Chapter 138

Chapter 138: Danger After all the preparations were complete, Chu Tang's Huayue Law Firm officially began operations. That day, Chu Tang received a phone call from someone she hadn't heard from in a long time. "Sister Chu Tang, do you still remember me? I'm Xiao Xiao." Chu Tang was pleasantly surprised—she and Xiao Xiao hadn't been in touch for quite a while. "Of course I remember you. I still have your number saved in my phone." Xiao Xiao had been an intern lawyer at the firm where Chu Tang used to work in Haicheng, and also her junior assistant. When Chu Tang left, she'd told Xiao Xiao that if she ever needed anything, she could come and join her. Xiao Xiao said, "Sister Chu Tang, my internship period is over here, and I passed the bar association interview smoothly. I wanted to ask—does your offer to let me come and join you still stand?" "Congratulations!" Chu Tang laughed, speaking from the heart. "Of course you can come. It just so happens that my firm just opened up. You're welcome anytime." "Really?" Xiao Xiao exclaimed with delight. "Then I'm really coming! I just hope you won't think I'm a bother!" Chu Tang smiled. "Why would I think that? You're someone I helped train up myself. I'm in Jiangcheng now—I'll send you the address in a bit." Xiao Xiao was thrilled. "Great! I'll buy my ticket right away!" ... When Chu Tang's cousin Su Yu learned that she had opened a law firm, he immediately helped her recruit two highly accomplished and well-known lawyers. In a private room at a restaurant, Su Yu introduced the two lawyers to Chu Tang. "This is Lawyer Chen Yuning—my high school classmate," Su Yu said by way of introduction. Chen Yuning was dressed like an elite female lawyer, with a sharp short haircut paired with a light coffee-colored professional suit. She looked extremely capable. Chu Tang's gaze landed on Chen Yuning's face and paused briefly. "Hello, Lawyer Chen." Chen Yuning smiled in response. "Hello, Lawyer Ruan. We'll be colleagues from now on." "And this is Lawyer Wu Tao—I specially poached him from another firm for you. He's a heavyweight in the commercial law field." Wu Tao appeared to be around forty years old, dressed in a suit and tie, wearing glasses, with a lean build. He gave off an impression of steadiness and restraint. "Hello, Lawyer Wu. I've heard so much about you. I look forward to your guidance in the future." "Hello, Lawyer Ruan. Let's make progress together." Apart from Su Yu, everyone at the table was in the same profession, so they had plenty to talk about, and the atmosphere was lively. After the meal, Chu Tang said goodbye to Su Yu and her two new colleagues, then got into her Rolls-Royce. She pressed down on the accelerator, and the white Rolls-Royce slowly pulled out of the parking lot and onto the wide main road. Checking the time, Xiao Xiao's flight was about to land in Jiangcheng. Chu Tang was now driving to pick her up. When Xiao Xiao had sent her flight information that afternoon, Chu Tang had already said she would go to the airport to meet her. Xiao Xiao had said not to bother—she could just take a taxi to the hotel herself. But Chu Tang thought about how the young woman was unfamiliar with the area, had no relatives or friends here, and only knew her. So she insisted on going to the airport to help the girl get settled in. The airport was in a remote suburb, about a forty-minute drive from downtown Jiangcheng. Chu Tang felt the car was a bit stuffy, so she lowered the window halfway, letting the outside air rush in to circulate. It was late March, and the temperature in Jiangcheng was starting to warm up. The wind had shed its biting chill, carrying instead a fresh, cool crispness. The whistling breeze dispelled the stuffiness in the car. Chu Tang thought about recent events and felt lighthearted. The law firm had opened smoothly, the partners and new colleagues all seemed easy to get along with, and just after opening, several famous and capable senior lawyers had already joined. Her former junior assistant Xiao Xiao was also coming over. Everything was moving in a good direction. Her career was like the rising sun at dawn—full of vigor and momentum. She was one step closer to her dream. The white Rolls-Royce weaved through traffic, leaving the bustling downtown streets behind and entering the suburban stretch of road. It was past ten in the evening, and this remote suburban road was sparsely populated. After driving for about ten minutes, Chu Tang suddenly noticed that a black car behind her seemed to be following her. This road didn't only lead to the airport—there was a fork up ahead that went to other places. Even if it only led to the airport, it was normal for other cars to be behind her. Maybe they were heading to the airport too. But the problem was that when Chu Tang saw the black car in her rearview mirror, something flashed rapidly through her mind. She'd seen this car before—when she was waiting at a red light in the city. At that time, it had been parked diagonally behind her. In other words, this car had been following her the entire way from the city to the suburbs. A chill suddenly ran through Chu Tang's body, and her spine went numb. Chu Tang noticed that when she slowed down, the other car also slowed, showing no intention of overtaking. When she sped up, it sped up too. This confirmed her suspicion even further. The car was tailing her. Chu Tang picked up her phone, ready to make a call. At the same time. In the car behind. The man driving frowned and said to the man in the back seat, "Boss, she seems to have noticed." "Make a move." "Yes." Chu Tang had just picked up her phone but hadn't had time to dial. Suddenly— "BANG!" A deafening crash. The black car behind suddenly floored the accelerator and slammed into them at full speed. The immense impact sent Chu Tang's car spiraling out of control instantly. The white Rolls-Royce crashed into the guardrail on the roadside, the front end caving in severely as the airbags deployed. Chu Tang's phone was knocked loose and fell to the floor. She was dazed and disoriented from the collision. Chu Tang steadied herself, then awkwardly bent down to fumble for her phone. She had to call the police for help immediately. But just as her fingers touched the phone, the car window was violently smashed open from the outside. Her assailants had clearly come prepared—they'd even brought a professional window-breaking hammer. Once the glass was shattered, a hand reached in, opened the car door, and grabbed Chu Tang, roughly yanking her out. "Who are you?" Chu Tang, now dragged out of the car, asked instinctively once she regained her bearings. The man didn't answer, continuing to pull her toward the roadside. Inside the car, the cramped space had made it hard for Chu Tang to fight back, but now that she was out in the open, she immediately resisted—breaking free from the man's grip in two quick moves and landing several punches on him in return. The man clearly hadn't expected a seemingly frail woman like Chu Tang to have such fighting skills. Caught off guard, he took a few hits, cursing profusely as he lunged at her with renewed ferocity, intent on beating her. But he was no match for Chu Tang. She drove her fist hard into the man's nose, and blood immediately gushed out. Using both hands and feet, she had the man on the ground in seconds. This stretch of road had no surveillance cameras and no streetlights—only the harsh glare of the headlights illuminating the man's pathetic state. He lay sprawled on the ground, blood from his nose smeared across his chin, still spitting out filthy curses. "How can you not handle a single woman?" Another man stepped out of the black car behind, looking down with an air of superiority. "Boss, this bitch knows how to fight," the man on the ground gritted out through his teeth. Seizing the moment while the two men were talking, Chu Tang inched back toward her car, hoping to grab her phone and make a call. But just as she picked it up, the man behind her rushed over and snatched the phone away. Then, he pulled out her SIM card, slammed her phone hard onto the ground—the screen shattering into pieces—and snapped the SIM card in half before tossing it into the roadside grass. "You're coming with us," the man said coldly.