Chapter 134 How Much Do You Want?
Liu Xiangyang was so angry that he wanted to rush up and fight, but Liu Zhixia held him down firmly.
She took a deep breath, her eyes turning icy as she looked at Shen Hongmei, too lazy to waste any more words with this crazy woman: "How much do you want?"
A hint of wild joy flashed in Shen Hongmei's eyes.
Sure enough! As long as you're ruthless, you can squeeze some money out of this brat!
She hesitated for a moment, then held up her hand: "Five hundred!"
"Give him three hundred!" She pointed at Boss Shen, then at herself. "The remaining two hundred is mine! He's my son, and I should rightfully have a share of this money!"
She had already planned it all out: once she got the money, she would immediately run away to the city to find a job and never return to that bloodsucking family!
Liu Zhixia said coldly, "I told you, even if we sell everything we own, we can only afford three hundred. If you want two hundred more, I'll have to borrow it."
Her gaze swept over the Shen brothers before settling back on Shen Hongmei. Her tone was calm yet threatening: "The longer this drags on, the worse it will be for you. Right now, only the brigade leader and these few villagers know about this, and they can still cover for you. But once I go to borrow money, things will escalate, and the police station will be alerted. Then no one will be able to escape."
Upon hearing this, Shen Lao Er panicked and shouted at Shen Lao Da, "Brother! Don't listen to this crazy woman! Three hundred is enough for us to turn our lives around! The extra two hundred is just her greed; there's no need to take the risk for her!"
Shen Hongmei sneered, completely abandoning all pretense of civility: "If you don't pay, none of you will take the child away! If you dare to take the money and run, I'll report you to the police station immediately! Anyway, I've already lost everything, so I might as well go down with it! Once you're in jail, I'll sell both of your sons! I'll make an extra hundred!"
"You dare?!"
The Shen brothers roared in unison, their eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
"You'll see if I dare!" Shen Hongmei's face was contorted with rage, her eyes filled with madness. "Did you think about the consequences when you kidnapped my son? If you won't let me live, then none of us will live!"
Looking at this crazy family, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.
The captain wiped away a bead of cold sweat and looked at Liu Zhixia with a troubled expression: "This... how about you think of a solution?"
Liu Zhixia pulled Liu Xiangyang up, her expression calm: "Brother, let's go back and raise the money. Please ask the captain to keep an eye on things here, and Xuejun will stay as well."
Liu Xuejun nodded vigorously, his eyes red-rimmed.
Although unwilling, for the sake of Da Bao's safety, they have no choice but to compromise for the time being.
When Liu Xiangyang and Liu Zhixia rushed home, it was already dawn.
The two elders hadn't slept all night, waiting at the door of the main room. As soon as they saw the brother and sister, Zhang Xiuying stumbled forward and asked, "How is it? Did you find Dabao?"
Liu Zhixia nodded: "Found her, she's alright."
Liu Shouren breathed a sigh of relief, and was about to laugh when Zhang Xiuying keenly sensed something was wrong: "Where's the child? Why didn't you bring him back?"
Liu Xiangyang's voice was hoarse, filled with a deep sense of powerlessness: "It's still in Boss Shen's hands."
"What?!"
The two elders gasped in surprise, their hearts leaping into their throats once more.
Liu Zhixia briefly explained the Shen family's demands. After listening, Zhang Xiuying's vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground.
"Five hundred?! How can Shen Hongmei even ask for that much?! Even if we tore our whole family apart and sold our bones, we still wouldn't have enough!"
Liu Zhixia remained calm and quickly made arrangements: "Now is not the time to complain, saving the child is the priority. Mother, eldest brother, you know the villagers well, go and borrow money; Father, you're quick on your feet, go and ask second brother for help. Raise as much as you can!"
"I'm taking stock of my belongings at home to see how much I can sell. Everyone, get involved!"
Although the family was extremely anxious, they knew this was the only way and immediately split up to take action.
Once her family left, Liu Zhixia slipped into her spatial dimension.
Faced with these desperate criminals, money alone might not be enough to satisfy their appetites; she had to come up with a foolproof plan. After a moment's hesitation, she hopped on her bicycle and rode straight to the commune, dialing the number she knew by heart.
"Xia? What happened?"
Shen Yi's voice was slightly panting, clearly indicating that he had run all the way here.
Liu Zhixia lowered her voice and quickly explained the situation. A brief silence followed on the other end of the phone.
“The Shen family are insatiable. Giving them three hundred will only make them think you’re easy to bully. The safest way now is to keep the eldest son of the Shen family under control!” Shen Yi said coldly.
Suddenly, Xu Zhigang's loud voice rang out from the side: "Kidnapping? That's easy! Drug them! Knock the kidnappers unconscious, and the child will be rescued!"
Lu Kai's voice followed closely: "Are you stupid? Kidnappers aren't pigs, do you think they'd dare eat what you give them?"
Liu Zhixia was startled, and a flash of inspiration struck her.
"That's it! Send them 'things'! I've got it! Thank you!"
After saying that, she slammed down the phone and rushed out like lightning.
Lu Xiaohui happened to be passing by and saw Liu Zhixia in a great hurry. She grabbed her and asked, "I heard your family is borrowing money everywhere to ransom someone? The other party is asking for a thousand? Is that true?"
Liu Zhixia gripped Lu Xiaohui's wrist tightly with her other hand and lowered her voice: "Regarding the incident where Wang Laizi and Gu Mansheng drugged her, the remaining drugs were confiscated by the brigade. Do you have any way to get them back?"
Lu Xiaohui was taken aback, then a glint of shrewdness flashed in her eyes: "What benefit would it bring me?"
"Knowing how to make pickled vegetables is useless. Do you have the capital to buy the materials? I'll give you start-up capital after it's done!"
Lu Xiaohui's eyes lit up instantly, and she slapped her thigh: "Okay! You just wait!"
Not long after, Lu Xiaohui came running back, panting, clutching a small paper packet in her hand.
"Are you sure it's this?" Liu Zhixia looked at the familiar packaging, her heart racing.
Lu Xiaohui rolled her eyes: "Don't worry! Knowing you're taking it to save your life, would I give you flour?"
Without saying a word, Liu Zhixia took out a ten-yuan note from her pocket and handed it to her: "Thanks."
Looking at the brand-new ten-yuan bill, Lu Xiaohui was overjoyed and quickly stuffed it into her pocket.
Liu Zhixia mounted her bicycle and sped towards Shenjia Brigade like a gust of wind.
At this moment, the two elders of the Shen family and Chen Shi had already been placed under the guard of a large militia. Liu Zhixia went straight to Zhang Shi: "I need your help."
Without hesitation, Zhang asked, "Tell me, what do you want to do?"
Ignoring the astonished looks from the Shen family members beside her, Liu Zhixia pulled Zhang Shi into the kitchen.
“They’ve been up in the mountains for a whole day and night, they must be starving. It’s best if you deliver this food.”
Zhang took the medicine powder and, without uttering a word, quickly started a fire and cooked.
Soon, a basket of steaming hot breakfast was ready.
Zhang, carrying a basket, took a deep breath and followed Liu Zhixia to the cave entrance, then went inside alone.
When Shen Laoda saw it was his wife, he asked in surprise, "What brings you here?"
Zhang, her eyes red, glared at him fiercely: "Look what you've done! If you get caught, have you thought about how Big Dog will face the world afterward?!"
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