The pushover offended a top-tier boss

Lin Zhi's voice rang in my ears, urgent and trembling.

Ye Zhenzhen turned her head with difficulty and saw Lin Zhizheng half-squatting beside her. His face was pale and his lips were bloodless.

"Zhizhi..."

"Zhenzhen, wake up! We've been kidnapped."

Ye Zhenzhen's brain buzzed, and she instantly became mostly awake.

She struggled to sit up. Through the gaps in the carriage, she could see trees and bushes rushing past outside. The light was getting dimmer, indicating that they were heading towards an increasingly remote place.

Lin Zhi took out his phone from his body and found that there was no signal at all.

"This should be the border," Lin Zhi glanced out the window, his voice extremely low. "If we're sent abroad, we're doomed."

Countless news headlines flashed through Ye Zhenzhen's mind—Northern Myanmar, telecom fraud, human trafficking, organ trading, unable to return home.

Her blood suddenly turned cold.

"Let's jump out of the car." Lin Zhi tried to remain calm, but Ye Zhenzhen saw that her hand holding her wrist was trembling.

"The car doors were all locked, so we had to climb into the trunk."

Lin Zhi, pulling the still limp Ye Zhenzhen along, climbed to the back of the carriage. In a corner of the carriage was a rusty metal toolbox. Lin Zhi pried it open with considerable effort. Inside were several wrenches and a pair of rusty pliers.

Lin Zhi picked up the pliers, aimed them at the latch, and began to tighten them one by one.

Rust fell down with a rustling sound, the metallic scraping noise particularly jarring in the quiet carriage.

Ye Zhenzhen's heart was in her throat. She pressed herself against the carriage wall and peered through the cracks.

Inside the driver's seat, the man was still driving, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and loud music playing from the radio.

With a "click".

The latch is open.

Lin Zhi pulled the iron bar out of the door latch and glanced at Ye Zhenzhen.

"I'll go down first, then I'll pick you up."

After she finished speaking, she pushed the car door open a crack. A cold wind blew in, carrying the damp scent of earth and vegetation.

It was getting dark outside, and a gray-blue twilight enveloped the entire mountain forest. On both sides of the road were dense banana groves, their huge leaves blocking out the sun.

Lin Zhi gritted her teeth, pushed the door open just wide enough for her to squeeze through, and squeezed out through the gap.

Ye Zhenzhen heard a muffled thud, followed by Lin Zhi's hushed voice: "Quick!"

She forced her limp body to move and squeezed out. The moment her foot touched the footrest, the wheel rolled over a pothole, the whole vehicle jolted violently, and she lost her balance and fell off.

Her back slammed against the earthen slope by the roadside, the pain making her vision go black, but it also brought her fully awake.

"Zhenzhen!" Lin Zhi ran over from the roadside bushes and pulled her up.

"run!"

The two of them stumbled and ran forward.

Until they heard a car horn.

Lin Zhi turned around and glanced back; his expression changed.

"No, hide quickly, don't run, they've spotted us over there."

She grabbed Ye Zhenzhen, who was still staggering, and plunged into the banana grove by the roadside.

They huddled in the deepest part of the banana grove, panting heavily.

There was a commotion outside, and the sound of several people walking back and forth nearby.

"When was it lost?!"

"It must have just happened; it couldn't have gone far!"

Ye Zhenzhen covered her mouth, not daring to make a sound.

Lin Zhi held her hand tightly, his palms sweaty.

The footsteps grew closer.

Someone parted the bushes, and the beam of a flashlight swept through the gaps, almost illuminating them.

Ye Zhenzhen held her breath and closed her eyes.

A few seconds later, the footsteps faded into the distance.

"Not here!"

"There aren't any over there either!"

"Damn it, it'll be hard to find them after dark. Let's go back and call someone!"

"Search again at daybreak tomorrow; they can't escape!"

The engine roared to life, and the bread truck drove off.

The sound of the engine grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared completely into the night.

The surroundings became quiet.

It was so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat, the calls of some unknown bird in the distance, and the rustling of the wind through the banana leaves.

The moonlight peeked out from behind the clouds, a stark, pale white.

"Zhizhi, are there any snakes here?" Ye Zhenzhen's voice trembled, and her lips trembled as well.

Lin Zhi's voice also became a little weaker: "In the tropics... there should be quite a few snakes."

"However," she squeezed Ye Zhenzhen's hand, "let's not move, let's not provoke it rashly. Snakes generally don't attack people on their own."

