The entire room was terrifyingly silent. He finally heard a faint whimpering from the direction of the balcony and immediately realized there was a problem there. However, he could see the balcony clearly from inside the room, and no one was there.
When he looked at Ai Shunan again, Ai Shunan suddenly threw the teacup in his hand, picked up the fruit knife beside him, overturned the small table, and rushed to the balcony. He grabbed a thick hemp rope on the railing and held the fruit knife against it.
Yang Sijie was almost hit by the small table he overturned, but he dodged quickly and also ran to the balcony.
"Don't come any closer. If you take one more step, I'll cut the rope and shatter Gu Susu into pieces." Ai Shunan laughed, his gaze fixed on the rope on the railing.
Yang Sijie looked down from the balcony and was shocked to see Gu Susu hanging outside the balcony, with at least a thousand-meter cliff below.
Gu Susu's hands were tied behind her back, and her mouth was stuffed with a towel, which was why she could only make faint sounds. Sitting in the room, if one didn't listen carefully, they wouldn't hear anything.
"Susu, hold on, I'm coming to save you."
Gu Susu heard his voice and struggled to lift her head.
But as soon as she struggled, Ai Shunan began to cut the rope with the fruit knife in his hand. She swung back and forth outside the balcony, almost hitting the cliff face.
Seeing this, Yang Sijie had never felt so panicked. "Susu, don't move, don't struggle, I'll save you."
After speaking, he stood up straight, took out a gun from behind his waist, and pointed it at Ai Shunan, saying, "Stop! Calm down, don't cut the rope anymore. Pull her up, or I'll shoot you!"
"Fine, I have nothing left anyway, and your woman can accompany me to the grave." Saying this, Ai Shunan untied the knot of the rope on this end of the balcony. He held the rope with one hand, but couldn't withstand Gu Susu's weight, and a large section of the rope quickly slipped through his hand.
He switched to using both hands to grab it, finally holding the end of the rope firmly.
Gu Susu swung down again. Just as Ai Shunan secured the rope, she, unable to protect herself, hit a sharp protruding rock on the cliff face, bleeding immediately and losing consciousness.
Yang Sijie's face turned pale instantly, and he was terrified. He carefully put down the gun and stared at Ai Shunan, saying, "Pull her up. I'll give you whatever you want."
"Give me back Ai's Group." Ai Shunan held the rope with both hands, ready to die with Gu Susu.
"Okay, pull her up, and I'll give it back to you," Yang Sijie said, trying to approach him. "I'll help you pull, but you have to guarantee she's okay before I give you Ai's Group."
Ai Shunan laughed sarcastically, his brows furrowed impatiently, and said, "Do you really think I'm an idiot? If you pull her up, will you still give me back Ai's Group?"
With a slight shake of his hand, Gu Susu hit the cliff face again.
Yang Sijie saw that he was somewhat neurotic and mentally unstable.
"Okay, okay, where are the documents? I'll sign them now. Calm down, don't get agitated." Yang Sijie could only try to appease his emotions.
Ai Shunan tilted his head towards the room and said, "In the bag I brought. Go get it and sign."
"Okay..." Before Yang Sijie could finish saying "okay," there was a rapid knocking on the door from outside.
"Open the door, hurry up and open the door, police!"
Ai Shunan immediately became agitated and roared, "You called the police? It seems you don't care if she lives or dies!"
"I didn't, it wasn't me, I didn't call the police!" Yang Sijie vehemently denied it. He hadn't known Gu Susu was tied outside the balcony like this, or he would never have let Mark call the police.
"You're still trying to lie to me!" Ai Shunan's expression twisted, his emotions on the verge of complete loss of control. He threw away the fruit knife in his hand, preparing to completely let go of the rope. "You took everything from me, and I'll let your woman die with me!"
The police outside the door were knocking without a response and were about to break in.
At the critical moment, Yang Sijie, with a blank expression, rushed towards Ai Shunan.
Just as Ai Shunan was about to let go of the rope, he snatched it with one hand and shoved the gun in his other hand into Ai Shunan's. He said, as if gambling with his life, "Yes, I'm the one who took your Ai's Group. If you have the guts, shoot me! Come on, shoot me!"
Ai Shunan had completely lost his reason. His face twitched as he tightened his grip on the gun, preparing to shoot Yang Sijie.
At this moment, the police burst in shouting not to move. He instinctively raised the gun towards the police, and instantly several crisp gunshots rang out, like firecrackers during the New Year.
He was quickly shot dead by the police.
Yang Sijie ignored Ai Shunan's tragic death and, with swift movements, grabbed the rope with both hands and pulled Gu Susu up, but he dared not use too much force.
Gu Susu, who was feigning unconsciousness, remained still on the rope.
Yang Sijie's heart was pounding in his chest. The rope, where Ai Shunan had cut it, was slowly breaking. He feared that before he could pull Susu up, the rope would completely snap.
"Is anyone here to help? Hurry and help!"
Hearing his shout, Mark was the first to run over. He looked down and realized why Yang Sijie was holding the rope so tightly and pulling something.
"Mr. Yang, hold on tight and don't move. I'll climb down and see if I can reach the part of the rope that's about to break."
"Then why aren't you down there yet!" Yang Sijie roared.
Mark, agile, flipped out of the balcony and carefully moved down the cliff face. He tried to reach it with one hand several times and finally managed to grasp the part of the rope that was about to break.
At this moment, Yang Sijie's heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally felt a little less panicked.
Two police officers also came to help them, and together they pulled Gu Susu up from outside the balcony.
When Yang Sijie held her, looking at her pale face and the congealed blood on her head, even his fingertips began to tremble.
"Susu, I'll take you to the hospital right away. Hold on, you must be alright..."
...
Half a year later, it was winter in Paris, and it had just snowed.
Gu Susu, wearing a white cashmere coat and a Chinese red scarf, with her slightly curly long hair, came out of the classroom carrying several large books.
She walked slowly, stopping and starting, admiring the snow-covered scenery on campus.
Qin Tianyi sat in the car. Since getting off the plane, he had been looking at files on his laptop. When his eyes felt tired, he looked up and glanced out the car window.
For him, the past half year had been the same wherever he went. He had been busy working on business matters, resolving crisis after crisis for the Ao Xiang Group, and finally allowing the group to gradually recover its vitality.
Suddenly, a familiar figure caught his eye. Was this an illusion?
Why did the woman not far away, who looked like a student, resemble Gu Susu so much?
He only knew that Gu Susu had gone abroad with Yang Sijie. As for where they had gone or what they were doing now, he didn't want to know or care.
They were the prince and princess who had gone through hardships and finally lived happily ever after. What did that make him?