Plunder-Chapter 269: Feint to the East, Strike in the West
"Young Madam, you go take a rest outside, I’ll do these chores," Sister Rong said, obliviously reaching for the vegetables.
Qiao En immediately stopped her, "Sister Rong, don’t touch it."
"Why’s that?"
Sister Rong looked confused.
Qiao En calmly spoke, "There’s a bomb in the vegetable basket, and I’m entangled in wires right now; please, go outside and call the police immediately."
"What? A bomb?" Sister Rong exclaimed.
She stared wide-eyed at the vegetable basket.
Once she looked, it was unnecessary; she saw that dark, ominous object as well.
"Young... Young Madam, I really didn’t put the bomb there, I had no idea there would be a bomb in the basket. I always go to familiar stalls when I buy vegetables, and I picked the vegetables myself. After they were weighed, I put them straight into the basket," Sister Rong was petrified.
This time she had been more careful than ever.
Yet, even so, someone had set her up.
Sister Rong was in tears, yet Qiao En did not show a hint of panic.
"Sister Rong, it’s not your fault. I know the bomb has nothing to do with you; someone did this deliberately. Now, just stay calm, don’t inform the young master, and call the police," Qiao En instructed.
Sister Rong nodded vigorously, wiped her hands, and hurried out of the kitchen to make the emergency call.
After that, she quickly returned.
"Young Madam, what should we do now? If anything happens to you, how am I going to explain it to the young master? I’m not afraid to die; let me do it," she said as she reached out to replace Qiao En.
Qiao En sternly said, "Sister Rong, calm down. I won’t die that easily; the police will send bomb disposal experts, and the problem will be taken care of easily," even though Qiao En was terrified inside, she lied to keep Sister Rong steady.
"Is that true?" Sister Rong’s tears fell like pearls off a broken string.
She slapped herself, "It’s all my fault, how could I be so careless? I should have checked before coming home. If I had checked carefully, this wouldn’t have happened."
She kept blaming herself.
Soon, the police arrived.
Sister Rong opened the yard gate, the bomb squad came in, and the bomb experts arrived as well.
The leaves in the vegetable basket were carefully removed with tweezers.
The bomb was quickly exposed for everyone to see.
It was a timer bomb, with the display showing thirteen minutes left.
The countdown continued; seeing this, Sister Rong covered her mouth and began to cry again.
"Young Madam, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry."
"Sister Rong, no more crying," Qiao En ordered sharply. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦
The more critical the situation, the more necessary it was to stay calm.
She took a deep breath and said to the bomb expert beside her, "Please, if something goes wrong, make sure my child is protected."
Sister Rong was led out, leaving only Qiao En and the bomb expert in the kitchen.
Time ticked away by the second; Qiao En watched the countdown and, paradoxically, felt a sense of calm.
Life and death are predestined; if fate decreed that her life should abruptly end here, she had to accept it.
But she had so many regrets in her heart.
She wanted to see the baby in her belly be born, whether it was Nian’en or Nian’an, she wanted to grow up with him.
She and Zhou Jin’an had promised to grow old together and travel the world; she really didn’t want to leave so soon.
Auntie Jiang had taken Qiqi back to Gu Yuan; at this moment, Qiao En really wanted to see Auntie Jiang. They had only recently recognized each other as mother and daughter, and now she might have to leave her, how heartbroken would Auntie Jiang be?
Also, she truly wanted to find her biological father; no matter what he was like now, she wished to meet him.
...
Thinking this way, Qiao En realized she didn’t want to leave this world at all.
"May I make a phone call?" Qiao En suddenly asked.
The riot police beside her nodded; they found Qiao En’s phone.
"Dial my husband’s number, please," Qiao En said.
However, the phone rang for a long time before Zhou Jin’an answered.
He was in a meeting and had set his phone to silent.
"En’en, what’s wrong?" Zhou Jin’an quickly stepped out of the meeting room to answer the call.
Hearing his deep, magnetic voice, Qiao En’s heart grew increasingly heavy, and tears streamed down her face.
"I’m fine, I just woke up and you weren’t by my side; I missed you," she struggled to suppress the grief welling up inside her.
Zhou Jin’an’s voice softened, "Silly girl, I’ll come back and be with you once I’m done with work."
"I love you, Jin’an," Qiao En choked out.
