124: Escape

Liu Nansheng held her breath instantly, her chest even forgetting to rise and fall.

Her hand subconsciously gripped Chen Li's arm tightly, her nails almost digging into his flesh.

She pressed half of her body tightly against Chen Li's side; he was her only reliance.

Her eyes were fixed on the few men who were considering the offer, her heart racing at every subtle change in their expressions.

"Can you really produce one million?" Scarface finally spoke, his voice somewhat dry.

"As long as you let us go and return my phone, I'll transfer the money to you immediately," Chen Li answered decisively.

Scarface took a deep breath, and as he slowly exhaled, his tense shoulders visibly relaxed.

"You'd better keep your promise and not call the police. This matter ends today, and no one will pursue it further. If you break the rules..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Chen Li and Liu Nansheng. "We aren't people to be trifled with either."

After saying this, he seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden and instructed the driver's seat in a hoarse voice, "Gousheng, pull over."

The white van slowly stopped on a secluded, deserted small road.

Hearing Scarface finally relent, Chen Li's tense nerves suddenly relaxed.

And Liu Nansheng, who had been huddling close to him, slightly loosened her tight grip on him.

She looked up at Chen Li, and in those beautiful eyes, the lingering tears of fear had not yet completely faded, but they were now replaced by a gaze full of admiration and emotion.

In the suffocating confrontation just now, the composure, courage, and the reckless responsibility Chen Li showed for her were like a beam of light, shining completely into the depths of her heart.

An indescribable sense of security and admiration surged into her heart like a tide at this moment... Scarface gave a look to the lackey in the back row, who immediately stepped forward and neatly cut the plastic zip ties binding Chen Li and Liu Nansheng with a knife.

Their wrists were suddenly freed, the red marks from the ties clearly visible. Scarface then handed over both of their phones.

Chen Li rubbed his numb wrists and, without any hesitation, took the phone directly.

He didn't even give Scarface a second look, merely asking calmly, "Card number."

After receiving a string of numbers, his fingers moved quickly across the screen, cleanly transferring one million to him without a shred of hesitation.

Almost the next second after he pressed the confirmation button, the phone in Scarface's hand let out a crisp 'ding,' the screen lighting up to show a deposit of one million yuan.

Looking at the deposit SMS from the Bank, Scarface's pupils shrank sharply, his face filled with disbelief.

He had spent half his life in the underworld and wasn't unfamiliar with money, but someone like Chen Li, who could so calmly and quickly transfer a massive sum of a million—this financial power and composure were completely beyond his comprehension.

A strong wave of lingering fear suddenly surged into his heart—thankfully, thankfully he had chosen to take the money and leave just now.

If he had really harmed this couple and provoked such an unfathomable figure, he and his family would probably never have a day of peace again.

Chen Li pulled the shaken Liu Nansheng and quickly got out of the vehicle.

With her feet back on solid ground, Liu Nansheng's legs went weak, and she almost collapsed, but Chen Li held her firmly.

As she leaned against him, trembling slightly, Chen Li turned back to look at Scarface inside the still-open car door.

He asked one last question in a deep voice: "Now, can you tell me who ordered this?"

Scarface gave Chen Li a complicated look, his lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.

He just forcefully pulled the car door shut with a dull 'thud.'

Immediately after, the white van's engine let out a low growl and quickly turned around, tires grinding against the road surface.

It soon disappeared into the depths of the dim night, leaving only Chen Li and Liu Nansheng standing on the deserted roadside.

Chen Li didn't dare to stay in place at all.

He tightly grasped Liu Nansheng's cold hand and led her quickly in the opposite direction, only slowing his pace when he saw the lights of the main road.

A passenger tricycle happened to drive by on the street, and Chen Li quickly waved to stop it.

After helping Liu Nansheng into the narrow cabin, he finally took out his phone.

The screen was packed with missed calls and wechat messages, making his heart tighten—over thirty missed calls from his parents and more than twenty messages from Meng Yu.

He took a deep breath and first dialed his mother's number.

"Xiao Li...?" His mother's trembling voice came from the other end, filled with cautious probing, as if she were terrified of receiving a call from kidnappers.

"Mom, it's me."

Chen Li deliberately kept his tone light. "We're fine now, it was just a misunderstanding.

The other party got the wrong person, and they let us go once they cleared it up. I'm on my way home now."

"You scared me to death!"

Mother Chen's voice was tearful. "The police came and said you were kidnapped; your father and I almost fainted..."

"Let the boy speak first."

His father's voice, forced to sound calm, came through the phone. "Xiao Li, are you safe now? Do we need to come pick you up?"

"I'm really fine, I'm in a vehicle, I'll be at the Residential Complex soon."

As Chen Li spoke, he signaled the tricycle driver to speed up.

After hanging up on his parents, he called Meng Yu back.

He explained with the same story, not daring to give too many details for fear that Liu Nansheng, sitting beside him, would notice something was off.

After briefly comforting Meng Yu with a few words, he hurriedly ended the call.

Putting away his phone, Chen Li finally had a chance to look closely at Liu Nansheng beside him.

She was still pale, her hands tightly clutching his arm, her tense expression not yet relaxed.

"It's okay, it's all over now." Chen Li gently put his arm around her shoulder, feeling her still trembling slightly.

"Chen Li, I was really so scared just now..."

Liu Nansheng's voice was choked with sobs. "Why are you so foolish? They clearly only wanted to kidnap me alone..."

Before she could finish, tears began to fall uncontrollably.

She tightened her grip on Chen Li's arm even more, leaning her whole body weakly against his shoulder.

It was as if only by huddling close to him could she feel a sense of real security to dispel the remaining chill in her heart.

Chen Li immediately understood the fear she hadn't voiced—she was talking about his crazy actions of disregarding his own life to hold back the kidnappers when she was being taken.

"At that time, how could I have had time to think that much?" he said softly.

Recalling it now that he had calmed down, Chen Li truly felt a wave of lingering fear.

The decision to pounce forward recklessly at that time was entirely an instinctive reaction in a split second.

If he had hesitated even slightly or chosen self-preservation, Liu Nansheng would have been taken who knows where by now.

Wait for the police? He didn't dare imagine. How much time would it have taken for the police to investigate, lock onto the target, and carry out the arrest?

By then, it would have been too late.

It was precisely his desperate entanglement that forced the other party to change their plan and bought him the opportunity to negotiate with money.

If he had let them take Liu Nansheng away alone, the consequences... his heart felt cold just thinking about it.

Liu Nansheng remained silent throughout, yet her actions spoke volumes.