Return to before death

On the afternoon of the 16th.

Sheng Xuanhao hasn't slept since yesterday; this kidnapping case is indeed a rare opportunity for him.

Ever since Sheng Xuanling survived an assassination attempt, he has been suppressed and has been unable to find any opportunity to strike. The entire group cannot be said to be under Sheng Xuanling's control, but the positions that have been exposed are all powerless and useless.

If he could get his hands on this ledger… he wasn’t like that idiot Zong Zhengqing. With the Dai family’s support, Sheng Xuanling… Sheng Xuanhao stared coldly at the cigarette he had just lit; he wished Sheng Xuanling a terrible death!

Just as the cigarette was about to burn out, the phone rang, its built-in ringtone echoing throughout the room.

Sheng Xuanhao spat in annoyance and stubbed out his cigarette.

"what's up?"

The man across from me had a familiar voice, with a hint of smugness in it.

"Young Master Sheng, wait for me to send you an audio recording. You'll understand once you listen to it."

Sheng Xuanhao clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, but still turned on his computer and, without any hesitation, played the audio sent by the man.

"Stop talking nonsense, are you going to give me the things or not?"

"Do not."

"You don't even care about your own daughter's life, how hard-hearted are you!"

Upon hearing this, Sheng Xuanhao raised an eyebrow. He vaguely remembered Zong Zhengqing's voice, and given that man's character, he was probably...

"If one dies, another will be born."

That's really heartless of Sheng Xuanhao; he closed the interface.

"They're probably desperate and will do something rash. If they can't get a breakthrough from Zong Zhengqing, that poor little girl might lose her life."

As he spoke, he stubbed out the cigarette butt, which was almost burning his finger, into the ashtray, raising an eyebrow.

The man on the other end of the phone chuckled twice.

"Young Master Sheng is joking. Would you pity such a young girl? It's just that this situation is perfect for taking advantage of the chaos. We, the kidnappers, and the Zong family's influence are all watching this matter. There are plenty of opportunities to manipulate things."

Sheng Xuanhao also laughed.

"So we must get this ledger back. We can't count on the Sheng family internally, but if we can get in touch with Mr. Dai, let's see if Sheng Xuanling can still be so arrogant."

The other side responded in unison.

Thinking about what would happen after he got the ledger, he felt happy and gestured for the other person to hurry up and get to work, then he lay down and fell asleep.

I woke up again to the sound of the phone ringing.

Sheng Xuanhao had just woken up and was in a terrible temper. He picked up the phone and threw it on the ground. Luckily, he spotted the name on the caller ID and pressed it to his ear with a dark expression.

"Hey."

"Young Master Sheng!" The voice on the other end was filled with undisguised panic. "Something's happened, Young Master Sheng! That troublesome lady from the Zong family, whoever let her in, is fighting with the kidnappers."

Sheng Xuanhao suddenly came to his senses.

"died?"

"No, that woman was quite skilled, but she looked like a complete novice who had never seen blood. She killed one of them, but was disarmed by the other two."

"As long as he's not dead, keep an eye on him." He frowned, feeling uneasy that something that was once within his grasp had changed, as if something had slipped through his fingers.

"Young Master Sheng!" A suppressed whisper suddenly rang out. "That woman escaped."

"She escaped? If we ignore her, what's the kidnappers' reaction?"

The person on the other end answered tremblingly: "One of them said he was going to avenge the one who died, but he was stopped. I couldn't hear what the leader said, but... it looks like they're about to move on."

Sheng Xuanhao rubbed his aching head and could only instruct him to keep an eye on things, saying he would be there right away.

The water wasn't supposed to be muddy yet, but that woman stirred it up.

The kidnappers are preparing to move, and the Zong family will definitely follow. He, too, will have to follow because of that ledger. Originally, the plan was to strike when the kidnappers were off guard, but now that they've been alerted, they'll probably have to prepare for a head-on confrontation.

Sheng Xuanhao was unhappy, but with a long face, he still had to get ready to leave.

The two agreed to meet in a deserted mountain area in the city.

Previously, tracking and spying on the kidnappers relied on listening devices and miniature cameras. Later, when the kidnappers moved their location, it became necessary to use manpower and satellite cameras.

Finally, they settled down in this desolate mountain.

Presumably, the Dai family had a base here. After turning left and right, they found a row of small bungalows. Kidnapper B carried the little girl, and the three of them went straight inside.

"We can't see what it looks like inside, and we don't have the new portable miniature camera on hand yet."

"That's what Sheng Xuanhao's subordinate, who's been in charge of this matter, said, twitching his small mustache. He was a middle-aged man with ordinary looks, triangular eyes, and a fierce appearance."

Sheng Xuanhao asked, "When will the people and weapons arrive?"

The middle-aged man was taken aback.

"This is going to take a long time... Young Master Sheng, are we going to resort to outright robbery?"

Sheng Xuanhao smiled sarcastically and said, "Not necessarily. It depends on the situation. Since we can't see what's inside, we'll just have to go in and see for ourselves."

The middle-aged man could tell that he was angry, so he could only humble himself.

"Young Master Sheng, please don't joke around. It will be ready soon and delivered very quickly."

Sheng Xuanhao then grinned, indicating his satisfaction.

"Let's wait for an opportunity," he said.

"We can only wait for an opportunity."

Meanwhile, six hours earlier, at exactly noon, Yan Ran, who had been searching for Tangtang all night without sleep, received a call from an unknown number.

When the nanny who went to pick up Tangtang came back alone last night, Yan Ran's heart was in her throat.

Perhaps it was truly a case of mother and daughter being of one mind, for Yan Ran felt a strange sense of panic. However, Zong Zhengqing saw these worries as nothing more than a woman's petty tantrums, offering only verbal reassurance but not taking them seriously at all.

Yan Ran could only pin her hopes on Zong Zhengjing.

However, Zong Zhengjing did not return home that night due to busy company affairs, so she could only search for him alone outside with the nanny.

Zong Zhengqing only realized something was wrong when Yan Ran and Tangtang hadn't returned home by the time it got dark, and he joined the search, but they still hadn't found anything by the next day.

It's as if Tangtang never existed in the world, leaving no trace.

The kindergarten teacher said that it was the nanny who picked up Tangtang, but the nanny said that she never picked her up at all.

Yan Ran was almost in despair. Her entire life revolved around Tangtang, but even though she valued her youngest daughter so much, something still happened.

So when the unknown number called, she answered.

She had already made up her mind that if neither the school nor the Zong family could find the child, the only possibility was that he had been kidnapped.

This is the only explanation.

Sure enough, Yan Ran heard soft sobs coming from the phone. Her heart clenched. She recognized it; she couldn't possibly mistake the sweet voice that called her name every morning.

It's candy.

I felt a mix of complex emotions, a sense of relief that everything had finally settled.

The person has finally been found.