The maid opened the door to see two women standing there. They seemed to be a mother and daughter pair. “May I ask who you’re looking for?”
“Is Xinyan here?” Zhou Chunchun asked.
“You are?”
“I’m Zhou Chunchun. Please let her know, thank you,” Zhou Chunchun replied politely.
The maid turned to look at Lin Xinyan and reported, “It’s a Ms. Zhou.”
Lin Xinyan approached the front door and was surprised to see Gu Huixin and Zhou Chunchun.
“Xinyan, Yinning is missing!” Zhou Chunchun sniffled.
Bewildered, Lin Xinyan asked, “What do you mean he’s missing?”
Gu Huixin queried, “Chunchun told me that Bai Yinning sent someone here?”
Zhou Chunchun might have been unaware of what was happening but Gu Huixin was very much in the know.
It was no secret that Gu Bei and Zong Jinghao were enemies. Now that the man whom Gu Bei had been trying so hard to keep hidden had just suddenly disappeared from right under his nose, he was incensed. It was likely that he had found out about how Bai Yinning was involved in this incident. Hence, that was why he had kidnapped Bai Yinning and was now demanding that man in return. Back then, Gu Huixin had agreed to help Gu Bei in hiding that man. Now that he was missing, she would have to bear responsibility for it. She knew that her only option now was to find that missing man. Only then would she be able to get Bai Yinning back.
Bai Yinning had actually instructed Zhou Chunchun not to tell anyone that he was bringing that man here. However, she panicked badly when she discovered that he was missing. Gu Huixin had also deliberately phrased her questions so that Zhou Chunchun would reveal that information. That was how she found out that the missing man was here with Zong Jinghao.
By then, Zong Jinghao had neared them. He had overheard their conversation and he already had a rough idea of what was going on. “Tell me what you want.”
Gu Huixin went straight to the point, “Gu Bei entrusted me to hide that man. Originally, I didn’t want to involve myself in this matter. However, Yinning told me that he had a place in mind to hide him. Thus, I agreed. I had not expected him to hand the man over to you. I’m guessing that Gu Bei kidnapped Yinning because he’s furious with him. My reason for being here is simple. Return that man to me so that I may get Yinning back.”
In the end, this had only happened due to her own negligence. She was aware that Bai Yinning and Zong Jinghao knew each other. Bai Yinning had also told her that they were friends. What she had not expected was that they were such close friends.
“That man is a vile criminal! If anything, we should be handing him over to the police so that he may be tried for his crimes! Why should we give him to Gu Bei? Mrs. Zhou, you should know better than anyone that criminals need to be tried in court. Your husband is a civil servant! Are you seriously going to flaunt the laws in spite of that? Are you going to ruin your husband’s reputation like that?” Su Zhan commented coldly.
Back then, if it had not been for Shen Peichuan holding him back, he would have beat that criminal to death! Now, he was worried Zong Jinghao would actually give him to Gu Huixin.
Gu Huixin was really regretting her decision to involve herself with Gu Bei. However, she could not focus on that fact now. At this moment in time, all she wanted was to get Bai Yinning back from her brother. After that, she would cut off all ties with him.
“Yinning thinks of you as friends! Now that he’s been kidnapped, aren’t you going to save him?” Why does it sound like they’re unwilling to give up the man?
“Sorry to break it to you but we’re not that close with him. In fact, we’re not even friends. The only reason he brought the man to us was that his intentions were less than noble-”
“Su Zhan,” Lin Xinyan cut him off sharply. Zhou Chunchun was standing right there. Now that Bai Yinning was married, it should not matter what his reason was for giving them the man. Either way, it was not wise for them to talk about him in front of his family like that. Not only would that hurt Zhou Chunchun, rather, but it would also damage his relationship with the Zhou family as well.
She looked at Zong Jinghao. “What shall we do?”
He moved aside to let her enter the house. “Stay here. I’ll go out with them and discuss this matter.”
Nodding, she reminded him, “It doesn’t matter what you decide. Call me to let me know.”
“Got it.” Tonight was supposed to be a celebratory dinner for Shen Peichuan. Now, this issue with Bai Yinning has popped up, successfully ruining the mood.
“Let’s talk somewhere else,” he suggested. He was only dressed in casual clothing so he had no intention of walking far. He just did not want to have this discussion in the house.
