Chapter 29

Chapter 29: Chapter 29 — Lone Star of Misfortune.

Beijing City, suburban outskirts.

Under the vast, deep blue sky stretched fields of harvested corn. Yellowed, withered stalks stood or lay scattered unevenly across the land, blocking much of the view. A poorly repaired cement road ran through the fields, with occasional spots crushed by trucks, forming cracked, uneven potholes.

A small minivan sped past, kicking up clouds of dust on both sides.

Following a branching dirt path that wound and turned was an old warehouse built of red bricks. It looked like it had not been rented for a long time; weeds grew wildly in the courtyard. The iron gate painted in red was shut tight. A small square window hung high up, its glass filthy from rain and mud, leaving streaky gray stains.

Sunlight filtered in unevenly, illuminating five high school students whose hands and feet were bound—three boys and two girls. Most were dressed fashionably in luxury brands, except for one wearing a school uniform.

—Not the usual “bucket-style PE uniform” common in their country, but the classic blouse, sweater, and knee-length skirt seen in Korean dramas.

“I’m so scared,” the girl with delicate eye makeup smeared by tears and dyed pink hair sobbed softly. “What are they trying to do?”

She had only invited a few friends to check out a newly opened amusement park, drank a beverage handed out by a costumed bear mascot, and when she opened her eyes again, she had become a hostage.

Hearing this, the boy on her left with an earring frowned irritably. “Stop crying. So annoying. If I weren’t so weak right now, I’d definitely break out of this damn thing.”

“And you,” he turned to the school-uniform girl sitting farther outside and sneered, “what about you? So eager to cling onto people as a little follower, now you regret it, huh?”

Her slightly long bangs covered her eyes as she kept her head down and said nothing.

It was the glasses-wearing boy beside the earring boy who couldn’t stand it anymore. He lowered his voice to stop him. “Shh, keep it down. Do you want to attract those bastards outside?”

Then he nudged the friend pressed against the wall. “Xu Hao, I just heard them mention… ah—your hand! You’re bleeding!”

The suppressed gasp made the boy’s injuries even more shocking. Two deep red marks on his wrist looked horrifying; thick nylon ties had embedded into his flesh, making anyone who saw them inhale sharply.

“I can’t break free,” Xu Hao said after failing despite using all his strength. The usually cheerful and optimistic boy now looked serious. “There’s another layer of rope outside. I think it’s a dead knot.”

Multiple layers of restraint, hands tied behind the back, and with the criminals possibly returning at any moment, even if they coordinated among themselves, their chances of success were minimal.

Rolling slightly inward, the glasses boy hesitantly suggested, “Or… should I try biting it?”

“What’s biting gonna do? You’re not a shark,” the earring boy snapped back, then glared fiercely at Xu Hao. “I heard them. They’re going through your phone looking for Jian Qing.”

“That jinx star—he’s already brought disaster to his own family, and now he’s trying to harm us too.”

Though from the same school but different classes, Xu Hao silently told himself there was no need to argue with such an idiot, but still couldn’t help it. “Shut up.”

“What? Getting angry?” The earring boy deliberately put on an experienced, worldly expression and sneered. “Kidnapping rich second gens is obviously for money. Your Jian family is so rich anyway, just make your brother pay it and it’ll be fine.”

Besides, apart from Song An’an and that clingy follower, all their parents were influential figures in Beijing City. If the kidnappers really killed someone, they definitely wouldn’t escape.

Who would make such an unprofitable deal?

“But I feel their eyes were really scary,” the pink-haired girl shivered as if recalling something. “And… they have knives.”

Long ones—pressed against her neck.

The earring boy instantly shifted targets, like a bomb that had just been lit. “You still dare talk? If you hadn’t insisted on trying that free drink and ice cream, and then suddenly kept yelling that you had heatstroke and dizziness, would we have rushed to take you to the hospital and ended up getting tricked onto that car by those three scammers?”

The pink-haired girl sobbed again. “I… I didn’t mean it.”

Xu Hao silently rolled his eyes toward the ceiling.

Even though the timing was extremely wrong and the thought was very inappropriate, he still felt that if he were the only one kidnapped, his chances of escaping would definitely be higher.

Haven’t they ever watched suspense movies? Even after paying ransom, hostages can still be killed.

What do you think this is, a playdate?

At the same moment.

Jian Qing calmly pushed open the private room door and made a “quiet” gesture toward the people inside. “Who are you? Why did you kidnap my younger brother?”

His tone carried a faint trace of panic, but his expression remained unchanged throughout.

Wang Lai, who had just bitten into a piece of beef: “Huh?”

Exchanging tacit glances, everyone quickly muted their phones. He Linfeng made a mouth gesture of “speakerphone,” and in the next instant, a harsh electronic voice let out a malicious laugh.

“Don’t rush.”

“When you see Xu Hao’s corpse, you’ll naturally understand.”

Jian Qing deliberately stayed silent for a few seconds to stall for time. “…Since you know my name, you should also know I’m a businessman. How much ransom do you want? Five million? Fifty million? As long as I have it, name your price.”

“Who cares about that filthy money!” the electronic voice snapped furiously.

“I want to make all of you suffer!”

“All of you?”

He Linfeng keenly caught the keyword and glanced at Jian Qing’s phone screen, which had lit up, sending a string of numbers into the group chat.

