Following the instructions from the person on the phone, He Qianshan drove for two hours and found Wu Pengpeng's phone in a trash can on a rural road without electronic surveillance on the outskirts of Jincheng.
The phone was out of power and turned off, and the screen was shattered. Just from the state of the phone, one could roughly guess the situation of its owner.
He Qianshan tightly clutched the phone, as if he had grasped a glimmer of hope connected to Wu Pengpeng's life.
Before he could even charge the phone, the strange call came in again.
"Mr. He, you've received my sincerity, right?"
He Qianshan knew clearly that this was not sincerity but a threat.
If he didn't follow the other party's demands, what would be sent next time wouldn't be a broken phone.
He Qianshan squeezed the phone so hard that it seemed as if he would crush it, but his voice showed no trace of emotion: "What do you want me to do?"
The other party was quite satisfied with his answer and let out a happy laugh: "I like cooperating with smart people like you."
He Qianshan endured his anger, thinking that once he caught this dirty rat in the gutter, he would surely make him regret being born into this world.
"I want you to..." The other party seemed to enjoy the pleasure of controlling others' emotions and deliberately dawdled, "help me create the illusion that Miss Wu is still in Jincheng."
It seemed that the other party wanted him to help buy time. In this case, Wu Pengpeng was at least not in immediate danger of losing her life.
He Qianshan said: "I want to hear her voice. I need to know she's safe..."
"What right do you have to bargain with me?" The mechanical voice coldly interrupted him. "And I'd like to advise you not to waste your efforts. You won't be able to catch me."
After saying that, the other party hung up the phone directly.
Fu Heng's call soon came to his new phone: "Boss, the call was too short just now. We still haven't managed to detect the other party's location. The other party has a strong anti - reconnaissance awareness. The number used is a black number, and the dialing IP address is abroad. It's impossible to locate and track."
He Qianshan rubbed his temples tiredly: "Okay, I see."
The other party came well - prepared, and every one of his paths was blocked.
Now he was in a passive position, facing difficulties at every step. He could only wait for the other party's next move and then look for loopholes.
He Qianshan sat in the desolate outskirts, charging Wu Pengpeng's phone while sorting out his thoughts.
Fortunately, Wu Pengpeng's phone still worked. He turned it on and checked it, but there were no useful clues. It was obvious that she had been completely unprepared when she was kidnapped.
He Qianshan put the phone away and was about to drive back when Wu Pengpeng's phone suddenly rang. He looked down and saw that it was Jiang He's call.
He instinctively wanted to decline, but then thinking of what that person had said just now, he had no choice but to answer it.
Jiang He said cheerfully: "Sister, I've found another new project..."
He Qianshan coldly interrupted him: "It's me."
"Mr. He?"
"Yes. She's not convenient to answer your call now."
"Then I'll call her later..."
"No need. If you have anything to say, tell me and I'll pass it on to her."
"... It's nothing. There's just a new project. I'll send the plan to her later. Ask her to take a look when she's free."
"Okay." He Qianshan was about to hang up the phone after saying that.
Jiang He called out to him: "Mr. He."
He Qianshan frowned, his tone a bit impatient: "What else?"
Jiang He was silent for a moment: "... Are you two okay?"
"Thanks for your concern. We're fine." After saying that, he hung up the phone directly.
The screensaver was a photo of them that she had secretly taken at some point. Wu Pengpeng was smiling brightly at the camera, her eyes curved into crescent moons.
He Qianshan stared at her smiling eyes, and the pretense of fearlessness that he had been holding up finally showed a crack.
Wu Pengpeng was probably the most oblivious hostage. During the three days of being kidnapped, she neither cried nor made a fuss, and she didn't try to escape either.
Every day, besides eating and sleeping, she would just sit by the window and stare blankly outside.
Sometimes even Wu Junyu couldn't help but suspect that she might have regarded this dilapidated, drafty building as a holiday resort.
Actually, it wasn't that Wu Pengpeng was carefree. She knew clearly that as long as the other party didn't get what they wanted, her life would be safe.
This was a long - term psychological battle, and the one who couldn't hold on would be the first to lose.
After breakfast on the fourth day, Wu Junyu couldn't bear it anymore: "Miss Wu, aren't you going to cooperate yet?"
