Chapter 97 Leave the USB drive behind, or else...
The next evening at around eight o'clock, after Zhou Jinghan finished his performance, Tao Siyun and Zhou Yu came out of the theater together.
"Where's your boyfriend? Why didn't he come to pick you up?"
Tao Siyun uttered an "Ah?" and slowly came to his senses. "Sorry, what did you just say?"
She had been worried tonight, and Zhou Yu was no fool, so he had noticed it a long time ago.
Smiling, she asked tentatively, "Why, did you have a fight with your boyfriend?"
"No." Tao Siyun avoided his gaze for a moment, his heart pounding, and lied to him: "He has other things to do tonight..."
"Oh, okay. Aunt and the others are having a celebration banquet later, and it'll probably be very late. How about I take you home first?"
"No need." Tao Siyun subconsciously declined after hearing Zhou Yu's words, "Really."
She has something important to do later and won't go home.
"Thank you, it's okay, I can just take a taxi myself, you go first."
"Why are you being so distant with me? I'm on my way, so I'll give you a ride."
Tao Siyun hesitated for a long time and seemed a little embarrassed.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Zhou Yu just asked casually, and she immediately became nervous.
"No, no, I'm just a little tired. I didn't sleep well last night."
Zhou Yu smiled gently, opened the car door, made a "please" gesture, and said without letting anyone refuse, "Get in, miss. I'll take you there. Just think of me as a free driver. Let me show my gentlemanly demeanor."
Since he said so, Tao Siyun naturally couldn't refuse any further, otherwise he would seem too pretentious.
I had no choice but to get on the bus.
More than an hour ago, Xu Ji sent her a message, asking her to call him when the performance was about to end and pick her up, but she didn't reply...
Tao Siyun touched his pocket nervously.
The recorder was the one I bought when I was studying in France. I have used it for several years and have always used it as a learning tool.
I never thought that one day this would come in handy...
After meeting and getting the evidence, she will call the police.
The memory card is gone. If Yan Zhiru deleted the video in the USB drive, this would be the only evidence left.
Yan Zhiru was obviously well prepared this time and had taken every aspect into consideration.
Otherwise it wouldn't be so rampant.
Domestic laws do not cover the external Internet, and she can upload it at any time by climbing over the wall. This is the only thing Tao Siyun is worried about.
Regardless of whether or not we can successfully obtain the USB drive, as long as we have the recording, the chances of filing a case will be greater...
She couldn't possibly allow Yan Zhiru to threaten her like this, especially when she was using her aunt.
I must make sure that she pays the price, otherwise this matter will not be over.
Tao Siyun closed his eyes and dozed off, holding his phone tightly in his hand. He took a deep breath and tried to relax.
She didn't say much along the way, and Zhou Yu thought she was really tired, so he drove in silence, glancing in the rearview mirror from time to time, but didn't ask much.
When they arrived at Laixin Street, Tao Si allowed him to stop the car.
After Zhou Yu left, she walked across the street and boarded a bus heading towards the suburbs.
It takes about forty minutes.
Looking at the distance getting closer and closer on the map on his phone, Tao Siyun couldn't help but feel anxious.
After a while, Zhou Yu, who probably had arrived home, sent her a message: "I see you don't look well today. Go back and get some rest."
Tao Siyun lowered his head and typed perfunctorily: [Okay, I see, you too]
A few minutes later, he sent another message: [Even if you are angry with your boyfriend and don’t want to forgive him for the time being, you have to give him a chance to comfort you]
Obviously it was a misunderstanding.
Tao Siyun was not in the mood to explain too much and did not reply.
…
Like Tao Siyun, Yan Zhiru never went to Jinxiu Jiayuan again after the car accident seven years ago.
But unlike Tao Siyun, all her things were there.
I didn't take anything with me at the time.
If Li Mengdan hadn't taken her to Zhou Yu's house to clean last time, Yan Zhiru would probably never have had the chance to set foot in that house again.
Tao Siyun was unwilling to go because he was afraid of being reminded of the past.
And she was afraid.
In order to evade responsibility, Yan Jiawei actually blamed everything on her.
Because of her, Qin Ru and the baby in her belly died. Because of her, Yan Bin became disabled and became the man he is now, who doesn't recognize his relatives and doesn't care about them at all.
