The phone dinged again, this time with a new message.
[GATHER OUTSIDE]
"Nice, it's time to go," Zhong Qing sighed in relief; his back was already cramping. However, Luo Lan frowned.
"Senior, I don't have a good feeling about this. This sounds like a trap."
"That's nonsense," Zhong Qing said. "You're too paranoid. Why would it be a trap? Our leader got the girl!"
"Yes, but we still need to get Sun Jingwei for the money," Luo Lan protested. "Why would Leader tell us to meet outside when we haven't gotten him yet?"
Zhong Qing paused. "Maybe Leader found out that Sun Jingwei wasn't in the house? We haven't seen him walk inside here yet."
"Leader, we should at least check the entire house first before leaving," Luo Lan insisted.
"Fine, fine, if you insist." Zhong Qing sighed again, this time with more weariness. Luo Lan wasn't his preferred partner, but beggars couldn't be choosers. They slowly made their way from the kitchen to the living room, only to meet eyes with… a man?
Meanwhile Wei Yan startled upon seeing strangers emerge from the kitchen. These must be the robbers that Mrs Li was screaming about - but since they came from the kitchens, Wei Yan had to wonder about their robbery techniques. For heaven's sake, no one kept valuables in the kitchen! But then he kept silent, not wanting them to beat him up.
Both of them expected this man to scream, alerting the rest of the household. Luo Lan was ready to knock him out, but instead the man only blinked sadly, shooting pleading eyes at them both. Upon closer look, they realised that the man was tied up and left lying on the floor!
Zhong Qing crept even closer, just to see if it was someone from their team, and he realised that this unfortunate soul was a complete stranger to him.
So this family just tied someone up for fun and left him there? Was he a family member? Probably not, since he didn't scream for help. Then was this incident some weird kink of people living in the countryside?
'Better not bother with him.' Luo Lan thought, prepared to knock him out, but the man frantically shook his head.
"Psss… pssss…. Oi… you guys… yes you guys… help me…I'm on your side…my name is Wei Yan," Wei Yan whispered, wriggling frantically to attract their attention. Luo Lan thought that this man looked particularly like a worm on a fish hook, desperately trying to get free.
"Why should we?" Zhong Qing retorted.
"If not I'll scream for help!" Wei Yan threatened.
Luo Lan placed a warning hand on his throat. Wei Yan gulped, feeling the heat from his palm.
"If you try, I'll destroy your vocal cords." Luo Lan promised.
"Okay, I won't scream," Wei Yan replied. He was a manly man, and manly men didn't whimper.
"Did you just whimper?" Zhong Qing asked. "Wow, you're a loser. How did you end up tied here like a sack of meat? Did your wife leave you to die?"
"I'm not from this family," Wei Yan said bitterly, "their daughter humiliated me in front of their neighbours and then dumped me after leading me on, and now they left me here to die!"
From the first scream, everyone had darted to their hiding spots, and no one bothered to free Wei Yan from his spot on the floor. Even Ming Guang, who was supposed to watch out for him, didn't bother to cut the ropes! He immediately left to help Li Xue Ning.
That very thought made him grit his teeth in anger! If he didn't want revenge against the Li family and Sun Jingwei before, he certainly did now.
"Let me go, I'll help you with the robbery." Wei Yan promised hotly. "This scummy family deserves to be robbed blind!"
"That's kind of you to offer, but we're not actually robbers. We're kidnappers." Zhong Qing said.
"Senior! You can't tell people that! It's a secret!" Luo Lan cried out in dismay.
"Really? That explains a lot," Wei Yan mused as he gazed up at them from the floor. "I thought you guys must have been utter shit at robbers if you came from the kitchen. But who are you kidnapping?"
"We're not telling you," Luo Lan replied, giving Zhong Qing a warning look. His senior shouldn't be such a blabbermouth! Meanwhile, Zhong Qing scowled at Wei Yan. He didn't like being called terrible at anything, even at his fictional job.
"I'll know even if you don't say anything. Who else but Sun Jingwei?" Wei Yan grumbled, rolling his eyes. "That man is the biggest prize."
"Bingo," Zhong Qing said, "But that's not all, we also want his girlfriend too!" Beside him, Luo Lan breathed deeply and closed his eyes.
"Senior," Luo Lan began, in a very pained voice. "We don't know if we can trust this man. Stop telling him things!"
"I can help you with that," Wei Yan offered, trying to sit up with great interest. "Let me go and I'll grab her for you! I know her very well!"
"Who are you even?"
"I'm Sun Jingwei's bodyguard!"
At this news, both Luo Lan and Zhong Qing snorted. They took one quick look at each other and started snickering like schoolboys.
"If you want to lie, please lie better. I'm ashamed on your behalf." Zhong Qing said, shaking his head.
"You're his bodyguard yet you're tied up and left on the floor?" Luo Lan snorted again. "You have room to talk about us being bad robbers! And if you're really his bodyguard, why would you be helping us kidnap him? Do you take us for fools?"
"I've been fired as his bodyguard," Wei Yan said, squirming angrily as he spat out. "All because his girlfriend liked me more… that bitch Li Xue Ning…"
"So you're out for revenge because you are jobless and loveless. That's honestly kind of pathetic!" Zhong Qing summarised.
"Yes, so are you going to let me go?" Wei Yan demanded, gritting his teeth. He couldn't believe two low life criminals were calling him pathetic! The nerve!