Lin Nianhe was anxious to go to Sui City. On one hand, she wanted to inquire about the person in the photo; on the other hand, she needed to report her safety.
She guessed that her old father was probably crying his eyes out by now.
At midnight, Minister Huang, who was tossing and turning in bed, was startled by a knock on the door.
"Leader, Lin Nianhe is back!"
Outside the door, the secretary’s voice carried a hint of excitement.
Minister Huang instantly flipped up from the bed, threw on his clothes, and walked out: "Where is my little girl?"
"I arranged an empty room for her, and took care of her meal too," said the secretary, "I came to inform you after settling her in."
His own leader, he treasured dearly. Since the Spring Trade Fair, Minister Huang had only been sleeping four to five hours a day, and after the news that Lin Nianhe was taken by the police station, he had eaten only half a bowl of noodles.
"Get some snacks for the little girl, this child loves sweets."
Minister Huang strode into Lin Nianhe’s resting room, not caring whether she was on a phone call or not; he directly grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her up, scrutinizing her from head to toe, and even deliberately pulled her wrist over to carefully check for any signs of injury.
"Good good good, it’s fine as long as you’re home, don’t be scared anymore...
Lin Nianhe smiled: "Uncle Huang, I’m fine, perfectly alright. They treated me quite courteously, and even arranged for three people to keep me company!"
These words, only "Uncle Huang" could be believed.
However, Minister Huang didn’t find any signs of injury on Lin Nianhe and then said to the secretary, "Call for a female doctor from the health team, to give her a check-up."
Lin Nianhe quickly spoke up: "I’m really fine, there’s no need to disturb everyone’s rest at this late hour, really, I’m truly fine."
Lin Nianhe repeatedly emphasized that she was fine, and even hopped around a bit.
But Minister Huang didn’t believe her and insisted that she go with the female comrade to be thoroughly examined without clothes.
Only after learning that she indeed had no external injuries or internal trauma did Minister Huang finally breathe a sigh of relief. He picked up the phone and said to Comrade Old Lin on the other line: "Binghui, the little one is fine, I’ll arrange a flight to send her back tomorrow."
Mr. Lin, upon hearing from his old friend that his daughter was genuinely unharmed, finally let go of the anxiety he had been holding.
He took a long sigh of relief, wiped his face, and after a while, he said: "It won’t work."
"What did you say?" Minister Huang doubted his own ears.
Mr. Lin took a deep breath, his voice hoarse: "Old Huang, give the phone to Nianhe, I need to speak to her."
Minister Huang seemed to think of something, swallowed the words on his lips, and turned to hand the phone to Lin Nianhe.
He looked at Lin Nianhe deeply, said nothing, and turned his head to look out the window.
Lin Nianhe dutifully took the phone, speaking softly, "Daddy, I can’t go back."
"My girl..." Mr. Lin was silent for a long time, then said in a low voice, "Dad is sorry."
Comrade Old Lin’s voice choked with emotion.
Originally, Elder Ji had Lin Nianhe join the exchange delegation with the intention of adding to her experience. Mr. Lin simply wanted Lin Nianhe to take the opportunity to observe the current thoughts of the big families in Xiangjiang.
But one thing led to another, and the development to this stage exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Today, Chief Editor Zhu acted quickly, almost the moment Lin Nianhe arrived at the police station, the news reached Mr. Lin’s ears.
He, of course, understood that there must be someone behind this situation pulling strings, but he could not act.
Tales of planes speaking and cannons following suit are just fairy tales.
Sitting in his position, he had too many things to consider.
He couldn’t possibly kick up a fuss about a military reunification because his own daughter had been caught.
Just as back then, when Su Yuncheng was trapped in enemy territory, Mr. Su had no choice but to order the firing.
What father would willingly ignore the safety of their children?
But they had to keep the big picture in mind.
Lin Nianhe held the phone, laughing softly, "Dad, if you cried so hard over this little thing, Mom would have a joke for the rest of her life."
Mr. Lin was startled.
Lin Nianhe continued with a light smile, "I can’t leave now. The Shen Family just gave me 20% of the dry shares in their shipping company, but I’m just holding them on behalf of someone else. The dividends from these shares are to be used to build schools in impoverished areas. I need to make sure they get the shipping company up and running."
Mr. Lin was even more bewildered.
Minister Huang, standing beside him, was also looking at her in astonishment.
"Girl, tell the truth, was Yang Jiawen killed by Shen Yu? And you witnessed it, didn’t you?"
Minister Huang couldn’t hold back and interjected.
Mr. Lin also had the same question.
Lin Nianhe cheerfully spoke to the people on both ends of the phone: "The Shen Family still stands firmly with us. I’ve talked with Old Master Shen many times; these shares were offered to me by his own initiative."
Minister Huang clicked his tongue.
After a brief silence, Mr. Lin said, "Daughter, they can cause chaos, but it can’t be too much chaos. Can you... arbitrate?"
There were very few people who could directly interact with the high and powerful families of Xiangjiang, and Lin Nianhe was the only one Mr. Lin completely trusted.
"I understand what you mean," Lin Nianhe’s tone became serious, "I guarantee I will complete the mission."
"Daughter, I... I..."
Mr. Lin’s eyes reddened again, his heart ached to the point where he could hardly breathe.
Nothing pained a father more than personally sending his daughter into danger.
"Comrade Old Lin, you’ll make me feel like you really don’t trust me," Lin Nianhe’s tone lightened, "Actually, this is quite easy—the Shen Family is clinging to me for dear life, the Yang Family’s conflict is over the inheritance, and that conflict will be over soon. After all, without an inheritance to fight over, they won’t have grounds for conflict, right?"
"The biggest issue now is the death of Yang Jiawen, there’s someone ambitious and ruthless behind this. Once we pull him out, everything will be clear."
"As for the others, they’re all opportunists, blustering a lot in words, but when it comes to taking action, they all want someone else to lead the charge so they can reap the benefits."
Lin Nianhe tried to reassure Mr. Lin by deliberately simplifying the situation.
But Mr. Lin, having worked for so many years, knew all too well the difficulties behind this.
He asked, "How likely is it for the Shen Family to consolidate the dock business?"
"It’s a sure bet," Lin Nianhe said, "When it comes to dock business, there are only three key factors: connections, partners, and workers. The Shen Family lacks neither of the first two, and as for the dock workers—Ah Sheng has already started to coax Yang Family’s workers into signing labor contracts, the kind with a penalty of ten thousand yuan."
Minister Huang: "..."
Neither of them had ever seen what ten thousand yuan looked like.
"From the sound of it, that does seem very secure," Mr. Lin’s heart eased a bit.
"Mm, and I came back today because I want to ask Uncle Huang for a favor—to recognize someone. This person was involved in my capture."
As Lin Nianhe spoke, she took a photo of a Caucasian man from her bag.
She added, "Finding him should lead us to the real mastermind behind the murder of Yang Jiawen."
"You little melon, how come you didn’t mention such a big thing earlier?"
Minister Huang sprang up in a shot, snatching the photo from Lin Nianhe’s hand.
On the other end of the phone, Mr. Lin held his breath unconsciously, waiting for the answer.