Chapter 34

Chapter 34 Has anyone apologized?

"Phew—"

Holding a half-burned cigarette in his left hand, Qiangzi took a deep drag and exhaled a white ring from his mouth.

Although he knew the police couldn’t possibly find them in such a short time, whenever he did something illegal he couldn’t help but panic. He still needed to keep watch himself to feel at ease.

Squatting on one knee, the phone stuffed in his jeans pocket pressed against his stomach, making Qiangzi’s thoughts race even more.

Worried that the police might trace his identity through clues and then locate him via the phone number registered under his name, after making the threatening call to the parents, Shi Hong and the bald Zhao—who were even more exposed—had removed their SIM cards and snapped them in two, leaving only his phone for recording and sending videos.

He was the only one holding a device that could communicate with the outside world.

He also had a bank card opened under a false identity.

The identity information had nothing to do with him. Back when regulations were looser, right before graduation, a “kind” senior introduced him to a job. After some so-called “training,” he had almost been tricked into becoming a scammer, but by sheer coincidence he ended up with this card.

Because of that experience, Qiangzi knew the tricks inside out: if he really could trick Jian Qing into transferring money, he just needed to disguise himself and wait near an ATM to withdraw it early. The rest could be converted into cryptocurrency, and once the heat died down, he would be living a carefree life of luxury.

His phone had a virtual dialing app installed. Even if he called Jian Qing, his location wouldn’t be exposed.

…but Shi Hong was a lunatic.

Qiangzi thought that the woman and Zhao the bald head had already decided to kill a few of those brats. If he tried to back out midway, he might die even before Li Ming.

Although Zhao the bald head was sick, his burly build was still there, and with Shi Hong constantly carrying a knife, he alone had no chance of winning.

Besides, the vehicle belonged to Zhao the bald head. The keys were in his pocket. Qiangzi had taken a taxi back from Leiao New City and walked another ten minutes to get here. If they really chased him, how could two legs outrun four wheels?

“Hiss!”

The dark red ash burned down. Qiangzi winced and shook his hand. Hearing the noise, Zhao Gang poked his head out from the warehouse.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, just a stomachache, probably caught a chill,” Qiangzi casually stomped out the cigarette, his face dark, and pointed toward the cornfield outside. “I’m going to take a dump.”

Zhao Gang waved his hand. “Hurry up.”

“Come back through the back entrance.”

Even though this warehouse had been abandoned for years, they still had to minimize risks. If someone ran into them and suspected they were stealing, it would be troublesome.

Qiangzi responded: “Got it.”

Fifty million.

The casually spoken number from Jian Qing lingered in his mind like a nightmare. Qiangzi resented the other man’s success, yet couldn’t help fantasizing about living the same life.

If fate had given him Jian Qing’s background, how could his startup have failed? He wouldn’t have been forced into a dead end by just a single house.

He brushed aside the dried leaves of the corn stalks, glanced back at the warehouse surrounded by a low wall, and unconsciously touched his pocket.

He still remembered Jian Qing’s phone number.

Just once, he thought as cold sweat slowly formed in his palm. A voice in his mind said: if Jian Qing dared to trick him, he would make him taste what it felt like to have his brother dismembered.

But if Jian Qing really, foolishly transferred the ransom, he could slip away before Shi Hong became suspicious. No matter what happened, Shi Hong and Zhao the bald head would never let those brats go anyway—using them to draw police attention would give him a perfect chance to slip away unnoticed and handle the money afterward.

The more he thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed. Qiangzi crouched in the cornfield, turned on his phone, and quietly typed in the number he knew by heart.

[“Fifty million. Transfer it to the designated account.”]

An attached image showed Li Ming face-down in the iron shed.

——There was no choice; Xu Hao’s turn hadn’t come yet, and he couldn’t take photos openly in front of Shi Hong. Fortunately, the lighting inside the iron shed was dim enough, which should be enough to temporarily fool a desperate parent.

As expected, less than two minutes later, Jian Qing’s reply came via text:

[Bank transfer limits are capped. I need time.]

[5 million has been transferred.]

[I want to see Xu Hao—alive and moving.]

The virtual number had a delay in sending and receiving; the messages appeared line by line with a slight lag. As Qiangzi logged into online banking with trembling fingers, he saw a string of zeros after the number five.

1, 2, 3, 4…

His breathing gradually grew heavier. Focused, he counted the balance several times over—both excited and almost wanting to laugh at Jian Qing’s stupidity, the corners of his mouth twitching unconsciously.

“You happy?”

A cold blade pressed against the back of his neck. Qiangzi’s smile froze on his face.

“Red Sister,” he stammered, raising both hands instantly in surrender after having just witnessed her sharpening a knife earlier. “I was wrong, I lost my mind.”

“But I definitely didn’t delay your business, really! I used a virtual number—police can’t trace it easily. After this is over, how about we split it fifty-fifty?”

Shi Hong acted as if she hadn’t heard him, enunciating each word:

“SIM card. Take it out. Give it to me.”

Qiangzi immediately complied.

Five million was fine too—better to be satisfied and content.

“Time’s up.” In this world, only accomplices and corpses could keep secrets. Brushing Qiangzi’s collar as a signal for him to stand, Shi Hong said firmly, leaving no room for refusal:

“Let’s go. We’re going to see Li Ming.”

Knowing she was determined to drag him into this, Qiangzi didn’t dare hesitate. He obediently handed over his phone and was herded back toward the warehouse like a chick.

He could resist.

But Shi Hong clearly looked like someone who would fight anyone to the death. If he killed her in the process of resisting, how would that be any different from killing Li Ming?

At best, the latter could be considered something he was coerced into.

