handle
When Li Pengcheng arrived with his men, the bodyguards were kicking the door so hard it was shaking. He waved them away, saying, "Don't you even know how to use your brains!"
Someone behind him swiped a spare room card and opened the door. Under the cover of his bodyguards, Li Pengcheng entered the room and saw his son being held at gunpoint by Shen Yingchang, while he himself was being aimed at by Tao Chu's raised gun.
"Do you think you can escape this room?!" Li Pengcheng shouted.
Tao Chu smiled and said, "At least I can take Li Yue down with me—it's better than him shooting me dead just now."
"Put down your gun now, and we'll still have a chance to sit down and talk."
Tao Chu took two steps to the left, making room for Wen Yunsheng. The bodyguards' dark gun barrels also moved two inches with her.
“Li Pengcheng, your men are all armed. How can I talk to you? The ‘Chasing Waves’ is still adrift at sea. Aren’t you the one who calls the shots? I don’t want to be thrown into the sea to feed the fish, with the news only reporting an accidental fall into the water.”
Seeing that she had made her point completely clear, Li Pengcheng lost his patience and frowned as he asked, "So what do you want?"
Why did you want to kill me?
Li Pengcheng found it laughable: "You fled back to Jianglin from Wanghu City overnight, don't you know why?"
“I went to my dad because a thief broke into my house—what, was the thief one of your men?” Tao Chu stared at him intently.
Li Pengcheng could tell from her that she was still hiding something and didn't dare to make it clear that she still wanted to live and wasn't really planning to perish together with everyone else.
He softened his tone, saying, "Li Yue came to you on impulse because he lost just now. There's no need to make things so tense."
"Oh?" Tao Chu glanced at Li Yue, whose mouth was gagged. "So the Li family is such a sore loser that they'd kill someone to cover it up for tens of millions. Who would dare to gamble on your ship in the future? Of those who gambled with you, how many of them got off the ship safely?"
Li Pengcheng gestured to the person behind him to bring the briefcase forward: "This is the corresponding bargaining chip. Take it and we'll release him—I guarantee with my identity that Li Yue will not cause you any more trouble."
“Besides Li Yue, there are plenty of people who can come and kill me.” Tao Chu continued to stall, going in circles with Li Pengcheng to ensure that Wen Yunsheng had enough time to film the video and send it to Cen Le.
Li Pengcheng wasn't in a hurry. He arranged for someone to break out from the balcony and waited patiently.
Only Li Yue, with a gun pointed at his head, watched his father and this woman exchanging questions and answers, his anger rising and falling, and he couldn't help but struggle.
“Behave yourself, or don’t blame me if something goes wrong!” Shen Yingchang threatened him.
"Chu Chu—" Wen Yunsheng suddenly shouted from the balcony.
Tao Chu didn't turn around immediately, afraid that the bodyguards would pounce on him. Instead, he said to Shen Yingchang, "Go and see!"
She continued to hold her gun straight ahead, while Shen Yingchang, with Li Yue by the neck, turned around to look—two people were fighting with Wen Yunsheng.
“People are coming from behind,” Shen Yingchang warned.
Tao Chu asked loudly, "Is it ready?"
"alright!"
Hearing this, Tao Chuchong and Li Pengcheng smiled:
"Tell your people to stop causing trouble—Wen Yunsheng just filmed a video..."
Li Pengcheng hadn't expected her to have a backup plan. His expression changed abruptly, and he interrupted her, ordering, "Take his phone away!"
"It's too late. He's already sent it to the email address I specified. Gambling, possession of a gun, murder... Li Pengcheng, if the video gets posted online, any one of these will get you and your clients into big trouble."
Wen Yunsheng originally wanted to throw his phone into the sea, but after hearing Tao Chu's words, Li Pengcheng became wary after seeing the sent email, so he pretended that it had been taken away.
Li Pengcheng flipped through the photos and videos in the album, his eyelids twitching. He had no interest in looking at them closely and tossed his phone to his subordinate.
He stared at Tao Chu, his nostrils flaring: "Name your terms."
"Let us disembark safely—I just need to send one more message to the email address to make sure the video won't be leaked before I get off the ship."
"And what happens after you disembark?"
"As long as you're not caught red-handed at the border, with your incredible connections, why would you be afraid of gossip afterwards?"
Hearing this, Li Pengcheng understood even more clearly that Tao Chu could not be allowed to stay—her ability to grasp this balance showed that she not only knew what they feared most, but also how far their reach extended.
What a pity! Wanghu City and the ship were both perfect opportunities to kill her, but she managed to find loopholes in both.
They couldn't even control her on their own turf; who knows what kind of trouble she'll cause once she returns to Jianglin.
But he couldn't let the passengers on the ship take risks, so Li Pengcheng signaled his men to put away their guns: "I'm a straightforward person, Miss Tao. I agree to your conditions. I'll let you off the ship when we get back to port, but you have to stay in your room until then."
Tao Chu nodded, put down his gun, and held out his hand to him: "Give me your phone, I'll send a message."
