Mr. Xue was pleased and had his assistant notify someone to come over, quickly taking away Zhu Laosan and his group.
However, no one expected that the vehicle would be intercepted midway.
Zhang Liunian heard the news while back at the guesthouse with Mr. Xue.
"Do you know who did it? And is Zhu Laosan dead?" Mr. Xue hadn't expected the truck to be hijacked. "I don't know, and I'm not sure if he's dead," the assistant replied with a grim expression.
If Zhu Laosan wasn't dead, he would surely seek revenge once he recovered. While they weren't afraid, dealing with such a person was troublesome.
Mr. Xue naturally thought of this too, and looked apologetically at Zhang Liunian, "Comrade Zhang, it seems we're both in trouble."
Zhang Liunian's expression was also grim. If Zhu Laosan was rescued, as long as he had a breath left, he would seek medical attention and likely recover soon.
He should have guarded there earlier, and only considered him dead once he was sure. Now, it was too late to say anything.
"We'll deal with whatever comes. Let's get some rest," Zhang Liunian said, then took his wife up to their second-floor room.
After washing up, they lay together, holding each other tightly, neither speaking.
After an unknown amount of time, Jiang Qingqing suddenly choked back a sob, "Liunian, I thought I would never see you again."
Zhang Liunian knew she was emotionally unstable, and held her tighter with his large hands, comforting her, "Don't be afraid. I'm here, no one can bully you."
But Jiang Qingqing, thinking about everything that had happened today, was still very uneasy. Her small hand gripped the clothes on Zhang Liunian's chest tightly. "But I'm still so scared. If Zhu Laosan gets better, he'll definitely come after us again, and seek revenge."
People like Zhu Laosan were extremely vengeful and wouldn't let them off.
Jiang Qingqing was terrified. She feared that Zhu Laosan would succeed, that she would lose Zhang Liunian, and couldn't bear to face him.
Thinking of this, her body trembled slightly. Zhang Liunian felt her fear and wrapped his arms around her, trying to give her strength and confidence.
"Whether he's dead or not, I will deal with him and won't let him get away with it." Zhang Liunian was already contemplating how to resolve Zhu Laosan permanently if he wasn't dead. It wasn't about a discreet murder, but the only way was to send him to prison where he could never get out.
It was a pity that the clue about the drugs was broken; finding concrete evidence of Zhu Laosan's crimes again would be difficult.
"You need to be careful from now on, that man really dares to do anything," Jiang Qingqing said. Hearing her husband wanted to deal with Zhu Laosan, she immediately forgot her fear and looked up worriedly at Zhang Liunian, afraid something might happen to him.
Zhang Liunian looked at his wife's reddened eyes and reached out to stroke her small face. "Don't worry, next time I'll use my wits."
Jiang Qingqing knew her husband was just comforting her, but she had no good solution either.
Moreover, facing someone like Zhu Laosan, it was hard not to resort to direct confrontation.
"Forget it. I won't go out easily from now on. I don't believe he can break into our house and take me away. You also shouldn't take risks, it's too dangerous. Our mother and daughters cannot bear to lose you."
Jiang Qingqing hugged Zhang Liunian's neck, letting go of her fear.
Compared to Zhang Liunian's life, nothing else was worth it. Even if Zhu Laosan was a sword hanging over her heart, she could endure it.
Zhang Liunian heard that she was compromising for his safety and was moved, but he also didn't want to see her worried.
So, he said he would handle it, but in his heart, he was still determined to lock Zhu Laosan up in prison.
"Being careful is good, but you don't need to lock yourself away. Oh, right, I have something good to show you." Zhang Liunian didn't want to continue the topic and handed the savings book he found at Zhu Laosan's house to his wife.
Jiang Qingqing took it doubtfully, and upon opening it, her body leaped three feet high. "One zero, two zeros... eight zeros? Ten million? My heavens, where did this savings book come from? Is it ours? It doesn't look like it!"
Jiang Qingqing was indeed distracted by the savings book and became ecstatic, clutching it.
Zhang Liunian sat up and smiled, "Guess."
Seeing her husband playing coy, Jiang Qingqing blurted out, "Did you perhaps find it?"
"Close enough. It was found. How about that, your man has good luck!" Zhang Liunian was extremely proud.
Now it was Jiang Qingqing's turn to be stunned. "Did you really find it? Then we should return it to them quickly!" Although she said that, her eyes kept darting to the numbers on the passbook, and she swallowed hard, clearly reluctant to part with it.
Zhang Liunian was amused by her expression and reached out to flick her small nose. "This was found in Zhu's house. Are you sure you want to return it to Zhu Laosan?"
"No, absolutely not giving back anything that's his. He almost got us killed, I feel no guilt about taking his money." Upon hearing it was Zhu Laosan's money, Jiang Qingqing immediately clutched it tighter, afraid it might be returned.
"I also disagree with giving it back to him. He kidnapped you several times; giving him some compensation for emotional distress is more than justified."
"Exactly, he almost caused our separation. He deserves to lose money."
"Hahaha..."
That night, Jiang Qingqing slept holding the savings book. The moment she woke up, she looked at it several more times before happily getting out of bed.
After leaving the guesthouse, Zhang Liunian and two others found a breakfast stall to eat.
Shortly after sitting down, Zhang Qian asked what they should do now. Zhang Liunian replied, "Naturally, we'll take over the department store."
Jiang Qingqing looked up while drinking her soy milk and said, "Liunian, I need to go back. Shaohua can't do without me."
Their son was still young. Although he drank milk, it wasn't as good as breast milk.
"Sister-in-law, we can't go back to Nancheng right now. We tried to go back yesterday, but we were blocked. They say Nancheng will be sealed off for two months," Zhang Qian said while eating a steamed bun.
Jiang Qingqing was stunned. She had heard that a certain illness had come to Nancheng, but she didn't know that Nancheng would be sealed for two months.
What would she do for these two months? How would her son drink milk? And what about her daughter?
Zhang Liunian saw his wife's worry and placed his large hand over hers, comforting her, "I'll call my little sister later and ask her and her husband to go to Nancheng to help your aunt take care of Huabao and Shaohua. Don't worry."
As long as their son had milk, he could manage.
Jiang Qingqing was still worried about her son, "If I could go back, I'd still want to go back, even if I couldn't come out."
"I'll have Ziteng and the others keep an eye out. As soon as Nancheng allows people to enter, I'll send you back immediately," Zhang Liunian promised, understanding his wife's concerns.
Jiang Qingqing nodded; that was all they could do for now.
"We might have to stay in the provincial capital for quite some time. After we're done with our business today, we'll go buy a house to settle in," staying at the guesthouse wasn't ideal, and Jiang Qingqing also needed something to distract her from her worries.
Zhang Liunian's idea was approved by Jiang Qingqing, "Let's buy a big one. I can decorate it nicely, and we can live here whenever we visit."
"Mm."
After breakfast, Zhang Liunian, Zhang Qian, and Jiang Qingqing went to the department store on Jiefang Road.
As they arrived at the entrance, it didn't attract anyone's attention, nor did anyone come to greet them, because no one at the department store knew Zhang Liunian was coming today, or that he was the new owner.