Chapter 125 Redemption
Release the person immediately once the money arrives.
The kidnappers did not demand a cash transaction, but instead sent an overseas bank account.
Zhu Fan stood in the wind and snow.
Three minutes earlier, she was abandoned by that unlicensed black car in a blind spot of the surveillance cameras, three kilometers away from her home.
The kidnappers promised her that they would send her a video of her mother and sister every hour before she sent the money.
She didn't panic.
Panic won't save anyone.
Since the kidnappers are only after money, they won't harm the hostages in the short term.
Zhu Fan lowered his head and typed: [First, take my sister out of the glass tank.]
The other party replied quickly: "We'll discuss terms once the money is in place."
Zhu Fan: [Beijing is currently below zero. I need to confirm my sister's safety before I can focus on raising money.]
Even healthy people would find it unbearable to be constantly immersed in icy water in such weather and temperature.
Two new videos have been released.
In the first scene, Meng Yin's car is parked in front of an abandoned factory, its body covered with a thin layer of snow. In the second scene, the water in the glass tank has been drained, and A-Yuan is curled up at the bottom of the cold tank, soaking wet, with ice crystals on her hair.
Zhu Fan felt a tightness in his chest, as if he were being gripped tightly by an unseen hand.
She took a deep breath and typed in the chat box: "Send the money in three hours. Before that, I want to hear my mother and sister's voices."
The kidnappers did not reply immediately. A moment later: You will hear the hostage's voice in an hour.
Zhu Fan asked to contact her grandmother to raise money.
The kidnappers left only one message: Okay. You only have three hours. Don't try anything funny.
The snow fell even heavier.
Zhu Fan gripped her phone tightly; the screen was as cold as ice.
Three hours.
She has to make this deal go according to her plan.
After ending her call with her grandmother, Zhu Fan leaned against the sofa and sat down on the carpet, exhausted.
The villa was deserted, so quiet that every second felt stretched out many times over.
The video call started playing on Zhu Fan's phone, but was disconnected the next second by the monitoring software installed on the phone.
From this moment forward, you are not allowed to contact anyone.
She didn't look at her phone again.
Every day in the past, the villa was warm and cozy.
But that night, all was silent.
Zhu Fan then realized that the death countdown above her head was triggered because A Yuan was in danger.
The plot of this world has shifted after the system was repaired, but the rules of operation still follow the male and female protagonists in the book.
-
Zhu Fan arrived at the location of the abandoned factory that the kidnappers had given her.
I've strapped a bomb to the car, don't try anything funny.
[Have your bodyguards and driver get out of the car. You can go inside to check on the hostages' safety. Everyone else, stay where you are.]
Zhu Fan got off the bus.
She wasn't naive or foolish enough to try to redeem her mother all by herself.
Ji Shu stood behind Zhu Fan with a cold expression and her bodyguards.
Zhu Fan looked at Aunt Shu and said, "Aunt Shu, you all stand here and wait for me."
The snow on the ground made a squelching sound with every step.
Deep inside the abandoned factory, the snow-covered car sat quietly.
Zhu Fan reached for the car door, and the kidnappers called.
"The bomb will explode in 30 minutes," the other person said in a muffled, hoarse voice. "This is the time I'm giving you to make the remittance. Once the remittance is complete, I will tell you the combination lock for the hostage's handcuffs, and you can leave safely with the hostage."
Zhu Fan opened the car door and saw a time bomb in the back seat.
A scarlet countdown was flashing above it.
Meng Yin was bound to the driver's seat, her left hand handcuffed to the steering wheel with a combination lock.
Her mouth was sealed shut, but her eyes were clear as she looked at her daughter.
"I need to check on my mother's health first," Zhu Fan said steadily.
She opened the car door, and a cold wind rushed into the car.
She quickly checked her mother's wrists and ankles—
Aside from the red marks from struggling, there were no new injuries, and the pulse was strong, but the body temperature was very low.
Meng Yin blinked twice, a secret signal only mothers and daughters understand: I'm fine, where is A-Yuan?
Zhu Fan looked at her mother with reassuring eyes, "A-Yuan will be alright."
Meng Yin was extremely anxious.
She woke up in this car, but didn't see A-Yuan.
