Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

Zhao Rong and his two companions took a taxi and soon arrived at the Xijing City market. It was a vast and incredibly complex place. Standing at the entrance, the trio had no idea where to go.

The assistant stopped an elderly woman selling vegetables and asked, ”Excuse me, ma’am. Could you tell us if there’s a basement somewhere in this market?”

The woman, carrying a shoulder pole with two baskets of vegetables, looked confused. ”Although I’ve been selling vegetables here for over a decade, I really don’t know where a basement would be...”

Hearing this, the group continued forward. Soon, they came across an old man selling shrimp.

Xuelian approached him and asked, ”Sir, do you know if there are any unused or vacant warehouses around here?”

The old man jumped, startled by Xuelian’s question.

Seeing his terrified reaction, they immediately deduced that he knew about some of the market’s hidden places. The assistant stepped forward, pulled a hundred-yuan bill from his pocket, and pressed, ”Sir, if you show us all the warehouses in this market, this hundred yuan is yours.”

Suddenly, the old man dropped to his knees and burst into tears. ”I only mixed a few dead shrimp in with the live ones and gave some short weights! Is that really enough to have me arrested and sent to jail?”

Hearing the old man’s disjointed response, Zhao Rong glanced at his ears. He must be old and hard of hearing. He must have misheard us… Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so frightened that he’d kneel and cry.

Zhao Rong helped the man to his feet and handed him 500 yuan. ”You can go, sir. We aren’t bad people.”

Just then, the old man’s hearing seemed to clear up instantly. He stood up, took the 500 yuan, hoisted his basket of dead shrimp, and scurried away.

After asking two people and still not finding anyone familiar with the market, Zhao Rong decided to try his phone. When he opened the DNA location tracker app, he was surprised to see it giving him clear directions, even in a place like this.

Zhao Rong excitedly pointed at the screen. ”We don’t need to ask anyone!” he told Xuelian and the assistant. ”With this app, we can find the exact location where Lili and Yu Lan are being held!”

When the assistant saw the arrow on Zhao Rong’s app, he exclaimed, ”Holy crap, I can’t believe mobile apps are this powerful! It’s truly eye-opening.”

Xuelian took the phone from Zhao Rong, looked at the arrow, and said happily, ”With this phone in hand, finding people is easy… Miss Lili, Sister Yu Lan, don’t be afraid! We’re coming to rescue you now!”

With that, the three of them began to follow the arrow on the app. As they advanced, the arrow continuously shifted, pointing them in different directions. Zhao Rong followed it meticulously, not daring to hesitate for a second.

Just as they were about to reach their destination, Zhao Rong’s phone displayed a low battery warning.

Seeing it, Zhao Rong muttered in dismay, ”Come on, old friend, you have to hold on until we find where Miss Lili is! You can die after that… Otherwise, this entire afternoon of hard work will have been for nothing.”

The assistant pulled out his own phone to reassure him. ”Don’t worry, Zhao Rong. If your phone dies, you can just use mine.”

Xuelian turned to scold him. ”How can you be so foolish? Of our three phones, only Zhao Rong’s scanned the QR code on the DNA location tracker. His is the only one that can lead us to Miss Lili and Sister Yu Lan. Your phone is useless for this.”

Hearing Xuelian’s words, the assistant immediately rummaged through his handbag. ”My phone might be useless, but I always carry a power bank!”

He pulled out a massive 20,000 mAh power bank from his bag.

When Zhao Rong saw the huge power bank, he looked at his nearly dead phone and said excitedly, ”Well, if you have a power bank, hurry up and charge my phone!”

The assistant quickly took out a charging cable, plugged one end into the power bank, and handed the other to Zhao Rong. ”Quick, plug this in, and my power bank will charge your phone.”

Zhao Rong was thrilled as he took the cable. However, his excitement turned to frustration the moment he saw the connector. His phone had a USB-C port, while the assistant’s cable had a standard USB-A connector.

When the assistant saw Zhao Rong hadn’t plugged it in, he pointed to his power bank and urged, ”Hurry up and plug it in! Isn’t your phone about to die?”

Zhao Rong looked at his dying phone and said glumly, ”The connectors don’t match. How am I supposed to charge it?”

Realizing his cable was incompatible, the assistant quickly turned to Xuelian. ”Xuelian, is your cable USB-C? Hurry, let Zhao Rong use it! His phone is about to die!”

