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After a long silence, Han Liqun listened to the static on the line. The other party hadn’t hung up, but neither had they spoken. Han Liqun gripped his phone tightly, pressing it against his ear. He was gambling, knowing that this person could easily transfer his money and block him, leaving him powerless to do anything.
This was the first time Han Liqun had to entrust his fate to someone else. Driven to this point, he had no choice but to believe in this person; there were no other options left for him.
Having made a living through deception, Han Liqun had never dared to trust anyone.
Time passed, and he felt as if he were suffocating. He looked up at the ceiling and then down at the concrete floor beneath him. Thoughts of his life possibly coming to an end flooded his mind—he thought of the kidnapper's face that he hadn’t seen clearly, and of his wife and son.
Finally, there was movement on the other end of the phone.
The voice was slow, and from the tone, it seemed the person was still in disbelief. “The payment password is indeed correct. Since that’s the case, I’ll hold onto this thousand yuan for now. I will report it to the police; wait for my call.”
Han Liqun immediately replied, “Okay, okay! Please make sure to call me back. I have more money; if I can get out of this, I will repay you generously.”
“Just wait,” came the response.
It was now eight-thirty in the morning on August twenty-third, during the time when Old Shao and Jiang He were accompanying Ding Derun to withdraw money.
At nine-thirty, the call came in.
Han Liqun answered right away. “Hello? What’s going on? What’s the situation?”
“I’ve reported it,” the voice said. “But they told me that aside from elderly people and children, a case involving an adult man won’t be investigated until twenty-four hours have passed. I’ve got some news; they’re currently dealing with a kidnapping case and have deployed almost all their resources. Your case will have to wait.”
Hearing this, Han Liqun pounded his fist against the metal wall with all his strength, producing a loud metallic clang that was jarring to hear.
He cursed angrily, “What do you mean other kidnapping cases are more important? My kidnapping is just nothing?”
The voice on the line grew impatient. “Why are you taking your anger out on me? It’s not like I don’t want to help; I’m doing everything you asked me to do. But they don’t believe your story. If I don’t believe it myself, how can I expect them to? They’d be lucky not to arrest me instead. Enough of this; I need to get back to work.”
At that moment, Han Liqun finally tasted despair. His words were all true, yet no one was willing to believe him.
He didn't know what to do now, and he had no idea what the police were up to. At this moment, Han Liqun naturally had no way of knowing that the police had deployed almost all their forces for Ding Derun's case, leaving only the officers who were required to stay on duty.
If the police didn't believe him, then who would?
"Yue, Yue." Han Liqun immediately understood; Yue was now his last lifeline.
"I've made it very clear to you. The police don't believe your story, and no one else will either. I took your one thousand yuan, and I did what I was supposed to do by reporting it. Whether you believe me or not doesn't matter; that's how it is," Yue replied.
Before Yue could finish, Han Liqun couldn't hold back any longer: "There's one person who will definitely believe me, one person who surely trusts me—my wife. My wife's name is Xie Chunlan, and she lives at Unit 100, Yinhai Crescent Five. Go find her; you're sent by me. If my family reports it to the police, they will definitely take it seriously."
"No, I've already reported it for you. Now you want me to go to your house?" Yue quickly refused. "I see through your scheme; that one thousand yuan is just bait. Were you tricked by me before? Are you looking for revenge? The moment I knock on your door, your relatives will be there and beat me up to vent their anger?"
Han Liqun was nearly in tears, desperately clinging to this lifeline: "Please don’t think like that! Let me tell you my name; it's something only my wife knows. If you tell her this name, she'll understand that I sent you. You can ask her for money—one thousand, three thousand, even ten thousand—whatever it takes for me to get out of here. You'll be my savior."
"Think about it," Han Liqun coaxed gently. "Help me get through this tough time."
"Your... ten thousand yuan, right?" Yue seemed tempted.
Han Liqun hurriedly replied, "That's right! As long as you understand the stakes involved, my wife will give you the money. My name is Piwa; only my wife and I know this name. I'm telling you this because I'm truly at my wit's end—please help me."
"Haha." Upon hearing this, Yue burst into laughter. "That's a nice name."
