Escape
Tao Chu slept surprisingly soundly and was not woken up by the banging on the door.
She rubbed her eyes and walked into the living room, watching the afternoon sunlight stream in through the gaps in the curtains. She pushed open the French windows and looked down at the nearby dock.
People and vehicles come and go, and the locals wear bright smiles on their dark faces. Everything around is so lively and beautiful.
Tao Chu guessed that Shen Yingchang must have successfully escaped from the ship, but she didn't expect that no one had discovered this so far.
Perhaps someone saw her get up through the living room camera, because a few minutes later someone knocked on the door, saying they were there to bring lunch.
She went to the bathroom and turned on the shower, saying as she walked towards the door, "Take a shower first before you eat."
Pretending to be wary, Tao Chu quickly grabbed the plate, used her knee to brace herself against the door to close it, hastily ate a few mouthfuls of rice in the living room, and then took another portion into the bedroom.
Even one more minute of delay would be a good thing.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, the person watching room 1608 finally realized that something was wrong.
They barged into the room and searched it thoroughly, but found no trace of Shen Yingchang.
Two men stood by the bed and interrogated Tao Chu, while the others went to report to Li Yue.
Li Yue, who was engrossed in playing a game, suddenly threw his phone onto the sofa and jumped up: "Didn't I tell you to guard the door? How could he be gone?!"
"No, I don't know. They probably climbed from the balcony to a nearby room... People on the same floor go in and out, and our people can see that, so they probably climbed to a room downstairs."
"Go check the surveillance footage!" Li Yue roared.
Before we could even find out anything about Shen Yingchang, he slipped away right under our noses.
The key issue is that Li Pengcheng is not on the ship now; he is accompanying Zhou Bingcheng to do "real business"—this was originally an excellent opportunity for the Li family to rise in status, and even Wen Tao was left on the ship because of what happened last night.
But what if it's discovered that Shen Yingchang wasn't being kept in check...?
He paced anxiously around the room, hands on his hips, shouting, "Where's Tao Chu! Keep an eye on Tao Chu!"
"Yes, yes, our people went straight into the room and kept watch over her, but... no matter how we asked, she insisted that she had been sleeping the whole time and that she knew nothing about it."
"Of course she said she didn't know!" Li Yue rolled his eyes. "Damn it, if it weren't for that spineless Wen Yunsheng, we could have just taken care of them both yesterday. Why all this nonsense!"
When Li Pengcheng accompanied the VIPs back to the ship, Li Yue stood by the elevator and winked at him.
After Li Pengcheng escorted everyone back to their rooms, he asked him, "What's wrong now?"
Li Yue gestured for him to go back to his room to talk, not daring to mention Shen Yingchang's escape first, but instead telling him the information he had found.
“I took Shen Yingchang’s surveillance photos to people inside the port for facial comparison, but they told me that his information was only accessible internally and I didn’t have the authority to access it. Dad, we’ve run into a tough customer.”
Hearing this, Li Pengcheng was somewhat gratified: "You've finally put your mind to something! Knowing he's not simple, keep a close eye on him—send someone to follow him after he gets off the ship."
Li Yue licked his lips, feeling extremely guilty: "Um... he escaped from the ship today."
Li Pengcheng's mind went blank: "What?!"
“He went to the balcony before dawn and didn’t come in. He climbed down to room 1508, which was empty. He hid there until nine o’clock in the morning. As soon as the ship docked, he sneaked out with the staff who were purchasing supplies.”
Li Pengcheng kicked the coffee table: "You son of a bitch, are your men just sitting around doing nothing?! They can't even keep an eye on two people?! This happened at nine in the morning, and you're only telling me now? They can't even keep up with the news!"
Li Yue was berated mercilessly, but dared not defend himself, only saying, "I... I have people watching Tao Chu in the room now, at least she's still here..."