The owner of the white Camry became the party most responsible in the accident and the only scapegoat, and by some strange coincidence he took all the responsibility for her.
However, she, who was unanimously believed by her family to be the culprit, escaped punishment by luck and was not punished at all. She was even regarded as a "victim's family member" by outsiders who did not know the truth.
These... are all facts.
But what they didn't know was that Yan Zhiru was also under great psychological pressure.
She hasn't had a good day since the accident.
The immense hatred he once had for Qin Ru had long since mutated over the years.
It is a pain that combines fear, guilt, regret, self-blame... a series of contradictions.
In addition to enduring mental torture every day, she was also constantly threatened with violence and blackmailed by Yan Jiawei.
Even though she knew that this was PUA, Yan Zhiru had been compensating him for his "mental loss" in order to "atone for her inner sins."
That's why she suddenly lost control of her emotions and became so crazy when she saw Tao Siyun in the nightclub on Christmas Eve last year.
The resentment that had accumulated in his heart for many years finally found an outlet in Tao Siyun.
Why can Yan Jiawei and Tao Siyun feel at ease blaming all this on themselves!
Why!
Don't they both have any responsibility at all?!
It was obviously Yan Jiawei who deliberately provoked trouble. He was the one who said that he was jealous of Tao Siyun. Otherwise, why would she get so emotional and run to Qin Ru's room to cut up her photo album!
It was Tao Siyun who angered her first, so they started fighting.
That's why she happened to find the report sheet that Qin Ru had hidden!
If Yan Jiawei hadn't gone to Jinxiu Jiayuan that day, nothing would have happened. They wouldn't have bumped into Qin Ru at the back door of the complex, and none of what happened later would have happened...
But for his own benefit, he even called Yan Bin and threatened him to sever the father-son relationship!
This led to Yan Bin calling Qin Ru to wait for him at the back door of the community.
Later, Yan Jiawei watched himself and Qin Ru having a conflict, but instead of stepping forward to stop them, he also helped to hold Tao Siyun back!
If this isn't adding fuel to the fire, then what is?
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Yan Jiawei played an invisible role in Qin Ru's death.
It's just that he didn't do it himself.
When the accident happened, he completely absolved himself of all responsibility and put all the blame on her.
Get away with it.
I have to say, it's really vicious.
If there had been no car that day, and Yan Bin had investigated the matter later, the fact that Yan Zhiru dared to fight with Qin Ru would have been enough to make Yan Bin extremely disappointed in her.
What's more, Qin Ru's child is gone. Not to mention her and his father, even his grandmother who is far away in Nanze and wants to hold her grandson will not let her go.
Will Yan Zhiru have a good life in the future?
Yan Jiawei naturally became the only beneficiary.
Yan Zhiru was almost tortured to death.
Since Yan Jiawei can put all the blame on her, why can't she blame Tao Siyun!
Is Tao Siyun really that innocent?
If she hadn't complained, Qin Ru wouldn't have held her accountable.
Qin Ru’s death is also related to her!
She was the one who indirectly killed her aunt, why should she blame herself for everything!
Since they regard you as the "murderer", no one can have an easy time!
All the pain she suffered must be shared by both of them!
"If anything happens to me, you won't have a good life in the future." Yan Jiawei had already made up his mind. "Anyway, I want money, not my life. Those people won't let you go easily. Oh, and even if they can't find you, there's still your ex-boyfriend. I heard he's doing pretty well now."
Yan Zhiru's expression finally changed. Regardless of the wound on her face, she stood up, grabbed his collar, and said with gritted teeth, "Don't say I didn't warn you. If you dare to set your sights on him, believe it or not, I will..."
"How dare you!" Yan Jiawei's face was fierce. He pushed her to the ground and said in a mocking tone, "I didn't expect you to have such feelings for him. If I had known, I wouldn't have told him about your nonsense."
Yan Jiawei started a business partnership with someone some time ago, but those so-called "friends" ran away with the money and cheated him.
Not only did he lose all the money his family gave him, but he also owed hundreds of thousands of dollars. Those people couldn't find the person they owed the money to, so they came to him.
The commonly used methods of debt collection are nothing more than those few.
