In the executive conference room of Bo Group, there was a surge of people.
Shareholders big and small from around the world surrounded the round table, and even the long benches in the back row were full of people.
The reason why Bo Group could grow bigger and stronger to its current scale was not only because of the salary and treatment of employees, but because it was also firmly controlled by the interests of its shareholders—
The procedures for this annual large-scale meeting were set in stone, and had been determined by Old Mrs. Bo herself.
The first order of business was to summarize the investment situation of the group’s major projects, including profits and losses. The second was to clarify the annual dividends of the large and small shareholders, and the third was the voting of some major shareholders on the hiring or dismissal of the decision makers in top positions.
As soon as Bo Yueming took his seat as the general manager, he was surrounded by many shareholders. “Why does Mr. Bo look so bad? Didn’t you sleep last night, ah?”
“Ai, Mr. Bo should stay in the position of general manager. There are so many big projects to manage, and he naturally puts in a lot of effort, unlike us, ah. It’s thanks to Mr. Bo that we’ve been able to lie down and make money peacefully in the past two years.”
“By the way, Mr. Bo’s eyes……are they better?”
The projects handled by Bo Yueming had always been Bo Group’s profit-making tools, especially the large-scale project he went to Wencheng to win this year, which had opened up a completely new path for Bo Group.
Coupled with the turmoil of his “blindness,” there were few shareholders who did not truly admire Bo Yueming.
To be more realistic, since Old Mrs. Bo’s accident and abdication, how many people in the Bo family could do the job?
Old Mr. Bo had an empty title, and Bo Lihui assumed the title of Chairman, doing things in a well-regulated manner. Bo Guancheng, who was originally among the younger generation, could just get by, but the other party became more and more outrageous—
First, he lost hundreds of millions from the German Chamber of Commerce, and then that type of scandal broke out. It was too disappointing!
As shareholders, their main concern was money.
Who wouldn’t want the group to be run by a capable person?
These solicitous greetings lingered in his ears, both sincere and with an element of deliberate flattering.
Bo Yueming would like to have a few polite words with them as usual, but he was full of concern for Pei Yi, and wished he could leave this meeting directly and rush to his lover’s side.
But at this juncture, it would not be good to leave the meeting and run out—
Not only would such impulsive behavior not help anything, on the contrary, it was possible that Bo Guancheng and others may completely control the situation and put Pei Yi into even more of a predicament.
The next two hours were the grace period set aside for Pei Yi, the search and rescue time for Qin Yishun, and the time he would be trapped in torment here.
“Mr. Bo?”
The shareholders looked at each other in blank dismay. Everyone felt that Bo Yueming’s expression was a little strange today. Since he had lost his sight, didn’t his assistant always stay by his side?
Why was Lin Zhong not there today?
Just as everyone was puzzled, the door of the conference room opened again.
Cheng Yangshan walked in, accompanied by Bo Guancheng and Bo Lihui, his manner imposing and full of posturing.
When the shareholders caught sight of Bo Guancheng, their expressions changed, and some directly whispered to each other—
“Wasn’t he dismissed? How can he still attend the shareholder meeting, ah?”
“Who knows, I didn’t see him on the list beforehand.”
“Could it be that the old man and Chairman Bo want to take advantage of this shareholder meeting to let him return to the position of general manager?”
“What a beautiful idea, the reputation of the group was almost ruined by him!”
“It’s just, how long has it been? If the old man really uses his power for personal gain like this, what prestige is there?”
Bo Guancheng ignored the gazes of the people around him. Anyway, he had already lost his face some time ago, and it was better to make things easier by being thick-skinned.
The winner would become king, and the loser an outlaw.
After today, the trend of this discussion might change again.
At this thought, Bo Guancheng immediately looked at Bo Yueming, who was sitting in the position of “general manager” with a hint of coldness in his eyes—
He didn’t know if he should say that he had overestimated the significance of that fool Pei Yi in Bo Yueming’s heart, or that Bo Yueming had a cold-blooded and mercenary temperament.
His marriage partner had been kidnapped, but he was still turning a blind eye?
Heh.
He wanted to see how long the other party could sit there!
Bo Guancheng was filial, and helped Cheng Yangshan sit in the main seat. He asked the conference room assistant to move in a chair, and sat in the back row seemingly without a fight.
Cheng Yangshan looked around and said, “Shareholders, please take your seats. The meeting is about to begin.”
Everyone responded one after another.
