Chapter 52

Liu Shu originally thought that this time she would be able to successfully capture Yang Wei without any issues, but she never expected such a life-threatening accident to occur.

She was relieved that when she called the police, she had stayed in her office and didn’t tell too many people. Otherwise, if Yang Wei held a grudge against her, he would definitely seek revenge.

However, her relief seemed to have little effect, because the next day, she saw Yang Wei on the set. He had arrived earlier than her, sitting in her boss chair, his legs crossed, flipping through the footage of the scenes they had shot previously.

His assistant behind him reminded him, and Yang Wei looked up. When he saw Liu Shu, he flashed a smile that seemed more like a smirk than a genuine smile.

For some reason, when Liu Shu met his gaze, her heart skipped a beat. She had an unsettling feeling that Yang Wei’s eyes could see right through everything, as though he knew it was her who had reported to the police.

Suppressing the unease in her heart, Liu Shu walked forward. “Xiao Yang, why are you here so early today?”

“Of course I’m early. I came around four o’clock,” Yang Wei said, grinning coldly. “I bet at that time, Director Liu was still having sweet dreams.”

“…” Liu Shu paused. “Most people should still be sleeping at four in the morning. Xiao Yang, did you have insomnia?”

Unless you were in a very particular line of work, or doing some shady business.

“I’m not suffering from insomnia, but it’s worse than that,” Yang Wei said with a cold tone. “Some people who don’t know any better are foolishly trying to challenge me. Director Liu, what do you think I should do with her?”

Yang Wei was truly enraged. If Liu Shu hadn’t called the police, how would he have suddenly canceled his operation? The loss he suffered from missing the scheduled meeting was catastrophic.

Liu Shu’s heart raced. She had seen her fair share of things and wasn’t intimidated by his words.

“I don’t understand what Xiao Yang is talking about,” Liu Shu said calmly. “You have two scenes today. Before we start shooting, you can still get some rest.”

“You’re right. I should rest,” Yang Wei said, pretending to think deeply. “I still have a lot to do today. Good luck, Director Liu.”

After saying this arrogantly, he left with his assistant.

Liu Shu stood there, feeling uneasy. Yang Wei’s behavior seemed to suggest he knew she had reported him to the police, as though he was subtly warning and threatening her.

But how could he know? She had only told Ting Yu and the assistant director, who had overheard. It couldn’t have been them who leaked the secret.

Was there another insider?

Liu Shu couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. She spent the whole day on edge, every time Yang Wei glanced her way, she felt like he was plotting something. A fraudster like him was certainly capable of anything. She needed to be extra cautious.

The filming that day, much like Liu Shu’s mood, was extremely difficult. It went on until eleven o’clock at night before it finally wrapped up.

Ting Yu had noticed that Liu Shu seemed off and found an opportunity to ask her, “Director Liu, did you report to the police? Why is Yang Wei still here?”

She had thought that by the end of the day, she would hear that Yang Wei had been arrested and wouldn’t have to come to shoot anymore, but to her surprise, Yang Wei was still there, and it seemed like he was even more arrogant than before.

“I don’t know,” Liu Shu said, sharing her suspicion that there might be an insider.

Ting Yu was shocked. “An insider? Who could it be?”

“I haven’t figured it out yet. This matter is only known by you and the assistant director…”

Before Liu Shu could finish her sentence, Ting Yu quickly interrupted, “Director Liu, I swear on my reputation, it’s definitely not me. I wish Yang Wei would get arrested so he can’t harm innocent people anymore.”

“I don’t suspect you, I just think it’s really strange. Who could have betrayed me?” Liu Shu shook her head and continued, “I keep feeling like Yang Wei already knows that I reported him, and it’s making me very uneasy.”

“If he finds out, it’s a dangerous situation,” Ting Yu said with concern. “Director Liu, you need to be careful. I’m afraid they might retaliate.”

Liu Shu nodded. “Mm, I know.”

Ting Yu suggested, “Let’s go back together tonight.”

She thought that if they went back together in a group, they would be safe. But she was wrong. Those people wouldn’t show mercy just because there were more of them.

As they were driving back from the set, they turned onto a small road and were suddenly hit head-on by a large truck coming from the other direction. They couldn’t avoid it in time, and their car crashed into the guardrail. The windows shattered on impact.

Liu Shu, Ting Yu, the assistant, and the driver were all injured.

The truck didn’t stop, speeding away as if the accident never happened.

