Chapter 609 Do You Understand
Ning Ran washed up inside the house while Nan Chen stood guard outside the door. After taking a shower, they felt a lot more relaxed and comfy.
The only problem was that they did not have a change of clothes. As such, they could only wash their clothes at night and dry them over the fire briefly. In the morning, they had to put on their clothes, which were still damp, and continue drying them using their body heat.
Although it felt rather uncomfortable, they were at least able to keep themselves clean. That was considered quite a luxury given their current circumstances.
Guo Si arrived in the afternoon and brought the couple some necessities, including toilet paper, shampoo, and soap.
He had also brought them a bag of fruits, which was perfect for Ning Ran and Nan Chen, as they needed something nutritious.
“Is your leg better? Is there anything else you need?” Guo Si asked Nan Chen.
“Recovery will take some time. Did those people ask about my situation?”
Guo Si nodded and replied, “They did. I told them that you are seriously injured, and your life was hanging by a thread. They did not want you to die so soon and asked me to think of a way to keep you alive without letting you recover completely.”
“Yup. They are worried that I’ll escape. But their worries are completely unfounded. The reservoir is huge. No matter how good my swimming skills are, there’s no way I can get away. Besides, I’m sure their men would be guarding the shores.”
Guo Si nodded and replied at once, “You’re right. So please don’t try to escape as that would get both of you killed.”
“Oh, you haven’t told us yet. How much did they pay you?” Ning Ran asked.
An awkward expression appeared on Guo Si’s face before he replied, “Let’s not talk about this. It’s true that I’ve taken their money, but it’s not much. Besides, I didn’t make things difficult for you guys. So I hope that you guys will do the same for me. They threatened to hurt my wife and kids if I don’t do as they say. I don’t have a choice.”
“We won’t cause you trouble, but we need your help to pass a message to my family and let them know that I’m here. Tell them I’m safe and not to worry.”
As expected, Guo Si gave a dismissive wave at once and exclaimed, “That’s not possible! They would conduct a thorough body search on me every time I get on shore!”
“I’ll prepare two letters. If you hand over one of the letters to them voluntarily, it’s likely that they wouldn’t find you suspicious and won’t pat you down. After that, you can think of a way to deliver the other letter. As for the means, I’ll leave it to you. You can either get your relative or your wife to do it. As long as you manage to deliver my letter, I’ll reward you handsomely. If I’m right, those people must have given you a few thousand, is that so? Is it three thousand or five thousand?” Nan Chen asked.
“Three thousand six hundred,” Guo Si answered honestly, to Nan Chen’s surprise.
“I’ll give you fifty thousand. I’ll write your bank account number in the letter. As soon as my family receives your letter, fifty thousand will be deposited into your account. We are in your hands now. If you fail to receive the money, it’s easy for you to make things difficult for us, such as not giving us food and starving us to death. As such, you don’t have to worry about me lying to you, right?”
After a moment of contemplation, Guo Si felt that what the man said made sense.
Fifty thousand was a rather huge sum of money to him.
“No, I want one hundred thousand. You are obviously from a wealthy family. I’m sure a hundred thousand means nothing to you!” Guo Si demanded.
That was exactly what Nan Chen wanted to hear.
He was hoping to make use of Guo Si’s greed to get him to do things that he would not do under normal circumstances. That was just human nature.
Of course, one hundred thousand was nothing to Nan Chen.
“Sure, I’ll give you one hundred thousand, but you have to be careful not to expose yourself. I won’t be responsible for anything that happens to your family if you slip up.”
“Don’t worry. I already have a plan in mind. My wife often sells fish at the market. They are not going to suspect her.”
Sure, it’s settled then.”
Meanwhile, at Livingsfill’s Mountview Inn, Nan Xing was lying on a chair under a tree in the courtyard.
He was certain that something bad had happened to Nan Chen. However, Nan Zhengde had explicitly disallowed him to head to Lightspring to look for Nan Chen and instead asked him to stay in Livingsfill to look after the two little ones.
