Chapter 1090: Love Without Return and Brewing Trouble

He turned and ran, wanting to go find Shi Ran, but was held back by the butler: "Young Master, the exam is about to start; if you leave now, you won't be able to take it."

"It doesn't matter, whether I take it or not is fine."

No matter how important the exam was, it could not be more important than Shi Ran.

Just as he got into the car, he got back out.

He asked his classmates: "Has anyone seen Li Wei?"

"No."

"She is over there."

Li Wei was with some classmates; he walked over: "Have you seen Shi Ran?"

Li Wei: "I haven't."

"Are you sure?"

Qi Heng's eyes were like knives, as if they could pierce directly into her heart.

She panicked a little, but remembering what that person had said to her, she immediately said firmly: "I'm sure. I don't know where she is. We have already cut ties; don't ask me about her in the future. I don't know, and I don't want to know."

Qi Heng turned and left, preparing to depart from the exam venue.

Li Wei shouted behind him: "If you don't take the exam, you will never have the qualifications to enter the world's best university. Have you considered whether doing this is worth it?"

"It's worth it." He didn't look back.

……

Shi Ran woke up.

She discovered she was sleeping in a crude pile of straw.

The room was very crude, and there was a strange smell.

The only window was boarded up with a few wooden planks, and the sun spilled in through the gaps in the planks in little specks of light.

Where is this?

How did she get here?

A dull pain came from the back of her head.

Shi Ran remembered: on the way to the exam venue this morning, her car was grazed by a car coming from the opposite direction. The driver from the other car came over to apologize, and it seemed like he just waved his hand, and then she didn't know anything else.

Oh no, it's a kidnapping!

The thought that suddenly popped into her mind made her instantly clear-headed.

Shi Ran tried to stand up from the ground; her body was bound by a Rope, and she fell down every time she struggled to stand up.

The ground was very hard, and the skin where she fell turned red.

But she didn't feel it; now there was only one thought in her mind, and that was to escape, to leave this place as soon as possible.

Shi Ran quietly hopped over to the window and looked outside through it.

Outside was a stretch of wasteland.

Other than that, there was nothing.

Her mind raced, judging by the height of the sun outside that it was around nine to nine-twenty in the morning.

A Country is not a large place, and there aren't many places that have wasteland.

Shi Ran's mind raced, and she remembered: this is the border of three countries, usually with no one around. How is she going to escape?

She looked around; first, she had to untie the Rope.

Shi Ran tried to break free, but it was useless; the Rope was tied too tightly, and moving even slightly hurt terribly.

The surroundings were very desolate; although her mouth wasn't gagged, she couldn't shout.

Shouting and screaming at this time wouldn't bring people to save her; the most likely outcome would be to bring the kidnappers.

Shi Ran was very calm.

She displayed a calmness and wisdom completely different from her age.

After trying several times and failing to untie the Rope, she gave up; she wouldn't make futile struggles, it was useless.

Shi Ran observed the door and window; the window was nailed shut with wooden planks, and the door was an anti-theft iron door. Using such a door in a place like this seemed very abrupt.

But it didn't affect the fact that it was very sturdy—so sturdy that she couldn't get out on her own at all.

She returned to the straw pile and sat down, thinking rapidly.

Who could have kidnapped her?

First, she thought of the Zhu Family brothers.

But she quickly ruled them out; it wouldn't be them. If they were the ones acting, they wouldn't lock her here. Locking her at the border would be an unnecessary move.

As long as it wasn't them, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. Even if it was a misfortune, it was the best of a bad situation; as long as it wasn't them, her chances of winning would be a little higher.

But if it wasn't the Zhu Family brothers, who could it be?

Shi Ran used the process of elimination to rule things out bit by bit.

When her great-grandparents were alive, they were very well-liked in A Country, and were even revered like gods after they passed; they had no enemies.

Then she had to find the reason from herself; Shi Ran quickly thought of Li Wei!

They used to be best friends, the best of friends.

But Li Wei liked Qi Heng; could it be her?

It was very possible.

……

Jiangzhou.

Shi Youxuan and Sheng Hanyu received calls from Zhang Ma and Qi Heng almost one after the other.

Zhang Ma: "Madam, the young lady went missing on the way to her exam. The four bodyguards were tied up in the car, and the young lady's whereabouts are unknown. Should I call the police?"

She is an old servant of the Sheng Family and has seen countless storms, but one could still hear her voice trembling over the phone.

"How long has she been missing? Don't call the police yet. Tell me what happened first, and have there been any abnormalities near the house in the last few days?" Shi Youxuan's voice sounded calm, but in reality, her palms were covered in sweat.

Her lips were also trembling slightly, and her heart was already in a panic.

But she had to force herself to be calm; the more critical the situation, the more one must remain calm, as over ninety-five percent of judgments made when one is not calm will be wrong.

She could not use her daughter's life to gamble on that five percent probability!

"The young lady has been missing for two hours. There were no abnormalities found near the house these past few days, but she had a falling out with her best friend, because that girl also likes Young Master Qi."

Sheng Hanyu returned home at the fastest speed possible, and the couple decided to fly to A Country immediately; although the journey was long, they could still maintain contact via satellite phone on the plane.

The couple unanimously judged that it was the work of their daughter's so-called best friend.

……

A Country.

Qi Heng mobilized all the forces he could to look for Shi Ran.

The last place her car was located was not on the road to the examination hall, but in the direction of Q Country.

But it stopped there; there were no tire tracks nearby, not even any Spring Shoes prints. Could a person have flown away from the sky... It was possible!

There are many private helicopters in A Country that can land and take off anywhere.

Although they can fly anywhere, not many people can afford to buy a helicopter.

A flash of inspiration struck Qi Heng, and he hurriedly ordered people to investigate whose families owned helicopters!

Not just the locals, but even foreigners in A Country were to be included.

Very quickly, the investigation results came out.

It was a very long list of data, and he carefully looked through it one by one, filtering as he went.

Li Yongzhong, the Steel King of L Country.

This name made Qi Heng's heart skip a beat.

Li Yongzhong is Li Wei's father; he associated this with Li Wei's actions over these past few days and her abnormal words this morning.

He immediately ordered his subordinates: "You two go back immediately and bring Li Wei here."

"Yes."

"Young Master, this doesn't seem appropriate, does it? If we don't have any evidence and catch the wrong person, I'm afraid this matter won't be easy to resolve."

They are all international students from L Country; even if his father is the Vice President, he cannot act without scruples and do whatever he wants.

"It seems you are truly not suited to stay by my side. After this matter is over, you can go back, but for now, do as I say." Qi Heng is not old, but his gaze held the same decisiveness and majesty as the Vice President.

Last time, this bodyguard also raised objections to his orders; regardless of whether he was right or wrong, a bodyguard's duty is to obey orders—this is a principle.

"Yes."

He dared not say another word and withdrew.

Qi Heng did not stay in the original spot; he used a drone to investigate the area to look for clues.

At the same time, he informed Sheng Hanyu and his wife, who were on their way, of this news.