WHOOSH...
RUSTLE RUSTLE RUSTLE...
The night was deep and silent. The surroundings were quiet, with only the faint rustle of flowers, grass, and trees as the wind blew.
On the eastern outskirts of the city, at a construction site that had been abandoned for a long time, a faint light suddenly flickered on the third floor of an unfinished building.
On the dimly lit floor, Zhang Yuxi—a woman with long, flowing hair, willow-leaf eyebrows, a melon-seed-shaped face, and dressed in a black pantsuit—lay on the ground, her hands and feet bound and her mouth gagged.
Her hair was a mess and her expression was haggard as she stared at a group of men in the distance, her gaze landing on a familiar face among them.
A burly, tattooed man with a barrel chest and a menacing expression sat on a plastic chair. He looked at Zhang Yuxi, who was bound, gagged, and unable to speak on the floor, and chuckled as he spoke to the scruffy, middle-aged man beside him.
"Boss Wang, after we get the ransom from that woman Liu Lan, but before we... ’deal with’ Zhang Yuxi, can you let us guys have some fun with her first?"
"Once we get the ransom, you can do whatever you want... just make sure she doesn’t see tomorrow’s sunrise," the now-bankrupt Wang Dezhu said dismissively, glaring at the wretched Zhang Yuxi with a face full of resentment.
"Mmph! Mmph!" Hearing their conversation, Zhang Yuxi tried to curse at them angrily, but with her mouth taped shut, only muffled sounds came out.
At eight o’clock at night, the "Jiabao Pearl" shop should have already been closed, with all the employees gone home. But tonight, at this late hour, the lights were still on.
Liu Lan, her face etched with worry, paced back and forth in the finance office, muttering something to herself.
She hadn’t slept a wink since receiving the kidnapper’s call late last night.
The kidnapper had made it explicitly clear over the phone: if she dared to call the police and they found out, they would kill the abducted Zhang Yuxi immediately.
So, for Zhang Yuxi’s safety, Liu Lan didn’t dare to call the police, nor did she dare tell Zhang Yuxi’s mother what had happened.
The kidnappers had demanded a ransom of twenty million, all of it to be converted into Spirit Stones. Liu Lan had followed their instructions, withdrawing twenty million in cash from the company account and exchanging it all for Spirit Stones this morning. Now, the stones sat in a handbag on her desk.
There was now only an hour left until the deadline for the ransom exchange. Initially, Liu Lan had thought that as long as she handed over the ransom, the kidnapped Zhang Yuxi would be returned safely.
But now, as the deadline drew closer, a voice in her mind grew louder and louder.
’I can’t just hand the ransom over to those thugs. After they get the money, they might just kill her on the spot...!’
The voice arguing against paying the ransom echoed endlessly in her mind, and her face was a mask of conflict.
Although she was experienced in many things, she was, at her core, just an ordinary person.
Faced with a situation like this, she didn’t know what to do. Her desperate hope for Zhang Yuxi’s safe return made her subconsciously want to do exactly as the kidnappers said.
Now that the dissenting voice in her head was growing louder, her resolve was beginning to waver.
As Liu Lan paced back and forth, she suddenly noticed a white piece of paper on her desk with a bank account number written on it.
’I... I could try calling him for help.’
The Refrigeration Spiritual Artifact in the corner operated smoothly. In the cool living room, Lin Li sat on the sofa, holding half a chilled watermelon. He scooped out spoonfuls while watching a popular drama on TV.
Suddenly, the phone beside him started to ring.
RING RING RING...
Lin Li turned his head to look. It was an unknown number.
He placed the half-eaten watermelon on the coffee table, picked up his phone, and answered the call.
"Hello?"
"Is this Mr. Lin?"
"Speaking. Who is this?" Lin Li replied, puzzled. He heard the urgent voice of a woman on the line but, after thinking for a moment, couldn’t place it.
"My name is Liu Lan, the accountant at the jewelry shop. The last few times you came to sell pearls, I was the one who handled your payment," Liu Lan explained.
"Oh, Accountant Liu! What can I do for you?" After her introduction, Lin Li immediately connected the voice on the phone with his memory of the jewelry shop’s accountant.
"Mr. Lin, my boss has been kidnapped by thugs, and they’re demanding a ransom from me.
The deadline to pay is in forty or fifty minutes, but I’m afraid they won’t release her even if they get the money. What should I do? What am I supposed to do?"
Because time was short and she was extremely anxious, Liu Lan didn’t beat around the bush and directly explained her predicament to Lin Li.
"What?!" Lin Li was stunned by Liu Lan’s concise explanation. "You’re saying Zhang Yuxi was kidnapped by thugs?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes."
"..." After receiving the confirmation, Lin Li raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose to calm himself. Then he asked Liu Lan, "When did this happen?"
"It must have happened last night, on her way home from work.
I got the call from the kidnappers demanding ransom at eleven o’clock last night. They said they’d come for the money at nine tonight..." Liu Lan said.