Chapter 987: The Search

Jiang Ran had thought he would probably need to explain a whole lot.

He might even have to tell them about the human skin and the Human-Skin Thangka he had seen at the tattoo studio.

But he hadn’t expected them to come up with a whole bunch of explanations on their own ahead of time.

And they actually sounded pretty reasonable.

He’d been tempted by her beauty.

Vice Monitor Yu Xiaobo nodded. “In that case, it does seem possible. But what if that’s not it? What if the boss hasn’t imprisoned Huo Yunyun? Wouldn’t we just be wasting our time?”

Li Hu continued, “I think Jiang Ran’s theory is very likely. The boss probably has a lot to do with it. My gut feeling is telling me the same thing. After all, if she really went missing after leaving that tattoo studio…”

“Then how did she disappear? In the middle of the street, in broad daylight?”

“Besides, Xiao Xiao said Huo Yunyun was planning to go straight home afterward.”

Everyone got to their feet, having settled on their target.

At the same time, they all looked at Jiang Ran with hopeful expressions.

Jiang Ran shuddered. “You guys? Don’t tell me you’re planning to drag me along too?”

Vice Monitor Yu Xiaobo said, “Jiang Ran, you’ve got to see a good deed through to the end. This is the right thing to do!”

Jiang Ran said, “But didn’t I say I’d point you in the right direction, but I wasn’t going myself?”

Li Hu pulled Jiang Ran to his feet and thumped his chest. “Come with us, Jiang Ran! If something like this ever happens to you, or you run into some other trouble, just come to us. We’ll help you without hesitation!”

“After all, when you’re away from home, you have to rely on your friends!”

Jiang Ran thought he had a point, especially since it was Li Hu making the promise. From his original self’s high school memories, Li Hu really was a man of his word who valued loyalty and friendship.

If this promise had come from a fickle scoundrel, Jiang Ran wouldn’t have trusted it for a second.

“Fine, fine. We’ll help each other out.”

After thinking it over, Jiang Ran agreed.

He could consider it a way of lining up some help in advance, in case he ever found himself in trouble.

Everyone was delighted. The group hurried out of Room 304, then left Alice Apartment.

Li Hu and the others had arrived in two cars.

After everyone got in, the cars drove for more than ten minutes.

They stopped at an intersection.

Jiang Ran was in the car behind, with Li Hu driving.

Xia Long was in the passenger seat.

Jiang Ran sat in the back. Vice Monitor Yu Xiaobo was driving the car in front, with Huo Yunyun’s older sister, Huo Xiaoxiao, in the passenger seat. They had stopped at this intersection to pick someone up, a white man.

The white man got into the car with Vice Monitor Yu Xiaobo and Huo Xiaoxiao.

In his car, Jiang Ran asked Li Hu and Xia Long,

“Who’s that white man?”

Li Hu said, “Who else? Isn’t he Huo Yunyun’s new boyfriend?”

Jiang Ran was speechless. “Seriously, she really got herself another foreign boyfriend? His name’s Jack, right? When I ran into Huo Yunyun at that tattoo studio this morning, I saw she had a tattoo on her arm. It said something like ‘I’ll love Jack forever.’”

“Last time she found herself a Black boyfriend, and he died. This time it’s a white boyfriend. If something happens to this white boyfriend too, is she going to find an Indian guy next? Or someone with orange skin who lives in the tropics?”

Li Hu and Xia Long both frowned when they heard Jiang Ran say this.

Xia Long said, “Honestly, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with dating a foreigner.

“The real problem is the double standard. These women who date foreigners here treat their foreign boyfriends like gold. They won’t let the guy spend a single cent, and they’d practically pay for everything themselves, covering his meals and lodging. But when it comes to men from their own country, they have a whole list of demands: bride price, a house, a car, and everything else.”

Jiang Ran said, “It takes two to tango. If these women make those demands, there must be plenty of suckers willing to take them on. Nothing we can do about it.”

Xia Long said, “And that’s not even getting into how easy it is for foreign guys to find girlfriends in our country. They just have to post online that they’re foreigners, and their inboxes fill up with messages. I’m so jealous I could die.”

Jiang Ran let out a dry laugh and said nothing.

Li Hu said, “My parents and Huo Xiaoxiao and Huo Yunyun’s parents have been colleagues for decades. I know their parents’ temperaments very well. They have no idea their younger daughter keeps dating foreign guys. If they knew, they’d probably want to kill her!”

Xia Long asked, “Hey, Li Hu, do you know if Huo Xiaoxiao likes dating foreign guys too, just like her sister?”

Li Hu shook his head. “Forget it. Huo Xiaoxiao has never dated any so-called foreign boyfriend. She and her sister are completely different, even though she’s very protective of her.”

Xia Long asked, “In that case, why don’t you go after Huo Xiaoxiao? She’s beautiful, and your parents have been colleagues for decades. If you pursued her, you’d have the advantage of being close by.”

Li Hu shook his head. “Forget it. We know each other too well, so I don’t feel that way about her at all. And even though she’s beautiful, she’s not my type. I like the gentle, soft-spoken kind. Huo Xiaoxiao’s temper is fiery. She’s a real firecracker. If I married her, I’d probably have to listen to everything she said and do whatever she wanted.

“I can’t stand a domineering woman or being henpecked.”

“Sure, our parents do seem to want to set us up, but neither Huo Xiaoxiao nor I is interested in the other.”

Xia Long pursed his lips. “True, Huo Xiaoxiao is way too strong-willed. I could tell back in high school. She’s so tough. She never loses an argument or backs down from anything. She’s a complete career woman.”

The group kept chatting as the cars started moving again.

Jiang Ran didn’t ask why they were picking up Huo Yunyun’s new boyfriend, the guy named Jack. He didn’t have to. Obviously, another person meant another pair of helping hands. After all, Huo Yunyun was Jack’s girlfriend. He couldn’t just refuse to help her, could he?

The two cars drove around the streets, weaving through traffic. Before long, they reached a parking lot near the Ghost Face Tattoo Studio. After parking, they headed from the lot to a nearby park to discuss what to do.

Huo Xiaoxiao said, “I can’t get in touch with my sister. I went to the Ghost Face Tattoo Studio and asked the owner. He just said that my sister left after getting her tattoo. I doubt we’d get anything out of him if we went back and asked again.

“So what should we do?”

Xia Long folded his arms and said in a gruff voice, “I say we tie the boss up and force him to tell us where he took Huo Yunyun. If he can’t tell us, then we just…”

Xia Long raised his enormous fist.