The road led to the outskirts of the city, bordered by deep ditches filled with crooked trees. If the van flipped, they wouldn’t die on impact but would surely be left crippled. Inside the van, the four burly men and Shi Jiaojiao were all on edge, the sound of the cars scraping together sending chills down their spines. Perhaps it was a survival instinct, but the driver slammed the gas pedal to the floor, using every ounce of strength he had. For the moment, they managed to put some distance between themselves and the car behind.
However, as they reached a fork in the dirt road, Zhuo Wenshu caught up again. The ditches had started to shallow out, but the road remained narrow, barely wide enough for one vehicle. The van took a sharp turn toward an abandoned house in the suburbs, tilting dangerously and sending the passengers into a fresh round of panicked yelps.
Shi Jiaojiao cursed inwardly. Cheap help really is the worst! These so-called tough guys were acting more like damsels in distress, and she couldn’t believe she had written such spineless characters into existence.
Zhuo Wenshu, meanwhile, didn’t even slow down as he approached the turn. It was clear that at this speed, the van would surely flip. But it wasn’t his intention to turn—he was going to ram them head-on. Realizing the imminent danger, Shi Jiaojiao elbowed the muscle-bound man next to her. “Quick, tie me up!”
The van jolted violently, and the burly man fumbled with a piece of rope, flailing it like a whip in front of him. “Why the hell is this thing tangled up?”
Another man, jostled by the motion of the van, accidentally rubbed a piece of gauze across Shi Jiaojiao’s face. Her temple throbbed with irritation. “What are you doing, taking off my makeup?!”
As they bickered, Zhuo Wenshu’s car indeed launched off the side of the road, clearing the ditch and forcing its way in front of the van. The back of his car crashed into the ditch with a “thud,” stopping the van in its tracks.
Inside the van, the so-called “tough guys” were terrified, huddled together in silent, wide-eyed horror. Through the one-way film on the windows, they saw Zhuo Wenshu step out of his car, kick down a tree branch, and drag it toward them with a look of murderous intent. Every man inside the van was paralyzed with fear, their minds screaming, This guy is insane!
Shi Jiaojiao, also watching Zhuo Wenshu’s approach, quickly hissed at them, “If you fail, you won’t get paid, and your dirty secrets won’t stay hidden!”
Without hesitation, she grabbed the rope and started tying herself up. She handed an electric baton to the beefiest man in the group and then pressed gauze against her own mouth. She tore her collar slightly for dramatic effect and “passed out” just as Zhuo Wenshu reached the van door.
Before opening the door, Zhuo Wenshu assumed a defensive stance, clearly on guard. The so-called gangsters, who were actually just gym instructors, might not fear an ordinary brawl, but this wasn’t an ordinary fight. Zhuo Wenshu exuded a deadly aura, like a killer on the loose. No one wanted to face him.
Plan A had been to jump out and subdue Zhuo Wenshu, with Shi Jiaojiao playing the damsel in distress. But none of them had the guts to confront him head-on, so they went with Plan B—using the electric baton on the door.
As Zhuo Wenshu pulled the door open, the baton sent a shock through him, causing his body to seize up and collapse just outside the van.
“Is he down?” one of the men nervously asked from the driver’s seat.
Peeking through the rearview mirror, the driver swallowed hard. “Yeah, he’s down.”
A quieter man who had been silent up until now finally spoke in a low, gruff voice, “I think that woman might be a sociopath. She planned all of this so perfectly—it’s terrifying.”
Shi Jiaojiao, who had been pretending to be unconscious, suddenly sat up straight and whispered behind him, “I’m not actually unconscious, you know.”
The man yelped in fright, and everyone fell silent. Shi Jiaojiao untangled the ropes haphazardly and barked, “Get out there and tie him up! If he wakes up, none of you are getting away!”
The men scrambled to obey, opening the van door and dragging the unconscious Zhuo Wenshu inside. Shi Jiaojiao herself secured him tightly with ropes, wrapping him like a mummy and covering his head with a cloth bag. After locking Zhuo Wenshu’s car, they restarted the van and continued toward the outskirts.
When Zhuo Wenshu regained consciousness, he found himself in complete darkness. Having been betrayed so many times before, he didn’t panic. Instead, he quietly tried to wriggle free of the ropes and remove the bag from his head.
Meanwhile, in the next room, a group of panicked men were gathered, discussing what to do next.
Shi Jiaojiao sat cross-legged on a filthy spring bed, biting her finger thoughtfully. In a low voice, she said, “One of you…” She waggled her finger around before settling on the largest man. “You’ll pretend to… assault me in front of him.”
The men were all gym trainers, usually careful not to get into trouble. But Shi Jiaojiao had dirt on them—specifically a scandalous tape from a group event with a female client. If that tape got out, it would ruin them all, so they had no choice but to follow her lead.
However, even with her blackmail hanging over them, none of them were eager to provoke the real-life danger represented by Zhuo Wenshu. And now this woman was asking them to pretend to assault her in front of a guy who looked ready to kill? They were terrified.
The muscle-bound man looked shocked, his fear manifesting as defiance. “I’m not doing it! I’m not going to assault you—I’m not crazy!”
Shi Jiaojiao kicked him in the leg and twisted his ear, lowering her voice. “If you don’t want to do it, how about you go tell Zhuo Wenshu yourself?”
