LWDC Chapter 195

Chapter 195 – Home in Shashi

Chapter 195 – Home in Shashi

Chapter 195 – Home in Shashi

When Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong left, they only told the housekeeper they were “going out on some errands,” without mentioning that they would be going on a long trip. When the housekeeper asked if they would be back for dinner, Ning Fei casually replied, “Maybe.”

Then they went straight to Cheng Lingqi’s house.

Currently, the one in charge of the Cheng family was naturally Cheng’s mother. As soon as Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong entered, they were eagerly greeted by Cheng’s mother into the drawing-room. It wasn’t that Cheng’s mother was also in a hurry to leave, but she had also received the news that Cheng Lingqi had been kidnapped and was urgently raising money for his ransom. As friends who “could definitely raise the money,” Cheng’s mother placed high hopes on Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong.

However, after the servants had left the drawing-room, Ning Fei’s first sentence was: “Ha, if we hadn’t arrived in time, Liu Fan would have squeezed every last drop of value from the Cheng family.”

Cheng’s mother was preoccupied with worry and didn’t understand what he meant, so she furrowed her brow and asked, “Mr. Ning, what are you implying?”

“Auntie, please listen to everything I have to say next, and don’t interrupt with questions,” Ning Fei said sternly, his expression serious. “Also, not a word of our conversation can be leaked. It concerns Lingqi’s life, so auntie must follow my advice to the letter.”

“What…” Cheng’s mother immediately pressed. “Do you have new information about Lingqi? How is he?!”

“Calm down, auntie. I said, don’t ask questions yet.” Ning Fei shifted closer to her, lowering his voice, “Actually, Lingqi should be fine. We’re here to take you away to reunite with him. If we don’t leave now, General Liu may use you as leverage to force Lingqi to return to Yucheng. Lingqi has barely escaped Liu Fan’s control, you can’t hold him back!”

“Wait, Mr. Ning, I don’t understand?” Cheng’s mother was going back and forth between good news and bad news, her mood swinging wildly. She was already flustered, and now her head was even more confused: “Are you saying General Liu is harming Lingqi?!”

“You could say that.”

“How could this be? How could this be!” Cheng’s mother wrung her hands helplessly. “You’re telling the truth? My son is risking his life for him, how could he…?!”

“I’ll leave the specific details for when you see Cheng Lingqi in person, and he can explain them to you in detail.” Ning Fei grasped her hand on the armrest, using a bit of force as if to transfer strength to her. Then, he took out a letter and a pocket watch from his inner pocket and handed them to Cheng’s mother: “If you’re still not convinced, this is a letter that Lingqi wrote himself, and the pocket watch he gave me as a token.”

“This is… the pocket watch his father gave him!” Cheng’s mother held the pocket watch, examining it back and forth for a while, before opening the letter. The letter had been written by Cheng Lingqi at Ning Fei’s house, with Ning Fei watching him the whole time. The contents only had one sentence: “Follow Ning Fei’s arrangements to the letter. Hoping for a safe reunion.”

“He really, he really…!” Cheng’s mother’s hands trembled slightly as she buried the letter against her chest. “Lingqi, why didn’t you tell your mother sooner! If I had known, I wouldn’t have let you join the army, and there wouldn’t be this danger today…”

“There’s no time to say these things now, auntie.” Ning Fei interrupted her regretful murmuring. “Xiaoxiao directly called me to borrow 30,000 yuan, it’s to alert us to send you away as soon as possible. Time is of the essence, let’s get going.”

Cheng’s mother looked at him, lost and helpless, and asked, “Where? Where can I go to reunite with them?”

“To a very far place.” Ning Fei, wary of her spilling the beans and ruining things, didn’t answer directly, but instead urged her, “And you must hide it from everyone in this house, leave quietly, leave immediately. There are countless spies from other parties in this house, you can’t tell them that you’re leaving, otherwise Lingqi and Xiaoxiao will be in danger.”

Cheng’s mother seemed to have lost her ability to think, and simply asked, “Then, when do we leave?”

Ning Fei stood up and pulled her up as well: “Now.”

Cheng’s mother instinctively followed him up: “Now?! But, but I still need to pack some luggage…”

“You can, but don’t pack too much, otherwise it will be too obvious. You can pack for ten minutes, then come with us.” Ning Fei knew she needed a little time to process, so he gestured as he gave instructions. “You can take a box this big at most, put some of your most important things in it, and bring two changes of clothes. I’ve prepared some simple toiletries for you, for emergencies.”

“Also, remember, tell the others that you’re going out with us to borrow money. That way, it’s reasonable for you to take a small box.”

“Okay. I’ll go now…” Cheng’s mother said, but her footsteps were still a bit hesitant, and she frequently looked at Ning Fei. Ning Fei gave her a smile: “Go ahead, we’ll wait for you here, and then take you to see Lingqi. Remember, don’t tell anyone the truth.”

Cheng’s mother watched him standing there steadily with a smile, as if saying, “Even if the storm is great, I will stand firm,” like she had found a temporary pillar of support, and finally abandoned her miscellaneous thoughts and started walking: “…Okay.”

*

A dozen minutes later, Cheng’s mother, wearing a jacket and carrying a box, left with Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong.

She didn’t even use the excuse of “borrowing money,” only saying, “I have something to go out for,” and hurriedly followed the two men’s footsteps. It must be said that Cheng’s mother was somewhat experienced, as she felt that a family like hers couldn’t openly tell the servants that they were borrowing money. So, with a casual explanation, she got into Ning Fei’s car without looking back—oh, actually it was Duan Yunhong’s car.

