With their son's finger being chopped off by the kidnappers, how could Shen Youquan not be worried? He and Lan Qi and the others returned to the study and hastened the process of selling the properties. Meanwhile, Long Chengsheng sneaked outside the villa, took out an old-fashioned pager, and repeatedly dialed a phone number, but it never connected.
"Damn, what kind of rubbish phone is this!" He was both angry and anxious, wanting to smash the phone against the wall.
Zhong Huilu sneaked out like a thief and found him after a long search. She immediately spoke with a tearful tone, "You said Rao Rao would be fine, so why did they chop off his finger? Make them release Rao Rao quickly! I want Rao Rao back immediately! Long Chengsheng, how could you be so heartless! Rao Rao is your own son, how could you do this?"
"Keep it down!" Long Chengsheng looked around, checked that there was no one nearby, and hurriedly said, "Are you sure that's Rao Rao's finger? Fang Hu is my sworn brother. He won't hurt Rao Rao. I don't believe it!"
Zhong Huilu didn't dare to touch the finger, but under extreme fear and worry, she couldn't think of anything else: "Of course it's Rao Rao's finger. How could I not recognize it? Long Chengsheng, make them release the person. Otherwise, I'll report you to the police! You promised me that nothing would happen to Rao Rao, but what now? Rao Rao has lost a finger! I must have been crazy to agree to your plan!"
"If you dare to report me, I'll expose you. Don't forget that you're also involved in this plan. I have it all recorded! We are in the same boat, don't threaten me! We've come this far, and there's one step left. I won't give up. It's just a finger, it can be reattached afterward. Shen Youquan has plenty of money. Can he not take care of Shen Yurao? I'll take the 50 million, no one can ruin my plan, including you!" Long Chengsheng grabbed Zhong Huilu's neck and threatened her in a low voice, looking extremely ferocious.
Terrified, Zhong Huilu looked at him, but didn't dare make a sound.
At that moment, the two security guards in charge of guarding the safe suddenly appeared behind Long Chengsheng, handcuffed him, and knelt him down. Zhong Huilu was also handcuffed.
Dressed neatly, Song Rui appeared from around the corner, holding a signal jammer that was flashing red. With this device, how could Long Chengsheng possibly contact the outside world with his phone?
"Take them in for questioning," Song Rui walked slowly to the two of them, and took out two nano listening devices from their inner linings, which were discreetly planted by Xiao Li when they passed by, and their conversation was recorded, providing irrefutable evidence.
Long Chengsheng seemed to have guessed something, and his face visibly paled.
They were taken to separate rooms for interrogation. The priority was to find out the child's whereabouts, everything else could wait. Fortunately, Song Rui's psychological and tricky tactics were successful. Zhong Huilu, believing that the child's finger had indeed been chopped off, quickly confessed all the information she knew.
It turned out that the two kidnappers were a man and a woman, the man named Fang Hu and the woman named Zhou Yuan. They were in a romantic relationship and both had previously been imprisoned for robbery and murder, and they were Long Chengsheng's fellow villagers. As for where they were currently hiding, only Long Chengsheng knew. They were only responsible for looking after the child, and when the time came, they would release the child, but not responsible for the ransom.
Long Chengsheng would personally collect the ransom. At the last moment, Zhou Yuan would call and demand that Shen Youquan exchange all the currency into U.S. dollars and place it in a box. In advance, Zhong Huilu had quietly purchased two identical boxes, convincing her husband to pack the money in one of them, while the other would contain blank paper and a few thousand yuan, and then found the opportunity to switch the two boxes, sending Shen Youquan away with the one containing blank paper, and giving the one with the money to Long Chengsheng for hiding.
The ransom exchange would take place at an overpass, and below the bridge was the most lawless slum in Jing City. Shen Youquan, worried about the child's safety, would definitely not hesitate when throwing the box off the bridge. However, after the box fell, there would be no one to meet it; it would instead be picked up and taken by the people in the slum. After all, the box contained thousands of yuan, and most of those people were drug addicts and criminals who, for a few tens of yuan, would commit a crime, let alone for a few thousand.
