The Lin family home; Zhou Jianbin had brought a group of police officers and had already arrived here, currently questioning Lin Huayu about what happened at that time.
"Miss Lin, are you sure that Ye Qing was rescuing you at the time and not attempting to cover for those kidnappers?" a police officer asked in a grave voice.
"I've already said it dozens of times, Ye is a good person, how could he do such a thing?" Lin Huayu replied impatiently.
Sitting not far away, Zhou Jianbin turned his head and said, "Good people and bad people can't be discerned from appearances alone. Some people seem loyal and kind but do sneaky and despicable things behind others' backs. Others might not look great on the outside but are very kind-hearted inside. Huayu, you're still young; don't be fooled by someone's appearance!"
"Besides, that guy surnamed Ye isn't that good-looking anyway. That face of his lacks any character, and his skin is terribly rough, nowhere near as handsome as those idols from Stick Country. One of these days I'll show you my idols; they are incredibly handsome!" a girl around seventeen or eighteen clamored. She was Lin Huayu's cousin, an extended member of the Lin family.
"Exactly, exactly, Dongfang Shengqi is the handsomest!" another boy chimed in, these two were obviously fans of Korean pop.
"Handsome? They look like women!" a man sneered.
"What did you say?" the girl immediately stood up, screeching like a cat whose tail had been stepped on: "How dare you insult my idols?"
The boy was equally furious, as if the insult was directed at him.
"What, am I wrong?" the man glared back at them.
"Don't you have any manners?" the girl shrieked, demanding respect for her idols.
"Enough!" An elderly voice suddenly broke through, silencing everyone; all heads turned toward Old Lady Lin sitting on the sofa.
Old Lady Lin's face was as cold as frost; she firmly tapped her cane on the table and angrily said, "What's more important right now, your little aunt or who looks handsome?"
The man immediately shut up, and the girl, still feeling wronged, whispered, "Grandma, I was telling the truth, the idols are indeed..."
"Get out!" the old lady shouted.
The girl was stunned, tears swirling in her eyes; she hadn't expected her grandmother to speak to her .
Old Lady Lin didn't so much as glance at her, waving her off with a hand: "Take her out!"
Two bodyguards approached, with one of them bowing and saying, "Miss, sorry, but please step out for a moment."
Tears streamed down the girl's face, but in front of Old Lady Lin, she did not dare to be presumptuous and obediently left.
Watching the girl being led away, everyone in the room sat upright and serious. Everyone knew Old Lady Lin rarely lost her temper with the younger generation, but the fact that she showed such anger today indicated the incident with Lin Yashi had deeply affected her.
Zhou Jianbin consoled her, "Old Lady Lin, don't worry. I've already gathered some preliminary clues and am comprehensively analyzing them. Moreover, I have already called upon fifty percent of the city's police force to investigate this matter fully. I'm confident that within seventy-two hours, we'll solve the case and rescue Yashi!"
Old Lady Lin glared at him and angrily said, "Seventy-two hours! So much can happen in seventy-two hours! You police are completely unreliable!"
Zhou Jianbin, embarrassed, did not dare to retort in the face of Old Lady Lin.
A younger member of the Lin family said in a solemn voice, "Grandma, this incident must be inextricably linked to that Ye fellow!"
"Hey, don't talk nonsense without proof," Lin Huayu quickly turned her head and said, "Ye risked his life trying to save me. He really had no way to save my aunt. How could it be related to him?"
"Hmph, as a bodyguard, failing to protect his employer, even if it's not related to him, he's useless," Old Lady Lin glanced at Lin Huayu and said, "If it weren't for the fact that he saved you, I would never let him off this time. Tell your dad to fire him starting today, I don't want to see him again!"
Lin Huayu became anxious and said, "Grandma, how can you be , Ye truly did his best!"
Old Lady Lin didn't even bother listening to her, turning to someone else and saying sternly, "Go find the best private detective. Whoever participates in the search can get ten thousand yuan. Providing clues will be rewarded with one hundred thousand. Whoever finds the person will get one million. If someone rescues her, they will be rewarded with five million!"
"Ah?" the person beside her was taken aback, Old Lady Lin's rewards were incredibly high.
"What are you standing around for, get on with it!" Old Lady Lin tapped her cane, angrily commanding, "If Yashi is harmed in any way, I won't let those people off easily!"
"Yes, yes, yes." That person hastily ran off to take care of it.
Zhou Jianbin sat awkwardly in front of Old Lady Lin; her request for a private detective right in front of him clearly showed she had no confidence in him. Yet, this was the Lin family home, and he could only swallow his pride.
"Old Lady Lin, Young Master Hao is here!" Suddenly, the nanny's voice came from the doorway.
Old Lady Lin looked up and saw Eldest Brother Lin hurriedly walk in. His real name was Lin Tianhao, and in the mouths of these nannies at the Lin household, he was also called Young Master Hao.
