kidnapping
The van's engine groaned in the night, like a trapped beast. Li Wei parked the van in front of the rusted iron gate of the abandoned factory, the graffiti on the factory walls blurred by the rain. He turned off the engine and looked at the back of the van.
His gaze met Liang An's. He looked at Liang An silently, then lowered his eyelids, got out of the car without saying a word, and opened the back door.
He first dragged Wen Zhi out; the boy was heavier than he had imagined. Li Wei half-dragged, half-supported Wen Zhi into the factory and placed him in a corner that had been prepared beforehand. An old blanket was laid out in the corner, with a case of mineral water and a few loaves of bread beside it—he didn't want to hurt these children, but for his daughter's sake, he had to do this.
When Li Wei went back to move Liang An, he noticed that the boy's complexion was off. The dosage of the sleeping pills might have been a little too high; Liang An's breathing became shallow and rapid, his eyes began to glaze over, and there were bloodstains on both sides of his nose, with a few drops of dark red blood dripping down the tape.
Li Wei's heart tightened, and he quickly tore off the tape stuck to Liang An's mouth. The boy immediately gasped for breath, and his complexion gradually returned to normal.
Li Wei crouched down to check their pulses, then silently sat on the wooden crate beside him and took a photograph out of his pocket. The photograph showed Li Yuwen in her school uniform, smiling brightly, with the school playground in the background.
"Dad will find out the truth for you," Li Wei murmured, his eyes welling up with tears.
Liang An looked at Li Wei, suppressing the discomfort in his throat, and weakly said, "Uncle, what you're doing is a crime. I don't think this is what Li Yuwen wanted."
Li Wei turned to look at Liang An. "You know me?"
"I've seen you at the school gate..."
Li Wei stared blankly ahead, then whispered into the air, "As long as you stay quiet, I won't hurt you."
Liang An's gaze shifted to Wen Zhi beside him—who was quietly huddled in the corner with tape over his mouth. His gaze returned to Li Wei's face: "Why did you kidnap us?"
Li Wei did not answer immediately. He stared at the photo in his hand and finally couldn't help but say, "You know her—my daughter Li Yuwen, she's in the same grade as you, in Class 3."
Liang An lowered his eyes: "The whole school knows... about her jumping off the building."
“But nobody knows why.” Li Wei’s voice trembled, filled with an unspeakable sense of unease. “The police said it was academic pressure, the school said it was a psychological problem, but did they examine her body? Did they know she was pregnant?”
Liang An lowered his head, recalling the various rumors and gossip about Li Yuwen during that period.
“She was pregnant,” Li Wei said with difficulty. “But no one is investigating who did it, no one is investigating why she jumped off the building. Because we are ordinary people, she is the daughter of an ordinary worker, and Wen Zhi—” He pointed to Wen Zhi, “is the son of a big shot. If I kidnap an ordinary person, things won’t get out of hand; but if I kidnap Wen Qiliang’s son, the whole city will pay attention, and the police will really investigate. The world is unfair to me, and even more unfair to my daughter. I just want the truth.”
Liang An was silent for a moment: "So I was... an accident?"
Li Wei nodded, with an apologetic tone: "You just happened to show up when I was tying up Wen Zhi. I can't take the risk."
Liang An looked at the black bracelet on his wrist, the dark gold plot marker moving forward at a steady pace. He sighed, "Actually, fate hasn't been fair to me either."
"Will you let us go?" Liang An asked softly.
“Yes,” Li Wei took a deep breath. He never imagined he would come to this. “I will release you as long as the truth is found out. I just want the truth.”
His daughter Li Yuwen's smile flashed through his mind, only to be replaced by the pale face in the hospital morgue.
“I won’t hurt you,” Li Wei repeated. “I have prepared water and food. I will release you immediately once the truth comes out.”
"What truth do you want?" Liang An asked.
"Who made my daughter pregnant? Why did she jump off the building?" Li Wei's voice grew increasingly agitated. "She barely spoke in the last week before she died, locking herself in her room all day. I asked her what happened, and she just cried... If only I had been more attentive, if only I had found out sooner..."
