Still Frame Chapter 55
byChapter 55 Threat
Because of the current condition of his leg, he couldn’t stand for long periods, so Tuhuishe brought him a stool, allowing him to sit while operating the register. This was why Feng Xi hadn’t seen him immediately when he came to deliver the newspaper that morning.
“You’re finally back!” Feng Xi’s voice sounded like a light, airy bird, making his excitement easily palpable.
“I came to deliver today’s paper. I didn’t see you the last two days. But if you don’t speak Burnlinian, how do you read it?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw someone emerge beside Wen Jin—his green-eyed husband, who smiled and said to Feng Xi, “I explain it to him, and then he understands.”
Feng Xi looked a little embarrassed. He put the newspaper down and left without buying any bread.
Zhang Liuxin wondered why he had changed his style today, no longer pestering Wen Jin. The minds of these children were hard to guess. He watched Feng Xi’s retreating back and pondered for a moment, but couldn’t figure out why.
“Knock knock.”
Wen Jin tapped the glass counter in front of him twice. The other man’s face was cold and expressionless again. Zhang Liuxin quickly withdrew his gaze, picked up the newspaper, and started reading.
Today’s paper had no news about Yinzhou, so he asked Tuhuishe, “Sister Hui, where are the papers from the last two days?”
“They’re in the cabinet under the register, weighted down by the ointment.”
Zhang Liuxin took them out and looked. One from yesterday had news about Yinzhou. After struggling to read through it, his expression changed.
“What is it?”
“It reported a private jet crash, but didn’t specify which one. I’ve heard of the newspaper that reported it; they have deep cooperation with Caliber.”
It seemed Zhang Jiming was behind this. Zhang Liuxin couldn’t help but recall what Duan Chengzhi had said. Could it be… Zhang Qiannan woke up, and then Zhang Jiming deliberately caused these incidents to divert public attention toward the Wen family?
That would be too arrogant. Not to mention Chairman Wen’s status in Yinzhou, even with the Governor’s family backing them, these news stories shouldn’t cause a stir.
“What exactly does Zhang Jiming want?”
“He can’t do this much alone. He might have colluded with my second paternal uncle.”
Wen Jin pointed at the blurry black-and-white photo. “This news must have been widely distributed around Yinzhou. Actually, Yinzhou natives usually wouldn’t care, but now many Yinzhou media outlets will use ‘citation’ as an excuse to report these so-called out-of-state news items. This makes it difficult for the Governor’s office and the PR team to monitor and control these rumors immediately.”
Zhang Liuxin knew what he meant. After all, he worked at a TV station himself and knew how unscrupulous media outlets would exaggerate things.
“Your second paternal uncle, is he the one who opened an energy company?”
“Yes, he’s the most successful of my father’s brothers. However, before my grandfather passed away, he had already allocated the family assets, so his reach can’t extend to the Group.”
Wen Jin paused. “But he has always had impure intentions and is very meticulous in his actions. When I was a child, he sent people to kidnap me. If Duan Chengzhi hadn’t arrived quickly, he might have succeeded. Later, my father wanted to settle the score, but there was never any evidence, and he couldn’t ruin the family’s reputation for harmony, so it was dropped.”
Zhang Liuxin’s eyes widened. “You were almost kidnapped when you were little? Were you hurt?”
Wen Jin smiled helplessly. “No, just that one time.”
Ever since Zhang Liuxin heard about the Wen family, he knew it was held together by Wen Huaichuan. As the eldest son and grandson, and being so exceptional that the Old Master favored him from birth, Wen Jin was undoubtedly the heir. He thought that someone like Wen Jin would be untouchable.
“Zhang Jiming would actually seek out someone like that to deal with you…”
Zhang Liuxin was speechless. After the burning anger subsided, only a deep sense of powerlessness remained. He felt a giant rock lodged in his chest, making him feel miserable. The person who orchestrated this marriage, his biological father, was now joining forces with others to target his husband.
“It’s also possible that my uncle proactively contacted Zhang Jiming. He is a very resourceful person.”
“So, he was also behind the hijacking?”
Duan Chengzhi had said the problem lay within the Wen family. If it really was the second paternal uncle, it made sense.
Wen Jin said, “Highly likely.”
Indeed, besides Wen Jin’s own paternal uncle, no one else could easily contact the bodyguard who had been by Wen Jin’s side for over ten years.
However, they didn’t aim for their lives, and coupled with the message Carter brought back, it seemed the accident was more likely a threat. The uncle knew that Wen Huaichuan and Yue Yun wouldn’t let anyone catch them with a handle, so he focused his attention on Wen Jin and him.
Zhang Liuxin felt a chill. He always thought the mutual scheming among the various relatives in the Zhang family was headache-inducing enough, but the Wen family was even worse. To do this to a relative—hijacking was no small matter. If anything had gone wrong, he and Wen Jin would have died there.
“Don’t worry too much. Mom and Dad will be back soon, and we still have Chengzhi.”
Wen Jin patted the back of his hand reassuringly, genuinely not looking worried. As expected of the Wen family heir, Zhang Liuxin thought.
But why did they suddenly lose consciousness on the plane? Was some kind of gas sprayed? Zhang Liuxin was suspicious, but he didn’t have zero recollection. He remembered eating a few plums, closing his eyes for a nap, and then completely losing consciousness.
