The 99th Divorce

“You want money?” Shen Zhilie asked straightforwardly.

Inwardly, he heaved a sigh of relief. As long as the person dared to contact them, they had a chance of catching him. It would be far scarier if he hadn’t emerged at all.

“Heh heh heh… I’m not stupid. If I asked for money, wouldn’t I be a sitting duck waiting for someone to catch me?” the man laughed. His voice was hoarse and very unpleasant to the ear. It sounded like stone against gravel.

“So what do you want?”

“Ha! I want powder.”

Without a doubt, the man was referring to drugs. “I don’t have anything of the sort,” Shen Zhilie rejected him with righteous indignation. “If you’re asking for money, I can give it to you, as long as you never harass us again in the future. But if you’re asking for powder, get it yourself. That’s not at all an option for us.”

“No?” The man took a deep breath. His voice sounded as if it were about to go bad. “I guess I’ll just have to go after your girlfriend, Dr. Shen.”

Shen Zhilie’s brows knitted together tightly. With a cold laugh, he said, “Will you even get the chance to?”

The man kept quiet on the other end of the line.

“I’m with my girlfriend all the time. Whatever you want to do to her, you’ll have to go through me first. And I have the police on my side. Who on earth do you think you are?” His words carried a challenge and a hint of mockery.

The exchange was making Ye Qianqain feel very frightened. She nudged Shen Zhilie gently, her eyes unable to mask her nervousness. Shen Zhilie shook his head at her to tell her not to worry.

The man scoffed, but before he could say a word, Shen Zhilie said, “What it’ll come down to is whether you’re able to hold out longer than I can. Since you’ve called me, it goes to show that you’re already desperate. Wanted notices are posted all over, and your photograph has been made public. Therefore, you’re beginning to panic. The only option you have left for easing your pain is to beg me for my help.”

It’s an irrefutable fact that addicts are incredibly scary. Even scarier is an addict who’s desperate.

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link; each word Shen Zhilie said hit the man’s sore spot.

“You are indeed a psychiatrist. What you say is true, but I have to warn you that it’s also possible that if I decide that I have nothing left to live for, I’ll just kill the both of you.”

“You’re welcome to try any time,” Shen Zhilie threw out casually. But Ye Qianqian could see the severe frown on his face.

Her heartbeat sped up uncontrollably. She gripped Shen Zhilie’s hand tightly, not daring to make a sound and not daring to say a word.

“If you’re able to suppress your urges long enough to take a walk in the open, would you believe me if I told you anyone would be able to recognize your face the moment you stepped outside? When that happens, you can forget about eating, much less about getting your powder.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Not at all. Our lives are still in your hands, remember?”

“Heh heh…” It was an evil laughter, but it carried an obvious anger with it. “You are really daring.”

“Not as daring as you are to call at this point in time. Did you think that no one was monitoring our cell phones and lying in wait for your call?”

“How dare you!” The man’s voice was filled with fury and obvious panic.

But Shen Zhilie laughed. “Don’t be scared! I was just cracking a joke.”

Ye Qianqian was frightened out of her wits, and her whole body was trembling. She almost believed Shen Zhilie’s words!

She had barely calmed down when she heard the bad news, and her emotions were in turmoil. Ye Qianqian didn’t feel good at all.

The person on the other line was anxious and roared, “You b*stard!”

Shen Zhilie didn’t say a word and simply waited for him to continue.

“There is a chess stand under the tree at the intersection of Songyun South Street. Get your girlfriend to buy the powder from the person there. If you dare to notify the police, you’ll be dead meat!”