Because Tang Xiaowan was kidnapped early in the morning, Li Zishen didn’t go to visit his mother. Instead, he was busy dealing with the mastermind behind the scenes and secretly teaming up with Leng Lingxiao to plan the specifics of the rescue operation.
It’s fair to say he was incredibly busy.
Immediately, Li Zishen hurriedly pressed the answer button, "What’s happened, what’s going on?"
As expected, the anxious voice of his younger brother, Li Zihan, came through from the other end of the phone, "Brother, Mom has disappeared, and her phone keeps saying it’s unattended."
"Disappeared? How could she disappear?"
"Mom said she wanted to go for a walk and didn’t want me or the bodyguards to follow, but I was worried, so I secretly followed her. Then, halfway through, a female cleaner blocked my way for a moment, and then Mom was gone."
"What about Nanny Wu? Where did Nanny Wu go?"
"She said she was going back to cook some nourishing soup."
"Oh, she’s not there either."
As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zishen immediately picked up a spare phone and issued a new order to Chen Xin.
"Brother, could it be Second Uncle who did this?"
Li Zihan suddenly thought of their Second Uncle, Li Wanshan, especially since there had been a trending search that sowed discord and the incident where he was refused visitation at the hospital in the last two days.
Although they had reconciled, it was only on the surface; everyone still harbored grudges.
"It’s not him, definitely not the Second Uncle. Here’s what you do, lock down the information first, then check the hospital’s surveillance. I’ll handle the rest."
"Okay, brother, I’m on it."
Just as Li Zishen had hung up the phone, the ringtone sounded again; it was a virtual number.
He didn’t need to ask to know who it was.
After he answered, a deep electronic voice indeed came through, "Mr. Li, I hear your mother has gone missing. How careless of you, isn’t it?"
Li Zishen snorted coldly, warning, "You’d better not do anything to harm my mother, or else, I’ll make you pay a price!"
"Oh? Really? Then I’ll be waiting to see that," the other party sneered.
"Cut the crap, where is my mother?"
"Don’t worry, I’ll definitely pay special attention to her whereabouts, especially since our deal... hasn’t been fulfilled yet!"
"What do you want?" Li Zishen roared, beginning to lose control of his emotions.
Despite his efforts to restrain himself and not be led around by the nose, Yuan Min was his mother after all, just as important as Tang Xiaowan.
He couldn’t remain calm and collected.
Moreover, it was clear that the other party seemed to bear hostility towards Yuan Min, which was evident from the attitude in the negotiations following Tang Xiaowan’s kidnapping.
Li Zishen didn’t understand why.
Who exactly were they?
Did they know Xiaowan, or perhaps they only wanted to use her kidnapping to divert his attention?
This directly resulted in neglecting his mother!
"Challenge me directly if you have a problem; I’m on the fifth floor of the shopping center, or name a place, and I will be there immediately. Bullying a mother, don’t you think your actions are shameful?"
"Mr. Li, I advise you to stay calm. As long as you do what we agreed on, I can assure you she won’t be in any danger."
"Don’t think you can achieve your goals by threatening my mother. I warn you, if you dare to harm her, I’ll make sure you die a very ugly death!"
A deep, chilling laugh came from the other end of the phone, even though it was an electronic sound.
"Mr. Li, you’re truly naive. Do you think I’d be afraid of your threats? It’s a joke. I just wanted to tell you that if you don’t cooperate, your mother might suffer a bit."
"Speak, what do you really want?" Li Zishen gritted his teeth and asked.
"The same amount as before, two billion. Also, stop tracking Du Jiahao immediately, otherwise, I can’t guarantee what special care your dear mother Yuan Min... might receive."
Another cold laugh followed his words.
"Fine, I will consider your conditions, but you must ensure my mother’s safety."
"Rest assured, I want money, not her life. I’ll give you two hours to think it over. That will be all for now. I await good news."
After the call was hung up, Li Zishen felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife. He had to make a decision quickly.
If he chose to continue tracking Du Jiahao, his mother could face harm. But if he chose to stop the pursuit, he felt like he would be letting the tiger return to the mountain. What was more terrifying was that Du Jiahao could very likely come back for revenge against Tang Xiaowan.
