Zhou Chunchun did not wait for her mother to reply before she continued angrily, “He’s a bad man!”
Patting her daughter’s hand gently, Gu Huixin hushed her, “Shh. Let’s not talk about that here. We have to save Yinning first.”
Of course she knew Number Four was not a good person. Her brother was not an honorable man so there was no way his subordinate would be good.
No one with even a shred of decency in them would hang around Gu Bei.
Everyone knew the nightclub at Central Avenue belonged to Gu Bei. However, as Shen Peichuan thought, the Gu family was just too influential. Nobody dared to offend him even if they did not like him.
Gu Huixin and her sisters were all raised separately. Needless to say, they were not very close. While they did check in on each other every now and then, they were not as close as siblings who grew up together would be.
The only connection they had was that they were blood-related.
She did not know what the relationship was like between her other sisters and Gu Bei. She only knew that after this incident, she would cut off all ties with him. Since he did not care for her as a sibling, she did not need to give him the same courtesy.
She held her daughter’s hand tightly and muttered, “Don’t worry. After we rescue Yinning, I’ll cut off all contact with them.”
Zhou Chunchun nodded.
The two women got back inside the car. Number Four huddled in a corner of the third row, not daring to move at all. He could tell that they did not like him. Not wanting to anger them, he tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible.
Gu Huixin dialed Gu Bei’s number. “I’ve found him. Where do we meet?”
Gu Bei grinned at Bai Yinning, who was sitting across from him. “I’m in the villa near the Second Highway. Come over.”
Hanging up, Gu Bei leaned back against the couch. He chuckled and stated, “You told me that you had no idea where Number Four was. Yet, your mother-in-law has managed to find him in a little over ten hours. Tell me, is she simply that amazing, or have you lied to me?”
Bai Yinning’s expression was blank. He guessed that Gu Huixin must have tricked Zhou Chunchun into revealing that information. Otherwise, there was no way that she would have been able to find the man.
Truthfully, he had only wanted to help Lin Xinyan. He had not actually expected any repayment from her. Now that he knew Gu Huixin had been to Lin Xinyan’s house, he wondered if the former had made things difficult for the latter.
He was the one in a tricky situation now, yet all he could think about was Lin Xinyan. He hoped that he had not brought trouble to her doorstep. At the same time, he was worried that Gu Huixin would find out something was wrong.
“Why don’t you tell me why you’d wanted to hide Number Four?” Gu Bei did not know about the relationship between Bai Yinning, Lin Xinyan, and Zong Jinghao.
He only knew that Bai Yinning was his sister’s son-in-law, a man who was slightly influential in Baicheng. However, having power in Baicheng doesn’t mean that he has influence everywhere. Here in B City, he is nothing!
That was why Gu Bei was not the slightest bit afraid of him and had dared to kidnap him.
“I already told you. I didn’t hide him; he escaped himself. What could I have done?” Bai Yinning lied without even batting an eyelash.
Gu Bei scoffed. “So what, he jumped out of the car and escaped?”
“Maybe.”
“F***ing bull****! Are you saying that he’s crazy? Why would he run off when he obviously knows that someone is after him?”
Unfazed, Bai Yinning commented indifferently, “There’s always a possibility. Who knows, maybe he really does have a few loose screws?”
Infuriated, Gu Bei’s grip tightened on his cup as he scowled at Bai Yinning viciously. Several moments later, he spoke up again, “You can stop denying it now. Your mother-in-law is bringing him over here right now. We’ll find out soon enough whether he ran off himself or not.”
Bai Yinning’s facial muscles did not even twitch. “Even if he says that I lost him, does he have proof of that? Put another way, if he says that I wasn’t the one who lost him, would that actually be the truth?”
“Stop your yammering!” Gu Bei refused to talk to Bai Yinning further. This man has a silver tongue. Somehow, he always manages to twist the facts to suit him.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this!” he declared furiously.
“Go ahead and investigate to your heart’s content, Mr. Gu. I have to say though, you kidnapping me like that is really a slap in the face for your sister. You really don’t respect her at all, do you?”
