Chapter 884 Exchange of Hostages
Mu Sijue hesitated for a while, and he finally unmuted the phone and said to Kang Ruicheng, “I will send Mumu back tomorrow morning. Kang Ruicheng, I hope you can keep your word.”
“Don’t worry.” Kang Ruicheng said, “As long as you send Mumu back, I will definitely release one hostage. As for the other one, she will be released only when you send A Ning back. Don’t try to find other ways. Otherwise, your losses will be greater!”
Undoubtedly, Kang Ruicheng was making a threat.
Mu Sijue hung up the phone and looked at Lu Boyan, saying, “Tomorrow, I’ll ask Ah Guang to send Mumu back.”
“Okay,” Lu Boyan said. “Tell Ah Guang to watch out for Kang Ruicheng.”
Mu Sijue knew why Lu Boyan specifically reminded him.
The reason was that Lu Boyan knew too well how Kang Ruicheng did things.
Some people kept their word, but Kang Ruicheng liked to do the opposite. He always ate his words.
It wouldn’t hurt Ah Guang to watch out in the exchange.
After that, Lu Boyan continued, “Tomorrow, we will try to trace Kang Ruicheng’s whereabouts. Maybe we can find out where he locked up my mother.”
If they wanted to rescue Tang Yulan, the first step was to locate her. They must use Kang Ruicheng to complete it.
They would take advantage of the exchange tomorrow and try to trace and a.n.a.lyze Kang Ruicheng’s whereabouts, so as to deduce Tang Yulan’s location. It was a good idea.
Mu Sijue nodded and said, “I’ll ask someone to prepare for it right away.”
The two of them busied themselves to work. Before they knew it, the sky had already brightened. A new day came as scheduled.
At the top of the mountain.
Su Jian’an was uneasy, so she did not sleep well. She woke up as soon as the first light of dawn shone into the room.
The moment she opened her eyes, Su Jian’an subconsciously reached for her mobile phone.
The lock screen showed that she had received a new message. She opened it and saw that it was indeed from Lu Boyan.
Lu Boyan reported in the message that he was almost done with work and would not sleep for the time being. If she woke up, she could call him.
Su Jian’an heaved a long sigh of relief and dialed Lu Boyan’s number.
The call was soon answered, and Lu Boyan’s slightly tired voice came. “Jian’an? Why did you wake up so early?”
“I just woke up. It’s not early now.” Su Jian’an asked, “Have you been up all night?”
“Having something to deal with, I don’t have time to sleep.” Lu Boyan knew that Su Jian’an was worried about him, so he comforted her. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.”
“If you are really tired, you have to first rest for a while anyway. Your health may go wrong if you are always up.”
Su Jian’an sounded anxious as if she were eager to engrave these words on Lu Boyan’s mind and force him to do so.
Lu Boyan smiled and felt that his tiredness dissipated a lot. “I see.”
Only then did Su Jian’an ask, “About Mom and Aunt Zhou… how’s it going?”
“I was just about to tell you this.” Lu Boyan paused for a moment and continued, “Jian’an, I can’t bring Mom back for the time being.”
“Why?” Su Jian’an’s voice suddenly tightened. “What does Kang Ruicheng want from us?”
“Kang Ruicheng required us to send Mumu back. In exchange, he will release one hostage, but he has the final say on who is going to be released.”
Su Jian’an had already understood Kang Ruicheng’s intention, and then added, “Kang Ruicheng will release Aunt Zhou and make Mom stay, so as to put Sijue and Youning in dilemma.”
“Yep.” Lu Boyan said, “That’s what Kang Ruicheng thought.”
“Then what about Mom?” Being worried, Su Jian’an’s voice was exceptionally low. “Kang Ruicheng will definitely require us to send Youning back in exchange for Mom, but are we really going to send Youning back?”
“No.” Lu Boyan said, “If we send Xu Youning back, Sijue will quite possibly collapse. Also, Mom will not allow us to do that. We’re drawing up a rescue plan. Now, we need to locate Mom.”
Su Jian’an used to work at the police station. When they got into trouble this time, her first thought was to ask the police for help. She asked, “Boyan, shall we call the police and ask them to intervene?”
“We have no direct evidence to prove that Kang Ruicheng is a criminal, so calling the police is only our last resort.” Lu Boyan added, “Moreover, Mom and Aunt Zhou are both in Kang Ruicheng’s grasp. If we call the police, it will infuriate Kang Ruicheng.”
Su Jian’an asked in frustration, “Are we going to let Kang Ruicheng go unpunished?”
“No.” Lu Boyan said, “I will bring him to justice.”
There was always a comforting force in Lu Boyan’s voice. Su Jian’an slowly calmed down and asked, “Then what should we do exactly?”
“To collect stronger evidence and then ask Hong Qing to show up, so as to reverse the verdict and reveal Kang Ruicheng’s true colors to the public.” Mu Sijue said, “Jian’an, we need time.”
Su Jian’an closed her eyes and nodded. “Do what you should do. I’ll take good care of Xiyu and Xiangyi.”
“Fine.” After a pause, Lu Boyan continued, “Jian’an, I have another thing to discuss with you.”
