showed her shyness to the proper degree, making Gouwa’s mother smile so happily that her eyes had been pressed into a slit. “Good, good, good, I won’t bother you two. Let me go back to cook, but you and Gouwa should come back to eat in a while together.”