LWDC Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Kidnapping Ransom

Chapter 194: Kidnapping Ransom

Chapter 194: Kidnapping Ransom

Cheng Lingqi made the last phone call Ning Fei had instructed, failing to get any “life-saving promise” from his younger sister—even if there truly was a rescue plan, Cheng Mengxiao couldn’t possibly reveal it in advance—he could only rely on his trust in Ning Fei and set off.

Ning Fei’s current identity made it inconvenient for him to follow, so he only arranged with Cheng Lingqi that as soon as news of his disappearance came, he would immediately send Cheng’s mother to Sha City. As soon as Cheng Lingqi’s group left Yu City, Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong also packed their luggage. Not much, basically one suitcase each, containing basic changes of clothes, their emergency savings, and some pickled ingredients and dried provisions. The supplies were so complete that they could grab them and go if they had to jump out of bed in the middle of the night. They also prepared a third suitcase, mainly filled with things women might need on the road, just in case.

In addition, Ning Fei also found someone to buy several barrels of oil to store. Yu City seemed relatively stable, but resources were becoming increasingly scarce, and Ning Fei had to ensure that when he wanted to move, he wouldn’t be held back by such basic resources. Actually, it didn’t matter to him whether he left or not, but he had to send Cheng’s mother to Sha City, and he didn’t trust anyone else to do it.

Mainly, this kind of low-cost task didn’t pay much, and Ning Fei was too lazy to drag it out, wanting to just finish it and get a passing grade. Frankly, he wasn’t here to earn luck. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered with such a lousy task; the effort wasn’t worth the reward.

Of course, Ning Fei wouldn’t explain this so clearly to Duan Yunhong. Otherwise, with that guy’s ability to overthink, he’d be on cloud nine at just one sentence. Moreover, Ning Fei wanted to end this task as soon as possible so he could leave this world and think in solitude. Otherwise, Duan Yunhong would be waving around in front of him every other day, subtly, in various ways, explicitly and implicitly mentioning wanting to join the Bureau of Management, and Ning Fei was almost brainwashed.

Anyway, after seeing Cheng Lingqi off, Ning Fei and Duan Yunhong’s days became completely peaceful. Or rather, they acted “stable as usual”.

Ning Fei even took the time to ask Chen Lili, the little helper in his home: “Kid, I’ll give you a chance to choose. Do you want to stay in Yu City, or would you like to go to a place I choose that might be safer?”

Chen Lili asked blankly, “A ‘safer’ place… where is that?”

“Not sure, might be in Yu City, might not be.”

“Then… then I don’t want to go.” Chen Lili’s voice was a little timid, but the content was very clear. “I want to wait for my mom in Yu City. We made a promise.”

Ning Fei didn’t comment on this answer, and waved her away.

Turning his head, Ning Fei saw Duan Yunhong looking at him, and raised an eyebrow: “What? Still want me to take her directly to Sha City?”

“No.” Duan Yunhong replied, “You’ve already given her the opportunity, and she chose not to go. Respect other people’s fates.”

Ning Fei said, “I thought you’d think that she’s only nine years old, and I should have explained the underlying situation to her more clearly. For example, according to the current situation, the day Qiao Li comes to pick her up is a distant prospect. On the other hand, the situation in Yu City is getting increasingly chaotic, and we’re leaving soon. Once she loses the protection of me being here, these days of nominally being a ‘helper’ but actually living here for free might not last for many more days. This is very dangerous for a girl who is only nine years old.

“Why not come with us? We’ll probably hand her over to people related to that organization. Even if life isn’t as easy as it is now, it’s safer. Anyway, according to your saying, that organization should take good care of orphans and other vulnerable groups, right?”