Li Wei couldn't continue. He turned his back, his shoulders trembling slightly. The only sound in the factory was the distant, monotonous dripping of water.
After a long while, Li Wei seemed to finally calm down. He tore off the tape over Wen Zhi's mouth, made Wen Zhi give him his father's contact information, and then stuck the tape back on.
Wen Zhi cooperated fully, appearing quiet and compliant.
In the early hours of the morning, Li Wei decided to contact Wen Zhi's family. He took out a cheap mobile phone with an unregistered SIM card inserted.
Li Wei's hands trembled as he dialed the number.
The few seconds it took to connect felt like hours. Then, a deep, steady male voice rang out: "This is Wen Qiliang."
“Your son is in my hands.” Li Wei tried to keep his voice steady. “And another student, Liang An. If you want them to go home safely, let the police find out the truth about my daughter Li Yuwen’s death.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone: "Li Yuwen...the girl who jumped off the building? Are you her father?"
“Yes.” Li Wei felt a pang of irony—Wen Qiliang knew about his daughter’s suicide. “She was pregnant, no one investigated who was behind it, no one cared why she jumped. Now I’m giving you a chance to care—to let your influence work its magic and get the police to investigate properly. Otherwise…”
"Otherwise what?" Wen Qiliang's voice turned cold.
Li Wei closed his eyes: "Otherwise, I'll kill him. I have nothing left to lose."
He hung up the phone and turned it off. The factory returned to silence.
"What will your father do?" Li Wei stared at the quiet Wen Zhi.
Wen Zhi remained silent. Liang An, however, said softly, "The police will find this place. Kidnapping cases are different from suicide cases; they will deploy a large number of police officers."
“I know,” Li Wei said. “I hope they come to us with the truth.”
Over the next few hours, Li Wei began setting up his defenses.
Some chemical containers remained in the factory—this factory had produced industrial cleaning agents years ago. Most of the containers were empty, but Li Wei still found a few cans of usable raw materials.
He carefully moved the chemicals to the factory entrance and near the windows, setting up some makeshift but effective triggering devices. If the police forced their way in, the gas produced by the mixture of these chemicals would quickly fill the area—not lethal, but enough to cause serious injury, buying Li Wei time or leverage in negotiations.
"What are you doing?" Liang An asked, recognizing the markings on some of the containers.
“Make sure we’re not disturbed,” Li Wei replied curtly. He didn’t want to frighten the children, but he had to let the police know he wasn’t an ordinary kidnapper who could be easily subdued.
-----------------
Around noon, the sound of police sirens grew louder in the distance. Li Wei walked to a broken window in the factory and cautiously peered out. Several police cars were parked about 200 meters away from the factory, and the police officers got out to set up a temporary command post. They had clearly pinpointed the location.
“They’re here,” Li Wei said, a hint of relief in his voice.
A walkie-talkie was placed at the factory gate—the police clearly wanted to establish a communication channel. Li Wei hesitated for a moment, then went out to retrieve it. Returning inside the factory, he pressed the call button.
"This is Chen Tao, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade," a voice came from the walkie-talkie. "Mr. Li, we understand your demands. We want to help you, but kidnapping innocent students is not the solution. Please release the children first, and then we can sit down and talk."
Li Wei smiled wryly: "Sit down and talk? It's been a month, and I've been trying, but nobody listens. Now that I have some leverage, you're finally willing to 'talk'."
"We have been investigating your daughter's case..."
“Lies!” Li Wei interrupted him. “You stopped the investigation! Because Li Yuwen was just an ordinary student. The suicide of an ordinary student is like a drop of water in a lake, so insignificant. But she is my daughter, the only one I have left. Is it too much to ask for the truth?”
There was silence on the other end of the walkie-talkie.
“Give us time, and we’ll reopen the investigation,” Chen Tao finally said. “But you must release them first. Your current actions are only making things more complicated.”
“No,” Li Wei said firmly. “I will release him once the truth is found. Until then, I will ensure the safety of my ‘bargaining chip’.”
