Sensing someone had entered, a photo was snapped of Le Sheng, and then the door closed again.
Le Sheng opened her eyes, quietly taking in the room's furnishings.
Xiao Pei was half-lying opposite her, not yet fully awake.
This kind of old apartment had poor soundproofing. Le Sheng could hear a man's voice making a phone call outside.
"Why did you bring her in too?" This was a woman's voice—one that sounded oddly familiar.
Le Sheng couldn't help but knit her brows.
"That woman saw our faces. If we didn't kidnap her, wouldn't we be exposed?"
There was a moment's silence on the other end, then the voice spoke up again, "Don't touch her."
A hint of derision crept into the man's voice. "Just a woman. What are you so afraid of?"
The woman's voice rose, tinged with anger. "She's with the Shen family. By kidnapping her, you’re taking on a major headache. I’m telling you, you’d better let her go. If the Shens come looking for her, you'll all be in deep trouble!"
The man scoffed dismissively. "Hah, the mighty Shen family—I’m not scared! It's done now anyway. Even if we let her go, she’d probably go straight to the cops. Might as well keep her as a hostage—maybe we can score big."
The woman, exasperated, kept begging them not to do it, but the man ignored her and hung up.
A few minutes later, the man came in again, carrying a basin of cold water and dumped it straight on Xiao Pei.
Xiao Pei woke with a jolt, panic-stricken. The tape over her mouth was ripped off harshly, leaving her lips raw and burning.
"Wh-who are you?" she stammered.
Seeing how Xiao Pei trembled in fear, the man burst out laughing. He brandished a fruit knife, drawing it lightly across her belly, his tone full of menace. "I hear you’re pregnant with Zhu Xun’s child?"
Terrified, Xiao Pei dared not move an inch, her entire body shuddering uncontrollably.
"What do you want? I’m warning you, I'm carrying a Zhu baby. If Zhu Xun finds out you’ve kidnapped me, he will not let you off!"
Rather than being intimidated, the two men just burst out laughing, sneering at her. "You really think Zhu Xun scares us?"
Xiao Pei tried to steady herself. "I'm telling you, let me go now and save yourselves—"
Smack! Before she could finish, the man slapped her hard across the face.
"Shut up!" he barked.
Xiao Pei’s cheek swelled red instantly, her eyes brimming with tears as she dared not utter another word.
Le Sheng sat on the floor, watching coldly. With her mouth taped shut, she was unable to speak.
The other man grabbed Xiao Pei’s phone, dialed a number, and put it on speaker before shoving it in front of her.
Zhu Xun’s voice came on. "Hello, Peipei? What’s wrong?"
Overcome with grievance, Xiao Pei broke down in loud sobs.
Zhu Xun’s voice tensed. "What happened? Just tell me clearly."
Through her tears, Xiao Pei sobbed out that she’d been kidnapped. There was sudden silence on the other end.
After a long moment, Xiao Pei asked, "Why aren’t you saying anything?"
No answer.
Just as everyone thought Zhu Xun had hung up, his voice came, cool and distant: "Peipei, jokes like this aren’t funny."
His tone was much colder than before.
"No, it’s not a joke! I really have been kidnapped!" she cried, expecting Zhu Xun to worry for her safety. Instead, he let out a cold snort. "I’ve seen this trick a thousand times, Xiao Pei. Don’t think that just because you’ve been with me a while, you can do whatever you want!"
"I didn’t—"
Before she could finish, the call had been cut.
Xiao Pei sat there, dazed.
The two kidnappers stared at each other in disbelief, then glared at Xiao Pei, faces clouded with anger. "Damn it! And here we thought you were worth something. Turns out you’re not even worth a dime!"
Money was their motive for all this. They’d thought Xiao Pei could bring in a decent ransom, but who knew Zhu Xun would be so ruthless.
Normally, he showered Xiao Pei with endearments, but when something real happened, he couldn’t distance himself fast enough. So much for ‘love’—what a joke.
"Can I make another call? I have a way to get money from Zhu Xun," Xiao Pei begged through her tears, her eyes red and her stomach beginning to ache. She was finally starting to understand, but all she wanted now was an answer from Zhu Xun.
"You can get money from Zhu Xun?" One of the kidnappers gripped her chin, eyes cold and suspicious.
Xiao Pei nodded.
The kidnapper dialed Zhu Xun’s number again.
When he picked up, Zhu Xun’s voice was clearly impatient. Xiao Pei spoke quickly: "Are you really not going to believe me?"
"Xiao Pei, I usually put up with your drama, but you think you can fake a kidnapping and I’ll buy it? Do you really think I’m that stupid?"
Xiao Pei bit her lip, her voice trembling. "But I really have been kidnapped!"
"Just get to the point—how much do you want this time?"
Before Xiao Pei could respond, the kidnapper snatched the phone and snarled, "Zhu Xun! You have two hours to transfer fifty million, or you can start arranging this woman’s funeral!"
Even the kidnappers hadn’t expected Zhu Xun to be so callous.
Only now did Xiao Pei realize that, in Zhu Xun’s eyes, she was nothing more than an old shirt—discarded without a second thought.
With bloodshot eyes, one kidnapper glared at her, creeping closer with a knife. "You heard him. This is the man you chose—blame him, not us."
Just as his hand with the knife was about to fall, Le Sheng kicked over a nearby folding table, finally drawing the kidnappers’ attention.
She made muffled noises through the tape on her mouth.
Suddenly, the kidnappers recalled her identity. That other woman had said she was with the Shen family—Ancheng’s Shen clan, an established and wealthy household… she’d be worth much more.
They ripped the tape from Le Sheng’s mouth.
Ignoring the pain, Le Sheng met their eyes, her gaze icy. "You want money? I can get you money."
"Are you serious?" one of the kidnappers asked doubtfully.
"Give me my phone and you’ll see for yourself."
The kidnappers hesitantly unlocked her phone and, guided by Le Sheng, dialed Yancy Shaw.
At that moment, Yancy Shaw was going through the underground parking lot surveillance footage. When his phone rang and he saw it was Le Sheng calling, his expression instantly tensed.
As he answered, his voice unconsciously quivered. "Shengsheng, where are you?"