Ch97.1 – A Rainy Night
Zhou Sheng, “!!!”
Yu Hao, “Why didn’t you say so sooner?!”
“I forgot.” Ou Qihang said, “When I saw you guys, I didn’t think of it right away.”
Zhou Sheng was instantly dumbstruck, “What’s going on! Make it clear!”
Yu Hao, “Hurry back to reality!”
“Calm down.” Zhou Sheng immediately said, “Time in dreams always passes by more slowly than in reality. You fell asleep in the car?”
On the contrary, Ou Qihang was very calm. He said, “I took leave this morning and didn’t go to school. After lunch, I had just left when someone covered my nose and wanted to cover my head with a sack. I let them cover me at first and they took me away, but they probably didn’t expect that I would suddenly retaliate midway and snag the sack off. I even struggled against them for awhile, but the drugs kicked in and I couldn’t fight anymore, then they dragged me onto a car……”
“Do you remember the license plate number?” Yu Hao asked nervously.
“Buick.” Ou Qihang said, “I saw it, but I don’t remember the license plate number very clearly. It should be that.”
“You’re so calm even though you were kidnapped?” Yu Hao didn’t know if he should cry or laugh.
Ou Qihang smiled, “Didn’t you guys ask me to calm down?”
Ou Qihang has a black belt in Taekwondo; it wouldn’t be very easy to subdue him, so he managed to see the license plate number.
“Where do you think the car will drive to?”
“We’re on the expressway now.” Ou Qihang said, “We stopped once at the toll station during the journey. I heard a voice that said ‘please take your card’……it’s been driving for about 20 minutes ever since it left my house.”
“Wait for us.” Zhou Sheng said.
Yu Hao immediately pressed his hand against Ou Qihang’s forehead, and the dream world instantly vanished with a bang. The two of them returned to reality and opened their eyes at the same time.
At 6pm, the dormitory was covered with blackout curtains. Fu Liqun was carefully eating his takeaway and had his earphones on while he watched the new season of 《The Walking Dead》. Just as he was watching a scene that was so thrilling he didn’t even dare to breathe——
“AH!”
Behind him, Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao suddenly shouted and sat up in a panic as if they had just been on the verge of dying from a disease.
“Check the license plate number!” Zhou Sheng shouted into the phone, “Ou Qihang has been kidnapped, I sent it to you through WeChat!”
Fu Liqun was sticking to the corner of the wall as he shivered all over. He watched Yu Hao put on his shorts and shoes, while Zhou Sheng jumped off his bed, “Kaikai’s not picking up!”
Fu Liqun, “………………”
“Gege when did you come back?” Zhou Sheng asked.
In Fu Liqun’s eyes, he thought that the two of them had suddenly been possessed. “Are the two of you okay?”
Yu Hao said, “Chen Laoshi shouldn’t be in class right now!”
“Got kidnapped?” Fu Liqun looked at Yu Hao tentatively, “What happened?”
“You call him!” Zhou Sheng said, “He’ll definitely pick up if it’s you!”
Yu Hao grabbed his phone and called Chen Yekai, and he really did pick up. Chen Yekai said, “What’s wrong? I’m in a meeting……”
“W-wait……why are you guys looking for Chen Laoshi? Zhou Sheng why are you looking for him?”
“Get him to drive out and wait for us at the back gate of the college!”
Zhou Sheng changed into his shoes, opened the door, and rushed out like a gust of wind. Fu Liqun had already changed his T-shirt and said, “Wait for me!”
“Keys!” Yu Hao turned around and took the dormitory keys and chased after Zhou Sheng.
Fu Liqun and Zhou Sheng ran extremely quickly, Zhou Sheng said, “Gege don’t come! It’s too dangerous!”
Fu Liqun, “Of course I have to follow you guys!”
“No silk banners!”
“What kind of a joke is that?!” Fu Liqun roared angrily, “You’re both my bros, you think I can just wash my hands off this?!”
“I’ll give you a kiss!” Zhou Sheng laughed.
“Gege I’ll give you a kiss too!” Yu Hao laughed too.
Chen Yekai’s Mercedes-Benz was parked at the college’s back gate. Zhou Sheng pulled open the door to the passenger seat and fastened his seat belt. Chen Yekai said, “What’s wrong?”
Yu Hao, “It’s an important case that everyone’s keeping an eye on, yet there’s no one protecting Qihang?”
Zhou Sheng, “The guards must have been the ones who did it! Is there any other possibility?”
Yu Hao suddenly figured one thing out —— Ou Qihang was being closely monitored right now, so naturally there must be someone who was responsible for keeping an eye on his every move. If he could be kidnapped under such circumstances, what would that imply?! All of this might have been premeditated a long time ago!
Yu Hao and Fu Liqun sat in the back. Zhou Sheng said, “Drive along this road and turn onto the expressway!” As he spoke, he turned on the location tracking function on Chen Yekai’s phone and continued, “Yu Hao, take note of Huang Ting’s call.” Then he began calling again.
