DP Chapter 53
by VolareAnother ten minutes or so passed, and shouting and commotion came from downstairs. It seemed that Song An had arrived with his people. The bodyguard guarding the door confirmed that Xiang Yiye was locked up and went downstairs to check the situation, but never came back up.
After a month and a half, Xiang Yiye finally stepped out of the cage-like villa. After seeing Song An at the door, he asked him if he had Secretary Chen of Yunhua’s phone number.
Song An thought he was going to pursue accountability and said, “Leave the rest to me. I’ll send you back first. Get some rest for a few days and calm down.”
Xiang Yiye insisted on getting Secretary Chen’s phone number and called to ask where Xu Chuo was.
“Mr. Xiang?” Secretary Chen said, “I’m sorry, this is Mr. Xu’s private time, and his specific itinerary has not been disclosed. Do you need anything? You can tell me directly…”
Xiang Yiye went directly to Yunhua Company because he didn’t have an appointment and was stopped at the front desk reception.
The receptionist was his fan and told him that Secretary Chen was in the company and that she knew he knew Xu Chuo. She also secretly told him how to see Secretary Chen.
Secretary Chen was very surprised by his appearance but remained tight-lipped, talking about other things, “Mr. Xiang, please wait a moment, Mr. Xu has something for you.”
Xiang Yiye thought it would be something related to Xu Chuo’s whereabouts. He entered Xu Chuo’s office and realized it was his paintings.
Secretary Chen: “Mr. Xu wants to transfer the copyright of all his paintings after the age of 24 to you. This is a written contract. If you have no problem after reading it, you can sign it.”
Xiang Yiye: “I don’t want these.”
Secretary Chen: “Please consider it carefully before making a decision. Mr. Xu doesn’t have many paintings in recent years, but they are still very valuable…”
Xiang Yiye: “I won’t sign. I don’t understand painting, and I’m not in urgent need of money. Is Xu Chuo making a will, not even wanting his paintings?”
Secretary Chen was stunned and said, “Mr. Xiang, you are the only person I have met in all these years who can understand Mr. Xu.” Many people thought Xu Chuo painted just for fun.
“If I understood him, I wouldn’t be wasting time here with you,” Xiang Yiye said. “Have you worked at Yunhua for many years, always following Xu Chuo?”
“Yes, Mr. Xu has been very kind to me.” Secretary Chen said.
Xiang Yiye was even more convinced that he was not ignorant. He said anxiously and earnestly, “Then do you know that Xu Chuo may be in danger today? You don’t have to tell me where he is, but if you really care about his safety, don’t let him act willfully.”
Secretary Chen hesitated for a long time, and his expression softened, “Actually, I don’t really agree with Mr. Xu taking risks…”
From Secretary Chen, Xiang Yiye learned that in the past month and a half, the Xie Group’s crimes involving money laundering and operating black industries had been exposed.
Xie Zhimin’s homicide case was under investigation and had not been fully characterized. He escaped from his home with his remaining power, kidnapped Xu Chuo’s father, Xu Mian, along the way, and then disappeared.
Xu Chuo’s departure this morning should be more than just acting as a hostage to exchange Xu Mian, Xiang Yiye thought.
He remembered the knife. Xu Chuo must also want to take Xie Zhimin’s life.
“But Mr. Xiang, please rest assured that Mr. Xu is not completely unprepared,” Secretary Chen said.
He had been looking at his phone frequently since just now. At this time, he put the screen in front of Xiang Yiye, “This is his current location. Once he is found to have stayed in an abnormal area for more than an hour, I will contact the police. Mr. Xu has a friend who works in the police station and can be trusted.”
“He put a locator on his body?” Xiang Yiye said, “Isn’t it more dangerous if it’s found?”
The threat of a knife is actually not as high as a locator. If the body search is strict, a knife on the body can be found and thrown away before getting close. But once the locator is discovered, Xie Zhimin realizes that there is a risk of exposure, and who knows what he will do.
“It won’t be found.” Secretary Chen said, walking to Xu Chuo’s desk, opening the computer monitoring software to see more detailed data, “Please don’t tell Mr. Xu that I said this.”
He thought that after Xiang Yiye knew these things, he would leave. But Xiang Yiye walked over and looked at the computer screen.
“It’s not time yet,” Secretary Chen said, with a dense layer of sweat on his forehead.
Xiang Yiye moved the mouse to identify the location of the red dot on the map and accidentally knocked over a decoration on Xu Chuo’s desk.
Secretary Chen carefully helped it up and said, “This is your thing, right? Mr. Xu usually doesn’t let people touch it.”
Xiang Yiye glanced at it and saw that the crystal decoration was ordinary, with an ordinary one-yuan coin embedded inside.
He suddenly remembered the New Year’s Eve five years ago when Xu Chuo had eaten dumplings at his house. He secretly put the dumpling containing the coin, which represented good fortune, into Xu Chuo’s plate.
Xiang Yiye also remembered that there was a room in the villa where he was imprisoned, and several costumes were hung in the display cabinet, including narrow-sleeved outfits for filming martial arts dramas and long robes and suits for filming Republican dramas. It was the plays he had acted in.
When he discovered it that day, he stared at the display cabinet for a long time.
Perhaps Xu Chuo was not lying. In recent years, he has still been thinking about five years ago.
