"You've called the police, right?"
Father Shen was stunned for a moment, then he cast a look at Yan Xie for help.
Yan Xie nodded slightly.
"Yes, of course! What else can we do? Where can we ordinary people get 200 million for you?!"
A cold electronically synthesized voice came from the phone: "Very good."
Father Shen was stunned and didn't answer for a while, and the small conference room fell into suffocating silence.
Yan Xie took out his phone and typed a few words quickly and showed it to father Shen. Father Shen squinted his eyes carefully, and then followed Yan Xie's instructions like a parrot: "We, we still want our son to come back, you set a price! As long as our family can afford it, we will give you everything!"
"Two hundred million," the other said, "not even a penny less."
"I'm not Jack Ma, nor Wang Jianlin. You have to ask for a realistic figure for extortion, right? A few million is not a big deal. We can sell houses and cars to make it up for you. But aren't you pushing people to death by asking for 200 million?!"
Huang Xing stuck his head out from the corridor and made a gesture, indicating that the technician was tracking.
Yan Xie nodded to indicate that he knew.
The bargaining skills that Father Shen had cultivated in the business field finally came into play at this moment: "You want money, I want my son. These things can be settled peacefully. There's no reason for both sides to suffer, right? I can't give 200 million yuan. Either you lower the price, or I can only pretend that I have never given birth to this son!"
With a loud snap, Father Shen was strumbled a few steps by Mother Shen's slap.
Obviously, just acting! Father Shen defended angrily with his mouth gesture, and was immediately pushed back by Mother Shen with the same mouth gesture: It's not a good show!
Yan Xie's ears moved, and he suddenly heard a half-indistinct sound coming from the phone, like a mocking sneer. He immediately stepped forward and pulled the husband and wife away.
As expected, the electronic sound rang out again, like an emotionless computer program, and repeated forcefully:
"Two hundred million, and not even a penny less."
"D*mn it!" Father Shen was furious: "Don't bluff with me. My son is not in your hands at all! My son is very good! Scholars don't evaluate their own jins even if they engage in fraud. Do you think you can scare Laozi with a piece of clothing stained with bird blood? Bullshit! If you have the ability, I, Shen De, will not be afraid of anything, and I will——"
Ding!
A voice was heard from the phone as if a certain program was activated. Father Shen's anger disappeared subconsciously, and everyone glanced at the phone.
"48 hours and 34 minutes until the execution time."
The phone was hung up.
The conference room was shrouded in a bewildering atmosphere. After a long while, Father Shen spat out a sentence in confusion: "…What was that?"
Yan Xie didn't care about him, and walked into the technical investigation department quickly: "What did you find Da Huang?"
"This was an internet call made by a foreign paid service. It charges the charging party in advance, and then a separate platform is set up to make a call or a text message. The number is automatically generated by the system. It is similar to many domestic junk subscription text messages, but the difference is that this server is set up overseas, and it is very low-level, so it is a little difficult to track it."
Yan Xie asked: "But the person who made the call should be in China, right?"
Huang Xing affirmed: "That must be."
"These days, TV stations have released criminal investigation dramas, and criminals have learned the counter-investigation." Yan Xie muttered, suddenly remembering Jiang Ting's evaluation a few hours ago, and his mind froze slightly——
"If it's a prank, the method is too sophisticated."
Indeed, if it was a telecommunication fraud, the criminals wouldn't ask for 200 million and knew the situation of the Shen family so well. If it was a prank, the means were too sophisticated and beyond the normal behavioral logic.
Then, the only explanation was that the kidnapping was real.
This wasn't a joke.
"What did you find?"
Yan Xie glanced over, only to see Jiang Ting standing beside him, holding his arms.
Captain Jiang's facial expressions were still the typical flat and relaxed, with a thin and slender waist, broad shoulders, and long legs, like a model in a shop's window. Looking at his appearance, for some reason, Yan Xie's heart moved slightly, as if a stone had been thrown into the lake, causing ripples that were difficult to calm down.
"Internet Call." Yan Xie touched his nose to conceal his unnatural expression a little. He explained the results of the technical team's investigation in a few words, and then asked, "What do you think, Overlord Flower (bàwáng huā)?"
Jiang Ting glanced at him inexplicably.
"What's with the look in your eyes?"
Jiang Ting asked, "…Didn't you say Yuan Fang before?"
Yan Xie was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly said: "Hmm, Yuan Fang?"
