Chapter 22

Jiang Shuwan was naturally strong, but running was definitely not her forte. She had just dashed out of the courtyard when she felt someone gaining on her from behind.

“You little wench, what are you running for!”

She vaguely heard Ma Chunhua’s voice too, seemingly speaking on the phone: “The goods slipped away—get over here, quick…”

And in her ear, the system’s mechanical voice chimed in:
[Friendly Reminder: Other members of the human trafficking ring are en route and are expected to arrive within ten minutes. Please stay alert.]

Friendly reminder? That sounded more like a death sentence!

Now wasn’t the time to yell “Movie Emperor Ji,” and “Teacher Ji” was too much of a mouthful. Jiang Shuwan simply went all out and shouted “Old Ji, help!”—a little awkward the first time, but it rolled off the tongue easily after that.

She had a strange illusion that she’d known Ji Hanzhang for a long time.

But the footsteps behind her were already closing in. Jiang Shuwan felt someone tug at her clothes and let out a startled scream. At the same time, a figure seemed to flash past her, and she heard a heavy thud behind her—someone had hit the ground hard.

In her panic, Jiang Shuwan glanced back and saw the scar-faced man had been kicked to the ground by the driver, Old Lin, who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Almost at the same time, a cool hand grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward. Ji Hanzhang’s voice rang out, “Get in the car.”

Jiang Shuwan instinctively pumped her legs harder to keep up. As she ran, her eyes landed on Ji Hanzhang’s sharp, angular profile. For some reason, her heart suddenly began to race—thump, thump, so loud she could hear it herself.

Before she could think too much about it, Ji Hanzhang had already pulled her into the nanny van.

Driver Old Lin, who actually looked to be in his thirties (though she didn’t know why Ji Hanzhang called him “Old” Lin), acted incredibly fast. After kicking the scar-faced man down, he sprinted back and jumped into the driver’s seat—faster even than they had gotten in. The moment Jiang Shuwan and Ji Hanzhang sat down, he stepped on the gas, and the van shot forward.

Jiang Shuwan lurched forward from the sudden acceleration, but Ji Hanzhang reached out to steady her, preventing her from slamming her head into the front seat.

She quickly murmured a thanks and fumbled to buckle her seatbelt.

Her wildly thumping heart finally began to calm. She turned her head slightly to look at Ji Hanzhang, but then quickly turned away again.

Suspension bridge effect, she told herself. This is definitely the suspension bridge effect. Sure, Movie Emperor Ji was incredibly handsome, but falling in love in the midst of danger was foolish—Sun Yunyun was a cautionary tale.

Ji Hanzhang: “……”

He was nearly laughing in disbelief.

This ungrateful little brat—he had just pulled her out of the clutches of traffickers, and here she was, already off in her own little fantasy land.

Old Lin said, “That van ahead looks like it’s coming straight for us.”

Xiao Zhang was already shrieking in panic. “Wait, what? Is someone really after Miss Jiang?! Ahh! That car’s swerving across the road—are they trying to block us on purpose?!”

Jiang Shuwan quickly reminded Old Lin, “Turn right, go right! That’s one of the traffickers’ accomplices—I heard them on the phone just now!”

Old Lin’s hands spun rapidly on the wheel, and the nanny van veered sharply right, turning into a narrow village path just wide enough for one vehicle.

The business van behind them did a quick U-turn and sped after them.

Old Lin glanced at the rearview mirror and stomped hard on the gas.

But he quickly noticed something was wrong. “Why does it feel like this road is heading deeper into the village? We’re just going in circles.”

Jiang Shuwan was pressed against the car window, anxiously watching the van behind them. The windows were heavily tinted, making it impossible to see how many people were inside. But the system had already given her a “friendly reminder”: three people, all carrying prohibited weapons.

She was quickly conversing with the system in her mind while responding to Old Lin: “This road loops around the village. The only way out was that road earlier—they’ve already blocked it. We’ll circle the village a couple of times. Once the police arrive, we’ll be fine.”

Old Lin: “……”

Jiang Shuwan had sounded so confident giving directions earlier—he thought she really knew the way. Well, she did know the way, but it wasn’t exactly useful.

Xiao Zhang was nearly hysterical. “Ahhh! What’s the point of circling the village?! What if they have more people?! How do you even know they’re human traffickers? Oh my god, traffickers are this bold nowadays? Just snatching people off the street and harvesting organs?! Oh no, oh no—Brother Hui is going to kill me…”

Jiang Shuwan gave him a sideways glance. Was Movie Emperor Ji’s assistant… not very smart? At a time like this, he was still worried about getting scolded by his manager?

In contrast, Movie Emperor Ji remained perfectly calm. Ever since pulling her into the van, he had leaned back in his seat, eyes fixed steadily ahead, not saying a single word.

Jiang Shuwan tore her gaze away from him and tried to reassure Xiao Zhang: “Don’t worry. We just need to hold out for ten more minutes. The police should be here by then.”

Xiao Zhang was not comforted at all. “How do you know the police will be here in ten minutes?! What if they don’t make it?!”

Of course, it was the system’s so-called “kind reminder.”

But Xiao Zhang’s words reminded Jiang Shuwan. She pulled out her phone, which she had put on silent after making the call earlier, and saw over a dozen missed calls from Jiang Zhan. She quickly called him back.

