Novel Full Chapter 99 How Cliché
She groaned while reaching up to rub her forehead but found her hands were tightly bound. As her vision finally cleared, she registered her environment. She was in an empty warehouse with her hands tied behind a chair, judging by the empty crates in the corner and metal structure.
"How cliché." She muttered and rolled her eyes at this scene. She could already guess what was going to happen to her. She had already experienced being kidnapped multiple times before. It was the price that came with being Zhao Moyao's prized granddaughter and in the past, the future Madam Zheng.
To test the strength and expertise of the kidnappers, she yanked her wrists and found out that it was perfectly knotted where each jerk or motion would only tighten it.
"Just great." She sighed, leaning back in her chair to await her kidnappers' conditions. What was it this time? Money? Humiliation? Secrets?
She pondered over the options and wondered if she had a checkbook in her purse to buy them out. If these men can be bought with money and not loyalty, it should be easy to swindle them out as long as she was able to triple the rate they were paid with.
She looked at the tin roof and saw there was a window up there. The sky was dark which meant night time had come. A smile fell on her face. These men have screwed up.
Yang Feng would already be on his way to her house or he was already there and discovered her absence. She was sure that if anyone could find her, it would be him. Or maybe her grandfather had already made his move, since her shadow bodyguards would have reported something to him.
Her eyes scanned the environment once again, this time carefully assessing her surroundings. Aside from the empty crates she first saw, she now noticed that there were sturdy wooden crates that had dirty plastic covers haphazardly thrown over it. Her eyes squinted to read the "handle with care" labels on the boxes.
What was in them? This obviously wasn't a simple warehouse. She leaned to her right to check out the box closest to her but it was at least a few feet away.
If she squinted hard enough, she can tell that the items inside were still wrapped with brown paper. Whatever was in these cargo boxes must've been important for it to be so well-protected.
Her purse was nowhere in sight. If they rummaged through it, she was sure the dagger she always carried in her person had already been discarded by now.
When she finally started showing herself in public again, Zhao Lifei didn't bother to walk around with any security detail to the disbelief of her grandfather.
Her relationship with Zheng Tianyi had been publically severed. Not only that, in the process of doing so, he announced his greatest weakness. Now, the enemies of Zheng Tianyi had an actual target in mind and it was none other than the woman he pranced around with in public.
After a few minutes of utter boredom, while her mind produced zero escape routes, she grew tired of waiting for her kidnappers to show up. Seriously, shouldn't someone be in here with her to monitor her? It seems these people are quite confident with their skills. For all they know, she could've been planning a grand escape by now!
Just as that thought crossed her mind, she heard something outside. It sounded like multiple cars rapidly pulling up. Within seconds, the door to the warehouse opened and several men walked in.
Zhao Lifei's eyes turned sharp and focused as she watched them enter. She counted at least thirty men all dressed in black.
While their faces were covered, she noticed all of them had a symbol tattooed on their hand. It was clear from the way they carried the weapons on their hands and the formation they were getting in that they meant business.
"Good evening, gentlemen. What a fine day it is." She greeted them with an amused smile on her face. To show them fear was to show them a weakness.
She decided to act nonchalant despite the fact that she was growing wary. The weapons they had with them were to inflict a lot of pain, but not enough to immediately kill. If they were going scare her to intimidate her, she knew she'd survive. But if they were planning on murdering her, they planned on doing so through an immense amount of torture.
"To what pleasure do I owe your presence?" She added while surveying the masked men in front of her.
A man who seemed like the leader of the group stepped forward. He was the only one not wearing a mask.
She was surprised to see someone so young be the leader of a gang. Unlike his burly comrades, he was lean and does not seem like someone who beat people up for a living. His appearance was well-kept and he was actually wearing a black suit. But his eyes were a completely different story. She saw the bloodlust within it. It made her very wary of him. She knew from experience that it was the ones who hid their crazy that was the most dangerous.
"Good evening, young lady." He greeted her with a sinister smile spreading on his face. How interesting. This was the first time a woman didn't scream bloody murder or beg for them to let her go. This one seemed smart.
"I hope you don't take this too personally." He gestured to her bound wrist and ankles.
Zhao Lifei chuckled. "None taken. It's your job. I get it." She shrugged, deciding to play into the little game.
"So, what is it that you want to get out of me? Money, information, or is it just a simple beating as a warning?" She tilted her head, pretending to comply with them.
She wondered if they still had her purse. Inside her phone and wallet were trackers that her grandfather had installed in case something like this happened to her.
They might have been smart enough to destroy their phone but no one would guess there was a small button on her wallet that functioned as a tracker.
The leader felt his smile spread at her words.
It seemed she was already used to kidnappings which were fun and boring at the same time. Boring because she already knew the protocol and he wouldn't be able to sense fear radiate from her.
That was usually the best part of these kidnappings! But it was fun because her reactions would be extremely refreshing and unexpected, which made him look forward to dealing with her.
"A beating." He answered her, nodding his head to his men that stepped forward.
She raised a brow. Just a beating? Nothing else? "And how much were you paid?" Her eyes scanned the different array of weapons in front of her.
It didn't look too shabby, but it did look clean which meant they were either new or they were just cleaned really well. She hoped it was the former.
"Now that, young lady, is private information." He mused, watching her eyes scan his men. Despite seeing the metal bats, knives, and brass knuckles, she didn't seem to shake or cringe back in fear.
This was getting really interesting.
"Hm, I assume you were requested to keep the exact number private. But can I get an approximate amount?" She was hoping to delay time or at least buy them out.
"I'm afraid your little plan won't work on me." The leader chuckled and made a two finger gesture. That was all it took for the first strike to land on her stomach.