Chapter 992: Kidnapping

Ten minutes after Chen Ziyan entered the next room, she returned.

She came before Lu Yan He and said in a low voice: "Feng Tou and He Chunlai have made a move."

Hearing these two names, Lu Yan He immediately reacted.

His cheap aunt and cousin.

"Is it Chen Pinhe who made a move, or Zhang Yuezhen?"

"Zhang Yuezhen," Chen Ziyan said. "Chen Pinhe's people also made a move, but Zhang Yuezhen's people intercepted them. Our people are following them."

She looked at Lu Yan He with burning eyes.

"It seems what happened tonight also stimulated Zhang Yuezhen," Chen Ziyan said. "Zhang Yuezhen's 'glove', He Yuan, has personally taken action. If he really intends to make a move, this will be our chance to catch them red-handed."

Lu Yan He nodded.

Very few people knew what Chen Ziyan was currently doing.

Even Wang Biao and Zou Dong only knew the general outline, not the full picture.

The only ones who truly understood the specifics were Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan.

Information was completely shared between the two of them.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight," Chen Ziyan said, patting the back of Lu Yan He's hand. "You go rest. If you don't rest, others won't be able to rest either."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"I'll watch things here," Chen Ziyan said. "You gather your strength. There might really be a hard battle ahead that we can't avoid."

"Fight," Lu Yan He nodded solemnly, his attitude firm. "No avoiding it."

In fact, just as Chen Ziyan said she couldn't sleep, Lu Yan He felt the same.

But he feared tossing and turning would affect Chen Siqi's sleep, so he didn't move either.

He lay motionless on the bed, eyes closed, with various thoughts shuttling back and forth in his mind.

He didn't even know when he had fallen asleep—

only that for a very long time, he had been unable to sleep.

Too excited.

When he woke up, the sun was already high in the sky.

Chen Siqi was gone.

Only he was left on the bed.

He scratched his head, got out of bed, put on his jacket, and walked out of the room.

In the living room, everyone was lying or slumped in twos and threes, covered with clothes or blankets.

He walked around the house looking for people but found none; then he went to the courtyard and discovered two people sitting in the sunlight.

A cup of coffee sat in front of each of Chen Ziyan and Chen Siqi.

Lu Yan He looked at Chen Ziyan in surprise and asked: "Sister Ziyan, you didn't sleep, did you?"

Chen Ziyan curled her lips upward.

"Still in a state of excitement, completely unable to sleep."

She raised her phone.

"Good news."

Lu Yan He showed a look of surprise.

Chen Siqi stood up and said: "Do you want black coffee, or with some milk?"

Lu Yan He: "With milk."

Chen Siqi nodded, went to get coffee for Lu Yan He, and at the same time left a space for Lu Yan He and Chen Ziyan to talk privately.

"What good news?" Lu Yan He asked.

Chen Ziyan said: "He Yuan's group kidnapped Feng Tou and He Chunlai."

Lu Yan He showed a look of shock.

"What?"

"Don't worry, the people are fine; our people filmed the entire process," Chen Ziyan said. "They are also being watched by our people now; we'll see what they plan to do and whether we can capture something more critical."

"Should we use this to call the police?"

"Call the police? Call which police?" Chen Ziyan shook her head. "These things are used to deal with He Yuan."

"Deal with He Yuan?" Lu Yan He immediately understood Chen Ziyan's thinking. "You want to use these to threaten him?"

"We can go in that direction," Chen Ziyan said. "As Zhang Yuezhen's glove, He Yuan must have something in his hands. In the best case, we can get material from He Yuan that nails Zhang Yuezhen; in the worst case, we can use these things to pull out Zhang Yuezhen's sharpest claws and teeth."

Lu Yan He understood Chen Ziyan's plan.

"There's one more thing," Chen Ziyan said. "Half an hour ago, Officer Qiu Ling called."

"Hmm?"

"They found He Yuan in the surveillance footage they collected and preserved from ten years ago," Chen Ziyan said. "Although no evidence that could convict him was captured—the spot where you fell into the water was completely a blind spot for surveillance—there's no such thing as coincidence. Within a few hours before and after your incident, He Yuan also appeared nearby. We can basically conclude that the person who pushed you into the river back then was him, acting on Zhang Yuezhen's orders."

Although he had long suspected it, truly confirming this still made Lu Yan He's heart sink, then immediately feel relieved.

It really was Zhang Yuezhen after all.

Chen Ziyan said: "So, He Yuan is the key. Only if we can capture He Yuan is there hope for him to confess the truth of this matter."

