Chapter Twenty-one

Su Xiaobai was pushed into the back seat of a seven-passenger Wuling minivan. The air inside was thick, hot, and smelled of cheap cigarettes and the body odor of men.

Su Xiaobai was sitting in the last row, with two young men dressed in black shirts and jeans—looking like street thugs—guarding her on either side.

The middle row was also filled with people. Including the driver and the passenger in the front, the car was packed with eight people in total.

At one point, five people got off the car, leaving only the driver and one young man. The rest had other business and went to different places. The remaining two were tasked with "escorting" her to a designated location.

Since getting into the car, Su Xiaobai had remained calm, sitting like a monk in deep meditation, her back straight, her face devoid of any expression of pleading or fear. Instead, her eyes were darting around, seemingly formulating her own plan, completely ignoring the banter and insults between the two men beside her.

At first, the thug-like man couldn't help but keep his eyes on her. After all, in the eyes of men, Su Xiaobai was an extraordinary beauty—her figure was stunning, her face delicate and flawless. People like him, who spent most of their time in the streets, nightclubs, and gambling dens, weren't really concerned with things like temperament. As long as a woman was attractive, they'd want to take a second look, almost wishing she could be their own.

"Ma Ge, this girl's pretty hot, no wonder Chen Feibiao's eyeing her. This ugly guy thinks he can get a beauty like her. Doesn't he realize his fat belly could crush someone? Remember last time—wasn't it Feibi (the bar) with that girl, Huanhuan, or was it Lele? A perfectly good girl, and this damn fatso ended up sending her to the hospital. You know what I mean? He's got one down there and another in his mouth, and he really knows how to play, huh?"

The driver, Ma Ge, laughed and replied, "I say, Si Zi, you don't get it. Rich people like to play around, right? They want something fresh and exciting. They don't care if you live or die. Though Chen Feibiao is a piece of trash, he's got power and connections here in Huaijiang, he's like a local king. Us dogs just do the dirty work for him. I suggest you shut your mouth and do your job well. If you handle this right, the rewards won't be small."

"Eh, eh, I know, I know. But it's a pity for this woman. She's so damn beautiful, yet she had to offend Chen Feibiao. Tonight's probably gonna be a rough one for her." After saying that, Si Zi kept eyeing Su Xiaobai lecherously. But his courage wasn't quite enough to act on it, so he just stared at her, not daring to make a move. He was afraid that if she mentioned anything to Chen Feibiao, it could come back to bite him later.

"Alright, alright, once we get paid tonight, you can do whatever you want with whoever you want." Ma Ge glanced at the rearview mirror and scolded with a smile.

Si Zi shook his head, took out a cigarette, lit it, took a drag, and then offered another one to Ma Ge. He said, "Forget about it, those nightclub girls aren't even that pretty. Once they take off their makeup, they turn into a bunch of monsters. Ugh, just thinking about it makes me shudder. I'd rather take a walk around the agricultural university, the girls there are much fresher. By the way, Ma Ge…"

Si Zi hadn't finished his sentence, his mind focused entirely on how to enjoy himself once the money was divided. Suddenly, he caught sight of a white supercar heading straight toward them. Ma Ge, who had been too focused on taking a drag from his cigarette, just squinted his eyes when he saw the car speeding toward them. His hand trembled, and probably due to his disorientation, he accidentally swerved the steering wheel to the right. There was no time to brake, and since they were on a highway, which wasn't very busy, the inevitable happened. A sharp screech of brakes was followed by a violent crash. The Wuling minivan collided with the guardrail ahead, flipping over. One side of the wheels continued to spin at high speed.

On the other side, the supercar narrowly scraped past the guardrail. The front of the 2011 white worth over 20 million yuan, was severely dented, effectively totaling the car.

Less than a minute later, the sound of another set of emergency brakes was heard, and a black sports car pulled up. Two young men, probably just over twenty, quickly got out of the car and rushed to check on the Koenigsegg.

There was the sound of a door opening, and a boy in a white shirt and black trousers staggered out of the white Koenigsegg. His shirt was simply tucked into his waist, highlighting his slim waistline. He adjusted the crinkled sleeves and didn't seem the least bit concerned about the multi-million yuan car behind him.

"Ganxin, are you alright?" one of the boys asked.

The boy called Ganxin, the owner of the Koenigsegg, looked up. He had a face that could only be described as stunning—sharp phoenix eyes, thin lips that curled up in a way that seemed to be both inviting and aloof, as if he stepped right out of a painting. Even as he frowned, he was unbelievably beautiful, exuding a captivating aura.

