I Treat You as My Sister, But You Want to be My Wife?!
Chapter 691: Captured and Taken Back

Chapter 691: Chapter 691: Captured and Taken Back

It wasn’t easy, but when Zhang Xu saw that these few brothers were all persuading on one side not to continue in this manner and to resolve the current major issue first, he knew his chance had arrived. If he didn’t seize this opportunity now, who knows how many more chances he would have to wait for. Thus, he perked up, ready to risk it all, betting everything on this one move.

If he could succeed this time, he would no longer be subservient to others, and once out, he would even have the chance to settle scores with those fair-weather friends.

Embodied by this thought, no matter how tough or exhausting it was, it wouldn’t feel that painful. After finding an opportunity, he charged straight ahead, but little did he know he was more unlucky than the others and got caught straight away by one of the lackeys on the side, an individual who usually went unnoticed.

This person had been secretly watching the group talk from the shadows, crouching there, and managed to catch Zhang Xu very accurately just as he tried to escape. He immediately yanked Zhang Xu by the hair, dragged him down to the ground, and began to taunt, saying:

"You really think you could escape with that weak body of yours? What a joke. Did you even consider whether or not you could get away? You pretty boy, it’s an honor for you to stay with us, and yet you dare think about running away? Are you overestimating your importance? Let me show you what the price of trying to escape is."

After these words, a slap was thrown, so loud that everyone present was taken aback, especially Lao Si and Lao Liu, who were arguing. Both were startled, not expecting this man to even think about escaping under such circumstances. It was utterly preposterous.

Without a lesson, how could they prove their authority? So, one by one, each person went up and gave a slap, finally venting out their anger. Lao Si also realized that now was not the key moment for quarreling, and Lao Liu recognized his mistake. After exchanging glances, they felt that they couldn’t go on arguing like this.

After an apology was exchanged, the matter was settled. Lao Er was especially relieved to see this; these men were sometimes really difficult to manage but when confronting real issues, they would reconcile and understand what was most important, resuming their task. This pleased Lao Er immensely, and he withheld further comment.

Lao Er then said to Lin Qi, "If you can’t manage this, who can? Take it slow. If you don’t want to cooperate with me, as you have seen, we act very swiftly when united. If anything goes wrong later, I’ll be the first to grab you. If I can’t survive, being so close to me, you probably won’t either."

It seemed like Lao Er could sense that he was slowly being cast aside, so he resorted to talking tough to prove his presence and discourage her from taking any more risks. But the more he spoke, the more pointless it seemed. Lin Qi was no longer afraid of such threats; in fact, she found them laughable.

She just laughed and replied, "If you trust me so little, why bother cooperating with me at all? You’ve said it so many times; if our cooperation fails, what will happen? How many times have you really trusted me? If you keep this attitude, I truly believe we can end this partnership, as I have no intention of dealing with it any further. I don’t like the feeling of constant mistrust, and I’m sure you understand that feeling, don’t you?"

Lin Qi hit the nail on the head with her response, and Lao Er felt there was truth to her words. Since the very beginning, he had been full of doubt, stemming from his own lack of conviction, feeling that she would surely abandon him, which was why he kept stressing that same point. If he were more confident, he wouldn’t have said those things.

But what could he do? It was in Lao Er’s nature to be suspicious. In the end, he had to admit defeat and said, "Alright, I’ll trust you. Now can everyone just stop arguing and calm down? Are you not going to inspect quickly? We’re waiting here for you. Don’t treat this as a joke. Any mistake and we won’t be able to return.

If you want to keep this up, go ahead with your bickering. I’m sure you two can create a world of your own even inside a jail cell, wouldn’t that be right?" Lao Er’s words were loaded with intensity, directed at Lao Si and Lao Liu, hoping they would finally stop their dispute.

Lao Liu and Lao Si also knew that now was not the best time to fight; once they got out, they could argue and fight all they wanted, with no one to stop them.

If they made any mistake at this moment, their lives would be over. They had no choice but to keep a close watch on Zhang Xu, who said:

"You little brat, stay put and be our hostage. If you ever think about escaping again, don’t blame us for not being polite. If we have to die later, we’ll make sure you go down with us. Do you even know how cruel our methods can be? We could peel your skin off slice by slice—and that’s letting you off easy. Think carefully about what you should do."

Lao Si, threatening and grinning wickedly, pulled out a small knife and patted Zhang Xu’s face. Accidentally, a cut etched a trail of blood on Zhang Xu’s face. Trembling with fear, Zhang Xu couldn’t comprehend why his attempt at escape, for which he had mustered all his courage, had still not been successful.

No, he had to escape.

He also thought of humiliating those who once humiliated him. Why couldn’t he be like Lin Qi? Aren’t I a man, stronger than Lin Qi?

Yet in the end, he had no choice but to compromise. The police, watching the situation over and over, felt embarrassed by their own presence, not nearly as competent as a single woman. She caught the ringleader effortlessly, while they felt a sense of shame. Luckily, no one had yet noticed the police.

If this got reported higher up, those cops would probably lose face, given that they weren’t nearly as capable as the young woman—it certainly didn’t look good. Some might even suggest that the waters were deep on their side; the team leader felt helpless—as if it wasn’t for the Zhang Family’s influence holding them back, they would have already charged in. It was an embarrassing situation indeed.

But they couldn’t speak openly about it. If they did, it would surely cause an even greater uproar. All they could do was silently endure this rumor and silently endure the loss of their bonuses.