Chapter 18

Lu Chi never expected his mother to say that.

"Mom, why not call the police? What if Su Yun Jiao really gets hurt?"

"Kidnappers are all ruthless and vicious, they hold grudges the most; if we provoke them, we'll be in danger!"

"But Jiao Jiao..."

"Let Lu Jingqing go rescue her—he's quite capable, right? We'll just say we don't want to call the police and offend people; privately we'll see how much money to give, let Lu Jingqing take the lead, and we'll get her back."

"Anyway, once Su Yun Jiao comes of age and becomes their daughter-in-law, that money will still be theirs, right?"

Lu Mu patted Lu Chi's hand and said, "You don't need to worry about this; I'll handle it. When the time comes, we won't have to spend money, and we can still get her back."

Upon hearing that, Lu Chi fell silent for a moment.

Inside Jingyuan.

Lu Jingqing and Su Yun Jiao had just returned when Liu Ma handed the phone to Lu Jingqing: "Sir, it's Madam Lu's call."

"Hmm."

Lu Jingqing answered the phone.

On the other end of the line.

Lu Mu feigned anxiety and said, "Jingqing, Jiao Jiao has been kidnapped, do you know?"

Hearing Lu Mu's anxious tone, Lu Jingqing glanced at Su Yun Jiao beside him.

Su Yun Jiao still didn't know what had happened; facing Lu Jingqing's gaze, she only felt strange.

What's the point of looking at her like that for no reason?

"I've heard."

"You've heard? How did you hear about it?"

"The kidnappers just called me, demanding ten million in ransom, but our finances are in a bit of a mess right now; we can't come up with that amount immediately."

Lu Jingqing's tone was calm and pleasant, as if he were telling a story: "Whether or not Su Yun Jiao is one of us, we might as well call the police. If they kill her, it would only prove her bad luck."

Seeing that Lu Jingqing had no intention of rescuing her,

A flicker of panic crossed Lu Mu's face: "Jingqing, this child, I've watched her grow up since she was little; if something really happens to her, how could I face her deceased parents?"

On this end of the call, Lu Jingqing unhurriedly poured half a glass of whiskey.

He slowly said, "Since Auntie is so worried about Jiao Jiao, why not take out five million, and I'll handle the rest."

Hearing this, Su Yun Jiao perked up her ears and listened in this direction.

"What?"

"Scam Lu Mu in reverse?"

"Now she's interested."

"This..."

On the other end of the line, Lu Mu hesitated for a moment.

"Since we've come this far, if she's unwilling to pay, we'll have no choice but to call the police."

"But if we call the police, what if it gets tangled up in Su Yun Jiao's kidnapping case from years ago..."

Lu Mu steeled herself and said, "Alright, once I manage to raise five million on my end, I'll call you right away!"

"The kidnappers said there's only one night left; I think we should still call the police..."

"One hour—I can have it ready in an hour."

"Auntie, you're really kind-hearted."

Lu Jingqing said helplessly, "Well, there's nothing else we can do; I'll have the finance department raise the money as soon as possible to ransom Jiao Jiao."

Not far away, Su Yun Jiao watched Lu Jingqing's lifelike performance and silently awarded him an Oscar in her heart.

"As they say, life is like a play, all about acting."

"It seems she still has a lot to learn."

Soon, Lu Jingqing hung up the phone.

His peripheral vision swept over the eavesdropping Su Yun Jiao.

Su Yun Jiao quickly lowered her perked-up ears.

"Um... was that Aunt Lu's call?"

"Yeah."

"You scammed her out of five million?"

"Not enough?"

"Exactly!"

Lu Jingqing directly voiced Su Yun Jiao's inner thoughts.

Realizing her mouth had answered Lu Jingqing faster than her brain, she quickly composed herself: "I didn't mean it that way..."

Lu Jingqing, holding his wine glass, freed a hand to pat Su Yun Jiao's head: "This is an adult's trick; kids shouldn't learn it."

"..."

Su Yun Jiao watched Lu Jingqing go upstairs.

She could only return to her room.

That night was sleepless.

The next day, Su Yun Jiao went to school.

Because of the wound on her forehead, she stood out noticeably.

Lu Chi arrived at school early.

Only when he saw Su Yun Jiao appear in the classroom did he let out a sigh of relief.

It seems Mom didn't lie to him.

"Su Yun Jiao, what's going on with your head?"

The boys around Lu Chi couldn't help but ask: "Could it be again for love's sake? How's it this time? Did you roll down the stairs again?"

"That's for sure, otherwise how would you have smashed your head for no reason?"

Another boy patted Lu Chi's shoulder and said: "I'm really jealous of you, having such a little fan girl!"

Su Yun Jiao has done many ridiculous things for Lu Chi, and everyone has long been used to it.

This time, Lu Chi's face oddly showed displeasure: "Shut up!"

Seeing Lu Chi angry, the boys around him immediately dared not speak.

Before, I had never seen Lu Chi favor Su Yun Jiao.

What's wrong today?

"Jiaojiao."

Zhou Xian took out a bottle of Red Flower Oil from the drawer: "This is for you."

Su Yun Jiao took the Red Flower Oil handed over by Zhou Xian and asked: "Did you get this especially for me?"

"Mm."

Zhou Xian said: "Applying it to your back will help."

"Thanks."

Su Yun Jiao directly put away the Red Flower Oil.

Zhou Xian looked at the gauze wrapped around Su Yun Jiao's forehead and asked: "Your injury..."

"I fell accidentally."

Su Yun Jiao said casually.

Zhou Tingting not far away heard Su Yun Jiao's answer, her face fell for a moment, she immediately turned her gaze away, not looking at Su Yun Jiao.

Zhou Xian's peripheral vision noticed Zhou Tingting's expression.

His brows furrowed.

"Tingting, come out with me."

Zhou Xian's tone turned a bit colder.

Zhou Tingting's body trembled.

But she still got up and walked outside the classroom.

In the hallway, Zhou Tingting dared not look into Zhou Xian's eyes.

"You came back so late last night, you didn't even eat dinner—what's going on?"

Zhou Xian originally hadn't thought in that direction; he just noticed Zhou Tingting acting strange today.

He frowned and asked: "Did you get someone to cause trouble for Su Yun Jiao?"

"No, brother, I—I didn't..."

Before Zhou Tingting could finish speaking, Zhou Xian pulled out a short ruler from his school uniform pocket: "Do you want me to hit you, or should I have Mom hit you when we go back?"

Seeing this, Zhou Tingting's face turned even uglier: "I—I admit, she made you, brother, get hurt; I wanted to teach her a lesson! But I haven't even laid a hand on her yet, and she—she..."

"And then what?"

Seeing Zhou Xian's dangerous gaze,

Zhou Tingting could only lower her head and whisper: "She was kidnapped by someone..."

Hearing those two words 'kidnapped', Zhou Xian's face grew even uglier.

"Such an important matter! Why didn't you call the police?"

Zhou Tingting bit her lip: "What does this have to do with me! Anyway I told Lu Chi, someone else will save her, what do I have to worry about?"