Threats, intimidation, and violence of any kind.
Yan Jiawei has no choice but to take out loans to pay off loans, and now he has been forced into a desperate situation.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be so crazy as to drag her across the street and run red lights, trying to use this method to arouse the fear deep in her heart, psychologically crush her, and force her to surrender.
But Yan Zhiru is not a fool, how could she possibly help him pay it back?
Yan Jiawei's actions made her more determined to get rid of him.
"What do you want? I told you, I don't have that much money. Even if you kill me, I won't have it!"
"I don't care. It's just one week. If I can't get enough, I'll go and 'borrow' from your ex-boyfriend. Oh, and I heard he's getting married soon."
We must first stabilize Yan Jiawei and never let him go to find them.
"Or maybe I could ask my cousin. My aunt is always bragging about her daughter marrying a demolition household. I want to see how rich she is. It shouldn't be a problem for my brother to borrow a few hundred thousand for emergencies."
Yan Jiawei continued, "Even if it's just for your sake, I will definitely lend a hand and help me."
He actually used Li Mengdan to threaten her.
Sure enough, Yan Zhiru immediately relented when she heard it, "Don't look for me, I will find a way to get the money you want."
Yan Jiawei couldn't help but sneer in his heart. He thought that the only person she cared about now was probably her cousin.
What he was holding was her weak spot.
"Remember, you owe me this."
"You also have to remember that this is the last time, there will be no later."
Yan Zhiru was not discussing with him, nor was she negotiating terms.
On the day Li Mengdan took her to Jinxiu Jiayuan to clean, she stayed alone in the room she used to live in for a long time. Finally, her cousin came in with a garbage bag, and the two of them cleaned up the unwanted things together.
Yan Zhiru put the dusty USB drive into her pocket.
It was the only thing she took with her.
If it weren't for Yan Jiawei, I wouldn't have thought of taking this to Tao Siyun.
He forced her to do it!
***
It was already past nine o'clock in the evening when Tao Siyun got off the bus when he reached the outskirts of the city.
She was very nervous along the way, and was only thinking about how to behave normally after the meeting so that Yan Zhiru would not find out that she had a recorder hidden on her body.
I didn't pay much attention to my surroundings when I came here just now, and by the time I realized something was wrong, it was already too late.
This place is very remote. Unlike the bustling and noisy urban villages, it is the kind where no one really lives.
The area around here is desolate.
The location shown on the map is a small garment factory.
Judging from the dilapidated appearance of the house and the sign that is almost fading in color, it has been abandoned for a long time.
There was a fairly new van parked next to it, with a license plate from another place, which looked out of place with the shabby environment.
She felt like a traveler who lost his way at night and accidentally drove into a deserted ghost town.
But somehow, there is a strange coordination.
It's very scary.
This reminded Tao Siyun of a piece of news that Zhao Yiran had told him when he was studying abroad.
In Paris, some hotels collude with underground illegal organizations. Around 11 or 12 o'clock in the evening, the front desk will call and claim that there is a problem with the identification documents or check-in procedures, tricking guests into going downstairs to re-process them.
This is a reason that hardly anyone would doubt.
They mostly target young single women who move in.
Once you go downstairs, it's over.
You will see that the lobby is empty, with only cars parked at the gate and people standing in front of the cars looking around waiting for their "goods".
Kidnapping, dark web auctions, the sale of organs...
Everything is possible.
Tao Siyun still remembers it vividly until now.
Just as she felt her scalp tingling and was about to leave, the iron door of the warehouse next to her creaked open and several people came out.
The way they appear is similar to that in Young and Dangerous movies.
It's obvious that he has bad intentions.
The man with tattoos in the lead slowly walked up to her, holding a cigarette in his mouth, and lit it in front of her.
He took a deep breath and said, "Beautiful lady, what time is it now? Do you have any sense of time? Do you have money with you?"
Tao Siyun had never seen such a scene before, and his heart suddenly rose to his throat. He subconsciously thought that they were people sent by Yan Zhiru.
He instantly became alert and pretended to be calm and said, "Give me the USB first."
