57. He Must Want to See Me Too

“What?! Lost him?!”

“Chairman... I’m sorry, we didn’t expect Yan Li to be so cunning. There’s no signal in the mountains, so the tracking equipment couldn’t be used. He acted at night, and that police officer surnamed Jiang from Haishi has been relentless in his pursuit, impeding our operations...”

“Then deal with him too!” Zhan Tianxiong was out of patience.

The goods had been held for nearly two months, incurring losses and risks every day. Yan Li was also nowhere to be found. The Zhan family was now in a precarious situation, attacked from both sides, and one wrong move could lead to total defeat.

Zhan Yan impatiently walked into the office, throwing his phone on the table. “Lin Xudong isn’t answering the phone. Does he want to cut ties with us?”

“Cut ties?” Zhan Tianxiong sneered, a cold light glinting in his aged, murky eyes behind his glasses. “Can he cut ties? Once he knows what Yan Li has in his hands, he’ll be more anxious than us.”

“Is that woman Ji Qiuchi still not awake?”

“I don’t know, don’t have time to deal with her,” Zhan Yan said irritably. “The hospital hasn’t sent word, so she should be alive.”

“Find someone to keep a close eye on her for me. If she still causes trouble...”

Zhan Tianxiong didn’t finish his sentence, but Zhan Yan understood his meaning. It was quite natural for a woman with a drug addiction to have an ‘accident,’ and a few connections could easily cover it up.

Zhan Yan stood with his back to Zhan Tianxiong, looking down at the city from the French window, smoking heavily, white smoke billowing. His throat was hoarse. “Dad, after this deal... let’s stop. Don’t risk your life. How much money is enough? The company you’ve built up over half your life, if it ends up ruined in your own hands...”

________________________________________

Lin Xingzi didn’t sleep well that night. She felt severely carsick on her way to work the next morning, her face extremely pale during the meeting, forcing herself to listen to several people report on their work.

She thought it was due to her period being too delayed and planned to take time off to visit the hospital, asking her assistant to schedule an appointment with a doctor first.

Li Qing was worried and specifically took leave. She detoured from school to Lin Xingzi’s company. Lin Xingzi had a video conference, so Li Qing waited in the office until it ended, then they went to the hospital together.

“Where do you feel unwell?”

“Dizzy, nauseous, my heart feels a bit fast, and I always feel like something is smothering me, making it hard to breathe...”

Lin Xingzi hadn’t finished speaking when the door to the doctor’s office was abruptly pushed open by Li Qing.

Her expression was anxious, a rare sight of panic and helplessness. “Yes, yes, yes, Jiang Jiang is next to me, Old Lin, you talk to her,” she handed the phone to Lin Xingzi.

Lin Xingzi felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand. She looked down to see several pale fingernail marks around her veins. Li Qing was so panicked her hands were trembling, clutching her tightly.

The phone line went silent for a moment. Lin Xudong also grew anxious, pacing back and forth in the small room. “Li Qing? Jiang Jiang?”

“...Dad, I’m listening,” Lin Xingzi tried several times before she could utter a sound. “Is it Jiang Yan...?”

“Don’t worry, listen to Dad,” Lin Xudong wiped his face, trying to calm himself down and reassure her. “Jiang Yan was indeed injured during the pursuit of a witness, but he has been sent to the local hospital. He’s still unconscious. I’ll contact the people there for specific details... Jiang Jiang? Lin Xingzi! You mustn’t act rashly!”

Li Qing, without even grabbing her things, rushed to follow but twisted her ankle. The driver, who had just returned from the restroom and was confused by the situation, ran over to stop her. Li Qing frantically pounded on the car window, anxious and angry, “Jiang Jiang, be good. It’s far, it’ll take several days to drive there yourself. Your dad didn’t hide it from you because he was afraid you’d worry. Let’s go home first. Maybe we’ll get news in a bit...”

The moment she heard Jiang Yan was injured and unconscious, Lin Xingzi’s heart fiercely clenched, as if being pulled out of her body. Her mind went blank.

She finally knew the source of the unease she felt.

But after that initial shock, she became frighteningly calm.

The car window rolled down. Li Qing leaned against the car door, panting heavily, about to ask the driver to help get Lin Xingzi out of the car.

“Mom, I’m going.”

Lin Xingzi was slumped over the steering wheel, her scattered hair obscuring her face. All that could be heard was her muffled, choked voice, “He must want to see me too.”

Li Qing’s eyes welled up. She turned her head slightly. She had long regarded Jiang Yan as her own son.

“Even so, you can’t just go like this. You have to go home and get some clothes.”

Lin Xingzi was usually advised repeatedly to drive as little as possible. In this situation, Li Qing dared not let her drive herself. So she asked the driver to go back and pack things, enough for two weeks.

Li Qing’s ankle was severely sprained and swollen by the time they got home. When Lin Xudong rushed back, Lin Xingzi was helping her apply ointment. A packed suitcase sat in the living room.

“Let her go,” Li Qing sighed deeply, holding Lin Xingzi’s hand. As mother and daughter, she understood. “That year, you were shot in the back and rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment. I couldn’t sleep day and night. No amount of comfort from others helped. I couldn’t rest until I saw you.”

Lin Xudong’s breathing went from rapid to slow, feeling a lump in his throat from Li Qing’s words.

He ultimately saw Lin Xingzi off.

The place where Jiang Yan was injured was far away, near the country’s border, almost crossing half the country. The further north they went, the colder it got. Two drivers took turns driving. The car broke down once. It took Lin Xingzi a week to reach the county town.

It was dark when they arrived. The roads in the small town were hard to navigate. Erhu said he would come to pick up Lin Xingzi. Lin Xingzi waited for him in the car. There was a shop not far away, and the driver, hungry, went to buy instant noodles.

Lin Xingzi had her head down and didn’t notice that the ‘driver’ returned too quickly.

The ‘driver’ got into the car and immediately started it. Lin Xingzi said softly, “Don’t drive. Just wait here.”

But he floored the accelerator, and the car sped off. Lin Xingzi was thrown backward by the immense force.

She didn’t even have time to react. A minute after the car started, there was another sudden brake. The car door opened, and another man got in from behind, covering her mouth and nose before she could even cry for help.