Li Xiaoru had already left by the time Chen Ming regained consciousness. Glancing at Fang Lu's unconscious form on the floor, he took out his phone and made a call. Before he left, he noted the disgusting blood stains on the bed. In a fit of frustration, he gave Fang Lu's body a vicious kick, and then he left.
Xin Qing found out about the incident through Ying Qingcang. By the time Ying Qingcang had finished telling her everything, her jaw had gone slack. It took a long time before she recovered from her shock.
"Confused?" Amused, Ying Qingcang poked her forehead.
Xin Qing was starting to worry. How on earth was Chen Ming supposed to deal with this?
"What about Fang Lu?" In the past, Xin Qing had only felt dislike for that woman. But right now, she was honestly considering having Ying Qingcang kill that bitch and be done with it.
Ying Qingcang knew what was going through her mind. He kissed her and said, "Chen Ming has already dealt with her. Well, if he let the woman off the hook after something like this, then he probably deserves it."
Chen Ming had asked someone to send a package to the Fang family; the package consisted of a video footage which showed everything that Fang Lu had done. Ying Qingcang had fanned the flame as well by openly declaring Ying Enterprises' denouncement of Fang Lu; Ying Enterprises would never collaborate with the Fang family as long as Fang Lu remained in S City for a single day. Fang Lu was recalled from S City by her stepfather. Apparently, her stepfather had prohibited her to participate in any company-related matters. She was even kicked out of the house, and would be given a monthly pocket money.
"What's your plan now?" Xin Qing had asked Chen Ming to meet her; she wanted to find out what he was planning to do about Li Xiaoru.
Chen Ming had not been resting well for the past few days. That much was obvious from his bloodshot eyes and the look of exhaustion on his face.
"I don't know..." Chen Ming said, sighing. "She's not picking up my calls. She's refusing to see me too."
Chen Ming had done something else too. He had asked someone to take pictures of Zhao Jiali while she was cheating on her husband. After that he had those photos delivered straight to Li Guihai. Chen Ming had even told Li Guihai about Zhao Jiali and Fang Lu's schemes to take away Li Xiaoru's inheritance. Right now, Zhao Jiali had already been kicked out of the Li family. Li Guihai had divorced her as well.
"Trust me, you had done her a huge favor. At least you don't have to worry about Zhao Jiali plotting against her later on." Xin Qing paused in thought. "Why don't I go talk to her?" Xin Qing sneaked a glance at Chen Ming. "But first you need to figure out your intentions towards her."
Chen Ming rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. "Tell her I'll take responsibility for her. Ask her to pick a date for our marriage," he said.
Xin Qing was shocked when she saw Li Xiaoru again; someone who used to be a healthy-looking lady now looked haggard and completely lifeless. Li Xiaoru sat there as if she could literally drop dead any moment.
"Um... Are you okay?" Xin Qing asked. At this point, Xin Qing was seriously worried that Li Xiaoru might kill herself if Chen Ming did not agree to marry her.
Li Xiaoru stared at the coffee cup on the table for a long while. Just when Xin Qing thought she was being ignored, Li Xiaoru said, "I don't need him to take any responsibility. Please tell him that I won't use this as an excuse to force him into a marriage with me. If he doesn't love me, tell him to just pretend that nothing ever happened."
Xin Qing had come with a speech prepared, but now it seemed to her that not a single word of it was relevant; the lady was well aware of Chen Ming's intentions.
"If you've truly gotten over everything, then you wouldn't be in such a state now," Xin Qing said, patting the other woman's hand. "Why didn't you pick up his calls? How will you ever know what he truly thinks if you refuse to listen to him?"
Li Xiaoru shook her head. "Chen Ming is a good man, so he definitely will take responsibility. But the thing is, I dont want that kind of marriage. My life will be filled with darkness if I marry a man who doesn't love me. No matter how much I like him, I can't go all in and put my entire happiness on the line for him." Li Xiaoru raised her hand to prevent Xin Qing from speaking. "It's true that I look like I'm going through a rough patch right now. But that's only because everything had happened so suddenly, and I was still in shock. I'll slowly readjust and pull myself together eventually. I mean, nothing in life is so bad that it won't pass, right? It's just a broken heart, after all. Who hasn't had their heart broken before?"