"What did you say? You're not afraid we'll beat your brother to death, are you?! I'm telling you, I don't have time to listen to your rambling. I've already given him a grace period for several months. Is it easy to make a little money these days? It's only natural to pay back your debts, don't you understand?" The tattooed man cursed angrily, stubbed out his cigarette, and waved impatiently at the henchmen behind him, "I'm going to enforce the order on behalf of the court today! Take her in first!"
The warehouse of the garment factory is very large, covering an area of about four or five hundred square meters. Seven or eight headless mannequins are piled together in the corner of the wall, wearing white greige fabric samples of various styles. It looks quite scary at first glance.
The air was full of dust and it was choking.
Tao Siyun couldn't help coughing as soon as he came in.
Several people pressed Yan Jiawei in front of her.
"Yan, the person who will pay you back is here."
Tao Siyun was stunned and took two steps back. "I don't know him. Where is Yan Zhiru?"
"Tsk!" The tattooed man grabbed Yan Jiawei's hair and pointed at Tao Siyun, asking him to look. "Is this your sister, huh? You're kidding me, right?!"
Yan Jiawei was beaten to a point where he was barely breathing. He looked at Tao Siyun with a distracted look, a little confused. "She, she said she would come to give me money tonight..."
"Why is it so damn hard for me to collect a debt?"
The man with tattoos had long lost his patience. He no longer cared who it was and did not listen to Tao Siyun's explanation at all. He was convinced that the person he had been contacting was her.
"Beautiful lady, I'm not going to waste my time talking to you. We agreed on the phone that we would pay for the goods, but you're being so boring now. Did you bring the money?"
Before Tao Siyun could say anything, all the lights above his head suddenly went out, and the warehouse was immediately plunged into darkness.
"Damn it, the power went off again!"
The man with tattoos was just about to ask his younger brother to go out and take a look when the big iron gate was suddenly pushed open by someone from the outside and slammed against the wall with a "bang".
Everyone was startled, and before they could react, they heard a cold voice coming from the door -
"I brought it."
Tao Siyun's heart trembled.
The taut string snapped the moment it heard the sound.
Her eyes quickly filled with tears and she didn't dare look back.
The powerful flashlight scanned back and forth in the dark warehouse, emitting a cold white light, like a sharp knife thrown into hell, chilling!
Xu Ji took off his coat and hood, and pulled his baseball cap down low.
He walked behind Tao Siyun and covered her eyes.
"Don't move."
Xu Ji's palms were wet, and he slowly led her back to the door.
"I said don't move!"
Xu Ji's expression was grim. He raised his flashlight and shone it on the faces of several people. He warned them in a deep voice, "If you take another step forward, you won't be able to leave later."
The man with tattoos was blinded by the light and cursed countless times in his heart.
No one dared to stop him anymore.
Tao Siyun bit the soft flesh of his mouth nervously, his back pressed against his chest, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.
The Range Rover was parked at the gate.
After Tao Siyun got in, Xu Ji immediately locked the car door and threw the keys under the car.
Then he returned to the warehouse without looking back.
He didn't say a word to her the whole time and was as cold as a stranger.
Seeing him come in again, the man with tattoos finally couldn't help but say, "Dude, who the hell are you?!"
Xu Ji loosened his sleeves and said in a cold voice, "Leave the USB drive here, or no one can leave today."
The tattooed man angrily dragged Yan Jiawei in front of him and said, "What USB drive? Look carefully, I'm here to collect the debt!"
…
It was purely an accident that Xu Ji arrived in time.
Last time, Tao Siyun left his iPad at his place while playing games. He logged into WeChat and the messages have been synchronized for the past few days.
When Xu Ji went home today to help her recharge, Zhou Yu just happened to send her the message "Even if you are angry with your boyfriend and don't want to forgive him for the time being, you have to give him a chance to coax you."
There is no password set on the iPad, and Tao Siyun usually plays games and watches TV series.
Xu Ji originally didn't want to see her chat history with others, but when he saw this sentence, he frowned and opened the message box in confusion.
He wanted to see what was going on, why Tao Siyun was angry with him, and why he didn't want to forgive him.
In fact, Tao Siyun and Zhou Yu didn’t chat very often. Basically, they would just chat for a few minutes before or after going to Teacher Zhou’s house for dinner.
