Chapter 154: 154: Textile powerhouses join forces, unstoppable (second update
“I haven’t had my al yet…”
Jiang Zhi was angry, “They didn’t give you any food?”
Hostage Zhou Xufang pouted, “Yes.”
Kidnappers: “…”
On the phone, the family of the hostage took a deep breath to calm down, lowered their voice, and comforted the hostage, “Xu Fang, don’t be afraid, just—”
The call had already lasted one minute and thirty seconds.
Hong San imdiately picked up the phone, turned off the speakerphone, as he had neither the ti nor the patience to listen to the lovebirds croon—moreover, the young master of the Jiang Family was not a simple one, and he didn’t want to waste any more ti. He was concise, “Your girlfriend is fine, prepare the ransom.”
Jiang Zhi got straight to the point, “How much do you want?”
Hong San said, “Five million, all in US Dollars.”
There was a mont of hesitation on the other end, “The ti and place for the exchange.”
Hong San glanced at the call tir again and sped up his speech, “I will have soone send the ti and place later.” His tone shifted to a threat, “But, don’t call the police. If I find out there are police, I will send your girlfriend on her way imdiately.”
Jiang Zhi didn’t hesitate, showing his stance, “I won’t call the police, but don’t harm my people either. If you dare to treat like a cash cow, you should know who I am. Money is no issue for , and I don’t need to call the police over five million. I’ll give you whatever, consider it charity, but if my people get hurt, you won’t end well. I don’t care who you are, if you harm my people, I will make sure you’re dead.”
The young master of the Jiang family was truly not to be trifled with.
Hong San, his face stern and eyes aflutter with panic, his hand sweaty as he clenched it by his side.
Jiang Zhi continued in a commanding tone, “She hasn’t eaten yet, go buy her so food.”
The call was approaching three minutes.
Jiang Zhi was still speaking, “And another thing—”
Hong San interrupted harshly, “Stop stalling for ti, just quietly wait for my instructions.” He snorted coldly, “If you try any tricks, I’m not afraid to die; your girlfriend can suffer for it.”
After finishing his piece, Hong San hung up the phone, then imdiately turned it off and threw it into a blazing fire barrel.
“That,”
The hostage in the cage clung to the bars, anxiously said, “I still haven’t had my al…”
Hong San approached and kicked the cage, “Be quiet, or I will shut your mouth!”
The hostage imdiately clamped her mouth shut, curling up in fear.
Seeing her comply, Hong San turned back and instructed Ah Wan, “You go buy so food.”
Zhou Xufang, with her head buried, showed a satisfied expression.
10:34.
Jiang Zhi had just hung up the phone, asked, “Did you find anything?”
He was still in the opera house’s security room, a notebook on the table displaying SpongeBob, his phone connected to it by a data cable.
Shuangjiang’s voice was computer synthesized, sounding like a car navigation system, “The ti was too short, I couldn’t track the specific address, only a general area.”
The kidnapper was smart, knowing they would track him, and he tid it well.
Shuangjiang was much faster than a typical hacker, barely managing to get a rough area.
Jiang Zhi said, “Send it to .”
Shuangjiang sent over the tracking area.
Xue Baoyi ca in from the outside, “I checked all the vehicles; the plates are fake. The kidnappers’ route ended at Three-mile Bridge, there are several intersections there, and it’s remote with no surveillance, or it’s a blind spot.”
Three-mile Bridge.
Jiang Zhi pulled up the map, circled the area Shuangjiang sent over, and silently studied it for a while: “If I were the kidnapper, I would go here, here,” he marked several points on the map, “and here.”
The spots he pointed to were all places that would divert attention, with few eyewitnesses and little surveillance.
This was counter-surveillance in criminology.
Xue Baoyi roughly got his drift, “A dragnet search?” Covering such a large area with a dragnet search would consu a lot of manpower, besides, it’s just speculation.
Jiang Zhi didn’t explain further, only said, “Don’t miss any spot.”
Xue Baoyi agreed, “You promised you’d pay the ransom, right? Once the ransom is paid, everything will be fine, so why go the extra mile?”