It wasn’t until much later that a passing car noticed and called for an ambulance, getting them to the hospital.

Because Ting Yu was a famous actress and Liu Shu was a well-known director, their accident quickly drew attention.

The next day, news of their car accident went viral.

【Ahhh, what happened? Is Yuyu okay? How could there be a car accident?】

【I know a little bit. Ting Yu was filming Liu Shu’s new drama, and it finished late last night. When they were driving back, they unfortunately collided with a large truck, and that’s what caused the accident.】

【Could it be because it was so late, and the driver was tired and didn’t notice the large truck around the corner?】

【The driver’s skills were really poor. They almost got everyone killed.】

【Maybe there was some other issue? The car broke down or something else happened?】

—

Who truly knew the real situation?

—

When Qiao Chuchu woke up in the morning, she saw several trending posts on Weibo, and the names in the headlines immediately caught her attention.

#Famous actress Ting Yu and famous director Liu Shu involved in car accident

She was surprised. How did they end up in a car accident together? It seemed serious.

She had watched their drama before, and it seemed like they didn’t have this kind of misfortune in their fate.

Curious, she checked the storyline again, and to her surprise, it had changed.

Liu Shu would die in an accident later, and Ting Yu would disappear. No one would know where she went.

The one responsible for all of this was Yang Wei. When did they offend him, a certain Burma fraudster, for him to take revenge in such a way?

While she was still puzzled, Shen Yinyin called her. “Chuchu, did you see Weibo? It seems like Liu Shu and Ting Yu were in a serious car accident. Should we go visit them tonight?”

They didn’t have any classes after 3 p.m., so they had free time to arrange their schedule.

Qiao Chuchu nodded. “Alright, we’ll discuss it more at school.”

Shen Yinyin agreed, but when Qiao Chuchu arrived at school and waited for a while, Shen Yinyin still hadn’t shown up. She started to worry that something might have happened to her on the way.

She decided to check Shen Yinyin’s storyline and discovered that it had also changed. Today, she would face a disaster and be captured by human traffickers to be sold.

“How could this happen?”

She immediately stood up, dialing Shen Yinyin’s phone as she ran out of the classroom.

Shen Yinyin didn’t have a chance to answer the call because, as she passed through a narrow alley, a van intercepted her and pulled her inside.

“Help——!”

Her head was covered, and she couldn’t see who the perpetrators were. There seemed to be two or three of them, and they were very rough. After grabbing her, they tightly bound her arms and legs.

Shen Yinyin tried to fight back, but they rudely shoved her into the back seat. “Stay quiet, or we’ll make it worse for you!”

“She’s the one the boss ordered us to grab. Keep an eye on her, so there’s no trouble later.”

“If it gets really bad, give her a shot to calm her down.”

—

Shen Yinyin overheard everything clearly, but she still didn’t understand why they were kidnapping her.

She was just a penniless, lonely person—no one cared about her, and she hadn’t offended anyone recently. So why were they specifically targeting her?

She couldn’t figure it out, and before she could get any answers, they injected something into her arm, and she quickly fell unconscious.

When she woke up again, she found herself in an unfamiliar place. It was so dark she couldn’t see anything.

With her eyes unable to see, her ears became particularly sensitive. She could hear many faint breaths around her, some close by, others far away.

Tentatively, she spoke up, “Is anyone awake? Does anyone know where this is?”

Her hands and feet were still bound, and after being tied for so long, her limbs were numb, like tiny needles were poking all over her body. The sensation was incredibly uncomfortable.

She struggled, trying to free her wrists from the tape, but it was wrapped too tightly, and she had no chance of breaking free.

“Don’t waste your energy. It’s useless. We can’t escape.”

The person closest to her spoke weakly. Shen Yinyin recognized it was a woman’s voice, so she quickly asked, “Miss, where is this place? What do they want to do to us?”

Fortunately, the woman answered her, “It’s the bottom of the ship. They’re all human traffickers. They’re going to sell us abroad.”

“How could this happen?” Shen Yinyin asked, panicked. “How can we escape?”

The woman’s voice was calm. “We can’t escape. Anyone who tried to run was killed by them. They’re very cruel. A girl just turned 18, and she died in front of me because she tried to escape.”

“They’re so evil! How could they be so horrible?” Shen Yinyin was furious but also felt helpless. In the face of such a crisis, she had no way to fight back.

Her hands and legs were numb, and she had to find a way to untie herself.

