"What?"
Jiang Qingqing almost cried out in surprise, but fortunately, she remembered where she was. She bit her lip tightly, managing not to scream.
"Wait a moment, we forgot to bring the baby's milk powder. We'll need it later. Can you open the car door for us?"
Seeing Jiang Qingqing's stunned reaction and the car door being shut, Yi Wanghua suppressed her unease and spoke up.
The two men in the front exchanged another glance, a dark glint flashing in their eyes.
It seemed they had discovered something and were having second thoughts. But could they let the ducks they had in hand get away? How else would they report to the boss?
"We can come back to get it for you when we arrive. For now, let's go to the restaurant and not keep the boss waiting," the driver said, immediately starting the car and driving away.
Jiang Qingqing and Yi Wanghua looked at each other, seeing the panic on each other's faces. These two might not be on their side after all.
This suspicion was further confirmed when they saw the car drive out of the city, because this was not the road to Pengcheng Restaurant.
"This isn't the way to Pengcheng Restaurant. Who are you? What do you want?" Jiang Qingqing couldn't help but ask, tightly hugging her daughter, her voice filled with panic.
Seeing the grim situation, Yi Wanghua pulled out a piece of cloth and tied the infant, only a few months old, to herself. Then, she reached into her pant leg, found the folded small knife, and prepared to attack.
The two men in front, seeing that their plan had been exposed, were not worried at all. They had already spotted their boss and the others waiting ahead.
With so many people on their side, these two women, no matter how capable, would be unable to escape.
"Of course, it's kidnapping. Can't you figure that out?" the driver scoffed loudly.
"Don't think about escaping, because our boss is just ahead," the passenger in the front seat added.
Yi Wanghua immediately looked forward. What she saw startled her. A vast crowd of people. She knew she couldn't defeat them alone.
With that thought, she quietly put the folded knife back where it was, planning to escape when she found an opportunity later.
In this situation, escape was impossible.
Jiang Qingqing also saw the scene ahead, instantly becoming anxious and angry. "Why are you doing this? I don't even know you!"
The driver sneered, "You should ask your good husband. If he hadn't offended our boss, why would we come to kidnap his wife and child?"
"..."
So they were indeed enemies. Jiang Qingqing suppressed the panic in her heart. "Do you want money? I can give you money, as long as you let me go."
"Hahaha, we want the money, and we want you too. Give up all hope. We will never let you go, including Zhang Liunian."
With that, their car also stopped.
Jiang Qingqing was extremely flustered. She looked outside and her eyes met a face that bore some resemblance to Zhu Laosan. Her heart skipped a beat. Were they from the Zhu family?
"Get out," Zhu Lao Er said, his eyes devoid of emotion as he looked at the beautiful Jiang Qingqing inside the car.
Unlike Zhu Laosan's lust, Zhu Lao Er was only interested in wealth. Besides money, he had no other interests.
Therefore, no matter how beautiful Jiang Qingqing was, he would not develop any inappropriate feelings.
"Don't touch us. We can walk ourselves," Yi Wanghua said as the car door opened and someone reached for them.
With that, she obediently got out of the car, and even helped Jiang Qingqing out.
"Arrange them in the large truck," Zhu Lao Er said, seeing that they were relatively compliant and not requiring stricter restraints.
"Yes," a subordinate replied, taking Jiang Qingqing and Yi Wanghua towards the truck.
Jiang Qingqing had no chance to say anything before Zhu Lao Er and his men arranged them into the truck.
By the time she wanted to try and plead for their release, the car had already started moving again.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Zhang Liunian was dining and chatting with a group of influential figures.
One of the customs in Chinese culture was to discuss business, life, and ideals over meals. As long as there was food, anything could be discussed.
At this moment, they were discussing lending.
"The people from the National Chamber of Commerce came to our bank to apply for loans yesterday. They are currently being reviewed, and it's estimated that it definitely won't go through. After all, their past actions with Hong Kong businessmen were indeed excessive," said the president of Pengcheng General Bank. He had received the loan application documents from the National Chamber of Commerce yesterday and had instructed his subordinates to follow the process, but he already knew the outcome.
The others nodded in agreement with his decision.
"This is how it should be. Let them taste some hardship."
"I agree. The people from the National Chamber of Commerce don't respect us at all. For the past two years, they have been engaging in malicious competition with Hong Kong businessmen, not considering how we would cope if we couldn't complete our work."
"They also didn't consider how their actions would damage Pengcheng's development. If they come to me for business another day, I'll have to stall them too, to let them know the consequences of offending us."
"..."
Zhang Liunian was surprised to hear this and secretly thought that the people from the National Chamber of Commerce had really played themselves.
If they all started to obstruct business, let alone developing projects, even their current industries might not run smoothly.
Zhang Ya, sitting next to Zhang Liunian, leaned over and whispered, "Liunian, remember not to offend these people easily."
Otherwise, if even one of them blocked an approval, they could be ruined.
Zhang Liunian nodded in agreement, "I understand."
Just then, Zhang Qian appeared in a hurry and whispered in Zhang Liunian's ear, "Brother Liunian, sister-in-law, nephew, and niece, and Yi Wanghua are missing. I heard you sent people to pick them up for dinner, but they haven't returned yet. The bodyguards were worried and came to ask me."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liunian suddenly leaped up from his seat.
"How could this happen?"
He blurted out, then realized the inappropriateness of the current setting. This was not the place to resolve personal matters. He immediately apologized to everyone, "I'm sorry, there's something at home that's disturbing everyone. I need to be excused for a moment." With that, he said goodbye and left.
After he walked out of the private room, he immediately asked Zhang Qian what was going on.
"I was attending a gathering, so I had no time to call Qingqing and the children out for dinner. Those people must have impersonated me and kidnapped them. Where is Uncle Yi?"
Zhang Liunian had only brought Zhang Qian out today. Uncle Yi had stayed at home. Why hadn't he come when his wife was in trouble?
"I don't know where he's gone either," Zhang Qian replied. He knew that the bodyguards had notified him, and he had no idea where Uncle Yi had gone.
Zhang Liunian's expression was unreadable. "I'm going home first. You go and buy a car."
"Yes."
Half an hour later, Zhang Liunian returned home and questioned the situation, finally confirming that his wife and daughter had indeed been kidnapped.
What made him most angry was that he didn't even know who had kidnapped them.