Zong Yanxi muted her mobile phone as she crept toward the car, knowing that Gu Xian might call again.
Walking on the roads would be too obvious. She took cover in the bushes on the foot of the hill as she got closer.
It was only then that she saw the black jeep parked in front of the red car.
“What’s with this terrible meet-up location?” A man in shades grumbled, his annoyance apparent in his voice.
“I’d like to loan a few of your men. Don’t worry, money wouldn’t be a problem,” Ling Wei said.
The man smirked. “There’s no way that I would accept your requests again. The two men whom I sent out a year ago are still missing till this day.”
“So what if they went missing? That has nothing to do with me. I paid the money, and you guys are responsible for the rest.” Ling Wei crossed her arms. “I’ll pay a lot more this time.”
The man took off his shades, thinking. “Why are you doing this again?” He asked.
“None of your business. I just need your men.” She cut him off with swagger, and said, “You aren’t worried about taking a request from me, are you? Don’t you know me well enough by now?”
The man stayed quiet as he considered her request.
The two men from a year ago were nowhere to be found—dead or alive, there were no traces of them whatsoever. He had always felt guilty about what happened to them.
“One million,” Ling Wei continued.
Twice the amount that I offered a year ago.
Still hiding in the bushes, Zong Yanxi saw her mobile phone screen suddenly lit up in her pocket. It was Gu Xian. He had already arrived at the meet-up point, but could not find Zong Yanxi.
Phew. Who knows what might happen if I didn’t mute my phone…
Zong Yanxi inhaled deeply, declined the call, and continued keeping her eye on Ling Wei.
The man seemed to be in a dilemma. A million was sure a great price, but he did not want his men to go missing again. After a moment of silence, he replied, “I’ll accept your request, but my men have to come back alive.”
“Sure thing,” Ling Wei said.
“I’ll send out two men tomorrow,” he said, getting on the car.
Ling Wei looked around, making sure that nobody was in the area before leaving.
Seeing that they had left, Zong Yanxi crept out of the bushes.
From what she had heard, she could deduce that Ling Wei commissioned the man who disguised himself as Jiang Mohan’s underling a year ago.
Who is her target this time?
She felt a chill down her spine. How did I not see this earlier on? How did I not realize that Ling Wei is such a cruel, cold-blooded person?
Her mobile phone screen lit up again. She quickly answered the call. “Where in the world are you?” Gu Xian sounded really worried.
“I’ll be there in a second.” She sped off to the roadside.
“Where did you go?” Gu Xian paced about restlessly near his car.
“Sorry, I-I was held up,” Zong Yanxi said apologetically.
“God knows how worried I was! Are you alright?” Gu Xian gushed, upon seeing Zong Yanxi.
Zong Yanxi shook her head, saying, “I’m fine.”
“I thought that you had gotten into some accident again. Come on, let’s go.” Gu Xian opened the car door for her.
As Zong Yanxi got into the car, she turned to look at Gu Xian, her eyes all serious. “Thank you so much, Gu Xian.”
“Don’t be cheesy. Let’s get on our way,” Gu Xian said, making a disgusted face.
Zong Yanxi knew that he was not actually angry.
“What were you doing in such a secluded place?” Gu Xian asked as he drove the car.
“I had some work to do here,” Zong Yanxi said.
“Are you done with it?”
“Very much so. I got my hands on some groundbreaking evidence.”
Though she could not find what she initially hoped to obtain, she acquired something much better.
Gu Xian glanced at her through the rearview mirror, and said, “You’re really feeling okay?”
“I am. I really am,” Zong Yanxi replied for the umpteenth time, sighing.
“That’s good to hear,” Gu Xian said with a smile.
Zong Yanxi widened her eyes and stared at him in bewilderment.
“Hold on. What are you talking about?”
“I mean, your ex-husband is hooking up with some other woman at the club! I’m just worried that you might feel upset or something.”
“What does it have to do with me?” Zong Yanxi did not want to waste any more time on that topic. Why is he still talking about that?
“Are you really not bothered?” Gu Xian stole another glance at her.
Zong Yanxi ignored him.
“Alright, alright… My fault for asking too much. By the way, there were so many reporters visiting Hengkang Group today, to interview Jiang Mohan.” Gu Xian changed the topic.
“I said I’m not interested in his affairs. What are you trying to get at?” Zong Yanxi could not wrap her head around why Gu Xian would not stop talking about Jiang Mohan.
“Okay, okay. I’ll stop.” Even through their conversations, Gu Xian still could not figure out how Zong Yanxi was truly feeling deep down. She used to love Jiang Mohan so much, but now…
The scenery outside flew past like frames in a film. Zong Yanxi took out her mobile phone and sent Gu Xian the photo of the man from just now.
“Please run a background check on this man for me,” Zong Yanxi said.
Gu Xian took a brief look at the photo and asked, “What for?”
“He’s linked to the person who hurt me back then.”
“Got it.” Gu Xian drove on.
They got back to the city area in no time. Although they agreed to have lunch together, Gu Xian received a call from his secretary about some urgent matters he had to attend to.
“You can drop me off here,” Zong Yanxi said after overhearing their call.
“Too bad we can’t have lunch together today.” Gu Xian sounded disappointed.
“It’s alright, we have plenty of time to do that in the future,” Zong Yanxi replied.
“You’re right. Okay, I’ll drop you off here.”
“Yeah, work is more important.”
Gu Xian stopped the car by the roadside. “Thanks! Stay safe okay?” Zong Yanxi told him as she got out of the car.
He muttered a “yes” and drove off.
Zong Yanxi was rather familiar with the area she was in. There should be a bus stop straight ahead, and its route goes past the hotel I’m staying at too.
She got on her way.
All of a sudden, a black car came to a halt beside her. “Ms. Lin?”
Sure enough, as Zong Yanxi turned around, she found herself staring into that pair of deep, dark eyes which she was all too familiar with.
The only difference this time was the heart-wrenching pain she had begun to feel, knowing that he was just a liar seeking for revenge.
I wonder if he thought of me as a complete fool—a complete idiot through and through when I acted all whiny and told him that I loved him.
