Chapter 43: Seeking Help
Inside the study.
The woman’s thoughts swirled into a chaotic vortex of anxiety.
Ruan Ying’s fingers, clutching her phone, trembled incessantly. The latest death threat on the screen made her shudder uncontrollably with cold.
[I will make you pay the price, starting with your precious daughter. From gouging out her eyes to crushing her fingers one by one.]
This was the third anonymous account the other party had used to contact her after she blocked the previous ones.
Ruan Ying’s palm slammed heavily onto the desk. The nearly empty bowl of donkey-hide gelatin and bird’s nest toppled over from the vibration.
The thick liquid flowed slowly down the mahogany tabletop.
The porcelain bowl shattered, shards scattering across the carpet, and the tonic quickly seeped into the velvet fabric.
She had provided the police with clues about the suspects; the ones most likely to kidnap Xiao Yi were none other than those two.
However, the news sent back by the police echoed repeatedly in her ears: Ruan Zhengyi and Wang Yanqin, who had been expelled from the board of directors, had been investigated and found to have already smuggled themselves out of the country.
Yet the death threats constantly popping up on her phone seemed to mock the results of the investigation.
“Impossible… impossible!”
She suddenly raised her hand and swept everything off the desk. Papers scattered everywhere.
The blood in her veins seemed to churn in chaos, magnifying her anxiety to a state bordering on frenzy.
In the bedroom, the girl had already stabilized her emotions.
The man’s scalding breath brushed against Ruan Yi’s earlobe. His large hand had been rubbing her spine for so long that the patch of skin felt hot.
“I… I’m fine now.”
The two were pressed tightly together through thin layers of fabric. His aura, carrying a scorching body temperature, completely enveloped her, making even the unshed tears on her eyelashes feel burning.
Moreover… the pressure on her chest was a bit too strong.
Those two mounds weren’t that big to begin with; if he kept pressing, they’d be flattened!
Gu Zhi gently released the softness in his arms. His gaze flickered over a certain full curve, and he looked away as if burned.
Ruan Yi turned to look at the broken window, feeling anxious but helpless.
Ah Zhi could climb walls and grab windowsills, but she didn’t have that kind of arm strength. She still couldn’t get out!
Seeing Ruan Yi’s gaze, Gu Zhi guessed her current thoughts without her having to speak.
“Sister, I’ll break down the door.”
Gu Zhi spoke, his Adam’s apple rolling as he produced a voice that was unusually hoarse.
Just as he was about to walk toward the door, his wrist was firmly caught by the girl. In her urgency, her nails dug into him.
“You’re not allowed to break the door! You’ll get hurt! Do you think you’re made of iron?”
The man looked down, his finger pad brushing past Ruan Yi’s reddened eyes.
“Okay. Then I’ll take another way. I’ll climb to the guest bedroom to get out, then get tools to pick the lock. Sister, wait for me obediently, okay?”
“Fine. Be careful, and don’t act like you’re Spider-Man!” Her tone was full of worry.
The man propped one hand on the window frame, his brows arching slightly. The heat in his eyes was hard to conceal. “Okay.”
Ruan Yi walked back and forth on the carpet with her arms crossed. The waiting time felt like years.
She suddenly stopped, her eyes turning red again uncontrollably.
Even if this door was opened, the situation would still be terrible.
Her mother’s current mental state was completely uncontrollable. What if she was pushed too far and did something radical?
“I have to find a way… Right! Sedatives!”
If she could make her mother calm down temporarily and return to a state where rational communication was possible, all problems would be solved.
But where would the medicine come from? Where could she find the contact information of a professional doctor who had sedatives and could come to help immediately?
Her mother’s condition couldn’t be known to the outside world yet. If people with ulterior motives caught wind of it, the situation would become even more difficult.
Who else could she turn to?
Ruan Yi stared at the contact in her phone book with the “poop” emoji suffix, feeling conflicted.