Shen Yinyin cursed inwardly, wondering which bastard wanted to set her up. If she found out who it was, she wouldn’t let them off easily!

In a flash, she suddenly thought of someone—Yang Wei.

She had confronted him several times that day. Could this fraudster be holding a grudge against her?

—

Shen Yinyin’s suspicion was correct. The person who sent people to capture her was indeed Yang Wei.

Originally, his main target was Qiao Chuchu, but for some reason, every time he thought about harming Qiao Chuchu, he would be choked by an invisible force, unable to breathe, and sometimes even faint from the suffocating pressure.

At first, he didn’t know why this was happening. But when his subordinates started reporting similar symptoms—every time they tried to harm Qiao Chuchu, they were choked by death itself—he began to connect the dots.

There was something strange protecting Qiao Chuchu, something they couldn’t touch. They could only go after the people around her.

Having seen Shen Yinyin in the film set before, and noticing that she seemed to have a close relationship with Qiao Chuchu, Yang Wei decided that if he couldn’t catch Qiao Chuchu, he would go after her.

He instructed, “Don’t kill the girl in the white clothes too quickly. I still want to teach her a lesson.”

With the director and lead actress of the new drama both in accidents, the shooting of the show would definitely be delayed. He had plenty of time to “play” with her.

“Beep beep beep.”

“Mr. Yang, I’ve done as you asked. The remaining payment should be settled, right?”

Yang Wei, while browsing the latest posts on Weibo, smiled contentedly. “The assistant director did well. If you’d been a bit harsher, it would have been even better. They just injured their arms and legs. They’ll be up in no time. This isn’t what I expected, though.”

If it weren’t for Liu Shu causing problems, he would have already sold off the goods, and wouldn’t have lost them halfway through, with one even dying. That was money down the drain.

Anyone who stood in his way deserved to die.

“…But Mr. Yang only said it should be an accident, not that they should die…” The assistant director’s heart raced. He could allow someone to be hit, but killing them—he couldn’t do that.

He needed the money, but killing someone meant prison, and what good was money if you were in jail?

He could only apologize silently to Liu Shu and Ting Yu. He hadn’t meant to betray them, he was just forced into it. Without money to pay back the loan sharks, they would have chopped off his hands.

“Really? Didn’t I say that? Or is the assistant director having second thoughts?” Yang Wei was casually playing with a walnut. “I’ll give you two-thirds of the money, but your approach disappointed me. Don’t even think about getting the final payment.”

“You…”

“What? Do you have a problem with that?”

“No…” The assistant director spoke in frustration, “Thank you, Mr. Yang.”

Yang Wei smiled. “That’s more like it. Just go to the address I gave you. Someone will pay you there.”

The assistant director soon received an address. It was located in a narrow alley behind East Street Wharf. The alley was deep and surrounded by high walls on both sides, making it feel very oppressive as he walked through it.

The further he walked, the deeper his unease grew, but for the sake of getting the money, he decided to go through with it.

After walking for about ten minutes, he finally saw a house with a redwood door. There was no one outside. He walked up and knocked on the door. The door was quickly opened by a large man in black clothes.

“What do you want?” the man asked.

“I… I’m here to get the money,” the assistant director said nervously, “I made an appointment with Yang Wei over the phone.”

When the man in black heard this, he smiled knowingly. “I see. Come in.”

The assistant director, feeling a surge of fear, quickly replied, “I’d rather not go in. Just bring the money out to me.”

The man in black immediately tried to close the door, but the assistant director rushed to stop him. “Don’t close it, I’ll go in!”

As soon as he stepped inside, he regretted it. The man in black pulled out a gun and aimed it at his head. Before pulling the trigger, he said one final sentence.

“Our boss says you’re bold for making a deal with him. Anyone who knows his secrets cannot be left alive. He will choose the simplest way for you to die—by gunshot.”

“Bang—”

With the sound of a gunshot, the assistant director’s voice was instantly silenced.

“No, you can’t do this to me, help—”

—

The city police received a tip-off, similar to the one they had received a few days earlier during a covert operation to capture suspects.

However, they didn’t find anything unusual and didn’t locate the people involved in the transaction.

When they received another call with similar content, they thought the caller was just playing a prank.

“Little girl, do you have clear evidence to prove that there’s something wrong with Ship No. 3 at East Street? Are you sure your friend was taken to the ship?”

“Yes, definitely, and I’m sure. I hope you can respond quickly. Their plan is set for midnight tonight. If you’re late, it will be too late.”