Han Liqun's face immediately turned red; at that moment, he felt completely exposed under someone else's gaze, a wave of unprecedented shame washing over him—a feeling he thought he had lost thirty years ago when he first started lying. Yet here it was again.
But in the end, face was not more important than life; Han Liqun could only laugh along with Yue.
"What do you think?" Han Liqun asked.
Yue sighed heavily, looking somewhat embarrassed: "Alright then, I'll go to your house and give your phone to your wife. You can talk to her directly on the phone. However, I want thirty thousand yuan. At that time, I can give you my phone and SIM card so you can contact your wife directly; after that, we’ll have nothing to do with each other."
The proposal truly struck a chord with Han Liqun. He thought about it, but he couldn't voice his thoughts; otherwise, the other party might suspect it was some kind of trap. However, if Yue brought it up himself, everything would be easier.
"Alright, let's do it this way," Han Liqun immediately agreed. "You have her give you fifty thousand, and I'll give you fifty thousand."
"I'll call you when I get there," Yue said.
"Okay!"
At twelve-thirty on August 23rd, Han Liqun tore off a piece of bread and put it in his mouth. He took a light sip of mineral water, swallowing the bread crumbs down. After that bite, he found he couldn't eat anymore. Several hours had passed, and judging by the phone number, it seemed to be a local one. As long as Yue was living in Jingzhong City, the scammer should have arrived at his home by now. Considering the time, he should have called him already.
At that moment, he had no appetite at all. He randomly shoved another bite into his mouth before putting the bread down.
Just as he set the bread aside, his phone finally rang. He hurriedly picked it up from the bed with one hand while holding an unopened bottle of mineral water with the other. "Hello, is this Yue? What's going on?"
Yue replied seriously, "Han Liqun, I've chosen to trust you once, but you're not trying to scam me, are you? I've been waiting here for fifteen minutes; there's no one at your house! How long have I been knocking on the door?"
"No one?" Now it was Han Liqun's turn to be surprised.
Han Liqun earned nearly a million a year, which made him relatively wealthy in Jingzhong City. Therefore, his wife didn't need to work; her only tasks were to drop off and pick up their child from school. They even had a part-time cook to help with meals. It was already twelve-thirty; she should have been back by now.
"Just wait a bit longer! Maybe she's stuck in traffic; she should be back soon. Didn't you see the cook? She should be at home preparing lunch right now."
Yue replied, "Forget about the cook; I haven't seen anyone at all."
Han Liqun had been kidnapped here since six o'clock last night. In these eighteen hours, he had never seen his captors and had no idea what they wanted. He was even more clueless about news from the outside world. Now that Yue's wife and child were not home, where could they possibly be?
"Since there's no one around, I'm not waiting any longer. I'm leaving," Yue said.
"No!" Han Liqun immediately stopped him. "Yue, there should be a spare key under the mat you're standing on. Why don't you check it and go inside? You can watch TV at home, alright? Just wait for half an hour, okay? If she doesn't come in that time, we can think of another way."
Yue replied, "I'm only doing this because of the fifty thousand. No, it's because of your face. I'll go in and wait for half an hour. If it doesn't work out, you can't blame me. But I am a conman, not a thief. If something goes missing from your house, you can't blame me for that either. And by the way, whether I wait for your wife or not, I will definitely get that fifty thousand!"
"Alright, alright!"
Han Liqun quickly agreed. In truth, he felt a bit pleased; people like this were always more endearing. As long as they could be lured by money, they would follow the money wherever it led them. This greatly increased Han Liqun's chances of survival. What he feared most were those upright individuals who cared about nothing else.
Yue lifted the mat beneath his feet and indeed found two keys hidden underneath. One appeared to be for a security door, while the other was for a wooden door.
Using both keys, Yue unlocked the door and stepped inside.
However, the sight before him left Yue stunned. The entire room was empty, as if it were just a vacant house. Han Liqun had told him to watch TV, but there wasn't even a radio left behind. There were no cabinets, coffee tables, or sofas—none of the things one would expect to find in a typical home.
Yue's first impression was that either no one had moved in yet or the occupants had already taken everything away.
"Wait," Yue said, puzzled. "Did you move out?"
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