She could only take a gamble—gamble that he wasn’t the culprit drugging her mother.
The call was picked up.
“Fu Jingchen…” Ruan Yi’s voice was still shaking.
“Xiao Yi, what’s wrong?” The man heard the abnormality in the girl’s tone, and his knuckles tightened around the phone.
“I… I need your help… I need an injectable sedative, the one with the smallest side effects. I need it now. Can you do that?”
The girl’s voice carried a sob that hadn’t fully dissipated, stuttering as she choked up.
“Please… I’m begging you.”
The other side fell into an eerie silence. Just as Ruan Yi thought the call would be hung up and her tears couldn’t help but fall, a low voice came through the receiver.
“Okay. I’ll be there in ten minutes. Hanging up now.”
Ruan Yi’s originally tense and shaking shoulders suddenly froze, her face filled with bewilderment.
Seeking help from the biggest suspect was clearly a foolish move.
She had imagined responses ranging from questioning and evasion to a cold hang-up, but she never expected Fu Jingchen wouldn’t even ask a single follow-up question.
The harsh sound of metal scraping interrupted Ruan Yi’s thoughts.
The dull thud of a toolbox hitting the floor, followed by the crisp sound of locks snapping one after another—the bedroom door was opened.
“Quick, let’s go! Let’s see how Mom is doing!”
Ruan Yi rushed out of the bedroom in a panic. As soon as she started running, the large bruise on her calf sent a sharp, stabbing pain through her.
She had probably bumped it again while she was locked in.
A whimper escaped her throat, and her body lost strength, threatening to topple forward.
Gu Zhi was quick to catch her waist. Before she could react, his large hands had already reached under her knees and buttocks.
Ruan Yi was led to wrap her arms around his neck, her legs forced to entwine around his lean waist. Her ear tips instantly burned red from the shock and shame.
This… what kind of posture is this!
“Ah Zhi! Put me down, I can walk by myself!”
Ruan Yi struggled to get down, but she was held even tighter by his constricting arms.
“Don’t move around. It’s faster this way.”
Before the words finished, Gu Zhi was already carrying her in large strides down the stairs.
The hurried footsteps mingled with the heartbeats of the two. Ruan Yi gave up struggling and shamefully buried her face in his shoulder like a quailing quail.
Who carries an injured person like this?
The moment they stepped into the living room, the chaotic scene made Ruan Yi’s breath hitch.
The coffee table was overturned, and documents were scattered all over the floor. It was a total wreck.
The door to the study was ajar, revealing a narrow slit. From inside came the constant thud of heavy objects hitting the floor, accompanied by suppressed roars of anger.
The man’s palm against the root of her thigh loosened slightly, placing her steadily on the ground.
However, his arm did not move away; it still firmly hooked around Ruan Yi’s waist.
Gu Zhi’s chest was pressed tightly against her back, leading her through the mess. She could even clearly feel every breath Gu Zhi took.
They stopped in front of the study door. Through the gap, she could see Ruan Ying’s hair was disheveled. On the floor were shards of a porcelain bowl. She was hurling everything she could reach at the wall.
Seeing her mother’s bloodshot eyes and out-of-control movements, everything pointed toward an increasingly collapsing mental state.
Ruan Yi’s heart tightened suddenly, and her trembling hand instinctively covered her mouth and nose.
Her knees also lost strength. If it weren’t for the arm behind her supporting her steadily, she would have collapsed to the floor.
How could her mother lose control to this extent!
Instead of gradually calming down, the situation had worsened. Could it be… that she had ingested more drugs in this short amount of time?
Cold sweat slid down her spine, but Ruan Yi couldn’t think of an answer.
The uncontrolled movements inside the study stopped abruptly. Only heavy breathing could be heard from within.
Just as Ruan Yi held her breath, the figure inside suddenly turned her head slowly at a bizarre angle.
“Xiao Yi… is that you there?”
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