My Wife, The Ice Queen President

Chapter 472: Chapter 0471: Macau Siblings (Three More)_1

The next morning, the conference room at the headquarters of Hunter Bodyguard Company.

The entire room was filled with people, including the core members of Hunter Bodyguard Company, as well as Deputy Director Luo Guozhong of Jiangnan City Public Security Bureau, Captain Luo Weiwei, Yang Xinyi, and others.

“Director Luo, how is the search progressing?” He Mengji asked.

After her narrow escape the day before, He Mengji immediately called Director Huang Weifu of the Jiangnan Police Bureau, who was away on a business trip, so he told her to contact Deputy Director Luo Guozhong.

Since the Hunter Bodyguard Company had a strategic cooperation relationship with the Jiangnan police, and Ye Xiong had saved the lives of Luo Guozhong and Luo Weiwei, Luo Guozhong spared no effort and mobilized almost all available police forces, working jointly with customs to conduct a thorough search of all outgoing ships.

“Let Weiwei explain,” said Luo Guozhong.

Luo Weiwei’s eyes were full of bloodshot veins; from the moment she received the call from her father, she had not slept in over twenty-four hours, leading all officers and dispatching dozens of coastguard ships to search feverishly throughout the night, yet they had still not found any trace of Ye Xiong.

Nobody knew of her inner urgency, which was almost unmatched by anyone else present.

Ye Xiong was her first man, the man she loved with all her heart and soul; without him, she didn’t know what she would do.

It took Luo Weiwei great effort to suppress her emotions as she looked at He Mengji and asked, “Are you certain you placed Ye Xiong on one of those boats?”

“At the time, Guo Furong was pursuing us. I remember very clearly, it was on a boat amid the cluster of ships where I placed Ye Xiong down. That boat’s deck was filled with many sacks, seemingly carrying rice,” said He Mengji.

“We found out that boat was used for human trafficking, but was caught by the police before reaching Macau, and Ye Xiong’s trace was not on it. I questioned more than twenty passengers on board, none of them saw Ye Xiong,” Luo Weiwei explained.

“Perhaps it was too urgent at that time, I’m also not certain if it was on that boat,” said He Mengji.

“We joined forces with customs, deploying three hundred officers, groups of five or six, and based on your tip, conducted a thorough inspection of a hundred boats at sea, yet we couldn’t find Ye Xiong,” she continued.

“Could it be that Guo Furong took him away?” Chen Xiao asked.

“There is such a possibility, but it’s remote. For one, Guo Furong didn’t know which boat Ye Xiong was on, and secondly, she didn’t have enough manpower to search,” Luo Weiwei responded.

Yang Xinyi’s heart ached with each passing moment. With so many people mobilized and still no sign of Ye Xiong, where on earth could he have gone?

“Meng Ji, think again, is there anything you might have overlooked? Think again,” Yang Xinyi urged.

“I’ve said everything I could,” responded He Mengji, filled with remorse.

Then, everyone continued to share their opinions.

Finally, Luo Guozhong stood up, expressing his regret, “We will search for one more day; if we still can’t find him, the police will have to withdraw.”

“Director Luo, can’t you continue the search?” Yang Xinyi asked urgently.

“I’m sorry, I really can’t do anything about it.”

“Director Luo is already under a lot of pressure deploying so many officers to find one person; Xinyi, don’t blame him,” He Mengji, understanding Luo Guozhong’s difficulty, said, “Even if we truly can’t find him, our Hunter Company will continue the search until we do.”

“Could it be that he was thrown into the sea along the way?” Angel suddenly interjected.

The crowd exchanged looks, their eyes filled with shock.

This possibility was not absent. If Ye Xiong had an accident on the boat, it was not inconceivable that the captain, to avoid trouble, might quietly dispose of a person into the sea.

“Let’s not guess wildly anymore. Continue the search!”

The police went on to search for yet another day and night, still without finding any trace of Ye Xiong.

Hope grew increasingly dim.

This night was destined to leave countless people sleepless.