This car started again, and as it returned to the street, Ning Fei moved closer to Duan Yunhong, lightly bumping shoulders.

“Hey, look over there on the side of the road.” Ning Fei raised his chin, indicating in a low voice, “That person was sitting at that noodle stall with his head down half an hour ago, and he’s still there, he only has a bowl in front of him but doesn’t even pick up the chopsticks. Is this the level of surveillance?”

Duan Yunhong glanced at it, not thinking much of it: “It’s just to keep an eye on an elderly woman, being able to stick to their post is already the most diligent employee on their side. Who’s like you, playing ‘find the differences between the entrance and exit’.”

Ning Fei said, “He’s definitely going to report to General’s Liu residence soon.”

“Report away, by the time Liu Fan finds out, we’ll already be out of the city.” Duan Yunhong’s tone was calm. “The route we chose isn’t the one that everyone usually takes, and we’ll be changing cars along the way. It’s impossible for Liu Fan to have such a large intelligence network to constantly receive new information and changes in plans, and then intercept us halfway.”

“It sounds like Liu Fan is easy to deal with, but switching routes and cars like this has taken a lot of effort from our Boss Duan.” Ning Fei chuckled. “If I had known this would happen, I wouldn’t have brought his mother over in the first place, and I would have saved myself the trouble of persuading her.”

Duan Yunhong turned to look at him: “You’re used to keeping all the characters directly related to the mission under your control. Without a clear plan, you couldn’t have casually let those two women live far away.”

“Tch, I thought you were going to say that if I didn’t go, you wouldn’t be able to catch me.” Ning Fei scoffed and turned back to face forward. “Turns out you’re just bragging about guessing what I would do.”

“Even if you didn’t go, I would have found a way to see you. I couldn’t have just waited like a fool for the Cheng women.” Duan Yunhong also turned towards the front, glancing at Cheng’s mother sitting in front. The engine of the car was roaring, and the soundproofing of cars wasn’t good in this era, so it was unlikely that Cheng’s mother could hear the whispers of the people in the back.

Duan Yunhong pinched Ning Fei’s hand again, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, “To put it another way, even if you didn’t come, I would have kept an eye on the people around the Cheng family until I was sure whether the debt collectors had come or not, and who they were. No, until I was sure that this mission was completely over, you wouldn’t have come to support us.”

Ning Fei was touched, but on the surface, he only leaned back a little and glanced at him: “What if I didn’t come at all? What could you do? How long would you wait here?”

Duan Yunhong smiled silently: “Hard to say, I can only answer that I’ll wait until I’m bored of being here.”

Ning Fei: “You’re just pretending.”

Duan Yunhong: “Okay, then I’ll wait until you feel that other people’s skills are still not as good as mine, and you can’t help but come and find me.”

Ning Fei pulled his hand away: “…Psychopath.”

*

As Duan Yunhong expected, the car drove out of Yucheng and traveled overnight, encountering no more obstacles along the way. Rather than Liu Fan’s people catching them, it was better to spend more effort guarding against bandits, local armed forces, and even displaced people on the road.

And Cheng’s mother, who had been worried and anxious during the two days and nights of the overnight journey, couldn’t sleep on the bumpy mountain roads, and was worn out after two days. Although the group changed cars on the second day and started resting in hotels normally at night, Cheng’s mother was still in poor condition, looking listless all day long, much worse than her condition when she last went to Cheng.

Regarding Cheng’s mother’s condition, Ning Fei only cared if she wasn’t sick. He didn’t have much patience to coax Cheng’s mother, as long as the person was already in the car and alive, the completion of the debt collection mission was just around the corner.

After taking a detour, Duan Yunhong’s car (the replacement version) entered Shashi on the sixth day.

Ning Fei didn’t immediately send Cheng’s mother to the former Cheng’s house, but instead took her to Duan Yunhong’s residence. After all, in Shashi, although Liu Fan’s reach couldn’t extend here, the officials and armed forces who were nominally on his side were still on the surface and could openly visit the Cheng family and do something. If they caught her without saying a word, even if they could rescue her afterward, Cheng’s mother might lose most of her life, or even die…

But Duan Yunhong, who could afford to run a car dealership, had quite a bit of weight and face in Shashi, so he could protect people for now.

“…Alright, just rest here for now, I’ll handle the rest. Before I confirm it’s safe, please, you must not go out…”

Ning Fei said as he backed out of the room and closed the door. When he looked up, Duan Yunhong was watching him at the top of the stairs a few steps away.

“What, does she still want to go find her son and daughter?”

“Yes. I told her I’d find someone to notify Cheng Mengxiao and find out about Cheng Lingqi’s news, but she didn’t seem to hear it.” Ning Fei walked towards him. “Boss Duan, I’ve temporarily arranged for someone to stay in your house, don’t let me down.”

“Are you doubting my governing skills, or doubting that so many people in this house can’t keep an eye on an elderly woman?” Duan Yunhong watched Ning Fei stop in front of him and replied, “I asked you to come last time, but you didn’t. This time you’re finally willing to grace me with your presence. If I can’t take care of her, are you going to pack your bags and run away from home?”

“Run away from home? How disgusting, am I an underage child? Is this my home?” Ning Fei snorted, patted him on the chest, and then walked up the stairs past him. “I’m going to take a shower first, go give orders to your servants, boss.”

Duan Yunhong watched him leisurely walking upwards, with his hands in his pockets, and chuckled softly.

“With the way you’re ordering people around, you’re the boss, General Ning!”