“Must have a backup plan.”
Fine.
This was like guarding one’s lifeline.
Xue Baoyi assured him, “Don’t worry.”
Jiang Zhi wasn’t worried at all; he still couldn’t see Zhou Xufang, couldn’t touch or hold her, his mind in constant unrest and panic.
He pulled out a piece of paper, wiped the sweat from his palm, “They only asked for five million.”
Xue Baoyi inquired, “What about five million?”
“If you were the kidnapper, you’ve already made your move, soone like ,” Jiang Zhi hypothesized, then asked, “would you only ask for five million?”
Xue Baoyi, being a big-picture thinker, would obviously not settle for just five million.
He spoke frankly, “I would want five hundred million.”
That made sense.
Jiang Zhi’s worth was far beyond five million, and the fact that the kidnapper dared to target him showed he had the nerve, yet he only asked for five million.
Sothing was off, Xue Baoyi speculated, “Maybe it’s not about the money?”
Jiang Zhi was certain, “It’s not.”
Zhou Xufang’s strength and speed were over thirty tis that of a normal human. Under the assumption that her weakness was unknown, the likelihood of her being kidnapped quickly was slim.
He suspected, Zhou Xufang had intentionally gotten herself kidnapped.
Two in the morning.
Jiang Zhi received an email from Shuangjiang.
Shuangjiang: “I received a ssage from an unknown number.”
Jiang Zhi was still at the opera house and had not yet received the kidnappers’ transaction ti and location. He decided not to move, having not slept all night, his eyes slightly gritty and reddened.
He said, “The content.”
“One number, and one sentence.” Shuangjiang sent over the ssage exactly as it was, “Jiang Zhi, don’t worry, I am Lord Black Impermanence.”
She is Lord Black Impermanence, her mana boundless, and she wouldn’t suffer any loss.
It was her way of informing him she was safe.
Jiang Zhi’s tense nerves relaxed slightly, “What’s the number?”
Shuangjiang replied, “0893.”
As expected.
She had been kidnapped intentionally and had her own plan.
Jiang Zhi breathed a sigh of relief. Once he found her, he definitely needed to teach her a lesson for being so reckless.
anwhile, at the pigsty.
After sending the ssage to Shuangjiang, Zhou Xufang gently placed her phone back on the table. The man sleeping with his head on the table suddenly moved. Zhou Xufang raised her hand, but before she could strike, the man shifted his position and went back to sleep.
Alright, she wouldn’t hit him if he was still asleep.
Silently, she crawled back into her cage, bent the iron bars she had twisted by hand back into place, and straightened them out.
Unable to sleep in the pigsty, she lay awake, staring at the not-so-round moon outside, sighing in frustration. It was so annoying!
The pigsty slled terrible.
The next day at seven in the morning, Jiang Zhi still hadn’t received a call from the kidnappers.
“Boss,” Ah Wan, who had not slept all night, had two large dark circles under his eyes, his short hair standing on end in several strands, “the people have been brought here.”
Jiang Zhi erged from the security area, leaning against the door, and scanned the crowd, “Are they all here?”
Ah Wan nodded, “Everyone from Hall 4 on the third floor is here.”
These people, having also stayed up all night, were detained in the opera house by Jiang Zhi. They all looked haggard and terrified, afraid of getting implicated.
Jiang Zhi’s face was pale, his voice raspy and hoarse from lack of sleep, the corners of his eyes tinged with red, perfectly complenting his peach-blossom eyes that radiated a trace of exotic allure. He slightly lifted his eyelashes, “Are you the director?”
Director Lao Qi of Hall 4 stepped forward, trembling, “Yes.”
Jiang Zhi, with his hands crossed, had his long legs lazily crossed, and cleared his slightly sore throat. His skin was pale, his Adam’s apples reddened, he appeared drained, and asked in a weary tone, “Do you know who was kidnapped?”
This indifferent tone sohow sent chills down one’s spine.
Lao Qi was very nervous, “I know.”
