Two minutes later, the doorbell rang.
“There, Minsheng has brought the things you wanted. Can I go open the door now?” Luo Yi said.
This time, Ning Ran had no objection.
When the door opened, a tall and muscular man stood there in the place of Feng Minsheng.
He was no stranger to Luo Yi, as he was the one who had claimed to be Ning Ziqiang’s former subordinate. He had even treated them to a meal.
Luo Yi later found out through Feng Minsheng that he was from the Nan family. His name was Qiao Zhan, and he oversaw all the security duties for the Nan family.
The moment Luo Yi saw Qiao Zhan, she knew something was wrong.
“How can you be here?” Luo Yi looked at Qiao Zhan.
“Why can’t it be me?”
Qiao Zhan shot a retort at Luo Yi before handing a plastic bag containing an urn to Ning Ran.
Ning Ran’s tears fell the moment she held the urn in her hands.
“I seized this from Feng Minsheng who is under our control right now.” Qiao Zhan said.
“Thank you, Captain Qiao. Where is he now?”
Ning Ran was asking about Ning Ziqiang. Even though he was a scoundrel, he was her biological father after all, and she still wanted to know whether he was dead or alive.
“He has been tied up and is quite weak, probably because he didn’t eat. I’ve had him sent to the hospital.” Qiao Zhan said.
“Ning Ran, you said there were explosives in this box. You were lying weren’t you?” Luo Yi said.
Ning Ran placed the urn down properly and wiped her tears away.
“It’s just a television remote control. What explosives are you talking about?”
“What is in your box then?”
“A voice transmitter and some high-tech thing that my son made. Our conversations can be sent to the cloud drive, and once you open that software, you can hear our conversations. These conversations are saved, so we can listen to them anytime. However, I don’t know the name of this newfangled toy. I have never quite understood the high-tech things my son makes,” said Ning Ran.
“So you were lying to me? You weren’t planning to give me the money at all?”
“I was about to give it to you, but since you badmouthed me and I couldn’t borrow any money, what do I have to give you? Captain Qiao, let the police handle this person too.” Ning Ran said.
“You can’t use a secret recording as evidence! The police have no way of catching me!” Luo Yi was still very arrogant.
“The fact that you tied Ning Ziqiang up can already be considered as unlawful imprisonment. Of course, you can be charged under this offence,” Ning Ran said coldly.
“You…”
“Also, didn’t you say my grandfather’s ashes were in your hands too? What about that USB?” Ning Ran picked up the urn carefully.
“Let me go, and I’ll tell you where your grandfather’s ashes are.” Luo Yi seemed to see a light at the end of the tunnel again.
Qiao Zhan gave her one tight slap on her face. “Are you trying to lie to Ms. Ding again? Ms. Ding, don’t listen to her. Feng Minsheng has said that there is only an urn there. Your grandfather’s ashes have already been buried.”
Ning Ran finally heaved a sigh of relief.
After they left the hotel, Qiao Zhan arranged for Luo Yi to be sent to the police station while he drove Ning Ran back to her home for her to find a resting spot for the urn.
Ning Ran hugged the urn tightly and occasionally wiped away her tears as the past came rushing to her mind again.
There was a time when Luo Yi had not yet appeared, and Ning Ran was the only child in the Ning family.
Her mother was very busy but had never once missed any of Ning Ran’s important activities.
Be it Parents’ Day or the school’s musical performances, as long as there were activities in Ning Ran’s school, her mother would make arrangements to personally attend these events.
Therefore, the Ning Ran then was as blissful as a princess.
Later, Luo Yi came into the scene without Ning Ran’s knowledge.
This was because her mother did not want Ning Ran to be affected by her home affairs. Therefore, she only found out about it when things finally got out of control.
However, she was too inexperienced and too weak then and did not know how to help her mother at all.
Ning Ran had always thought if she hadn’t been so weak, she could have helped her mother and perhaps her mother wouldn’t have died.
“Ms. Ding, we have misunderstood you this time. Please forgive us,” Qiao Zhan said cautiously.
He thought Ning Ran was crying because she felt she had been wronged.
Ning Ran wiped away her tears and said, “No, it’s all right. I didn’t handle this matter properly either. The whole issue could only be settled thanks to your help, Captain Qiao. Otherwise, there was no way I could complete it.”
“Now that everything is settled, I hope you will be able to forgive my foolishness, Ms. Ding. Actually, I’ve met Luo Yi and gang before. They lied to me and I conveyed the same message to Young Master Chen, indirectly causing his misunderstanding towards you…”
“All right, let’s not talk about this anymore. You were just doing your job, I understand that,” Ning Ran said.
“Actually, you should communicate directly with Sir Chen if anything comes up. He’s a very intelligent person. He had actually privately instructed me to monitor your movements closely, as he had a feeling that something was not right. Indeed, just as he had predicted, you gave me a call,” Qiao Zhan said.
“In that case, should I be thanking him?” Ning Ran replied.
“I don’t mean it in that way. What I meant was, things that seem complicated can be simplified with Master Chen’s involvement.”
Ning Ran remained silent.
Of course, Qiao Zhan was right. Nan Chen definitely wielded that kind of power and influence.
However, Nan Chen has to trust me first. He has never seemed to trust me before.
When they arrived home, Ning Ran placed the urn in her house.
She would then need to find a proper date to bury her mother so the latter can truly rest in peace.
After settling everything, Ning Ran had to rush to the movie set.
However, Qiao Zhan was not driving towards the set.
It was only after Ning Ran reminded him of where she was supposed to go to that he said they were headed to the hospital, as they had called to say that Ning Ziqiang wanted to see Ning Ran.
Hearing that made her upset immediately. “So I have to put down everything and rush to him the moment he wants to see me? I’m not going!”
“He says he has something very important to tell you. It might be related to some secret, so you should go and take a look.”
Is it possible that he knows where the USB is? That devil Luo Yi has refused to say where it is. Since Ning Ziqiang has been with her all the time, he should have a clue.
“Fine, we’ll go and take a look then.” She finally agreed.
When they arrived, Qiao Zhan brought Ning Ran to the hospital room where Ning Ziqiang was put on a drip.
When he saw Ning Ran, he tried to sit up.
“It’s all right, just lie down. You don’t have to get up,” Ning Ran said coldly.
“Ran, thank goodness for you, or I would have died of starvation at home,” Ning Ziqiang said emotionally.
“Serves you right. It was your rightful retribution when that Luo Yi dealt with you!” scoffed Ning Ran.
“Yes, yes I admit that was my retribution,” Ning Ziqiang replied miserably.
“Why did you ask me to come here? What did you want to say to me?” Ning Ran asked.
“I wanted to tell you to not be so upset. Those are not your mother’s ashes. Her ashes have already been buried in her grave,” Ning Ziqiang said.
“What?”
“Luo Yi had asked me to change out your mother’s ashes and hide them. I couldn’t bear to do that, so I didn’t. It’s just regular grass ash in that urn. Luo Yi felt so guilty; she had never dared to open up the urn, so she never found out about it. So don’t worry, your mother has already been laid to rest,” Ning Ziqiang said.
Ning Ran had not seen this coming at all.
However, this is Ning Ziqiang. Can I trust him? Could he be lying to me?