It usually starts with "When will you arrive?" and ends with "Are you home yet?"
There is no need to check on them.
Xu Ji was about to charge when he suddenly discovered a problem.
Zhou Yu had already returned home after sending her off, but Tao Siyun had not returned yet.
But she tacitly acknowledged the fact that she had already arrived home.
Xu Ji realized something was wrong and picked up the phone to call her, but his eyes caught a message box below with no name on it.
Tao Siyun has mild obsessive-compulsive disorder, and she adds a number before the names of all her WeChat friends to group them.
This person is an exception.
There are only three messages when I click on it.
yzr: [[Location]]
yzr: [I want a USB drive, 9:30 pm]
Tao Siyun replied with an "OK".
Considering her abnormal behavior last night, Xu Ji suddenly thought of something.
He forwarded the location to his phone, put on a coat and went out.
Tao Siyun deliberately didn't want him to know. He didn't reply to WeChat messages and probably wouldn't answer the phone calls.
***
The door was closed and it was unclear what was happening inside.
The most anxiety-provoking thing is not knowing anything.
As time passed, Tao Siyun became more and more uneasy. He remembered that Xu Ji had said that he had put a window breaker in the car, so he climbed to the front seat and searched carefully.
Tao Qian was already on the way and was trying to comfort her on the other end of the phone.
"Don't cry, we'll be there soon, just a few minutes."
"Um……"
Hearing Tao Qian's voice, Tao Siyun could no longer hold back his sobs.
After searching for a while, I finally found the small window breaker in the corner of the storage box.
She wiped her tears, raised her head, and suddenly stopped moving.
The warehouse door slowly opened and someone came out.
It’s Xu Ji.
He is the only one there.
The two looked at each other quietly through the windshield in the night.
Tao Siyun's eyes quickly turned red.
The flashlight fell to the ground and shone together with the car lights, making it as bright outside the car as day.
They were so close, yet seemed so far away.
Tao Siyun covered his mouth and watched Xu Ji fall down, tears suddenly coming out.
"Hello? What's wrong?! Tao Siyun? Speak!!"
Tao Siyun choked up and couldn't control himself anymore and broke down crying.
She hysterically shouted to the other end of the phone: "Brother! Hurry up!!"
"hurry up!!!"
The window breaker broke through the edge of the car window, and countless tiny cracks instantly covered the entire window glass like a spider web.
Tao Siyun kicked away the broken glass and jumped out of the car.
The figure staggering towards him was the last scene Xu Ji saw before he fell into a coma.
Police lights flashed and rushed over, breaking the silent night sky.
Tao Qian and the police arrived at the same time.
…
Xu Ji didn't get the USB flash drive.
Yan Zhiru lied to Tao Siyun, and there was actually nothing in the USB drive.
The only video she had was the one on the memory card, which had been destroyed in front of Tao Siyun.
The purpose is just to make Tao Siyun believe that he still has a lot.
They even fabricated a story that a hidden camera was installed in Qin Ru's room.
Yan Zhiru has a sense of law and has already thought of everything.
In order to get rid of Yan Jiawei forever, she played a trick. She first agreed to pay off Yan Jiawei's debts, and then lied that she had a lot of videos in her USB flash drive, and then tricked Tao Siyun over.
As for what happened afterwards, it had nothing to do with her. It was the debt collectors' business if they mistook the person for someone else.
She just took advantage of the time difference between the two events and could show up whenever she wanted. After all, who said she couldn't meet them in the same place at the same time?
It would be best to make a big deal out of this. Then Tao Siyun’s family will definitely not let Yan Jiawei off easily!
As for her, if the case is serious, she will only be locked up for a few days.
Yan Zhiru was always nearby.
She bought a brand new USB flash drive.
If the police later ask about the chat records, as long as Tao Siyun doesn't say anything, she can use this to deal with it.
After Xu Ji entered the warehouse, Yan Zhiru calculated the time and decisively called the police.
Gang fights, illegal online loans, violent debt collection...
These are facts that have already happened.
Not only did he solve the trouble with Yan Jiawei, but he also successfully avenged Tao Siyun and taught her a lesson!
Kill two birds with one stone.
This was the way Yan Zhiru thought about for a long time and chose to protect herself.
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