As such, he did not even dare to step out of the inn. In fact, after they started staying there, the inn stopped accepting other guests, and there were bodyguards standing outside the inn round-the-clock.
After losing contact with his brother, Nan Xing had not slept well. He was always having nightmares, in which he saw Nan Chen’s face covered in blood. After jolting awake from those dreams, he would always have difficulty going back to sleep.
Nan Xing wanted to go to Lightspring and look for Nan Chen, but he could not disobey his grandfather.
He was also worried that something bad would happen to the two kids in his absence. If that happened, he would never be able to forgive himself.
Just then, Qiao Zhan walked over. “Mr. Xing, you have a call from Old Master.”
Nan Xing took over the phone and said, “Grandpa, any news on Chen?”
“Not yet. We are still investigating. I’ve booked flight tickets for you. You have to come back immediately.”
“Huh? Didn’t you ask me to stay here and protect the kids? If you don’t need me here, I’m going to Lightspring to look for Chen. He’s been unreachable…”
“I’ve already sent some men over to look for him. Let’s talk when you get back.” Nan Zhengde hung up after saying that.
Nan Xing trusted the decisions made by his grandfather. He knew that the man must have his reasons for wanting him back home.
“Qiao Zhan, I’m returning to Flower City. Please take care of the kids. You must not let anything happen to them!” Nan Xing instructed.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Xing. I will protect Little Master and Little Miss with my life!”
“You don’t have to sacrifice your life. Just make sure you keep the kids and yourself safe. I understand that it’s tougher on the men during this period of time, but please ensure that there’s someone guarding the children’s room at any time,” Nan Xing said before patting Qiao Zhan’s shoulder lightly.
“Don’t worry. I will definitely do that.”
When Nan Xing entered the children’s room, he saw Dabao standing on a chair while looking out of the window. Erbao was standing next to her brother and had a gloomy expression on her face.
Nan Xing could feel his heart aching. As they were extremely smart children, they must have already guessed that something bad had happened to their parents.
“Dabao, I have to make a trip back to Flower City. You must take good care of your sister when I’m not around. I’ll be back soon.”
Dabao was even more nervous when he heard that. “Is there any news on Daddy? How’s Daddy now? Why are you not bringing us back with you?”
“He’s all right. He’s really fine. What happened was that a stretch of the ground had collapsed due to roadworks, which resulted in vehicles not being able to pass through. As such, your daddy and mommy are trapped there. But don’t worry, the situation will be resolved very soon.”
Nan Xing had no choice but to lie as he did not want the kids to keep worrying.
“But why wouldn’t Daddy and Mommy pick up our calls? They promised to video call us every night,” Dabao asked at once.
“There is no reception in the countryside. Unlike the city, in most countryside areas, the mobile phone signal can be quite weak. As such, it can be difficult to make calls,” Nan Xing made up a reason on the spot.
“Uncle Xing, you’re lying. Daddy can go somewhere with a reception and call us. It’s impossible for the entire place to not have any reception!” Erbao found Nan Xing’s reply rather incoherent as well.
“Exactly! What happened to Daddy and Mommy? What are you hiding from us? Also, Uncle Xing, why are you going back to Flower City now? Did Great-Grandpa ask you to go back? If nothing happened, you would definitely stay here with us instead of returning alone!”
Dabao had logical reasoning, and Nan Xing was barely able to handle the boy’s barrage of questions.
“It’s true that your daddy and mommy are currently trapped. However, repair works are already ongoing, and they will be able to come back once the roads are fixed. Only Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma are at home right now, and there’s a lot of work to settle at the company. Great-Grandpa and Great-Grandma are already so old, so they can’t handle everything themselves. That’s why they need me to go back and help them. Do you understand now?”
Dabao accepted his uncle’s explanation after thinking about it for a while.
“But when will Daddy and Mommy be back?” Dabao questioned further.
“Three days. They will definitely be back within three days.” Nan Xing had no choice but to say something to pacify the children first.
