Chapter 85

By the time Qi Xu and Li Kaixing arrived at the restaurant, they realized a little too late that the private room had already been reserved. Other than representatives from Yunrui and Chuangzhi, there was no one else there.

Seeing President He again, Li Kaixing greeted him warmly. “President He, are you settling down here in the capital?”

President He had recently been transferred to the capital branch. Though his position hadn’t changed, the branch was short on talent, so his salary and benefits had gone up significantly.

He grasped Li Kaixing’s hand with a hearty laugh. “Hahaha, Director Li, I’ll be counting on your support from now on.”

While Li Kaixing chatted happily with President He, Qi Xu and Jackson were also in the middle of a serious conversation about potential project collaborations.

If Yunrui could seal the deal with Chuangzhi this quarter, it would mark a major turning point for the company—like finding shade under a massive tree together.

This wasn’t Qi Xu’s first business dinner, and he handled it with ease. He was like a fish in water, speaking fluent English without needing much help from the interpreter.

Chuangzhi also showed strong interest in collaboration. At this point, all they needed was a contract.

Glass after glass, the group polished off a bottle of wine worth several hundred thousand yuan.

A waiter soon brought in another.

“Xu,” Jackson called.

Qi Xu turned his head to respond, answering the questions Jackson had about the project.

As he glanced at Jackson’s profile, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him. He hadn’t interacted with many foreigners—mostly clients, a few foreign teachers from school, and the expat horse trainers at the Shen and Xie family estates.

He was sure he’d seen this man before—but not in real life.

A photo?

Before he could place it, the waiter pouring wine beside him accidentally spilled a splash onto his clothes.

It wasn’t much, just a small stain—but unfortunately, Qi Xu was wearing white tonight, and the red wine left a pretty obvious mark.

The waiter immediately apologized. Qi Xu waved it off, unfazed.

After excusing himself from the table, he left the private room. The waiter was replaced.

Qi Xu headed to the restroom, only to find a maintenance sign at the door. He turned instead and walked to the one at the end of the hallway.

Not long after he entered, the maintenance sign in front of the first restroom was quietly removed—and one was placed in front of the restroom he had just walked into.

Inside, Qi Xu was wetting a handkerchief when someone silently approached from behind. A sharp blade pressed into the small of his back.

He looked up, meeting the eyes of the man behind him through the mirror—someone who looked like a trained bodyguard. Qi Xu’s expression remained calm, as if he had already anticipated this.

The man paused for a second, briefly stunned by the intensity in Qi Xu’s gaze. It gave off a quiet pressure.

Another man entered the restroom, pressing on the earpiece in his ear. “What are you spacing out for? Do it.”

The blade-wielding man leaned in, pressing the knife closer to Qi Xu’s body. “Mr. Qi, call your bodyguard and tell him to leave the building. Otherwise, I can’t promise this knife won’t slip.”

Qi Xu didn’t move.

The man raised the knife to his neck. Only then did Qi Xu calmly wring out his handkerchief, pull out his phone, and dial Chen Wei.

“It’s me. I’ll be heading back to the office with Li Kaixing after this. You can go ahead first.”

Chen Wei knew they’d been drinking and offered to drive them.

“No need. Chuangzhi’s CEO is giving us a ride. Might be working late—just come pick me up from the office later.”

Hearing nothing suspicious, Chen Wei hung up and drove away from the hotel.

One of the attackers, hearing a new instruction in his earpiece, reached for Qi Xu’s phone—only for Qi Xu to suddenly fight back.

These weren’t amateurs—they were highly trained. And while Qi Xu had some self-defense skills, it wasn’t enough. The two men quickly overpowered him with precision.

One of them landed a heavy punch to Qi Xu’s chest and stomach. He didn’t even grunt—just countered with a vicious side kick. But two-on-one was still too much.

His phone flew from his hand, smashing against the wall and shattering on impact. He himself was slammed into the wall, one hand resting on the broken device. Without flinching, he slipped the now-exposed tracker into his palm.

The bodyguards pinned him with effort.

“Mr. Qi,” one of them warned coldly, “don’t make us force you. You wouldn’t want your employees caught in a car crash on their way home tonight, would you?”

Qi Xu gave a cold smirk but didn’t say a word. He stopped resisting.

As they left the restroom, one man picked up the broken phone, inspecting it before tucking it away. They wiped the area clean, removing any sign of a struggle.

