158: A big network from Sioux City, a breakthrough in the kidnapping case

“Of course, I want to know!”

“But what price will you pay after telling me these secrets? Will your relationship with Qing Yan fall apart?”

Knowing his wife Li Qingyan’s childhood trauma would give him a chance to untie her knot, making her feel more at ease during intimate moments and even accelerating the progress of their relationship.

However, seeing the hesitation and struggle on Jiang Qianyu’s face,

Gao Ze guessed there would be a price to pay.

His wife, Li Qingyan, was very cold to others; once her bottom line was crossed, she could turn hostile without a second thought, showing no mercy.

“The relationship will definitely collapse.”

Jiang Qianyu smiled bitterly and said, “But Mr. Gao, you’ve helped me so much, I can bear this price!”

“There’s no need then. You are one of Qing Yan’s few friends, so you should maintain that relationship well.”

“I will investigate Qing Yan’s childhood trauma myself!”

“In that case, Mr. Gao, you can investigate in the direction of Su City. Qing Yan’s father is the person who knows the most about Qing Yan’s childhood trauma, and he also bears a certain responsibility.”

Jiang Qianyu breathed a sigh of relief. Revealing Li Qingyan’s secret was still a huge pressure for her.

Not only would she have to bear the cost of her sisterly relationship with Li Qingyan collapsing, but that incident from back then still made her shudder.

“Su City, huh? I understand.”

Gao Ze nodded slightly. The city of Su City had too many connections to him. Zhou Xianlong was there, Li Qingyan’s father and his wife’s secret were there, and Captain Shen Gang had also gone to Su City to investigate a case. He would definitely go there someday.

In fact, Su City was not far from Donghai City; it took less than half an hour by high-speed rail, and there was even a subway between the two cities, making it like a sister city to Donghai City.

“Mr. Gao, there’s one more thing I want to ask you?”

Jiang Qianyu recalled the feeling of embracing Gao Ze earlier and couldn’t help but ask, “Are you still carrying a gun?”

“Carrying a gun?” Gao Ze shook his head in confusion, “No, police officers must carry guns only during missions. I don’t have a gun now.”

“Then why did I feel something hard on you when I hugged you?”

“How could that be? Perhaps you’ve been under high mental stress lately and misperceived it!”

Gao Ze replied without a change in his expression or breath, then immediately left. It wouldn’t be long before Jiang Qianyu would understand what it was.

“Is that so?”

Staring at Gao Ze’s departing figure, Jiang Qianyu furrowed her brows and looked at Lili, who was beside her, covering her mouth to suppress her laughter.

“Lili, what are you laughing at?”

“Do you know what was on Mr. Gao?”

“Of course, I do!” Lili couldn’t help but burst out laughing, bending over with laughter, “It’s killing me, it’s too funny.”

For some reason, a hint of shyness emerged in Jiang Qianyu’s heart upon hearing the laughter in the air. She glared angrily, “Lili!”

“Do you want to know what was on Mr. Gao?”

Lili leaned close to Jiang Qianyu’s ear, whispering with a laugh, “...That was Mr. Gao’s gun. A hint of cold light arrives first, then the gun emerges like a dragon!”

Ah?!!!

In an instant, Jiang Qianyu’s fair, jade-like face flushed crimson.

“Miss Jiang, if you have any more questions about this, you can ask me anything!”

Lili found it incredibly amusing. Despite Jiang Qianyu running a bar and skillfully building her network, she was actually quite naive in many aspects, only understanding things conceptually from books without real-world experience.

This was a common trait among many top-tier rich young women like Li Qingyan and Jiang Qianyu. With good family backgrounds to protect them, they could avoid the covetousness of many malicious and ill-intentioned people.

When it came to choosing a partner, it usually had to go through multiple layers of screening by their families and elders.

“No need!”

Jiang Qianyu waved her hand, calming her emotions, and with a flickering light in her beautiful eyes, she couldn’t help but ask:

“Lili, do you think if I made a move, I could successfully seduce Mr. Gao?”

Lili was startled by the question and blurted out, “Miss Jiang, that idea is very dangerous! Mr. Gao is married to CEO Li!”

“So what if he’s married? It’s not like they can’t get divorced?”