"Grandma, what's wrong with my little aunt?" Eldest Brother Lin asked as he ran, his forehead covered in sweat, appearing as if he had run the whole way there.
Seeing him , Old Lady Lin nodded slightly. Whether Eldest Brother Lin could help or not, the fact that he had rushed over so anxiously was enough to show his concern.
"Ah!" Old Lady Lin recounted what had happened to Lin Yashi. Eldest Brother Lin furrowed his brows and turned to Zhou Jianbin, saying, "Director Zhou, do we have any leads now?"
"This..." Zhou Jianbin hesitated for a moment, then said, "We've already caught several kidnappers and are in the full investigation stage. Also, we've obtained crucial leads, and we will surely solve the case within seventy-two hours!"
"Oh." Eldest Brother Lin nodded and said, "Isn't there a bodyguard? How could such a thing happen?"
A member of the Lin family spoke up, "Don't even mention that bodyguard. That Ye guy is fine and unharmed while the little aunt gets kidnapped. I think that bodyguard is totally useless!"
"How could this happen?" Eldest Brother Lin furrowed his brows tighter and looked at Lin Huayu, saying, "I thought that Ye guy was quite capable. How could he fail to protect my little aunt?"
Another person added, "Exactly, if he is so capable and still couldn't protect my little aunt, there must be something wrong here."
"Enough, let's not continue this topic!" Old Lady Lin raised her voice and said, "All of you disperse. Tianhao, you have many friends outside, have them help look for your little aunt."
"Sure, no problem!" Eldest Brother Lin nodded and said, "Grandma, rest assured, I'll definitely do my utmost to help rescue my little aunt."
Eldest Brother Lin didn't stay at the Lin family's home for long and left in a hurry after exchanging a few words, driving away from the Lin household. He drove around the city a bit, talked to a few friends about the situation, and asked them to help look into it.
Once he confirmed no one was following him, he then headed to the outskirts of the city, arriving at a secluded village in the Southern Suburb.
The village was remote and not accessible by public roads, so most of the residents had moved away. Only a few households remained, all of which were elderly staying behind. The village also had many abandoned houses, left behind by those who had moved away.
Eldest Brother Lin drove there himself, without bringing anyone. He dared not let anyone know about this affair!
He parked his car outside a run-down house at the end of the village and slipped inside the house. However, there was no one inside the house. Eldest Brother Lin hid by the window, observing for a long time to ensure no one was following him, then quietly slipped out the back window and climbed up the hillside, arriving at a cluster of strange rocks on the mountainside.
Using a stone, Eldest Brother Lin knocked a signal of three longs and two shorts on the rocks. After a moment, a person stood up from within the rocks and gestured to Eldest Brother Lin from afar.
Eldest Brother Lin immediately went to meet the man, and after being led around the strange rock cluster for a few turns, they arrived at a confined clearing almost completely enclosed by giant rocks.
The clearing was about the size of a single house, surrounded by stones five or six meters high, with many trees nearby that almost entirely hid the place from view. Even for Eldest Brother Lin, had someone not brought him here, it would have been very difficult for him to find this spot.
There were five people on the clearing, He Ziqiang being one of them, along with four of his subordinates. Lin Yashi was bound hand and foot, blindfolded, lying on the ground, while two men were undressing her. Lin Yashi was still half-conscious and had no strength to resist.
Seeing this scene, Eldest Brother Lin's face changed dramatically. He hurried over and pulled the two men away, then turned and glared furiously at He Ziqiang.
"What are you doing? Come on, we're all guys here, just having a bit of fun!" He Ziqiang shrugged nonchalantly and laughed, "This broad isn't young anymore, but she's maintained herself pretty well, truly top-notch. Since we've got her here, we can't let it go to waste, right?"
Eldest Brother Lin dared not speak out for fear that Lin Yashi would recognize his voice, instead, he just furiously glared at He Ziqiang and made a throat-slitting gesture.
"You don't need to threaten me. I think you better behave yourself!" He Ziqiang sneered, "Don't think you're so great just because this is Shenchuan City. If I get too annoyed, killing you would just mean one more head!"
The four men surrounding He Ziqiang also closed in, their presences threatening as they stared down Eldest Brother Lin.
Eldest Brother Lin softened somewhat, realizing that He Ziqiang and his men truly were cold-blooded killers. Compared with them, he was nothing but a local thug. If they wanted to kill him, he wouldn't stand a chance!
"Move aside!" He Ziqiang glared at him. Eldest Brother Lin hesitated but finally obediently stepped aside.
"That's more like it!" He Ziqiang laughed heartily and said, "A wise man knows better than to go against the tide. We're all friends here, so how about you take the first turn?"
Eldest Brother Lin kept his head down, his eyes flickering with cold light, completely ignoring He Ziqiang's words.
"If you're not going to take part, then we won't be polite anymore!" He Ziqiang laughed loudly and waved his hand, "Boys, she's all yours!"
The four men leaped toward Lin Yashi like overjoyed wolves pouncing on their prey.