Chapter 290: Chapter 288: Hiding
The family treated her with indifference, as if she wasn’t a real member of the Huang Family, but rather a stray picked up from elsewhere. She felt no warmth, let alone love, at home.
The moment Huang Ziyan realized she had been captured, she wondered if her brother and father would rush overnight to Nanhai City and try everything to find her.
Unexpectedly, the first to show up was Chen Tianlong, someone she’d only met once.
Was this a gift from heaven? This man made her feel no trace of evil intentions, as though he wasn’t there for her wealth or beauty.
"Chen Tianlong, why did you think of rescuing me? Aren’t you afraid?" Huang Ziyan pondered for a moment but couldn’t help asking.
"Afraid."
Chen Tianlong answered very honestly, facing dangerous criminals. Remembering last night’s scene with rocket launchers and machine guns, it was extremely dangerous. It was only by suspecting Hao Jian that he followed along, and to this day, Chen Tianlong still doesn’t know why he had such courage.
"Ah? Then... then why did you still come... to rescue me."
Upon hearing this, Huang Ziyan’s heart trembled, and she felt her face warm up. Is this what they call secret admiration on TV?
Knowing she was in danger, he came to rescue her without hesitating?
Otherwise, who would be so dedicated to rescuing someone early in the morning before the birds even awaken?
"Well... I don’t know how to explain it for a moment, and we better stop talking for now. This house is too close to the stairs, and I’m afraid we’ll be discovered." Chen Tianlong whispered.
"Oh, I understand."
Huang Ziyan felt a little disappointed but her heart was still sweet. She blinked at Chen Tianlong, hesitant to speak.
Noticing Huang Ziyan’s expression, Chen Tianlong quickly looked to the side, not daring to meet her gaze directly.
It’s not because he’s shy; he’s never shy. It’s just that he’s afraid if he continues to look at such a stunning beauty, he might end up doing something regrettable.
"Look over there, they must not have escaped yet—search carefully for me!" Suddenly, a series of footsteps sounded outside, followed by voices.
Apparently, the rescue of Huang Ziyan had been discovered.
After chatting for a while in the lobby, Hao Shuai intended to have Zhang Hujun come down for a small meeting to discuss the next plan.
But as soon as a subordinate reached the second floor, he found three brothers lying by the door and quickly ran downstairs to report it. Hao Shuai and the others rushed up the stairs, opened the door, and discovered that the people were gone, with Zhang Hujun lying on the ground.
Hao Shuai immediately knew something was wrong, and rescuing Huang Ziyan was no ordinary person. After all, who could knock out Zhang Hujun other than an exceptional person?
After sounding the alarm, the entire complex was surrounded.
Hao Shuai figured it was unlikely anyone could smuggle a person out of the base under his nose, given the number of patrols. Escaping with a woman from the second floor was not easy.
Moreover, the three guards had been changed just five minutes ago. Logically, it should have happened a few minutes ago. How could anyone escape with a defenseless woman in such a short time unless they could fly?
"Search the place thoroughly, focus on the complex, and I suspect Huang Ziyan is still inside, yet to escape," Hao Shuai reasoned closely, feeling a major event was about to happen as his right eyelid kept twitching.
Folklore states: left eye twitch for fortune, right for disaster.
Though he’s not superstitious, some things are hard to dismiss. Surely, just as his eyelid twitched for a bit, Huang Ziyan disappeared.
His gaze fixed on the nut on the floor, suddenly reminded of something, he urgently said, "Quick, go check the scrap room."
"Yes, boss."
A few subordinates quickly left the room to head to the nearby scrap room, followed closely by Hao Shuai, Pan Shi, and Zhou Qianghan.
The door to the scrap room was kicked open, and the group burst inside. After all, not everyone had firearms, only Hao Shuai and Pan Shi were armed with guns.
Others carried knives or iron rods like regular thugs.
Chen Tianlong felt somewhat depressed; he knew they would eventually be discovered but didn’t expect it to be so soon. Apparently, these people weren’t fools.
At that moment, Chen Tianlong pulled Huang Ziyan into his embrace—not to take advantage—but because the situation was urgent. The trash pile wasn’t high, and the black cardboard wasn’t large, only enough to fully cover one person.
The best solution was to huddle together.
Huang Ziyan was startled at first and instinctively wanted to push him away, thinking Chen Tianlong was trying something with her. Suddenly, hearing the door being kicked open with a "bang," she realized the situation and dared not move anymore.
Chen Tianlong gave her a look, signaling her not to move, so the two remained tightly huddled together. Initially, Huang Ziyan was uncomfortable, but after a while, she surprisingly felt quite safe, less tense.
Shortly after, Hao Shuai, Pan Shi, and others entered, while Zhou Qianghan dashed to the balcony, looked around, and frowned at the sight of the nearby water pipe, guessing that people had climbed and escaped through it.
"Hao Shuai, in my opinion, someone took Huang Ziyan away, and this water pipe was so close that we didn’t think to stop them," Zhou Qianghan said dejectedly.
Hearing Zhou Qianghan’s words, Hao Shuai briskly walked over, looked at the water pipe half a meter from the balcony, and wiped his forehead, blaming himself for not anticipating someone would find their trail so quickly.
"Xu Wei, it’s all your fault. Why show up here early in the morning, and not notice being followed?" Hao Shuai, frustrated, began scolding Xu Wei.
"Huh? Bro, why say it like that?" Xu Wei felt wronged by the scolding, feeling innocent.
"You were the only one who came this morning, while we arrived last night. Logically, if we had been discovered last night, they wouldn’t have waited until this morning to rescue her."
Glaring at his brother, Hao Jian, while angrily analyzing, Hao Shuai said, "So the most plausible explanation is that you were tailed this morning."
"Thump!"
Realizing his mistake in causing big trouble, Xu Wei immediately knelt on the ground.
"Brother Hao, I’m sorry, it’s my fault."
Apologizing, Xu Wei began to slap his own face. After a few slaps, Zhou Qianghan leaped up, grabbed Xu Wei’s hand, and pulled him up.
"Hey, why are you doing this? Everyone makes mistakes. Besides, what’s done is done. It’s no big deal; the worst case is I lose the money," Zhou Qianghan was empathetic, unable to bear seeing Hao Jian mistreating himself.
"Heh, now it’s not about the money. The person escaped, and my brother Pan Jie died. Do you think the gang leader of the Earth Dragon would let you off easily?"
Pan Shi spoke frankly, knowing that even if Hao Shuai captured the person, it might not quell the anger of the Earth Dragon Organization.