The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 217: Chapter 217: Black Eats Black

Inside a weather-beaten wooden house, Wen Tao waited anxiously.

It wasn’t until after noon that the two kidnappers he’d hired finally returned.

But they hadn’t brought Xu Yingying. Instead, they seized Wen Tao and gagged him.

”Because of you, the two of us can’t stick around here anymore. We have to go somewhere else and lay low.”

The other man hesitated. ”Since we already got the money, why don’t we just kill him?”

Wen Tao shook his head frantically, begging them to show mercy.

’These kidnappers have no professional ethics!’

The heavier man slapped his partner. ”Idiot. Even if we let him go, he wouldn’t dare call the police.”

”But if we kill him, a murder case will have much bigger consequences than a kidnapping.”

This Wen Tao guy was a foreigner. If he died, the embassy would get involved.

He may have an East Asian face, but he was a citizen of the United States.

He was a rich guy, too. If he died here, there would definitely be an investigation.

If it was just a kidnapping, they could take the money and hide.

After enough time passed, the foreigners would eventually leave, and then they would be safe.

The men took the money, along with Wen Tao’s watch, and fled.

Wen Tao was left tied up and starving for two whole days before he was discovered.

The police investigation identified him as a suspect in Xu Yingying’s kidnapping.

Wen Tao vehemently denied kidnapping Xu Yingying.

Claiming that he had also been kidnapped, he insisted that he was a victim too.

And since the real kidnappers hadn’t been caught, there was no way to convict Wen Tao, so he had to be released without charge.

Han Xiaorui was quite surprised when she heard the results from the police.

However, Han Xiaorui trusted her own judgment. If Xu Yingying hadn’t misheard, Wen Tao had to be the mastermind.

The fact that Wen Tao himself was kidnapped likely meant it was a double-cross.

But none of that had much to do with Han Xiaorui anymore.

Her study tour was over. The last day was for free time, and she planned to buy some local souvenirs.

She just found that things there were very expensive, so she couldn’t bring herself to buy a bunch of random stuff.

Everyone used their savings to buy televisions and washing machines.

To be fair, the quality of Japanese electronics at the time was indeed better than what was available back home.

What they bought the most of, however, were related books.

Ye Feng found out about Han Xiaorui’s flight and came to pick her up from the airport.

Han Xiaorui had brought back quite a lot of things. They filled the trunk, and there were plenty more on the back seat.

The experts and professors took the airport shuttle bus back.

Han Xiaorui got the contact information and addresses of all the professors, noted their research fields, and invited them to visit Jinshan Bay for research or just for fun.

She told them to call ahead to arrange a time.

As long as she was there, she would definitely give them a warm welcome.

He looked at Han Xiaorui, with her vibrant, shoulder-length wavy hair. She wore a white, sleeveless polka-dot dress with a black belt that accentuated her slender waist.

On her feet were the little white shoes she had brought from home. She moved with a graceful yet spirited air.

Han Xiaorui’s posture was ramrod straight. She was tall, an eye-catching presence whether in the Japanese airport or the one back home.

The old experts and professors looked at Han Xiaorui’s attire and, far from thinking it inappropriate, actually thought it was great.

A new era should have a new look.

Wasn’t the whole point of their hard work and research to help the common people eat better, dress better, and live better?

They themselves might not be able to dress like that, but their children and grandchildren could!

A better life was proof that their hard work and struggle had meaning.

”Shencheng is a bit hot. Here, wipe your sweat.” Ye Feng handed a clean handkerchief to Han Xiaorui, who was sitting in the passenger seat.

Han Xiaorui took it and wiped the sweat from her forehead. ”Miss Xu, is she doing okay?”

Ye Feng took Han Xiaorui’s hand, brought it to his lips for a kiss, his voice full of gratitude.

”Xiao Rui, thank you. My aunt told me what happened when she got back. If you hadn’t reported it to the police so quickly and sought help from the embassy, she would have been in grave danger this time.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”It was nothing. Better to be safe than sorry. By the way, there’s news about Wen Tao. He was kidnapped too. The police over there are looking for the two kidnappers, but I’m more inclined to believe it was a double-cross.”

Ye Feng narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. ”Even if the Japanese police didn’t find any evidence against that bastard Wen, my aunt didn’t mishear. It couldn’t have been anyone but him.”

”If that Wen bastard doesn’t come back to Hua Country, fine. But if he does, I’ll make him regret it for the rest of his life. As for him returning to the United States... hehe, my uncle will take care of him.”

Han Xiaorui smiled. ”Even if you want him dead, don’t do it yourself and get dragged into it.”

”Heh!” Ye Feng sneered. ”Killing him would dirty my hands. But things might be different in the United States. After all, guns are rampant over there. Who knows if he might get gunned down?”

Han Xiaorui pursed her lips to hide a smile. ”If I were Wen Tao, I definitely wouldn’t come back here, and I wouldn’t go to the United States either.”

”You never know.” Ye Feng raised an eyebrow. ”Let’s not talk about that unlucky bastard. I’ll take you home first. Get some rest. Tomorrow, my grandparents and my aunt want to pay you a visit to thank you for saving her life.”

Han Xiaorui’s eyes widened in surprise. ”There’s really no need to go to all that trouble. I just made a phone call. It was the people at the embassy who did all the work. You’re all being too kind.”

Ye Feng chatted with Han Xiaorui as he drove. ”Don’t underestimate just ’making a call.’ It was so timely that my aunt wasn’t taken out of the city by the kidnappers. Once they’d left the city, it would have been much harder to find her.”

”Wen Tao never intended for my aunt to live. He planned to kill her, achieve his goal, and then quickly leave Japan. With no evidence to prove he murdered my aunt, he would’ve gotten away scot-free and legally inherited most of her assets.”

Han Xiaorui sighed. ”Is money really that important? To the point that you could brutally murder someone you’ve lived with for so many years?”

Ye Feng shook his head. ”Some people are just unscrupulous and profit-driven. As your fishing and aquaculture business at Jinshan Bay develops, some people will get jealous.”

”No matter where you go or what you’re doing, try not to be alone. If I’m free, I can go with you. If I’m busy, you can have Wu Jiao or Wu Yao accompany you.”

Not wanting to worry Ye Feng, Han Xiaorui nodded with a smile. ”I know, don’t worry about me. Your job keeps you busy day and night, and it’s dangerous too. You just need to take care of yourself.”

Ye Feng mulled it over for a moment, then replied, ”Xiao Rui, what happened with my aunt was a huge blow to my grandparents. My uncle in the United States is completely absorbed in his research and can’t pull himself away. He’s not married and has no kids; he’ll probably be single for the rest of his life.”

”My aunt wanted to have children, but she can’t due to health reasons. So now, I’m the only one left in the family. Seeing my grandparents getting on in years with no one to inherit the business, I have to be the one to step up.”

Han Xiaorui was stunned, but when she thought about how Ye Feng had been injured and almost died, she felt that resigning wasn’t such a bad thing. She offered some words of comfort.

”You really don’t need to be down about it. Whether you’re catching bad guys and spies or inheriting the family business to develop the economy, you’re still contributing to our country.”

”When I went to Japan this time, I saw that their level of development is higher than ours. Your family has overseas connections; you can bring in high-tech equipment and technology, which will do even more to promote our country’s development.”

Ye Feng smiled. ”The reason I agreed to inherit the family business and use our family’s advantages to drive local economic development... well, there’s another, more important reason for that.”

Han Xiaorui’s big eyes were full of curiosity. ”What other reason?”