Chapter 139

Chapter 139: Chu Tang Has Been Kidnapped After getting off the plane, Xiao Xiao waited at the exit for Chu Tang to pick her up. She stood in the cold wind for half an hour without seeing Chu Tang's figure, so she took out her phone and called Chu Tang. But she only heard a cold, mechanical female voice informing her that the number she had dialed was no longer in service. How could it suddenly become a dead number? They had just spoken an hour ago. Xiao Xiao felt something was very wrong. Could something have happened to Sister Chu Tang? When the call didn't go through, she immediately opened WeChat and tried video-calling Ruan Chutang. It rang until it automatically disconnected, with no one answering on the other end. Xiao Xiao made five consecutive video calls without anyone picking up, and she couldn't help but grow worried. When she had spoken with Lawyer Ruan earlier, he had said he would arrive at the airport in about twenty minutes, but now over forty minutes had passed and she hadn't seen a trace of him. Her calls wouldn't go through, and no one was answering her WeChat video calls either. In Jiangcheng, Xiao Xiao didn't know anyone other than Ruan Chutang. In her anxiety, Xiao Xiao suddenly remembered that Ruan Chutang had mentioned the name of her law firm to her, and there was still a text message with the firm's address that Ruan Chutang had sent her. It was called Huayue Law Firm. Xiao Xiao immediately searched for the law firm online, and soon the webpage displayed the firm's information, including its landline number. Xiao Xiao dialed the number, but the phone rang for a long time with no one answering. Xiao Xiao was grasping at straws in her desperation. In her panic, she had forgotten that it was after working hours and no one would be at the law firm. Calling that number was useless. Xiao Xiao was extremely anxious and had no choice but to call the police. The police immediately contacted Ruan Chutang's family to confirm whether Ruan Chutang had lost contact. As soon as Ruan Shaodong and Yang Xuelian heard that Chu Tang had lost contact, they quickly called Chu Tang's friends to ask if Chu Tang was with any of them. Chen Yuanyuan was drinking when she received the call. "No, she's not. Tangtang isn't with me." Ruan Shaodong's tone was urgent and rapid. "Can you get in touch with her on your end? Tangtang's phone isn't going through." "Uncle, don't worry for now. Let me try contacting Tangtang first." After hanging up, Chen Yuanyuan immediately tried to contact Chu Tang. Just as Ruan Shaodong had said, Chu Tang's phone wouldn't go through, and no one answered her WeChat voice calls either. Chen Yuanyuan sensed something was wrong and immediately relayed the news to Jiang Shixu. ... The black car had collided with Chu Tang's car, sustaining some external damage, but it didn't affect the vehicle's functionality—the car could still drive. The man who had gotten out of the car afterward was far more skilled than the first one. Chu Tang was no match for him. After a brief struggle, Chu Tang was overpowered, bound hand and foot, and shoved into the car. "Why are you kidnapping me? Is it for money?" Chu Tang asked. The man driving burst into loud laughter, as if he had just heard something hilarious. "Hahahaha, for money? Our Brother Zhou couldn't care less about your paltry sum." "Brother Zhou?" Chu Tang sharply caught the key information. Remembering that terrifying moment on the road when she had nearly been shot in the head, Chu Tang's face went pale. "You're Fu Yuanzhou's men?" The man driving suddenly snapped angrily, "How dare you call our Brother Zhou by his full name! Tired of living, are you?" From the back seat, Fu Yuanzhou's personal bodyguard and most capable right-hand man, Zhou Yu, spoke in a low voice, "You know Brother Zhou?" A hint of mockery flashed in Chu Tang's eyes. "How could I not? He nearly took my life." "..." Zhou Yu was silent for a moment. "Since you already know, I'll be straightforward. Your man touched our people and cost us dearly, so we're going to touch his woman—returning the favor." "Who are you talking about?" A sarcastic smile curled at the corner of Chu Tang's lips. "The man you're talking about isn't Jiang Shixu, is it? Hah, don't you know we broke up a long time ago? If you're looking for his woman to get revenge on, you've got the wrong person. I have nothing to do with him anymore." Zhou Yu sneered. "Who else would be his woman besides you?" "Those entertainment news headlines are all over the place—can't you see them? He's been seen everywhere with some female celebrity lately. Are you blind? Why come after me?" After a moment, Zhou Yu said coldly, "You don't know that Jiang Shixu broke up with you and called off the engagement precisely to keep you out of this?" Chu Tang let out a derisive laugh. "You're overestimating me. He's already publicly announced his relationship with that female celebrity, and you're still coming after me?" Zhou Yu's lips curved slightly, and he couldn't help but let out a chuckle. "Miss Ruan, do you really not know, or are you pretending not to? The celebrity he's been rumored with is his cousin." Chu Tang's expression froze at those words, then her eyes widened in disbelief. "What did you say?" "Hah." Zhou Yu sneered coldly. "Miss Ruan, I don't know whether to praise your acting skills or praise Jiang Shixu for protecting you too well." Confusion filled Chu Tang's brows. "What do you mean?" Zhou Yu was Fu Yuanzhou's personal bodyguard. Normally, he rarely left Fu Yuanzhou's side to carry out operations on his own. But recently, Sun Licheng was arrested, and they suffered a heavy blow. The men Fu Yuanzhou had sent to assassinate Jiang Shixu were either dead or crippled, and now Fu Yuanzhou had very few people he could rely on in China. Today, Zhou Yu had come on Fu Yuanzhou's orders to kidnap Ruan Chutang. Now that he had the person in his grasp, his mission was complete. Ruan Chutang's hands and feet were bound, she was severely injured, and she had lost all contact with the outside world. On her own, there was no way she could escape. Once she fell into Fu Yuanzhou's hands, Ruan Chutang probably wouldn't survive. Anyway, this woman was as good as dead. Zhou Yu figured it wouldn't matter if he told her, so he spoke up: "Judging by your expression, you really don't know. Back then, when you were with Jiang Shixu, you nearly lost your life, and then your father almost died at our hands too. Jiang Shixu was afraid that if you kept following him, one day you might not live to see the next sunrise, so he staged a scandal with a female celebrity and broke up with you." Zhou Yu was telling the truth. In fact, at first, Fu Yuanzhou and he had indeed been fooled. They thought Jiang Shixu had genuinely changed his heart. After all, given his status as the young master of the Jiang family, fooling around with female celebrities was perfectly normal. The Jiang family was cautious too—they even kept it from their adopted daughter, Xu Jingxuan. Even Xu Jingxuan didn't know the real reason Jiang Shixu and Ruan Chutang broke up. A while ago, when Sun Licheng was handling business for Fu Yuanzhou, Jiang Shixu's people caught a flaw in his operations, and now the police had arrested Sun Licheng. With the Jiang family's backing, the dozens of companies under Sun Licheng's control had all been investigated and shut down by the police. Those companies appeared to be controlled by Sun Licheng on the surface, but in reality, they were all tools for Fu Yuanzhou to launder dirty money. Sun Licheng had been charged with multiple crimes and was now formally arrested. Sentencing was only a matter of time—it would likely be either the death penalty or life imprisonment. Fu Yuanzhou had suffered massive losses and could no longer stay in China. They were already preparing to return to Country A. But before returning to Country A, Fu Yuanzhou had to exact a vicious revenge. During this period, Fu Yuanzhou had sent people to assassinate Jiang Shixu several times, but none had succeeded. At his wit's end, he thought of Ruan Chutang. Fu Yuanzhou was suspicious by nature. Lately, he had carefully gone over everything and felt that there was something off about Jiang Shixu and Ruan Chutang's breakup.