Chapter 217

Chapter 217

Qi Wan was silent for a while. "…But you still shouldn’t call Zhong Ning a dog."

"What are you imagining!" Xie Shiqing was speechless. "The dog, Pine Mushroom, that Border Collie! By the way, Zhong Ning and I have gotten back together."

She curled her lips. "Don’t hold back your praise. There’s nothing in this world I can’t do."

Qi Wan said, "I’m hanging up."

Beep.

The call was cut off.

Xie Shiqing pouted discontentedly, but in the end, she had a bit of conscience and didn’t call back.

Instead, she called Assistant Fang.

As expected of someone who earned her salary, the assistant's attitude was far better than Qi Wan’s. She didn’t care that it was the middle of the night. When she picked up the call, her voice was extremely clear and composed, completely unlike Qi Wan’s groggy and annoyed tone.

"President Xie, are you looking for me?"

Xie Shiqing said, "Help me find a way to win over a dog. Pine Mushroom. Zhong Ning and I are back together. The dog has some opinions about me, and this problem can’t be ignored."

Assistant Fang replied sincerely, "Congratulations to President Xie for getting what you wished for. When do you need the plan?"

Xie Shiqing relaxed her brows with satisfaction. "There’s no rush. Just give it to me before the end of the workday tomorrow."

"It’s late, so I won’t disturb your rest any longer."

She hung up the phone herself, then transferred over a thousand yuan.

After receiving the red packet, the assistant sent a message:

[Wishing President Xie and Miss Zhong a harmonious relationship, with smooth and sweet days ahead.]

Xie Shiqing couldn’t suppress the corners of her mouth from lifting.

Look at that, look at this assistant—what a great attitude, and how good she was at saying nice things.

She took a screenshot and sent it to Qi Wan. The reply came quickly:

[One sentence, a thousand yuan. You transfer it to me, and I can talk for an hour.]

Xie Shiqing: [No.]

Happily, she went to wash up, changed into her pajamas, and lay in bed with delight. She picked up the little octopus on her pillow and flipped the frilly side inward.

After thinking for a moment, she sat back up and took a photo of it too, setting it as her new profile picture.

The blue-and-pink octopus had eight stubby legs and oval bean-like eyes—it looked oddly cute.

This kind of profile picture didn’t match Xie Shiqing at all, but she had already permed her hair into tight lamb curls. A tiny profile picture was nothing.

Xie Shiqing had never been someone who cared much about other people’s opinions—or rather, she only cared about the opinions of those stronger than her.

She slept through the night without any dreams. For once, she wasn’t disturbed by nightmares. She woke up naturally the next morning and finally got out of bed.

She took out her phone and glanced at the time—it was a bit past nine.

There was still no message from Zhong Ning.

A sense of unease crept back into Xie Shiqing’s heart. It was already past the time Zhong Ning usually woke up. There was no reason for her not to talk to her.

Could it be… that scene from the past was about to repeat itself?

Her heart began to pound.

No, it couldn’t be. Zhong Ning had promised her. She hadn’t looked like she was faking anything, and there was no reason to fake it.

Xie Shiqing’s heart sank. She made a call. The default ringtone was more irritating than the most annoying noise.

She sat up on the bed, her palms damp with sweat.

The call went unanswered.

Xie Shiqing couldn’t care about anything else anymore. She burst out of the bedroom, grabbed her car keys, and ran out the front door in slippers. She dashed into the garage, slammed on the gas pedal, and the car shot out immediately.

Fengcheng had too many cars. Once she got on the road, she had to slow down. Xie Shiqing kept dialing the number. No one answered. It automatically hung up.

Actually, because of this, Xie Shiqing was only anxious and hadn’t reached a definite conclusion in her heart.

She had heard the prompt tone after being blocked far too many times. This was only no answer. It was possible that Zhong Ning had dropped her phone.

These were all things that could happen.

Don’t panic. Don’t rush.

You have to stay calm.

Xie Shiqing gripped the steering wheel and stared fixedly at the red light. Her hand couldn’t help but slam down hard.

The call automatically hung up again. She immediately dialed back once more.

Beep—

It connected.

“Ning Ning! You… how is it you!”

The panic and urgency on Xie Shiqing’s face changed abruptly, her gaze instantly turning sharp.

The video connected. The person who appeared was not Zhong Ning, but Zhong Lin!

Zhong Lin smiled slightly. “Shiqing, what is it? Are you very disappointed that it’s me? Zhong Ning is my daughter. It’s inconvenient for her to answer the phone, so I helped answer it. Isn’t that perfectly normal?”

“Where is Zhong Ning? What did you do to her?” Xie Shiqing narrowed her eyes, her gaze shooting over like blades, almost piercing through the screen.

“I haven’t seen Zhong Ning for too long. We chatted about mother-daughter feelings. She’s sleeping now. She said she deeply regretted what she did and cried all night.” Zhong Lin clicked her tongue twice. “Shiqing, look at what you’ve done. You almost caused a rift between our mother and daughter. Haven’t you thought about apologizing?”

Xie Shiqing sneered. She continued driving along the original route. “It’s been a long time since we were in contact. I didn’t expect Aunt Zhong to have developed delusional disorder now. Ning Ning having feelings for you? That’s even more ridiculous than money falling from the sky.”

“It’s fine if you use that to deceive yourself, but telling me…” She raised an eyebrow. “Could it be that after repeated failures in starting businesses, your intelligence has declined as well?”

“Aunt Zhong, don’t avoid medical treatment.”

Zhong Lin’s expression stiffened, ugly as if smeared with soot. “You’ve become quite sharp-tongued.”

“Zhong Ning is with me, yet you can still sit there calmly?”

The camera view flipped. Zhong Ning lay on the bed with her eyes open. Her mouth was tightly gagged. Only those widened eyes, through gaps in the strands of hair, cast out an anxious gaze.

“Kidnapping is illegal.” Xie Shiqing’s breathing faltered for a moment, but she immediately concealed it. Only her gaze remained cold as a blade, hacking fiercely toward Zhong Lin at the side.

“A mother confining her daughter—how could that be called kidnapping?” Zhong Lin snorted with a laugh. “If you want to save her, you can. Use Zhong Corporation in exchange. As long as you unconditionally transfer your shares to me, I’ll release her immediately, and I’ll even congratulate the two of you on everlasting happiness!”