…

Macau, a beach by the sea.

A man and a woman were chasing each other on the beach.

The man, around thirty years old, was running ahead.

The woman, about twenty-one or twenty-two, tall and shapely with a comely face, was chasing after him.

“Xia Youcai, screw you, hand over my chip now,” the woman chased after him, shouting.

‘Screw you’ is a regional insult from the south, indicating the woman’s fiery temper.

“Miss Xia Qiqi, my mom is your mom, aren’t you just cursing your own mother?” the thirty-year-old man said while escaping.

“All I have left on me is a single chip, and you still rob me of that, are you even human?” Xia Qiqi cursed loudly.

“Your luck today is so bad it could blow up the place. If you keep gambling, you’ll even lose your underwear. I’m just saving you a chip. This thousand bucks is all we have left on us. If we lose it, we’re going to starve,” Xia Youcai explained.

“I’m not gambling anymore. Give me that chip back. I want to cash it in,” Xia Qiqi said.

“I don’t believe you. The moment you turn around, you’d be off to lose it again.”

The two were siblings, born and raised in Macau, growing up on Thirteen Street after their parents died early on.

Macau is a gambling hub in Huaxia, with a prevalent gambling culture. The siblings were exposed to it from an early age and developed a gambling addiction, spending every day in the casinos except for eating and sleeping.

Like all gamblers, they lived meal to meal, feasting when they won money, and resorting to instant noodles or steamed buns when broke. The so-called meaning of life, in their eyes, was bullshit.

Today, the siblings hit the casino again, each carrying a few thousand dollars, and to their dismay, they were both on a losing streak, leaving nothing but the thousand-dollar chip in Xia Qiqi’s hand.

During the last bet of the day, the siblings argued about whether to wager on high or low.

In a fit of anger, Xia Youcai snatched the chip and ran off, with Xia Qiqi chasing after him.

That led to the scene of one being chased by the other.

“Xia Youcai, stop running, okay? I won’t fight over it anymore!” Xia Qiqi plopped down on the beach, panting like a cow. “Let’s go cash in the chip and have a good meal. Starting from tomorrow, I’m going to quit gambling, find a job, and start over.”

“You’ve said that a hundred times already,” Xia Youcai replied.

“How dare you say that? I ended up like this all because of you, my brother. I’ve never seen a brother who’d push his sister into a pit of fire,” Xia Qiqi fumed in anger.

“A piggy that doesn’t get castrated won’t be naughty; you were never a good egg to begin with.”

Seeing she didn’t chase after him, Xia Youcai walked over and sat down beside her; the siblings sat together.

“Xia Youcai…”

“Miss Xia Qiqi, when will you actually call me ‘Brother’ sincerely? You’ve been disrespectful, never once calling me ‘Brother’ since we were kids,” Xia Youcai lectured.

“I’ll call you that the day you make something of yourself, stop gambling, and live respectfully,” Xia Qiqi scoffed. “Since I’ve had any sense, you’ve been gambling every single day without a break. How do you expect me to call you ‘Brother’?”

Lying on the beach and looking up at the sky and clouds, Xia Youcai sighed, “Who wouldn’t want to live in glory? Who wants to live like this, not knowing where the next meal is coming from? But your brother has no education, no skills, and can’t fight or toil. Other than gambling, what can I do? You, on the other hand, are still young. Change your ways now, or no man will want you in the future.”

“With the beauty of Xia Qiqi, the flower of Alley Thirteen, countless men would come running at just one command,” Xia Qiqi replied arrogantly.

“Yeah, all of them fifty-year-old grandpas.”

Suddenly, Xia Qiqi reached out and grabbed the chip from the pocket of Xia Youcai’s jacket.

“So, you dare to steal now?”

Xia Youcai quickly grabbed her hand, and as the siblings tussled, the chip flew up into the air and, with a plop, fell into the water.

PS: If any readers don’t like the amnesia plotline, please skip to the encounter chapters after chapter ten. However, I hope you’ll still give it a read, as it’s setting up the groundwork.