With hats pulled low to avoid cameras, the two escorted Qi Xu out the hotel. A black SUV had been waiting.

Qi Xu was shoved inside. A phone was handed to him.

He took it with his injured hand—the one cut by the phone screen shards.

On the other end of the call, a voice he didn’t recognize at first spoke:

“Long time no see, Qi Xu.”

But he knew exactly who it was.

“Song Ruoming.”

Song Ruoming let out a laugh, as if Qi Xu recognizing his voice was some delightful surprise.

“Well, I’m honored the great Young Master Qi remembers me,” he said in a deliberately theatrical tone.

Qi Xu’s face remained blank. “Is this how Young Master Song throws welcome-back parties? Truly one of a kind.”

Song Ruoming’s expression darkened. “Well, it’s not easy to get you to show up anywhere. Xie Huai treats you like you’re made of gold. I had no other choice if I wanted this reunion.”

Before Qi Xu could respond, a cloth was suddenly pressed against his face, covering his nose and mouth. He inhaled the heavy drug-laced fumes—and blacked out.

Just before he lost consciousness, it finally clicked—where he’d seen Jackson before. In one of the photos from Xie Huai’s investigation into Song Ruoming’s foreign assistant, the man had been hugging a male friend. Jackson had been in that photo too—only his side profile was visible.

It had seemed unimportant at the time, so neither he nor Xie Huai had paid it much attention.

Back in the private room, the dinner had ended. Li Kaixing was tipsy from all the drinks, but even in his foggy state, he remembered to look for Qi Xu.

No way he’d lose track of his boss—this man signed his paychecks, after all.

But when he asked the waiter, they told him that Mr. Qi had already left for some urgent business.

Li Kaixing felt a bit hurt. Boss left and didn’t even bring him along?

As he stumbled to the hotel entrance to say goodbye to the Chuangzhi reps, he spotted Chen Wei hurrying up.

“Mr. Li, the young master didn’t leave with you?”

Li Kaixing stood in the breeze a moment, the cool air sobering him up a bit. “Didn’t he go with you? Said he had to head back to the office with you.”

Chen Wei had started driving away earlier but something didn’t sit right. His young master never worked late at the office—and something about that phone call had felt… off.

So he’d made a U-turn at the intersection—and happened to run into Li Kaixing.

“He told me he was heading back to the office with you.”

Without wasting a second, Chen Wei tried calling Qi Xu again—only to find the phone had been shut off.

Li Kaixing sobered up almost instantly. “Something’s wrong.”

Chen Wei didn’t hesitate. He immediately called Xie Huai to report what had happened. Within twenty minutes, police and relevant parties had arrived at the hotel to take over the case.

Thirty minutes later, the Shen, Xie, and Qin families all knew Qi Xu had gone missing.

Qi Xu had no idea how long he’d been unconscious.

When he finally opened his eyes, it was pitch-black.

But it wasn’t night—he quickly realized he was in a basement with no windows. No light, not even a sliver. No way to know the time. The space was tight, silent, and cold.

Song Ruoming clearly knew how to weaponize psychological pressure.

Qi Xu had been locked up in the firewood shed by Qi Guohui more times than he could count as a child—days at a time. Being confined in darkness wasn’t new to him.

He didn’t get up right away. Instead, he stayed still, conserving energy.

The tracker was still on him. Xie Huai would find him—soon.

Honestly, what worried him most wasn’t the kidnapping—it was how Xie Huai might react emotionally.

By now, Xie Huai had probably reviewed the hotel surveillance footage—and realized Qi Xu had gone with them voluntarily.

Putting himself in danger… that was one of Xie Huai’s bottom lines.

The last time Qi Xu had done something similar to force Gao Wenjun to show his hand, Xie Huai had been furious.

This time?

He’d be even more furious.

And not easily calmed.

Still… he’d have to find a way.

The basement door creaked open. Qi Xu wasn’t surprised to see Qi Guohui appear.

At this point, Qi Guohui was practically a public enemy. With the Shen family no longer willing to shield him, his only option was to cling to his biological son for survival.

He’d wrung plenty of money out of the Shens—burned through it lavishly—and when he went back to demand more, they turned their backs on him. After being exposed online, his reputation as an irresponsible, abusive father had stuck. Now, he was like a rat scrambling through the gutters, desperate and out of options.

Eventually, he’d turned to Shen Zeyu, and that son of his had dumped him here.