"But didn't you say there's no substantive evidence?" Lu Yan He asked.

Chen Ziyan: "I believe he wouldn't have nothing in his hands. As someone who does dirty work for the boss, if he doesn't keep some leverage, how can he guarantee he won't be sacrificed to save the general? He has a son named Hezhou. His son had a congenital disease when he was young, and Zhang Yuezhen paid for his treatment. Hezhou is He Yuan's only relative in this world. If we can control Hezhou and use Hezhou to threaten He Yuan, we won't have to worry about He Yuan not telling the truth."

Lu Yan He took a deep breath.

Chen Ziyan's phone suddenly rang at that moment.

Seeing it, she immediately walked aside to take the call.

Chen Siqi brought over a cup of coffee.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Like a zombie," Lu Yan He asked, "What about you?"

"I'm fine. I was worried about whether Ma Zhongquan would respond, so I woke up very early," Chen Siqi said. "As it turns out, he hasn't responded yet, but you have dozens of fans who spontaneously gathered downstairs at Star Entertainment, forcing them to respond."

Lu Yan He exclaimed in surprise, "Huh?!"

Chen Siqi took out her phone and showed it to Lu Yan He.

"Look."

In the video, dozens of people held signs and stood at the entrance of the Star Entertainment building, shouting in unison: "Make Ma Zhongquan come out! Make him explain clearly who the culprit is that harmed Lu Yan He!"

The momentum was fierce.

Lu Yan He was stunned. He asked, "Is this a good idea?"

Chen Siqi said, "Officer Qiu has already been asked to notify the local police station. If the situation gets out of hand, someone will control it. For now, it's fine. Actually, having them make a scene like this is a good thing; it prevents Star Entertainment and Ma Zhongquan from playing the coward."

"Ma Zhongquan will most likely not respond. If he really sells out Chen Pinhe at this moment, he won't be able to work in this industry anymore. No one will trust him again, and no one will cooperate with him," Lu Yan He said.

"Sister Ziyan called Hong Qi and put pressure on him. She made it clear to Hong Qi that she will not let this matter drop. Star Entertainment must provide an explanation for this incident."

Lu Yan He said, "So Sister Ziyan actually still wants to force Ma Zhongquan to reveal Chen Pinhe's name."

"Are you okay? If you still can't accept the public knowing about this, I'll go tell Sister Ziyan."

"Don't," Lu Yan He shook his head. "Just two or three days ago, I was still afraid of this matter. Now is one of the few times I'm not afraid. Let it happen all at once. After this, I don't know if I'll be willing to face it again."

Chen Siqi hugged Lu Yan He.

"It's okay. No matter what, I will always be by your side."

Chen Ziyan returned.

Her expression was very grim.

"Hezhou is missing."

At this critical moment, Hezhou suddenly disappeared?!

This was news that caught everyone off guard.

"Did He Yuan and Zhang Yuezhen hide Hezhou in advance?" Chen Siqi frowned slightly and asked.

"This happened so suddenly. He Yuan is in the United States, and Zhang Yuezhen is in the United Kingdom. Could their actions be that fast?" Lu Yan He asked. "When did Hezhou go missing?"

"This morning," Chen Ziyan said. "The person I arranged to keep an eye on Hezhou found that he didn't go to school. We went to his residence. He usually lives alone, but the house was empty. The neighbor next door said they heard the sound of Hezhou's door opening and closing late last night. It was quite loud, but by the time they went to the door to check, the door was already closed, and no one was there."

"This—" Lu Yan He shook his head. "It seems Zhang Yuezhen was one step ahead of us and took Hezhou away in advance."

"Yes. Hezhou is He Yuan's only weakness. Zhang Yuezhen must know that too. He Yuan's group attacked Chen Pinhe's people, so Chen Pinhe must have received the news," Chen Ziyan said. "I think Zhang Yuezhen and He Yuan probably did this to prevent Chen Pinhe from retaliating."

"Can we find out where Hezhou went?" Chen Siqi asked.

"We are trying to find out, but it's not certain we will succeed," Chen Ziyan said, shaking her head with a solemn expression.

The matter had finally made breakthrough progress, but just when they thought they could seize the key leverage, that leverage disappeared.

Just then, Chen Ziyan's phone suddenly rang.

Chen Ziyan answered the call and walked aside to take it.

"Hezhou is missing?!" Zhang Yuezhen asked in shock. "What is going on?"

"I don't know. His teacher called me and said Hezhou didn't go to school. I called Hezhou, but he didn't answer."

