Chapter 3: Uncle Li Pays a Visit

Perhaps finding it ominous, the man quickly climbed back onto the lifeboat after hearing my words. He gave me a thumbs-up and said, "Kid, I didn't expect you to be so capable! We searched here for three days and still couldn't find him!" I smiled faintly and replied, "Let's go back to shore first. We can talk there." Of course, the others who arrived later weren't just standing idly by. As soon as I stepped ashore, they had already retrieved the boy's body from the water and quickly brought it to land. After soaking in the reservoir for three days, the child's body was somewhat swollen but not too horrifying. The boy's father stood beside his son, too grief-stricken to say a word. They had gone out happily, never expecting such a tragic accident to happen… Now that the boy had been found, I felt bad about approaching his father to ask for a reward. Seeing his devastated expression, I quietly turned and left. However, just as I stepped out of the reservoir, the young man who had led me inside caught up with me. He ran over and said, "Hey, kid! Don't leave yet. My boss wants me to ask for your name and phone number." Hearing this, I was pleased—this meant he wanted to thank me! But then I remembered that I had insisted I didn't want money. If I accepted a reward now, it would seem a bit unethical. So, I tried to decline, "I already said I don't need money." The man glared at me and snapped, "Cut the crap. I don't have any money to give you right now, but just leave your name and phone number. Once my boss finishes dealing with things, he'll definitely have something good for you!" I understood what he meant, so I scratched my head with a sheepish grin and politely gave him my name and phone number. The little girl who had been waiting outside saw me coming out and excitedly asked, "Did you find my dog?" I shook my head. "Your dog wasn't in there. I think someone might have taken it in. If you really want to find it, you should put up a missing dog notice with a reward." Hearing this, the girl looked very disappointed. Seeing her on the verge of tears, I felt bad and decided to return the 500 yuan she had given me earlier. After all, I hadn't found anything, so taking money from this little girl didn't sit right with me. After taking her home, I checked my pockets—only about 50 yuan left. Damn my soft heart! Now I'd have to go hungry. Since I was low on cash, I went to the supermarket, bought two packs of instant noodles, and went home to fill my stomach. Unexpectedly, early the next morning, I was awakened by my phone ringing. When I picked it up, it was an unfamiliar number. "Hello, who's this?" "Are you Zhang Jinbao?" a deep voice asked. "Yes, and you are…?" I asked, puzzled. The man chuckled and said, "My surname is Li—Li Zhenhai. You can just call me Uncle Li. I'd like to meet with you. First, to thank you on behalf of Mr. Kuang for your help yesterday, and second… I have something to discuss with you personally." As soon as he mentioned yesterday's event, I knew that the "Mr. Kuang" he referred to was the boy's father. Last night, while lying in bed, I had regretted not even asking the man's full name—how could I expect him to come looking for me? In this world, who would just hand you money for no reason? But to my surprise, Mr. Kuang actually sent someone to find me! After agreeing on a time and place, I quickly freshened up and headed out. We had arranged to meet at a tea house called "Spring Tea House" near my home. When I arrived, I saw a slightly overweight man in his forties sitting inside, smiling at me. "Hello, are you Uncle Li? Am I late?" I asked apologetically. Uncle Li smiled warmly and said, "Zhang Jinbao! Come, have a seat. You're not late—I just arrived early." As he spoke, he pulled out an oversized brown envelope from his bag and slowly placed it on the table. "This is from Mr. Kuang. He said if it weren't for you, he wouldn't have found his son. This money is just a small token of his gratitude—please accept it." Glancing at the thickness of the envelope, I felt a surge of excitement. There had to be at least tens of thousands in there! But I kept a calm expression and replied, "That's too generous. I just happened to be passing by and lent a hand—it was no big deal." Uncle Li shook his head. "No, you can't say that. I was watching from the shore yesterday—I saw your skills. Let's not beat around the bush. The real reason I'm here today is that I need your help with something. Would you be willing?" So that was his main purpose for meeting me today! I glanced at the brown envelope out of the corner of my eye. Yesterday, I had only shown a little bit of my ability and was already getting such a "thick" reward. If he was personally inviting me to help, wouldn't that mean an even "thicker" reward? But I knew better than to overpromise. If I couldn't get the job done, I'd be in trouble. So, I smiled and said, "Uncle Li, you really overestimate me. I'm just a fresh graduate. Finding Mr. Kuang's son yesterday was pure luck. You must deal with some serious matters, and I… I probably won't be up to the task." Uncle Li seemed to understand my hesitation, but instead of pressuring me, he simply pulled a business card from his pocket and placed it on the table. "You don't have to decide now. I know what you're capable of. Think it over carefully. Here's my contact information—call me when you've made up your mind." With that, he got up and left. I hadn't expected him to leave so abruptly. I sat there in a daze for a while before finally snapping out of it. "He just… left like that?! Tch." If he had said just a little more, I would have agreed on the spot… I looked around to make sure no one was watching, then quickly peeked inside the brown envelope. Whoa! It was packed with five stacks of cash! This was the first time in my life I had ever touched so much money. My excitement was beyond words. After returning home, the first thing I did was buy myself some new clothes online. As the saying goes, "Clothes make the man, just like gold decorates the Buddha." Once I put on my new outfit, I immediately felt like a professional. After that, I didn't think much more about it. After all, I still didn't know exactly what Uncle Li did. But a few days later, I received a call from an unfamiliar man. He said he was referred by "Master Li" and needed my help to find his sister, who had been missing for almost a month. A new case had come knocking—I certainly wouldn't refuse. So, I arranged to meet him at "Spring Tea House," the same place I had met Uncle Li.