As if trying to prove the veracity of her own words, Li Xiaoru forced out a smile. Xin Qing felt a pang of sympathy after seeing her like this. Still, things like love and matters of the heart could not be forced. Only love could make a marriage work; sympathy and pity alone would not be sufficient.
"I've underestimated you," Xin Qing said with a smile. "You're braver than I thought. A girl like you will find happiness! Remember my phone number. From now on, we're friends."
The two women chatted for a short while before parting ways. Xin Qing headed to the underground carpark in search for Ah Che. When she stepped out of the elevator, a minivan suddenly appeared around the corner and was heading straight for her. Before Xin Qing even realized what was going on, she was dragged onto the vehicle. Ah Che's heart nearly leaped out of his throat when he saw the whole thing from afar. He quickly got into the car and gave chase to the minivan. Li Xiaoru was just leaving the coffee shop when she caught a glimpse of the minivan. Through the minivan's window, she saw Xin Qing inside the vehicle, struggling to free herself as a few men tried to hold her down.
"Abduction?" Li Xiaoru instantly realized what was going on. She pulled out her phone. After a brief moment of hesitation, she called Chen Ming.
Meanwhile, Ying Qingcang had also received the news. He contacted Boss Wan immediately while Young Master Shen began deploying his men to track down the vehicle.
"Is it someone from New York?" Asked Young Master Shen.
"Boss Wan is making inquiries right now." Ying Qingcang stood up. "No, this won't do. I'm going out to look for her."
Ah Nan held him back. "Ah Che is still tailing them. I've already called the police. They'll put out a BOLO and an APB on the vehicle soon," Ah Nan said. Just then, Chen Ming rushed into the room.
"A foreigner! One of the kidnappers is a foreigner!" Chen Ming said, panting. He had obviously run all the way here.
Young Master Shen seized Chen Ming by the shoulders. "How'd you know?"
"Li Xiaoru saw the whole thing. She told me that she saw very clearly that one of them was a foreigner with blonde hair."
Ying Qingcang smashed his fist on the desk. "Damn it! It has to be because of that CD."
Boss Wan's call came through. "Water Fiend said he never sent anyone over there. He isn't behind the kidnapping," Boss Wan said without preamble.
"But there's a foreigner among the abductors!" Ying Qingcang roared, causing the line to go silent for a moment. Then, Boss Wan said, "I understand." The line went dead.
Young Master Shen noted the look on Ying Qingcang's face, which was growing darker by the second. Ying Qingcang's hands, now clenched into tight fists, were shaking uncontrollably. Fearing that Ying Qingcang might lose it, Young Master Shen quickly said, "Hey, buddy. Calm down. I've already asked the old man to send some guys over. If Water Fiend was the one behind this, the old man will pry open his mouth and make him talk."
All of a sudden, Ah Che burst in, "Young master! Quickly! Follow me!"
Ying Qingcang ran out without another word with Young Master Shen and Ah Nan following closely behind him. Ying Qingcang's phone rang the moment he got into the car.
"President Ying, isn't it? Your assistant hasn't relay the message yet?" A man's voice was heard over the phone. "I'm not a man of patience, so I'm going to get it straight. Hand over the CD. Otherwise, be prepared to clean up your woman's corpse!"
"Calm down, young master. They're at a house in the southern suburbs," Ah Che said as he drove with haste. "They just want to see you. They won't hurt the young miss."
Young Master Shen frowned, "We've already given the CD to Water Fiend. Why are people still coming for it?"
"Call Boss Wan. Have him tell us exactly what's inside that CD. Or else, we'll have Uncle Shen blow up Water Fiend's ass into pieces." An aura of frustration surrounded Ying Qingcang as he grew more and more irritated. He tried his best to calm himself down. Xin Qing was still waiting for him to save her. He had to calm down.
Before Young Master Shen even made the call, Boss Wan called them, where he briefly explained the situation.
