Chapter Twenty: The Abduction
Page (1/3)
Bo Ye looked utterly disheveled now—his head wrapped in bandages, faint slap marks barely visible on his face. He should count himself lucky that the woman hadn’t exerted too much force due to fatigue; otherwise, with her strength in wielding a pot, half his face would have been ruined.
Twice—she had hit him twice.
The key was, both times, he was clearly in the wrong. Damn it.
“Boss… what happened to you?” Rang Wu stammered.
“Go get me some ice,” Bo Ye ordered.
“All right…”
“By the way, do we still need the maternity nurse?”
Rang Wu asked.
“Yes, we do.”
After a while, Wen Zhi came out, dressed in fresh clothes. She walked out as if she hadn’t seen Bo Ye outside the operating room and left without a glance back.
Bo Ye followed behind her.
At the door, the girl stopped, turned around, and said to him, “Give me your phone.”
“Wait a moment.”
In the car, Bo Ye jogged to the front, opened the door, and handed her the phone.
She took it and was about to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll see you off,” Bo Ye said.
She ignored him.
Thus, the cold war between them truly began.
Wen Zhi moved into an apartment in Yuhang.
She went to school, he went to work.
She finished school; he came to pick her up, but she ignored him.
Three days passed.
Bo Ye’s wounds had begun to scab over.
He felt as if he had completely lost his judgment. Wasn’t it exactly what he wanted before—this woman to take the child and leave him far, far away?
Yet now, when she truly brought up the idea, a strange resistance welled up inside him.
Bo Ye, what on earth is wrong with you?
---
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“Where have you been all this time?” Yuhang hurried to ask when he saw Wen Zhi appear in the classroom.
“I went back to Z City.”
The night’s conversation with Shen Dan in Z City felt like a dream he had woven for her.
“Why would you think of going back to Z City…”
“Do you know the Wen family is in total chaos now?”
“I know.”
“Hasn’t the Bo family considered helping?”
“Yuhang, I want to call off the engagement.”
“What! That bastard Bo Ye must have done something to you!”
“Actually, I accidentally provoked him first. But I’m really exhausted now. Bo Ye—he’s just a jerk.”
“He cheated on you?”
Yuhang asked.
Wen Zhi shook her head.
“Did he hit you?”
Wen Zhi shook her head again.
Yuhang exhaled.
“Fine, just be yourself.”
“When the time comes, I’ll help you raise the child!”
Yuhang said with a smile.
Wen Zhi smiled back at him.
Indeed, the appearance of a good friend was the remedy to a hard life. She couldn’t imagine what she’d do without Yuhang.
Thinking this, Wen Zhi rested her head on Yuhang’s shoulder.
“Oh, now you’re acting spoiled?”
So tired.
Yuhang, you’re my only family, the only person I trust.
At that thought, her nose tingled with emotion.
In a daze, Wen Zhi saw Zhang Zheng approach. Just as she was about to greet him, Yuhang pressed her hand down.
“You two haven’t made up yet?”
“Isn’t it said that it’s better to be brothers than lovers? I already know he likes me. It’s so awkward.”
“You know? Has he confessed to you?”
“Yeah, damn it. That day, I just asked as you suggested, and he admitted it outright.”
“He admitted it? Did you reject him?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright then.”
“Yeah, you’ve got to be on my side.”
Wen Zhi: ...
Zhang Zheng didn’t make any move to approach Wen Zhi that whole day.
At school’s end, Yuhang, who had planned to walk home with her, disappeared. Wen Zhi called, and on the other end was a trembling voice saying they’d be home late.
She worriedly asked if something had happened, but Yuhang quickly denied it and told her to be careful on the way before hanging up.
Wen Zhi agreed and headed to the bus stop as usual.
Only a few steps out, she caught sight of someone following her out of the corner of her eye. At first, she thought it was paranoia, but then she realized she took one step, and the person took one step.
She panicked, quickening her pace toward the bus stop; the follower noticed and sped up as well.
“Ah—”
Before consciousness fled, a towel was tightly pressed over her mouth and nose.
Then, a strong force threw her onto the vehicle.
——
Bo Ye still came to W University to “stake out” Wen Zhi as before.
He guessed he was late because of a long meeting; otherwise, why had he waited so long without seeing her? The university town was bustling with people.
She was always busy.
Until he saw Yuhang’s figure.
“You didn’t go with her?”
Of course, “her” meant Wen Zhi.
“No, I had something to do and told her to go ahead.”
“Oh.”
Bo Ye turned to get into the car and caught sight of Yuhang again, realizing something was off.
“What’s wrong with you…”
Yuhang, acting like someone guilty, blurted, “What’s wrong?”
Bo Ye: “Nothing.”
Yuhang: ...
“Beep—beep—beep—”
Page (3/3)
The phone rang.
An unknown number. Bo Ye frowned, thinking it might be work-related, and answered.
“Hello.”
A distorted electronic voice came through. “Hello, is this Bo Ye, President Bo?”
“Who is this?”
He flicked the cigarette butt from his fingers.
“President Bo, your fiancée is in my hands.”
At those words, the cigarette dropped from Bo Ye’s lips.
Simultaneously, a photo was sent through the phone—
Wen Zhi was bound to a chair, her hands, feet, and mouth tied. The location was dimly lit, the background blurred, making it impossible to discern where she was.
“What do you want?”
“Hahaha, President Bo, you’re a businessman through and through—straight to the point.”
“I want money.”
In that brief moment, Bo Ye forwarded the photo to Rang Wu with a note: “Find this place.”
“How much?”
The kidnapper spoke again, “I remember Mrs. Bo is pregnant, right?”
A slightly thoughtful tone, “How about 120 million?”
“Fine.”
One simple word.
The kidnapper hadn’t expected such a quick agreement and warned, “President Bo, don’t try any tricks. If I sense anything amiss, I can’t guarantee what will happen to your wife.”
“Maybe a finger, a leg…”
The kidnapper laughed perversely.
“If you dare lay a finger on her—”
Bo Ye gritted his teeth, the words forced out between clenched jaws.
“Beep beep beep.”
The call ended. Soon after, another message arrived with an address and a picture.
Instructions on where and how to leave the money, and a warning not to involve the police.
He naturally dared not call the police—if the kidnappers sensed any unusual movement, they might harm Wen Zhi in a panic.
Carrying a newly opened bank card loaded with 150 million, he arrived at the designated spot.
On a desolate stretch of grass, he placed the card into a crevice and, as instructed, drove away from the area.
“President Bo, you may come in to retrieve your wife now, hahaha.”
Bo Ye hung up and drove into the woods. As he drove deeper, he saw an abandoned factory behind the trees.
Smoke billowed from it!
Bo Ye got out, called the police, and ran inside.
The factory was huge; he wasn’t even sure if she was still inside.
The kidnapper had planned ahead; gasoline was scattered everywhere, and flames spread rapidly.
“Mute one, where are you?”
“Wen Zhi, where are you?”
Bo Ye ran desperately inside, afraid that any delay might cost the woman her life.
“Clack.”
A brick tossed before him. Following its direction, he saw Wen Zhi still tied to the chair, crawling on the ground in a desperate bid for survival.
“Wen Zhi!”
Seeing her increasingly labored breathing, Bo Ye immediately tore off the tape covering her mouth.
Suddenly, a burning wooden beam fell right above them.
Wen Zhi, unable to speak, widened her eyes—
She could only push Bo Ye away with all her might—