Under the dim basement light, Qi Guohui spotted Qi Xu lying on the ground. He let out a crooked, triumphant laugh.
“You little bastard. Look at you now. Still think you’re untouchable? Fuck your mother. Thought you could get me locked up?”

The more he spoke, the more enraged he became. Like old times, he began projecting all his bitterness and failures onto Qi Xu.

Qi Xu chuckled quietly. “Trying to lose your other leg, too?”

His words made Qi Guohui’s crippled leg throb. He’d never recovered from the last time Qi Xu beat him down.

But seeing Qi Xu’s hands bound gave him a boost of confidence—finally, some leverage.

He stepped forward, aiming a kick at Qi Xu.

Just then, one of Song Ruoming’s men strode in and shoved Qi Guohui aside with a single, effortless sweep.

Song Ruoming followed close behind, his voice cold.
“Didn’t I say no one is to touch him? Or do my words mean nothing to you?”

In an instant, Qi Guohui dropped his bravado, bowing and scraping in submission. Gone was the bluster—he became a groveling shadow of himself.
“I was only trying to make him cooperate, Young Master Song. No more resistance, that’s all.”

Song Ruoming, for all his theatrics, knew the forces behind Xie Huai were not to be trifled with. He didn’t plan to take things too far—his only goal was to trade Qi Xu for Shen Zeyu.

He crouched down in front of Qi Xu.

“Qi Xu, I won’t lay a finger on you. As long as Xie Huai gives Zeyu back, I’ll take him and leave the country. We’ll disappear. Of course… you’d better pray Xie Huai doesn’t do anything stupid. Otherwise, I can’t promise you’ll leave here in one piece.”

Everyone suspected Xie Huai had a hand in Shen Zeyu’s disappearance—as if his boyfriend were some kind of emotional landfill people could just dump their exes into.

Qi Xu calmly asked,
“Tell me something. Why are you so sure it was Xie Huai who locked Shen Zeyu up?”

Song Ruoming had known for a long time that Shen Zeyu was in love with Xie Huai. That never stopped him from pursuing him. And eventually, persistence paid off—Zeyu, heartbroken by Xie Huai, agreed to leave the country with him.

Song also knew Qi Xu was with Xie Huai now. And considering what Zeyu had done to Qi Xu, he was certain Xie Huai wouldn’t just let it go.

“He disappeared at the airport. If it wasn’t Xie Huai, then who else could it be?”

Qi Xu realized something then.

They were all caught in the same trap—stuck thinking in straight lines.

Zeyu had hands and feet of his own.
What if… he simply walked away on his own?

Song Ruoming had been completely used as a pawn by Shen Zeyu. Even if this matter were pursued to the end, Shen Zeyu’s role as an accomplice wouldn’t be enough to warrant the death penalty. But Song Ruoming was different—he’d already lost his one and only chance to be sent abroad again.

What a classic move—killing with a borrowed knife.

And this wasn’t even the first time Shen Zeyu had pulled something like this. After over a decade of elite education, what kind of person had it produced? No one could say for sure whether it was thanks to the Shen couple’s parenting or because he shared blood with Qi Guohui—maybe it was just bad genes.

Once, twice, over and over again, Shen Zeyu always managed to slip away like a cunning fox.

But this time, Qi Xu wouldn’t hold back. This time, he would end Shen Zeyu for good.

“How do you know he didn’t hide himself on purpose, just to push you into desperation, so you’d be the one to kidnap me? That way he could walk away clean, while you’d already sunk too deep in the swamp to crawl back out.”

Song Ruoming froze, clearly rattled. He yanked Qi Xu up by the hair and snapped, “Don’t try to drive a wedge between us—Zeyu would never hurt me!”

Qi Xu continued, unfazed. “Oh? Are you sure you’re even the one he likes?”

The question hit Song Ruoming right in the gut.

Outside, the snow had started to fall heavily. There was no floor heating in the basement, and Song Ruoming looked like he’d plunged into an icy lake—shivering uncontrollably. Still, he mumbled to himself, “He loves me. He does.”

Qi Xu was left alone in the basement. The bit of light he had seen earlier was gone now.

He wasn’t wearing a coat—just a sweater—and although his hands had been tied with coarse rope, he had already managed to free himself.

Now he waited calmly for someone to come. If Song Ruoming came back, he had a decent chance to turn the tables—though he’d likely get hurt in the process.

Xie Huai might lose his mind if he saw him like this.

Then let him lose it. They were all mad anyway.