Hong Kong. Cloudtop No. 1!
When Li Yi received the call from Li Futao and learned that Li Yunbao had been kidnapped, he wasn’t particularly surprised.
He’d had a premonition ever since hearing what Li Yunling had said that morning.
On one hand, he knew Li Yunbao very well; on the other, he was fully aware of the circumstances surrounding the incident.
First, regarding Li Yunbao himself: although he was a bit stubborn and self-righteous, he had plenty of good qualities. For instance, he had a kind heart and always kept his word.
Put simply, whatever he promises to do, he generally follows through on!
The fact that he had resigned from a major law firm like Dingcheng yesterday—and had even spent the entire afternoon helping him draft contracts—clearly indicated that Li Yunbao was ready to honor their wager.
More importantly, today is the grand opening of Star International Investment Company. At such a crucial moment, they certainly couldn’t do without him—their sole legal counsel.
But Li Yunbao just didn’t show up—which clearly doesn’t fit his character!
Add to that the timing—it coincided perfectly with when he was kidnapped in his previous life—so Li Yi’s deduction was entirely reasonable.
But after hearing what Li Futiao said on the phone, Li Yi also realized that this kidnapping was somewhat different from what he knew. In his previous life, the kidnappers had only demanded a ransom of 500 million Hong Kong dollars from the Li family, but in this life, it had risen to 1 billion.
Clearly, this had something to do with Li Yi.
If he hadn’t been there, the Li family would undoubtedly have suffered heavy losses in this stock market crash.
The kidnappers were also worried that the family wouldn’t be able to raise that much ransom money in a short time, so they had settled for 500 million.
But thanks to his warning, the Li family not only avoided losses this time but actually made a huge profit from the situation—prompting the kidnappers to immediately raise the ransom to 1 billion!
Based on this alone, Li Yi could conclude that the kidnappers must be the same ones from his past life—it was still a case of acquaintances committing the crime.
After all, not many people knew about the Li family’s massive windfall in the stock market this time. Li Futiao was well aware that this had made them many enemies, so he hadn’t publicized it at all.
Even media outlets and magazines that had sought to report on the matter had been warned by the Li family. Consequently, aside from the major wealthy clans, likely only those close to Li Yunbao were privy to any details.
Consequently, when Li Futiao asked him for help, Li Yi didn’t hesitate.
First, he instructed Li Futao to immediately prepare the 1 billion Hong Kong dollars in ransom as demanded by the kidnappers and wait for the exchange.
At the same time, to prevent the kidnappers from resorting to desperate measures and harming Li Yunbao, Li Yi told Li Futao not to call the police just yet.
In Li Yi’s words, “Let’s get him back first!”
As for the ransom and the kidnappers, he would handle them.
After finishing his conversation with Li Futiao, Li Yi immediately called Huang Lixing.
He instructed him to immediately dispatch personnel to Sha Tau Kok Pier to secretly investigate nearby fishing boats, looking for a large vessel that had recently been repainted, with a blue lower hull and a green upper hull, and loaded with large red barrels.
At the same time, he should find out how many people had been buying or selling fishing boats at Shatoujiao Pier recently and get a clear picture of the boats’ basic details.
Li Yi recalled that Li Yunbao had once told him that after being kidnapped by his friend’s father, he had been held captive on a fishing boat at Sha Tau Kok Pier.
It wasn’t until two days later, after his father had paid the ransom to the kidnappers, that he was abandoned in the waters off Hong Kong Island.
The kidnappers had given him only a rubber dinghy and a small amount of fresh water—they hadn’t even provided him with oars.
So, relying only on his hands, he paddled through the sea all night long, and it wasn’t until noon the next day that he was rescued by a passing fishing boat.
By then, the kidnappers had long since left Hong Kong Island on a yacht and were not found by the Li family in Siam until ten years later.
According to Li Yunbao, his most vivid memories from those days in captivity were the choking smell of paint on that fishing boat and the dark, damp conditions below deck. Those harsh conditions remain etched in his memory and frequently haunt his dreams.
Based on this, Li Yi could reasonably conclude that the kidnappers’ boat must have been an old vessel that had recently been repainted; otherwise, the smell wouldn’t have been so strong.
