Yan Zhen endured the pain from all over his body and struggled to stand up from the ground. He shouted at the top of his voice,
"Xu Zixi!"
Finally, Xu Zixi stopped in her tracks.
Yan Zhen said with difficulty,
"I didn't come here today to disrupt your life with Uncle. I just wanted to ask you for the truth. Once I get it, I'll leave. I promise I won't pester you anymore. Could you spare me ten minutes?"
After a pause, he pleaded in extreme humility, "Please."
Xu Zixi wasn't really surprised to see him here.
Because this was the most crucial and important part of her plan.
She had been waiting for him.
Ever since Li Mao gave her the video from the private St. Ya Hospital, she had been patiently waiting for her prey to walk into her trap.
But she didn't show this on her face. Instead, she turned around and sized him up from head to toe.
"The truth? You want to know what happened four years ago?"
Yan Zhen took two steps towards her and nodded vigorously. "Is that okay?"
Xu Zixi said, "No. Uncle and I have something urgent to do now. We don't have time to chat with you. If you really want to know, just wait here. If you're still here when we come back after we're done, I'll consider telling you the truth."
Yan Zhen quickly said, "Okay! I can wait! I... I'll wait for you to come back after you're done!"
"No need to go through so much trouble," Yan Yincheng said. "You can come with us."
Xu Zixi gave Yan Yincheng a surprised look. The latter gently hooked her finger, and Xu Zixi immediately understood his intention.
This old fox.
Xu Zixi said to Yan Zhen, "Then come with us."
Yan Zhen was overjoyed. "Okay!"
...
On a certain street in the West City District.
The night gradually deepened. There were fewer and fewer pedestrians on the street, and one after another, the street - side shops began to clean up and prepare to close.
Inside the Louis.Fanny Beauty Salon, when the last two customers left with satisfied looks on their glowing faces, the staff also began to pack up their things and prepare to turn off the lights and close the door. At this moment, two big hands pushed against the glass door that was about to close and forcefully barged in.
When the shop assistants saw two tall and burly men in black blocking the door, they were so scared that they huddled together. Only the beauty salon manager who had greeted Xu Zixi during the day didn't look panicked. Instead, she put on a proper smile and said,
"Sorry, we're already closed. If you need anything, please come back tomorrow."
Just then, a graceful figure walked in casually from outside and said,
"But what should I do? I want to patronize your store right now."
When they saw Xu Zixi, the shop assistants were less scared and started whispering to each other:
"This customer came here during the day. She just had a facial cleansing and left."
"Why is she here again? Does she think our service is good and wants to try other projects? But it's so late. We're about to close."
"I don't think so. She brought so many people. She looks like she's here to cause trouble."
"Manager, should we call the police?"
Hearing the words "call the police", the beauty salon manager said, "Well, I'll take care of the customer. Let the others get off work first, okay?"
Xu Zixi tilted her head and sized her up with a smile. She said, "Sure. You can let the irrelevant people leave."
She deliberately emphasized the word "irrelevant".
The manager turned around and said to some of the staff, "I'll take care of this customer. The rest of you can go home if you have nothing to do."
Knowing that they were irrelevant and could leave first, the other shop assistants glanced at the bodyguards blocking the door and hurriedly grabbed their things and left.
Meanwhile, the man hiding on the second floor also received the news: "Sir, they're here."
The man looked at the monitoring system beside him. In the lobby, the beautiful woman looked up and waved at one of the cameras on the wall. She was as leisurely as if she was greeting an old friend:
"Hi, good evening. Have you had dinner? If not, I can give you ten minutes to have a bowl of instant noodles. After all, this might be your last late - night snack. I'm quite generous."
The woman's words were extremely arrogant, just like the two fearless slaps she gave at the wedding, full of proud confidence.
So much so that the man couldn't help but smile.
"Sir, everything is ready. We can start now," someone said behind him.
The man tore open a box of instant noodles, poured boiling water into it, and said casually,
"Don't be in a hurry. Let's wait for the instant noodles to soak first."
...
Outside the beauty salon, a specially - modified black Lincoln was parked by the roadside.
In the back seat, Yan Zhen watched as Xu Zixi got out of the car and walked into a beauty salon with several tall and strong bodyguards. His face showed indescribable shock.
He remembered the name of this beauty salon!
He remembered that Liang Zuo had said that Yuan Ya'er's first stop this afternoon was this beauty salon. It was so late. Why did Xu Zixi and Uncle come here? Were they here for a beauty treatment?
In the front, Yan Yincheng was listening to Wei Shu's report.
"Since Miss Xu finished her investigation and left, this beauty salon has received a total of 15 customers, including one wife of a politician, two rich ladies, eight professional women, two entertainers, and the last two customers who left just before closing were both local residents. Besides, no one else has left. So the person we're looking for is still inside."
The more Yan Zhen listened, the more shocked he became. What were they talking about? They had investigated the customers of this beauty salon so clearly. And who were they looking for?
He couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, what are you doing? And what is Xiaoxi... Auntie doing?"
However, Yan Yincheng ignored him and asked, "What about the environment?"
Wei Shu continued, "There are only two exits on the first floor of this beauty salon, the front and back doors. But there are a total of thirteen windows on the second floor. One of the windows is adjacent to the balcony of the next - door shop, only two meters away. An adult can easily jump over it, while there are no other shelters under the other windows. Therefore, we all think that when the front and back doors are blocked, this should be the route the other side will choose."
Yan Yincheng said, "The other side is a hacker. Do you think they won't think of the problems you've thought of?"
"The other side is hiding in the beauty salon, probably just using the beauty salon as a cover for their identity. So the number of people must be limited. In a situation where they're outnumbered, they'll definitely create chaos and then leave."
"Tell the men to get the fire extinguishers ready. Keep a close eye on the situation inside the room and be on high alert. Set up defenses at all intersections."
"What? Hacker? Fire extinguisher? No, I have to go and protect Xiaoxi!"
Yan Zhen was extremely shocked. He turned around and wanted to open the door and get out of the car, but Yan Yincheng grabbed the back of his collar with his left hand and said coldly, "If you stupid fool dare to ruin our plan, I'll break your legs right here."
Yan Zhen was a bit excited. "Uncle, how can you let Xiaoxi go in there alone? What if she's in danger?!"