All of the meeting materials had been distributed in advance.
As the chairman, Bo Lihui looked unflustered. “All right, let’s first summarize the overall situation of our group’s projects this year.”
Bo Yueming indicated to Bo Jiao next to him, according to what he had planned in advance. “Go on up, don’t be nervous. I’ll help you fill in any omissions at any time.”
Bo Jiao replied sincerely, “Thank you, Second Brother.”
In the past, this sort of important matter would have been narrated by the general manager, Bo Yueming, but the other party was giving her the opportunity for this public experience.
When everyone saw Bo Jiao stand up, they were secretly surprised.
Only Bo Guancheng in the back row revealed a triumphant smile, thinking to himself mockingly—
He knew it, Bo Yueming was still afraid of something happening to Pei Yi, so he could only be forced to be “mute.” Otherwise, how could he let go of this chance to earn impression points?
It seemed that as long as Brother Gui could keep an eye on Pei Yi until the end of the meeting, Bo Yueming was destined to be ruthlessly controlled by them today!
. . . . . . .
Xiguan Urban Village was one of the few places where the population of the Imperial Capital gathered in disarray, due to the unresolved problem of land reconstruction all year round—
The housing density here was very high, and the living conditions, including lighting and ventilation, were very poor.
“Brother Gui, how long are we going to stay here? I haven’t eaten anything since last night, I’m starving to death.”
“Don’t fucking talk nonsense to me! This is important business!”
Brother Gui was the leader of the three of them, and his original name was Li Gui.[1]
He accidentally killed someone in his hometown in the early years, and had fled abroad in recent times. He lived a marginal life on the road, and also gave himself a more vicious homophonic name.
He planned to immigrate abroad after completing this job, which was why his asking price for Bo Guancheng was a bit harsher this time. Not only that, but he planned to make money on both sides, and leverage Bo Yueming for a fortune later!
In any case, this rich person valued the life of a fool more than money.
The reason Brother Gui chose this temporary location was because there were many people in the building, which provided cover.
He glanced at Pei Yi in the corner with mocking eyes.
From the start of the kidnapping to present, the other party just shivered in the corner, not even possessing the courage to try to escape.
As expected of a fool, did he really think he could just wait for someone to come get him if he was obedient?
Brother Gui picked up his phone and looked at it. It was only 1:40.
He thought for a moment, then got up and said, “You guys, I’m going out to have a look.”
“Brother Gui, where are you going?”
“In another twenty minutes, we’ll take this fool to another place. Those rich people are really cunning, maybe they’ll call the police or bring someone here.” Brother Gui casually spit his cigarette butt onto the ground and crushed it with the sole of his shoe. “The crafty rabbit has three burrows, understand?”
“We understand! It’s still Brother Gui who is fucking awesome!”
“The car just now can no longer be used. I also connected with a seven-seater that has a fake license. I’ll go to the side of the main road and have a look first. Just wait for my notice and bring him down later.”
Brother Gui had decided that Pei Yi was a senseless fool, so he only said, “Be careful when going out later. Don’t let him startle others by yelling.”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
The door of the rental house opened. Light and a cold breeze rushed in, and then was blocked once more.
Pei Yi, who seemed to be curled up trembling, listened to this scene, and a long-awaited light gleamed in his eyes—
It should be said that this kidnapper was really a bit cunning and adaptable, it was just a pity that the only mistake the other party made was taking him as a real fool, and spoke without any defenses at all.
It had all happened so suddenly today. He was only wearing a sweater, and stayed in this damp, cold rental room—
The others saw him trembling with fear, but half of that was due to being cold.
Pei Yi suppressed the discomfort in his body as his brain quickly worked out countermeasures—
If he was moved to a different location later, then wouldn’t the information he reported to Bo Yueming and others be useless?
That was no good!
He couldn’t move locations, or he would have less of an advantage!
If he couldn’t wait for a quick rescue from Qin Yishun, then he needed to take the opportunity to escape.
Otherwise, the later it was, the more the other party would watch him. Three people were difficult to deal with, but he had a chance with two.
Having made up his mind, Pei Yi covertly looked around the layout of the rental house again. There was faint light from the door and window of the bathroom to the side, which stirred his thoughts.
“B-Bathroom.”
Pei Yi murmured, looking up at the two chattering people nearby, “I need…..to go…..to the bathroom.”
The shorter one looked over and sneered, “Yo, this idiot knows how to go to the bathroom? Just pee in your pants, you nuisance!”