Based on these known details, combined with Huang Lixing’s connections, they should be able to locate the vessel soon.
Once they locate the vessel, they’ll be ready to rescue the hostage at any moment!
……..
The night passed without incident!
Early the next morning, Li Yi was awakened by the shrill ring of the phone.
Reaching for the phone on the nightstand, Li Yi asked immediately, “Who is this?”
“It’s me, Old Huang!”
“Why are you calling so early? Is there news about the boat?” Li Yi asked, yawning.
“Right. We did find the ship you mentioned, but not at Shatoujiao—it’s at a temporary dock in Sanjia Village!”
“Sanjia Village?”
“That’s right, and based on the leads we’ve gathered, it’s highly likely that Young Master Li is on that very ship!” Huang Lixing said.
“Oh, what clues?”
“According to our investigation, that boat was sold by a fisherman in Sha Tau Kok a week ago. The buyer was in a real hurry, so the fisherman jacked the price up to 530,000 Hong Kong dollars, and the buyer actually agreed to it. This caused quite a stir over in Sha Tau Kok.”
Huang Lixing continued, “After that, the boat was taken to a nearby shipyard for minor repairs and a fresh coat of paint—exactly the ‘blue bottom, green top’ scheme you mentioned, Brother Li Yi.”
“But when our people went to look for the boat, they couldn’t find any trace of it. Fortunately, just then, someone provided us with a very crucial piece of intelligence!”
“What kind of tip?”
“The source claimed they knew where the ship was. They also said they’d personally witnessed several people carrying a young man onto the ship the night before last in Kowloon Walled City…”
Before he could finish, Li Yi asked in a low voice, “Who exactly is this informant? How do they know all this in such detail?”
Huang Lixing smiled and said, “You know the person who provided the tip!”
“I know them? I don’t have the slightest recollection. Who is it, exactly?” Li Yi frowned.
“Do you remember that big bald guy who came to our company yesterday morning demanding protection money?”
“Him?”
“That’s right. According to the guy, after he went back yesterday, the boss of the Tiger Gang gave him a severe beating—he almost broke his leg. Feeling frustrated, he went to Kowloon Walled City to look for some fun.”
Huang Lixing continued, “As luck would have it, after he was done, he was about to head back when he spotted someone being tied up in a dark alley. Out of curiosity, he followed them.”
“So how did your men track him down? I remember that guy got beaten pretty badly yesterday. Why would he tell us such crucial information?” Li Yi asked.
“He came to us on his own. He’s part of the underworld too, and since our people usually get information on these matters from other underworld figures, there was no way he could keep it from us.”
Huang Lixing continued, “The kid has his own agenda. He’s hoping we’ll cut him some slack—and the Mighty Tigers—for the sake of this whole situation!”
Li Yi nodded and said, “If the information he provided is really useful, then letting them off the hook is only fair!”
“Hmm, right. Now that we’ve found the ship, what should we do next?” Huang Lixing asked.
“Keep a close watch on that ship. First, find out if Li Yunbao is on board, and at the same time, figure out how many people are on the ship and if they have any firearms!” Li Yi said.
“Got it!”
Huang Lixing then asked, “Should we notify Chairman Li?”
“Not for now. He’s already in a state of confusion; telling him would only make things worse!” Li Yi said.
“You’re right!”
At that moment, Li Yi spoke again: “Make sure those yachts of yours at the dock are fully fueled and the crews are on standby. The moment you spot that fishing boat making any move to head out to sea, follow it immediately!”
“Don’t worry, we’re ready at a moment’s notice!”
“Mm-hmm…”
With that, Li Yi hung up the phone!
However, just as Li Yi was about to freshen up and head to the office, the phone on his nightstand rang again…
……..
PS: This chapter has been a real nightmare. I had back-to-back meetings for three straight days. I finally got a break to write, but just as I hit 2,000 words, my computer crashed—losing all that work. I just got it back up and wrote another 1,000 words, only for the system to update itself and reboot automatically, wiping out another 1,000 words. Old Cang is completely fed up with this!