“Besides, as far as I know, Qing Yan and Mr. Gao’s marriage itself has faced pressure from all sides and isn’t well-regarded. Now even Qing Yan’s company is encountering covert attacks from Zhou Xianlong!”

Jiang Qianyu smiled, triumphantly saying:

“I’m different. I already control over 50% of Jiahua Group’s shares. As long as I want to, I can become chairman at any time, and not even my father can stop me!”

“Their opinions and views certainly cannot influence or interfere with me!”

“Miss Jiang, you can’t get too carried away. Our Jiahua Group’s internal crisis hasn’t been completely resolved yet!”

Jiang Qianyu’s mindset had changed, and Lili keenly noticed it, sighing, “If you can’t improve Jiahua Group’s performance and generate profits, those shareholders will still abandon you.”

“You’re right!”

Jiang Qianyu was startled, realizing that her mindset was indeed somewhat inflated. She said in a low voice, “I haven’t truly solidified my position as the actual person in charge of Jiahua yet. I must achieve results and earn trust to compare to Qing Yan’s accomplishment of building a company worth nearly ten billion.”

“But it’s so hard!”

“Lili, do you think Mr. Gao can help me increase Jiahua’s profits and performance?”

“Mr. Gao doesn’t seem to have any experience or achievements in business operations and ventures!”

“I don’t know!”

Meeting the worry in the depths of Jiang Qianyu’s eyes, Lili shook her head.

She always felt that a terrifying, invisible hand was lurking behind Gao Ze, using them as pawns, secretly manipulating and influencing Jiahua step by step for a deeper layout.

But what that was, she couldn’t fathom.

Perhaps when the next step of the plan unfolded, the entire Donghai City would be watching in an uproar.

.........

“Husband, don’t come to my company.”

When Gao Ze took a taxi to Yanxiu Group, he contacted his wife Li Qingyan in advance.

“Why?”

“Today I’m going back to my mother Shen Xiuyan’s place, and I might stay there.”

“Did you encounter problems with your work?”

Gao Ze immediately realized that Zhou Xianlong’s tactics had caused considerable disruption to Yanxiu Group, otherwise Li Qingyan would not easily seek help from her mother Shen Xiuyan.

“No, husband, do you miss me?”

“I’ll come find you tomorrow. I still need to attend your commendation ceremony!”

Her light voice carried a strong sweetness, clearly not wanting Gao Ze to worry. He didn’t press further, with only one thought in his mind: he had to make that person surnamed Zhou pay the price.

Preferably, tonight at midnight, he would get intelligence on Zhou Xianlong or his affiliated companies.

He would hit him hard!

“Driver, to Suhe Huating Community!”

Since Li Qingyan was going to her mother-in-law Shen Xiuyan’s residence, there was no point in going to Yanxiu Group. Gao Ze planned to check on the progress of Zhou Xiaodong’s son’s kidnapping case, and whether Wei Haoran had received a call from the kidnappers.

But luck was not on their side.

When Gao Ze saw Zhou Xiaodong, Han Jingmei, and other detectives including Wei Haoran at 8 PM, they were still waiting anxiously, but there had been no calls.

“When the kidnappers call and make their demands, notify me by phone.”

Gao Ze had no intention of staying and waiting. If he did all these tasks, what credit would Wei Haoran and the Jinghai District detectives get?

He had to leave them some scraps.

He would go back and recuperate, waiting for the intelligence system to refresh with information on the kidnapping case tonight.

“Officer Gao, wait! The kidnappers called and made their demands, and they sent a kidnapping video!”

Gao Ze had already gotten into the car to go home, but Wei Haoran called him midway.

“What demands did the kidnappers make?”

Gao Ze rushed back to Suhe Huating Community and asked Wei Haoran, “When did the call come in, and where is the video the kidnappers sent?”

“Twenty minutes after you left, Ms. Han Jingmei’s phone received a call from the kidnappers. The other party claimed they had kidnapped Zhou Xinchen and wanted 50 million in cash to get the child back, to be delivered tomorrow!”

Wei Haoran quickly said, “I was right beside Ms. Han Jingmei at the time and told her to ask about Zhou Xinchen’s condition. The kidnappers initially refused, but then sent a video of Zhou Xinchen being kidnapped.”

As he finished speaking, a nearby detective handed a laptop to Gao Ze.

On the screen was a picture of Zhou Xiaodong’s child, Zhou Xinchen.