“Xu Xuan is only my cousin,” Jian Qing said, the negotiation suddenly collapsing as he instantly shifted into an authoritative upper-class tone. “I’ve already lost my parents, and I’ve lost my grandparents too. Yet I still stand here perfectly fine today.”

“Do you think his death would make me shed even a single tear?”

Electronic voice: “Finally! Finally you’ve shown your true colors! Heartless— ngh.”

It sounded as if something had suddenly blocked it, and the voice from the other end of the line abruptly vanished.

“Going after instant gratification and becoming a fugitive on the run everywhere is not a profitable deal,” Jian Qing continued cautiously, offering a solution. “Exchange hostages for money. You choose the location.”

“And I promise I won’t call the police.”

“If you don’t trust me, we can stay in contact the whole time.”

Wang Lai immediately gave a thumbs-up.

The longer the call lasted, the more it helped police trace the location.

But the other end of the line fell into an unnerving silence. After dozens of seconds, it suddenly hung up without warning.

Beep— beep—

A busy signal echoed.

Jian Qing called back, only to receive a shutdown prompt.

“Life-threatening but not money-driven—low probability of a prank,” Yan Qiuyu quickly assessed based on experience. “Did the kidnappers send any photos?”

Jian Qing shook his head and repeated the original words: “He said that in twelve hours, I will personally see Xu Hao’s corpse.”

“Xu Hao is my maternal aunt’s son, sixteen years old, second year of high school. His family is harmonious. His personality is a bit impulsive, but he has never made jokes like this.”

Yan Qiuyu: “Notify the parents first, confirm who the child was with and where he went today. Wang Lai, settle the bill. Everyone except Old Zhou, return to the bureau with me immediately.”

Xin Lan firmly refused: “I can drive myself. The case is more important—you go ahead and handle it.”

“Use my phone,” He Linfeng unlocked the screen and handed it to Jian Qing, cautiously. “Don’t miss any messages from the kidnappers.”

Jian Qing’s maternal aunt was named Ning Shuyan.

Like his mother Ning Shuxian, she came from a scholarly family in the Jiangnan water towns. She was the youngest daughter of his late maternal grandfather. Her personality, however, was completely different—fiery and energetic in everything she did. A well-known jewelry designer in Beijing City, she and her husband co-founded their own brand. After Xu Hao entered middle school, she often traveled around the world seeking inspiration.

When the Jian family first fell into trouble, she was studying in Beijing City. At just twenty years old, she unhesitatingly took him in, this “burden,” and protected him in that dangerous situation surrounded by wolves.

Yet now, he had implicated his aunt’s only child.

“Relax,” someone covered the back of his hand and patted it gently. He Linfeng, already buckled in, turned on the heating. “As long as there’s communication, there’s room for negotiation. It hasn’t reached the worst point yet.”

Only then did Jian Qing belatedly realize his fingertips were as cold as ice.

“Besides, it might not be your problem,” He Linfeng analyzed objectively, without any preconceived ‘urban legend’ filter about him. “The kidnappers may be targeting a certain type of people.”

Jian Qing moved his lips. “You mean—‘all of you.’”

—I want to make all of you suffer.

What answered him was He Linfeng’s gaze full of approval and encouragement.

Without even checking his contacts, Jian Qing dialed a number he knew by heart. Worried he might miss any detail, he turned up the volume and put it on speaker.

Perhaps because it was an unknown call, the other side took more than ten seconds to answer. “Hello, who is this?”

Jian Qing went straight to the point. “Is Xu Hao at home?”

“Qingqing?” Recognizing his voice, Ning Shuyan on the other end of the line laughed. “No, he went out with friends today. Said he was going to the newly opened amusement park in Beijing City. Do you need something from Haohao?”

Jian Qing: “Friends?”

“Yes, the neighbor boy, Gao Zixuan. He wears glasses like you, they’re in the same class, and both are on the school basketball team.” Unexpectedly, Jian Qing’s questioning made her chatty. She teased, “What, did you run into Haohao on a date with a girl on the street?”

Jian Qing: “……”

“I just received a call from an unknown number saying Xu Hao has been kidnapped,” Jian Qing said, instinctively omitting the part of the threat most likely to break a mother’s composure. “They used Xu Hao’s phone.”

Ning Shuyan froze for a moment, but quickly reacted. “Maybe he lost it and someone picked it up? Haohao takes after me—careless, always forgetting things.”

That was true.

For ordinary people, the first reaction to something like this would be a joke or a scam. Only by actually speaking to the kidnappers could one feel the malice that even the electronic voice could not fully conceal.

“Anyway, please contact Gao Zixuan’s parents first and ask whether they encountered the same situation,” Jian Qing instructed clearly. “I’m currently having dinner with friends from the criminal investigation team. Whether it’s real or not, finding the kids is the priority.”

Sensing her nephew’s serious tone from afar, Ning Shuyan cooperated immediately. “Alright.”

“I’ll ask right away.”

“I’ll notify you as soon as there’s news.”

Jian Qing: “From now on, call this number. My phone needs to stay open for updates and can’t be tied up.”

Ning Shuyan responded again.

The car sped like lightning.

With a sudden brake and turn, Yan Qiuyu sent a voice message to the group:

“The technical investigation team’s location results are out.”

“Xu Hao’s phone’s last call location was an unfinished building near Wutong Street.”