Xuelian took out her Apple phone and its cable, saying dejectedly, ”Mine is a Lightning cable. Zhao Rong can’t use it either.”

Just as she finished speaking, Zhao Rong’s phone was on its last legs. But in the final moment before it died, the arrow on the screen suddenly stopped moving. They had followed the directions and arrived at their destination.

As the phone automatically powered off, Zhao Rong looked up at the target. It was a fishmonger’s stall.

Zhao Rong looked at the woman selling fish, then at the child beside her, who couldn’t have been more than three years old. Could this really be the place where Lili and Yu Lan were taken? Could this woman with a child actually be the kidnapper?

As Zhao Rong pondered, the assistant saw the dead phone in his hand and said anxiously, ”Let’s hurry and find a nearby shop with a USB-C cable! We can use my power bank to charge your phone.”

Xuelian started running toward a nearby store. ”Zhao Rong, Assistant, wait here! I’ll go find a compatible charger!”

However, Zhao Rong stopped them. ”There’s no need to charge the phone,” he said. ”We’ve followed the map to our destination.”

When the other two heard this, they looked up sharply at the fish stall. ”Zhao Rong, are you sure your app wasn’t mistaken?” the assistant asked.

Xuelian frowned in disbelief. ”Zhao Rong, that woman has a child with her. She looks so loving, so motherly and kind. How could she possibly have kidnapped Miss Lili and Yu Lan?”

The assistant watched the adorable child toddling on the ground and shook his head. ”A woman with a child couldn’t be a kidnapper. That’s just preposterous. Let’s just go.”

Just as the assistant was about to leave and Xuelian was expressing her doubt, the fishmonger suddenly noticed them. In a very strange reaction, she avoided their gaze and didn’t ask if they wanted to buy any fish.

Zhao Rong took a step forward and asked her, ”Excuse me, ma’am. How much are your fish?”

The woman looked at him with extreme caution, shook her head, and said, ”Sorry, not selling fish today.”

Hearing this, Zhao Rong probed further. ”You’re a fishmonger. Why aren’t you selling fish?”

The woman carefully sized up Zhao Rong, the assistant, and Xuelian. As if deliberately avoiding something, she said, ”Because I’m not selling fish today, that’s why.”

With that, she began pulling down her stall’s roller shutter, preparing to close up shop. Seeing her strange behavior, the assistant, who had been about to leave, turned back. He started walking toward the stall and asked, ”Before you close, can I take a look inside?”

Before he could get close, the woman forcefully shoved him back, cursing, ”Damn it, didn’t I say I’m closed? Are you deaf?”

After she spoke, she yanked the roller shutter down until it was two-thirds of the way closed.

Just as the shutter was about to slam shut, the sharp-eyed Xuelian spotted something. The little girl inside was playing with a stuffed rabbit. Suddenly, Xuelian had a revelation. She lunged forward and grabbed the shutter, stopping it just before it closed completely. Pointing at the toy in the child’s hand, she demanded, ”Ma’am, can you tell me where you bought that toy your child is holding?”

The woman became even more nervous. While struggling to force the shutter down, she snapped, ”What, only rich people like you are allowed to have stuffed rabbits? You think poor people can’t afford them?”

With a final tug, the woman slammed the roller shutter completely shut.

Seeing the stall sealed, Xuelian immediately turned to Zhao Rong. ”Zhao Rong, this has to be the place where Miss Lili and Sister Yu Lan are being held captive!”

Hearing her certainty, and recalling how she had just doubted him, Zhao Rong asked curiously, ”Xuelian, what proof do you have that this is the place?”

Xuelian, now completely convinced, said firmly, ”Zhao Rong, didn’t you notice? The stuffed rabbit that little girl was playing with is from the luxury brand Cool Qi.”

Zhao Rong hadn’t paid any attention to the toy. He frowned. ”What does a luxury brand toy have to do with Lili and Yu Lan’s kidnapping?”

Xuelian explained, ”When Miss Lili sleeps, she always keeps a stuffed rabbit on her bed… one that looks exactly like the one that little girl was holding.”

Hearing this, Zhao Rong finally understood. He looked at the closed shutter in front of them and said, ”Miss Lili, Yu Lan, sorry to have kept you waiting. We’re here to rescue you.”