“I asked her for help, didn’t I? However, not only did she not actually help me, rather, she had even lost that man! If he ends up in Zong Jinghao’s hands, she’ll never hear the end of it from me!” Gu Bei was a spoilt man. Old Master Gu had not been very young when he had finally gotten a son. Thus, he pampered his son and treated him like the most precious of treasures. Since young, whatever Gu Bei had wanted, he would get. This had led to him becoming an incredibly spoilt adult who held no respect for anyone. Feeling thankful for what he had was an alien concept to him.
In his mind, anyone who was of use to him should be honored that he was using them.
Bai Yinning chuckled and announced, “Why don’t we have a bet?”
“What bet?” Gu Bei shot him a sideways glance.
In an unhurried tone, Bai Yinning stated, “A bet to see who shall win in the end, you or Zong Jinghao?”
“It’s definitely going to be me,” Gu Bei boasted confidently. “He couldn’t do anything to me, the last time we had a run-in with each other. This time is alike to the last. Till now, he still hasn’t managed to find Number Four! What force is he going to use against me? Shen Peichuan? He’s but a mere deputy chief. What sort of power can he have? The other one, a lawyer, is just as useless; all he has is money. Nevertheless, I’m not that powerless. Just look at all my older sisters! Every single one of their husbands is an influential person. My father also hasn’t retired yet. That nightclub on Central Avenue? It’s mine. No matter how strict the rules are, I’m still operating my business. Who dares to shut me down? Who dares to touch me?”
Bai Yinning patiently listened to the other man’s tirade. When he was done, Bai Yinning’s lips twitched into a faint smile. “I’d like to bet that Zong Jinghao will win.”
Gu Bei was struck dumb by the words. A million curses rang out in his mind as he stared at the other man.
“What did you say?” He thought that he must have been hallucinating. “What does Zong Jinghao have? You’re betting that he wins? I don’t think you’ve been made aware of who’s the most powerful here in B City!”
“Does power determine who wins or loses?” Bai Yinning retorted.
Gu Bei roared with laughter as he lounged back against his seat. He found Bai Yinning words incredibly hilarious and stupid. “If not power, then what? Or are we supposed to engage with each other in a fistfight?”
Bai Yinning smiled but remained quiet. Gu Bei might have had the advantage in power but his intellect was nowhere near Zong Jinghao’s. He was also too overconfident and did not know how to use his resources properly.
He was not actually bad at manipulating the people around him. It was just that he had not thought about the people closest to him.
He did everything that he could to prevent Number Four from getting arrested because he did not want his men to feel discouraged. However, he completely disregarded his blood relation with Gu Huixin, his biological sister. He thought that since she was his family, he did not need to protect her at all. He believed that she was obligated to help him.
He is terribly wrong, however. Humans are all the same, no matter who they are. Why should someone treat you kindly, seeing that you have failed to treat them the same?
Only if you treated someone sincerely would they give you the same courtesy. It was this fact that Gu Bei had neglected, especially when it came to his family.
He knew how to win over the loyalties of his men but not his own family. To him, his family had the obligation to help if they could while he had no such obligations in return. This mindset was probably because of how he was raised.
On the other side of things, Gu Huixin knew about the villa that Gu Bei had mentioned. Once, after celebrating Old Master Gu’s birthday at the old manor, she and her sisters had eaten dinner together at that villa.
Informing the chauffeur of the address, they headed for the city.
Zhou Chunchun was silent the entire journey, lost in her thoughts. Gu Huixin, who thought that she was worrying about Bai Yinning, consoled her, “Don’t worry. Once we hand that man over, Yinning will be back with us.”
Her daughter remained quiet as she mulled over Lin Xinyan’s words. That man hurt someone and he should be punished for it. Yet, now, we’re setting him free. It’s not right!
“Mom, Dad used to tell me that kindness is beautiful. He said that being kind would make people like us more. Seeing as such, why are there still bad people in the world? Haven’t their fathers ever told them to be kind?”