He Yuan's face was gloomy.

If this had happened at an ordinary time, it would have been fine.

Maybe He Yuan just went out secretly with classmates and overslept.

But this happened at this time.

It is absolutely abnormal.

"I left a GPS watch for him, and it has always shown he was at home, but I sent people to look for him at the house, and they didn't find him," He Yuan said, feeling a chill in his heart. "Young Lady, someone might have discovered me and wants to use Little Zhou to threaten me."

Zhang Yuezhen said, "Don't jump to the worst conclusion. These years, you have been in the shadows. No one on the surface knows your relationship with me. How could they discover who you are so quickly? Since the incident happened so suddenly, it is very likely that Little Zhou just went somewhere to play without telling anyone. Don't worry. I will arrange things immediately on the domestic side, and we will definitely find him."

He Yuan said, "Mm."

"How are Feng Tou and He Chunlai?"

"They have already been controlled by us," He Yuan said. "However, we haven't taken action yet. We plan to wait until Chen Pinhe's people come chasing, then shift the blame onto Chen Pinhe's people so we can extricate ourselves."

Zhang Yuezhen said, "Good. Then everything proceeds according to plan. He Yuan, Hezhou is in the country; he will be fine. I won't talk to you anymore for now. I will contact the domestic side immediately and make arrangements."

He Yuan said, "Young Lady, I entrust this to you."

Chen Ziyan hung up the phone, returned, and said, "Hong Qi just called me. They communicated and negotiated with Ma Zhongquan. In a while, Star Entertainment will release an official statement. The stance will be that this matter was Ma Zhongquan's personal action and has nothing to do with the company. They will guarantee that Ma Zhongquan admits he was entrusted by Chen Pinhe to suppress Lu Yan He, but they hope our side will not focus on Star Entertainment in future statements."

"How do they plan to handle Ma Zhongquan?"

"Ma Zhongquan will definitely resign in disgrace," Chen Ziyan said. "There is no doubt about this. Ma Zhongquan is struggling. He has held onto some things during his many years at Star Entertainment. Both sides are currently wrangling and negotiating."

Lu Yan He pouted.

"Look at Star Entertainment's demands. Can we accept them?"

"Sure," Lu Yan He shrugged. "It was Ma Zhongquan's action anyway."

For Lu Yan He at that time, Zhou Ping'an and Ma Zhongquan simply represented the company.

That was not the point.

Lu Yan He was not interested in pursuing Star Entertainment's responsibility.

In fact, Lu Yan He had not truly pursued the responsibility of Ma Zhongquan and Zhou Ping'an either.

Chen Siqi said, "Then Chen Pinhe's matter is about to be exposed."

Chen Ziyan said, "The content of Star Entertainment's statement will not reveal the true relationship between Chen Pinhe and Lu Yan He. It will only point out that the person behind who ordered Ma Zhongquan to suppress Lu Yan He is Chen Pinhe."

Chen Siqi said, "At this stage, information will surely leak out, right?"

"Yes." Chen Ziyan nodded, then turned to look at Lu Yan He. "It depends on whether we choose to respond to this."

Lu Yan He asked, "Sister Ziyan, what is your suggestion?"

"My suggestion is that, regarding this matter, you must always remain in a passive position," Chen Ziyan stated bluntly. "Just as you have been these past two days."

Lu Yan He nodded.

"There is one more thing. This matter is terrible, yet it can also help you. As your Agent, I strongly hope to delay the exposure of the true nature of your relationship with him until next year."

"Ah?" Lu Yan He paused in surprise. "Why?"

"Well, if news like this breaks now, it will likely affect the performance of The Boat during the awards season," Chen Ziyan said. "Art films fear interference from outside information the most."

"That's true," Lu Yan He nodded.

Chen Ziyan yawned.

"No good, I'm a bit sleepy. I'm going to take a nap."

Chen Siqi said, "I'll take you to your room."

"No need, I know where the room is," Chen Ziyan said. "The two of you rarely get to enjoy some quiet time alone; don't worry about me."

She waved her hand and left.

Only after Chen Ziyan had left did Lu Yan He sigh.

Chen Siqi, puzzled, asked, "What's wrong?"

Lu Yan He said, "Sister Ziyan... she didn't tell the truth just now."

"Ah?"

"She wants to use this matter to add leverage for The Original Father's campaign for next year's Oscar for Best Actor," Lu Yan He said, shaking his head helplessly. "She was worried I wouldn't accept that, so she came up with another reason."