Jiang Zhi nodded his chin, gesturing, “Speak.”
Lao Qi started to tremble and stutter, “It’s Mr. Jiang, your girlfriend.”
Jiang Zhi coughed, his peach-blossom eyes brewing a foggy glow, he corrected, “Fiancée.” His tone was languid and unhurried, “You can go out and ask around to see what kind of person Jiang Zhi is.”
There was no need for inquiries.
Imperial City wasn’t so large, and everyone who had a bit of business sense knew what kind of family the Jiang Family was. Especially since this was the Qiao Family’s opera house. Although Jiang Zhi wasn’t a regular visitor, he was a distinguished guest. Various rumors about him had never ceased, mostly discussing his appearance, his sexual orientation, his talent in directing plays, and his temper and handiwork. In addition, he was the beloved grandson of Jiang Family’s Elder Madam who was fiercely protective; it was rumored before that soone had whispered slander about Jiang Zhi being sickly, and the Elder Madam, unwilling to tolerate such talk, had dealt with that person in private.
In summary, among Imperial City’s young masters, Jiang Zhi was the most untouchable.
His tone was nonchalant as he spoke sowhat intermittently, “As for , I have a strong inclination for revenge, sinister and ruthless, and my thods aren’t exactly clean.”
His sickly pallor and weak voice, lips parting revealing white teeth, his peach blossom eyes finely shaped, portraying a proud and privileged young master. Though his words sounded playful, each word was harsher than the last.
“If there’s anything wrong with my fiancée related to this matter, I’ll retaliate against everyone associated.” He added leisurely, “In secret, quietly, one by one, dealing with all of them.”
People from Hall 4 on the third floor beca silent as a chill crept up their spines.
After speaking, Jiang Zhi asked, “Do you understand my aning?”
Lao Qi wiped his sweat, nodding, “Understood.”
Jiang Zhi glanced over the people, “And you?”
Other actors all nodded, each trembling with fear.
“Since you understand, be smart about it. Confess, and I might find my fiancée sooner, which would reduce the chances of her getting hurt, and your days would be a bit more comfortable.” Jiang Zhi took off his watch, glanced at the ti, and then held it in hand, “My patience is short. I’ll give you ten minutes to think it over. Will you confess yourselves or wait for to investigate?”
As soon as he finished speaking, in less than half a minute, a female actor in costu stepped forward, her arm injured and wrapped in a bandage slung around her neck.
“Mr. Jiang.”
Jiang Zhi glanced at her, “Speak.”
The female actor hesitated for a mont, her back breaking into a cold sweat, nervously began, “Just before the power outage, soone approached , gave fifty thousand in cash, asking to pretend to fall.”
It was because soone on the third floor really got injured that they managed to get past security.
“Go on, more details.”
The female actor, not daring to withhold anything, confessed everything, “After I fell, because there were no lights and I couldn’t see anyone, soone carried to a room and instructed to hide there and not co out.”
Jiang Zhi’s brows furrowed with a hint of gloom, “Do you rember his appearance?”
She shook her head, “Both were wearing masks and hats.” After a mont of thought, “One had a crew cut, and the other was very tall and robust.”
Oh, she rembered sothing else, “He had a tattoo on his arm.”
Jiang Zhi asked, “What was tattooed?”
The female actor paused for a long ti, sounding uncertain, “It was black, seed like a dragon.”
Jiang Zhi asked if there was more.
She shook her head, tremblingly said there was nothing more.
“And you,” Jiang Zhi addressed the others, his gaze deep, “Nothing to say?”
Two more n stood forward.
One of them began speaking, flustered and frightened, “We just helped carry the stretcher, didn’t think much of it, saw the person on the stretcher was bleeding a lot, so we followed to help.”
Jiang Zhi remained silent.
These two n felt even more unsettled, truly afraid of this wealthy and powerful young master. After exchanging glances a few tis, the sa man continued speaking, “Those two n, one had a tattoo on his arm, the other on his neck, both tattoos were black dragons, the dragon’s eyes were strange, they were, they were red.”
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