The habit of destroying evidence was deeply ingrained in their nature, after dividing the money, they would burn the boxes and paper, and when the police came to ask, no one would provide any clues. In this lawless land, the "over seven million dollars" would completely disappear without a trace, without getting Long Chengsheng into any trouble. Such cunning criminal planning was remarkable.
After obtaining Zhong Huilu's testimony, Song Rui immediately went to see Long Chengsheng. At the same time, Xiao Li also dug up Fang Hu’s and Zhou Yuan’s criminal records, knowing that they were extremely ruthless individuals.
"I can tell you one thing, that severed finger does belong to your son," Song Rui stared into Long Chengsheng's eyes and said, word by word, "You know Fang Hu and Zhou Yuan better than I do. Do you really believe they would treat the child kindly just because of your face? In Fang Hu's past, would he value the friendship over five million dollars? Your plan is perfect. I truly admire your ingenuity."
With a deliberate pause, Song Rui continued, "But, your plan has a huge flaw."
Long Chengsheng was dismissive, but his ears trembled slightly.
Song Rui smiled gently, "Your biggest mistake is putting the most important chips in someone else's hands. You kidnapped for money, and Shen Yurao is the currency. That bargaining chip isn't in your hands, but you want to take away five million directly. Fang Hu and Zhou Yuan hold the chip, yet they have to obey your commands. Do you think they'd willingly accept this situation? If at any point you show a bit of greed, would they share the spoils with you after the child is returned? If you become more ruthless and hire someone to get rid of them, would they have a way out? Tell me, do you think they'd fully trust your character?"
Long Chengsheng was initially complacent, his face showing both pride and disdain, seemingly not believing the words of the police, nor willing to betray his sworn brothers.
Song Rui waited until Long Chengsheng had enough complacency before continuing, "But, your plan has a huge flaw."
Despite his nonchalant demeanor, Long Chengsheng's ears twitched slightly.
Song Rui leaned forward, asking slowly, "Long Chengsheng, do you still think your plan is flawless? Do you still believe that those two won’t harm your son? You’ve calculated everything, but you’ve forgotten to account for the human factor. As long as the bargaining chip remains, they have a thousand and one ways to deal with you. Upon hearing that you were caught by the police, what do you think Fang Hu and Zhou Yuan would do?"
Long Chengsheng began to sweat profusely. If they could kill for a few hundred yuan in the past, now faced with five million, they would dare to do anything. Perhaps they indeed chopped the finger, but what they truly wanted to convey was not to Shen Youquan, but to himself! They wanted to let him know—your son, Shen Yurao, is with us. If you know what’s good for you, you better share the ransom instead of thieving the money! Worse still, they might not intend to return the child at all, but plan to continue holding the child until they have received all of the five million ransom!
They were scheming against each other! If they found out they were caught, they would kill the child immediately and then flee!
Facing this thought, Long Chengsheng's psychological defenses completely collapsed. He had watched Shen Yurao grow up, and had spent more time with him than Shen Youquan; how could he possibly not feel anything for the child? He dared not ponder further, and after little struggle, he revealed Fang Hu and Zhou Yuan's whereabouts.
It turned out that Zhou Yuan handed the child over to Fang Hu in a parking lot across from the kindergarten, then she drove to Cao An parking lot, switched to a car with a false license plate, and directly went on the highway. Currently, she was in a different province, using a voice changer to call Shen Youquan for ransom, trying to avoid police tracking. With her girlfriend’s cover, Fang Hu had quietly and successfully taken the child away, and was now hiding in an urban village in Jing City, waiting for the child’s release. He really didn’t have to do anything else, just ensuring the child's food and drink.
