It was the first time someone he knew had been kidnapped, and Lin Li felt a little tense as his mind raced, analyzing the situation.
When the line went silent, Liu Lan waited for about thirty seconds, then urgently asked Lin Li.
"Mr. Lin, should I do as they say? When the time comes, should I give them the ransom I’ve prepared?"
"Have you called the police?" Lin Li asked, ignoring her question.
"I didn’t dare. The kidnappers said that if I called the police and they found out, they’d harm my boss immediately..."
"When the time comes, how are you supposed to deliver the ransom?"
"They told me to place the ransom next to the trash can diagonally across from the shop’s entrance."
"From the sound of it, they must have someone watching you near the jewelry store..."
Liu Lan’s eyes widened in alarm. "Mr. Lin, are you saying there are kidnappers near the store *right now*?"
"Most likely," Lin Li reasoned. "They told you not to call the police, so of course they’d have someone watching you. It’s to prevent you from ignoring their threat and calling the authorities to come and handle things."
"Mr. Lin, what should I do? If something happens to her, I don’t know how I’ll ever face her mother," Liu Lan said helplessly, her voice full of despair.
"Accountant Liu, calm down. I’ll get Zhang Yuxi back safely. For now, just do exactly as I say. Here’s the plan..." Lin Li reassured her, then laid out his idea.
"Okay, I’ll do exactly as you say..." Finding a pillar of support, Liu Lan nodded quickly. After hearing Lin Li’s plan, her anxiety eased considerably.
After hanging up the phone, Lin Li grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. He didn’t have time to put away the mostly uneaten watermelon. He rushed out the door and headed for Zhang Yuxi’s jewelry store.
...
「At nine o’clock that night, it was time for the ransom drop.」
The door to the jewelry store opened, and Liu Lan walked out, looking nervous and carrying a tote bag.
She did exactly as the kidnappers had instructed on the phone. She placed the tote bag containing the Spirit Stones next to the curbside trash can, then turned around and went back inside the jewelry store.
’Why haven’t they shown up yet?’ Liu Lan stood by the store’s plate-glass window, her eyes fixed on the distant bag of Spirit Stones beside the trash can.
Time ticked by, second by second. As she waited, the minutes stretched into an eternity. Liu Lan’s anxiety, already high, grew even more severe.
Just as she was about to give in and call Lin Li, the situation changed. A black sedan appeared in the distance.
The black sedan was moving extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, it arrived at the spot next to the trash can where Liu Lan had placed the bag of Spirit Stones.
The car stopped, and the passenger door flew open. A man in a black ski mask jumped out, snatched the tote bag from beside the trash can, and immediately got back in the car.
RUMBLE...
The engine roared back to life. The driver slammed on the accelerator, and the black sedan sped away.
’Finally,’ Lin Li, who had been lying in wait on the street, muttered to himself. He started his own car and quickly fell in behind the departing black sedan.
Inside the jewelry store, Liu Lan, still standing by the window, saw a silver-white van start to tail the departing black sedan. A sigh of relief escaped her. Now, all she could do was wait patiently for good news from Lin Li.
...
Streetlights on both sides of the road cast a dim yellow glow. After speeding away from the jewelry store, the black sedan slowed down.
"Hurry up, open it and take a look," the driver urged his companion.
"I know, I know! Don’t rush me!" The man in the passenger seat pulled off his ski mask and unzipped the tote bag.
In the dim yellow light from the streetlamps outside, they could see that the bag was filled with many small, crystal-clear objects, each about the size of a pigeon’s egg.
"So many Spirit Stones! We’re rich!" The two kidnappers’ eyes widened as they stared at the huge pile of Spirit Stones in the bag, shouting in excitement.
"Shit! Watch the fucking road! Drive the car!" the kidnapper in the passenger seat yelled. He’d been scared out of his wits when he saw his partner staring at the pile of Spirit Stones just like he was.
"Relax! I’m a great driver! We’re not gonna crash..." Berated by his partner, the driver quickly tore his eyes away from the bag and spoke with brimming confidence.
RING RING RING... Just then, the phone in the passenger’s pocket rang. He quickly pulled it out and answered.
"Boss, we’ve got the ransom. I haven’t counted it yet, but it looks like it’s all here."
"Good. Nice work. Be careful on your way back..."
"Don’t worry, Boss! That Liu Lan woman was clearly terrified. She did exactly as we told her."
"The whole time I was watching her, I didn’t see her with any strangers for more than ten minutes..."
As the kidnapper in the black sedan bragged to his boss, neither of them noticed a nondescript, silver-white van following behind them.
About twenty minutes later, the black sedan left the bustling city and entered the suburbs. They pulled up to a pitch-black, long-abandoned construction site.