“Could it have been those plums?”
Zhang Liuxin murmured. But Carter had prepared the plums because he got airsick. Wen Jin hadn’t eaten them, and Wen Jin had received professional drug resistance training since childhood. Logically, he shouldn’t have been drugged so easily.
Wen Jin asked, “What?”
Zhang Liuxin was about to ask him when a customer arrived, so he had to attend to them first.
He needed to deliver some food to Aunt Mo’s family that afternoon, but a delivery arrived, and Tuhuishe couldn’t leave right away.
“I’ll go, Sister Hui. I can visit Uncle Da while I’m at it,” Zhang Liuxin offered.
Tuhuishe hesitated. “It’s a bit far. Are you sure? Or should I have Yue go with you?”
“I’ll go with Brother!” Duofei skipped over and grabbed Zhang Liuxin’s hand. “I miss Grandma Mo and Grandpa too.”
Zhang Liuxin shook the little girl’s hand. “Okay, then Feifei will go with me.”
He said to Wen Jin, “I’ll be back soon.”
“Alright, be careful.”
Tuhuishe stroked her daughter’s head and instructed, “Feifei, be good, don’t run around, and be sweet-tongued when you get to Grandma’s house. Talk to them a lot, okay?”
“I know, Mom,” Duofei said. “And I’ll help support Liuxin.”
Zhang Liuxin laughed at the idea of a child only up to his waist saying she would “support” him. He held the bag of bread in one hand and Duofei’s hand in the other. “Okay, I’m counting on you, Feifei.”
It was a bit sunny in the afternoon. Zhang Liuxin regretted not bringing a parasol for Duofei, but thankfully, she wasn’t bothered by the heat. She held his hand tightly the whole way, smiling as she told him, “Liuxin, watch your step.”
A warm current flowed through Zhang Liuxin’s heart. “Mhm, thank you, Feifei.”
They also ran into Qiuyue. She had just bought snacks and was delighted to see them. “Feifei, Mr. Chen!”
“Sister Yue.”
Duofei was truly a charming darling whom everyone loved. Qiuyue opened a bag of preserved fruit for her and affectionately stroked her little cheek.
“Mr. Chen, where are you going?”
“To Aunt Mo’s house.”
“My house is in that direction too. Shall we go together?”
“Sounds good.”
After walking a couple of steps, Qiuyue quickly noticed that something seemed off about Zhang Liuxin. A quick glance revealed that he seemed to be walking with some difficulty, as if his left leg was injured, making him walk slowly.
“Sorry, my leg isn’t great, so I walk slowly,” Zhang Liuxin explained, noticing her gaze.
Qiuyue’s face instantly flushed. She quickly waved her hands. “Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Let’s walk slowly together.”
Zhang Liuxin didn’t mind. He could sense that Qiuyue’s gaze was benevolent. He had been subjected to too many malicious stares, so he knew she was just genuinely curious.
Qiuyue said, “I didn’t see you or your husband at the store the last two days. I thought you had left.”
“No, we went to help out somewhere else.”
“Oh, will you be staying here permanently?” Qiuyue asked. “I don’t mean anything by it, it’s just… well, I think you two are very pleasing to the eye.”
After saying this, her face turned red again, just like before. She sighed and helplessly patted her forehead. “What am I saying…”
Zhang Liuxin was amused by her and didn’t want to lie, so he said, “We will be here for the time being.”
“That’s wonderful,” Qiuyue said happily. “We rarely get people from other places in our town. Even the city doesn’t send people over much, except for a bunch of officials who came a couple of days ago.”
Hearing her mention this, Zhang Liuxin felt a little nervous, afraid she might become suspicious, but thankfully, she only mentioned it in passing and didn’t dwell on it.
“Life in town must be very relaxing, right? I feel like everyone knows everyone else.”
Qiuyue stuck out her tongue. “That’s how towns are. They’re small, and there are no outsiders. We’ve all lived here for generations. Distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors, you know? We’ve been together for so long that we’re practically family. It is quite relaxing. The pace in the city is a bit faster than here, but it’s not very convenient. Deliveries take a long time to arrive.”
“Are you studying in the city?”
“Yes,” Qiuyue said, smiling shyly when this was mentioned. “I’m taking the university entrance exam next year. I actually want to go to college in another state.”
Zhang Liuxin asked, “Which state?”
“Yinzhou,” Qiuyue said, her voice softer. “My teacher told me Yinzhou is very developed, and the city even has those aerial trains. I want to see it, but I don’t speak Yinzhou dialect, and my grades aren’t great.”
“There are aerial trains. They were initially developed because of heavy traffic during rush hour, but the Governor’s office found them difficult to regulate, so they are quite rare.”
Qiuyue was stunned.
Zhang Liuxin said, “Yinzhou is very developed and prosperous, but it has its pros and cons. If you really want to go, work hard. My alma mater has an exchange program and cooperates with a language school. You can study Yinzhou dialect and take classes simultaneously, as the classes are bilingual.”
His gentle yet firm gaze fell on the girl’s youthful face. “You still have a year. You’re so young; there’s time to do anything.”
Qiuyue’s heart trembled. The man in front of her spoke in a soft, assured tone, a sun-like smile playing on his lips, and warmth flowing in his olive-green eyes. A surge of excitement welled up inside her, and she nodded heavily. “Okay, I will work hard!”