After Liang Bizhi left, Shao Pinxi sat quietly on the sofa, trying to recall everything about her and Huo Junren, and thinking about Liang Bizhi’s words.
“I’m so stupid!” She suddenly stood up.
If love could be figured out by thinking, it wouldn’t be love!
She was going to find Huo Junren! Regardless of whether the answer would break her heart.
Rushing out the door and about to hail a taxi, Shao Pinxi suddenly realized she didn’t know where Huo Junren was.
“It’s Saturday, is he maybe at the company? Or…”
A hand suddenly landed on her shoulder.
“Sister Pinxi, what a coincidence! Running into you here.” It was Huo Yawu. “I was passing by and wondered if your place had changed. Didn’t expect to be so lucky to run into you!”
Right, she could ask Yawu about Huo Junren’s whereabouts!
“Yawu, do you know where your brother is?” Shao Pinxi asked urgently, unlike her usual calm and cold demeanor.
“Brother?” Huo Yawu was momentarily stunned. “I saw him this morning, he should be at the company!”
“Thank you, Yawu.” Shao Pinxi was about to head to the Huo company.
However, before she could take a step, she sensed something was wrong—
Three burly men were approaching them with hostile looks.
As Shao Pinxi tried to quietly pull Huo Yawu back, the men had already rushed forward.
Before they could cry out for help, both of them were hit hard in the stomach, almost losing consciousness.
Before darkness completely engulfed her, Shao Pinxi felt her body being lifted into the air and roughly thrown into a vehicle that reeked of a strange odor.
Jian Fan’s “Recruited as the CEO’s Wife”
Chapter Ten
When consciousness returned, Shao Pinxi and Huo Yawu were already in a dirty, cramped room.
She shook her head, trying to clear her mind more quickly.
“Yawu, Yawu!” Shao Pinxi, with her hands bound, nudged Huo Yawu with her shoulder. “Wake up!”
“Mmm…” Huo Yawu mumbled, her heavy eyelids finally opening. “Pinxi… Sister?”
“Stay alert!” Their current situation didn’t allow them to be dazed; one moment of carelessness could be fatal.
“I… we… how…” Huo Yawu looked around, her eyes full of confusion.
“We’ve been kidnapped,” Shao Pinxi stated succinctly.
“Kidnapped?” The explosive word was enough to fully wake Huo Yawu.
“Yes,” Shao Pinxi nodded.
Huo Yawu looked at Shao Pinxi’s serious expression, then surveyed their imprisonment.
“What do we do? Sister Pinxi…” Huo Yawu panicked!
“Stay calm! It’ll be fine.” Shao Pinxi comforted her. “Your brother will definitely come to rescue us. We’ll definitely be safe and sound.”
“Right… Brother will come save us…” Thinking of her reliable, omnipotent brother, Huo Yawu’s panicked heart steadied slightly.
At this moment, the old, mottled iron door suddenly opened.
The man who entered wore a shabby white short-sleeved shirt, his chin covered in stubble, with a weaselly appearance that immediately suggested he was not a good person.
“Sister Pinxi…” Huo Yawu instinctively hid behind Shao Pinxi, trembling.
“Come out!” The man spat on the ground.
Shao Pinxi whispered to Huo Yawu, “Come, Yawu. The best way to survive is not to resist.”
“No! I don’t want to go out!” Huo Yawu shook her head vigorously, not knowing what bad things awaited them.
“Don’t make me drag you out!” The man had no patience.
“Yawu, be good. Don’t you want to see your brother again?” Shao Pinxi coaxed softly.
Huo Yawu bit her lip and nodded.
Leaving the room, they entered a room with several windows. The swaying tree shadows and faint bird calls told Shao Pinxi they were likely in the suburbs.
“Hasn’t the food been bought yet?” The man who ordered them out asked the large man sitting in the corner.
As soon as the words fell, knocking was heard at the main door leading outside.
“I’m back.” The burly man got up and ran to open the door.
“I’m starving! Where did you guys go to buy food?” The man complained to his companion who went to buy food.
“We’ve got food, so stop whining!” The large man responsible for buying food casually pulled out a food box from a plastic bag and roughly tossed it to him.
The man was extremely hungry and opened the food box to eat ravenously. After just a couple of bites, he complained, “Damn! What kind of food is this? It’s so disgusting!”
“There’s only one place selling food around here! If you don’t want to eat, then don’t!”
“Tsk!” The man spat and had to continue eating with his head down.
Shao Pinxi quietly scanned all the kidnappers present, determined to memorize their appearances so she could bring them to justice later.
Huh? That was…
Something on the plastic bag holding the food box caught Shao Pinxi’s attention.
“Don’t eat yet! Let’s do business first!” One of the large men pulled out a phone and approached Shao Pinxi and Huo Yawu.
Shao Pinxi stared directly at the kidnapper, on guard against any potential ill intentions.
The kidnapper dialed a number and connected the call, then spoke: “Is the five hundred million ready?”
On the other end of the phone, Huo Juren’s voice was as calm as ever: “I want to speak to my sister.”
Hearing this, the kidnapper couldn’t help but admire Huo Juren, who had maintained this calm tone from the first ransom call to now.
Having done several kidnappings before, all relatives they’d contacted had voices mixed with fear and panic, but this time was different.
“I’m telling you, I’m the one controlling the situation, not you!”
“I need to ensure she’s alive. No confirmation, no ransom.” His tone was forceful, leaving no room for negotiation.
The kidnapper thought speaking for a minute or two wouldn’t hurt, so he brought the phone close to Huo Yawu’s ear.
“Brother! Come rescue me and Sister Pinxi!” Huo Yawu shouted.
Suddenly hearing “Sister Pinxi”, Huo Juren’s expression changed.
The kidnapper took back the phone and gripped it, “Confirmed, right! Your sister is still alive, but if you pay even a cent less, hehe—”
“You’ve kidnapped another woman too. I want to hear her speak,” Huo Juren said.
“Are you done?” The kidnapper roared.
“Don’t you want the ransom?”
The kidnapper had to bring the phone close to Shao Pinxi.
Shao Pinxi knew this was her only golden opportunity to call for help.
Shao Pinxi didn’t speak to Huo Juren, just breathed heavily into the phone.
The kidnapper was used to this, having seen many kidnapping victims too panicked to speak.
“Hey! Woman, say something!” After waiting a while and hearing no words from Shao Pinxi, the impatient kidnapper pushed her.
“Huo Juren?” Shao Pinxi spoke in a low voice, as if with great difficulty.
“Understood.” Came the knowing response from the other end. “Wait for me.”
The kidnapper retrieved his phone and told Huo Juren: “Everything’s confirmed! Cut the chatter, I want to see five hundred million tomorrow! Understand? Short even a cent, and you can prepare to collect these two women’s bodies!” Then he hung up.
After talking to Huo Juren, they were thrown back into the sealed room, but Shao Pinxi’s heart was calm.
Because she knew Huo Juren was on his way to rescue them.
“Yawu, don’t be afraid. We’ll be fine,” Shao Pinxi comforted the trembling Huo Yawu.
“Sister Pinxi, how can you be so confident?” Huo Yawu’s voice was shaking.
“Because I believe in your brother.” Mindful of eavesdroppers, Shao Pinxi didn’t want to explain now. During the phone call with Huo Juren, she had cleverly used Morse code through her breathing to tell him roughly where they were.
The kidnappers surely didn’t notice that the plastic bag holding the food box had the address of the food seller printed on it. From their conversation, that food place was not far from this room. As long as Huo Juren found that shop and came here, it was just a matter of time.
