Chapter 140

Chapter 140: Is He Willing to Trade His Own Life for Hers? As luck would have it, when Fu Yuanzhou had taken his kept girl to a jewelry store to buy accessories a while back, he'd caught eyes with one of the saleswomen there. Fu Yuanzhou had been with countless women, wild and dissolute by nature—whenever he saw a beautiful woman who caught his fancy, his first thought was getting her into bed. At the time, he'd dropped over two million on a necklace for his kept girl, both to placate her and to show off his wealth to the saleswoman. While the girl was in the restroom, Fu Yuanzhou asked for the saleswoman's contact information. That very night, they ended up in bed together. On Valentine's Day night, Fu Yuanzhou arranged to meet the saleswoman again. In a couples-themed hotel suite, after he'd finished, Fu Yuanzhou tossed a card to the woman. "Happy Valentine's Day, baby. Go spend it however you like." The woman accepted the card with a smile, and with a hint of ulterior motive, cooed at him, "Brother Zhou never puts any thought into picking out a gift for me—it's always just money. Today a gentleman came into our store and bought the 9,990,000 yuan Valentine's Day limited-edition necklace for his girlfriend. I'm so envious. He must really love his girlfriend." Fu Yuanzhou let out a derisive snort, leaning against the headboard as he casually smoked his post-coital cigarette, blowing out clouds of smoke. Having just been satisfied, the man was in a good mood. Hearing the woman's words didn't anger him—he smiled and said with ample patience, "There's over a million on that card. Buy whatever you like. Money's all you need—why would you crave love?" The woman crawled over and rested her head against the man's chest, speaking in a sweet, coquettish voice, "I was just saying something offhand." Fu Yuanzhou flicked his ashes, his expression cold. "From now on, don't bring up the word 'love' again." "I understand." Fu Yuanzhou hadn't originally given the matter much thought. Not long after Valentine's Day, Jiang Shixu seemed to have been provoked by something—he started investigating Fu Yuanzhou relentlessly. Sun Licheng's side only made a small slip, and Jiang Shixu's people immediately caught the opening. Before long, Sun Licheng was arrested by the police. All the companies under him were investigated and shut down as well. At first, Fu Yuanzhou went mad and sent people to assassinate Jiang Shixu, but none of the attempts succeeded. After losing a massive amount of manpower and resources on Jiang Shixu, Fu Yuanzhou decided to use the same trick again—going after the people around him. Originally, his target was the female celebrity who'd been rumored to be involved with Jiang Shixu. But Xu Jingxuan told him that the celebrity was actually Jiang Shixu's distant cousin. The rumors between them were just to generate buzz and traffic for the actress. The moment Fu Yuanzhou heard this, he immediately recalled the period right after Ruan Chutang and Jiang Shixu had broken up. He'd sent people to tail Ruan Chutang, and her heartbroken, drunken state didn't look like an act—she'd been cursing Jiang Shixu for being fickle, unfaithful, and for loving and leaving. Judging by Ruan Chutang's reaction, she really didn't seem to know that the celebrity was Jiang Shixu's cousin. And looking at when they'd broken up—it was right around the time Ruan Shaodong had gotten into trouble. Fu Yuanzhou realized he'd very likely been played by Jiang Shixu. Just then, he suddenly remembered what the woman had told him on Valentine's Day—that someone had spent 9,990,000 on a sky-high necklace for his girlfriend. There weren't many people in Jiangcheng who could spend that kind of money. Fu Yuanzhou immediately called the woman to ask who had bought the necklace. Because the incident had left such a deep impression on her, she'd made a point of noting the buyer's information at the time. So when Fu Yuanzhou asked, the woman answered truthfully, "He looked to be in his mid-thirties, about 170-something centimeters tall, thin build, surname Lin." "What address did he leave? Who was the recipient?" "A high-end villa district in Jiangcheng. The recipient was a