9 Plan fail

Huojin was quick to return with a background check on Danya's mother, Wenqian. "I did some digging. The possible culprit behind Danya's kidnapping could be Hao Rongjun."

"Who is Hao Rongjun?" She asked.

"He was a frequent visitor in Huayuan. After some investigation, I found that he is infatuated with Miss. Wenqian and was quite vocal about it too to his friends. But since a few days ago, he was hardly seen in Huayuan or more accurately, he was denied entry. That's what some local shopkeepers outside the district said who recognized him. I guess he confessed to her and got rejected, but the rejection didn't seem to register in his brain," he sneered.

Jia threw a meaningful sideway glance at Mingshen.

Mingshen made a hand gesture and smiled. "Why are you looking at me that way, Spicy?"

"Because I think I am very clear that I reject your stalking."

"Aish, it's not stalking Spicy. It's my heartfelt expression of my interest in my research subject~"

Jia ignored him and continued. "Hao Rongjun thinks he can bend her will by taking her daughter as hostage?"

"It could be. I did some checking and found that he had been meeting some shady people last week. He was frequently taking half-day leaves from his office too. We are also fetching his phone records. He seems to be the prime suspect."

"Do you know if Miss. Wenqian got any calls yet from the kidnappers about their demands?"

"Negative. She hasn't stepped out of Huayuan since her visit to school. When I tried going in, I was denied entry. Police personnel are not allowed inside Huayuan by orders."

Jia released a frustrating sigh. "I understand that it might be an autonomous district but can they not keep it aside for a while and cooperate with us for Danya's sake?"

Xiyang doubtfully said, "But even after finding all this information, we cannot take any action…"

Huojin said nothing while Jia cocked her brow. "If you think that I will stay back because of some orders, then you are wrong."

"But what can you do anyway?"

Jia chuckled. "Outside of the uniform, I am just like any other civilian. Let's just say I happen to roam around a certain place and happen to witness a certain crime and as a dutiful citizen, I tried my very best to protect a certain someone. Is it wrong that a civilian witnesses something bad happening and tries to help out?"

"..."

Xiyang's brows twitched hard.

Huojin took out a printout, studied it for a second and smiled. "You know now that I remember, I have to buy a gift for my sister's birthday from S.K Avenue Street. I heard there is a popular gift shop there. I have been intending to visit it for sometime."

Jia instantly understood that Danya was kept someplace at S.K Avenue Street after tracking the other car's path from surveillance.

She smiled back. "Do you know what gift to buy for your sister? How about I help you out? Men sometimes lack delicacy."

"Why not? I appreciate it."

Mingshen eagerly raised his hand. "I want to buy a gift for Spicy too! I will come together with you~"

Jia grimaced. "I am rejecting your gift now itself so don't bother."

"Don't be so harsh, Spicy. I will definitely pick the best gift for you. I think it will be more appealing if it's wrapped in a blood color gift wrap," his eyes gleamed.

Xiyang shuddered hard.

"I don't want to ruin his sister's gift," Jia coldly warned.

"Unrelated. I will be simply there for my own gift buying process~"

Translation - I will be there for my own amusement.

She narrowed her eyes. "If you do anything to-"

"I will gladly let you strangle me with the same gift ribbon," he winked. "Death by Spicy's hands has such a hot ring to it."

Xiyang truly wondered how Mingshen's brain worked.

Jia and Huojin walked ahead while Mingshen followed her, merrily whistling a tune. He looked at his phone and saw the several messages he sent to Bojing, but he was yet to get any reply from him.

Mingshen already knew that Bojing must have ignored his order to go back to the lab and instead would have chased after the kidnappers. He understood how his assistant's mind would have worked.

So he waited for an update, but there was no response.

Why the hell is he not replying back?

—

Bojing stared at his broken phone in his hands and a black cloud of doom hovered over his head. He wanted to inform Mingshen about the car change trick, but his phone wasn't in the right condition to do so.

"Ah no! Did it break when I crashed with that college student?"

Feeling depressed, Bojing curled himself into a ball outside a building where he could clearly see the other blue car in which they had taken Danya. He was hiding at a distance from the seemingly lonely and haunted looking rundown warehouse where he finally managed to track them down riding on the hijacked bike.

Bojing internally contemplated about his next step since he had no clue if or when Jia's team would arrive.

I should go inside and politely ask them to release the little girl. If I talk nicely, then they will definitely understand, he sincerely bobbed his head.

His face shone with positivity and hope.

Yes, let's do this!

—

Sometime later…

Jia opened her eyes for the eleventh time after previously shutting and opening her eyes for ten times to control the surge of anger knocking in every cell of her body.

"Yang…Mingshen…"

"Yes, Spicy!" Mingshen chirped without a care in this world.

"Why is it that we are in this situation when I was supposed to catch Hao Rongjun and safely rescue Danya?"

The situation being Jia and Mingshen imprisoned in a dark room with ropes tied and entangled around their wrists, locking them together with their backs facing each other.