In the end, they sat down in several rattan chairs in the courtyard.
Zong Jinghao called Shen Peichuan aside and murmured, “Has the man been interrogated yet?”
“Su Zhan went a little overboard with him. He’s still unconscious.”
“Find a way to wake him up and interrogate him through the night.” It doesn’t matter if Number Four knows about what Gu Bei had done or not. We still have to interrogate him since he might know of some secrets.
“I’ll get to it right away,” Shen Peichuan promised. The words had barely left his lips when he spun around and left.
As of now, they had managed to gather some evidence against Gu Bei. However, the Gu family was merely too powerful as their connections spanned out mostly everywhere. If what they had was not enough to irrefutably condemn him, they could not take any action just yet. Doing so would only lead to them losing control of the situation.
Old Master Gu was not yet retired, while a few of Gu Bei’s sisters had married into prominent families. Gu Huixin was one such example. Her husband, Zhou Huaihou, was extremely influential. Although he was an honest and just man, his wife was still from the Gu family.
If Gu Bei were really in deep trouble, they would definitely band together to save him.
Zong Jinghao went back to where Gu Huixin and Zhou Chunchun were waiting, saying, “I’ll give you the man tomorrow.”
Gu Huixin could not bear to wait that long. She was rather worried that Bai Yinning would suffer in Gu Bei’s hands.
“Can’t you hand him over to us today?” she asked anxiously.
“Aren’t you Gu Bei’s older sister? Can’t you say something to him? After all, he’s kidnapped your son-in-law! Instead of taking it up with him, you’re here demanding that we release that man to you! So in the end, you’re still helping your brother?” Su Zhan questioned scornfully.
She’s such a pretentious woman! All she cares about is looking out for her own brother!
Unbeknownst to him, Gu Bei did not care that she was his sister at all. He was well aware of who Bai Yinning was, yet he had still kidnapped the latter.
Gu Huixin had certainly tried to reason with him.
Unfortunately, he had completely disregarded their blood relation. “You want me to give him back? Then bring me Number Four. You promised me that you would hide him and ensure that nobody found him. Yet, less than a day later, he’s disappeared. This is all your fault and you need to make up for your mistake. Otherwise, I won’t guarantee the safety of your son-in-law.”
Gu Huixin’s expression darkened at Su Zhan’s words. “I’m sure that all of you are aware that we, the children of the Gu family, were not raised with our parents. That means that we’re not exactly close with each other. Normally, I wouldn’t have bothered myself with him. However, this time he came to ask me for help personally. Now, he’s ignoring our familial connection and demanding that I bring that man back to him, in exchange for Yinning. Yinning had brought that man to you. Are you really not going to help him, now that he’s in trouble? How could you be so heartless?”
Gu Huixin had assumed that they were all friends. Yet, it was starting to seem like she had been mistaken.
“Do you have any idea of what that man has done?” Just the thought of Number Four being released back to Gu Bei had anger boiling in Su Zhan. “I really hope that your daughter can remain safe and healthy for the rest of her life. Pray that nothing’ll happen to her.”
Gu Huixin frowned. “What do you mean?”
Rubbing his throbbing temples, Zong Jinghao intoned, “Su Zhan, go back home.”
“But-”
“Go home. I’ll handle this. Your impulsiveness will only serve to make things worse,” Zong Jinghao stated firmly.
Su Zhan got up and grudgingly departed.
“Go to the police station tomorrow morning to pick up the man.” Zong Jinghao would not refuse to release the man. He did not want anything to happen to Bai Yinning either. Bai Yinning might have truly handed them the man, solely because of Lin Xinyan.
However, whether that was true or not did not matter. If anything happened to him because of this, Lin Xinyan would be traumatized by it. That was not something that Zong Jinghao wanted to see.
Besides, they had already planned everything out. Even if Number Four returned to Gu Bei, there was still a chance that he might not actually live.
Gu Huixin mulled over Zong Jinghao’s words, ultimately replying, “Fine. Morning time is just a little more than ten hours away anyway.”
They would wait.
“Chunchun, let’s go.”
Gu Huixin tugged on her daughter’s arm.
Zhou Chunchun shook her head. “Mom, you should head back home first. I’d like to speak to Xinyan.”