This was the first time she had taken the initiative to say those three words to Zhou Jin’an.
He was surprised, and even more, taken aback.
"En’en, are you all right? Did something happen?" Zhou Jin’an’s voice was tinged with urgency.
But Qiao En shook her head desperately, "No, I just really missed you all of a sudden."
She gestured for the police to hang up the phone for her.
However, Zhou Jin’an was extremely sensitive.
He realized that something might have happened.
In the middle of the meeting, he left everyone behind and ran out.
Fang Ping drove as the Maybach quickly left the Nanchen Building.
"Back to Chu Garden, and make it fast!"
Zhou Jin’an ordered.
Meanwhile, the bomb defusal was down to its last item.
"Mrs. Zhou, we have to make the final choice now."
Qiao En never thought she would experience this kind of scene from movies and TV shows in her life.
The bomb disposal expert held the clippers, choosing between the red and green wires.
"The green one,"
Qiao En said calmly making her choice.
"Then, I’ll cut it."
Qiao En withdrew her gaze and closed her eyes.
With a click, the green wire was severed, and then the countdown timer stopped.
"You can let go now."
Qiao En obediently released her grip, and immediately, a riot police officer escorted her out of the room.
"Young Madam, are you alright?"
Sister Rong anxiously stood at the door, and when Qiao En came out unharmed, she burst into tears and hugged Qiao En tightly.
"Sister Rong, look, I’m fine; stop crying, I’m okay."
But Sister Rong’s sobs couldn’t be stopped.
"Young Madam, we need to live well, I’m sorry, I’m sorry..."
As she was crying non-stop, the phone suddenly rang.
It was Zhou Jin’an calling.
Sister Rong grabbed the phone but hesitated to answer it.
Qiao En said, "Don’t tell him about any of this, got it?"
Sister Rong nodded heavily, she collected her emotions, then answered the call.
"Why did you take so long to answer the phone?"
On the other end, Zhou Jin’an’s voice was very anxious.
"Master, I was just picking vegetables,"
Sister Rong forced herself to sound normal.
"Where’s the Young Madam? What is she doing?"
Zhou Jin’an asked again.
Looking at Qiao En, Sister Rong then said, "The Young Madam is right beside me, helping to pick vegetables."
"Let her answer the phone."
Sister Rong handed the phone to Qiao En.
The crisis was averted, and she had regained her composure.
"What’s up? Were you not in a meeting? Why are you calling?"
"I’m on my way back now; is there something wrong at home?"
The riot squad hadn’t left yet, and if Zhou Jin’an were to return at this moment, he would definitely discover what happened.
Qiao En didn’t want him to know.
She couldn’t bear to have Zhou Jin’an worry for her.
"Nothing. Sister Rong said she’d make a new dish for lunch, and I’m helping her out with it. By the way, can you stop by the supermarket and buy some fish on your way back? I’d like to have some braised sweet and sour mandarin fish."
Qiao En said coyly.
Zhou Jin’an glanced out through the car window, the car was nearing Chu Garden.
"To the nearest supermarket,"
he directed Fang Ping.
The car immediately changed direction.
"Then drive safely, and I’ll not keep you any longer, I’m getting ready for lunch with Sister Rong."
After hanging up the phone, Qiao En immediately instructed, "Sister Rong, no matter what, don’t tell the young master about this, remember?"
"I remember."
The two divided the tasks and hurried to clean up the scene.
The riot squad left after completing their report, Sister Rong quickly returned to the kitchen to get busy, and Qiao En tidied up the room.
The Maybach Zhou Jin’an was in parked in front of the supermarket.
"Director Zhou, let me buy it,"
Fang Ping volunteered.
But Zhou Jin’an refused, "I’ll go."
He pulled open the door and got out.
The supermarket wasn’t big; he headed straight for the seafood section and, following Qiao En’s instructions, bought a fresh mandarinfish.
On his way out, he saw elderly vendors selling freshly picked tangerines at the entrance of the supermarket. Remembering Qiao En had been liking sour foods recently, he squatted down and carefully picked some out.
After having the tangerines weighed, Zhou Jin’an was about to leave, carrying the bag.
Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded not far away.
Then, numerous fragments shattered and flew in all directions; he couldn’t dodge in time, and one scraped past his face.
