Chapter 398: Hijacking a Hostage

In Shichahai, at a small Siheyuan, Mei Feng returned with a box of money and said excitedly, "Siqiang, we have money now!"

Hu Yongan opened it to look, and his eyes lit up instantly. He had not expected that the few pieces of junk scavenged from that tomb, which had been robbed many times, could actually be exchanged for so much money.

He organized a meeting, and at the meeting, he said excitedly, "For this period of time, I have let you all down. Because the remittance channel was blocked, none of you received your allowances. Today, everyone gets five million to go and buy some urgently needed things."

"That's great!" said Lin Wanning.

"I'm going to have a big meal!" said Sun Li.

Hu Yongan's face darkened, and he warned, "Remember, the portraits of each of you are already plastered all over every police station! You must tidy yourselves up before going out, and you must be back before six o'clock in the evening. If anyone is late..."

"No problem!" the few people replied, though their eyes were all shining.

Lin Wanning asked with a smile, "Siqiang, aren't you going out today? Bring me back a cotton-padded coat!"

Hu Yongan waved his hand, "I'm going to the newspaper office to submit a 'Missing Persons Notice'. If you want to go out, then go!"

"Siqiang, I want to go to Qianmen to buy that down jacket. It's too cold in the wilderness; I really can't take it!"

"There are many eyes in that area of Qianmen, be very careful," Hu Yongan reminded.

Qianmen, Xueru Clothing Store.

Chen Xueru had just seen off a Russian wholesaler, returned behind the counter, picked up her teacup, and took a big gulp.

A simply dressed young girl walked in with her head lowered.

Chen Xueru looked up, and the moment their eyes met, she was so frightened she nearly dropped the teacup on the floor.

It was her, that female secret agent Lin Wanning who had disguised herself as a middle-aged woman.

Lin Wanning looked straight ahead, walked directly to the rack where the down jackets were hanging, pointed at one of them, and said to Xiaomei, "I want that black down jacket."

Xiaomei asked, "Comrade, do you want to try it on, or buy it directly?"

Chen Xueru tried hard to reassure herself: don't be afraid, there are Plainclothes Police outside. Immediately, she walked from behind the counter to Lin Wanning and explained, "Comrade, this black model is just out of stock in the store; it has to be brought over from the factory. If you don't mind, I can give you a discount on this sample piece—one hundred and ninety, is that okay?"

Lin Wanning frowned and asked, "How long will it take to get a new one?"

"Very quickly," Chen Xueru glanced at the wall clock, her heart pounding hard, "Half an hour will do. You can go out to have a meal or stroll around, and you can pick it up when you come back."

Lin Wanning thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, then I'll come back to buy it in half an hour."

After Lin Wanning walked out of the store, Xiaomei leaned over, looking puzzled: "Boss, there are clearly some in the Warehouse, why did you..."

"Curiosity killed the cat! Remember, from now on, no matter who comes to ask for this piece of clothing, just say it's out of stock!"

"No problem!" Xiaomei seemed to understand the Boss's meaning.

Chen Xueru turned around and quickly went upstairs.

She grabbed the phone, her fingers trembling slightly, and first dialed He Yuzhu's number.

"The female secret agent is here again, she wants to buy that down jacket!" she said with a trembling voice.

"Xueru, if you trust me, don't call Tian Dan; the people on her side might ruin things. I will definitely be there in twenty-five minutes!" He Yuzhu said firmly.

"Okay! I'll wait for you!"

"If she arrives first, just give her the clothes; your safety is the most important thing!" He Yuzhu added another instruction.

"I understand!" Chen Xueru's voice already carried a hint of sobbing.

He Yuzhu drove the car at lightning speed, but time seemed to move even faster; in the blink of an eye, twenty minutes had passed, and He Yuzhu still had the most difficult stretch of road left to cover.

With the New Year approaching, there were exceptionally many pedestrians near Qianmen.

With only 10 minutes left, it was impossible to reach by car, so He Yuzhu had to park the car on the side of the road and start running to take a shortcut.

He cut through other people's courtyards, practically leaping over walls and walking on roofs; at this moment, he had only one thought in his mind: he absolutely could not let Lin Wanning get away.

He dashed all the way and reached the Houyuan of Xueru Clothing Store in just twenty-six minutes.