Zhu Fan looked around the abandoned factory, which was remote and shrouded in desolate darkness.
Although the kidnappers could not be seen, they could feel the invisible surveillance.
Zhu Fan walked around to the driver's seat and said, "I'm transferring the money now."
Overseas account, encrypted channel. Numbers jump on the screen, and the progress bar slowly climbs.
The kidnapper stared intently at his phone, his breathing becoming rapid.
The bomb countdown has 27 minutes remaining.
"bite--"
The notification sound for the funds arriving was exceptionally crisp.
Almost simultaneously, Zhu Fan received a six-digit password.
The chains binding Meng Yin's left hand were unlocked.
Zhu Fan, with trembling hands, untied the restraints on her mother's body. The moment she tore off the tape, Meng Yin's first words, uttered in a low voice, were: "Where is A-Yuan... Where is A-Yuan?"
Zhu Fan helped her mother out of the car.
Without wasting any time, Meng Yin quickly followed her daughter to evacuate the dangerous car.
The bomb in the car and the current situation told her that they were not completely out of danger.
As the car drove out of the abandoned factory, Meng Yin knew that A Yuan was still in the hands of the kidnappers, and tears streamed down her face.
If she hadn't let Zhong Fei get in the car, perhaps this kidnapping could have been avoided.
She woke up in the car and heard Zhong Fei and another kidnapper's voices.
"It's all my fault... If I hadn't let Zhong Fei get in my car..."
If something happens to A-Yuan...
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she covered her lips and trembled all over.
Zhu Fan hugged her emotional mother, "Mom, A-Yuan will come home safely."
She showed her mother the three videos the kidnappers had sent over the past three hours, letting her mother see that A-Yuan was safe.
With her daughter's calm and composed demeanor, Meng Yin wiped away her tears and said, "You're right, A-Yuan will be alright."
However, the guilt in her heart and the fear she had experienced that night left Meng Yin in a very bad state.
A-Yuan is still in the hands of the kidnappers, and Zhu Fan and her grandmother did not dare to call the police or use police resources.
Now that Meng Yin has been redeemed, the kidnappers seem to have disappeared.
The air moved as if in a suffocating stillness.
A new video was sent to Zhu Fan's phone.
Meng Yin and Grandma Zhu both looked at their granddaughter's phone.
Zhu Wan was dressed in a mermaid costume, and the huge fish tank that had been emptied of water was refilled with water.
The video shows a beautiful mermaid wearing an oxygen tube and swimming goggles, dancing in the water, with a group of goldfish swimming by her side from time to time.
"Zhu Fan, if you want to save your sister, you only need to fulfill my three conditions."
For every task you complete, I will give you a key piece of information to help you find your sister.
If I'm not satisfied, I'll turn her into a beautiful mermaid specimen.
[If I find out, and you call the police or use non-police forces, I will no longer give your sister any rest time; she will be forced to perform continuously, and I will no longer provide her with oxygen tanks.]
Meng Yin lost her grip on the phone, her face drained of all color.
If the kidnappers only want money, they can give it to them.
As long as A-Yuan's life is safe.
But the kidnappers' demands weren't for money.
From these four pieces of information, Zhu Fan deduced that the kidnapper who had been in contact with her had changed to Zhong Fei.
This was a sleepless night for the Zhu family.
-
Zhong Fei, holding her phone in Guan Jun's safe house, showed no concern whatsoever for the impending escape.
The door was opened with a key, but Zhong Fei didn't look up from her phone.
Guan Jun emptied the bread and instant noodles from the plastic bag, took the phone from her hand, and said, "We've got the money. Let's not cause any more trouble. Let's leave tonight."
Zhong Fei lifted her eyelids. "You promised me that I would handle the other hostage."
Guan Jun's face was grim. "Every minute we stay in the country increases the chances of things changing. We'll throw her in that car too, and we'll have already taken the money and left Beijing."
Zhong Fei laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck, asking, "Are you scared?"
Guan Jun sneered and pushed her down onto the makeshift bed made of wooden planks.
Zhong Fei did not struggle. "I need three more days."
The sound of clothes tearing echoed in the air.
Guan Jun showed no tenderness, his voice rough, "Two days to resolve all this, then leave."
Zhong Fei winced in pain.
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