Miss Ruan." Fu Yuanzhou was almost immediately certain that Miss Ruan had to be Ruan Chutang. He was so furious he laughed, and had the woman send him the surveillance footage from Valentine's Day. The video arrived quickly. In the surveillance footage, the figure of the man who bought the necklace was clearly visible. Fu Yuanzhou recognized him at a glance—it was Lin Sen, Jiang Shixu's special assistant. So he really had been deceived! Breaking up with Ruan Chutang was just to keep her out of the crossfire. Fu Yuanzhou sat on the sofa, cold light gleaming in his eyes. The glass tumbler shattered in his hand. "How amusing." Fu Yuanzhou's hand was bleeding profusely from the glass shards, yet a playful smile lingered on his face, making him look sinister and terrifying. The man muttered to himself, "Jiang Shixu, you love her that much—are you willing to trade your own life for hers?" ... "What did you say? They kidnapped Chutang?" Gu Zechuan's veins bulged on his forehead, his expression agitated. Compared to Gu Zechuan's agitation, Xu Jingxuan appeared extremely calm. She sat on the sofa, a smile at the corner of her lips, looking to be in a very good mood. "That's right." Xu Jingxuan smiled and raised her eyes to meet Gu Zechuan's. "When I first learned that my brother broke up with her to protect her, I wished she'd die on the spot. Now I'm finally getting my wish. Once she's in Brother Zhou's hands, Ruan Chutang definitely won't survive." Gu Zechuan's eyes were red with rage. He lunged forward and grabbed Xu Jingxuan by the collar, lifting her entirely off the ground. The man was seething with fury as he roared at Xu Jingxuan, "You told me you wanted me to cooperate with you just to break up Chu Tang and Jiang Shixu. You promised me you wouldn't hurt Tangtang!" Before Xu Jingxuan could say a word, the bodyguard standing nearby rushed over to rescue her and started throwing punches at Gu Zechuan. Gu Zechuan tussled with the bodyguard. The Jiang family's bodyguards were professionally trained and highly skilled. Gu Zechuan was naturally no match for them. Within a few moves, he was beaten to the ground. Xu Jingxuan straightened the clothes he had just rumpled, a look of contempt and annoyance in her eyes. "I did say I wouldn't hurt her, and I really haven't. I'm not the one who kidnapped Ruan Chutang. Why are you taking your anger out on me?" Gu Zechuan struggled to his feet with difficulty. His face was bruised and his body ached in multiple places, but he paid no attention to his own injuries. His only concern was Ruan Chutang. "What have they done to Tangtang? Where is Tangtang now?" Xu Jingxuan looked at him coldly. "How would I know? If you care so much, go find her yourself." Gu Zechuan's sinister gaze locked onto Xu Jingxuan as he gritted his teeth and said, "If anything happens to Tangtang, I will never let you people get away with it!" Xu Jingxuan couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Gu Zechuan, don't forget how the Gu Group managed to survive. Who is the largest shareholder of the group now? Threatening me? You're not qualified." Gu Zechuan's fists clenched tightly, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. Back then, when the Gu Group's capital chain broke and the company faced bankruptcy, he had gone everywhere wining and dining to attract investors. But because he had offended the Ruan and Jiang families, no company was willing to help him. Later, Xu Jingxuan had approached him on her own initiative and handed him a business card. With his back against the wall, he agreed to cooperate with Xu Jingxuan, made that phone call, and asked Sun Licheng for help. It was only later that he learned Sun Licheng and Xu Jingxuan were merely errand boys working for someone else. Gu Zechuan had never met the person behind them, nor did he know their full name. He only knew they all called him "Brother Zhou." The Gu Group was no longer the Gu family's company. The largest shareholder of the group was one of Brother Zhou's underlings. That person was only a shareholder in name, holding the shares on Brother Zhou's behalf. In other words, the actual controller of the Gu Group now was the man they called Brother Zhou.