Qiao Chuchu flipped through Yang Wei’s storyline again, and noticed it had changed. The assistant director had indeed betrayed them and made a deal with Yang Wei, only to be killed by him.

Yang Wei had also kidnapped Shen Yinyin, and even orchestrated the car accident involving Liu Shu and Ting Yu.

Tonight, they would be leaving from East Street Wharf aboard Ship No. 3. The ship’s lower deck was holding over twenty people, most of them women, all to be trafficked out of the country.

Shen Yinyin was among them. If she wasn’t rescued in time, her fate would be grim.

Yang Wei was truly wicked for going this far, and now she was determined to catch him.

However, the police didn’t believe her and thought she was joking. “Little girl, please don’t joke about things like this. We’re busy.”

They had responded to a similar call last time but found nothing. Now, someone was saying the same thing again.

“What’s wrong? Why are you so angry?”

Xu Yi, a friend of Liu Shu’s, happened to pass by and, seeing his frustration, casually asked.

The person who had just received the call repeated the story. “These kids today really love getting attention. They even dare to joke about something like this.”

Xu Yi thought for a moment. “It could be true.”

“Xiao Xu, what’s wrong with your brain? Didn’t the leaders scold you enough last time? Now you want to be reprimanded again?”

Xu Yi replied, “I may be upset about being scolded, but matters concerning other people’s lives need to be taken seriously.”

He then consulted with his superiors, and as expected, was reprimanded.

Xu Yi gritted his teeth and decided to go alone to investigate the matter.

Not long after he left, the higher-ups at the police station received a call instructing them to make sure they went out on the case tonight.

—

Qiao Chuchu discovered that Shen Yinyin’s storyline had changed again, she had been rescued.

It seemed that her plea for help had worked.

Qin Hanhan sent a message: “Sister Chuchu, the police have promised to respond tonight. They will definitely rescue your friend.”

Qiao Chuchu already knew the storyline: “Thank you for your help.”

Qin Hanhan: “Sister Chuchu, you don’t need to be polite. I’m just happy I could help you. If you have any other difficulties in the future, remember to reach out to me. I’ll do my best to help you.”

Qiao Chuchu: “Okay, thank you.”

Qin Hanhan sent a “no need to thank me” emoji.

It was a helpless situation. Qiao Chuchu’s words were taken as a prank, so she had no choice but to seek help from outsiders.

While checking the storyline, Qiao Chuchu discovered that Qin Hanhan had a cousin who worked as a high-ranking official in the police department, specifically the head of the A City Public Security Bureau. That’s why everything had gone so smoothly according to plan.

The fact that Shen Yinyin had been kidnapped became known to the Qiao family. When they learned that Qiao Chuchu wanted to follow the police to East Street Wharf, they all spoke out to stop her.

“No, it’s too dangerous to go there.”

Even more dangerous was Qiao Chuchu’s own worry. If she were to be a bystander at the scene, wouldn’t she risk being spotted by the bad guys? No matter how well she hid, it wouldn’t be safe.

“Yeah, sister, I believe Shen Yinyin will be fine,” Qiao Cen comforted her. “So many police are involved. They’ll definitely catch those bad guys.”

Qiao Chuchu sighed helplessly, “…”

【I know those bad guys will be caught tonight, and Yinyin will be saved, but I want to be there to pick her up as soon as possible. After experiencing something like this, she must be scared.】

After understanding her inner thoughts, Qiao Cen spoke first, “Sis, if you really want to go, it’s not impossible, but we can’t get too close.”

“Then let’s go,” Qiao Haiyi said. “Xiao Bo, you come with us too.”

Du Shuyu didn’t quite agree, but couldn’t change their minds, so she could only watch them leave with concern.

She anxiously asked, “They won’t get into trouble, will they?”

Qiao Haiyi reassured her, “No, you need to trust Chuchu.”

—

Shen Yinyin finally understood why the girl beside her seemed so weak—she hadn’t eaten for a long time and was so hungry that she had no strength left.

She could hardly bear being hungry for just one day. They didn’t know how long they had been starving. She remembered there was still a piece of chocolate on her, so she moved her body over to reach it.

“Sis, are you awake?”

“I have a piece of chocolate in my pocket. Can you take it out? We can share it.”

Her hands were tied behind her, making it difficult to grab, so she tried to use the other person’s hands to help.

As she moved closer to the person speaking, the girl shifted a little farther away. That’s when Shen Yinyin noticed the girl had somehow managed to break free from the ropes and was now free.

