Based on this, the thug from before must have been someone specially hired by their so-called "boss".
These people didn't seem to intend to kill her outright, which reassured Chuanliu slightly. She remained pretending to be asleep, not moving an inch.
The thug was speechless after being choked, so he had no choice but to walk towards her.
He yelled rudely, "Hey! Are you awake?"
Immediately afterwards, he kicked Chuanliu. Although he didn't control the force too much, it was enough to make her feel intense pain.
Chuanliu, in pain, frowned and opened his eyes in an instant.
Seeing this, the thug shrugged nonchalantly at the person next to him and said casually, "See, he's still alive."
Then, with his hands in his pockets, he swayed and left the room.
The remaining man showed no remorse whatsoever, mechanically carrying out his task.
He apologized, saying, "Miss Chuanliu, you're awake. I'm sorry to have brought you here in this way. I'll get our boss here right away."
Chuanliu didn't recognize him and didn't respond to his words.
After a while, the man opened the door and invited the person into the storeroom.
He respectfully placed a chair on the open ground, and then a figure slowly entered the room.
The newcomer was short in stature, and his whole body seemed to be wrapped in a large garment, making him appear mysterious yet somewhat comical.
Chuanliu tried to adjust her body to see the person's face clearly, but her hands and feet were tightly bound, making it impossible for her to move.
At this moment, the leader spoke up: "Help her up."
His voice was cold and authoritative, conveying an unquestionable authority.
Upon hearing the voice, Chuanliu was immediately startled and recognized the owner of the voice—it was none other than "Square 9" Xu Zhi, who had been missing for several days.
She was helped up, but no one untied her hands and feet. She tried to straighten her body and raise her head to look Xu Zhi straight in the eye.
After not seeing her for several days, Xu Zhi had cut her long hair short, making her look more capable; her skin seemed to have tanned a bit, and she no longer pretended to be herself, her eyes full of sharpness.
Her gaze, sharp as a knife, shot towards Chuanliu. She didn't speak immediately, but quietly observed her, as if trying to see through the girl's thoughts.
Chuanliu returned his gaze without flinching, revealing no sign of his inner unease.
The silent exchange continued for a long time before Xu Zhi spoke first: "You were the one who voted for Jia Zuowei, weren't you?"
Her tone carried a hint of doubt and scrutiny, as if she wanted to find the answer from Chuanliu's reaction.
They really did suspect her.
Chuanliu's heart tightened, but she remained calm and retorted sarcastically, "Hmph, if I had known that I would be treated like this if I had voted for you, I would have been more at ease if I had voted for Jia Zuowei!"
Xu Zhi pursed his lips slightly, seemingly dissatisfied with the girl's answer.
She continued to stare at Chuanliu, trying to glean more information from her expression and eyes: "Don't think I don't know, Jia Zuowei later gave you a lot of good things, were they all fake?"
Chuanliu sneered and retorted, "Since you know he gave me a gift, don't you know he gave gifts to others as well?"
The latter did not answer, seemingly judging the veracity of what Chuanliu had said.
The girl pressed her advantage, saying, "If you want to get rid of everyone because of this, then I have nothing to say. But if your intention is to eliminate dissidents, then our plastic cooperation is pointless."
Having been dragged to this unfamiliar place by a sudden blow, the girl's unforgiving attitude is understandable.
These words silenced Xu Zhi. She had only intended to bluff Chuanliu to see if she would slip up, but she hadn't expected to run into a brick wall.
His threats backfired; instead of being intimidated, he turned around and questioned her.
"If it wasn't you who voted, then who was it?"
Xu Zhi sat in the chair and recalled the six "suspects" one by one into his mind.
Chuanliu's tone still carried a hint of resentment, "How should I know? Anyway, it wasn't me."
As if recalling her emotional journey over the past few days, she became agitated and recounted to Xu Zhi how arduous those days had been.
"Do you know what kind of life I've been living these past few days? You kept saying you wanted to cooperate with me, but what happened? As soon as the voting results came out, you disappeared without a trace, like an autumn leaf falling! I've been searching for you in the city like a headless fly every day, and I have to be careful not to reveal my whereabouts. Do you know how I've been groping around in endless darkness these past few days?"
If you're going to call me, just call me directly. Why send some sneaky, ghost-like person who doesn't say a word and just slams me in the gut? What's going on? Is this the attitude of an ally?
You still doubt me! I'm really going crazy lately! If you don't explain yourself clearly today, I'm not done with you! Tell me! Tell me!
Chuanliu's voice was filled with grievance and dissatisfaction. As he spoke, he sat back down on the ground, squeezed out a few tears, and vowed to seek justice for himself.
Xu Zhi signaled his men to untie her, but she dodged them twice.
The girl's glare left Xu Zhi's men in an awkward position, unsure whether to come or go.
Looking at the tantrum-throwing girl, Xu Zhi felt a sense of helplessness towards a junior for the first time.
She offered a few words of comfort, which lessened her doubts about Chuanliu considerably.
It wasn't just because of Chuanliu's few words, but based on her investigation over the past few days, and her analysis of the somewhat clever but weak girl in front of her, no matter which direction she looked at it, she couldn't find any motive for Chuanliu to help Jia Zuowei.
Thinking of this, Xu Zhi took the initiative to apologize to Chuanliu, "They didn't understand what I meant. I apologize to you on their behalf."
She stepped forward and untied Chuanliu, saying as she did so, "These past few days, Jia Zuowei has already taken some action, and I've been too busy to contact you. I'm contacting you this time because I hope to continue our previous cooperation."
Chuanliu deliberately staged this scene to further dispel Xu Zhi's suspicions, and it worked.
"Mad Literature" is the cure for all kinds of dissent.
The girl remained outwardly calm, but inwardly she was overjoyed.
"Something's been done? How come I didn't know?" Chuanliu asked, rubbing the sore spot on his wrist.
Xu Zhi seemed to remember something, and a trace of sadness flashed across his eyes.
“Ah Xian is dead. He died in my place.”
Ah Xian?
Chuanliu had never heard of this name before, but then he thought of the pretty young man who always replaced Xu Zhi in front of others and played the role of "9 of Diamonds".
"I thought you and him..." Chuanliu didn't finish his sentence.
Xu Zhi glanced at her, then she said, "Just playing around?... Ah Xian and I came to the island together, and our relationship... well, you wouldn't understand even if I explained. So this time, I'm not only doing it for myself, but also to avenge Ah Xian!"
As she spoke, Xu Zhi led Chuan Liu out of the warehouse. When her subordinates saw her, they immediately bowed respectfully and then protected her in the middle.
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