Chapter 73: How Could You Call That a Girl?!
“There’s only one way left now.”
Chi Qian’s face began to twist with manic determination. “I’ll call Uncle Nan, tell him to put Little Black on the phone, then order Little Black to shred the homework to pieces—destroy the corpse, erase the evidence. If the homework doesn’t exist, how can they say I didn’t do it? Hehehe.”
“…Don’t laugh like that, it’s creepy!” Fengxiao’s hair stood on end. “It’s just homework, not the end of the world! The dog’s innocent!”
“It’ll only lose its innocence. But me—I’ll lose my freedom!!” Chi Qian was falling apart.
Fengxiao quickly snatched her phone away, terrified she might actually go through with such a deranged plan. Too scary.
Since when did homework become such a monstrous beast devouring children? Look how it had twisted a normal kid into this.
“Don’t panic, your uncle will write it for you, okay?” Fengxiao soothed. “Tell Uncle Nan to bring the homework here—we’ll finish it in the car before going home.”
Chi Qian’s eyes filled with tears. “Really?”
“Would your uncle lie to you? With me here, no way I’ll let that old man spank you!”
“Uncle! You’re the best uncle in the world!”
Immediately, niece and uncle turned their heads toward the driver, their gaze silently menacing.
Cold sweat dripped down the bodyguard’s forehead. “I—I didn’t hear a thing…”
…They weren’t going to silence him for knowing too much, were they?
—
Half an hour later, the convoy stopped at a service station to refuel.
Chi Qian went to the restroom, while her third uncle went to buy her some snacks.
And then—in the restroom, she was ambushed.
Who even still used the old-fashioned trick of pumping smoke under the door to knock someone out in this day and age?
Chi Qian thought it was kind of thrilling, actually. Maybe it could even be a perfect excuse for not doing her homework.
So she played along and pretended to faint.
Not long after, voices drifted to her ears.
“This is Chi Lisen’s son? Then why’s he in the women’s restroom?”
The reply came in a thick dialect: “How should I know? Celebrities all fear being recognized, right? So he disguised himself!”
“But isn’t he way too short?”
“Oi, I saw with my own eyes him get outta that car. No way I’ve got the wrong guy! So he’s short—so what? As long as we didn’t kidnap the wrong person, it’s fine!”
Chi Qian: “……”
She, the unparalleled cosmic beauty who was loved by all, who made flowers bloom at her sight and cars explode at her glance—
Had actually been mistaken for her towering, brawny, blockheaded uncle!
It had to be because her uncle’s gender wasn’t obvious enough.
Chi Qian tightened her grip on the lump in her hand just as the black cloth covering her head was suddenly yanked off.
A man as skinny as a bamboo pole pointed at her:
“See? I told you this had to be the big star Chi… huh? How’s it a girl?!”
The fat man driving glanced over, his face twisting ferociously. “Didn’t you say there was no way you’d mistake the person? This is your ‘no mistake’?! You idiot!”
The skinny one tried to defend himself: “Don’t curse me, okay? We can still ransom her, can’t we?”
“She’s worth a few bucks at best!”
“She was with that celebrity, maybe she’s family?”
The fat one seemed to think that made sense. Besides… they’d already gone through the trouble of kidnapping her, couldn’t exactly just let her go.
The skinny one asked Chi Qian: “Girl, what’s your name? What’s your relationship with Chi Fengxiao?”
Chi Qian’s eyes turned sly. “My name’s Chi Lulu, and Chi Fengxiao is my older brother.”
“Brother and sister, huh? Siblings are usually close. How much would your brother pay to ransom you?”
“I don’t know, but my brother’s rich.”
The fat man grunted: “Rich is good. Being a celebrity sure is nice—money rolling in for nothing. Unlike us, busting our backs and sometimes not even bagging a single person in a whole day.”
“No kidding, it’s getting harder and harder these days,” the skinny man added. “Girl, don’t blame us for being cruel—blame your family for being rich.”
(Chi Qian thought: My third uncle’s just a background extra, his pockets are cleaner than my face. Where would he get money?)
But out loud she said, “My brother doesn’t have that much, but for me, he’ll find a way. Don’t worry. Everyone’s got it hard, I understand.”
The skinny one looked moved, as though he’d found a kindred spirit. “This girl’s young, but she’s a good one.”
Chi Qian smiled innocently. “It’s just that the moment I saw you two, I felt a bond. You might have kidnapped me, but you didn’t hurt me. That proves you’re not like those other kidnappers. You’ve got morals and a conscience.”
“If life didn’t force our hand, who’d gamble with their lives?” the skinny one sighed.
Her words even softened the fat man.
“That’s right! We’re not like those heartless thugs. We’ve got morals, we’ve got limits—we’re righteous kidnappers!”
“We only want money, we won’t hurt you,” the skinny one said as he untied her. “So relax.”
Chi Qian gave them a harmless smile. “Got anything to eat? I’m hungry.”
“Yes, yes! What do you want? We’ll get you whatever you like!”
“Great.”
So, while Chi Fengxiao was speeding down the road chasing them, Chi Qian was already getting along with the kidnappers like old friends.
Meanwhile, Chi Fengxiao had called both Chi Lisen and Chi Chaoshen to inform them of the kidnapping.
Big brother Chi Muze was abroad, so telling him was useless.
Chi Lisen was still in a meeting and hadn’t answered, but Chi Chaoshen had just stepped off the operating table. He immediately called a high-ranking friend in the police force to ask for backup.
The police quickly set up roadblocks along the kidnappers’ possible routes, waiting for them to get caught.
But the kidnappers didn’t play by the rules. They took a long detour onto a mountain road.
Chi Fengxiao’s car closed in.
The smile he usually wore was gone, replaced by a chilling coldness. He slammed the gas pedal, the car darting forward like a phantom.
With a sharp, stylish drift, he blocked the road sideways.
“Screech—”
The kidnappers’ car braked hard, nearly crashing into him.
The fat man stuck his head out. “You trying to get yourself killed?!”
Chi Fengxiao’s fist swung in, smashing into the man’s nose. He yanked him by the collar and roared: “Where’s my niece? Where the hell did you take her?!”
The fat man, bleeding, shouted: “Our boss took her! She’s not with me!”
“What?!”
Outskirts. An abandoned villa.
The kidnappers’ leader kicked the skinny man to the floor. “I told you to bring me Chi Fengxiao, and you idiots drag back… what the hell is this?!”
The skinny one protested: “Boss, she’s his sister. She can still be ransomed!”
“Ransomed my ass! You think we’re in this for money?!”
“Then… then what for?”
“For ideals, for ambition, for—ah, shut it! Just call Chi Fengxiao. Tell him to come alone, or the girl dies!”
Chi Qian, sucking on a candy, shoved her hands in her pockets. “What do you want with my uncle? You can just tell me instead.”
The boss sneered. “We want to see him ruined. What use would telling you be?”
“You may not have been our target, little girl, but since you’re here, don’t think about leaving.”
“Bad luck for you.”
At that, Chi Qian realized—these guys planned to kill her once it was done.
So that’s what Gu Hua’s system meant by her unavoidable “death checkpoint”?