Hearing this, Pei Yi burst into tears of “grievance” and “timidity.”
The white sweater on his body had been stained with dirt, his unbrushed hair was messy, his nose and ears were red, and even the corners of his eyes were reddened with a sheen of tears.
He looked pitiful, making people a bit reluctant.
The skinnier man frowned. “But don’t we have to transfer him after a while? If this fool really can’t hold it in halfway, we’ll be the ones who’ll get disgusting.”
Smoking another cigarette, the shorter man hesitated. “That’s right. Damn, this fool is a nuisance.”
He glanced at his thin companion, then walked toward Pei Yi, who was tied hand and foot. “Can you use the toilet? I don’t have to hold you to piss, right?”
“……”
Pei Yi suppressed the disgust in his heart, and nodded with a sob.
Soon, the painful restraints around his wrists and ankles loosened.
The short man grabbed Pei Yi and took him to the small bathroom. “Go on, don’t close the door. I’m watching you!”
Pei Yi quickly glanced out the window, confirming the situation—
It was a long window, and with his figure, he should be able to pass through it.
According to his visual estimation, he was at the height of a three-storey building. Although he couldn’t jump down directly, because there were so many illegal buildings in the urban village, there was a small platform directly below on the opposite side.
The width was likely no more than a meter in the middle.
Pei Yi’s thoughts settled down slightly, and he turned around to reveal a bit of “confusion” to the short man. “T-Toilet? Where?”
The short man was stunned for two seconds, then cursed speechlessly while biting his cigarette. “Shit, a fucking rich idiot like you hasn’t used a squatter before, have you?
As he spoke, he tilted his head and glanced at his accomplice outside.
“……”
Now!
The confusion on Pei Yi’s face swiftly turned to ruthlessness. He slammed the toilet door shut and locked it, then turned around and raised his feet to stand on the window.
It was cold and windy.
Looking from the top down, the height of a three-storey building was still a bit scary. If he couldn’t reach the opposite platform in one jump, he could get injured or die in the fall.
There was a frenzied banging sound outside the door. “Fucking damn it, this fool tricked us!”
“Er-ge.”
Pei Yi held this name between his teeth, took a deep breath, then steeled his heart and jumped.
—Bang!
When the two people broke through the door and saw this death-defying leap, another degree of shock was added to their expressions.
“Damn, where did the fucking fool go?”
“He didn’t die, right!?”
“What are you looking at, hurry up, ah!”
“……”
The sound of the landing made Pei Yi’s eardrums ring, and the mixture of coldness and pain took his breath away for a moment. But he had no time to slow down—
Pei Yi gritted his teeth and got up, enduring the unspeakable pain as he ran down the stairs of the second floor balcony.
He had just run to the first floor when the thin man in the rental house opposite reached the stairs at the junction of the first and second floors.
“Stop running!”
As soon as their eyes met, Pei Yi dashed wildly down the alley, knocking down a series of drying racks.
He didn’t have the advantage of numbers, so he definitely couldn’t stop and fight. On the contrary—
He had to destroy some things and make as much of a racket as possible in order to get the attention of nearby residents. This would be a kind of alternate protection for him.
If he was lucky, he might even meet the search and rescue personnel sent by Qin Yishun and others.
As he thought, a smelly black stream appeared at the head of the alley.
Pei Yi was about to turn a corner, when he caught a glimpse of a figure from the corner of his eye, and had to stop abruptly—
Brother Gui suddenly appeared to the right and gave Pei Yi a fierce look, and behind him were the other two chasing after him.
“……”
“Pretending? Pretend again!”
Brother Gui drew the short knife he carried with him. The blade glinted coldly. “Okay, ah, I had originally had reservations for the sake of you being a ‘fool,’ and didn’t play rough.”
He was quite good at pretending!
Even Bo Guancheng had been deceived. The other party gave them incorrect information, and they were almost tricked by Pei Yi, who was pretending to be a pig to eat a tiger!
Pei Yi tried his best to control his unsteady breathing. His heartstrings were tight, but he didn’t show any fear on the surface. “You’re working so hard for Bo Guancheng. How much did he pay you?”
He needed to delay for time as much as possible, and find a gap to slip away.
“You don’t need to worry about me and him!”
Brother Gui played with the knife. His hoarse voice was influenced by the sound of the wind, making it more menacing.
