Hou Liangping arrested a hawkish general, and his father-in-law panicked

She couldn't just admit defeat.

If she admitted it, Hou Liangping would be really finished.

In this completely unfamiliar Handong, no one will help him, and he will be torn to pieces by that invisible force.

And she, as the wife of this loser, will return to the capital in disgrace, bearing the ridicule and pity of everyone, and living forever under the cold gaze of her father.

She bit her lower lip hard until she tasted blood.

Under extreme pressure, the brain becomes unusually clear.

All retreat routes are blocked and all support has collapsed.

When a person is pushed to the edge, he will either be destroyed or...

Go crazy.

A thought, like a black lightning, split her chaotic thoughts.

The idea was so bold, so crazy, that even she was shocked.

Father can abandon Hou Liangping.

Because Hou Liangping is an outsider after all, a son-in-law.

In the face of huge family interests and political prospects, the weight of a son-in-law is as light as a feather.

But can he abandon his own daughter?

The daughter he raised with his arms in his arms?

Zhong Xiaoai's breathing suddenly became rapid.

She thought of a way, a way to completely overturn the chessboard and force her father to go from being a chess player to being a chess piece.

Under the pretext of kidnapping.

She used her own disappearance to create a huge crisis, a crisis that was enough to prevent Zhong Zhengguo from staying out of it.

He could turn off his phone when he heard Hou Liangping's call for help, but could he also turn off his phone when he heard the news that his daughter might have met with an unexpected accident?

impossible!

As long as the news of her "kidnapping" gets out, the finger of blame will be pointed directly at Handong and the muddy water that Hou Liangping is investigating.

Her father, no matter how reluctant he is, must go!

What he has to protect is no longer that incompetent son-in-law, but the reputation of the Zhong family and his own bloodline, Zhong Zhengguo!

This plan grew wildly in her mind like a poisonous ivy, and every detail became clear in an instant.

This is very dangerous.

One wrong step can lead to eternal damnation.

But does she have any other choice?

No more.

The taxi stopped in front of an ordinary-looking business hotel.

Zhong Xiaoai paid the money and walked into the brightly lit lobby without taking any luggage, only holding her cell phone and wallet.

She checked into the room using a spare ID.

When she entered the room, she didn't turn on the light, but went straight to the window and opened the heavy curtains.

There was a lot of traffic downstairs, and the office building opposite was still lit with twinkling lights and countless pairs of prying eyes.

The whole world is running smoothly, but she is about to throw herself into an abyss of her own making.

She stood in the darkness, motionless, like a statue.

She replayed the entire plan in her mind.

First, you can’t use your own cell phone.

This phone may have been targeted by someone with ulterior motives.

Secondly, how can we get the news to my father as quickly and reliably as possible?

Call his office directly?

No.

His secretary would think it was a nuisance call or a botched scam.

The only channel is her mother.

Only the mother, upon hearing her fearful and crying cries for help, would instantly lose her mind and desperately tell the matter to her father.

Then, there's the timing and the rhetoric.

Not too early, not too late.

The handling of Hou Liangping in Handong must enter a critical stage, while there is no time to do too much verification in the capital.

The rhetoric must be vague yet precise.

He wanted to imply that he was being retaliated against because of Hou Liangping's incident, but he could not say who the specific kidnapper was, leaving a huge amount of room for imagination for the outside world.

Finally, it's herself.

After the call, she had to disappear immediately.

Completely, disappear without a trace.

She threw away her cell phone, changed her clothes, and hid in a corner where no one would expect her, like a hibernating animal, quietly waiting for the storm she would create to sweep across Handong.

Zhong Xiaoai closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and when she opened them again, the panic and confusion in her eyes had faded away, replaced by a desperate determination and coldness.

She walked to the bed, picked up the hotel phone and called the front desk.

"Hello, do you have a public phone here? Or, can you help me buy a anonymous phone card? I can pay double the price."

Her voice was eerily calm. …

Half an hour later, Zhong Xiaoai walked out of the hotel with a brand new phone card.

Instead of returning to her room, she walked aimlessly along the sidewalk.

The night wind blew on her face, it was cold, but it made her more awake.

She walked into a 24-hour convenience store, bought a bottle of water, and then in an empty corner, replaced the newly bought phone card with her own phone.

Turn on.

The screen lights up.

She didn't look through the address book, but relied on her memory to dial the number she had dialed countless times word by word.

It wasn't her father's, it was her mother's personal number.

The phone rang once and then was connected.

"Xiao Ai? Why did you think of calling Mom so late at night? Are you and Liang Ping doing well in Handong?"

From the other end of the phone came my mother's voice, as gentle and kind as ever.

At this moment, Zhong Xiaoai's psychological defenses almost collapsed.

All that disguised strength and those cold calculations almost collapsed the moment he heard his mother's voice.

But she pinched her palms tightly, and the severe pain allowed her to maintain her last bit of sanity.

She opened her mouth, but what came out of her throat was a choked sound that was unfamiliar to her, a mixture of great fear and crying.

"mom……"

"Mom! Save me!"

"I'm in Handong! I've been kidnapped!"

The voice on the other end of the phone was heartbreaking, and every word was like a poisoned knife, instantly piercing the mother's heart.

"They...they arrested me because of Hou Liangping! Mom! Tell Dad quickly... and have him come to Handong... to save me... Ah!"

After a short and shrill scream, the phone was suddenly hung up.

beep…

beep…

beep…

The dead silent busy tone, like a death warrant from hell, echoed endlessly in the ears of Zhong Xiaoai's mother.

Zhong Xiaoai hung up the call expressionlessly.

Without the slightest hesitation, she used her fingernails to pick out the phone card that had just completed its mission. With a flick of her finger, the tiny chip drew an invisible arc in the air and fell into the sewer grate on the side of the road, disappearing without a trace.

Then she turned off her phone, pulled out the battery, and threw it, along with the phone itself, into the deep end of an overflowing trash can on the corner.

After doing all this, she pulled at her collar and buried herself deeper into the night, like a drop of water merging into the ocean, disappearing without a trace.

Beijing, Zhong family.

A mobile phone lay alone on the expensive Persian carpet, the screen still on, showing the call ended interface.

Zhong Xiaoai's mother, Wu Huifang, was completely frozen.

She remained in the same position as when she answered the phone, with her ear still pressed against the air, so that she could catch her daughter's voice again.

Time seems to have frozen.

A few seconds later, a wail that was not human voice burst out from her throat.

“Xiao Ai——!”

She rushed over to pick up the phone like crazy, her fingers trembling as she redialed the unfamiliar number over and over again.

Unable to get through.

The number you have dial can not be reached.

“No…no…I won’t…”

Wu Huifang sat on the ground in despair, tears streaming down her face like beads from a broken string.