Mu Sijue hesitated for a while, and he finally unmuted the phone and said to Kang Ruicheng, âI will send Mumu back tomorrow morning. Kang Ruicheng, I hope you can keep your word.â
âDonât worry.â Kang Ruicheng said, âAs long as you send Mumu back, I will definitely release one hostage. As for the other one, she will be released only when you send A Ning back. Donât try to find other ways. Otherwise, your losses will be greater!â
Undoubtedly, Kang Ruicheng was making a threat.
Mu Sijue hung up the phone and looked at Lu Boyan, saying, âTomorrow, Iâll ask Ah Guang to send Mumu back.â
âOkay,â Lu Boyan said. âTell Ah Guang to watch out for Kang Ruicheng.â
Mu Sijue knew why Lu Boyan specifically reminded him.
The reason was that Lu Boyan knew too well how Kang Ruicheng did things.
Some people kept their word, but Kang Ruicheng liked to do the opposite. He always ate his words.
It wouldnât hurt Ah Guang to watch out in the exchange.
After that, Lu Boyan continued, âTomorrow, we will try to trace Kang Ruichengâs whereabouts. Maybe we can find out where he locked up my mother.â
If they wanted to rescue Tang Yulan, the first step was to locate her. They must use Kang Ruicheng to complete it.
They would take advantage of the exchange tomorrow and try to trace and analyze Kang Ruichengâs whereabouts, so as to deduce Tang Yulanâs location. It was a good idea.
Mu Sijue nodded and said, âIâll ask someone to prepare for it right away.â
The two of them busied themselves to work. Before they knew it, the sky had already brightened. A new day came as scheduled.
At the top of the mountain.
Su Jianâan was uneasy, so she did not sleep well. She woke up as soon as the first light of dawn shone into the room.
The moment she opened her eyes, Su Jianâan subconsciously reached for her mobile phone.
The lock screen showed that she had received a new message. She opened it and saw that it was indeed from Lu Boyan.
Lu Boyan reported in the message that he was almost done with work and would not sleep for the time being. If she woke up, she could call him.
Su Jianâan heaved a long sigh of relief and dialed Lu Boyanâs number.
The call was soon answered, and Lu Boyanâs slightly tired voice came. âJianâan? Why did you wake up so early?â
âI just woke up. Itâs not early now.â Su Jianâan asked, âHave you been up all night?â
âHaving something to deal with, I donât have time to sleep.â Lu Boyan knew that Su Jianâan was worried about him, so he comforted her. âDonât worry. Iâm fine.â
âIf you are really tired, you have to first rest for a while anyway. Your health may go wrong if you are always up.â
Su Jianâan sounded anxious as if she were eager to engrave these words on Lu Boyanâs mind and force him to do so.
Lu Boyan smiled and felt that his tiredness dissipated a lot. âI see.â
Only then did Su Jianâan ask, âAbout Mom and Aunt Zhou... howâs it going?â
âI was just about to tell you this.â Lu Boyan paused for a moment and continued, âJianâan, I canât bring Mom back for the time being.â
âWhy?â Su Jianâanâs voice suddenly tightened. âWhat does Kang Ruicheng want from us?â
âKang Ruicheng required us to send Mumu back. In exchange, he will release one hostage, but he has the final say on who is going to be released.â
Su Jianâan had already understood Kang Ruichengâs intention, and then added, âKang Ruicheng will release Aunt Zhou and make Mom stay, so as to put Sijue and Youning in dilemma.ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âYep.â Lu Boyan said, âThatâs what Kang Ruicheng thought.â
âThen what about Mom?â Being worried, Su Jianâanâs voice was exceptionally low. âKang Ruicheng will definitely require us to send Youning back in exchange for Mom, but are we really going to send Youning back?â
âNo.â Lu Boyan said, âIf we send Xu Youning back, Sijue will quite possibly collapse. Also, Mom will not allow us to do that. Weâre drawing up a rescue plan. Now, we need to locate Mom.â
Su Jianâan used to work at the police station. When they got into trouble this time, her first thought was to ask the police for help. She asked, âBoyan, shall we call the police and ask them to intervene?â
âWe have no direct evidence to prove that Kang Ruicheng is a criminal, so calling the police is only our last resort.â Lu Boyan added, âMoreover, Mom and Aunt Zhou are both in Kang Ruichengâs grasp. If we call the police, it will infuriate Kang Ruicheng.â
Su Jianâan asked in frustration, âAre we going to let Kang Ruicheng go unpunished?â
âNo.â Lu Boyan said, âI will bring him to justice.â
There was always a comforting force in Lu Boyanâs voice. Su Jianâan slowly calmed down and asked, âThen what should we do exactly?â
âTo collect stronger evidence and then ask Hong Qing to show up, so as to reverse the verdict and reveal Kang Ruichengâs true colors to the public.â Mu Sijue said, âJianâan, we need time.â
Su Jianâan closed her eyes and nodded. âDo what you should do. Iâll take good care of Xiyu and Xiangyi.â
âFine.â After a pause, Lu Boyan continued, âJianâan, I have another thing to discuss with you.â
It had been a long time since Su Jianâan heard Lu Boyan speak in such a serious tone. She could not help becoming serious too. âWhatâs it?â
âI suspect that Yunyun has other relatives alive, who also work as international criminal police like her biological parents and take charge of Kang Ruichengâs case.â Lu Boyan added, âI will contact international criminal police and thoroughly investigate Yunyunâs family background and her biological parents. We may cooperate with them then.â
Su Jianâan understood. If Lu Boyan cooperated with international criminal police, Yunyun... was very likely to see her relatives.