“Don’t think you can delay time by talking. The cleverness of you rich people doesn’t seem worth mentioning to me.”
The short man came forward. “Brother Gui, don’t talk any more nonsense with him! Let’s take him up, then tie him up and beat him!”
As soon as these words fell, a figure unexpectedly rushed out from the corner.
Brother Gui’s attention was all on Pei Yi. It was too late to resist.
In the blink of an eye, he was knocked to the ground by a kick.
“Hiss.” Brother Gui covered his waist and abdomen as if his ribs had suffered, his face pale. “Ah…..”
The short and skinny men who were about to step forward were startled, and their footsteps paused slightly. Qin Yishun approached with a dark expression and stepped on Brother Gui’s wrist, forcing him to let go of the knife in his hand. “Who do you think you’ve kidnapped?”
The defensive line in Pei Yi’s heart suddenly loosened, and he quickly ran over, the tension in his eyes replaced with joy. “Brother! How did you find me here?”
“Xiao Yi!”
Qin Yishun saw that his little brother was clearly distressed, and stepped down on the man’s wrist harder.
“—Ah!”
Brother Gui let out a scream, and tried to get up, but failed. He said through gritted teeth, “What are you still doing? Come on!”
The thin man and the short one exchanged glances, and felt a simultaneous burst of anxiety. The height and presence of the other person standing there was enough to scare them.
Qin Yishun handed the knife to Pei Yi. “Xiao Yi, hold this. Wait for me for a moment, and Brother will take you back.”
Pei Yi still had the ability to protect himself, and he believed in his older brother’s strength. “En.”
After all, Qin Yishun was a retired Special Ops soldier, how could his skills be beaten by ordinary people? With almost no effort, he put the three of them on the ground.
Not long after, the search and rescue personnel rushed over after hearing the news. “Boss Qin.”
Qin Yishun was concise and clear, “Arrest them and call the police.”
Pei Yi pointed to the residential building not far away. “On the third floor of that building, there should be the rope they tied me up with, and maybe there’s some other evidence.”
When Qin Yishun heard this, he caught sight of the ligature marks on Pei Yi’s wrists and bare feet that were red from the cold. “Where are your shoes?”
Pei Yi looked at the black and smelly artificial river and gave a thoughtful hum. “I was only wearing slippers earlier when I got up, and then they brought me out.”
The next second, Qin Yishun took off his coat and covered him with it. “Why is your right sleeve ripped like this? How did you escape?”
When Qin Yishun saw his little brother looking like a little beggar, he felt distressed, and at the same time rejoiced that he had already recovered his mind. Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have had the ability to protect himself.
Qin Yishun hesitated to speak, but in the end, he was still afraid that Pei Yi would catch a cold. “Never mind. I’ll carry you back to the car first, and we can talk about things slowly.”
Pei Yi was taken aback. “Carry?”
Qin Yishun seemed to understand his concerns. “What? How can Bo Yueming have anything to say about an older brother carrying his little brother? When this matter is over, I must settle accounts with him!”
Pei Yi felt that his legs were about to freeze, and simply jumped onto Qin Yishun’s back. “Brother, this has nothing to do with Yueming. You can’t blame him.”
He said a few words of excuse for his lover, and couldn’t help wondering, “He asked you to come to me, right? How is he doing?”
Qin Yishun couldn’t let go of his anger as he carried him away. “At this sort of time, you’re still thinking about him? Think about yourself first!”
“Didn’t my brother protect me? Misfortune turned to blessings.” Pei Yi smiled purposefully and pressed his advantage. “Brother, lend me your cell phone, and I’ll send him a message to report that I’m safe.”
“……”
Qin Yishun could only say, “It’s in the coat pocket, but you don’t know the password, so it’s useless if you take it.”
There was clearly a fit of pique in the last part of that sentence.
Pei Yi took the phone out of the coat he was wearing and suddenly pointed it at Qin Yishun’s face. “Brother, smile, I’ll use face unlock.”
The cell phone authenticated Qin Yishun’s face and immediately unlocked.
Qin Yishun was angry and helpless, “Who still thinks you’re a little fool? You should be called clever!”
Pei Yi smiled lightly, and took the opportunity to ask, “So how did you find this place?”
“Bo Yueming called me to explain the situation, and asked me to focus on investigating dilapidated rental buildings that were about twenty minutes away from Bo Manor.”
And this urban village was the only eligible place.
