Thousands Of People Thought Of Him - Chapter 21
Plummet into the Sea
“WHOOSH—”
The black tarp was forcefully pulled back, and someone shined a flashlight, the blinding light aimed directly at Ying Fusang.
He instinctively closed his eyes. When he opened them again, two large, brown-haired, blue-eyed foreigners were cursing and pulling his arm, “Get over here!”
It seemed they spoke English.
Qin Yi Yao was trembling slightly in fear, her hand behind her back tightly clutching her watch. She watched timidly, afraid to make a sound.
Ying Fusang didn’t resist and obediently got out of the car.
It was completely dark. He had thought the car would stop in some desolate wilderness, but it turned out they had driven into an abandoned pier.
In the dim light, he could see a few old fishing boats lying haphazardly on the shore. Scattered large mechanical parts were hidden in the night, and the constant sound of surging waves filled his ears.
The kidnappers didn’t seem to have guns, only daggers. One of them held the tip of a knife to Ying Fusang’s lower back, while the other quickly searched him for any suspicious items.
In this brief moment, Ying Fusang and Qin Yi Yao exchanged glances.
The watch phone had successfully turned on. Qin Yi Yao understood Ying Fusang’s look. She tried her best to overcome her fear, gritted her teeth, and quietly drew a “C” on the screen, dialing the emergency number.
At that moment, the kidnapper, who had found nothing, quickly shifted his gaze to the little girl in the car.
“Sh1t!” he cursed.
Qin Yi Yao screamed in fear. She struggled and was thrown next to Ying Fusang, her hands and feet tied. The watch phone was also snatched away and smashed.
When the kidnapper found out she had already made the call, he became furious and cursed, raising his foot to kick her!
But Ying Fusang quickly used his back to block the kick for her.
“Wait, Carol.”
At that moment, the other kidnapper stopped the one who was about to act. The two of them discussed something in a language Ying Fusang couldn’t understand.
Soon after, one of the kidnappers took out his phone and started making a call.
Noticing that Qin Yi Yao’s expression wasn’t right, Ying Fusang suddenly asked in a low voice, “Can you understand them?”
Unexpectedly, she nodded slightly. “They… they said they won’t get the money if they kill you.”
Ying Fusang asked again, “Is it their native language?”
Qin Yi Yao nodded again.
The kidnapper named Carol finished his cigarette, turned around, and saw the two of them talking. He quickly walked over, bent down, and shouted with the knife in his hand, “Shut the f**k up!”
The kidnapper who was on the phone also seemed to have connected. He used English to get straight to the point, “I have your daughter.”
He intentionally turned on the speakerphone, and Qin Mu Ci’s voice from the other end of the line was also heard by Ying Fusang.
Qin Mu Ci’s voice sounded extremely nervous as she anxiously questioned his identity.
The kidnapper scoffed twice, not answering the question. Instead, he directly brought the phone to Qin Yi Yao’s mouth, forcefully pressing on her neck.
“Mom—!” The little girl immediately burst into tears in fear.
“Yao Yao!!”
The kidnapper took two steps back and picked up the phone again, continuing in a grim voice, “I need money and a boat. If you want to see your lovely daughter again, you’d better do what I say immediately. And don’t let me see any cops, or else…”
“Okay, okay, I can agree to your demands, but you absolutely cannot harm her!” Qin Mu Ci’s emotions were running high.
The kidnapper looked at his watch and snorted coldly, “Of course, as long as you’re sincere.” At this, he suddenly glanced at Ying Fusang and changed his tone, “Oh, by the way, there’s a boy here. Who is he to you?”
The other end of the line suddenly fell silent.
“He’s…” Qin Mu Ci, who had already gotten into her car, suddenly hesitated and couldn’t say a word.
The two kidnappers exchanged glances. The man deliberately said, “The price I just gave was for one person. If you want to buy his life, you’ll have to pay more.”
Qin Yi Yao couldn’t understand the conversation. She could only look at Ying Fusang in fear, wanting to say something but not daring to.
And at this very moment, Ying Fusang was quietly cutting the ropes.
When he fell, he had been careful to land on a sharp stone on the ground. Although it was a bit difficult, it seemed to be effective against the ropes on his wrists.
Noticing the hesitation on the other end, the kidnapper suddenly laughed maliciously. “You don’t want to pay double the ransom? Hmm… let me think. How about a choice between the two?”
The moment he said that, Qin Mu Ci reacted immediately. “No!” she quickly said. “That boy has nothing to do with me. He’s from the Chinese Ying family. If you want to find someone, go find his father.”
The moment he heard that, Ying Fusang’s hand seemed to slip, and the sharp stone cut through a layer of skin on his wrist.
