Min Ziqiong's father understood instantly.
However, he deliberately said, "I haven't hidden any recipes, have I? Don't slander me! I haven't hidden any recipes at all!"
As he spoke, he secretly tucked his other hand behind his back.
It seemed as if he had indeed hidden something!
Seeing this, the two Baojie representatives immediately became vigilant, shouting in unison, "Take it out! Take out that hand of yours!"
"Damn it, two old geezers, you dare to hide the recipe! So you've been playing us all this time!"
"Hand over the recipe honestly, and we'll let you go. If you don't, we'll slit your throats red. We'll send both of you to hell, and you still won't be able to keep the recipe!"
"Cooperate obediently, and our contract remains the same. You can still become billionaires, and we can still complete our mission and get promoted and get a raise!"
The two Baojie representatives, using threats and temptations, advanced step by step toward Min Ziqiong's parents.
Min Ziqiong's father, with a look of unwillingness and reluctance, finally, after much hesitation, brought out the hand he had hidden behind his back.
But as soon as he brought it out, he suddenly opened his hand.
It wasn't a recipe at all, but a handful of sand!
Whoosh!
Min Ziqiong's father instantly flung the sand towards the two Baojie representatives.
The two Baojie representatives were caught off guard and were hit simultaneously.
"Run!"
Min Ziqiong's parents shouted and took off running.
Despite their old arms and legs, they burst forth with astonishing potential in a life-or-death situation.
They ran almost as fast as young people!
Most importantly, they were familiar with the roads and deliberately took the small paths.
By the time the two Baojie representatives had rubbed the sand out of their eyes and opened them, Min Ziqiong's parents had long since disappeared!
"Fuck!" one of the representatives cursed in anger. "We were actually fooled by two old guys! What a disgrace, an absolute disgrace!"
"What should we do? Should we continue to wait for them to return, or should we leave quickly?" the other representative asked.
"Hmph, we have no way back now. Waiting for them to return is definitely not an option; those two old guys won't be foolish enough to come back. Leaving is even more out of the question; if we don't complete our mission, we'll only be fired when we return."
"There's a saying in Longguo: fortune favors the bold. So we can only take a gamble!"
"How do we gamble?"
"It's simple! The two old guys are fleeing in disarray, and they definitely won't dare to show themselves for a while, fearing we'll find them. Their phones were also confiscated by us at home. We'll use this time difference and information gap to call Min Ziqiong! Tell Min Ziqiong that her parents have been kidnapped by us. Either she hands over the Shenjing recipe to save her parents' lives, or we'll kill them directly!"
"This..."
The other representative hesitated, clearly shocked by such a desperate idea.
However, in the next second, a fierce glint flashed in his eyes: "You're right, fortune favors the bold. We have no other way, so we can only use some harsh tactics to force a way out!"
"Call Min Ziqiong!"
"Call her now!"
...
Inside the mountain-top villa.
Min Ziqiong, who had just gone to bed, was woken by a shrill phone vibration before she could even begin to overcome her drowsiness.
Min Ziqiong quickly pressed her hand over the phone, afraid of waking Nannan.
Then, she tiptoed out of the bedroom and answered the call.
"Hello, if you're calling about the Shenjing cooperation, I believe you understand basic etiquette. It's one o'clock in the morning. Don't you think calling at this hour is extremely rude?"
Min Ziqiong said unceremoniously.
The other end was an unfamiliar number.
Min Ziqiong guessed that it must be about Shenjing.
She had received so many calls from unfamiliar numbers in the past two days.
But none of them had called at one o'clock in the morning like this!
It was only because Min Ziqiong had a good temper that someone with a bad temper would have blocked the caller immediately!
However, what Min Ziqiong did not expect was a burst of laughter from the other end of the phone: "Miss Min, please don't be angry. We don't want to call at this hour either, but we have no choice. Who told us that this matter must be conveyed to Miss Min!"
"What matter?" Min Ziqiong frowned.
"It's nothing much, really. Your parents have been captured by us and are being held temporarily. Your father and mother are the type who 'have big appetites but little skill,' and owe us some gambling debts. Since they can't repay them, we can only call Miss Min to discuss. Either Miss Min helps them pay off a debt of ten billion yuan, or Miss Min hands over the Shenjing recipe and technology."
"Which one does Miss Min choose?"
The two Baojie representatives expected Min Ziqiong to panic upon hearing that her parents had been kidnapped.
To their surprise, Min Ziqiong showed no reaction. Instead, she let out a cold snort and said, "I choose neither!"
"Please tell my parents: do less of this sort of thing in the future! Even if you must do it, at least change the method! Don't imitate others exactly, so that people can see through it at a glance!"
"Alright, I'm blocking this number. Don't call me again, and don't try this trick on me."
After speaking, Min Ziqiong directly hung up the phone.
The two Baojie representatives on the other end were left dumbfounded.
What was going on?
Why wasn't it what they had expected?
Even if Min Ziqiong wasn't the filial daughter rumored to be, she shouldn't be so indifferent to the safety of her parents!
This, this was simply unreasonable!
And the two Baojie representatives didn't know that Min Ziqiong mistakenly believed her parents were colluding with outsiders to put on a show!
Even if it was a show, it was imitating the performance that Ying Chen had staged when he kidnapped Min Ziqing!
How foolish would Min Ziqiong have to be to fall for it?
Therefore, Min Ziqiong unhesitatingly blocked the Baojie representatives' number.
After thinking about it, she worried that her parents might call from other numbers, so she simply turned off her phone.
Then, she went back to her room to sleep soundly.
At this moment, the Baojie representatives, as Min Ziqiong had predicted, were preparing to call from another number.
Unfortunately, they heard a prompt that the other party could not be reached temporarily.
"Damn it, she turned off her phone!"
The Baojie representative said angrily.
The two looked at each other, both utterly bewildered as to where the problem lay.
"What do we do now? If extortion doesn't work, are we supposed to rob them personally?" one representative said with immense frustration.
What was originally a joke was taken seriously by the other representative.
The other representative's eyebrows shot up: "You're right! Since extortion didn't work, let's go rob them directly! I heard that Min Ziqiong lives with her daughter, and there's also a security guard in the villa."
"At that time, you control the security guard, or just kill him to avoid any trouble."
"I'll control Min Ziqiong! If she's willing to hand over the recipe, fine. If not, we'll use her daughter as a hostage. We'll cut off her daughter's fingers one by one, and see if she hands it over!"
"Brother, shall we do it? Just say the word!"
The representative who had jokingly suggested robbery pondered for a moment, then suddenly slapped the table and stood up: "Which of the great figures in history hasn't had blood on their hands?"
"Let's do it!"