"It's hard to say." Jiang Ting shook his head: "There might be something wrong, or it might just be that the Shen family had offended people by doing business. But anyway, just in case, if I were you, I would…"
Jiang Ting was halfway through speaking but was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the door behind him.
"Brother Yan!" An intern policeman stuck his head in, "The boss of the steamed bun shop downstairs said you ordered a meal for a beautiful policewoman, do you want me to bring it in?!"
Yan Xie: "….."
Jiang Ting: "?"
"Lao Gao—!" Yan Xie was furious: "How did you train the interns? Can he watch his mouth?! What a mess of a beautiful policewoman! Instead of working, his mind is full of romance!! Lao Gao!! Well, bring Gao Panqing to me!!"
The innocent Gao Panqing was sorting out the files next door. Hearing the sound, he hurried over, picked up the ignorant intern policeman, and slipped away like a fly.
Like a fire-breathing monster, Yan Xie rushed out the door to pick up the takeout. Sure enough, the owner of the steamed bun shop was standing at the entrance of the stairs with a plastic bag in his hands. He stretched his neck and looked up the corridor. When he saw Yan Xie, he laughed immediately.
"Look, what are you looking at?" Yan Xie's anger remained undisturbed: "How many years have you been selling buns in front of the city bureau? Can't you tell, where are the beautiful policewomen in our bureau?…"
"I'm looking at the couple," the boss smiled and pointed behind Yan Xie: "They are the parents of my son's classmate. What's wrong? What happened?"
As soon as Yan Xie turned around, he saw a distance of more than ten meters, Shen's father and mother were standing at the door of the small conference room. They hurriedly pulled the logistics police to ask something.
"…Shen Xiaoqi?" Yan Xie confirmed.
The boss nodded: "Well, the representative of the physical education class organized the guys to go on an outing together, and each of them collected 200 yuan."
Yan Xie was stunned for a few seconds, then said in surprise, "Your son also went to Tianzong Mountain?"
"Why?," the boss suddenly recalled, "Could it be that something happened on the outing?!"
The boss's face changed dramatically, and it seemed that his heartbeat suddenly jumped to one hundred and eighty. Yan Xie hurriedly waved to him and said that it was all right. He called Shen Xiaoqi's parents over — as soon as the adults met, they all said that it was a coincidence, and they had met each other at the school parent meeting. Mother Shen couldn't wait to talk about the extortion phone call and the bloody clothes, which made the owner of the steamed bun shop gasp.
"There is such a thing these days! Don't worry, it's okay!" He hurriedly comforted Shen's father and Shen's mother: "I've been selling steamed buns and porridge at the gate of the Municipal Public Security Bureau for so many years, what kind of kidnappings have I never seen? — It's only been two months since these policemen successfully rescued a rich second generation. Apart from a few missing fingers, everything was intact and the rich second generation's parents even drove a sports car to send the pennant! These police officers are really good!"
Mother Shen: "..."
Father Shen: "..."
Yan Xie didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Don't be scared, call your son to confirm that Shen Xiaoqi is indeed with his classmates."
The boss agreed. He didn't hesitate at all and immediately called his son.
His son, Wang Ke, could be considered to grow up watching a group of criminal police officers. He helped in the store at the entrance of the city bureau since he was a child. When he was in elementary school, he was blackmailed by a few gangsters for pocket money, and he came back crying with blood on his head. But the criminal investigation unit personally settled the matter — caught the hooligans, beat them up, and sent them to the police station for ten days. Those few non-mainstream young people still don't understand why, they only robbed 20 yuan to recruit the Municipal Public Security Bureau. Since then, the elementary schools around a hundred li* have been very peaceful.
[*T/N: 1 li = Half a kilometer]
Unlike Shen Xiaoqi, Wang Ke answered the phone immediately after the bell rang, and said in surprise, "—Ah? Dad, what did you say?"
"Shen Xiaoqi!" The steamed bun shop owner repeated in a serious tone: "Is he with you?"
"…Not at all."
Father and Mother Shen immediately became nervous: "What? Not there?"
"…He went to pick up wood and will be back soon." Wang Ke added, "We are going to have a bonfire party, and everyone went to pick up wood."
The Shen family parents breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that their son did not lie. They thanked Yan Xie and the owner of the steamed bun shop repeatedly.