But until now, Yunyun still did not know her parentsâ true identities and the real cause of that car accident.
Once Yunyunâs relatives appeared, it would bring a dramatic change to her life.
Lu Boyan was afraid that Yunyun would not be able to bear it.
Su Jianâan did not think so.
She said, âYunyunâs parents are international criminal police after all. Yunyun is not as weak as you think. I will explain it to her then. Do whatever you want to do.â
âThere is one more thing.â Lu Boyan paused for a long time before continuing, âMu Qi will arrange for Ah Guang to send Mumu back this morning.â
â...â Su Jianâan also did not speak for a moment, and she finally comforted herself. âMumuâs surname is Kang. He will go back to the Kang family sooner or later. He canât be always with us. I... Iâll tell Youning about it later.â
âAlso, pay attention to Youning.â Lu Boyan said, âDonât let her do anything crazy.â
Xu Youningâs behavior mattered to Mu Sijueâs mood.
In this case, Lu Boyan did not allow anything wrong.
âI know.â Su Jianâan asked, âArenât you busy now?â
âNo.â Lu Boyan said leisurely, âWe can still...â
Before Lu Boyan said âtalk for another whileâ, Su Jianâan had interrupted him and said, âSince you are not busy, you can rest for a while. Hurry up! Iâll hang up now!â
After that, Su Jianâan hung up the phone directly and went to the childrenâs room.
Xiyu and Xiangyi were both awake, and Aunt Liu and Uncle Xu were feeding them milk.
Su Jianâan walked over and took Xiangyi from Aunt Liuâs arms. While taking the milk bottle, she asked Aunt Liu, âDidnât you sleep well last night?â
Aunt Liu waved her hand with a smile and said, âOn the contrary, Xiyu and Xiangyi were very well-behaved last night. They were asleep all night, so I had a good rest.â
Su Jianâan fed the milk in the bottle to Xiangyi. âThatâs good. Thanks for what you and Uncle Xu have done.â
âDonât mention it.â Aunt Liu asked, âAs for your mom, how is it going?â
âBoyan is handling it.â Su Jianâan did not go into too much detail. She just said, âHe will handle it well.â
Aunt Liu did not ask any more questions. She got up and said, âIâll prepare breakfast downstairs. Mrs. Lu, what would you like to eat?â
âDonât bother, Aunt Liu. You have a rest.â Su Jianâan said, âIf Iâm hungry later, I will go to the club to eat. You too.â
Aunt Liu knew that Su Jianâan was not in the mood for breakfast, so she didnât go downstairs. She took Xiangyi from Su Jianâanâs arms and said, âMrs. Lu, if you have something to do, just go ahead. Leave the two little guys to me.â
Su Jianâan walked out of the childrenâs room. When she passed the room where Luo Xiaoxi and Su Yicheng stayed, she did make a sound. She went back to her room, got changed, and left the villa.
This was the first time she went out of the villa so early after moving to the top of the mountain.
At the top of the mountain, in the heavily frosty and foggy morning, the air was so cold as if it were about to freeze everything.
Su Jianâan walked toward Xu Youningâs villa and came across Ah Guang.
Ah Guang greeted Su Jianâan and said, âI received a call from Seventh Brother. Iâm here to tell Sister Youning.â
Su Jianâan thought for a moment and said, âActually, even if you donât tell her, Youning should have guessed it.â
Ah Guang was somewhat confused and looked at Su Jianâan blankly. âSo, what should we do? Should I go in?â
âWe... weâd better not disturb Youning and Mumu.â Su Jianâan said, âLetâs go to the club and wait for them to have breakfast there.â
Ah Guang did not know how much Xu Youning and Mumu meant to each other, but he believed that there must be a reason for Su Jianâan to say that. He did not say anything else and followed Su Jianâan to the club.
At this time, Mumu had just woken up in the room.
The little boy temporarily forgot what had happened yesterday. In a daze, he got up with the quilt on his body and called in a childish voice, âGranny Zhou...â
In the past, Aunt Zhou would warmly respond to Mumu at this time. She would touch his head and ask, âWhat do you want to eat for breakfast? Granny Zhou will make it for you.â
But today, Mumu did not hear Aunt Zhouâs voice.
âGranny Zhou?â
There was a tinge of doubt and a lot of grievance in the little boyâs voice. However, he still did not hear Aunt Zhou respond.
Then, Mumu finally remembered that Granny Zhou was not here because she had been kidnapped by his daddy.
The little boy immediately looked frustrated.
Xu Youning stayed up late, but she woke up early. She saw the change in Mumuâs mood just now and called, âMumu.â
Mumu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Xu Youning. He pursed his lips and said in a tearful voice, âAuntie Youning, I miss Granny Zhou.â