Deliberately Approaching-Chapter 558 - 520: You Can’t Just Look at the Surface of a Problem
"Zihan, don’t try to be a hero just for the moment," Li Zishen, his eyes red, patted Li Zihan on the shoulder.
As a brother, how could he let his only closest family fall into this mire?
"But I am also mother’s child!"
Tears swirled in Li Zihan’s eyes—just yesterday at noon he was joking with his mother about running away from home if she kept nagging him about dating.
He never imagined it would be a final goodbye.
"That’s not what I mean, what I mean is... you can’t just look at the surface of things."
"Brother, are we just going to let this go?"
"How could we!" Li Zishen’s eyes darkened with a chilling ferocity.
"Okay, brother, I’ll listen to you."
"Go on, I still have things to deal with."
After Li Zihan left, Li Zishen mulled over the situation for a moment before giving Bai Long an order.
Then, Li Wanshan was brought out from the basement.
He trembled all over; though he looked okay, his little toe had been broken. It wouldn’t affect walking, but the pain was excruciating.
At this moment, he could no longer care about his wife. His only concern was for his son, Li Zizhen.
He usually didn’t even make a single phone call, either busy socializing or scheming against Li Zishen, but what father doesn’t love his child?
"Where’s Zishen? I want to see Zishen."
"I alone should be responsible for what I’ve done. It has nothing to do with Zizhen. I admit it, I admit everything, but I really don’t know where those people are. I just told them to take care of my sister-in-law... by any means necessary. I didn’t care about the specifics, I’m telling you, it’s all true."
"Please let me see him, I beg you."
No matter what Li Wanshan said, the mercenary escorting him remained silent.
It was only when he was brought into another room and saw his wife there, looking calm, that he gradually quieted down.
The door was shut with a clang by the mercenary. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
The furnishings here were much better than the room he had been staying in before—it even had a single bed and a sofa, not like the cold, dank basement.
Second Aunt Lai’s clothes were clearly new, not the ones she was wearing when they were captured last night.
"Wife, are you okay?" Li Wanshan grasped his wife’s hand, his eyes filled with concern and nervousness, "Did they hit you?"
"I told you over the phone at noon, I’m fine. We have enough to eat and drink; nothing’s happened."
"What are they planning to do then?"
"I’m not sure, let’s just change clothes first."
Li Wanshan’s heart sank, suspecting that this arrangement was for their dignified departure before setting out.
...
At eight o’clock in the evening, on the second floor balcony.
Li Zihan glanced at the master bedroom window before calling Cheng Shi.
Ring... Ring... Ring...
"Pick up, hurry up, pick up."
Recognizing the number as Li Zihan’s, Cheng Shi guessed he was trying to reach Tang Xiaowan, and so pretended not to hear, continuing to wash the car.
Unexpectedly, the call came through again just as the ringing had stopped.
Just then, Tang Xiaowan was passing by, heading to the greenhouse to pick a bonsai when she noticed Cheng Shi ignoring the call.
"Is it Li Zishen?"
He had previously relayed messages through Cheng Shi, which is why Tang Xiaowan first thought of him.
"No, it’s Li Zihan."
"Oh, it’s Li Zihan; then pick it up," Tang Xiaowan said with a faint smile, looking at Cheng Shi.
It really wasn’t right to keep ignoring the call.
"Cheng Shi, are you with Xiaowan?" As soon as the call connected, Li Zihan’s hoarse voice came through the phone, "I have an emergency, pass the phone to her."
Tang Xiaowan took the phone: "What happened?"
"Xiaowan, something has happened to my mom, a kidnapping, it might already... everything’s a mess at home."
"No way, is there no..."
"It was my second uncle."
She didn’t expect Li Zihan to be so direct.
"Li Wanshan?"
"Xiaowan, my brother is in a lot of pain right now," Li Zihan paused, holding back his tears, "he hasn’t eaten anything for a day and a night, and there’s something you might not know, he reenacted you perfectly."
Tang Xiaowan: "..."
Isn’t this about your mother’s issues?
"What’s one-to-one? What one-to-one?"
"It’s that statue in your old bedroom, carved in your likeness, wearing that pink floral dress you had on during your short stay at Li Garden."
At these words, Tang Xiaowan nearly lost her composure.
Such a pervert!
She suddenly felt as though she was being stripped bare.
"Xiao Wan, can you come to Jin City... to see my brother?" Li Zihan’s tone carried a hint of pleading, "He’s locked himself in his bedroom and won’t let anyone in. I saw the statue through the window; he’s smoking and has been drinking."
"I’m sorry, but I..."
"I know it’s because you don’t want Leng Lingxiao to misunderstand, that’s why you blocked me and my brother, not because you really wanted to cut ties."
"It’s not because of that, there are some things..."
"I’m sure my brother would listen to your words, even a phone call would suffice, if you can’t come."
"I still have things to do here, I’m hanging up."
Cheng Shi appeared to be polishing the rear car lights but was actually discreetly observing Tang Xiaowan’s emotional changes.
He didn’t want her to be troubled by the Leng Family’s matters.
Now that the major revenge had been exacted, it was time to go separate ways and ideally never meet again.
"Miss, are you going out?"
"Not going out, come with me to the greenhouse." Tang Xiaowan handed her mobile phone back to Cheng Shi.
"Yes."
...
Half an hour later, two news items about the Leng Family’s stock transfer and Li Wanshan’s resignation from all his positions in the group quickly topped the trending search lists.
The comment section exploded, with impressive numbers of shares and views.
—Are they planning to move overseas?
—It’s very likely the whole family changed their citizenship long ago, just waiting to cash out and disappear.
—I wonder how much money it involved, it must be several billion at least. Seems like Yishen Group will belong solely to Li Zishen now.
—Just listen to that name, Yishen Group. His dad had already fixed his place in the group; retiring early to enjoy his remaining years.
—Lai Jingshan should hurry and sell too, follow the second-in-command abroad to retire, it would be nice to have company.
—That Young Master Zhen seems to be abroad.
Just then, in the greenhouse, Tang Xiaowan, having just chosen some bonsai, was also shocked by these two trending searches.
She couldn’t understand what Li Zishen intended by this.
Just letting Li Wanshan off like this?
Really... it’s truly eye-opening!
Seeing Tang Xiaowan continuously scrolling through the trending list, Cheng Shi deliberately asked, "Miss, are all these that you picked meant to be sent to the Leng Family?"
"Grandpa says it has to be an even number."
"Oh, then ten pots, perfect."
Tang Xiaowan nodded in agreement, but in a few seconds, she was back to browsing the trending list.
She was still pondering the stock transfer matter.
"Miss, are you still worried about... when Li Zihan called? I think, Miss, it’s best to... that Li Zihan, he is..."
"Why are you beating around the bush?"
"Uh, nothing."
Noticing Cheng Shi wanted but didn’t dare to speak, trying hard to restrain himself, Tang Xiaowan couldn’t help but laugh.
"Let’s go, let’s go back!"
"Miss, you really shouldn’t call Li Zishen, let alone go to Jin City. Those Leng Family people are all too cunning, just in case you get deceived again."
The earnest Cheng Shi eventually couldn’t hold back and spilled out all his concerns.
"Do I look that easy to deceive?"
"No, but every one of the Leng Family is too cunning."
"Cunning, cunning, surely that’s..." Tang Xiaowan paused and raised an eyebrow, "What else did Meijuan say? Did she call Li Zishen an old fox?"
At that moment, Wang Meijuan came running over.