A farce went through many twists and turns, and it seemed that it finally came to an end at this moment. The confirmation of classmate Wang Ke gave everyone reassurance. The Shen family parents warned Wang Ke several times on the mobile phone, explaining that they should pay attention to safety, fire prevention, theft, and so on. The three parents finally put their minds at ease.
"Be careful to lock the doors and windows these days. It's best to pick up the children from school." Yan Xie took them to the stairs and said, "If there is any progress in the investigation of the bloody clothes, we will contact you again."
Father Shen smiled and assured: "Understood! Understood! Comrade police, you have worked hard!"
Yan Xie waved his hand, pushed his cigarette back, and turned to go upstairs.
"I should have played games at home, or gone out to play ball," He thought as he went upstairs. "What a messy day this is."
It was already past eight o'clock in the evening, there was no major case, and the people from the Criminal Investigation Unit were almost gone. Yan Xie climbed the last step and put his hands in his trouser pockets, vaguely feeling as if he had forgotten something. But he couldn't think of anything, so he rubbed his aching eyebrows.
In his early years, he drank at the night and still got up early the next day to appear on the scene. It could be seen that his mother was right. After people reached their thirties, they really needed to pay attention to their health. It was better to go home and sleep early tonight.
"Police flower!" Yan Xie said casually, " Let's go home!"
"..."
"Police flower?"
Yan Xie turned around and almost bumped into Jiang Ting: "Huh, what's the matter with you?"
Jiang Ting folded his arms and leaned against the door frame of the office. The light coming from the lanterns across the glass window at the end of the city bureau corridor cast a gentle shimmer on his side face.
Calmly and clearly, he asked word by word:
"Where's the buns you bought for the pretty policewoman?"
Yan Xie: "..."
Vice-captain Yan was empty-handed. It was chaotic and busy just now, and the steamed buns were sent for the second time, he didn't know where he put them.
Jiang Ting shook his head and seemed to be teasing a little. He took out his mobile phone and opened the food delivery app, but his hand was immediately held down by Yan Xie.
Yan Xie was like a male beast that didn't complete the predation task and failed to feed his family. His face turned blue and red, and after a while, he said, "Let's go home. I'll make up for your food when I go home."
Jiang Ting raised half of his eyebrows politely.
The steamed bun shop at the entrance of the city bureau had indeed closed. Jiang Ting followed Yan Xie into the S450 suspiciously, but he didn't t see him driving to the supermarket or other grocery shop.
Crown Prince Yan did not know what his psychology was recently. For some reason, he recently stayed in the high-end residential apartment where Jiang Ting lives in Jiangdu, instead of his double-story duplex palace in the city center, and finally the ice-cold and gorgeous model house has a strong smell of… Male hormones.
The S450 turned into the garage lightly and stopped. Jiang Ting had just gotten out of the car when his shoulder was held by Yan Xie. Yan Xie went upstairs and opened the door with pride. Before the lights opened, he could only hear the melodious sound of a violin inside.
Snapped! Yan Xie turned on the chandelier.
Jiang Ting: "?"
In the dining room, the newly prepared two-person five-course style meal was placed on the dining table in order, covered with silver lids; red wine, goblet, bright knives, and forks were neatly arranged, and the branch-shaped candle holder blooms faintly.
"..." Jiang Ting picked up a meal cover with two fingers, like pinching a sizzling explosive lead.
On a Hermès hand-painted porcelain plate, the delicate lobster pasta was exuding a strong aroma.
"Can I ask something?" Jiang Ting finally said.
"Yes." Yan Xie took off his jacket and replied with the same degree of politeness that Jiang Ting raised his eyebrows with just now: "One can do whatever they want with the money."
"Well… I mean can I turn off the music, it's not very nice."
Yan Xie: "..."
Yan Xie silently turned off the sound, and finally admitted it himself: "Actually, I also think that playing 'Ave Maria' during dinner is not good for digestion. But the group of chefs have to play it every time they come, maybe they like it.
The lobster was extremely tender, the pasta was rich and delicious, the grilled fish was smooth and juicy, and even the tiramisu as an after-dinner snack was very authentic. The only fly in the ointment was that the atmosphere at the dining table was a bit awkward. Jiang Ting never spoke, and there was only the slight clicking sound of the knife and fork hitting the plate from his side.
Isn't it weird for two men to sit face to face and eat candlelight dinner, Yan Xie thought, should I put out the candles?