He turned off the walkie-talkie and looked at the two boys. Wen Zhi remained quietly curled up, while Liang An was pale, surrounded by an inescapable sense of weakness, yet his face appeared unusually calm.
Time ticked by. The police were clearly making plans, occasionally attempting to communicate via walkie-talkie, but Li Wei stopped responding. He needed action, not empty words.
As evening fell, the walkie-talkie rang again, this time with a different voice: "Mr. Li Wei, this is Zhang Lin, a psychological negotiation expert. I understand your pain; losing a child is unbearable for any parent..."
Li Wei turned off the walkie-talkie. He didn't need psychological counseling; he needed the truth.
As night fell again, the police seemed to change their tactics. The number of police cars outside the factory increased to over a dozen, and special vehicles also arrived. Li Wei knew they were preparing a full-scale assault, but he was confident his chemical defenses could stop them.
However, what he did not anticipate was the internal change.
Liang An began to breathe rapidly, and his face turned red. At first, Li Wei thought it was just nervousness, but he quickly realized something was wrong. He went to Liang An's side; he seemed to have a fever.
"What's wrong with you?" Li Wei hurriedly loosened the straps on Liang An's hands and feet.
"It was your drug, I...I'm allergic to drugs," Liang An said with difficulty. But what was more important was the constantly burning black bracelet on his left wrist. Having been in the same room with Wen Zhi for so long, his life force was being continuously robbed by the bracelet, and the dark golden plot marker continued to slowly seep forward without stopping.
Li Wei cursed.
He watched Liang An's increasingly labored breathing, his mind in turmoil. Finally, he made a decision. He turned on the walkie-talkie: "I need fever reducers and allergy medication. Everyone back up 100 meters. If you try anything funny, those chemicals will explode."
A few minutes later, two small medicine bottles were placed at the factory gate. Li Wei carefully retrieved the medicine and helped Liang An take it.
It was late at night, and Li Wei had barely slept. He remained alert to any sounds outside, while also keeping an eye on the two boys.
The walkie-talkie suddenly rang. Li Wei frowned. It was three in the morning. Why was the police contacting him at this hour?
“Mr. Li Wei, we have important information about your daughter’s case.” It was Captain Chen Tao’s voice. “We’ve found new evidence that may be related to her death. But the information is sensitive and cannot be relayed over the walkie-talkie. Please come out so we can talk face-to-face.”
Li Wei sneered: "Do you think I would believe such an obvious trap?"
“It wasn’t a trap.” Chen Tao’s voice was unusually serious. “We found her diary. The diary she hid. It has a name in it.”
Li Wei's hands began to tremble. A diary? Yu Wen had a habit of keeping a diary, but after her death, Li Wei searched her entire room but couldn't find it...
"What's your name?" Li Wei asked hoarsely.
“We can’t talk over the walkie-talkie,” Chen Tao insisted. “This is a serious matter, involving people within the school. We need to handle it carefully. Please come out here, and I’ll show you the diary in person.”
Li Wei was torn. This could clearly be a trap, but if it were real... if there really was a diary, a name...
He looked at the two boys. Wen Zhi was already asleep, and Liang An looked at him with a complicated expression.
"If I go out, do you guarantee you won't take the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack?" Li Wei asked.
“I promise,” Chen Tao said. “I promise it with the honor of a police officer.”
Li Wei took a deep breath. For his daughter's sake, he had to take the risk. He checked the triggers of the chemical unit to make sure it would still start if anyone tried to enter the factory. Then, he walked out of the factory gate.
Under the moonlight, Chen Tao stood beside the police car, holding a pink diary in his hand. Li Wei recognized the color—it was his daughter's favorite color.
Li Wei walked towards Chen Tao, his heart pounding. Just as he was ten meters away from Chen Tao, a gunshot pierced the night sky.
A sharp pain shot through my head, followed by darkness.
When Li Wei collapsed, the last thing he saw was the pink diary slipping from Chen Tao's hands and being blown open by the night wind—it was blank inside.
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