“…Your PR skills, if you were recruiting people for that organization, would definitely be many times better than Shen Zejun and Liang Zhiming combined.” Duan Yunhong sighed, “But what you said is now the thinking of Cheng Mengxiao, Shen Zejun, and the others, not my own. So it doesn’t matter if you didn’t explain everything to Chen Lili; it’s not your responsibility. To take a step back, it’s perfectly normal even if you don’t ask Chen Lili if she wants to come with you. Taking her away from Pingdu was already an extra act of kindness on your part. Without you, she would have been in Secretary Cui’s hands, used to threaten Qiao Li. Those guys wouldn’t treat a ‘hostage’ like that well. Even if they could guarantee her survival, she would likely suffer various harms in other ways.

“This world, this country is so cruel. Perhaps you’ll say it’s better than yours, and there’s still hope of improving in the future. But for now, the danger is far from over.”

“Once we leave, this house, the people inside it, will lose contact with us. Cui’s side will also lose track of us, and Chen Lili at least won’t be easily harmed again because of their pursuit.” Ning Fei stood up and walked to the table next to him to fiddle with the coffee machine. “I’ve really done everything I can.”

Listening to the voice slowly moving behind him, Duan Yunhong thought: At least sixty percent of his “doing everything he can” was for me.

Compared to Ning Fei’s usual “cold-bloodedness,” Chen Lili was definitely being treated specially.

Ning Fei didn’t know what Duan Yunhong was thinking about him again, and continued, “It’s just that one thing—her identity was exposed so quickly, and the name ‘Xiao Shui’ was hardly ever used. Duan, you wasted your effort in naming her.”

Duan Yunhong came back to his senses and replied, “I just thought of it casually, didn’t take much effort.”

Ning Fei: “I never asked about the reason for that name. How about you give me a brief explanation?”

Duan Yunhong: “No reason, just thought of it.”

Ning Fei: “Thought of a water bed?”

“…” Duan Yunhong turned his head on the sofa and looked at Ning Fei. Ning Fei turned his head to look at him, as if he had eyes in the back of his head.

“What, isn’t that it?” Ning Fei raised an eyebrow and smiled, “Then tell me the real reason.”

Duan Yunhong opened his mouth, but couldn’t come up with any reasonable words for a moment. If he came up with something like “The highest excellence is like that of water” at this time, Ning Fei might start laughing without even questioning it. So, it’s not that Duan Yunhong couldn’t come up with words, but he couldn’t come up with a reason that Ning Fei would believe.

So he was silent. He knew very well that as long as he didn’t have a convincing explanation, no matter whether he denied it or not, Ning Fei would react the same way.

Sure enough, after a few seconds, Ning Fei burst out laughing: “Hahaha…! Water bed is a water bed, what’s the big deal? There’s nothing shameful about you liking water beds!”

Duan Yunhong: “…You’re the one who likes water beds!”

*

Half a month after Cheng Lingqi left Yu City, one evening during dinner, Ning Fei received a call from Sha City.

“What, Vice-General Cheng was kidnapped by bandits?!”

Ning Fei frowned, his tone very serious: “Miss Cheng, are you serious? I remember he took a lot of people with him, how could this happen… Has the General’s Mansion been notified?”

“…Want to borrow 30,000 as ransom?!” Ning Fei raised his voice again. “That’s not a small amount. Even for me, it’s hard to withdraw that much money at once… Yes, I know he’s in a dangerous situation. I’m Vice-General Cheng’s friend, and I should help. By the way, how much money can you, and General Liu’s side, come up with right now?”

“…Uh, you still don’t know how much money you can raise. Then, can you be sure that he’ll come back safe if you give them the money?”

“…Don’t cry first, calm down. I’m asking you, can you be sure he’s still alive?”

“…You don’t know that either? I’ll teach you what to do now. Write a text message, asking him to reply with one or two things that only the two of you know. Remember to put some loose change in there, otherwise those guys might not want to help you send the message…”

The phone call lasted for about ten minutes. After Ning Fei hung up with a “click,” Duan Yunhong, who had also come over, commented, “You acted so seriously even on the phone.”