"What good is it! You said yourself that Shen Yingchang is a tough nut to crack. Why did he risk disembarking so early in the morning? He might have found out our whereabouts today! You useless piece of trash, you only cause me trouble!"
Although Li Yue was annoyed, he didn't dare argue with his angry father and asked in a soft tone, "Then... what should we do now?"
Despite his criticisms, Li Pengcheng had to calm down when it came to actually solving the problem.
Wen Tao has already stumbled because of Tao Chu. If Zhou Bingcheng finds out that Shen Yingchang escaped from his grasp, it's hard to say which situation will be more serious.
We can't let this golden opportunity slip away like this. Let's gamble that Shen Yingchang isn't that capable.
"Don't make a sound!" Li Pengcheng pointed at Li Yue, gritting his teeth. "Tell your men to shut their mouths and pretend nothing happened. Keep a close eye on Tao Chu and see if she meets with Shen Yingchang again after she returns to Jianglin. Follow the clues to find out more."
Li Yue nodded repeatedly, and took the opportunity to give instructions to his men before escaping the room.
Even though he was unwilling, Li Yue had no way to vent his anger on Tao Chu, who had leverage over him. He could only suppress his anger and wait until he got off the ship to settle accounts with her.
Tao Chu did not receive the barrage of interrogations he was about to face, and even Li Pengcheng and his son did not show their faces again.
Li Yue only appeared when she asked her bodyguard to return her phone just before disembarking.
He told her to keep her hands to herself, if the video were leaked...
She was still somewhat incredulous when her feet touched the ground again and she looked at the two-story immigration hall in front of her.
The voyage, which lasted only five or six days, was thrilling and life-or-death in the first half, while the second half, confined to the room, felt like being in prison.
Shen Yingchang, who fell from the sky, escaped from the giant ship with extraordinary abilities.
Wen Yunsheng, who kept saying he would protect her, seemed to have kept his promise in the end.
At this moment, she stood alone on the shore where the sea wind howled—she knew that Cen Le might be nearby, but she dared not contact him.
Who knows what kind of listening and control software Li Yue installed on the phone he returned? She can't let Cen Le take the risk.
She took a taxi to downtown Shanghai, bought a new phone, got a SIM card, bought a ticket back to Jianglin, and then found a corner of a restaurant to call Cen Le.
"I'm disembarking."
"I know, I just saw you standing under the boat, lost in thought. Where's your boyfriend?"
"It's a long story—you went to the port?"
"Yeah, I'm relieved to see you're alright. Oh, by the way, Li Yue just messaged me, asking if I've returned to Jianglin yet, like he wants to meet me. Did anything happen on the ship? Should I go and try to find out more?"
"Forget it, it's better to stay away from him—have you contacted 'HP'?"
"I was just about to tell you this. 'HP' hasn't answered the phone, but they haven't left the service area either, so you can still get through. They're probably deliberately keeping their phone on so they don't miss your message, but they're just afraid to reveal information proactively."
"Okay. From now on, we'll use this phone. Li Yue took the old one for a while, and I didn't dare to use it anymore, so I just put it in my suitcase."
"Okay, then be careful. See you in Jiang Lin."
Tao Chu had little appetite and finished her meal hastily. With several hours left before her high-speed train departure, she strolled around the mall.
New Year decorations were hung everywhere, and families and friends strolled around in twos and threes, enjoying the Spring Festival holiday that was about to end.
Suddenly, Tao Chu stopped in his tracks. It was a candy store, and the window was filled with beautifully packaged chocolate gift boxes.
A sweet aroma filled the air, and along with it, the box of Teuscher on the ship also seeped into her heart.
When she put her old phone into her suitcase, she thought of Wen Yunsheng.
His current situation, the wound on his forehead, whether he... will lose contact with me again.
After all, the connection between them is pitifully fragile.
Tao Chu ultimately did not enter the candy store. Instead, she took out a mint, put it in her mouth, and dragged her suitcase into the light winter rain.
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