It had been a long time since Su Jian’an heard Lu Boyan speak in such a serious tone. She could not help becoming serious too. “What’s it?”
“I suspect that Yunyun has other relatives alive, who also work as international criminal police like her biological parents and take charge of Kang Ruicheng’s case.” Lu Boyan added, “I will contact international criminal police and thoroughly investigate Yunyun’s family background and her biological parents. We may cooperate with them then.”
Su Jian’an understood. If Lu Boyan cooperated with international criminal police, Yunyun… was very likely to see her relatives.
But until now, Yunyun still did not know her parents’ true ident.i.ties and the real cause of that car accident.
Once Yunyun’s relatives appeared, it would bring a dramatic change to her life.
Lu Boyan was afraid that Yunyun would not be able to bear it.
Su Jian’an did not think so.
She said, “Yunyun’s parents are international criminal police after all. Yunyun is not as weak as you think. I will explain it to her then. Do whatever you want to do.”
“There is one more thing.” Lu Boyan paused for a long time before continuing, “Mu Qi will arrange for Ah Guang to send Mumu back this morning.”
“…” Su Jian’an also did not speak for a moment, and she finally comforted herself. “Mumu’s surname is Kang. He will go back to the Kang family sooner or later. He can’t be always with us. I… I’ll tell Youning about it later.”
“Also, pay attention to Youning.” Lu Boyan said, “Don’t let her do anything crazy.”
Xu Youning’s behavior mattered to Mu Sijue’s mood.
In this case, Lu Boyan did not allow anything wrong.
“I know.” Su Jian’an asked, “Aren’t you busy now?”
“No.” Lu Boyan said leisurely, “We can still…”
Before Lu Boyan said “talk for another while”, Su Jian’an had interrupted him and said, “Since you are not busy, you can rest for a while. Hurry up! I’ll hang up now!”
After that, Su Jian’an hung up the phone directly and went to the children’s room.
Xiyu and Xiangyi were both awake, and Aunt Liu and Uncle Xu were feeding them milk.
Su Jian’an walked over and took Xiangyi from Aunt Liu’s arms. While taking the milk bottle, she asked Aunt Liu, “Didn’t you sleep well last night?”
Aunt Liu waved her hand with a smile and said, “On the contrary, Xiyu and Xiangyi were very well-behaved last night. They were asleep all night, so I had a good rest.”
Su Jian’an fed the milk in the bottle to Xiangyi. “That’s good. Thanks for what you and Uncle Xu have done.”
“Don’t mention it.” Aunt Liu asked, “As for your mom, how is it going?”
“Boyan is handling it.” Su Jian’an did not go into too much detail. She just said, “He will handle it well.”
Aunt Liu did not ask any more questions. She got up and said, “I’ll prepare breakfast downstairs. Mrs. Lu, what would you like to eat?”
“Don’t bother, Aunt Liu. You have a rest.” Su Jian’an said, “If I’m hungry later, I will go to the club to eat. You too.”
Aunt Liu knew that Su Jian’an was not in the mood for breakfast, so she didn’t go downstairs. She took Xiangyi from Su Jian’an’s arms and said, “Mrs. Lu, if you have something to do, just go ahead. Leave the two little guys to me.”
Su Jian’an walked out of the children’s room. When she pa.s.sed the room where Luo Xiaoxi and Su Yicheng stayed, she did make a sound. She went back to her room, got changed, and left the villa.
This was the first time she went out of the villa so early after moving to the top of the mountain.
At the top of the mountain, in the heavily frosty and foggy morning, the air was so cold as if it were about to freeze everything.
Su Jian’an walked toward Xu Youning’s villa and came across Ah Guang.
Ah Guang greeted Su Jian’an and said, “I received a call from Seventh Brother. I’m here to tell Sister Youning.”
Su Jian’an thought for a moment and said, “Actually, even if you don’t tell her, Youning should have guessed it.”
Ah Guang was somewhat confused and looked at Su Jian’an blankly. “So, what should we do? Should I go in?”
“We… we’d better not disturb Youning and Mumu.” Su Jian’an said, “Let’s go to the club and wait for them to have breakfast there.”
Ah Guang did not know how much Xu Youning and Mumu meant to each other, but he believed that there must be a reason for Su Jian’an to say that. He did not say anything else and followed Su Jian’an to the club.
At this time, Mumu had just woken up in the room.
The little boy temporarily forgot what had happened yesterday. In a daze, he got up with the quilt on his body and called in a childish voice, “Granny Zhou…”
In the past, Aunt Zhou would warmly respond to Mumu at this time. She would touch his head and ask, “What do you want to eat for breakfast? Granny Zhou will make it for you.”
But today, Mumu did not hear Aunt Zhou’s voice.
“Granny Zhou?”
There was a tinge of doubt and a lot of grievance in the little boy’s voice. However, he still did not hear Aunt Zhou respond.
Then, Mumu finally remembered that Granny Zhou was not here because she had been kidnapped by his daddy.
The little boy immediately looked frustrated.
Xu Youning stayed up late, but she woke up early. She saw the change in Mumu’s mood just now and called, “Mumu.”
Mumu looked in the direction of the voice and saw Xu Youning. He pursed his lips and said in a tearful voice, “Auntie Youning, I miss Granny Zhou.”