Chapter 484: Chapter 484

He Aiguo bumped right into Jiang Lei.

The two of them laughed out loud upon meeting.

"He Aiguo, what took you so long? I’ve been wanting to see you. Every time you come around, I’m on a business trip. This time we finally meet. Let’s have a good drink."

Jiang Lei and He Aiguo really admired each other.

"I’ve missed you too. It’s been over two years, hasn’t it? Have you found someone yet? I heard you’re still single. Well, you’re not as lucky as I am; I’ve got someone now, and I’m planning to get married by the end of the year."

He Aiguo and Jiang Lei slung their arms around each other as they walked into the courtyard.

They arrived at the Jiang family house.

"Great! You’re quite something, managing to snag a bride so quickly. I’ll be your best man when the time comes."

Jiang Lei punched He Aiguo in the chest.

Song Moting locked the car, surveyed the surroundings, and slowly entered the door.

"Mom, Dad! We’re here."

Jiang Laoshi opened the door, and Jiang Lei glanced at his father.

Why does he look so terrible?

"Dad, what’s wrong? Did you not sleep well, or what?"

"Stop blathering! Sit down and keep quiet. Xiao Song, come here."

Jiang Laoshi was not at all polite to his son, leaving Jiang Lei bewildered, as it was the first time his father had embarrassed him in front of guests.

Song Moting entered the room.

"Dad, what’s happened?"

He saw his mother-in-law’s eyes were swollen like two peaches.

His heart skipped a beat, sensing something serious had happened.

Half an hour later, Song Moting, He Aiguo, and Jiang Lei were all silent.

This happened in broad daylight in Jingbei, and such a thing was happening.

Song Moting felt a chill in his heart and was thankful his father-in-law managed to keep this from Jiang Xiaoxiao.

Otherwise, that woman wouldn’t be able to properly rest during her postpartum period and would definitely be frantically worried.

"Dad, we must report this to the police. Don’t keep it to yourselves, or it will only embolden the kidnappers, putting the grandparents in danger."

No wonder Song Moting had the feeling earlier that someone was watching them.

It looks like the Jiang family is indeed being surveilled.

"But they’re watching us from the shadows, while we’re in the open. What if... what if they kill the hostages?"

Fan Xiuying was anxious.

Fan Jianguo, with stubble and a look of defeat, had dark circles under his eyes and looked devoid of energy.

"Let’s do this, Mom, Dad! Uncle, we need to take things slowly. I’ll secretly ask my friends in the police force for help. Some of them are assigned to the city bureau. They can protect you discreetly and gather evidence. Meanwhile, pretend to arrange the ransom to lull the kidnappers into a false sense of security. We’ll act separately to avoid tipping them off."

Song Moting had already thought this through; he had a plan in mind.

Jiang Laoshi nodded, "Xiao Song’s right! We’ll act separately!"

Fan Jianguo stood up, "I’ll go prepare the money!"

Under the sunlight, he felt a chill through his body.

Looking at everyone around, Fan Jianguo felt as if they were the kidnappers.

His eyes were full of mistrust.

"Jianguo, out so early? Where are your parents? Why haven’t they come out for their morning walk today? The old folks usually go to the morning market at the crack of dawn."

A helpful neighbor asked.

"My parents went to visit my sister’s place. My niece just had a baby; they wanted to see the child."

Searching bitterly for an excuse.

"That’s right, your parents dote on your niece. You should hurry up and get married, have a child, and let them hold a grandchild quickly. They keep saying they’re bored to tears."

The neighbor lady at the door teased Fan Jianguo as usual.

Who’s fault is it that Fan Jianguo is over thirty and still not married? Whenever anyone mentions him, they just sigh.

Mr. and Mrs. Fan are so worried they try to arrange blind dates for him with everyone they meet.

Fan Jianguo hurriedly quickened his pace.

"I have something to do, Auntie, you take care!"

If anything happened to his parents, whom would he answer to?

Fan Xiuying and Jiang Laoshi also went to the bank to withdraw money!

They took out all the money the family had.

Fan Jianguo revealed the truth, saying he had 60,000 yuan.

But after paying three years rent, there’s less than 30,000 left, leaving just over 30,000.

This is still quite short of the ransom amount.

Big Black knocked on the door.

Someone opened the door to let him in.

Brother Yong sat in the chair, drinking tea.

"How’s the Jiang family now?"

This time it should go off without a hitch.

Big Black’s face was flustered.

"Boss, I saw that person from the other day!"

Once he said this, the four people in the room stopped breathing.

Brother Yong, unbelieving, questioned, "Are you talking about that... the person we ran into?"

His eyes suddenly started to throb, burning with pain.

"Brother Yong, I can’t be mistaken. It’s that man. I found out that this Fan family is Jiang Xiaoxiao’s grandparents’ home. Fan Jianguo is Jiang Xiaoxiao’s uncle, and the old man and woman are her grandparents!"

Big Black regretted it; had he known that the old couple were related to that person!

They wouldn’t have dared to make a move even if it killed them.

They’re not that bold.

Now they’re stuck in a predicament.

Brother Yong’s eyes began to burn with pain, memories of that man’s ruthless actions stirring up fear.

Fang Xiaohui, oh Fang Xiaohui, this was like sending them to their deaths with no burial ground.

Why was he so bewitched, thinking Fang Xiaohui was well-connected?

He was just too greedy; hearing the surname Fan led him to believe it was foolproof.

Neither a Jiang nor a Song, he thought all would be well.

They even followed for a few days, thinking it was just an ordinary family.

At most, they had a capable son.

One son, one elderly couple.

How simple could it be?

Just take them and it’s done.

This was courting death.

The room fell silent, the others oblivious to the heart of the matter.

"Brother Yong, what’s there to worry about? We already have the old couple. Once we get the money, we’ll leave immediately. Didn’t we agree to take the money and get out of Jingbei, going somewhere else to make a living?

The world’s vast; where could they possibly find us?"

Skinny, having never experienced Song Moting’s tactics, spoke with confidence.

The main thing was that the brothers were frightened of poverty lately, and now the money was just within reach—this was 100,000 yuan, not a small sum.

Everyone was eager to spend it.

Isn’t it said that people die for riches, birds die for food?

Seeing Big Black’s words, it seemed like their boss was hesitating.

Each of them had their own plans, afraid the boss would back out. If this didn’t work out, there would be no money for anyone.

They couldn’t manage to hang on locally, let alone thinking about going elsewhere.

After their leader and significant members were injured, their territory had continually shrunk, others were bullying them.

Seeing they needed to do something soon or else they couldn’t even stay here.

Originally, they planned to use the money for a fresh start, but if the boss changed his mind, everyone would be left high and dry.

These were a bunch of ragtag people, gathered together for interest and money.

Seeing the situation, Brother Yong seemed ready to back out of the deal.

The underlings were anxious.