But despite his beauty, his words were cruel and venomous, like a snake poised to strike.

"Ni Yuan, go check if the people in that car are dead," he said nonchalantly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. If the two boys hadn't been part of the same crowd, they probably would've been terrified by his cold demeanor.

Ni Yuan walked over, glanced inside the car, and shook his head as he turned back. "It's hard to say, let's call and have someone come handle it. You should move your car away for now. Keep a low profile for the next couple of days."

Ganxin nodded indifferently, about to return to the other car with Ni Yuan when another boy, named Xu He, remained in front of the minivan. He squatted down and tilted his head, staring inside.

"Xu He, what the hell are you doing? Never seen a dead person before?" Ni Yuan snapped, feeling frustrated. Fortunately, the highway wasn't too busy, and no other cars had passed by. Ni Yuan still hoped to keep control of the situation.

To his surprise, Xu He raised an eyebrow and said, "The person's not dead yet. Why are you in such a rush? Hey, come help me out. There's something going on here."

"Xu He, did you take the wrong medicine today? Feeling suddenly benevolent? Now you're playing the good Samaritan?" Ni Yuan scoffed.

Xu He kicked open the car door and bent down, carefully pulling something out from inside. Ganxin stood by with his arms crossed, watching Xu He to see what he was up to. After a moment, Xu He finally dragged out what was obviously a woman. Her head was hanging down, so her face wasn't visible.

Seeing no one else helping, Xu He got impatient. "Damn it, there's really something going on here. Can't you guys do something?"

Ganxin shook his head with a smile but walked over. He lifted the woman's face with one hand, and for a brief moment, a gleam flashed in his eyes as he looked at Xu He. Xu He chuckled, "She's a beautiful woman, gotta play the hero and save the beauty, right?"

Ganxin remained silent, but Xu He knew how he was. There were really very few women that Ganxin would take an interest in. A good example was Leng Piao, the campus belle from the School of Art, who was also quite a cold and reserved person. But when she met Ganxin, she willingly gave everything. For Ganxin, though, it was barely even a relationship. He quickly lost interest and cut off all contact without a second thought. Leng Piao nearly suffered from depression and almost dropped out of school because of it, but Ganxin didn't even bat an eyelash. He was truly heartless. But then again, Leng Piao had pursued him on her own, so Ganxin didn't owe her anything.

After dragging Su Xiaobai out, the three men were all stunned. It turned out that Su Xiaobai had been bound and gagged in the car, clearly a victim of kidnapping.

Well, under normal circumstances, these three men probably wouldn't have been very interested in a typical rescue-the-beauty situation. But when they encountered this situation, their interest was piqued, and they immediately decided to put the woman into the SUV that Xu He was driving.

On the road, Ganxin said he would drive, while Xu He and Ni Yuan sat in the back, with Su Xiaobai placed in the middle.

Xu He kept staring at Su Xiaobai's face. "Hey, what do you guys think about this girl? We're earning some good karma here, saving a little beauty."

"Pah, you're just enjoying yourself. Who knows what this girl's background is? She might be a hot potato," Ni Yuan couldn't help but make a sarcastic comment, mocking Xu He.

Xu He didn't care and carefully peeled the tape off Su Xiaobai's mouth. When he saw her lips, which were a bit swollen and bruised from being taped for too long, he became mesmerized and couldn't stop staring. He smiled at Ganxin and said, "Ganxin, this girl is way prettier than Leng Piao, right?"

Ganxin didn't respond directly but just glanced at the woman in the rearview mirror. In that brief moment, the woman opened her eyes, showing a brief flash of panic and confusion, as if she was unsettled by the unfamiliar environment. With just that one look, Ganxin quickly averted his gaze. To him, she was just another ordinary woman.

"Who are you? Why am I here?" The voice was faint, and though there was a slight tremor from unease, she still gritted her teeth and tried to maintain the last bit of her dignity.

It just so happened that this kind of woman was the one Ganxin disliked the most.

Su Xiaobai—yes, the woman in question was Su Xiaobai, who hadn't shown up for a while. She frowned slightly but soon realized her hands were still bound, and her head throbbed with an intense pain. She had no idea what was going on.

Who could have known that a sudden car accident would force the usually composed Su Xiaobai to show herself in such an unexpected and helpless situation?

But what about Su Xiaobai? Where had she gone?