Ye Zhenzhen buried her face in her knees, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled.

The two huddled in the bushes, back to back, and time passed by, each second feeling like an eternity.

"Now we'd better hide and not move. They'll know we're lost, and they'll definitely come looking for us."

"We don't know what's going on outside right now, so let's hide and make sure we're safe."

"it is good."

Ye Zhenzhen nodded and squeezed Lin Zhi's hand tightly.

Her only consolation at that moment was that she was still with her best friend.

If she were all alone in this dark, desolate wilderness, unsure whether it was inside or outside the country, she probably would have given up hope long ago.

The place where they boarded the boat is under the jurisdiction of Lin County, which borders Myanmar and has a border line of more than 100 kilometers.

Meanwhile, the officials in Linxian County were in complete chaos.

"Secretary Zhou, we've found out." The county party secretary stood in front of Zhou Huaijin, his voice trembling, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, and the back of his shirt soaked with cold sweat. "He was on the other side of the river... drugged and taken away by a peddler selling incense."

He swallowed hard, his voice growing softer and softer.

"But... they might have already been trafficked to Myanmar..."

After saying his last words, he didn't even dare to lift his head.

Zhou Huaijin sat at the head of the conference table, with a map of Lin County and several newly retrieved security reports spread out in front of him.

His eyes were half-closed, and his eyelashes cast a faint shadow under his eyes.

I can't see their expressions clearly.

"Snap—"

The cup in his hand smashed directly on the ground.

Tea splashed everywhere, porcelain shards flew, and a few pieces landed on the county party secretary's trouser leg. He didn't dare to move.

"One hour."

"I don't care who you're looking for, black or white, bring this person back to me."

He raised his head, his gaze fixed directly on the county party secretary. Those eyes were intimidating enough normally, but now they were as cold as blades.

"Try it if you lose even a single hair," he paused, his voice lowering even further.

The county party secretary was so frightened his legs went weak, and he almost lost his footing. He nodded repeatedly, his voice trembling, "Secretary Zhou, don't worry, we will definitely—"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Huaijin silenced him with a single look.

He felt that his career might have come to an end.

If the family members of the Party Secretary of the New District were to disappear within Lin County, not only would it create a sensational news story, but the development of the entire county and even the city for the next few years would be severely hampered.

Those in official positions, from top to bottom, will not have an easy time.

Linxian County appears prosperous, with its tourism industry thriving, but beneath the surface lies a mess. Human trafficking, smuggling, and illegal immigration are problems plastered along the border like a persistent blemish.

Although the police have been cracking down, the border is too long, the smugglers are too cunning, and local protectionism and deeply entrenched interest chains make it difficult to carry out the crackdown.

Normally, the abduction of one or two people within the country is not a major case, and it may take up to six months to solve.

But this time, it's different.

This person's identity is too sensitive.

Moreover, he has the backing of the central government; with just a flick of his finger, he could cause them a great deal of trouble.

"Contact the underground organizations on the border and establish contact with the people inside the country." Zhou Huaijin's voice calmed down, but that calmness was even more frightening. "Find channels to establish contact with the high-ranking officials in the industrial park in Myanmar and find out if there are still any undercover agents inside."

He paused, then looked up and scanned the people present.

"Find the person as quickly as possible and ensure their safety."

Now, time is life itself for them.

One hour.

In border areas, an hour is enough for a person to be transferred three times, enough to go from Lin County to Myanmar and then to another completely unfamiliar place.

Half an hour passed.

The air in the meeting room seemed to freeze; everyone was waiting for the phone call.

The county party secretary and the police chief's cell phones rang almost simultaneously.

The two answered the call, listened for a few seconds, and their expressions changed from despair to astonishment.

"Secretary Zhou, we've found it." The county party secretary's voice trembled with relief, "But..."

"The two of them jumped off the train halfway through the journey."

Zhou Huaijin's pupils suddenly contracted.

"The exact location is still being searched. That area is all mountains, and it's a border area; the search area is too large. Drones are currently being used for the search..."

Before he could finish speaking, the conference room door was suddenly pushed open.

Chen Yu burst in, his shirt collar wide open, his hair disheveled, and his eyes bloodshot. His usual composed and noble air was completely gone; he looked like a cornered beast driven to the brink of despair.

"All the helicopters have been brought over. I'll go find them." His voice was hoarse.

Zhou Huaijin stood up and grabbed his coat from the back of the chair.

"I'll be with you."