Chapter 98
Chapter 98
Five o’clock in the morning on September 28.
Autumn had arrived, and the cold wind blew bleakly.
Although Jing City was a first-tier metropolis, its urban sprawl was not especially developed. At five in the morning, the autumn wind swept through the cornfields, and the village houses scattered around the farmland sat quiet and desolate.
No one noticed the helicopter circling overhead. After confirming there was no danger or anything suspicious, it landed on a wide open space in the village.
Dozens of bodyguards in black suits rushed out of the compact helicopter, surrounding a potbellied man as he slowly disembarked.
“Are you sure Han Qianduo is in this city? This place looks run-down and backward to me. Whoever kidnapped my son probably isn’t anyone important. Bringing you men should be more than enough!”
The man cautiously swept his beady eyes around the area. Before coming, he had coordinated the landing site with the airport. This city was a place he never wanted to return to for the rest of his life.
It was also the place where he had made his first pot of gold through improper means. He had not wanted to come at all, but the person kidnapped was his own son, Han Qianduo.
Han Fu had struggled his entire life to build an enormous family fortune, yet from beginning to end, he had only this one foolish son. Having a child in his later years, he doted on him endlessly. After Han Qianduo disappeared, he had searched hard, but for months-nearly a year-there had been no leads.
Now that he had finally found the faintest trace of him, he had not expected his son to have been taken to the very city Han Fu never wanted to return to.
He had considered the possibility that this was revenge, so Han Fu had not come alone.
The dozen-plus bodyguards in black suits and ties were all formally retired soldiers, and they had signed life-and-death contracts with him. Each one was strong, sturdy, and experienced in real combat.
On the helicopter, Han Fu had praised them lavishly and was quite satisfied. Now that they had landed and he saw this dilapidated village, his heart settled somewhat.
“The general location is here, but the precise location is several kilometers away. It should be in the area with the most prosperous entertainment venues in the capital. We checked the young master’s exact location online using the map and found that he should be imprisoned in a place called Baijinghui.”
The man in black held a tablet and zoomed in on the location from the map search for Han Fu to see.
When Han Fu saw the familiar street name, his heart gave a hard thump. It felt as if his entire heart had sunk.
“In that case, contact a few off-road vehicles. Move as fast as possible. I want to see my son tonight!”
There was no helping it. That was his only child.
Even if he knew there were tigers on the mountain, Han Fu could only head straight for Tiger Mountain.
At his command, several black-clad bodyguards nodded to him. After unloading the equipment and supplies from the luxury helicopter, the group set out on foot in the opposite direction of the village.
They had already arranged everything while on the helicopter. Once they reached the designated spot, the off-road vehicles they had hired in advance were delivered within minutes. The dozen-plus people split into two groups and got into two off-road vehicles.
They sped off in a cloud of dust, heading north.
Meanwhile, near Baijinghui, hundreds of drones rose into the air. The airport had dispatched additional manpower and was locked down under tight control.
All the main streets, side streets, corners, and small alleys around Baijinghui had been sealed off. The entertainment venues that had once been packed with people had now all been completely cleared out.
Hundreds of people held their breath and waited, nerves stretched taut.
The only ones who could still be considered idle were the three people in the private room with Wu Xiaojiu.
The three of them squatted together, looking at one another, so bored it was as if mushrooms were about to sprout from their heads.
“Are you really sure my dad is coming today? I haven’t played on my iPad or phone for two days straight. I seriously can’t control my internet addiction anymore,” Han Qianduo muttered, dark circles under his eyes.
After learning that he had no idea how to make international calls, Wu Xiaojiu very humanely lent him his own phone to play with.
Han Qianduo lived up to expectations. He stopped running his mouth quite so much. Aside from mealtimes, washing dishes, and peeling fruit-when he couldn’t hold the iPad or phone and would mutter under his breath-he was a little less annoying the rest of the time.
“Cut the crap. The intel is solid. He’s been flying here from Europe nonstop. Judging by the timing, your father should have landed by now.”
Bo Suihan’s influence was vast and deeply entrenched.
He was certain Han Fu knew this trip was a trap and wouldn’t rashly contact an airport with a private jet to request an emergency landing on a runway. Han Fu would definitely sneak off alone to some open stretch of land, land the plane there, then bring people in without anyone noticing to rescue his son.
So the people Bo Suihan had placed at the airports were only decoys. Jing City was a first-tier city where every inch of land was worth a fortune; landing a plane anywhere inside the city would cause a huge commotion.
Bo Suihan had focused his efforts on the outskirts instead, increasing manpower around the entrances to every village and sending several thousand people to lie in wait for Han Fu.
But if Han Fu really had landed according to their estimated time, the extra men stationed at each village entrance shouldn’t have sent back no news at all.
Bo Suihan couldn’t figure out what was going on, and it was starting to grate on him.
He stood and walked over to look out the floor-to-ceiling window.
Though it was already late at night, the area around Baijinghui was lit up as bright as day.
Amid the glaring white lights, a few points of red flickered here and there.
“Stop worrying. You haven’t eaten in two days. I know you hate him, but hatred can’t fill your stomach. Don’t ruin your health over this.”
Wu Xiaojiu crouched on the floor and looked up at him.
Bo Suihan had grown much thinner and more drained lately. This kind of wear couldn’t have been caused by just a day or two without food. His heart had to be in complete turmoil, every emotion crashing around inside him, leaving him trapped in this state.
Bo Suihan lowered his head and pressed a hand against his eye sockets. The lights outside were too harsh, making his eyes sting.
“I’m not hungry. If you don’t have anything else tonight, we’ll sleep in separate rooms.”
Outside Baijinghui, the crowd was noisy and chaotic. Bo Suihan turned back and bent down to pick up the glasses on the table.
Wu Xiaojiu pulled both legs inside his shirt, then stretched the hem down until it just covered his feet. He twisted side to side with his whole body, expressing his refusal.
“He’s worried about you too. My dad definitely came prepared this time. What if he brought a pew-pew, or soldiers or something, and you got hurt? That’d be bad. You’re not anyone to my dad, and you’re not really anyone to the Bo Family either. You’re just an outsider. There’s no need for you to get injured over this.”
Han Qianduo couldn’t keep his mouth idle. The moment he heard someone speak, he couldn’t help but chime in.
These past few days, he’d talked so much that ulcers had broken out all over the inside and outside of both lips. At night, the pain made him howl and shriek, but even that couldn’t stop him.
Wu Xiaojiu turned his back and, where Bo Suihan couldn’t see, raised his middle finger at Han Fu.
“So it has to be a shootout? Your dad has no sense of morality, doesn’t know he was wrong for what he did, and now that he has a son like you and has already lived this long, can’t he just die heroically?”
No matter what anyone said, Wu Xiaojiu refused to leave.
His butt seemed rooted to the spot. Han Qianduo burst out laughing at the sight, pointing at him as he wheezed, “I swear, you really are insane.”