With their private calculations clicking away, neither he nor Shi Hong mentioned what had happened in the cornfield. Zhao Gang was standing outside the iron shed. Seeing them return, he took out a key and unlocked the door.

“What took you so long?”

Sunlight spilled into the sealed dark room. Li Ming, who had somehow woken up, was curled in a corner, sobbing uncontrollably. Shi Hong carried out a plastic box from the car and dropped it with a thud at Qiangzi’s feet.

“These are old tools I’ve used for over ten years.”

“Pick one yourself.”

Clean, sharp—various kitchen knives reflected a cold silver sheen.

Qiangzi sneaked a glance at the large boning knife in Shi Hong’s hand, hesitated, then chose a long, thin blade and spat on his palm.

Sensing something, Li Ming—already terrified—scrambled backward and screamed, but the sound was tightly muffled by layers of tape over his mouth.

“If you want someone to blame, blame your parents,” Qiangzi said, pressing down on the struggling prey with his body weight as he sat on Li Ming’s chest, gripping the knife with both hands and aiming it at Li Ming’s chest.

“Everyone here was forced into this.”

stab

The silver blade went in.

Having slaughtered chickens when he was young, Qiangzi instinctively recoiled backward—only to realize there was no spray of blood. Instead, it poured out in steady streams, warm, soaking into his clothes and staining his hands.

Like a fish dragged ashore, gasping and dehydrated, Li Ming jerked violently twice—then slowly went still.

The sticky, fishy liquid clung to the skin like a swamp. Qiangzi stared at that pale, miserable face—still with two eyes and one nose like everyone else—and suddenly felt a wave of nausea. He rolled to the side and dry-heaved.

Zhao Gang stopped filming at just the right moment.

“What did I say?”

“This kid couldn’t be trusted.”

Shi Hong didn’t respond.

After finally avenging her deep hatred, she thought she would feel relief. But what she actually felt was numbness.

“Has anyone apologized yet?” Her fingers were so stiff she could barely hold the knife. Shi Hong spoke. “Check. The police should have found me by now.”

Had those bastards collapsed in despair? Had they cried and apologized to her daughter who died in sickness? Had they regretted destroying so many families who once had everything they cared about?

Zhao Gang quickly gave a negative answer:

“No.”

“The police seem to have suppressed this.”

“Good.” Barely perceptibly, the shaky boning knife tightened again in her grip.

As the planner of the entire operation, Shi Hong understood Qiangzi’s personality very well. Whether it was Li Guojian or Wang Guojian, compared to seeking justice, that man cared more about trampling the wealthy underfoot.

The unfinished building was just an excuse to disguise his desires.

But it didn’t matter. Different paths, same destination. They were already grasshoppers tied to the same rope. She needed someone who could edit videos and evade police tracking—not comrades in moral solidarity.

“How do you turn this video into an advertisement again?” Zhao Gang pinched his nose as he leaned in and helped Qiangzi up. “College kid, hurry up.”

Qiangzi caught the mockery in his tone but didn’t have the confidence to retort.

He roughly wiped his hands on his shirt hem, swallowed his anger, and completed Shi Hong’s instructions before walking into the warehouse with the knife.

—The humiliation Li Ming had caused him had to be paid back somewhere else.

Zhao Gang let out a contemptuous snort.

“No backbone.”

Earlier he had been acting all righteous, talking about not harming innocents and how Song An’an was pitiful. Now, in a fit of embarrassment and rage, he had forgotten all of that and rushed to show off his cruelty in front of a bunch of kids.

What a “cultured man.”

Ridiculous.

“Go check. Don’t make too much noise,” Shi Hong tossed him a roll of transparent tape. “Seal their mouths tightly.”

Zhao Gang nodded readily.

“Got it.”

In the rush, no one noticed that the phone screen in Qiangzi’s jacket pocket was still lit—and after the SIM card had been reinserted, the signal indicator in the top right corner showed full bars.

“Right around here.”

Navigation ended. Yan Qiuyu, leading the group, got out of the car first.

“The BeiDou positioning matches the location provided by Zhao Gang’s nephew. We’ll have to approach on foot—don’t alert them.”

A majestic police dog leapt lightly down behind her.

By comparing Shi Hong and Zhao Gang’s call records with the Leiao New City property purchase list, they locked onto a third kidnapper who had not been captured by road surveillance cameras—Qian Weiqiang.

According to Zhao Gang’s nephew, there was an abandoned warehouse in the cornfields more than ten miles from his home. When he used to help his parents with farm work, he had once seen Zhao Gang’s car parked inside.

Coincidentally, just minutes after the kidnappers used a virtual number to send extortion messages to Jian Qing, Qian Weiqiang’s phone was also powered on. The technical investigation team narrowed the search area to the suburban region where the abandoned warehouse was located.

Walkie-talkies, handcuffs, service pistols… It was the first time Song Xiaotong had gone out on duty with such full equipment. Nervously, she checked the magazine and safety catch several times.

“Be more confident,” Wang Lai said, patting Song Xiaotong’s shoulder reassuringly. “You graduated top of your class.”

“Jian Qing and He Linfeng stay behind,” Yan Qiuyu said as the clock passed three o’clock—there was not even a second to waste. After confirming the personnel, she turned and assigned tasks. “If the kidnappers send another message, you two are responsible for keeping them steady.”

The young man who had always cooperated with the police said as he got out of the car, “I’m going too.”

“It’s fine to be anxious, but don’t gamble with your life.” Yan Qiuyu gently refused his request, signaling He Linfeng with her eyes to keep him under control. She then gave a sharp wave of her hand and said in a low voice:

“Move out!”