In fact, I just want to invite him to have a good meal at home. Who would have guessed that those chefs would make such a big battle? But Jiang Ting was already interested in me, shouldn't he think I'm going after him now? Although it's fine for me to chase after him. In case, If he really is innocent, then it will take more than four hours to drive from Jianning to Gongzhou in the future. It is very difficult to maintain a long-distance relationship…
Yan Xie rubbed his forehead, coughed suddenly, and asked tentatively, "Captain Jiang?"
"What?"
"If there is a chance in the future, would you want to transfer to Jianning to work?"
Jiang Ting was stunned for a while as if he had not thought of this question at all, and after a while, he said, "It doesn't matter."
—He is willing! Yan Xie thought for sure, He is so proactive!
"Thank you." Jiang Ting finally finished his last bite of tiramisu, wiped his mouth with a white napkin, raised his head, and said solemnly.
Yan Xie was immersed in the thoughts of 'He is so proactive, I can't let him down. After all, he is Captain Jiang', and sighed at a loss: "Thank you for what?"
To his surprise, Jiang Ting said, "I don't know."
Jiang Ting leaned back on the spacious chair and stretched out. This was the first time he has made such a comfortable and undefended action in front of Yan Xie. As if some kind of warm cat in a world of ice and snow, his delicate eyes narrowed, and then he let out a sigh and smiled, "You can always make the people around you feel very safe."
Yan Xie was stunned.
"Will you wash the dishes?" Jiang Ting asked.
"…Oh, no, let's call an hourly worker tomorrow."
Jiang Ting got up and loosened his shoulders and said, "I'll wash it and move around."
Yan Xie stopped, his words were stuck in his throat. Jiang Ting had already packed up the leftovers and walked into the kitchen with a stack of porcelain plates. After a while, there was the sound of rushing water.
The candles were crackling and burning, the smell of warm food still lingered in the room, and the sound of washing dishes was a little faint. Yan Xie sat for a while, then got up and followed up into the kitchen. He picked up the dishcloth from the disinfection cabinet, stood beside Jiang Ting, and began to wipe the dishes.
They were like this, Jiang Ting handed over a plate after washing, and Yan Xie took it and wiped it in his hand before gently putting it into the cupboard. The two did not talk but stood side by side. In the quiet night, there were only these trivial sounds of housework.
Until the last few knives and forks were washed and put into the drawer, Jiang Ting took the soft towel from Yan Xie's hand and wiped his hands.
Standing in front of him, Yan Xie lowered his head slightly because of the height difference and saw the pair of slender hands covered with tiny scars, drying back and forth on the white soft towel, the fingernails were slightly pink.
—I can't pull the trigger.
Such a sentence suddenly appeared in Yan Xie's mind.
But this hand must be beautiful when it pulled the trigger.
Jiang Ting put the soft towel back into Yan Xie's hand, and looked at him with a smile on his lips: "Good night."
In the bright warm orange light, Yan Xie wanted to say something but was unable to say it, only mumbling in a low voice in his throat.
Jiang Ting bypassed him and walked out of the kitchen.
...….
That night, Yan Xie tossed and turned for a long time without falling asleep, as if some kind of fiery liquid was flowing back and forth on the central nervous system. After a long time, he stumbled into a dream, fragments of broken, fiery, and chaotic events were intertwined in the depths of his consciousness, forming hidden, vague, and bizarre scenes.
Many hours later, the mobile phone at the bedside broke through the night and rang sharply.
"...!!!"
Yan Xie sat up in shock, shook his head abruptly, and answered the phone by conditioned reflex. His voice was so hoarse that he couldn't even hear it: "Hello? Who?"
"Brother Yan, something happened." Ma Xiang's voice on the other side of the phone was also full of tiredness: "The Shen family couple drove to Tianzong Mountain in the middle of the night to pick up their son, and found that Shen Xiaoqi was really missing and was not with his classmates at all."
Yan Xie was immersed in the anger of some kind of ambiguous dream being interrupted, and an evil fire rushed to the top of his head: "Isn't this f*cking over yet?!"
"Listen to me, it's true this time." Ma Xiang has probably already been out of anger and was in a calm state of detachment and nothingness: "The Shen family couple received an anonymous phone call, which was Shen Xiaoqi's heart-rending screams and cries for help. While the kidnappers said that there are still 38 hours and 52 minutes before the execution time."
Yan Xie frowned and said, "What?" At the same time, he glanced at the time subconsciously.
On the bedside alarm clock, the numbers jumped in the dark and gave off a faint green glow—5:35 am.