"You said, let them distribute it."
Tao Chu could tell that he was wary of her touching his phone, so she didn't say anything more.
"Just send 'It's safe for now, don't send the video yet, we'll contact you again tomorrow,' and sign it 0928."
"What does 0928 mean?" Li Pengcheng was afraid she had left a code.
"Seeing this code confirms that it was posted by me—but the code will change next time, so you don't need to try to impersonate me."
"Well prepared, huh?" Li Pengcheng sneered twice, then looked at Li Yue. "Shouldn't you release them now?"
Shen Yingchang glanced at Tao Chucai before letting go of him and kicked Li Yue in the calf: "Go away."
Li Yue fell forward, and a group of people rushed over to help him up, busy untying him and removing the tie from his mouth.
Some people wanted to stand up for Li Yue and raised their guns again.
Shen Yingchang never lowered his gun, keeping it aimed at Li Pengcheng: "Want to test whose marksmanship is better?"
Judging from the way he held the gun, Li Pengcheng didn't think he was the doctoral student Li Yue had mentioned before. This was someone who needed to be investigated further; he might be a bigger problem.
Li Pengcheng led his men away, and the man who had been hiding in the bathroom slunk out and followed them.
Wen Yunsheng was also taken away, and he kept looking at Tao Chu as he passed by.
Tao Chu felt a pang of sadness when she looked at the wound on his forehead.
He was still worried about himself, but Tao Chu knew he was probably going to be taken to Zhou Bingcheng and Wen Tao. After all, he had made a huge mess and needed to be accounted for.
Wen Yunsheng was dragged to Wen Tao's room. Li Pengcheng was too lazy to even say a word of politeness: "Mayor Wen, you can't control your good son, don't drag us all down with you!"
Before anyone could explain what had happened, Li Yue shoved them aside, rushed to Wen Tao, and recounted the whole story from beginning to end, spitting as he spoke.
Wen Tao's brows furrowed more and more as he glanced at his son, who refused to lower his head and remained silent. His forehead, already damp with sweat, looked even more oily.
Despite causing such a commotion, Tao Chu didn't die, and Yun Sheng even handed her a fatal weakness.
He heard the door open and close—Li Pengcheng had left.
He knew that Li Pengcheng was going to Zhou Bingcheng to pin the blame for Yunsheng's crimes on him.
Wen Yunsheng looked at his father's drooping eyelids, slumped shoulders, and slightly trembling legs, and felt a pang of sadness.
That was a chronic illness my father developed in the village when he was young; he couldn't stand for long periods of time in the winter.
He recalled that his hands were shaking when he was filming the video.
At that time, he thought about his father's future—perhaps he wouldn't face imprisonment, but a fall from grace was inevitable.
She had considered that she might be forced to leave Jianglin Yuanmao Group, and all her hard work over the past few years would be in vain.
If they lack power, what will they do when Li Pengcheng and his son, who have seized the opportunity, double the amount owed to them?
Even though he knew the price his family would have to pay, he had no choice when Tao Chu's life hung in the balance.
He held up his phone, and on the screen, she held up a gun, together defending her last chance at life.
He had lost her briefly, how could he accept losing her forever?
The once packed room 1608 has finally returned to a temporary calm, although there will definitely be someone guarding outside the door.
Tao Chu placed the gun on the coffee table, wiped the cold sweat from his palms, and glanced at Shen Yingchang.
He remained calm and even managed a smile at her: "It's been a pleasure working with you, my good partner."
They walked towards the bathroom in tacit agreement, closed the door, and Tao Chu said, "Don't be too happy yet. Although I got the video, the day I release it will probably be my death day—will the video be of any use to you?"
Shen Yingchang sensed that she was testing him and vaguely replied, "It won't have much effect."
Tao Chu seemed somewhat disappointed, gave an "Oh," and stopped talking.
He put away his gun and continued, "The ship will dock at Rossi Island early tomorrow morning. Some people will disembark and return to the ship in the evening for their return journey."
Tao Chu wasn't surprised that he knew the specific voyage, and stared at him: "So?"
Aren't you curious about what they did after getting off the ship?
"Is curiosity useful? We can't even leave the room now."
"Not necessarily." Shen Yingchang smiled mysteriously.
At five in the morning, before dawn, the ship had already sailed into the near sea. Tao Chu sat on the sofa, looking at the lights shining through the gaps in the curtains—the lights from buildings on Rossi Island in the distance.
She didn't sleep all night, so Shen Yingchang was able to enjoy the large bed all to himself.
He stretched and walked out, already dressed: "Okay, don't be so nervous, go get some sleep—I'm going to have a smoke."
He walked to the balcony, closed the French windows, and the curtains swayed gently as his figure disappeared into the darkness.
See you next time.
Tao Chu said goodbye silently in her heart.
She curled up in the blankets, seemingly still carrying his scent; she was neither a stranger nor quite familiar with him.
She closed her eyes, and it seemed as if the sea was as black as ink.
Before dawn broke over the winter sea, a fish found a gap in the giant net and escaped.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