“My phone might be routinely monitored anyway, and even if it wasn’t, it definitely will be this time.” The anxious look on Ning Fei’s face had completely disappeared. He spread his hands and said, “Cheng Mengxiao said that Liu Fan’s side also received Cheng Lingqi’s call for help. Liu Fan has always been suspicious of Cheng Lingqi and won’t easily believe the kidnapping; Liu Fan also suspects us and will inevitably monitor our reaction after Cheng Lingqi is captured.”

“I know, you’re always watertight, switching as you please.” Duan Yunhong said, “Cheng Mengxiao’s story is that the bandits want a ransom? Thirty thousand?”

“She said the total price is fifty thousand, and they can’t raise it, so she called me to borrow.” Ning Fei replied, “I only told Cheng Lingqi that if he’s captured, he should have his sister or Shen Zejun quickly find a way to notify me, but not too obviously. Their trick of spreading the news is good. Cheng Mengxiao’s phone skills are not bad, it seems someone is indeed guiding her behind the scenes.”

“However, why don’t they just make it look like Cheng Lingqi died in battle? That way, they wouldn’t have to rush to take his mother away. After a while, when the heat dies down a bit, it would be safer to take her away quietly…” As Duan Yunhong spoke, he suddenly realized the key point, “It seems that when the bandits captured Cheng Lingqi, other people saw it, and those people even escaped back to report.

“That way, if they want to spread news of his death, they have to bring back the body to be convincing. Rather than going to so much trouble, it’s better to say he was kidnapped, and first muddy the waters with the ransom thing. After that, whether they say that the other organization defeated the bandits and took Cheng Lingqi away, or that Cheng Lingqi was directly torn apart by the bandits, it will all be after Cheng’s mother is transferred. Even if Liu Fan wants to take action, he won’t be able to reach.”

Clap clap clap.

Ning Fei clapped his hands: “Divine reasoning, Boss Duan!”

“You didn’t think of it?” Duan Yunhong glanced at him. “Impossible. You just sang a duet with Cheng Mengxiao, and you didn’t have any questions after hanging up, which means you and their way of thinking are also aligned.”

“Okay, don’t think I can’t hear that you seem to be praising me, but you’re actually praising yourself, and secretly happy about the unchanging style of that organization.”

“Is that so? Aren’t you flattering me?”

“…You’re hallucinating again.” Ning Fei raised an eyebrow. “I think we should do something serious.”

“Your tasks are all decided by you.” Duan Yunhong smiled meaningfully, but changed the topic according to his words, “So Mr. Ning, what are we going to do next? Give the orders.”

“Why are you pretending? Didn’t you already make a plan?” Ning Fei raised his hand and looked at his watch. “Let’s eat first. Then pick up the suitcases, pick up Cheng Lingqi’s mother, and leave directly. Even if there are people tailing us here and at the Cheng’s house, it’s impossible for every one of them to have a car. Once the car starts, who knows where we’re going? Once we’re out of the city, it won’t be easy for Liu Fan to chase us.”

Duan Yunhong said, “I thought you wanted to add some drama? Like going to the bank to withdraw money or something?”

“The banks are closed now, right? If we want to act like we’re withdrawing money, we’d have to specifically visit the bank president’s house and put on an anxious act. Forget it, I don’t have that addiction.” Ning Fei said, “Alright, let’s go eat. Everyone have a cup of coffee after eating, including your driver… Ah, Boss Duan—”

Ning Fei approached Duan Yunhong and straightened his collar for him: “Your driver, he’s still completely trustworthy, right? I trust your methods of educating subordinates to be loyal, don’t let me down.”

“Don’t worry, he’s been ‘specially trained’, and even the other route to Sha City has been confirmed.” Duan Yunhong also raised his hand and pretended to straighten Ning Fei’s collar, “If he betrays me, I’ll kill him immediately, and then I’ll drive. Is that okay?”

Ning Fei raised an eyebrow: “Then don’t drive the car into a ditch, I don’t want to be buried with you.”

Duan Yunhong smiled: “Of course, ‘dying for love’ is something we should only do when it’s just the two of us. What would it be like with someone else’s mom there?”

——————–

This volume is almost over! And then the whole book will be over soon too!