Chapter 235 Escape
Cheng Keke covered her face, looking at Lu You in disbelief, then at her brother.
She cried out for help, "Brother, brother, she hit me! I didn't mean to, I'm so scared..."
Cheng Zhou opened his eyes, his gaze filled with unprecedented coldness and disappointment.
He pointed at Cheng Keke, his voice resolute: "Afraid? Because of your ridiculous fear and selfishness, Shang Wu's life is now hanging in the balance! Cheng Keke, let me tell you, if anything happens to Shang Wu this time, you don't need to come home! Go and pay for her life yourself!"
Cheng Keke was completely stunned. She collapsed to the ground, forgetting even to cry, her face filled with blankness.
She had never seen her brother so terrifying, nor had she ever imagined that her momentary lapse in judgment would lead to such severe consequences.
Lu Rang didn't look at the person on the ground again.
He turned and got back into the car, gripping the steering wheel tightly with both hands until his knuckles turned white.
Lu Rang suppressed the panic that was almost destroying his reason, took out his phone, and redeployed as quickly as possible, immediately transferring all search forces to the direction leading to Lincheng.
Meanwhile, the black van made several turns and finally stopped at the back gate of a winery that looked quite large but was located in a remote area.
Scarface pushed Shang Wu out of the car: "Strategist, the first deal has come. The owner of this winery is a nouveau riche. I heard there's a lot of cash and gold in the safe."
Shang Wu stumbled as he pushed her, and looked up at her surroundings.
"Same as always, if the weather is bad, the surveillance cameras are just for show. You're smart enough to find a way to sneak in and figure out the exact location of his office and safe, as well as the security situation."
Another bandit threw Shang Wu a set of clothes.
"Change into this. The winery is having a small wine tasting party and they need waiters. You can sneak in."
Shang Wu accepted the black and white bartender uniform with a calm expression.
She quickly changed her clothes in the car, neatly tied up her long hair, and put on a matching bow tie, making her look just like a waitress.
Scarface sized her up a few times and seemed fairly satisfied.
Accompanied by two thugs, she quietly slipped into the distillery through the back door.
The wine tasting was held in a spacious oak barrel hall. There weren't many people, but they were all guests who looked quite distinguished.
Shang Wu, with her head bowed and eyes downcast, carefully observed her surroundings, looking for a possible opportunity to escape or call for help.
Scarface instructed her to focus her investigation on the second-floor office area.
She used the excuse of delivering wine to go upstairs to the second floor.
At the end of the corridor, a heavy solid wood door was ajar, and voices could be heard coming from inside. The door sign read "Factory Director's Office".
Shang Wu held her breath and approached silently.
She needs to confirm if the safe is inside.
At that moment, a faint conversation could be heard coming from inside.
"Don't worry, Secretary Li. That batch of old wine that was transported directly from the Zhou family's underground wine cellar is very well preserved and there's absolutely no problem with it."
A slightly obsequious male voice rang out; it must have been the distillery owner.
"Director Wang, you've really gotten a great deal this time."
Another slightly arrogant male voice laughed, "When the Zhou family fell from grace, they scattered like monkeys when the tree fell. Who still remembers this wine cellar they secretly built underground, a place even many members of the Zhou family themselves don't know about?"
"If you hadn't happened to be in charge of managing this secret cellar for the Zhou family back then, this immense wealth would never have fallen into your lap."
The Zhou family's underground wine cellar?!
Shang Wu's heart nearly jumped out of her throat.
The underground winery that Qi Yan mentioned actually exists.
And it's located underground in this winery?
This Factory Director Wang was actually the one who managed the Zhou family's wine cellar back then.
After the Zhou family fell from power, he seized the opportunity to take over the place.
No wonder she couldn't find this place.
Director Wang's smug laughter rang out.
"Hehe, it's also luck. That kid Zhou Yanci probably won't know until he dies that I've already got my hands on his family's valuable assets. Many of the wines in this cellar are the culmination of Old Master Zhou's life's work, and they're priceless! They're much more valuable than his public assets!"
"That's why the boss values this collaboration with the Yu family so much, and specifically asked you to bring out the best wine. Once we get on the Yu family's good side, things will get better in the future..."
Shang Wu could no longer hear what was said after that.
The winery that Qi Yan wanted really exists.
It's right under your feet.
The seemingly ordinary winery owner was actually the one who stole the Zhou family's inheritance.
Having confirmed the location of the safe and unexpectedly learned a shocking secret, Shang Wu's heart was pounding so hard it was almost out of control.
She forced herself to calm down and temporarily left the second-floor area.
As soon as he went downstairs, Shang Wu immediately looked for an opportunity.
The noise of the wine tasting was mainly concentrated in the main hall, while the backstage area was relatively sparsely populated.
She glimpsed a room at the end of the corridor that looked like an office. The door was open, and there seemed to be no one inside. There was an old-fashioned landline telephone on the table.
The opportunity has arrived.
Shang Wu quickly looked around to make sure no bandits were closely following him.
Fearing discovery, they only guarded the hall exit and key locations.
Shang Wu took a deep breath and slipped into the room silently.
She quickly grabbed the phone receiver, her fingers trembling as she dialed the number etched in her heart.
Answer it quickly, answer it quickly.