Qin Yishun used the joint road control system between his company and the police to find the surveillance cameras near Bo Manor—
It was found that there was only one vehicle with strange whereabouts at the time, and the car had a fake license plate. The road monitoring along the way also pointed to this.
Coincidentally, when Qin Yishun was driving on the outer roads, he saw the suspicious Brother Gui, and his hypervigilance alerted him right away that something was wrong.
It was his innate intuition and keenness, but also the helplessness of needing to make a gamble that made him choose to follow.
Fortunately, he got there in time.
Qin Yishun closed the car door and immediately turned on the heater. “Cold? I told my subordinate to buy a pair of shoes for you, and I’ll take you to the hospital later.”
Pei Yi’s wrists and ankles had minor ligature marks from being tied up, there were scratches on the back of his right hand and forearm, and the shoeless feet he’d had to run wildly on were not much better.
There were no major injuries, but a lot of minor ones.
Qin Yishun didn’t have any wet wipes in the car, so he could only use paper towels soaked in mineral water to clean his little brother up.
Pei Yi took a paper towel and resisted the pain on his right arm, shaking his head. “I’ll go to the hospital later. Brother, why don’t you take me to Bo headquarters first?”
“…….” Qin Yishun stopped pouring water. “What? Didn’t you just send him a message?”
Pei Yi didn’t conceal it from him. “I sent him a message, but I still want to find him.”
Qin Yishun frowned again. “Why?”
Pei Yi hesitated to speak. Some secrets were hard to reveal—
Uncle Kai had told him that the night he packed his luggage and tried to escape, but was stopped, Bo Yueming sat alone in the living room to watch over him.
And Bo Yueming also told him on Yanshan mountain that his biological mother also left him behind his back.
From then on, Pei Yi knew that his lover was a very insecure person at heart.
With such an unexpected accident today, Bo Yueming had to force himself to stay at the shareholders’ meeting for the sake of Old Mrs. Bo and the Bo Group.
Pei Yi didn’t blame his lover for not coming to rescue him in person, because this decision was his own, but he could imagine that Bo Yueming was the one who was in the most distress and blaming himself.
Pei Yi came back to his senses, and said in a firm voice, “I want to find him, because he can only feel at ease once he sees me with his own eyes.”
They were not each other’s weaknesses, but each other’s inner armor and the card in their hand.
. . . . . .
Bo Group.
The first project review of the general shareholder meeting was over.
From the beginning until now, Bo Yueming had no intention of listening to what the shareholders were saying, and his eyes were fixed on the phone screen from time to time.
It had been an hour, and guilt and anxiety were eroding his heart the entire time!
Bo Yueming had overestimated himself. He couldn’t last these two hours at all!
—Zizi.
The phone suddenly vibrated, and Qin Yishun’s WeChat voice message appeared on the screen.
Bo Yueming could no longer pretend to be calm, and stood up abruptly.
The solid wooden chair he was sitting on scratched the floor, causing a loud noise that drew the attention of countless shareholders.
Bo Yueming hurried away. “Everyone, I apologize. I’m stepping out for a moment.”
After speaking, he left the meeting without looking back, even forgetting about his “blindness.”
“…….”
The shareholders reacted one after another, revealing their shock. “How can Mr. Bo leave by himself?”
“His, his eyes are alright? When did this happen?”
“…….”
Everyone was astonished and delighted to discuss this. Only Bo Guancheng in the back row looked at his departing back and showed a mysterious smile—
Sure enough, you still can’t sit still? Very good, since you’ve already left, don’t think about coming back!
. . . . . .
Bo Yueming walked quickly to an empty office and clicked on the WeChat voice message from Qin Yishun.
The moment he pressed the button, a familiar voice sounded—
“Er-ge, I’m fine now, don’t worry about me. Just go and deal with that pile of scum.”
When Bo Yueming heard his lover personally report his safety, he sat down as if he had lost all his strength, and his heart hanging suspended in the air was finally able to rest.
—Swish.
Another WeChat came in.
Bo Yueming involuntarily let out a choked breath. His fingers were still trembling as he clicked on the voice message. It was still Pei Yi’s voice.
“I was too lenient in what I said just now, so I’ll repeat it again—”
“Bust that group of people in the face for me, husband~”
[1] His original given name is Gui (贵), which means noble, but he goes by Gui (鬼), which means ghost. ⮐
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Chapter Seventy-One <<Table of Contents >> Chapter Seventy-Three
Neon Dragonfly Translations 