He took off his headphones, stood up abruptly, and walked towards Ning Yuan's room, while signaling Lao Xu to continue listening.
When Rong Zhaonan arrived at Cha Meiling's door, he saw two masked team members guarding the door. Hearing the noise inside, they pressed their hands on the guns at their waists and tried to get the keys to open the door and break in.
"Don't move." Rong Zhaonan shouted sternly, his tone cold and imposing.
"Captain Rong, something seems to have happened inside!" a team member said in a low, anxious voice. "Should we..."
“No need.” Rong Zhaonan said calmly, his expression unchanged. “Miss Ning Qi is sensible and never does anything unnecessary.”
Another teammate was about to say something when Chen Chen, the big guy next to him, impatiently kicked him in the butt: "When has the boss ever made a wrong tactical decision? When did it become your place to spout nonsense? Just wait and see!"
The two team members immediately shut up and dared not say another word.
Rong Zhaonan said nothing, but walked to the door, closed his eyes, crossed his arms and leaned against the door, listening intently to the sounds coming from inside.
Inside the room, Cha Meiling was so frightened by the sudden turn of events that her face turned pale and her body trembled slightly.
The sharp touch of the ceramic shards caused Cha Meiling a stinging pain, and she could even feel a warm liquid sliding down her skin.
Fear quickly coiled around her heart like vines, making her already pale face even more ashen.
Cha Meiling gritted her teeth, trying hard to remain calm: "Murder is illegal, Ning Yuan, you..."
"Illegal?" Ning Yuan chuckled.
She spoke with a hint of sarcasm, saying coolly, "I'm just a girl from the mainland, I don't know anything, how would I know about breaking the law? All I know is that Sixth Sister has done so much to me, and she can still sit here and drink coffee in peace, which makes me very unhappy!"
As soon as she finished speaking, Cha Meiling felt the pressure of the ceramic shard pressed against her neck increase, and the sharp pain made her even more awake.
"Ning Yuan, calm down! We can talk things out, there's no need to resort to knives and guns."
Cha Meiling tried hard to control her emotions and appear calm, but her trembling voice betrayed her inner fear.
Ning Yuan looked at her coldly, a mocking smile curving her lips: "What, are you scared now? Why weren't you scared when you were targeting me and my brother?"
Cha Meiling didn't even dare to take a deep breath, just biting her lip and remaining silent, knowing that anything she said now would only anger Ning Yuan.
Are those guards outside dead?
She shouted so loudly, but there wasn't a sound outside!
Ning Yuan said calmly, "Cha Meiling, don't treat me like a three-year-old. You took my things, made it impossible for me to reunite with my family, and ruined the only brother who loved me. Is this what you call doing it for my own good? You're so fake it's disgusting!"
"..." Cha Meiling's face was pale, her lips trembled, but she couldn't say a word.
Ning Yuan's clear, cold eyes seemed to conceal a sharp knife: "Sixth Sister wants my jade chili pepper so much, not only to prevent me from recognizing my family, but also for that legendary treasure of the Sheng family in the Swiss bank, right?"
Cha Meiling's breath hitched, and her face turned even paler.
She awkwardly turned her eyes away, avoiding Ning Yuan's gaze: "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Sixth Sister, what time is it? No one will save you, so don't play dumb with me." Ning Yuan said, increasing the pressure on her hand.
"Ah!" Cha Meiling cried out in pain, but dared not provoke Ning Yuan any further.
She could only suppress her fear and anger, and said in a low voice, "Little sister, calm down, let's talk this out! Yes, my father... Cha Shenlou wants the money that the Sheng family left in the Swiss bank."
"Although the Ning family was a prominent and scholarly family in Ningnan, by the late Qing Dynasty, around the time of Old Master Ning's father, his father became addicted to opium, causing the family's assets to be greatly depleted..."
"Although Old Master Ning was among the first batch of students to study abroad and had both knowledge and ability, he only managed to revive the Ning family by marrying Old Madam Sheng, the illegitimate daughter of Sheng Xuanhuai. In the end, the Sheng family was long gone."
"Cha Shenlou said that since the Ning family can afford to use the Sheng family's money, the Cha family can also use it. As long as the Cha family gets that money, they can make a comeback..."
Ning Yuan narrowed her eyes: "Even the Ning family itself isn't sure if the rumor that the Sheng family has a vault in a Swiss bank is true or false. Is your father just grasping at straws now? Is the Cha family really that poor?"
Cha Meiling looked somewhat embarrassed and remained silent.
Ning Yuan curled her lips into a half-smile: "What's strange is that your father, Cha Shenlou, is penniless right now, has to run away, and even kidnaps you, his daughter, for money. How can he afford those tall, burly bodyguards covered in the latest weapons?"
Ning Yuan's tone grew colder: "Is Cha Shenlou using the promise of a Swiss bank vault to lure those foreign armed forces into working for him? Is he also planning to kidnap me and steal the Jade Chili Pepper?"
The sharp ceramic shard in her hand drew another bloody line on Cha Meiling's fair neck, from which tiny beads of blood instantly seeped out.
Cha Meiling gasped in pain, but dared not cry out. She could only grit her teeth and say through tears:
"You're overthinking it! The people Cha Shenlou hired are completely beyond his control! Just like you said, their methods are nothing like those of ordinary kidnappers!"
Cha Meiling spoke rapidly, "The other party is probably a foreigner, so it's inconvenient for them to take action personally. They just want to use my father to deal with the Ning family..."
Ning Yuan looked at her coldly, her eyes filled with suspicion: "When did they collude?"
“I guess it should be no more than two years, as for the jade chili pepper…” Cha Meiling took a deep breath.
“I’ve already returned the last one to my eldest brother, and my father knows there’s no hope… He just wants to force me to take back the rest of the Cha family’s assets…”
"Did you tell Cha Shenlou about returning the jade chili pepper to Ning Bingyu?" Ning Yuan suddenly asked, her tone calm, but it made Cha Meiling's heart skip a beat.
She nodded calmly: "I did."
"Heh." Ning Yuan sneered, "You're quite frank about your father who kidnapped you. Didn't he punish you?"
Cha Meiling was enraged by her sarcastic tone, but remembering her current situation, she could only swallow back the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down: "I'm telling you all this so you understand that we have a common enemy now, and that's Cha Shenlou! Only by eliminating him can we be safe!"
Ning Yuan suddenly narrowed her eyes: "How do you know Cha Shenlou isn't dead?"
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