The kidnapper was a bit surprised. “Oh?” Seeing that the other person’s attitude was good, he didn’t say anything more. “Alright, don’t keep us waiting too long!”
Ying Fusang’s expression was calm. As if he hadn’t heard anything, he continued to cut the ropes.
The next second, a cold, glistening blade was pressed against his neck.
…
An Uprooted Past
Just as Qin Mu Ci hung up the phone, her husband’s call came in right after.
He was from the UK, and his family business had a great influence internationally. Even before she could say anything, he had already learned that their daughter had been kidnapped.
He sounded very calm. After deducing the kidnappers’ identities, he comforted her briefly. Then he told her not to rush to the meeting alone, saying that he had already dispatched people.
At the end of the call, he suddenly brought up another Chinese name.
“Elena, didn’t you say you’d handle it?”
The call ended quickly, and Qin Mu Ci broke out in a cold sweat. She clenched her phone and buried her face in her arms, feeling uneasy.
She hadn’t told Ying Fusang the full story. After she left him at the orphanage door, she immediately returned to the UK.
She treated everything that had happened there as a nightmare. After recovering her physical and mental state, she returned to her life. Later, she married another man through an arranged marriage and had a daughter.
Since it was just a marriage of convenience, after they signed the agreement, they both tacitly agreed not to interfere with each other’s freedom. The relationship could be described as respectful.
Qin Mu Ci’s ancestors were Chinese who had developed in the UK, and her parents were also Chinese, so she had always had a special feeling for this place. After many years, she returned to this land with her daughter.
She wasn’t curious or concerned about how Ying De Qing was doing now. She just occasionally thought of… that child.
Like a nightmare, fear, regret, and doubt—as long as she thought of his existence, all negative emotions would flood her like a tide.
Qin Mu Ci’s husband knew about that child, but she lied and claimed that it was a stillborn baby. He didn’t doubt her, and the matter was left at that.
But not long ago, someone suddenly appeared and anonymously exposed her lie, and even directly told her husband all the information about the child.
“I won’t hold you responsible, but his identity is a hidden danger. Don’t let him appear in public again. Elena, can you handle this this time?”
After Qin Mu Ci agreed, she immediately went to find the person she thought she would never see again—Ying De Qing.
Excluding all impossible candidates, only he knew about this and could have been the one to leak the information!
Facing her questions, Ying De Qing frowned and said, “I’ve always claimed that he’s my adopted son. What good would it do me to expose this lie? What good would it do the entire Ying Group?”
It would also affect the company’s stock price, which would be a real hassle.
After she calmed down, Qin Mu Ci thought that what he said made sense, but this matter had to be handled properly. After a forced calm discussion with Ying De Qing, they both agreed to send Ying Fusang abroad. Not China or the UK, just any country, any place, as long as he was far away.
“Okay, you go and persuade him. I’ll take care of the rest.” Setting other things aside, Ying De Qing had always felt a bit of guilt toward her.
They reached an agreement for their own interests.
Now that Ying Fusang was facing a life-and-death crisis, if you were to ask Qin Mu Ci if she regretted acknowledging him—
In a way, Ying Fusang was indeed very similar to her. In her eyes, his personality was as rational and cold-blooded as hers. Qin Mu Ci occasionally felt a bit of admiration for him, but “love” was non-existent. Even if it did exist, it would only be overshadowed by “disgust.”
So the answer was very simple.
…
The Final Showdown
One kidnapper held the dagger against Ying Fusang’s neck, and the other followed his instructions to call Ying De Qing.
“Beep… beep…”
He called five or six times, but no one answered. The kidnapper’s patience was running out. He turned around and cursed in English, “Are you f**king lying to me?” The sharp blade had already drawn bl00d on the other person’s skin.
Qin Yi Yao was crying in fear on the side.
“No, try again,” Ying Fusang said with a calm expression.
The first four times, he pretended to forget the last digit. He only gave the correct number before the other person couldn’t take it anymore. And it didn’t matter whether Ying De Qing answered or not. Stalling for time was one of his goals.
“Damn it!” The kidnapper angrily grabbed his collar.
“Be patient, Carol.” The other kidnapper stood up and waved his hand, motioning for the other person to move aside. He squinted his eyes and suddenly said slowly in not-so-standard Chinese, “You are very smart.”
“But if you continue to waste time, you should be able to guess your fate, right?” In the kidnappers’ opinion, contacting his family for money and then releasing him was a win-win happy ending.
Ying Fusang didn’t speak.
At this moment, a sound suddenly appeared near the quiet abandoned pier—the sound of a car driving.