The phone was answered quickly after only one ring, and Lu Rang's tense and anxious voice came through.
"Hello? Who is this?"
Any call from an unknown number could be a clue at this moment.
"Lu Rang, it's me. Please listen to me first."
Shang Wu's voice was low and urgent, filled with heavy breathing.
“I work at a winery in the western suburbs of Lincheng called Yunchun Winery. The underground winery that Qi Yan wants is located in the basement of this winery. It is the Zhou family’s inheritance that the winery owner, Director Wang, embezzled.”
"The people who kidnapped me are now trying to rob the safe here, there are so many of them..."
Her words came to an abrupt end.
One of the thugs who was patrolling downstairs as a lookout happened to pass by the door and heard the commotion inside.
The bandit's expression changed, and he rushed in. Seeing Shang Wu on the phone, his vicious nature was immediately revealed.
"You bitch, you dare call the police?!"
Shang Wu gripped the microphone tightly, but the next second she threw the phone down and tried to run away!
The bandit reached for her, but she pushed him away forcefully.
Shang Wu ran frantically toward the nearest women's restroom.
"Grab her! That woman's trying something!"
The sound of the bandits' hurried footsteps came from behind, and at the same time they notified their accomplices through walkie-talkies.
Shang Wu didn't dare hesitate for a second. She rushed into the women's restroom and tried to lock the door behind her.
But the bandits outside had already arrived and kicked the door hard.
The flimsy door panel made a loud noise, and the door lock shook violently!
"Open the door! You fucking want to die!"
The sound of kicking the door repeatedly was accompanied by the thugs' foul curses.
Shang Wu leaned against the door, not understanding how they dared to make such a fuss.
The noise on the first floor probably prevents them from hearing what's going on here, which is why they act so recklessly.
The door was about to be kicked open.
Shang Wu noticed a small ventilation window above the restroom, which seemed to be the only possible way out.
Without hesitation, she dragged the trash can over, stepped on it, and forcefully pushed open the dusty window.
Outside the window is the back alley of the winery, piled with some miscellaneous items and several huge green environmentally friendly trash cans. The ground is rough cement, about a meter or more above the window.
The robbers had already started ramming the door, and the lock was about to be broken.
Shang Wu had no time to hesitate.
She gritted her teeth, climbed onto the windowsill, and jumped!
A slight cracking sound, accompanied by excruciating pain, shot through my entire body from my right ankle in an instant.
Shang Wu fell heavily onto the cold, hard cement floor, the pain making her vision go black and almost causing her to faint.
She heard a loud crash as the bathroom door upstairs was kicked open, and the thugs rushing to the window shouting angrily.
"She jumped out of the window and ran away! Go down and chase her!"
We can't get caught, or we're dead!
Despite the excruciating pain, Shang Wu dragged her right leg, which was completely unable to support her weight, and almost crawled, staggering towards the several huge trash cans.
With her last bit of strength, she lifted the lid of a half-full trash can, ignoring the stench emanating from inside, and laboriously pulled the lid shut from the inside, leaving only a tiny gap.
A nauseating smell instantly enveloped her, and waves of pain shot through her ankle.
Shang Wu bit her lip tightly, not daring to make a sound, her whole body trembling violently from the pain.
Footsteps and shouts quickly came from the alley entrance.
"Where is she? Where did she go?" "Separate teams! She tripped and fell; she couldn't have gone far!"
"If she gets away, we're all doomed!"
The beam of the flashlight swept haphazardly through the alley, passing over the trash can where Shang Wu was hiding several times.
Her heart leaped into her throat, and she held her breath.
The thugs searched the area for several minutes, even kicking over an empty trash can.
Ultimately, fearing that making too much noise would attract attention, they retreated temporarily into the distillery, cursing and swearing, and prepared to expand the search area.
Inside the trash can, Shang Wu breathed a slight sigh of relief, but the excruciating pain in her ankle and the cold, sticky feeling all over her body almost drove her to the brink of collapse.
She didn't know if Lu Rang had heard her, or if he could arrive in time; she could only wait helplessly.
...
On the other side.
After receiving Shang Wu's distress call, Lu Rang almost floored the accelerator while simultaneously contacting Cheng Zhou, Lu You, and the police in Lincheng.
"Yunniang Winery, western suburbs, surround that area immediately."
When Cheng Zhou and Lu You received the news, their hearts were in their throats.
They rushed to Yunniang Winery at full speed.
The police were also dispatched quickly.
The sound of sirens echoed along the road leading to the western suburbs.
As Lu Rang's car was the first to frantically rush into the distillery area, he just happened to hear faint shouts and commotion coming from the back of the distillery.
Without hesitation, he drove straight into the backyard fence and rushed inside.
Several police cars followed closely behind and quickly surrounded the winery.
The well-trained police stormed into the distillery, and soon the sounds of fighting and shouting could be heard from inside.
But soon, the people inside announced that Shang Wu was not there.
Lu Rang quickly ran towards the back alley.
"Awu! Shangwu!" He searched frantically in the back alley, the beam of his flashlight sweeping across every corner.
Cheng Zhou and Lu You also rushed to the back alley to help with the search, their hearts pounding with anxiety.
"Lu Rang! Over here!"
Lu You suddenly exclaimed in surprise as she saw a watch on the ground.
It's from Shangwu.
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