The lights in the villa of the wealthy Li were bright, reminding everyone not to sleep.

Since the first phone call, the Li family has not been able to have a good conversation with the kidnappers. Now, 31 hours have passed since the child was kidnapped.

Did the child eat? Did he have water to drink?

Was he scared?

Was he beaten? Was he injured...

At least... was he still alive?

Every relative was suffering. Bubbles appeared at the corners of the rich Li's mouth, and his face was tired. He seemed to have aged a few years.

Mrs. Li was always half asleep and half awake. She would always be awakened by nightmares when she fell asleep accidentally, and she couldn't help crying when she woke up. The time she endured was infinitely magnified and tortured. In

the living room, Zhao Qing and his wife and the rich Li family each occupied a corner, all of them were stunned.

Until now, Zhao Qing still doesn't know what's going on with his son, and whether the child who was kidnapped by mistake can survive... The kidnappers never mentioned the other child besides Mr. Li Xiaoshao. Why didn't they mention it? Why...

Mr. Li occasionally looked at Zhao Qing and his wife, but he would immediately turn away, afraid to meet their eyes.

Zhao Qionghui was implicated because he was with his son. Mr. Li was worried about being blamed. The feeling of guilt and hatred was not good. He no longer had the strength to bear the pain and anger of two people.

He was even more worried about being blackmailed by the Zhao couple, what if Zhao Qionghui was killed, what if...

In the middle of the night, Mr. Li's mother, Mrs. Li, suddenly woke up and started crying uncontrollably. She cried until she was out of breath and suddenly her body went limp, unable to sit still.

Mr. Li felt hopeless. Even if calling an ambulance at this moment would not alarm the kidnappers, it would increase the risk of his son's kidnapping being exposed. When he picked up the phone to dial, Zhao Qing's wife suddenly ran over. She reached out and pressed the pop-up button of Mr. Li's phone, and whispered, "Let me take a look first."

When Mr. Li looked up, Zhao Qing walked over and said, "She is a nurse."

Mrs. Zhao walked up to the old lady and immediately did simple checks such as feeling her pulse and checking her pupils, and then asked her family for heart emergency medicine.

"Even before, the old lady would just hold her chest and say it hurts when she has an attack. Now..." Mrs. Li still had doubts, but was immediately interrupted by Mrs. Zhao: "Hurry up!"

The Li family had to go get medicine immediately. After Mrs. Zhao fed the old lady the medicine, she ordered the others to disperse, open the window for ventilation, and massage the old lady's hand.

Soon the old lady got better, and she was basically recovered after a few minutes.

Mrs. Zhao arranged to feed water and asked someone to help the old lady go back to rest. If she couldn't sleep, she could listen to some soothing music and turn on a very soft light.

When Mrs. Zhao returned to the living room, she was going to go back to her husband and continue to be in a daze, but she saw Mr. Li stand up and thank her solemnly.

Mrs. Zhao nodded, took two steps and stopped, trying to suppress her emotions, she still spoke:

"Mr. Li, Zhao Qing and I know that the Li family cannot be blamed for this, you are also a victim. We must unite, you don't have to blame yourself or worry too much, work together to find a way to rescue the two children." "

..." Mr. Li did not speak, but nodded to Mrs. Zhao gratefully.

...

After driving away the police, the kidnapper's next call came at 2:12 in the morning when everyone was tired.

The crisp dinging bell sounded like a death roar, startling everyone in the living room and staring at the phone as if they were looking at a demon.

Just before the second ring, Yi Jiayi's voice came through the intercom. Her voice was very gentle and full of soothing power:

"Don't panic."

Everyone came back to their senses from the nightmare. After the second ring, they adjusted their breathing and calmed down according to Yi Jiayi's instructions.

"Mr. Li, just remember the points the police reminded you before, and answer the phone." Jiayi confirmed that the staff responsible for line tracking were in place, and then reminded again through the intercom.

Li Fuhao took a deep breath and finally answered the phone before the fourth ring:

"Hello?"

The voice was like the friction of rough and rotten metal, hoarse and unpleasant.

In an instant, the expressions of everyone in the room became gloomy.

"Mr. Li, sorry to bother you." A very polite voice came from the other end of the line.

"Hello... Can I hear Ah Min's voice?"

"Mr. Li, don't worry, the young master is still alive and well, but you'd better withdraw 10 million in cash as soon as possible. After all, the young master can't eat or sleep well now, and the water he drinks is not as clean as at home. If he gets sick, we don't have the conditions to take him to see a doctor. I can't guarantee that if you have to collect money for four or five days, the young master will survive." The person on the other end said a lot of words.

"I will do it as soon as possible. Also..." Mr. Li looked at Mr. Zhao Qing and his wife, who were approaching with nervous concern, and finally said, "Are both children okay? I want to redeem them. Please don't hurt any of them." Mr. Zhao Qing

and his wife were stunned for a moment, then raised their heads and looked at Mr. Li with gratitude.

"Mr. Li, the price is different." The other party seemed to have not expected Mr. Li to say this, and was silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"I really can't do it in such a short time..."

