Chapter 325 - 299: Begin Negotiating
Xiao Qian turned out to be different from the dainty lady Rong Yuan had imagined, and wasn’t in line with the information he had gathered.
“Whoever is letting personal feelings interfere with the matter at hand, we 11 discuss that after resolving this. I’ll come to find you separately. Your current task is to stay put and wait for us!”
Yu Minglang spoke in a dominating tone. Everyone exchanged glances. Their young boss has never acted like this. What exactly did Rong Yuan do to upset Yu Minglang…?
There was no time to ponder, as the time was running out.
Upon Yu Minglang’s command, his team dispersed quickly, each finding their own designated positions according to his instructions.
As for Xiao Qian, she shared a glance with Yu Minglang and walked hand in hand to face this critical moment.
The crime scene was on the rooftop. Despite being winter, the temperature wasn’t too low. The sun was bright, the sky extraordinarily blue. If not for the bad guy scaring the kid into silence, the view here would have been truly worth appreciating; they could see for miles.
A man was holding a child hostage, one foot was on this side of the protective netting and the other at the very edge of the building. The kid was being shielded by the man’s body; his face pale with fright, trembling uncontrollably.
One of our own was trying to talk sense into the bad guy from the door.
But the bad guy wasn’t listening.
“Get those two women here right now! If they don’t come, I’m going to do something you’ll regret!”
Xiao Qian and Yu Minglang arrived just in time to hear this.
Yu Minglang gave Xiao Qian a worried glance. She shook her head at Yu Minglang, signaling that she was unaffected. She had him stay in view of the rooftop door, where the bad guy could not see him, but he could keep an eye on the bad guy.
The bad guy became more agitated when he saw another woman approaching.
“Who is this woman? Stand back, stand back, or I’ll jump with this kid!”
Xiao Qian raised her hands, indicating she carried nothing.
“I am the girl you’re looking for,” Xiao Qian declared aloud.
“You?” The bad guy examined Xiao Qian suspiciously.
“No! You’re lying. She isn’t one of the two women. You’re trying to trick me again! Bring me the person I am looking for or I will push them!”
Yu Minglang’s temper flared at his audacity.
“Watch your words. Resisting will not do you any good. Everyone here is on our side. All you can do now is to surrender gracefully,” Yu Minglang warned, grabbing the loudspeaker from the hands of the Messenger of Justice.
“If you keep talking, I’m going to push her off! Quick, get someone to come here!” The bad guy tried to push the hostage, but Xiao Qian spoke.
“I am really the person you are looking for. I can explain everything that happened that day. Would you like to hear it?”
“You, come closer, but not too close!” The bad guy remained vigilant.
He didn’t dare to let Xiao Qian get too far or too close.
Maintaining her hands in the air, Xiao Qian slowly moved forward. When coming up, Yu Minglang had put a miniature earpiece in her ear.
“Xiao Mei, don’t move any closer, just stand there!”
Yu Minglang quietly alerted her. Xiao Qian was now roughly to meters from the bad guy, and also about 10 meters from Yu Minglang. Yu Minglang estimated that, from his sniper position, this distance was just right. If the opponent showed any violent behavior, he could command his team to immobilize him immediately, ensuring Xiao Mei’s safety.
“What proof do you have to show that you are the girl who was captured alongside Jingjing? What if you are pretending to trick me?”
“If I’m here to trickyou, I’d be damned along with my family. I am indeed the girl who was with Jingjing during the incident. Heard you’ve been wanting to see me?”
Jingjing was the girl who got lost with Xiao Qian and Shi Yu. She had worse luck and suffered contrary fortunes with Xiao Qian.
While Xiao Qian was speaking, she carefully observed the man.
He appeared to be in his twenties, dressed quite stylishly and was not bad looking. With some stubble on his chin, even from this distance, Xiao Qian could see the despair and confusion in his eyes.
Of course, Xiao Qian didn’t overlook the child being held hostage by the man.
“Why should I believe you?” The man didn’t think Xiao Qian resembled the person he was looking for because she was too calm.
“I can tell you what your fiancee has gone through these days. Some of her experiences are unknown to the rest. Do you know how they hit her? Or, when she tried to escape, she was surrounded and beaten by a group of strong men? There are some terrible things I can’t mention. Her mental state isn’t good, she might not be able to tell anyone about these things. Do you believe me now?” Thinking for a moment, Xiao Qian pointed to her head and said, “Look, I’m injured here, and I also have a limp. I got all these injuries over there. Do you believe me now?”
Actually, she had slipped while taking a shower.
“So it’s you! You heartless woman who didn’t come to our rescue!” The man’s emotions surged, and his grip on the child grew tighter.
Yu Minglang immediately went on high alert, but Xiao Qian whispered through the earpiece.
“Don’t move!”
At this point, Xiao Qian had full control of the situation and was anticipating the man’s reaction.
Under such conditions, provoking the- already infuriated- bad guy was a strategic move.
“You’re surrounded, there’s no chance of escape. You can look down and see how many cars are here.”
Xiao Qian was applying negotiation skills from psychology — first provoke the opponent, then apply pressure.
The bad guy glanced down and indeed saw a dense crowd of cars, their lights flashing.
“Your anger is directed at me. I know you’re not afraid of dying, you just want us both to die. Let go of the innocent kid in your arms, and I’ll negotiate with you.”
Xiao Qian began to negotiate with the enemy.
“No! You guys are too cunning! If I let her go, you’ll run! People will come from all directions and take me away! It’s despicable, why didn’t they come this fast when Jingjing was in danger? They only know how to bully the innocent!”
Now the man had completely lost all reason, his words becoming increasingly nonsensical and radical.
“How do you know they’re not fast? From disappearance to rescue, it only took over 50 hours. Considering the distance between the two places, most of the time was spent on travel.”
“Don’t twist my words. If not for you two cunning women, how would Jingjing have ended up like this? Why is it that while you both could return unscathed, she suffered so much?”
The bad guy was rattling on incoherently, even choking up on his words. Although he lived with Jingjing, they hadn’t crossed the final line in their relationship. They had planned to get married first, but the bad guys anticipated their move. He couldn’t accept this reality.
Meanwhile, Xiao Qian continued negotiating with him.
At the same time, Yu Minglang, while keeping a vigilant eye on Xiao Qian’s safety, quietly asked his team.
“Qiao Zhen, how far are you from the child?”