Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 136 That's wonderful!

As soon as Du Junyan got out of the car, he saw his precious little sister whispering in the ear with some other man. His face immediately darkened, and he coughed a few times before shouting loudly, "An'an, come back!"

Du Anrao, without suspecting anything, hurriedly abandoned Xi Jingyue and ran back: "Brother, what's wrong? Have you caught a cold?"

Seeing his sister leave the other man without hesitation and return to his side, Du Junyan's expression softened: "It's nothing, I just suddenly felt a bit dry in my throat, a little water will do the trick."

Xi Jingyue was already used to the inexplicable hostility from Du's older brothers, and still wore a flawless smile on her face as she said gently, "The hot springs here are volcanic hot springs, and there is a volcanic crater not far away. The climate is relatively drier than in S City. It's normal that you're not used to it yet since you've just arrived."

"So that's how it is. No wonder it's called a lava hot spring."

"Yes, now that you mention it, I'm curious too. I really want to see how the volcanic hot springs in this small mountain village differ from ordinary hot springs."

Du Desheng's words were actually a veiled urging Du Anrao and the others to hurry up and get down to business.

Xi Jingyue looked in the direction of the voice and saw an old man with white hair and sharp, piercing eyes. He guessed that this should be the relative of the important person Du Anrao mentioned, the big gossip master.

He then nodded politely to the other party before looking at Du Anrao: "The village where the hot spring is located is quite a distance from here. If we go there now, we should be able to make it in time for dinner."

"Then let's hurry up and go. I heard that place is very remote. If we stay too long, we might not even be able to get a meal."

"Okay, I'll lead the way, you guys follow me in your cars."

"Then I'll sit in your car, Mr. Xi."

"No way!" Du Junyan objected before Du Anrao could even finish speaking, and before Du Desheng could even open his mouth. "What kind of situation is it for you and him, a man and a woman, to be sitting in the same car alone?"

Du Anrao was stunned, turned to look at his elder brother, and had a subtle expression.

[Brother, something doesn't sound right. When you take a taxi, it's usually two people sharing a ride, so how does that make it a situation of a lone man and woman?]

Du Junyan's expression stiffened slightly, and Xi Jingyue almost burst out laughing.

Even Du Desheng, who was not far away, looked thoughtful, sizing up Xi Jingyue and vaguely understood why Du Junyan was so nervous and on high alert.

"Ahem, what I mean is, your great-uncle is still here. What kind of behavior is it to run into someone else's car? How rude!"

Du Anrao suddenly realized what was going on and looked embarrassed.

[My brother's words make sense. I was hoping Mr. Xi seemed quite familiar with this place, and I could chat with him a bit more on the way to confirm Miss Qin's location as soon as possible. Now it seems that's out of the question.]

Miss Qin? Xi Jingyue narrowed his eyes. So they were looking for someone. But who was this Miss Qin? Why did they travel all this way to find her?
Du Desheng's eyes flickered slightly, and he suddenly interjected, "It's alright, it's alright. Since An'an wants to ride in Mr. Xi's car, we can all move over there. Mr. Xi won't mind, will he?"

"Of course, cars are meant for people to ride in."

"Then it's settled."

Du Desheng made the final decision, and even though Du Junyan was dissatisfied, he didn't dare to object anymore. He could only reluctantly follow the old man into the back seat.

Besides him, Du Desheng's bodyguard captain also got into Xi Jingyue's car. Du Anrao, wanting to facilitate conversation with Xi Jingyue, went to the passenger seat. As soon as the car started moving, Du Anrao immediately launched into his probing questions: "Judging from Mr. Xi's tone, you seem to know this area very well?"

"Fortunately, my maternal grandparents' hometown is about ten kilometers away from the village we are going to. When I was a child, I went back to the village with them to pay respects to our ancestors and stayed there for a while."

"Really?" Du Anrao's face lit up with surprise. "Does Mr. Xi know anything about that village? Are the people there easy to get along with?"

"I wouldn't say I know it well. This place is quite remote, and most of the villages have one thing in common: most of the young people who can go out to work and earn money have gone out, leaving behind mostly the elderly, the weak, the sick, and the disabled."

"The situation in that village is similar, or even more serious. Because the entire village is located in the mountains, and there is only one road leading in, transportation is extremely inconvenient, so the economy is naturally not very good. Almost all the young people have left, leaving only some elderly people living alone and left-behind children."

Du Anrao frowned: "But isn't there a hot spring inside? If we turn this into a tourist attraction, wouldn't that boost the local economy?"

"It's still the same problem: inconvenient transportation. To develop a tourist attraction, besides having unique and attractive scenery, transportation is the top priority. The road leading into the village is too narrow, basically only wide enough for one car to pass at a time. Two cars can't even avoid each other when driving towards each other. In such a place, even a slight increase in the flow of people can cause a complete traffic jam. Who would want to come back a second time?"

"What if we widen the road?"

"The road follows the mountain, and if we want to widen it, we'll have to blast the mountain. The cost is too high, and it might take forever to recoup the investment. Investors aren't going to be fools."

Du Anrao rolled his eyes: "So there are basically no young and middle-aged people left in the mountains now?"

Yes, but very few.

"With such a backward economy here, I'm afraid the living conditions must be quite poor, right?"

"You could say that most of the young people who go out to work and earn money will bring their elderly parents and children back with them instead of returning. So now, those places are mostly filled with elderly people who are reluctant to leave their hometowns and children from poor families."

That's wonderful...

The people inside the car: "???"

The person in charge of guarding Miss Qin was a young man. If, as Mr. Xi said, he was truly an outstanding figure in the village, easily found with just a few questions.

Du Desheng's eyes darkened slightly as he began to plan how to find the person once they arrived.

[The place where Miss Qin was imprisoned was a somewhat dilapidated two-story building. However, according to Mr. Xi, the economic conditions here were extremely poor, and those who could afford a two-story building were probably considered wealthy in the village. This narrows down the possibilities.]

After listening to Du Anrao's analysis, Du Desheng and the others became excited. Even before entering the village, their hearts were already itching to save people.

Just as Xi Jingyue had predicted, they arrived at the village at dusk.

The sudden arrival of a group of imposing strangers in a village where most people knew each other put everyone on edge, and the villagers looked at them with great wariness.

Fortunately, Du Anrao and his group had already prepared their explanation before arriving. The villagers tipped them off, and the village chief, who had been urgently invited over, instantly turned from being wary and defensive to being warm and hospitable when he learned that these people had come specifically to experience the village's newly developed lava hot spring.

(End of this chapter)