Wu Pengpeng withdrew her gaze from outside the window and said calmly: "I'm not in a hurry."
Wu Junyu said: "But Mr. He is in a hurry."
At the mention of He Qianshan, there was finally a ripple in Wu Pengpeng's usually calm eyes.
"Fine. Tell me what you want. First, let me make it clear that you can't take my life."
As Wu Pengpeng had expected, what the other party wanted wasn't Zhengling Group.
It was said that back then, in order to prevent his brothers from embezzling the Wu family's property after his death, Old Master Wu had left a large amount of hidden property for Wu Pengpeng.
This secret was known only to Wu Pengpeng herself.
"That's not right!" Wu Pengpeng interrupted him. "Since no one knows about it except me, how did you find out?"
Wu Junyu was taken aback: "... Don't worry about how I know!"
Wu Pengpeng pouted: "I can't tell you now. If I do, my life will be in danger."
Wu Junyu sneered: "If you don't tell me, you'll die even earlier!"
Wu Pengpeng was well aware of her situation. She couldn't escape on her own, so she could only stall for more time and wait for rescue.
Although it was a coincidence that she happened to be drunk that day, giving Uncle Wang the chance to kidnap her, the other party had wanted to kidnap her for a long time and had made full preparations.
This was an isolated mountain with an abandoned building. There were no people living around, so shouting for help would be in vain. And the floor she was on was at least ten stories high. Escaping safely was simply wishful thinking.
"Don't waste your efforts." Wu Junyu, of course, knew what Wu Pengpeng was thinking and mercilessly exposed her. "Even if you stall for a long time, He Qianshan won't be able to find you."
He paused for a moment and said happily: "I've told him that if he dares to call the police or tell others about this, I'll kill you immediately. Do you think he dares to gamble with your life?"
Hearing him threaten and torment He Qianshan like this, Wu Pengpeng was instantly enraged. She wished she could crawl through the camera and beat him up.
But she knew clearly that making a fuss at this moment would make the other party look down on her.
She wrapped herself in a small blanket and turned to look out of the window at the distant mountains.
The sun had been shining brightly these days, and only a little snow remained on the mountaintops.
On the night it snowed, she and He Qianshan had made an appointment to watch the snow and set off fireworks together.
How desperate he must be without her!
He Qianshan.
Just uttering this name, Wu Pengpeng felt a coppery taste on the tip of her tongue.
The long - suppressed emotions were almost overwhelming her, but she couldn't fall. If she couldn't go back...
If she didn't go back, what would He Qianshan do?
He would live in guilt and self - blame for the rest of his life. In every quiet night, he would hate himself for not going to pick her up that day.
This kind of emotion would follow him like a shadow, torturing him like a slow - acting poison and making him live in self - loathing for the rest of his life.
She couldn't let him be so miserable. She must survive!
"Have you ever seen fireworks?" Wu Pengpeng suddenly turned around and looked in the direction of the camera.
Without waiting for a response, she seemed to remember something happy and smiled briefly.
"Once, someone gave me a grand birthday fireworks show. I was really happy at that time. I thought I was the happiest person in the world."
"I thought that thoughtful birthday gift would be a precious memory for my whole life. For the rest of my life, every year on my birthday, I would think of that fireworks show on my 22nd birthday."
"But just now, I suddenly realized that he didn't want to wish me a happy birthday. Instead, he wanted to blow me up into the sky. Wu Pengpeng blown to pieces and then ground into mud. That must have been his real intention, right!"
She hung her head and didn't say a word for a long time.
Just when Wu Junyu thought she wouldn't speak again, he heard her say softly: "I know who you are."
Wu Junyu was shocked and instinctively looked at the monitor.
Wu Pengpeng stared at her toes. After a long while, she finally spoke again: "You don't want all my property but a non - existent hidden property. Because you know clearly that even if I give you the entire Wu family, you won't be able to accept it openly."
She suddenly looked up, tilted her head towards the camera, and there was a happy smile on her lips: "Am I right, Second Brother?"
The other party still didn't respond, but Wu Pengpeng didn't care. Anyway, she had achieved her goal with those words just now.
She continued to wrap herself in the blanket and stared blankly out of the window.
After a long time, the iron gate made a dull sound.
Wu Pengpeng turned around and was stunned when she saw who it was: "It's actually you."