Lin Qi not only wasn’t nervous, instead, she propped up her chin, and watched him leisurely and composedly.
The driver, on the other hand, got a bit nervous due to her calm and collected demeanor: "How do you know?"
Lin Qi said, "What does she want by having you kidnap me? Did she pay you? How much?"
Lin Qi took out a bank card: "Here’s the deal, I don’t care what she instructed you to do, or how much money she offered, I will double it. Just give me a price, as long as you deliver me back safely, whatever you ask, I will pay, money in your hands, then you can let me go. Don’t worry, I won’t call the police because anything that can be settled with money isn’t a problem to me."
The man stared at her somewhat doubtfully.
Lin Qi said: "What, you don’t believe me? Or are you afraid that I’m going to report you if you let me go?"
The man said: "Who knows what trick you’re playing!"
Lin Qi calmly said: "Let me tell you now, my husband is Tingdong Huo; if you dare touch a single hair on my head, he will not let you go. You know, he’s a man who’ll stop at nothing. In other words, if you aren’t even afraid of Tingdong Huo, would you still fear the police?"
The man was severely stunned!
Lin Qi with a few words had hit his critical weak point.
Tingdong Huo is much scarier than the police.
He’s also from the underworld; for people like them, there’s nothing they would not do except murder and arson.
As long as the money is right, there’s no deed they would shy away from.
But there’s also a saying on the streets, you’d rather offend someone ruthless than a wealthy person.
And Tingdong Huo is one of the wealthiest of the wealthy, utterly unoffendable!
But he couldn’t believe that the woman sitting before him, was Tingdong Huo’s woman!
Lin Qi said: "I want to make a deal with you now! Whatever amount that Ms. Maeve gave, I will double it! I don’t care how many people she has bribed to kidnap me, now, this money, I’ll give you double, and I want you to return the exact amount to her!"
The man said: "What proof do I have that you can double the money?"
Lin Qi directly threw the bank card to him: "There’s a million inside, withdraw as much as you need. After withdrawing, let me go."
The man caught the bank card, his expression flickering with uncertainty.
At the entrance of an ATM.
The man stopped the car, locked Lin Qi inside, took the bank card, and covered himself completely with protective gear, carrying a backpack as he walked towards the ATM.
About a few minutes later, the man returned to the car with a backpack full of cash, tossing both the phone and bank card back to her.
Lin Qi asked, "Did you get the money? Can I go now?"
The man asked, "Are you really not going to call the police?"
Lin Qi countered, "Why should I call the police? I’m not short of money, so I don’t want to be enemies with someone like you."
The man took a deep breath of cold air, unlocked the car, and waved at her: "You can go!"
Seeing that he finally relented, it looked like the negotiation was successful!
Lin Qi calmly picked up the phone and bank card, got out of the car with a composed face, and with a "bang", closed the car door.
The car sped away, her breathing suddenly became rapid, at this moment, her continuously tense nerves finally got to relax!
All the calmness she had shown just now was merely a bluff!
In fact, she was extremely nervous!
But it was because she remained calm enough that she managed to turn the danger into safety, fortunately using money to solve the problem without any harm!
Lin Qi walked to the side of the road, took out her phone, and found that Huace Headquarters was just across two streets from where she was.
Her heart still thumping, she calmed herself a bit and headed toward Huace Headquarters along the road.
She arrived at the company.
Unnoticed, it was already evening.
Time was nearing the end of the day’s work.
Lin Qi had just reached the entrance and hadn’t yet gone in when she saw Han Na had already returned to the company.
She seemed distracted, looking around restlessly, occasionally glancing out the window.
Lin Qi didn’t rush inside. She suddenly thought of how Han Na was thrown out of the car earlier, looking too terrified to approach, she assumed Han Na would immediately call the police, but...
It appeared she hadn’t made the call.
The entire office was calm, as if no one had noticed the empty spot beside Han Na.
Zhou Xiaoying walked to her position and seeing Lin Qi’s seat empty, couldn’t help but ask Han Na, "I heard from a colleague that you weren’t feeling well this afternoon?"
Han Na nodded slightly, "Mmm," she said, "appendicitis attack... I just came back from getting medicine at the hospital."
Zhou Xiaoying said, "If you’re not feeling well, you should go home early!"
Han Na nodded again, bowed her head, and looked down guiltily, daring not to lift her gaze.
Zhou Xiaoying was about to return to her own seat when she suddenly noticed Lin Qi’s empty spot, so she asked, "Where’s Lin Qi? Did she take you to the hospital?"
Han Na was startled, her expression somewhat awkward.
She raised her head, flustered, saying, "She dropped me at the hospital and left... I thought she had come back first. She hasn’t returned?"
Zhou Xiaoying said, "No."
Pausing, she suddenly thought of something, "Maybe she went to see Mr. Huo!"
Han Na didn’t speak, just silently lowered her head, sweating coldly.
That horrifying scene in the afternoon was still vivid in her mind.
After being thrown out of the car, she hailed another car on the roadside and hurried back to the company.
This was the first time she encountered such a heartless incident. Seeing Lin Qi being kidnapped, going she knew not where, she wanted to call the police, but then she thought perhaps Lin Qi had already been kidnapped by the criminals to silence her; calling the police now wouldn’t help!
If Lin Qi really suffered any misfortune, Mr. Huo might investigate, and she was afraid of being held responsible.
Everyone has seen what happened to Maeve for offending Tingdong!
If Mr. Huo finds out, that Lin Qi got abducted by criminals while hailing a cab for her, she also fears she’d be in big trouble!
Thinking this, Han Na didn’t dare to call the police. Instead, she pretended as if nothing had happened and returned to her workplace, still in shock.
A deep disappointment surfaced in Lin Qi’s eyes.
The basic instinct of human nature is self-preservation.
She could understand why Han Na was too scared to move when she was thrown out of the car, but she didn’t expect that after such an incident, Han Na would choose not to call the police to shirk responsibility.
No wonder Zhou Xiaoying sarcastically said Han Na and Maeve were birds of a feather; now, her warning to be cautious around Han Na seemed reasonable!
Lin Qi did not return to the office, but instead turned and took the elevator straight to the CEO’s office.
Tingdong was still in a meeting, Lin Qi lay on the sofa, and seeing Tingdong’s coat thrown on the sofa, she casually hugged it in her arms.
His suit jacket carried his scent, and Lin Qi instantly felt an immense sense of security, coupled with the fatigue after tense nerves had relaxed, she hugged his jacket and dozed off lightly.