With the exact address in hand, the child was quickly rescued. It turned out that Fang Hu didn't provide him with good food and drink, but rather tied him up and threw him into the toilet. When the child returned safely with all his fingers intact, Shen's father and mother rushed up to kiss the child's cheek joyfully.
Shen Youquan, however, was unwilling to offer even a hug. He handed the child over to the police directly and asked them to take him to the hospital for a check-up. Then he opened the car door and said in a heavy tone, "Dad, Mom, Zhong Huilu and Long Chengsheng have been arrested by the police. They planned the kidnapping. You should go to the police station and listen to the interrogation."
He didn't know how to explain Shen Yurao's background to his parents, so he let Zhong Huilu and Long Chengsheng speak for themselves.
Shen's father and mother, angrily and inexplicably, got into the car. They couldn't understand how Zhong Huilu could join forces with a stranger to kidnap their son. Was she so desperate for money? They had never mistreated her in the Shen family!
The three of them walked into the monitoring room and stood in front of the observation mirror.
Song Rui broke through Fang Hu's guard with just one sentence: "You probably don't know, Long Chengsheng never intended to share the money with you. He had already planned a route for a solo escape and was even prepared to hire a hitman to kill you. We only discovered his abnormality by chance, which led us to you. Now he's accusing you of being the mastermind. Do you have anything to say?"
"I knew that beast Long Chengsheng wanted to deceive me! I shouldn't have agreed to his damn plan in the first place! Officer, I want to report him. He is the mastermind!" Fang Hu, who had been locked up several times, naturally knew how to reduce his own sentence. He admitted, "Actually, Long Chengsheng's plan wasn't originally like this. As you know, Shen Yurao is his son. He definitely wouldn't lay a hand on him."
Upon hearing this, Shen Youquan's reaction was very calm, but Shen's father and mother were stunned, feeling dizzy.
"What did he just say? Whose son is Yurao?" Shen's mother clutched at her clothes, her face pale as if she couldn't breathe.
Shen Youquan silently supported his mother's thin back, but did not say a word.
Shen's father became anxious and tried to hit the mirror, but was stopped by the officer standing beside him.
"These are childhood photos of Shen Yurao and Long Chengsheng. Take a look." Shen Youquan handed over the two very similar photos.
Shen's father received them tremblingly, his wide mouth emitting a trembling sound, as if there was pus and blood stuck in the depths of his throat, unable to vomit or swallow.
Fang Hu continued, "So his original main target was Shen Yuling, not Shen Yurao. It's strange, isn't it? Of the twins, one looks exactly like Shen Youquan, and the other is very similar to Long Chengsheng when they were young. Isn't it miraculous? When Shen Yurao began to resemble himself more and more, Long Chengsheng started to suspect and secretly took the child's hair for a DNA test. Hey, isn't it strange? It turned out to be his! He was overjoyed at the time! As you know, Shen Youquan is wealthy, with an annual salary in the millions and various investments. The Shen family also favors males over females, treating Long Chengsheng's son as a treasure. In the future, when this child grows up, the Shen family's property indirectly falls into the hands of Long Chengsheng. He was waiting for that day. But Long Chengsheng is especially greedy, incredibly greedy! Doesn't Shen Youquan have a daughter as well? Isn't she entitled to a share of the family property?"
Fang Hu sneered a couple of times and continued, "The Shen family favors males over females. Even if the daughter gets a share of the property, it certainly won't be much. But Long Chengsheng couldn't stand it. He often said that this girl couldn't be allowed to stay. Keeping her would hinder his son, so he needed to find a way to get rid of her."
Upon hearing this, Shen Youquan's expression twisted.
Shen's father and mother clutched each other's arms, their legs trembling, almost unable to stand! No, what they heard couldn't be true. This person was talking nonsense!
The hammering sound interrupted Fang Hu's mocking laughter. The pounding grew increasingly violent, as if a mad beast was about to break through the mirror and kill Fang Hu.