Luke drained the wine in his glass, stood up and said, “Big brother, I’ve arranged to meet with The Scott Brothers, they should be here by now, I’ll go out to greet them.”

After less than five minutes, two middle-aged men of medium build, who looked strikingly alike, followed behind Luke into the room. As soon as they entered and saw the wine on the table, their eyes lit up.

After letting the two in, Luke shot a glance at Elder Baker and said, “The Scott Elders, this is Boss Carter from the north. I, Luke, am just making the introduction. Whatever you need to discuss, you all can talk.”

In this line of work, especially those who operate on the fringes, people rarely reveal their true backgrounds to outsiders. Elder Baker was clearly from the south, but in Luke’s words, he became a boss from the north.

Moreover, Luke’s words subtly distanced himself from Elder Baker, which would make the The Scott Brothers less wary, so they wouldn’t think the others were teaming up to trick them.

“So you’re the The Scott Brothers, I’ve heard a lot about you. No need for all this ‘boss’ talk, we’re all brothers here. Come, let’s sit down and have a few drinks first.”

From the moment the The Scott Brothers entered, Elder Baker could tell the two were fond of drinking. He immediately stood up and spoke in a thick Northeastern accent, without a trace of a southern tone.

“Oh… oh, how could we impose?”

Though they protested, Elder Scott and Second Scott couldn’t help but sit down at the table, their eyes fixed longingly on the wine and food.

The The Scott Brothers had originally worked on the railways, which in those days was considered a secure “iron rice bowl” job. But the two brothers were lazy and averse to hard work. When some people started getting rich after the economic reforms, the brothers began dreaming of striking it rich themselves.

By the mid-1980s, they had both taken early retirement on medical grounds to go into business. But the brothers were too shortsighted, only chasing immediate gains, and their path grew narrower and narrower until they lost everything.

In business, some make money and some lose it; it’s nothing unusual. They could have just gone back to work, but instead, the brothers turned to crime and started running scams.

In 1986, they swindled five thousand yuan from an agricultural and livestock company in the provincial capital, Shishi. But before they could spend it all, they were caught and each sentenced to two years in prison.

It was in the labor camp that they met Luke, who became their prison friend.

Once in prison, their jobs were gone for good. The The Scott Brothers were used to being lazy and didn’t want to work, so they just idled away their days. It was then that they developed a drinking habit—if they went a day without alcohol, they felt miserable.

Back in 1990, Luke had found the two of them and wandered around the Beijing-Tianjin area, bringing back three children. He tossed the brothers five hundred yuan at the time.

For the The Scott Brothers, who were addicted to alcohol, five hundred yuan didn’t last long—it was gone in no time.

But in the tough region of Cangzhou, the two could only keep a low profile, living off their elderly father’s meager pension. Life had been pretty rough for them these past couple of years.

So when Luke said there was another job, the brothers ran faster than rabbits. A few years ago, they’d made five hundred yuan by helping Luke trick a few kids. If they hadn’t lost touch with Luke, they’d have joined him long ago.

“Come on, brothers, let’s finish this glass together!”

Elder Baker raised his glass to toast them. The The Scott Brothers, already itching from the alcohol, quickly downed their drinks in one gulp, wiping their mouths with satisfaction, not even bothering with the food.

“Boss Carter, you really are a straightforward man. Let me toast you again!”

Elder Scott didn’t stand on ceremony. After refilling his and his brother’s glasses, he poured another for Elder Baker. Before Elder Baker could say anything, he tipped his head back and drank it all.

“Hey, hey, I’ll join in too.” Second Scott, seeing his brother drink an extra glass, didn’t want to be left behind. With a slurp, he downed his own.

Elder Baker wasn’t in a hurry. When that bottle of Erguotou was finished, he took out another. Seeing that the The Scott Brothers had drunk enough, he finally spoke: “Brothers, to be honest, I came to Cangzhou this time to take two children back. In our area, some families can’t have kids and want to buy them. Do you know if there are any suitable ones around here?”

Kidnapping children to beg is even worse than trafficking them. Elder Baker had no intention of being honest with the The Scott Brothers; he looked down on their drunken ways.

“Boss Carter, what age children are you looking for? Newborns or…?”

Hearing Elder Baker’s words, the The Scott Brothers sobered up a bit and exchanged glances. Back when Luke had them kidnap children, he’d used the same excuse, so Elder Scott didn’t suspect anything.

Elder Baker pretended to think for a moment and said, “The family this time is pretty poor, afraid they can’t raise a child from infancy. I think a six- or seven-year-old would be just right.”

“Six or seven? Kids that age are easy to find, but… but they’re old enough to know what’s going on. It might be hard to trick them.”

Upon hearing this, Elder Scott frowned. In the early 1990s, people were still pretty simple and honest. Most lived in single-story houses, kids ran everywhere, and adults weren’t very vigilant.