The call connected in less than a second. Accompanied by the roar of an engine and the wail of sirens, Jiang Zhan’s voice sounded somewhat distorted:
“Jiang Xiaowan, are you out of your damn mind? What the hell are you doing over there?!”

Jiang Zhan had a fiery temper. When angry, he wouldn’t hesitate to scold Jiang Shuwan—he’d even dare to curse out his own father.

Jiang Shuwan was already used to it. She ignored Jiang Zhan’s emotionally charged and unprofessional rant and quickly said,
“There are eight members in the human trafficking group. Three are in a car chasing us, three are guarding the village entrance, and two are trying to move Sun Yunyun. Make sure to bring more people.”

Jiang Zhan cursed loudly on the other end, said something to the people around him, and then yelled into the phone,
“Jiang Xiaowan, just wait—I’m coming right now!”

In the front seat, Xiao Zhang lowered his voice into a strangled squawk, like a chicken being choked:
“Ahhh! Lao Lin, faster, faster! Ahhh! There’s a kid up ahead! Ahhh! Okay, okay, the kid moved—ahhh!”

He didn’t forget to glance back repeatedly.

Jiang Shuwan understood what he meant and asked Jiang Zhan,
“Uncle, how many more minutes do you need?”

Amid a flurry of honking horns, Jiang Zhan roared back,
“Five minutes!”

The car fell silent for a moment. A few seconds later, the screaming chicken made a comeback:
“Ahhhhhh! Lao Lin, just hang on for five more minutes!”

Jiang Shuwan turned her head to look behind the car. The black van chasing them was gone. Thinking back over their driving route, a realization hit her:
“Something’s wrong—slow down!”

But it was already too late.

The black van appeared up ahead and, just as Jiang Shuwan shouted, suddenly reversed at high speed.

Lao Lin hit the brakes immediately, but due to inertia, the car still lunged forward a bit.

Bang!

The two vehicles crashed head-on, neither yielding.

In that instant, Jiang Shuwan felt the person beside her shift, leaning in protectively.

His body came incredibly close—so close she could smell the faint, cool scent of wood on him. Just like his hand when he had pulled her along while running earlier, it had a slight chill to it, yet somehow was more alluring than warmth.

“Be careful.”

She heard his low voice as if it were right next to her ear. She could even feel the warmth of his breath brushing her earlobe.

Her heart began to pound wildly again.

Her face flushed instantly, burning hot as fire.

A few seconds later, once he confirmed she was unhurt, Ji Hanzhang pulled back and returned to his seat.

Jiang Shuwan sat dazed for a moment, then immediately began chanting mentally to brainwash herself:
It’s the suspension bridge effect, the suspension bridge effect. Lust is emptiness, emptiness is lust. Fall in love and you’ll end up like Sun Yunyun—kidnapped by traffickers.

Ji Hanzhang glanced sideways at her, a bit speechless, a bit amused.

Everything had happened in a flash. And soon, the screaming chicken returned after being temporarily silenced by the crash:
“Ahhh! What do we do? They’re coming! They’re coming!!”

Ji Hanzhang finally couldn’t take it anymore and said in a calm voice,
“Shut up.”

Screaming could help release fear, so Ji Hanzhang hadn’t stopped Xiao Zhang up to now.

But this was getting ridiculous.

He had only tolerated it this long because Xiao Zhang had loyally followed him for years.

Now Xiao Zhang really was choked up. His eyes went wide with fear—the first time he had ever faced actual criminals. Still, he forced himself to turn to Ji Hanzhang and gestured zipping his lips shut.

No way was he going to defy the boss.

Lowly wage slave.jpg

Lao Lin clearly had solid skills and nerves of steel. He wasn’t affected by any of the commotion. After the crash, he quickly shifted into reverse, floored the gas, and the car shot backward.

Xiao Zhang clutched his mouth and mumbled,
“Lao Yin—Lin, there are people! There are people behind us!”

Lao Lin glanced into the rearview mirror.

Sure enough, three men charged out from a nearby path, each holding a stick over a meter long. They ran at the windows and began smashing them.

Lao Lin slammed on the brakes.

Even though he knew they were bad people, he couldn’t just drive into them like in some action movie. If he actually ran someone over, he’d go to jail.

In an instant, the glass of the last row shattered with a loud crash.

Fortunately, no one was sitting in the back row.

Even though the boss had forcibly silenced him, Xiao Zhang couldn’t hold it in anymore:
“Ahhhhh! They’re coming!!”

More men jumped out of the black van, waving sticks and knives as they charged toward the car.

They were surrounded—wolves in front, tigers behind. And every one of them was armed, looking deadly serious.

The whole scene looked like something straight out of a crime thriller.

Xiao Zhang looked forward, then backward, utterly helpless:
“Ahhhhh! Are they going to kill us?!”

Sticks began pounding on the windows beside their row. Ji Hanzhang quickly unbuckled his seatbelt, pulled off his coat, and threw it over Jiang Shuwan’s head and face.

Jiang Shuwan was caught off guard by the sudden darkness. Ji Hanzhang’s hand clamped gently over her head, blocking her view. Flustered by Xiao Zhang’s panicked shouting, she could only shout into her phone blindly:
“Jiang Zhan! Jiang Zhan, you lying bastard! Where the hell are you?!”

Her phone, still connected, crackled with Jiang Zhan’s voice:
“We’re here!”

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Shuwan heard police sirens wailing in the distance.