The next day, Xu Youning was awakened by the phone ringing.
Last night, she turned over in the middle of the night and fell asleep at three or four in the morning. She was planning to sleep until noon that day, to regain the sleep she lost last night; but before nine o’clock, the cell phone on the bedside table suddenly rang loudly.
She wanted to hang up the phone and shut it down, but she suddenly realized that it was Mu Sijue’s exclusive ringtone, so she kicked away the quilt and connected the phone. “Seventh brother.”
“Come to my house.” After a pause, Mu Sijue stressed again, “The old house.”
“I haven’t gotten up yet…” Xu Youning was really sleepy; while saying that she couldn’t help but yawn, and the voice sounded pitiful.
Mu Sijue did not sympathize at all. He said, “One hour, or you are fired.”
After he finished, the call ended, and half the sleepiness in Xu Youning’s body was scared away.
An hour, he simply did not allow her to stay in bed for even a second more!
Xu Youning slipped out of bed with resentment, quickly changed clothes and rushed out, then washed her face as fast as possible.
“Why are you always in such a rush?” Granny Xu stood at the door of the bathroom, looking at her pitifully and helplessly. She continued, “Take it slow, auntie bought your favorite steamed vermicelli roll, made of mushroom and lean meat.”
Because she was outside all day, Xu Youning hired a nanny to take care of her grandmother from morning till night.
“Grandma, I am not eating at home,” Xu Youning hugged her grandmother and said, “My boss is looking for me in a hurry. I have to hurry up, I’ll eat breakfast on the way!”
While saying that, Xu Youning picked up the rice noodle roll with one hand, and grabbed the bag with the other, then rushed out the door.
The road was blocked, and even the car with the best performance could only move like a tortoise at that moment. Xu Youning looked at the time while driving the car forward slowly, and she almost smashed the steering wheel.
The old house of the Mu Family was located in the old downtown city area. It was the famous house compound of G city decades ago. It was said that its market value was not lower than that of a three-storey villa.
Xu Youning once saw it with envy, but at the moment she only felt that it was troublesome to get there. It would be good if it was like her little house, located in a remote village. The air was fresh and the road was unimpeded. She could go wherever she wanted by stepping on the gas pedal, without hitting the brakes.
When she drove into the town of the old city area, she could not continue to drive because of the traffic, so Xu Youning got off the car and walked.
She looked at the time, and there were fifteen minutes left. It took about ten minutes from here to the old house of the Mu family. Xu Youning did not dare to relax, and rushed with the bag.
When passing by an artificial lake, her road was suddenly blocked by four big-shaped men. Looking closely, the man who took the lead was the one who was hit by her with the bottle the day before.
Was it… revenge?
“It’s her!” the man pointed at her fiercely, “Bring her to me!”
“Wait!” Xu Youning stopped them by shouting when they were about to rush over, “After you grab me, you must be heading to find Mu Sijue, right? It’s not far from his home, shall we go there together?”
She couldn’t cope with so many physically strong men, but if Mu Sijue was there, she didn’t even have to do it on her own.
“We’re not looking for Mu Sijue, you are the one we are going to tie up!”
Then, three men rushed up, Xu Youning cleverly turned and ran.
But how could she outrun them? Soon, her hands and feet were quickly tied together.
“Do you know that kidnapping is an offense?” Xu Youning struggled a few times and talked with them about the conditions in vain, “Let me go, I can pretend that nothing happened.”
“Who said we’re going to kidnap you?” The man signaled his buddy and said, “Put her up!”
Xu Youning was placed on a special wooden board. While she was confused, the three men suddenly lifted her up and pushed her into the lake.
She suddenly understood that the board would gradually sink, and if no one came to save her, she would drown.
She thought about a lot of cool ways to die, but being drowned was not only out of her expectations, but also not cool!
The man standing on the shore shrugged and reminded, “Don’t move, or the board will sink faster.”
After that, he took some photos with his mobile phone, and then left with his companions.
In the early spring, the water in the lake was cold and chilly. Xu Youning’s hair was already wet, but she didn’t dare to move. She could only let herself to be taken to the center of the lake. She didn’t know if it was an illusion, but the board seemed to be sinking.
She screamed desperately, “Mu Sijue, save me!”
Then, Xu Youning couldn’t help but be stunned.
Not to mention whether Mu Sijue could hear that from the distance, the point was, why did she call Mu Sijue?
When she was in danger before, the person who first came to her mind… was obviously Kang Ruicheng.
Because Kang Ruicheng had once been a godly existence for her.
That year, she had just graduated from college and went to a very popular Southeast Asian country. She was once bold and went to the Golden Triangle alone. The result was that she had not only been robbed, but was also kidnapped by several middle-aged men.
She clearly understood what their intentions were, so she cleverly found the opportunity to escape, but she was discovered in less than five minutes, and some people kept chasing after her.
Even if she had trained to have an amazing speed, she couldn’t guarantee that she could run as fast as she could at the moment. The survival instinct forced her to break through the limits of her body. When she was about to be caught up, she bumped into Kang Ruicheng and then blurted out in mandarin, “They want to kidnap me! Can you help me call the police?!”
