Chapter 521: Caihua’s Downfall (Part 1)

Su Li only wanted to find out Miao Zhi’s whereabouts, but she unexpectedly received this piece of information.

’There was an accomplice behind Little Tang Mo’s kidnapping?’

’No, I should say, of course there was an accomplice. Was my initial intuition right after all?’

Beard was lost in what Su Li had told him, his face etched with disbelief. He didn’t notice or hear what she had just said.

"You must have been caught! You just escaped and don’t want anyone to know!"

The shock was a bit too much for Beard to handle.

Over the years, he had evaded capture time and again. His methods grew more sophisticated, and he became increasingly confident.

Or rather, arrogant. He was arrogant enough to believe he was always one step ahead, that everything he did was seamless. Barring special circumstances, he would never fail, let alone get caught.

But after so many years of smooth sailing, he was suddenly arrested, and everything was ruined. The root cause of it all was his own doing.

If he hadn’t relentlessly targeted Su Li and Little Tang Mo, none of this would have happened.

But how could Beard admit that? Especially now that Su Li was here telling him she was never caught at all!

Su Li looked at Beard’s face and took a deep breath. "You just caught the wrong person. You took another girl. Where is she now?"

Seeing the undisguised anxiety on Su Li’s face, Beard gave a vicious smile.

"Why should I tell you!"

Su Li gritted her teeth. ’I knew it wouldn’t be that easy to get an answer out of him.’

Beard’s chest was still heaving, but he had calmed down.

"It seems that girl is very important to you. HA HA HA! You can’t find her, can you? You’ll never find her in your entire life. I’ll never tell you!"

Su Li suddenly let out a soft chuckle. "You’re mistaken about that."

Beard’s expression froze.

After a moment’s pause, he suddenly asked, "Did your son really do it?"

Su Li just chuckled, neither confirming nor denying it.

Beard looked at Su Li, then at the silent Mr. Zhang sitting to the side, his eyes filled with unwillingness to accept defeat.

"Let me see your son."

Su Li remained silent, but her expression made her thoughts plain: ’Not a chance.’

Beard gritted his teeth. "I need to know how he did it!"

He simply couldn’t accept the fact that the hunter had become the hunted.

"Tell me who that bitch you mentioned is, and where the girl you mistakenly kidnapped is. Then I’ll consider it."

Su Li finally spoke.

Without a second thought, Beard replied, "Impossible. You let me see your son, then I’ll consider it."

Su Li scoffed.

"Oh? You two must be close if you’re willing to take the fall for her. If I were in your shoes, this unlucky, I’d definitely drag someone down with me."

Su Li wanted to know where Miao Zhi was, and she also wanted to know who had conspired with Beard to harm them.

That’s right, conspired. Based on what Beard had just blurted out, she could confirm that the woman had conspired with him.

Someone who would team up with a human trafficker to harm her and Little Tang Mo had to be an acquaintance. How could she rest easy or let it go when someone so demented and malicious was still out there, uncaught?

In Su Li’s eyes, the actions of the "bitch" Beard mentioned made her no different from a human trafficker.

Beard watched Su Li’s expression. "I know you’re trying to provoke me, but I’m willing to take the bait. I’ll tell you who’s behind this, and you’ll let me see that son of yours."

"There are only so many women who know my son and me. It’s not like you’re the only one who’s met her. I can ask other people."

Su Li’s indirect meaning was clear: she was not negotiating.

Beard’s face darkened. "I’m the only one who’s seen her!"

Su Li watched Beard’s expression with a composed look. "How strange. You’re actually protecting her. It seems you have deep feelings for her..."

"Bullshit! Who would have deep feelings for that woman!"

Su Li’s words infuriated Beard, and he shifted all the blame for grabbing the wrong person—for not getting Su Li—onto this other woman.

He knew Su Li was using reverse psychology, but he couldn’t help but fall for it.

"Since you want to know, I’ll confess. I’ll name one person. After I tell you, let me see Tang Mo."

"You talk first." Su Li’s expression didn’t waver.

"Qin Shanshan. The woman’s name is Qin Shanshan. Her husband is Su Dan, and she lives at..."

Gritting his teeth, Beard finally gave up Qin Shanshan.

When Su Li heard the name Qin Shanshan, the corner of her mouth twitched. It felt both expected and unexpected at the same time.

’I can’t believe it was really Qin Shanshan... that relentless, haunting Qin Shanshan!’

Her shock lasted only for a second.

She had suspected Qin Shanshan for a long time and was already mentally prepared.

Mr. Zhang, however, was not as calm as Su Li.

When Su Li had voiced her suspicions about Qin Shanshan before, Mr. Zhang had sent people to investigate and tail her. But they hadn’t found anything unusual, so he’d dropped it. And now...

"Tell us the specifics," Mr. Zhang said immediately.

Beard snorted.

Qin Shanshan had initially offered to help. That night, Beard had his men follow her to check her situation. After confirming that things were as she claimed, he contacted her the next day without any worries.

"She was the one who told me where you lived and what your daily routine was. She also told me about the library."

"She helped me for free. Her only demands were that we had to torture Tang Mo, make his life as miserable as possible, turn him into a cripple who would beg for the rest of his life. Then, she said to sell Su Li to some remote mountain village where she’d never see the light of day again."

"Of course, she also hoped Su Li would suffer a bit before being sold. To get me to agree, she even promised me a sum of money!"

Beard’s face was full of amazement. "It was the first time I’d ever met someone like that. I’ve seen people sell their daughters-in-law, their wives, their own daughters... I’ve even seen plenty sell their step-children. But I’ve never met anyone like her!"

As Beard spoke, he started gritting his teeth again.

"I guess we were kindred spirits, in a way, but her competence is just pathetic!"

The ones who carried out the job were his underlings. They didn’t know Su Li at all, otherwise they wouldn’t have made the mistake. But at this moment, Beard directed his anger at Qin Shanshan.

If she hadn’t shown up offering to help, he would have seen he had no opportunity and probably wouldn’t have made a move on Su Li and Tang Mo. None of this would have happened.

What a pity, what a pity... he miscalculated everything!

Before, Beard hadn’t thought about Qin Shanshan, but now that he remembered, how could he possibly let her off the hook!

"Hurry up and drag that Qin Shanshan in here! She’s one of us, she’s a human trafficker too!"

Beard’s loud shout finally jolted Su Li back to her senses.

Su Li was speechless. She’d heard Beard say that Qin Shanshan had teamed up with his group just to get to them, and then she heard what her demands were.

’How could such a vicious person exist in this world...!’

"Qin Shanshan!" Su Li muttered through gritted teeth.

"So, what happened was, you targeted us, and Qin Shanshan assisted you from the sidelines. Together, you carried out the operation to abduct us, but a mistake was made along the way. You were supposed to kidnap me, but you ended up kidnapping the wrong person?"