"Xiao Wan, what should I do?"
"Where are you now, you must have left Jin City by now, haven’t you?"
"Du Jiahao, Du Jiahao!"
Time kept ticking away, every second passing.
Li Zishen’s headache was relentless. Although two hundred million in cash was not a small amount, he had been ready since the moment Tang Xiaowan was taken hostage.
For the person he loved, let alone two billion, he wouldn’t skimp on even ten billion.
But the situation at hand was too complicated!
Tang Xiaowan had just been rescued when his own mother fell into a cruel trap.
Meanwhile, on Jinshan Road.
Du Jiahao was in a state of high tension. Follow current novᴇls on novel※fire.net
He raced the SUV while vigilantly observing his surroundings, to avoid falling into a trap or being ambushed.
He had thought that Li Zishen and Leng Lingxiao would choose to cooperate with the police, but they hadn’t.
Clearly, the two of them understood the rules of the game.
Suddenly, a black sedan approached from the left, blocking his path. Du Jiahao slammed on the brakes and swerved around the sedan, continuing to speed forward.
He grew more and more impatient, barely resisting the urge to stop and fight it out.
But he knew that it wasn’t time for desperation; he needed to shake off the pursuit and find a safe place to hide.
This way, Du Jiahao tore through the city, even daring to run through multiple red lights, weaving recklessly through streets and alleys until he finally lost the persistent sedan.
Afterward, he drove into a construction site and downed an entire bottle of mineral water.
"Damn it, don’t let me catch you!"
"How dare you toy with me!"
Just as he seethed, his phone screen suddenly lit up with Lei Ziyi’s incoming call.
He quickly pressed the answer button.
"Hello, can I pull out now?"
"No, no, no, don’t be in a hurry to retreat. The boss wants you to take a detour near the West Suburb and then wait for instructions," Lei Ziyi hastily replied.
Du Jiahao’s heart sank.
He thought this meant Lei Ziyi was hinting that the boss had abandoned him; after all, the mission had failed, and all that was left for him was to end it himself.
But as it turned out, Du Jiahao was worrying unnecessarily.
His behind-the-scenes boss valued him greatly and had anticipated the mission’s failure.
"Don’t get it wrong, Leng Lingxiao’s men and Li Zishen’s men are both tracking you now. You are buying time for the boss. Yuan Min has taken the bait, and the current situation requires delaying Li Zishen and compelling Leng Lingxiao to leave Jin City to prevent his involvement," Lei Ziyi said confidently, almost bursting into laughter.
"Yuan Min? Has the plan changed?" Du Jiahao clenched his teeth, suppressing his rage as he asked.
"Yes, that’s right, but I’ve also just..."
"Why didn’t you say something sooner?" Du Jiahao angrily interjected, "You know very well how powerful Li Zishen is in Jin City, and now with Leng Lingxiao to contend with, plans change and I’m not informed—just say it if you don’t trust me, why beat around the bush?"
After speaking, Lei Ziyi couldn’t help but fall silent for a moment, knowing full well how difficult Du Jiahao’s current predicament was, and that shaking off their tails was indeed not easy.
Not to mention, Du Jiahao had spent years abroad and was completely unfamiliar with the local road conditions.
It was just too much to ask of a person!
"Brother Hao, don’t be angry, the boss surely knows you’re in a tough spot. Why else would he provide you with such a good car and the latest gear?" Lei Ziyi reasoned earnestly, "Plus, I only received the notification just now, not much earlier than you."
"Okay, got it. I’ll do my best."
On the other end of the phone, Lei Ziyi quietly let out a sigh of relief, also feeling that their boss’s methods were unusually unpredictable this time.
Not arranging for backup during the abduction of Tang Xiaowan to Jin City was a big risk.
After all, his speciality was assassination, not moving targets!
So, he advised with sincerity, "Brother Hao, keep in touch if anything comes up, and don’t rush into anything. ’Where there’s life, there’s hope.’"
"Alright, got it. That’s all."
With that, Du Jiahao hung up the call.
After checking his equipment, he furrowed his brows and without a moment of hesitation, started the SUV.