Kang Ruicheng looked at her; it was then when she realized that he might not be able to understand Mandarin. When she was going to repeat it again in English, he suddenly asked, “Are you from City G?”
Familiar accent, a compatriot!
She nodded excitedly.
Kang Ruicheng guarded her behind him, indicating that she didn’t have to be afraid. She couldn’t see how he acted, but those who made her fear were taken care of by him easily.
At the end, he returned and patted off the dust on his sleeve. He said, “It’s fine now. This place is not safe, and you are a girl, don’t come again.”
“Thank you.” In her eyes, Kang Ruicheng was not different to a god. She summoned courage and said to him, “Can I follow you, I… am still a little scared.”
Under the arrangement of Kang Ruicheng, she lived in a villa and accidentally learned his identity. In that area, he was actually a big-shot.
At that time, Kang Ruicheng was the most powerful person she had ever seen. Not only his skill, she was even more impressed by his means. In front of him, no one dared to say no.
In the last second, he comforted her and asked her to go to sleep with a gentle voice, and turned and said to his henchmen, “Don’t make it too hard for him, just break one of his hands.”
The secret feelings and the inflated worship suddenly strengthened her courage. She asked him to let her stay and do things for him. Then she told him everything about her parents without reservation.
Kang Ruicheng considered it for a long time and promised to give her a chance to receive training. She spent two years grinding herself into a sharp knife.
Later, she did a lot of things for Kang Ruicheng, but she did not know that Kang Ruicheng already had his son, who had been raised in the United States. She heard from his henchmen that the mother of the child had been kidnapped and killed by Kang Ruicheng’s enemy, shortly after the birth of the child.
The mother of the child was also a native of City G. She spoke the same Mandarin as her, who were always confused about the pronunciation. They always pronounced “boat”, making it sound like “bed” and made a lot of jokes.
She then realized why Kang Ruicheng was willing to save her two years back, and even allowed her to stay by his side. Thanks to her mouth, he could hear a familiar accent.
After knowing all of that, she was not discouraged, and she still did everything to help Kang Ruicheng.
That time when she returned to City G was to approach Mu Sijue and gain his trust, so that she could help Mu Sijue steal business from him.
After returning, having been away for a long time, she did not make a move, because she knew that she would be suspected if she directly went to Mu Sijue. She heard about the hot pot restaurant of the Mu family. If she started from there, Mu Sijue would certainly not doubt about her, but she also heard that the hot pot restaurant only recruited acquaintances of the Mu family.
The appearance of Su Jianan did her a big favor. With that relationship with Su Jianan, Mu Sijue would not only notice her, but not suspect her, and she was a native of City G; that was a good innate condition.
She approached Mu Sijue, and constantly sent information to Kang Ruicheng. In the end, she had almost made Lu Boyan divorce Su Jianan.
Xu Youning suddenly felt that it might be good if she just drowned that day. If it happened, she wouldn’t have to face the disappointment of Su Jianan and her grandmother, as well as Mu Sijue’s.
Yes, by contrast, she was even more afraid that Mu Sijue would know the truth. She was afraid that Mu Sijue would be angry and she was afraid that he would quietly get rid of her without any warning.
She was not afraid of death; she just didn’t want to know that she definitely was nothing to Mu Sijue in his heart.
So it was better to be drowned that way, so that she could just escape from everything.
At that time, one hour had passed; the limit established by Mu Sijue.
Mu Sijue had always had little patience. Few people dared to let him wait. Xu Youning dared to be late?
When he was about to redial Xu Youning’s phone number, he received a video. He clicked it and saw Xu Youning lying on a wooden board with her hands and feet tied. The board was gradually drifting toward the center of the lake.
Mu Sijue kicked away the stool, stood up and ran out. Aunt Zhou was shocked by the sound he made and shouted at his back, “Where are you going?”
Mu Sijue did not answer, and the figure disappeared in the doorway of the big house.
The artificial lake was not far from the old house. He saw Xu Youning far away. The board which supported her had already sunk a lot in the lake. She was only floating above the lake with the water up to her chest.
Mu Sijue jumped into the lake, regardless of how cold the lake water was in the early spring; he tried his best to swim towards Xu Youning.
Since Xu Youning had approached him until then, she had stolen so much confidential information from him for Kang Ruicheng. He had not settled it with her, she couldn’t die!
When Kang Ruicheng rose to breathe, he saw Xu Youning sinking into the lake.
His pupils were magnified, and he didn’t have the time to sort out his mixed feelings; he only swam to Xu Youning by holding his breath.
When sinking into the bottom of the lake, Xu Youning saw Kang Ruicheng, and saw him swim towards her with all of his strength. She wanted to say something, but was choked and felt it was more and more difficult to breathe.
She couldn’t get rid of the ropes on her hands and feet, only sinking deeper and deeper, and the feeling of suffocation gradually surrounded her.
Before she lost her consciousness, Xu Youning did not know whether it was an illusion or reality, Mu Sijue seemed to be coming to her side. His facial features were close at hand, but she couldn’t see it clearly. A darkness suddenly came and drowned her…
