"How do you want me to cooperate?" Jing Meng asked, deliberately stalling for time. Her fingers glided across the face of her watch, tapping rapidly on a virtual keyboard as she tried to trace the kidnappers' location through the signal.
"Miss Jing." The voice on the other end suddenly turned cold, causing Jing Meng to freeze her movements instinctively. "Turn off the tracking on your watch!"
At those words, Jing Meng immediately scanned the surrounding open ground, but she couldn't find where the person monitoring her was hidden. On the virtual screen, red tracking dots were scattered all around.
"I want you to bring the latest chip research data. Otherwise, I can't guarantee young master Pei Cheng's life," the man said ominously before hanging up abruptly.
A notification chimed as a text message arrived. Jing Meng clicked to read it; it contained a new location for the trade.
Daring not to delay a second longer, Jing Meng rushed back to the laboratory to grab the documents before hurrying toward the agreed-upon meeting point.
Her frantic departure happened to be spotted by Jing Hong. Glancing at the elevator that had just arrived, Jing Hong hesitated for a moment, abandoned his plan to look for Pei Gong, and, driven by curiosity, quickened his pace to follow Jing Meng.
With her heart entirely focused on Pei Cheng's safety, Jing Meng was completely unaware that she was being followed. When she reached the rendezvous point, she boldly walked inside alone.
"You certainly have nerve," a man arranged by Pei Qing spoke up the moment she appeared, his tone carrying a trace of ambiguous contempt. Jing Meng remained silent, approaching with feigned composure. Out of the corner of her eye, she scanned the area, carefully confirming the number of kidnappers while silently calculating her odds of success.
The research results in the laboratory were protected by more than one layer of security. Since Pei Qing had triggered the alarm, Jing Meng knew she wasn't the only one who had received the news.
By her calculations, word must have already spread through the Pei Corporation. As long as she could stall long enough for the company's people to find them, everything would be resolved.
The moment the results were discovered missing, the secretary reported the situation to Pei Shiyi, who was about to board a plane for an overseas business trip. "President Pei, our results have been stolen. Based on the surveillance, the thief appears to be an insider."
Hearing this, whether out of suspicion or some other intuition, Pei Shiyi's first thought was that Jing Meng had taken them. The reason, if scrutinized, was that beneath her seemingly tough exterior lay a heart of loyalty and passion. If someone used a threat against her, her nature would surely drive her to save them at any cost.
As this thought grew stronger, Pei Shiyi spoke without a second thought. "Don't call the police for now. Send men to track her down. If anything else comes up before I return, you will be in charge."
Hearing the words "in charge," the secretary felt even more that this was a thankless task. The Pei Corporation's continuous operation relied on tight cooperation between departments, and their leader naturally needed to be someone discerning and clear-headed. He was just a salaried secretary; being suddenly burdened with the mantle of leadership made his heart race in silent prayer.
Compared to the secretary's panic, Pei Shiyi remained very calm. Many things in the business world were hard to explain, and the problems that arose grew more devious every time. Having spent years climbing through the commercial ranks, he had long since developed a skin thick enough to withstand any blade.
However, just as Pei Shiyi was pondering the situation, his phone rang again. Seeing "Cheng Cheng" on the caller ID, he couldn't help but frown. When he answered, he heard a sheepish chuckle from the other end the exact way the boy sounded whenever he did something wrong.
"Has Daddy reached a foreign country yet?" After a polite greeting, Pei Cheng said cautiously, "Daddy, don't worry about the case of the missing company results. They aren't actually lost. I was just playing a game with Meng Meng."
Hearing this, Pei Shiyi's anger flared. Just as he was about to lower his voice and scold the undisciplined boy, he saw the flight attendant smile politely at him. He could only snap a few words at Pei Cheng before hanging up and turning off his phone as instructed.
The moment the call was cut, Pei Cheng knew his father's plane was taking off. Though his heart was filled with apprehension, he couldn't help but feel a surge of relief at least Pei Shiyi couldn't return for now.
Jing Meng searched everywhere, but she still couldn't find any sign of Pei Cheng. Just as she began to fear she had fallen into a trap, a few muffled whimpers drifted from nearby. She ran over in a hurry to check.
She found Pei Cheng tied to a pillar, his mouth stuffed with cloth, letting out occasional whimpers. When her gaze landed on the boy, seeing the various wounds covering him, a sharp pang of pain shot through her heart.
Anger was eclipsed by self-reproach. As Jing Meng reached out to untie him, her wrist was suddenly seized, and a fierce voice barked from behind her.
"You've seen the person. Where is the stuff we want?" The kidnapper dragged her aside, keeping her at a distance from Pei Cheng.
Taking the chip research documents out of her bag, Jing Meng said with a cold face, "I can give these to you, but you must release him immediately."
"Of course. But you need to personally place the documents on that table over there." The kidnapper pointed to a table behind her. As he spoke, his eyes shifted constantly, landing on Pei Cheng's face from time to time. Seeing this, Jing Meng tightened her grip on the papers, gave Pei Cheng a Reassuring look, and walked toward the table as instructed.
Jing Meng didn't suspect a thing as she quickly set the documents down. But the moment she turned around, a dark shadow flashed in her peripheral vision. This was followed by a series of wails and the heavy thud of bodies hitting the floor.
Jing Meng couldn't believe her eyes. "Why are you here?"
Jing Hong stood there with a dark expression. He shot her a cold, sideways glance before turning his focus back to the kidnappers, ignoring her question entirely.
While they were distracted, a kidnapper scrambled to his feet. In a fit of humiliated rage, he brandished a fruit knife and lunged toward Pei Cheng.
Seeing the knife about to strike the boy, Pei Qing suddenly appeared out of nowhere and threw himself in the way, taking the blow.
With a muffled groan, cold sweat from the pain instantly broke out on Pei Qing's forehead. He looked down at the injury, and once he confirmed it had only hit his shoulder, his racing heart settled slightly. Taking advantage of his back being turned to Jing Meng, he shot a meaningful look at the kidnappers, signaling them to stop fighting.
Pei Cheng was dazed with fear. He stared blankly at Pei Qing, his face filled with confusion.
The kidnapper quickly pulled out the fruit knife and turned to grab the chip data. Ignoring their blades, Jing Hong engaged them in hand-to-hand combat without a word.
The kidnappers didn't want a protracted battle. After several of them pinned Jing Hong down and grabbed the documents, they delivered a hard kick to his chest and fled in a hurry.
When Jing Hong turned his head, he saw Jing Meng heading straight for Pei Cheng. His heart felt as though it had fallen into a cellar of ice. Rising silently from the ground, he left without saying a word.
"Cheng Cheng, are you okay? Were you scared?" Jing Meng's voice was soft as she knelt down and carefully untied the ropes around him.
The hemp rope hadn't been especially tight, but due to Pei Cheng's struggling, blue and purple marks were left across his skin. After freeing him, Jing Meng looked toward Pei Qing with a complex expression.
She habitually carried small medical supplies with her. After searching through her bag, she finally found some gauze and iodine. Jing Meng first used the iodine to clean the wound, and once the blood was wiped away, she carefully bandaged him with the gauze.
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