"That CD contains records of all military transactions in recent years, including information on every military informer, liaison and handler. Whoever that has access to that list could literally revolutionize the world of arms trafficking." Boss Wan paused. A moment later, he went on. "According to Water Fiend, the people who kidnapped your wife are most likely associated with an arms dealer in Europe. Look, I'm on the plane right now and will be there in three hours. Whatever it is that they want, you've got to stall them for as long as you can."
After hanging up, Ying Qingcang went over his options. A moment later, he said, "Ah Nan, find a CD."
"Young master, that's far too risky. We can try to drag out the journey. We don't have to see the kidnappers just yet."
Ying Qingcang gave Ah Nan an icy stare, "Xin Qing is in their hands right now as we speak. Every second she's with them means an increase in the risk of her being harmed. I won't allow her to get hurt."
Ah Che kept quiet and stepped down hard on the accelerator.
They arrived at the slum area of S City's southern suburb. Before them, right on the fringes of a junkyard, was a decrepit shack that had been erected by having piles upon piles of large and small wooden planks stacked together.
"That's the house, young master," Ah Che said, leading the group in front. Young Master Shen produced a bag pack out of nowhere. From the bag pack, he took out a few guns and handed one to each of them. "Do not hesitate. Those guys are practically terrorists. Start shooting the moment you smell something fishy."
It was the night of the twelfth moon, and S City's sea breeze had a bone-chilling coolness to it. Ah Che stood in front of a decrepit house. Well, it was probably an overstatement to even call it a house; it was basically just a few wooden planks stacked together to form a temporary building. The wind slipped into the building's interior through the gaps between the wood, causing the tarpaulin roof above to flap noisily.
"Yo! Our guests are here." A black man walked out of the house and, upon seeing Ying Qingcang and the rest, clapped his hands together. Two other men came out behind him. Each of these men wore what seemed to be winter clothing made from high quality material. Clearly, these people's schemes did not involve money.
"Where's my wife?" Ying Qingcang asked.
The black man, the who came out first, gave a welcome gesture, "Please come in."
The interior of the wooden shack was empty. Xin Qing was curled up in one corner, seemingly unconscious.
"What did you guys do to her?" Ying Qingcang clenched his fists. "If even a hair on my wife has been harmed, I guarantee that none of you would walk away from here alive."
"Mr. Ying, we're only after the CD. Hand it over, and then you can leave with your wife," said a blonde guy who was smiling at Ying Qingcang. "I hope you won't disappoint us!"
Young Master Shen sneered, "You guys have surely underestimated us if you have to balls to come here and openly kidnap one of our own."
"Haha! The infamous Young Master Shen! We're aware of your great reputation for quite some time. We're familiar with Old Man Shen, too. That's why we've been giving the hostage gentle treatment," said the blonde guy as he pointed a finger at Xin Qing. "Well, I suppose it's a little dirty here. But that's only because this place is such a shit hole."
The black man cut in impatiently, "Enough. Stop this pointless chatter. Hand over the CD right now." Seeing that Ying Qingcang had yet to make any moves, the black man pulled out his gun and pushed the muzzle at Xin Qing's head. "And don't fuck around by trying anything funny. Your wife won't survive even if you leave us today."
"Ah Nan, give him the CD," Ying Qingcang said in a deep voice.
Slowly, Ah Nan took out the CD from his pocket. When he saw Ah Nan's movement, the blonde guy drew his gun and pointed it at Ah Nan. "Don't move. Place the CD on top of this," the blonde man said, kicking a plastic bag towards Ah Nan. Ah Nan slowly bent down and placed the CD on the bag. After that, Ah Nan retreated to stand beside Ying Qingcang.
The black man walked over to the bag and was prepared to bend down to pick up the CD. In that split second, both Young Master Shen and Ying Qingcang burst into action; one of them pounced onto the black man while the other went for the blonde kidnapper. At the same time, Ah Nan and Ah Che drew their guns and pointed them at another short man.
In just a matter of seconds, the tables were turned.
Before Ying Qingcang even had the time to heave a sigh of relief, the black man started laughing.
"Kill us if you dare! You will still die together with all of us!"