Realizing his enemies wouldn’t spare him, the bald thug who had been kneeling and begging for mercy scrambled to his feet and tried to run. But he only made it a few steps before Lin Li caught up and punched him squarely in the back.
THUD.
CRACK.
The thug who took Lin Li’s punch had his bones broken on the spot. The immense force sent him flying.
He crumpled to the ground like a boneless heap, unable to get up, spitting out bloody foam.
The dozen or so armed thugs had thought they could take Lin Li down with their superior numbers, but in less than a minute, they had all been taken out instead.
Lin Li glanced around. Seeing that all the downed thugs were on their last breath and wouldn’t be getting back up, he turned and walked over to Zhang Yuxi.
"Mmmph... mmmph..." Zhang Yuxi stared in shock as Lin Li took down the entire group of thugs in just a few moves, muffled sounds escaping her lips.
Lin Li knelt, reached out and ripped off the tape covering Zhang Yuxi’s mouth, then started to untie the ropes binding her hands and feet.
"Lin Li... *sob*... Thank you, thank you for coming to save me!!!"
Free again and out of danger, Zhang Yuxi’s emotions overwhelmed her. She broke down crying, thanking Lin Li between sobs.
"Don’t cry, don’t cry. It’s okay now..." Lin Li looked at Zhang Yuxi, whose tears were streaming down her face, not quite knowing how to comfort her effectively. He muttered a few simple words of reassurance and patted her shoulder.
"*Sob... sob...*"
Tears flowed uncontrollably from her eyes. Having never experienced anything like this before, now that she was safe, Zhang Yuxi truly needed a good cry to release all the fear that had been suppressed during her kidnapping.
After ten minutes or so, Zhang Yuxi’s sobs finally began to subside. Just then, Lin Li handed her a bottle of mineral water he had taken from the Mysterious Small Island.
GLUG, GLUG, GLUG...
After taking several big gulps of the mineral water, Zhang Yuxi felt much better.
She tried to get up from the floor, but because her limbs had been tied for so long, they hadn’t fully recovered. She staggered, her body leaning back, and started to fall backward.
Seeing this, Lin Li quickly stepped forward, grabbing her by the shoulders to steady her.
"Thank you," Zhang Yuxi said gratefully to Lin Li.
"Let me help you over there to sit and rest for a bit," Lin Li said.
"Okay." Zhang Yuxi nodded, and with Lin Li’s support, she went and sat down in the chair by the table where the tattooed man, Zhao Qiu, had been sitting.
The ground around them was covered in bloodstains, with a dozen unconscious thugs lying scattered about.
The scene was unnerving, but with Lin Li by her side, Zhang Yuxi didn’t feel the slightest bit of fear.
"Accountant Liu has been worried sick while you were gone. Now that you’re safe, you should call and let her know."
Lin Li took his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Zhang Yuxi. She nodded and called Liu Lan.
The call connected, and after just a few words with Liu Lan, Zhang Yuxi started crying again. You could hear that it wasn’t just Zhang Yuxi; Liu Lan was crying on the other end of the line too.
Lin Li watched Zhang Yuxi’s tear-streaked face and scratched his cheek. ’Maybe I shouldn’t have had her call Liu Lan to say she’s safe,’ he thought. ’If I had made the call myself, we probably could have avoided another round of tears.’
"Thank you." After finishing the call with Liu Lan, Zhang Yuxi wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and handed the phone back to Lin Li.
Taking the phone back, Lin Li called the security bureau to explain the situation.
After hearing the details, the dispatcher told Lin Li she would immediately dispatch Security Officers to the scene.
They waited for about ten minutes before the sound of sirens could be heard outside. A minute or two later, a dozen or so Security Officers arrived at the scene.
Afterward, Lin Li and Zhang Yuxi went with the responding Security Officers to the nearest station to give their statements.
They were busy until eleven at night before they finally left the station.
"They caught those guys red-handed this time. They’ll definitely be eating prison food for many years to come," Lin Li said as he got into the driver’s seat of his van, buckling his seatbelt and looking at Zhang Yuxi, who was in the passenger seat.
"Yeah." Zhang Yuxi nodded, then said reflectively,
"First, it was that Wang Dezhu who ganged up with others to start this business war, trying to drive my jewelry store into the ground. But his company went bankrupt after I fought back. I just never expected him to resort to a dirty trick like this to get back at me!"
Lin Li chuckled and said, "After finding out the whole story behind this, I’d say it’s been an eye-opening experience for me too.
"The reality of business warfare is a world apart from what you see in TV shows, where people gracefully accept defeat."
Zhang Yuxi tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and turned to look at Lin Li. He started the van, turned it around, and began driving forward in a steady, methodical way. A glimmer appeared in her eyes as she watched him.
"Should I take you back to the jewelry store, or take you home?" Lin Li asked.
"Take me back to the jewelry store. If I go home looking like this, my mom will ask questions, and I won’t know how to explain it to her," Zhang Yuxi said.
"The situation is resolved now. Are you still not going to tell your mother?"
"No. My mom’s not in good health. Telling her would only make her worry. Since it’s all over, there’s no need to say anything and make her worry for nothing."