Chapter 883 — The Kidnapper Who Changed His Mind

Yet the last thing Liu Tianyi had expected was for Wei Zhao to call him first.

Liu Tianyi drew a deep breath and answered the phone warily. "Hello, yes — this is Liu Tianyi."

"Mr. Liu? This is Wei Zhao. Could you lend me a hundred million?" Wei Zhao wasted no words. "If I can't pay it back, I'll give you a pill in return, or treat one of your family members free of charge."

"Say no more, say no more — a hundred million is nothing. If Divine Doctor Lin needs it, then by all means take it and use it. What's all this talk of paying back? Even bringing it up is vulgar." Liu Tianyi had been worrying over how to forge a connection with Wei Zhao, and now here was Wei Zhao calling him up out of the blue to borrow money!

Liu Tianyi was overjoyed — how could he possibly refuse? Whether Wei Zhao ever repaid the money was secondary; building a good relationship with Wei Zhao was the whole point.

"Then I'll thank you in advance. I'll send you an account number by text — just transfer it over," Wei Zhao said.

"Of course, no problem at all!" Liu Tianyi agreed with barely concealed eagerness. These days few people went around begging others to accept a loan, but Liu Tianyi was certainly one of them — and he did not even want Wei Zhao to pay it back!

Wei Zhao said nothing more and hung up. Gu Pengzhan, however, was staring wide-eyed at Wei Zhao in disbelief. He had overheard the earlier call between Wei Zhao and Fatty Lai, and when he heard Wei Zhao asking for Liu Tianyi's number, Gu Pengzhan had thought he must have misheard.

Who was Liu Tianyi? The young heir of the Liu family, one of Yanjing's great houses — and Wei Zhao was going to borrow money from him? Surely he had misheard?

But then Wei Zhao called Liu Tianyi directly, and Gu Pengzhan understood that what he had heard was all true. Wei Zhao really had borrowed a hundred million from Liu Tianyi, and without the slightest effort or haggling — the other party seemed delighted to lend him the money!

"Uncle Chu, I've borrowed a hundred million from Liu Tianyi for now, so don't pull out all of the company's working capital. Doing that would affect the company's operations." Wei Zhao looked at the utterly astonished Gu Pengzhan and smiled.

"Liu Tianyi of the Yanjing Liu family?" Gu Pengzhan still found it hard to believe.

"That's the one." Wei Zhao nodded. "Give me the account number and I'll have him transfer the money over."

Gu Pengzhan drew a deep breath. How long had Wei Zhao been in Songshan? And already he commanded such formidable connections. No wonder he had never taken the Yu family seriously back then — he had even dared to kill one of their own...

So even when facing the young heir of another great house, Wei Zhao had calmly and without a hint of doubt asked for a hundred million — and the man had been only too happy to lend it!

With Liu Tianyi's hundred million, Gu Pengzhan found it easy to raise the remaining hundred and fifty million, and transferred it all to the account the kidnappers had left.

About ten minutes later, the kidnappers called again — still from that number composed entirely of zeros.

Gu Pengzhan picked up. "Hello?"

"Mr. Gu's credit is quite good — the ransom arrived so quickly!" Zhen Yingjun was rather excited. So the life of a kidnapper had such a bright future! In one stroke he had raked in two hundred and fifty million; his father risked life and limb as a pirate and could not make that much in a year! If he snatched a few more people in the future, would he not soon have money to burn?

"When can I see Yaoyao and Xiaoshu?" Gu Pengzhan relaxed a little when he heard that the kidnapper had no intention of going back on his word.

"Since Mr. Gu is so straightforward, how could I disappoint you? I'll give you an address — you can have Wei Zhao come and collect them." Zhen Yingjun said, "But I hope Mr. Gu remembers what I said: don't call the police, or you'll bear the consequences yourself!"

"No problem. I only want my daughter and Xiaoshu back safe and sound," Gu Pengzhan said solemnly.

"South Mirror Mountain. At the foot of the mountain there are two cars — a Mercedes 600 and a Toyota Previa. Have your people follow the mountain road in front of the two cars on up," Zhen Yingjun said.

"All right, I've got it!" Gu Pengzhan knew South Mirror Mountain. He had not expected the kidnappers to have taken his daughter to such a desolate place. If the police alone were sent to search it, finding them would not be easy.

Zhen Yingjun said nothing more and hung up. Now he had only to wait for Wei Zhao to arrive — and then deal him a fatal blow, leaving him on South Mirror Mountain forever!

The money was in hand, but the score between Zhen Yingjun and Wei Zhao remained unsettled. How much suffering had this man put him through? He would make him repay it a hundredfold, a thousandfold!

"South Mirror Mountain. Xiaoyi, they named you specifically to go bring Yaoyao and Xiaoshu back..." Gu Pengzhan hesitated a moment, then said to Wei Zhao, "I keep feeling there's some scheme behind this. Otherwise, why not simply release Yaoyao and Xiaoshu? Why insist on sending you?"

"Heh, maybe they want to deal with me too." Wei Zhao spoke calmly. "If my judgment isn't off, I already know who's behind this."

"Who?" Gu Pengzhan was startled and asked.

"Zhen Yingjun!" Wei Zhao said. "It can't be anyone from the Yu family. The way things stand, it can only be the Zhen family."

"The Zhen family? The Zhen family of Donghai? Zhen Dazhou? Since when did you cross someone like that?" Gu Pengzhan was taken aback. He himself had no dealings with Zhen Dazhou, much less any grudge.

Wei Zhao briefly recounted to Gu Pengzhan what had happened in the billiard room that day — how Zhen Yingjun had lusted after Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu, and how Wei Zhao had dealt with him after they left.

Gu Pengzhan shook his head with a bitter smile. He did not blame Wei Zhao, because strictly speaking, this trouble had been stirred up by Shen Yushu and had nothing to do with Wei Zhao.

"Xiaoyi, what you're saying is that beyond wanting money, they also mean to deal with you?" Gu Pengzhan mused for a moment, his expression somewhat grave.

"That would seem to be it. Xiaoshu was the one who asked me to do it, but in the end I was the one who carried it out. Zhen Yingjun may well hate me to the bone. I'd guess that expert is waiting for me up on the mountain!" Wei Zhao shrugged. "That place is far from the city. If something happens there, no one will notice. It's the perfect place for a killing."

"In that case, how could I let you take such a risk?" Now that Gu Pengzhan understood the cause and effect, he could not help shaking his head. He worried for his daughter's safety, but he could not send Wei Zhao to his death either!