A huge blast rocked the entire villa, the violent vibration shaking the very foundations and rattling the heavy windowpanes. Qian Duoduo's walnuts skittered across the floor, rolling wildly in every direction as they clattered against the wood, and someone stepped on them a few times in the frantic scramble that followed.
He could no longer pretend to be calm. Crawling on the floor, he scrambled to pick up the walnuts he had treasured for years, his fingers fumbling against the dusty surface only for a few to be crushed underfoot with a sickening, brittle crunch.
By the time everyone recovered from the chaos, their ears ringing from the sudden percussion, cries went up from the hallways. Something outside had exploded. Flames shot up through the rain, their bright tongues of fire licking at the dark sky and casting a jagged, orange glow against the downpour. It had to be the gas canisters Su Xiangnan had brought. That might be just the appetizer. If he really had brought a thousand gas cylinders, he could probably blow Xishan into ruins, turning the entire mountain into a graveyard of stone and ash.
Still, at least the blast had been outside the villa, the shockwave shaking the air rather than shattering the walls. If it had gone off inside, everyone here might be finished.
Qian Duoduo ground his teeth, the sound harsh in the sudden quiet of the room. "Crazy Su, you actually went and did it for real?!"
Su Xiangnan's normally grim face showed a flash of surprise, his features twitching for a fraction of a second, but he quickly regained his composure. He bit out, his jaw tight as he spoke, "I have only one treasure in this world. If anything happened to her, I would never be able to face her mother in heaven. I'm not joking. Does my daughter's disappearance have anything to do with you?"
Qian Duoduo set the walnuts aside and hesitated a moment, his pulse thrumming in his ears. "So Su Xiangnan's daughter really had been taken?" He lowered his voice, the sound barely carrying over the rain drumming on the roof. "Maybe she was used by someone. I truly don't know what happened. Why don't you tell me everything you know?"
Su Xiangnan waved a hand and the old man stepped forward and nodded. "Yes, sir. Miss left this morning with Ah Gou, two bodyguards, and her classmate Jing Shu. They went to Xishan. Here is her route. Their last stop was on your turf. They stayed there for over an hour, so they must have had a signal then.
And the GPS on the car she took went dead at the same time.
These are all of Miss's chat logs and data from the past few days, including monitored messages with Ah Gou, the bodyguards, and the classmate Jing Shu. Apart from the person involved, no one else shouldn't have known she was leaving.
This is the guy you call Fei Zhuzai. He gathered materials for you and set up a meeting that morning to inspect goods and discuss business. The person went missing between about 10:30 and 11:00 a.m. in the late si (snake) hour (9 AM - 11 AM). I did suspect someone might be pretending to act under your name, collect materials and secretly kidnap our Miss and frame you, to create a quarrel between our families."
Hearing this, Qian Duoduo nodded. Yes, he was worried someone might be setting him up.
"But I checked the ID and IP address Fei Zhuzai used. I can confirm the person who arranged the meeting was your man. They did business with our Miss, and they paid with oil, right?"
Qian Duoduo frowned. "Wait. Fei Zhuzai is my man. He came with me from inland years ago. I can trust him. Call him over and have him bring all the documents from this morning's transaction."
Someone left to fetch him, their footsteps echoing down the long, marble corridor.
Silence fell over the guest villa. The atmosphere tightened, thick with the smell of wet earth and smoke. Soon Fei Zhuzai arrived in a hurry, accompanied by several people.
"You called, boss? I brought the documents and the goods. What is up?" Fei Zhuzai wiped the sweat from his face with a hurried, nervous motion.
Qian Duoduo waved. "Tell everyone about the transaction you handled this morning."
"All right. Yesterday I arranged with Su Mali to inspect goods today. She arrived on time this morning and we did the deal as agreed. Here are all the goods she brought. This is the contract we signed. I agreed to buy three batches of blood mushroom. I paid a total of 20 tons of oil. After that, the man Gou Shu brought took the oil away. Our deal was done."
Su Xiangnan gave a look. The butler checked and nodded. "This is the cargo belonging to Miss and her party."
After the butler finished, he turned the photos on his phone to Fei Zhuzai's men, the screen's pale light illuminating their grim expressions. "Look closely. The person in this photo is called Su Mali. This is Gou Shu. These two are her bodyguards. This person is her classmate Jing Shu. There were five people who did business with you."
Fei Zhuzai studied the photos carefully, his eyes squinting at the small screen. "Gou Shu is definitely that man. Su Mali is also that woman. But the two bodyguards were wearing hats so I couldn't see them clearly. As for the classmate you mention, at the time of the deal I only saw four people."
The butler and Su Xiangnan exchanged a glance.
"Are you sure there was no one called Jing Shu? Or that she didn't wait at the gate and not go in?" the butler asked again.
Fei Zhuzai nodded. "I'm sure. There were just four people. They were driving a custom luxury van. I went out to meet them."
"That shouldn't be," Su Xiangnan knit his brows tightly. "What time did they leave? Where did they go?"
Fei Zhuzai scratched his head, his fingers catching on his hair. "I don't know. The man Gou Shu called took the oil and left. Su Mali stayed with the two bodyguards waiting there. Later we all left."
The butler looked to Su Xiangnan and nodded. "We pulled Jing Shu's records. She did go in and out with Miss. Either your people are lying, or Jing Shu is an inside agent."
Qian Duoduo was silent for a long time before he finally spoke. "I know that girl they call Jing Shu. I have done business with her several times. Our cooperation was smooth. As for Fei Zhuzai, he has no reason to lie. I can show you all his recent data. I think there must be some misunderstanding."
"Master! Master! Miss's car has been found. It's parked exactly where the GPS went dead. It hasn't moved!" someone cried, their voice cracking with urgency as they rushed into the room.
Su Xiangnan clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white under the strain. He spoke coldly, "And you still say you hadn't anything to do with this? The car didn't move. The person disappeared from here."
A bead of sweat rolled down Qian Duoduo's cheek, glistening under the chandelier light. Was someone really trying to frame him? Who would do that?
Two possibilities sprang into his mind. One: someone truly was setting him up. But that would be such an amateurish setup. Two: Su Xiangnan staged the whole thing himself to win Qian's trust and then betray him.
"Don't be nervous. Calm down. I will pull all the Xishan surveillance for you. If anyone entered Xishan, I have the footage. They can't leave Xishan unnoticed. I have helicopters patrolling the air. There's only one road out. It's very likely they are still in Xishan."
Qian Duoduo needed to clear his name.
"Then dig. Dig until you find it. Start searching from where Miss vanished. Check every corner, especially any hidden rooms or basements," Su Xiangnan said grimly. All this talk, Qian Duoduo realized, was just about clearing his own suspicion. His turf couldn't be broken into without him knowing. Ridiculous. Who was pretending?
"Master, master! We found an underground casino at the place where Miss disappeared!"