Chen Yekai didn’t ask any questions. Zhou Sheng’s call connected, then he said to the other side, “Old man, dispatch a chauffeur and take three hired thugs along. Drive out and wait at Yingxin Expressway, don’t ask why! Just hurry!”
“T-thugs……” It was Yu Hao’s first time listening to someone seriously discussing about “hired thugs” in reality.
The other side was clearly baffled as well. Zhou Sheng could only say, “That kid was kidnapped!”
Yu Hao answered Huang Ting’s call. Huang Ting said, “Where are you guys? I went to the district to look for the CCTV surveillance, but it had already been deleted beforehand. He didn’t go to school or go back home, I didn’t notify the city bureau……”
Yu Hao, “Who the hell could have done it?”
Zhou Sheng was making another call. He answered, “The city bureau sent someone to watch him. Getting captured right before their eyes meant that there must have been a mole.”
Fu Liqun, “Why didn’t you watch that kid?”
“The city bureau took over, how could I watch him? Just saying two extra words would arouse their suspicion.” Huang Ting said, “I didn’t expect them to be driven to take such drastic measures after getting cornered. I’ll drive to the entrance of the expressway and meet you guys there.”
“Shouldn’t have woken him up.” Chen Yekai said, “Once he’s awake, we won’t know where he is.”
Yu Hao, “He’s being blindfolded, he doesn’t know where he is either.”
Zhou Sheng immediately glanced at Chen Yekai to get him to stop talking. Chen Yekai remembered that Fu Liqun was still in the back seat, so he immediately changed the topic, “Sit tight.” Then he stepped on the pedal and began accelerating.
Chen Yekai took a shortcut to get to the expressway and drove the car very fast, yet it was still extremely stable. Fu Liqun said, “Kaikai, you’re pretty skilled at driving ma.”
“You’re too kind.” Chen Yekai said, “Why did your friend get kidnapped?”
“It’s a long story.” Yu Hao said.
The school was located less than 10 kilometers away from Yingxin Expressway. The sky had turned dark. Chen Yekai said, “Tell me?”
So Yu Hao narrated the entire story in full detail, and stopped right before the part where they fell asleep. Chen Yekai roughly understood what had happened and sighed, but Fu Liqun said, “How did you guys know that he was kidnapped?”
Zhou Sheng had thought of an excuse long ago and answered, “Yu Hao has a secret code with him on WeChat.”
“Oh……” Fu Liqun said with slight trepidation, “And I was wondering, I was scared to death.”
Yu Hao added, “I had just woken up when I saw my WeChat, and I got a fright too.” Huang Ting called again; this time, he put his phone on loudspeaker so everyone could talk and listen at the same time.
Chen Yekai arrived at the entrance of the expressway and said, “Are you guys sure it’s here?”
Huang Ting said, “I see Nicky’s car. I’m right behind you, drive safely.”
Zhou Sheng was a little uncertain too. He took a deep breath, “I’m not sure, let’s take a gamble ba. This is the most likely road, I’d rather have my choice be proven wrong.”
Chen Yekai said, “Theoretically speaking, if I wanted to kidnap someone, I’d go around the city a few times.”
But he still drove onto the expressway, and Yu Hao said, “But they must be cooperating closely with one another right now and wouldn’t let anyone see their car abduct Ou Qihang, so making rounds isn’t necessary.”
“That depends on their goal.” Chen Yekai turned the steering wheel and drove onto the expressway, “If they’re not going to make rounds, then he’s in quite a dangerous situation.”
Zhou Sheng said, “Un, which is why I said I would rather be wrong.”
Yu Hao asked, “Why?”
Huang Ting answered, “Because they plan on killing him to get rid of a witness; they’re not going to let the kid come back, so they don’t need to make rounds in the city. Nicky, can you see the car?”
Chen Yekai said, “Barely, if the license plate number is correct.”
“Keep driving ahead.” Fu Liqun said, “I’ll help you watch the cars on the right.”
Zhou Sheng said, “Kaikai, you must pay attention to safety.”
“Of course.” Chen Yekai said, “Trust my skill, I’m someone who had driven all the way through a rainforest after all.”
Huang Ting said through the phone, “Veteran driver, it’s all up to you now.”
Yu Hao, “It’s raining.”
In the darkness, Chen Yekai switched on the high beam, and a glaring light shone in front of them. A torrential downpour bucketed down, and their vision became more and more blurred. However, the intense light shot out, and like the power of God, it split apart the chaotic universe during the creation of the world.
The raindrops were like millions of stars that constantly collided and separated with one another under the illumination of the white light. Countless cars shuttled through the expressway, each containing many stories, and many lives.
At first, Chen Yekai didn’t mind the cars around him, while Zhou Sheng made a rough estimation based on the speed of the cars on the expressway: from the time they woke up until now, the car that abducted Ou Qihang should have already driven at least 70 kilometers away.
The car Zhou Laichun sent out had also driven onto the expressway. Zhou Sheng called the driver directly and asked him to follow the Mercedes-Benz.
Chen Yekai said, “Sleep a little? I’ll wake you if something happens.”