If it wasn’t for their lack of experience, the two kidnappers would never have wasted so much time on making calls.
“The woman is here.”
Just as he finished speaking, a car quickly drove over. The door opened, and Qin Mu Ci stepped out of the driver’s seat.
Both kidnappers were standing on the deck at this moment, each holding a hostage.
Seeing her, Qin Yi Yao’s eyes lit up, and she shouted, “Mama!”
Qin Mu Ci’s heart tightened. She subconsciously wanted to rush forward.
“Don’t move!” The kidnapper immediately shouted. “Where’s what we want?”
“The money is all here. I’ve also arranged the boat you wanted,” Qin Mu Ci frowned and put the two briefcases on the ground.
The kidnapper glanced at them and nodded in satisfaction. “You’re obedient.”
Time was running out, and they didn’t think too much. Based on the principle of a good-faith transaction, they immediately walked forward with the little girl, ready to release her.
And at that moment—
“BANG!”
A bullet cut through the night, precisely piercing the kidnapper’s left hand that was holding the knife against the little girl!
“Don’t shoot!!” With the sudden turn of events, Qin Mu Ci’s eyes were filled with rage!
Why, why did the people she had arranged to ambush shoot at this critical moment?!
His companion wailed while clutching his arm. The other kidnapper, with quick reflexes, released Ying Fusang and chased after him, successfully recapturing Qin Yi Yao.
The shooter in the distance gently caressed the gun, smiled in satisfaction, and then looked at Ying Fusang. “Ha.”
At this moment, the two kidnappers were even more anxious than Qin Mu Ci. They didn’t expect the other party to be so untrustworthy, even though they had been so sincere!
The people who were truly in ambush were also caught off guard by this situation, but since it had come to this, they had no choice but to show themselves.
In an instant, the deck was surrounded by people.
And that wasn’t the end of it. By coincidence, the sound of police sirens approaching also joined the siege.
The shot kidnapper was immediately enraged. “Fine, you want to take us all down with you, right?!”
Before he even finished his sentence, he turned and used his other hand to raise the dagger high. In his companion’s shocked eyes, he completely ignored everything and forcefully stabbed the little girl’s heart!
“Yao Yao—!!”
The bullet and the blade fell at the same time, and bl00d splattered.
Aside from the wide-eyed kidnapper, the other person who fell was not Qin Yi Yao.
—It was Ying Fusang, who at the last second, had once again used his back to block the stab.
Qin Mu Ci’s mind went blank as she stood there, and then Qin Yi Yao, who had taken advantage of the chaos to run back, jumped into her arms.
“Carol!!” The other kidnapper looked at his fallen companion, whose life had ended. His heart was ashen, and his eyes were bloodshot.
It seemed that today, he would not be returning.
He looked around, and then suddenly dragged Ying Fusang, who hadn’t been stabbed in the heart. The other person happened to look up, his indifferent eyes seemingly mocking his stupidity and failure.
“Haha, you can all die!” While cursing, he suddenly used all his strength to fiercely kick Ying Fusang off the deck!
Everyone was caught off guard by this sudden change.
“P-L-O-P” a huge splash of water erupted from the sea.
…
Bl00d continuously surged from Ying Fusang’s wound, spreading out into a bloody mist in the dark seawater. At this moment, he didn’t even have the strength to instinctively struggle. He could only open his eyes and look at the calm sea, feeling his life slipping away.
Finally, it was quiet.
In the last moments of his life, it seemed that the so-called life review was indeed happening in his mind.
[Ying Fusang, you’re the one who stole the DVD, right?]
[I see you like being locked in the bathroom stall. This time, I’ve changed the place for you. What do you think? Are you satisfied?]
[I never realized before, you’re so malicious?]
[You’re truly frighteningly selfish.]
[It’s nothing, the child just has low bl00d sugar.]
[Would you be willing to live with us?]
[That boy has nothing to do with me.]
…
Ying Fusang suddenly wanted to laugh. Shouldn’t a life review flash more beautiful scenes? Why was it so hard for him to find “good” memories?
But when he realized this, he no longer had the strength to even twitch the corner of his mouth.
Seawater continuously entered Ying Fusang’s mouth and nose, and the feeling of suffocation became more and more intense. As the lack of oxygen grew, his brain seemed to be losing the ability to think and judge. His consciousness was gradually blurring.
At the end of the life review, a blurry figure suddenly appeared in his mind. That person was standing in the snow, seemingly reaching out to him.
The moment his eyes were about to close, something glowing suddenly appeared in front of him in the pitch-black seawater.
Was he starting to hallucinate?
He tried his best to make out what it was and found that the glowing object seemed to be…
A copper coin?