Xiang Yiye didn’t think about it anymore. He recognized that the red dot was located in Little Cang Mountain. While walking out of the office, he said to Secretary Chen, “Contact the police now, don’t wait any longer!”
Secretary Chen did not hesitate and immediately sent the real-time location to the police officer who was in contact with Xu Chuo.
Xiang Yiye drove to Little Cang Mountain. The police knew a little later than him, but they arrived before him. The villa around the mountain was already surrounded.
A police negotiator stood outside the iron gate of the villa with a loudspeaker, and many police officers were scattered around, looking for opportunities to raid and rescue according to the terrain. If you look carefully at the higher ground dozens of meters away, you can still see snipers.
On the second-floor balcony of the villa, Xie Zhimin held Xu Chuo in front of him, holding a pistol and pointing it at his temple.
A police officer said to the commander-in-chief of the rescue, “Captain Zhao, just received news that our people found Xu Mian while blocking the mountain road. The person was covered in a sack and was already unconscious.”
“Notify medical staff to go over for emergency treatment… Then the only hostage in the villa now is Xu Chuo.” Zhao Jialin quickly analyzed the current situation and saw Xiang Yiye, who was very close, and said, “Irrelevant personnel, please move away.”
Xiang Yiye observed Zhao Jialin for a moment and said, “Officer, we’ve met before.”
Zhao Jialin glanced at him, obviously not impressed. He usually only remembers the faces of criminals and doesn’t pay attention to the entertainment industry.
Xiang Yiye added, “A few years ago, we met in a Chinese restaurant. Xu Chuo was also there that day.”
Zhao Jialin remembered a little, but didn’t want to delay any longer. He gestured to the surrounding colleagues and turned to look at the villa.
Another police officer said, “Please don’t obstruct official business” and was about to pull Xiang Yiye away.
“What needs attention now is the hostage!” Xiang Yiye raised his voice slightly.
Zhao Jialin paused and frowned at him, not understanding what he meant. They were here to rescue the hostage, so of course they had to pay attention to him.
“Officer, are you Xu Chuo’s friend or classmate?” Xiang Yiye said, “Then you should be able to see that he has a deep sense of self-hatred. He hid it from you and came to exchange hostages, which means he doesn’t care about his own life at all and may have already prepared to die together with the other party…”
Xie Zhimin proposed the need for a vehicle. To delay time, the negotiator asked him what kind of car he needed and where it should be placed, and said that he was already dispatching it, but it would take time.
On the balcony of the villa, Xu Chuo, with his hands tied behind his back, had been trying to irritate Xie Zhimin.
Xu Chuo looked at the crowd below and laughed, “Oh, you can’t escape.”
Xie Zhimin pressed the barrel of the gun against his forehead and sneered, “Then I’ll drag you to die with me.”
He didn’t want to risk exchanging hostages, but he just wanted to see Xu Chuo again. This person, who used to be unable to fight back in front of him, has endured for many years and personally destroyed everything he had painstakingly managed. He couldn’t wait to crush him to ashes.
“Then shoot, I don’t even mind dying on the same day as you, what are you hesitating about?” Xu Chuo said.
As long as Xie Zhimin shot him, the sniper in the distance would not hesitate to kill Xie Zhimin.
Xie Zhimin held the gun in one hand and grabbed a handful of debris with the other, blocking Xu Chuo’s mouth and continuing to urge the negotiator.
Xu Chuo quietly untied the rope around his wrist.
After listening to what Xiang Yiye said, Zhao Jialin still did not agree to his request to assist in the negotiation.
Xu Chuo is a person with a certain status and position. If something happened to him, the police would certainly be under great pressure.
But a colleague recognized that Xiang Yiye was a well-known actor. If he was injured, the social impact would only be greater.
Xiang Yiye dawdled and was about to walk away when he saw the situation on the balcony suddenly change drastically.
The rope was opened, Xu Chuo turned around, grabbed Xie Zhimin’s wrist, the muzzle was still facing his forehead, and he wanted to pull the trigger.
Xie Zhimin hadn’t gotten the car to escape, so he wouldn’t let him die, and he clamped his forearm with the other hand. He just didn’t expect that at the moment of life and death, Xu Chuo was so strong.
Sometimes the will to die is as strong as the will to live.
“Xu Chuo!”
Xu Chuo hesitated for a moment, thinking he was hallucinating.
Until Xiang Yiye’s voice sounded again, as if to pierce the sky.
Xu Chuo’s eyes searched frantically in the crowd, finally fixed on him.
At this time, the pistol went off, but under the two people’s scramble, the muzzle deviated by more than forty-five degrees and did not hit anyone.
The sniper had received instructions to fire, but the two people on the balcony were too close and were constantly shaking.
Xiang Yiye saw Xu Chuo withdraw his gaze from himself and suddenly distanced himself from Xie Zhimin.
Xie Zhimin grabbed Xu Chuo’s clothes to prevent him from escaping. Xu Chuo was leaning against the semi-open balcony, half of his body was already out, like he was on the top floor of Yunhua in his previous life.
The bullet from the distant sniper rifle whizzed out of the chamber, hitting Xie Zhimin’s head before he pulled the trigger in his hand.
The splashing blood splattered on Xu Chuo’s body, and the dragging force suddenly disappeared. He was like a blooming camellia about to wither in the spring, falling from the balcony edge——