Chapter 22: Cat and Mouse

"What did you say?" Gu Changzheng thought he had misheard and couldn't help but ask back.

"Hahahaha!" A burst of arrogant laughter came from the receiver. After a full 30 seconds, a breathless male voice came from the other side: "I said, Jiang Yuanqi is in my hands! I caught him! Do you hear me clearly now? Officer Gu?"

Gu Changzheng was silent for two seconds. At this moment, he was truly a bit stunned! He had been a police officer for 20 years and this was the first time he had received such a call! (Encountering such a madman!) He coughed lightly and said: "Who are you? What do you want?"

Liu Baoshan on the other side of the phone laughed loudly again, but this time he stopped after just two laughs: "Captain Gu, I know you. You are the captain of the Jiangdong Sub-bureau Criminal Investigation Team. But I'm worried that your rank isn't high enough. If I talk to you, can you make the decisions? Haha!"

Gu Changzheng frowned. Although he felt the other party was a bit of a madman, this statement was correct. But at this moment, he just wanted to keep talking to the other party. When the other party emphasized that he was the one who kidnapped Jiang Yuanqi, he had already immediately signaled the technical division to find a way to lock onto the other party. He said: "No problem, I am now the leader of the major case team. You can talk to me! Tell me, what are your demands?" Gu Changzheng simply dropped the "deputy" part and took full responsibility.

"Hehe, Team Leader Gu! Very good! But I haven't decided yet. I'll find you when I've decided! Don't waste your effort trying to find me. If I don't let you find me, you won't find me! Alright, bye-bye! Oh, right, let me tell you who I am, so you don't even know who I am—that wouldn't be fun to play with! Hehehe!" Following another burst of crazy laughter, the other side shouted: "My name is Liu Baoshan! Remember it!" Immediately after, a beep sound came from the phone, and the call was hung up!

————

A black smoke was puffing from the stern of a small boat, and it was "chugging" toward the center of the river. There were three people on the boat. One had their hands and feet tied behind their back, and their mouth was sealed tightly with transparent tape. Another was wearing a bulky shirt, looking extremely awkward. The last man with a square face and big ears was steering the boat. They were Liu Baoshan, Ren Jiahe, and the kidnapped Jiang Yuanqi.

At this moment, Jiang Yuanqi was curled up in the dirty cabin, his face covered in dust, and because his mouth was sealed, he was constantly making "woo-woo" sounds. Liu Baoshan had just snapped a small card and thrown it into the river. Seeing Jiang Yuanqi constantly making "woo-woo" sounds, he said to Ren Jiahe: "Ren Jiahe, tear off the tape on Boss Jiang's mouth. I think Boss Jiang wants to tell us something."

Ren Jiahe nodded, stood up, bent over, and came to Jiang Yuanqi's side. With a "rip" sound, accompanied by Jiang Yuanqi's "Ouch!", Ren Jiahe tore off the tape on his mouth.

Jiang Yuanqi, with his mouth free, didn't shout or beg for mercy. He moved his mouth and said: "Brother, just tell me what you need. I have some connections in the Southwest. As long as you are willing, I can give you a large sum of money and arrange for you to leave. I just ask you to let me go. I guarantee I know nothing, and I won't remember any people or things!"

Jiang Yuanqi had been knocked unconscious by the sudden violent collision, but he woke up not long after. He had heard the conversation between Liu Baoshan and the other man, and only then did he realize he had fallen into the hands of two murder maniacs!

Seeing that the two weren't paying attention to him, he continued to pretend to be unconscious. He learned that Liu Baoshan had kidnapped him for money, which made him feel a bit more at ease. How to make the other party not have murderous intent toward him was the most important thing!

He had been calculating in his heart that only by making the other party feel that he was cooperative, harmless, and useful would he not be in danger of his life.

So when he got the chance to speak, he immediately explained to Liu Baoshan that he was willing to cooperate and could send them away!

"Hahahaha!" Liu Baoshan laughed up at the sky: "Boss Jiang, you are worthy of being a big boss. You've seen the world. With words like that, I'm embarrassed to ask for more! How about this: I won't ask for too much, just prepare this amount for me!" He laughed and opened a palm.

Jiang Yuanqi said: "Five million?!"

"Hehe! Boss Jiang, are you trying to send away a beggar?" Liu Baoshan lowered his head and stared at Jiang Yuanqi with his eyes rolled up.

"Then! Fifty million?!" Jiang Yuanqi's voice trembled significantly. This son of a bitch is ruthless enough!

Liu Baoshan laughed in a low voice: "What? Boss Jiang, does it hurt? If you don't give the money, that's fine, pay with your life!" Saying this, he pulled the bolt of the Type 77, and the cold muzzle pressed against Jiang Yuanqi's forehead!

Seeing that the other party could take his life with a movement of his finger, Jiang Yuanqi didn't dare to bargain anymore. He was truly afraid that this somewhat crazy desperado would really pull the trigger and kill him!

He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down: "Big brother! Don't be excited! I'll pay the money! Let me make a call to inform my family and let them prepare the money."

"Don't worry about that. Come, sit up!" Liu Baoshan turned his head to Ren Jiahe: "You prepare, use your phone to take a video."

Then he grinned viciously at Jiang Yuanqi: "Boss Jiang, no need to make the call. We'll take a video and send it to your family. This way they can take a good look at you. How about that? Am I thoughtful? Hahahaha!"

————

At 9:40 PM, Jiang Yuanqi's wife, Liu Dan, received a video sent from an unfamiliar number on her phone. In the video was her husband, Jiang Yuanqi, who had been kidnapped for over three hours.

After hearing her husband's words clearly, Liu Dan's mind went blank! She guessed that the person who kidnapped her husband was after money, but she didn't expect them to want so much! Although the Jiang family was touted as one of the top tycoons in Zizhen, it wasn't an easy thing to come up with 50 million in cash at once. She felt extremely panicked and turned her eyes for help to Gu Changzheng beside her.

Ever since the case occurred, Gu Changzheng had brought Jiang Yuanqi's family to the police station. Since the other party dared to call him, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Brigade, directly, it showed the bandits were very arrogant! Moreover, the other party had firearms. In the few hours after the case, they had already confirmed that the gun had indeed slipped out of the Jiangdong Sub-bureau, and the officer holding the firearm, Zhang Hongyu, was currently missing. Gu Changzheng had already arranged for Guo Hao to find Zhang Hongyu. At this moment, Gu Changzheng felt enormous pressure. He knew that Zhang Hongyu had likely met with misfortune! Otherwise, how could his service weapon, which he viewed as his life, appear in the hands of a kidnapper!

Just as he was thinking, seeing Liu Dan's look for help, he coughed lightly and said: "President Liu, don't worry. I will report this situation to my superiors immediately. Stabilize the kidnappers first. Now we need to drag them out to give us enough time to find their hideout. The kidnappers should call you soon. Don't be emotional when you answer the phone later, try to drag them out as much as possible..."

Before he finished speaking, "Ding-a-ling!" the phone rang! Everyone heard the ringtone and couldn't help but look in one direction! The ringtone was coming from Gu Changzheng! ===== CHAPTER 23 =====