(Have a great weekend, first update delivered!)
——————————————
"Hello, Young Master Xiao, is that you?"
The call connected almost imdiately, and Chen Jianguo’s voice ca through, sounding both frantic and excited.
"It’s , Chen, what’s wrong?"
Xiao Yi’s brows furrowed slightly. Chen Jianguo’s panicked voice confird his earlier thought that Chen Jianguo was not calling him casually; he must have run into so issue.
"Young Master Xiao, were you in class just now? I’m really sorry for interrupting, but I had no other choice."
After a brief panic, Chen Jianguo’s face showed a hint of apology.
"It’s nothing, what exactly happened?"
Xiao Yi frowned, his mind sharpening. Although he and Chen Jianguo hadn’t been in contact for long, he was well aware of Chen Jianguo’s capabilities. What could have happened to make him so downcast?
"Young Master Xiao, this... ah... it’s a long story. Are you done with your classes now? Can you co to Azure Waterfront? I’m here waiting for you now."
Chen Jianguo sighed deeply, then carefully spoke.
"I’ll be right there."
Having said that, Xiao Yi imdiately hung up the phone and dashed toward the school gates like a shot.
On the campus path, with students bustling about either preparing for their next class or hurrying to their dorms, it seed as though a gust of wind had swept past. Soone seed to flash by, but when they looked carefully, all they saw was the crowded flow of people, and no trace of anyone running. They rubbed their eyes and scratched their heads in confusion, thinking they had seen an illusion. Only a few in less crowded areas of the path clearly saw a pale gray figure streaking past at a speed comparable to a motorbike, but they couldn’t see it clearly before it vanished from their sight. They thought it was so reckless skater whizzing by and began to curse, and soone even went to an online forum to post a rant about the dangers of skaters racing around on campus, arguing convincingly that the skating speeds could reach 60 miles per hour and could be fatal if soone were hit, sparking a backlash against skates following earlier campaigns against e-bikes, while also pushing campus traffic safety discussions to another climax.
Upon returning to the Azure Waterfront villa, Xiao Yi saw Chen Jianguo’s figure and a cautiously attentive Liu Yuan. Seeing Chen’s state, Xiao Yi almost jumped in shock. It had only been a few days since he had last seen him, but he looked like a completely changed man, with deeply sunken eyes, a long beard, and eyes bloodshot and devoid of their usual sharpness.
"Young Master Xiao, you’ve returned."
Liu Yuan, standing by the door, was the first to notice Xiao Yi’s arrival. On seeing him enter, Liu Yuan imdiately expressed surprise happily.
"Young Master Xiao!"
Chen Jianguo also quickly turned his face, showing an excited expression.
"Yes, what’s going on?"
Xiao Yi nodded and bluntly asked as he looked at Chen Jianguo’s appearance.
"Young Master Xiao, Xue has been kidnapped."
Chen Jianguo’s face showed a bitter expression, and he didn’t directly respond. Liu Yuan, observing Chen’s expression, somberly spoke for him. After speaking, he realized that Xiao Yi didn’t know who Xue was, and quickly added, "Xue is Mr. Chen’s daughter, Chen Xue, who just started her senior year of high school."
"What happened?"
Xiao Yi raised his eyebrows, continuing to look at Liu Yuan.
"Young Master Xiao, let explain."
Chen Jianguo gave a wry smile, slowly taking over the conversation, "It started a month ago. One of our company’s residential projects in D city was exposed by the dia for quality issues. After so crisis public relations work and prompt responses, the issue had cooled down. However, just when you ca over, there suddenly erged more voices that started vigorously reporting on our property’s quality issues, concocting nurous false reports on the internet and in the dia. Normally, we wouldn’t fear since we hadn’t done anything wrong, but during the first incident, to manage the crisis more effectively, our PR departnt took so asures like dining with regulatory bodies for faster inspection results to establish authoritative conclusions. However, this ti, these matters were exposed, leading those who originally didn’t believe them to start believing that our properties had issues."
"Do our properties actually have any issues?"
Xiao Yi frowned.
"I can assure you they don’t. I personally supervise the quality of real estate, and it’s strictly controlled; there can’t be any quality issues at all. As for minor issues with the décor, I can’t be completely certain, as we can’t completely control every detail."
Chen Jianguo spoke without hesitation, his eyes revealing a determined look, "Houses are built for people to live in. I would never treat matters of life as a joke."
"What does this have to do with your daughter’s kidnapping?"
Xiao Yi nodded, trusting that Chen Jianguo would not deceive him, and slightly relaxed. But soon, he frowned again.
"With those PR issues being exposed, I imdiately realized that we had a problem inside our company, which, in my view, was much more terrifying than the external negative news. Thus, we started a thorough investigation, but during this period, Xue was kidnapped."
Thinking of his daughter still in the kidnappers’ hands, not knowing whether she was alive or dead, Chen Jianguo’s face uncontrollably showed deep worry, and his whole spirit seed even more dejected than before.
"Didn’t the kidnappers contact you?"
Xiao Yi imdiately thought of a question.
"They did. They told to stop the investigation, or else they would kill her."
Chen Jianguo nodded, recalling the phone call from yesterday. His hands tightly clenched into fists, his bloodshot eyes flashing with anger. But in an instant, that turned into a wave of helplessness as he tightly held his head, vigorously grabbing at his own hair.
Reviews
All reviews (0)