He quickly applied his disguise, stuck on a fake beard and fake eyebrows, put on a pair of glasses, threw on an inconspicuous dark trench coat, circled to the front door of the clothing store, and slowly walked inside.

Chen Xueru was standing behind the counter, pretending to look at the Account Book, but her heart was thumping; when she saw He Yuzhu enter, her heart instantly calmed down.

She shook her head, meaning the person had not come yet.

He Yuzhu pretended to be an ordinary customer and started browsing in the store. To avoid attracting the attention of the staff, he even picked out a few pieces of men's clothing.

Every second spent waiting felt exceptionally long.

Just then, the shop door was pushed open, and a young girl walked in with a light step, humming a tune that was off-key, looking very relaxed.

If not for Chen Xueru's warning glance, He Yuzhu would have found it hard to connect this face, which carried a hint of Tianzhen, with that well-trained female secret agent Lin Wanning.

He Yuzhu immediately took the clothes to the counter to pay, and after paying, he walked out of the store.

He stood in front of a cigarette stall outside the shop, bought a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out to light it, and pretended to be waiting for someone.

Not long after, Lin Wanning came out wearing that newly purchased black down jacket.

She looked left and right, then walked toward a rouge shop.

He Yuzhu stubbed out his cigarette and followed at a distance that was neither too close nor too far. There were many pedestrians on the street, and no one noticed him at all.

Lin Wanning walked into the rouge shop; as a grown man, He Yuzhu could not follow her inside, so he activated the system to monitor the movements within.

Lin Wanning bought quite a few things and stayed in the shop for a full half hour.

Lin Wanning came out, did not continue to stroll around, and directly waved to call a rickshaw.

He Yuzhu also hailed a rickshaw and said in a low voice, "Follow the vehicle in front, don't get too close."

"No problem! Is that your wife?" the rickshaw puller asked.

"Yes, she's a bit unfaithful, I need to follow her to see who she's going to meet!" He Yuzhu explained.

Half an hour later, the rickshaw Lin Wanning was riding turned into Shichahai and stopped near Yinding Bridge.

She walked slowly toward the bridge, where a few young girls were surrounding a simple cart and hawking their wares; on the cart were skewers of crystal-clear assorted fruits, the sugar shells shining with an alluring luster under the sunlight.

Lin Wanning walked over, picked a few skewers, and stood on the bridge eating slowly, while her gaze looked at the surrounding environment as if she were not paying attention.

Beside the cart, He Yushui, who had her hair in two small braids, was nimbly collecting money and giving change.

A girl next to her named Xiaoqi suddenly noticed the brand-new black down jacket on Lin Wanning.

"Big sister, this outfit of yours is really pretty. You bought it at that 'Xueru Clothing Store' in Qianmen, right?" Xiaoqi leaned in and asked with familiar ease.

Lin Wanning's fingers holding the fruit skewer trembled imperceptibly, her gaze suddenly turned cold, and she looked up to stare at Xiaoqi: "How do you know?"

Xiaoqi was frightened by her suddenly sharp gaze, but quickly raised a smile again and pointed at He Yushui, saying: "My big sister He Yushui also bought one for her mother two days ago, exactly the same! It's so warm!"

Hearing this explanation, Lin Wanning's tense shoulders relaxed slightly, thinking to herself that she had been overly suspicious.

Just then, a Jeep stopped not far away, the car door opened, and four men dressed in ordinary plain clothes got out laughing and talking, seemingly on their way to the restaurant to eat.

He Yuzhu, who had been lurking behind the tree, felt his heart sink; he already understood that these men were here to capture Lin Wanning.

Tian Dan was not on the scene, and these people would not listen to his arrangements.

There were already Plainclothes Police watching outside Chen Xueru's store, and with such a big incident having occurred, it was impossible for Chen Xueru not to report to these men.

Lin Wanning also sensed something unusual.

Those four men were definitely not ordinary passersby.

Seeing the four men closing in on her, her reaction was also quick; knowing she could no longer run, she suddenly reached out and pulled Xiaoqi, who was closest to her, in front of her!

"Ah!" Xiaoqi only had time to let out a short, sharp scream.

The next moment, a sharp Dagger only a palm's length long was already pressed against Xiaoqi's neck.

The cold touch of the metal made Xiaoqi freeze instantly, so scared that she even forgot to cry.

"Don't move, any of you!" Lin Wanning shouted.