The kidnapper interrupted Li Fuhao:

"12 million, just consider it a buy one get one free deal."

Without waiting for Li Fuhao to speak, the kidnapper said:

"Wait a minute."

Then there was silence for a long time, as if they were discussing something. Just when Li Fuhao began to get a little restless, the other end said:

"I will let you hear the voices of the two children tomorrow.

"When you collect 12 million in cash, put a small red flag on the window of the master bedroom at home, and I will contact you.

"I won't wait for you indefinitely. The limit is 4 days. If there is no news within 4 days from today, I will assume that you don't want this child."

After saying that, the other end hung up the phone.

"Beep, beep, beep..." The sound of hanging up echoed throughout the living room, and everyone was silent and unresponsive.

"Mr. Li, you guys should go to sleep. The kidnappers won't call again tonight." Yi Jiayi's voice suddenly came from the intercom.

Li Fuhao came back to his senses and hung up the phone. After a moment of hesitation, he replied, "Okay, thank you for your hard work."

"Hmm." A low guttural sound came from the intercom at last, and then it fell silent again.

The living room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Lai Fuhao stood by the phone for a while before he pulled himself together. He glanced at all the people who were looking at him and said,

"Go back to bed."

Then he set an example by turning around and leaving first.

After working non-stop, everyone was on the verge of collapse. They would have to continue dealing with the kidnappers for the next few days, so they had to conserve their energy.

...

On the other side, the expert who tracked the broadcast point of the phone call finally got results:

"It's in Yau Yat Tsuen, Kowloon."

"I'll immediately send plainclothes officers to drive private cars there to track the van." Dylan expressed his position through an insider.

"There's no need to track the van, Dylan Sir." Jiayi suddenly spoke.

"Why?" Dylan was stunned.

"Mr. Li mentioned that he wanted to hear the child's voice, but the kidnappers refused.

"When Mr. Li mentioned that he wanted to redeem the two children, the kidnappers did not mention that one of the children had been 'out', but quickly responded by raising the price.

"This was the kidnappers' first reaction at the time, which means that the child must be alive.

"Then why did the kidnappers still have to wait until tomorrow to call again before letting Mr. Li hear the child's voice?

"You know, the more calls the kidnappers make now, the greater the risk of exposure..."

Jiayi carefully sorted out the logic -

if Zhao Qionghui had been exposed, he might have become a discarded son and been dealt with by now.

After all, it has been more than 30 hours since the kidnapping (the child was kidnapped around 17:00 on January 11).

If we calculate the time when the kidnappers made the first call, it was the time when they forced out the Li family's phone number. The person who knew the Li family's phone number should be Li Zemin, and the other child who didn't know the number was naturally Zhao Qionghui.

It can be roughly inferred that:

[Time of the first call] = [Time when it was found out which child was Li Zemin].

[Time of the first call] = [16:19 on January 12]

Now it is already the early morning of the 13th, and it has been eight or nine hours since [the kidnappers found out that Zhao Qionghui was useless].

In eight or nine hours, the kidnappers had enough time to deal with several useless children. Killing, discarding and burying the bodies were all enough.

However, when the kidnappers heard that Lai Fuhao wanted to redeem the two children, they did not hesitate at all. This instinctive reaction best reflects the real situation.

Although it is unknown what happened between the two children and the kidnappers in these thirty hours, it is basically certain that the

"useless" Zhao Qionghui is still alive.

Since both children are alive, why did the kidnappers wait until tomorrow instead of letting Mr. Lai listen to the voice now?

Although Jiayi thinks it is unlikely, there is another idea: Is it possible that the kidnappers still haven't figured out which one is Lai Zemin?

For example, what if both children happen to know Lai Fuhao's home phone number? Zhao Qing may have told the children the phone number in order to make it easier to contact the children and his wife.

This may be the kidnapper's reason for refusing Lai Fuhao's request to let the children hear their voices -

because the kidnapper does not know which child to let speak.

This is too embarrassing, and will make the kidnapper feel angry and ashamed, and even worry that Lai Fuhao looks down on them and is not afraid of them enough.

But even if this possibility is true, when Lai Fuhao said that both children would be redeemed, the kidnapper should have unloaded this part of the psychological burden.

Because the kidnapper can let the two children talk to Lai Fuhao one after another, which does not require the kidnapper to distinguish which one is Lai Zemin.

"......Then, the kidnapper refused Lai Fuhao's request to listen to the children's voices now, and must find a time to call Lai Fuhao tomorrow. There is only one possibility, that is, the children are not with the person who called.

"With this inference, we can also draw the conclusion that 'the kidnapper who called may not be driving a van.'"

Jiayi sorted out her thoughts and immediately explained it to Dylan in a clear and concise manner.

"..." Dylan followed Jiayi's thoughts, his brain worked quickly, and finally sighed, "I understand, I will let everyone pay attention to all suspicious vehicles."

"Thank you for your hard work." Jiayi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Officer Yi, thank you for joining." Before hanging up the phone, Dylan said sincerely.!