Shen Yinyin felt a glimmer of hope and whispered, “Sis, my hands hurt so much. Can you help me untie them?”

“Shh, don’t speak.”

The girl lowered her voice and then Shen Yinyin felt her approaching. She used a blade to cut the tape off her hands.

The bindings on her hands and feet were gone, and she felt a wave of relief. “Thank you. I’ll give you half of the chocolate.”

The girl whispered, “Don’t make a sound. If we get caught, things will get worse.”

Shen Yinyin nodded quickly, not daring to speak, and used the blade to help untie the others.

For the first time, hope was reignited in the dark, oppressive hold of the ship.

When Shen Yinyin returned and saw the girl standing up, she quickly grabbed her, “What are you doing?”

“Someone’s coming.”

Shen Yinyin didn’t hear anything, but the girl was right.

The heavy iron door was opened, and dim light poured in. Two men in black stood in the doorway, guns in hand. However, the next second, the girl, who had been hiding in the shadows, kicked one of them and grabbed his gun, shooting the other man in the thigh.

Shen Yinyin was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

“Are we not leaving?”

“Ah! Let’s go!”

With the sound of the gunshot, the battle between justice and darkness began.

Thanks to Qiao Chuchu’s presence and her ability to pinpoint the bad guys’ locations, the police were able to easily capture them.

Not only did they apprehend all the criminals aboard the East Street No. 3 ship, but the secret base in the alley was also raided by the police.

Yang Wei was there, arrogantly conducting a drug deal with someone when the police suddenly barged in, catching him off guard.

“Damn!”

“How did they find this place? Retreat, everyone!”

Yang Wei’s men covered his escape, but as they fled, they were shot in the legs during the confrontation with the police. The police successfully apprehended them.

They also rescued all the innocent people trapped in the hold. When Shen Yinyin saw Qiao Chuchu, the strong girl who had always been composed, she finally couldn’t hold back her tears.

“Chuchu, I was so scared. I almost didn’t make it back.”

“No, I won’t let this kind of thing happen,” Qiao Chuchu patted her, “Don’t be afraid. Such things won’t happen again.”

【I’m not sure what’s going on, but everyone’s plotlines are changing so quickly. It looks like I’ll need to check their plots more often in the future to avoid this kind of situation.】

“Mm, that’s right. By the way, Chuchu, I was able to get out so smoothly thanks to this lady’s help.”

Shen Yinyin wiped away her tears and introduced the person next to her.

The girl was tall, with long black straight hair cascading down her back. She was wearing a black sports outfit, looking both elegant and mysterious, like a beautiful but aloof flower.

She nodded at everyone.

Qiao Chuchu greeted her, “Thank you for your help. May I ask your name?”

She replied, “Xue Rui.”

Qiao Chuchu repeated, “Xue Rui?”

Since she was the one who saved her life, Qiao Chuchu wanted to check her plotline to see if there was anything useful she could learn from it.

When she checked, she found that Xue Rui had been tricked and taken to a certain place in Burma six months ago, where she had been tortured to death.

【Wait, something’s wrong. The system didn’t show any other Xue Rui, but this Xue Rui has already died. Who is this person in front of me?】

She carefully reviewed the plot and realized—

【Xue Rui actually has an older brother named Xue Rui, two years older, and he’s involved with shady activities.】

【Could this person in front of me be…?】

Looking at the slender and beautiful girl in front of her, an idea flashed in Qiao Chuchu’s mind. Could it be that she’s a man disguised as a woman?

She really checked Xue Rui’s plotline.

【Holy crap, I was right! He’s Xue Rui, disguised as a woman. He’s here now to follow this group of people to Burma to search for his sister.】

【But his sister has already been tortured to death by the people in Burma. Should I tell him?】

Xue Rui, disguised as a woman, had his identity exposed by Qiao Chuchu. He stared at her in shock. How did she know so much? And when she said his sister had already met with misfortune… Was that true or false?

Regardless of whether it was true or not, he was going to go there to find out for himself. If she’s alive, he’ll find her. If she’s dead, he’ll see her body.

“I have something else to do. I’ll leave now.”

His words woke Shen Yinyin from her shock. Oh my god, this beautiful girl was actually a handsome guy in disguise.

“Wait, can we exchange contact information?”

“If we meet again next time, then we’ll talk.”

Xue Rui refused.

Qiao Chuchu watched him leave. “Wait, I have something to say to you.”