The Beauty CEO's Personal Expert
Chapter 299 - 295: A Glimmer of Hope

Chapter 299: Chapter 295: A Glimmer of Hope

In an abandoned warehouse in East Sea City, three middle-aged men sat together, speaking words that gradually became more agitated.

"No way, I absolutely disagree." Guan Long waved his hand, giving off a vibe that there was no room for negotiation, "Zhou Lin, I agreed to join for the sake of making money, not to avenge your idiot son. I’ve now become penniless and have abandoned my former life. I don’t want to become a fugitive, running for my life everywhere. If you want to kill that woman, go ahead, as long as you put thirty million cash in front of me. You can do whatever you want with her, I won’t say a word."

The middle-aged man named Zhou Lin lowered his head, expressionless, his sharp eyes flashing with a cold gleam. After a while, he lifted his head and looked at Zhuang Qian beside him, asking, "What do you think?"

Zhuang Qian glanced at Guan Long and spoke, "Old Zhou, it’s not that we don’t understand you, but you have to consider our perspective as well. After this is over, it’s clear we can’t stay in this country. Right now we’re penniless. You have to think about us."

Hearing this, Zhou Lin stood up and walked to the cluttered corner of the warehouse. Opening the door, there sat Tang Shiyun, tied up with ropes on her hands and feet, white wrists chafed by red blood marks, her mouth sealed with duct tape so she couldn’t speak.

Seeing Zhou Lin approaching, Tang Shiyun’s eyes filled with fear, her pale face looking pitiable.

Zhou Lin, without a word, walked up to her and pulled out a dagger from his waist, the sharp blade gently caressing Tang Shiyun’s smooth cheek, eyes merciless and sinister.

"Zhou Lin, what are you doing?" Guan Long and Zhuang Qian, following behind and seeing this, exclaimed with surprise and quickly stopped his action.

"Give me the phone."

Guan Long and Zhuang Qian looked at each other, not understanding what Zhou Lin intended to do, but still handed over the phone.

...

Silver Star Entertainment Company headquarters.

In the conference room, everyone was immersed in a suppressive atmosphere, waiting patiently, silently praying for a turn of events.

Suddenly, the pleasant ring of a cell phone sounded, and everyone’s gaze immediately centered on that phone, breathing becoming rapid.

Ling Chen gave Xia Mutong a look and then pressed the answer button, turned on the speakerphone, and an icy voice immediately said, "Since you know she can’t survive, I won’t waste words with you. Prepare twenty million in half an hour. Remember, this money isn’t to buy her life, but to lessen her suffering. If you don’t agree, I will have a few men take good care of her, then I will cut her flesh off piece by piece, and record a video to upload online, so everyone can appreciate it."

"Okay. How do we trade?" Ling Chen replied without hesitation, at this moment it wasn’t time to be angry or emotional, keeping absolutely calm was the only chance for a turn of events.

"Don’t rush, I’ll give you half an hour to get ready."

The call ended, Xia Mutong looked at Ling Chen and said, "It’s Zhou Lin."

Ling Chen nodded and said, "Right now we can’t reject his demand, it’s the only lead we have."

"Captain Xia, I’ve made a discovery," the technician responsible for analyzing the call’s content spoke up at this moment.

Ling Chen and Xia Mutong immediately stood up and walked over to him. He said, "I’ve just filtered Zhou Lin’s voice and amplified the background sound. Listen." Saying that, he pressed the keyboard and a muffled sound of a horn blared from the audio.

"That is..." Ling Chen raised his eyebrow, "A truck horn."

"Yes. I checked just now, it’s the horn of a heavy truck. East Sea City has strict regulations on heavy trucks, most roads are restricted, with only one ring route permitted for heavy truck passage. I’ve marked the route, their hideout should be near the ring road."

Xia Mutong slightly frowned and said, "That route is dozens of kilometers long, the scope is still too big, can we further narrow it down?"

"Having a clue is better than none. Contact the traffic police department, get them to retrieve surveillance footage from this route to see if there’s a clue."

"Understood."

While they were talking, He Zhong suddenly pushed the door open from outside and whispered a few words in Yang Chengfeng’s ear.

"What?" Yang Chengfeng exclaimed.

"President Yang, what’s happened?"

Yang Chengfeng quickly walked to the window, pulled back the curtain to look outside the company’s main entrance, and said in a heavy voice, "More than ten media outlets know about Tang’s kidnapping, they’re now gathering at the entrance, wanting to interview us."

Xia Mutong in astonishment said, "How did the media find out? We haven’t announced the news publicly."

"It must be someone inside our company who sold the news to the media," Yang Chengfeng said, his face looking grim, "I will find out who’s responsible."

Zhu Yansong casually turned on the TV in the conference room and switched to a news station where indeed, a news channel was broadcasting a news flash, with a reporter standing outside the Silver Star Entertainment headquarters, reporting.

"Dear viewers, according to the latest information we’ve obtained, Tang Shiyun was abducted by kidnappers during a fan meet-and-greet, her whereabouts currently unknown, her life and death uncertain, the police are investigating, and specific details have not been disclosed. We will continue to monitor the development..."

"Forget about that for now," Ling Chen interrupted. He had no mood to investigate who leaked the information. Tang Shiyun was in imminent danger, he couldn’t afford to be distracted.

...

Half an hour passed, and the kidnappers made another call.

"Put the money into two garbage bags, bring your cell phone and head to Linxing Road. I will tell you what to do next once you get there. Remember, no tricks, only one person should come."

Without saying another word, Ling Chen took the phone and put it in his pocket. At the same time, Yang Chengfeng approached carrying two black garbage bags.

"Mr. Ling, all twenty million are in these bags. Be careful on your own."

Ling Chen nodded silently and walked out of the conference room swiftly. Since there was media at the front entrance, to avoid them, Ling Chen went to the underground parking garage and drove out in Yang Chengfeng’s Mercedes-Benz, quickly heading toward Linxing Road.

Ten minutes later.

The cell phone rang, Zhou Lin’s deep voice came from the earpiece, "Now head to Zhenghe Road."

Within moments, an hour passed, and under Zhou Lin’s guidance, Ling Chen circled around the city continuously. Ling Chen knew that the other party was testing to see if there were any police tracking him.

"That’s enough, stop the car, there’s a residential building on your left, go straight to the rooftop," Zhou Lin said.

Hearing this, Ling Chen looked through the car window, surveying the surrounding environment, filtering through the pedestrians on both sides of the street. From Zhou Lin’s words, it was clear they were secretly watching his movements.

"Officer Xia, I’ve arrived at the drop-off point." After reporting the situation, Ling Chen, carrying the bags filled with money, took the elevator all the way to the rooftop of the residential building.