Zhuo Wenshu, who had been trying to free himself, paused when he heard a man’s shout through the wall. The noise stopped just as suddenly, and silence fell again.
Shi Jiaojiao, now speaking in a hushed tone, began laying out the rest of the plan with the men. But just as Zhuo Wenshu managed to free his head from the bag and assess his surroundings, the room was pierced by a loud, ear-splitting scream.
Shi Jiaojiao was slapped to the ground by the muscular man, winking furiously at him as if to say, Is that all you’ve got? Hit me harder! Make it look real!
The man, though reluctant to follow through on the earlier plan, had no problem hitting her. The whole group had been dragged into her scheme, and they were frustrated. But even though he had restrained himself, Shi Jiaojiao’s face was already swelling, and blood trickled from her mouth.
She lay on the dirty floor, her head ringing from the blow, but she knew it had to look real if she wanted Zhuo Wenshu to believe it.
She closed her eyes, fighting off the dizziness. After a moment, she cracked them open just enough to glance at Zhuo Wenshu. She tried to make her expression convey pain, sorrow, and helplessness. Her tear-filled eyes glistened, and with her disheveled appearance and slightly exposed collarbone, she looked like a tragic, fallen angel.
But Zhuo Wenshu wasn’t even looking at her.
He was on the floor too, carefully surveying his surroundings and trying to untie the ropes binding his hands. Shi Jiaojiao nearly bit her tongue in frustration. You heartless jerk!
Still, she didn’t give up. She squirmed across the floor toward him, whimpering as she tried to attract his attention. Finally, Zhuo Wenshu glanced her way. Shi Jiaojiao immediately burst into tears, pitifully wailing, “Wenshu…”
Zhuo Wenshu’s gaze lingered on her swollen face for a moment before he finally spoke. “Where’s my mother?”
Shi Jiaojiao’s tears flowed like a river as she crawled closer to his feet. “I’m so sorry, Wenshu. This is all my fault… Your mother is at 308, Sanhu District. I’ll beg them to let you go.”
She continued her pitiful act. “They only kidnapped me to get money from my dad. This has nothing to do with you.”
At the mention of the exact apartment number, Zhuo Wenshu froze. Shi Jiaojiao knew she had struck a chord.
With her dirty, tear-streaked face resting against his leg, she whispered, “I’m so sorry… I just wanted to surprise you… I never expected this to happen.”
Zhuo Wenshu’s gaze finally shifted back to her, his expression unchanged, but this time, he gave her a proper look. Shi Jiaojiao quickly wiped away her tears, struggling to appear brave. “Don’t worry, Wenshu. I hired two professional caregivers, a family doctor, and a housekeeper to take care of your mom. She’s living much better than in the nursing home.”
“I never meant to lose her…” Shi Jiaojiao continued, her lip bleeding and her eyes filled with tears as she knelt at Zhuo Wenshu’s feet. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I want to make it right. How could I ever lose her on purpose?”
“Wenshu,” her voice cracked as she made herself sound as pitiful as possible, “you have to believe me. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I love you…” I love you so much, I wish I had never written you into existence.
After delivering this line, she didn’t dare meet Zhuo Wenshu’s eyes again. In truth, she feared that if they locked gazes for too long, her pretense would crumble. While everything else could be faked, true love could not be conjured.
Crying softly, Shi Jiaojiao curled up on the floor. Zhuo Wenshu, leaning against the wall, watched her, his expression unchanged. The ice in his eyes remained, but for a fleeting moment, a nearly imperceptible crack appeared.
Still, it wasn’t enough to convince Zhuo Wenshu. At that moment, the burly man who had rehearsed this scene earlier approached, phone in hand. Shirtless beneath his suit jacket, he sported fake tattoos from an online store, trying to look menacing.
“Call your father,” he growled. “Tell him to prepare the money and deliver it to the drop point, or we’ll dump you both in one of the natural pits around here—no one will ever find you.”
Shi Jiaojiao didn’t immediately reach for the phone. Instead, she said, “I’ll cooperate, but only if you let him go first.”
The muscular man sneered, now fully immersed in his role. He kicked Shi Jiaojiao in the shoulder, sending her tumbling backward. But he had kicked too hard—her head slammed against the ground with a loud “thud.”
Are you trying to kill me or just acting? Shi Jiaojiao cursed inwardly as pain shot through her skull.
The man, now alarmed, tightened his grip on the phone, but he couldn’t back down now. He had to stay in character. If this failed, they were all doomed, and he had no doubt Shi Jiaojiao would throw them all under the bus.
Approaching her again, he grabbed her roughly by the back of her head, pulling her upright. “Make the call! Or you’re both going in that pit.”
Despite the dizziness and nausea from the blow, Shi Jiaojiao took a moment to recover and said, “You just want money, right?”
She nodded toward Zhuo Wenshu. “Let him go. I promise I’ll cooperate. He just got out of prison—you really don’t want to involve him.”
The muscular man squinted at her. “You care about him that much? Is he your sugar daddy? You rich girls always love this type, huh? Well, we’re that type too. How about you serve us, and we let him go, huh? Hahaha—”
Shi Jiaojiao blinked in surprise. Wow, this idiot is really getting into the role… But I have to admit, his improvisation is brilliant.