BF Chapter 23

Zhan Shili remained unperturbed, showing no fear even under Xu Shen’s intense scrutiny: “Kidnapping the boss for thirty million is worth taking a gamble on; for three hundred million, the kidnappers would be worried about having the life to take it but not the life to spend it. It’s very normal.”

Xu Shen thought about it for a moment, seemingly having dispelled his doubts just like that: “Makes sense.”

Zhan Shili stood up straight and pulled him up: “Let’s go, pick up the pace a bit.”

They continued walking up the mountain, during which they received another call from the kidnappers. Following the other party’s instructions, Xu Shen found a secluded, marked location and threw the travel bag packed with money down.

The bag fell into the ravine with a muffled thud and then disappeared from sight.

“The kidnappers said my father is in the abandoned detached house on the mountain and told us to go fetch him ourselves,” he said.

Zhan Shili pulled his hand: “The ground is slippery, be careful.”

Xu Shen said carelessly, “Then let’s walk slowly, what’s the hurry?”

Zhan Shili squeezed his palm: “Mn.”

Half an hour later, they found the long-abandoned detached house amidst the dense forest in the mountains. They searched inside and out, but did not find anyone.

There was a dilapidated table in the room, with several overturned wooden chairs next to it. On the table were finished instant noodle cups, cigarette butts scattered all over the floor, and a fruit knife dropped by the foot of the table.

“They’ve all run away,” Xu Shen was not anxious in the slightest, strolling over to the window to look outside. A black sedan without license plates was parked not far ahead. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that there was no one inside. “The car must have driven up the other mountain path. There’s another road over there.”

Zhan Shili said, “Let’s go take a look.”

He turned around first, but after walking a few steps, Xu Shen behind him didn’t follow. Instead, he asked, “Nic, aren’t you afraid I’ll call the police?”

Zhan Shili stopped in his tracks, and he turned back to look.

Xu Shen leaned against the window, one hand resting on the windowsill, carrying a half-smile on his face: “My father was kidnapped, yet you weren’t surprised at all from start to finish, as though you had expected it to happen. Do you know something? Or were you involved in this, or perhaps you were the one who orchestrated it?”

Zhan Shili remained impassive: “You’re overthinking.”

“Am I overthinking?” Xu Shen asked calmly. “Last night, everyone was panicking and nobody paid attention to you. Didn’t you later go ask the driver Old Chen for the car keys, saying your stuff was left in the car and you needed to get it?”

Zhan Shili admitted, “A pen was left in the car”

“I followed you there quietly and saw it,” Xu Shen smiled. “The thing you pulled out from beneath the seat was not a pen at all—it was a tracker, wasn’t it?”

A faint ripple finally stirred in Zhan Shili’s gaze, but he remained calm as ever.

Xu Shen continued, “You really are a liar. You said you came to see me, but you actually came specifically to check on my father’s whereabouts. You following us to the hospital was actually to install a tracking device on my dad’s car. Do you think you can withstand a police investigation if I tell the police what you did? There will always be evidence of what you’ve done, right?”

“Since you knew,” Zhan Shili asked, “why didn’t you tell anyone else? Instead, you even came with me to pay the ransom.”

Xu Shen raised his eyebrows slightly, surprised that he admitted it so readily.

“Well, I’m very curious about something: why would my father cooperate with you? He specifically made the two of us leave the car and went to worship Mazu by himself. It couldn’t have been just a whim, could it?”

Zhan Shili looked at him and said, “If I told you that this kidnapping was personally orchestrated by your father, would you believe me?”

Xu Shen was both surprised and unsurprised but also quickly caught on to the loophole in his words: “If my father orchestrated it, why did Assistant Liu react like that last night? If my father was the one who orchestrated it, would you still need to go so far as to uselessly install a tracking device on his car?”

After a moment of silence, a slightly strange, fleeting smile surfaced at the corners of Zhan Shili’s mouth: “What do you think?”

Xu Shen understood: “My father wanted to kidnap himself to test the family, and you simply made what was fake turn into reality?”

“Young Master Shen is indeed very clever.”

Zhan Shili praised him affectionately, “You saw right through it all.”

Xu Shen lowered his voice: “The reason.”

Zhan Shili no longer hid it: “Haven’t you guessed it already? The boss wanted to test you sons, so he orchestrated this kidnapping, and the person who helped him carry it out was Liu Bingzhong. Didn’t you say this afternoon that your father trusted that Assistant Liu more than me? It’s the truth, so I needed to get rid of him.

It just so happened that I found out what they were planning to do, and it was going to happen in the next couple of days. I couldn’t confirm the rest, so I installed a tracking device on the boss’s car.”

Xu Shen narrowed his eyes: “After this, my dad will suspect that Liu Zhu was incompetent or that he intentionally leaked information, so he inevitably won’t be able to stay by my father’s side any longer. Assistant Liu works for Xu Ziren now; my father didn’t trust this Second Brother of mine to begin with. Paired with that cowardly, timid performance of his, he will only make my father even more wary of him afterwards. Nic, you’ve really calculated well.”

Zhan Shili nodded slightly: “Young Master Shen, wasn’t I helping you?”

Xu Shen scoffed, “Then should I still thank you?”

Zhan Shili replied, “No need.”

He was quite blunt.

He was clearly incredibly audacious, yet still dared to repeatedly claim he was helping Xu Shen.

Xu Shen didn’t expose him, turning back to take another look out the window, his expression gradually chilling.

“I really should thank you properly, not just because of what you said just now.”

Xu Shen casually picked up a steel bar lying by the door on his way out. Zhan Shili didn’t ask what he wanted to do, followed after him straight away.

There was no one in the car. Xu Shen walked a slow lap around the vehicle, finally stopping behind it. Suddenly, he smashed the steel bar in his hand down onto the car violently.

With a loud thud, a muffled sound came from the trunk, the sound of Xu Shiji whimpering and struggling.

Zhan Shili stepped forward wanting to lift the lid of the trunk, but Xu Shen glanced over with a cold look in his eyes and gestured for him to move aside.

Zhan Shili’s movements paused, obediently stepping back.

Raising the steel bar, Xu Shen smashed it down once more.

Bang, bang, bang, CRASH!—

Xu Shen smashed into the car with fierce hatred, shattering the rear window. The steel bar fell heavily, blow after blow as if crashing onto Xu Shiji’s body.

Inside the trunk, Xu Shiji struggled incessantly, his breath gradually weakening from violent intensity. This kind of psychological torture was far more terrifying than visible intimidation.

Xu Shen was still not satisfied, continually smashing the steel bar down with both hands ruthlessly, wishing he could devour Xu Shiji’s flesh and drink his blood. Like a madman, he was completely immersed in the gratification of taking revenge on Xu Shiji.

Zhan Shili stood aside and looked at his frosty face: his beautiful eyes were overflowing with hate, his gaze sharp as a knife, and the corners of his eyes reddened.

So his “thank you” had meant this.

Xu Shen had lost all of his rationality, and only at this moment did he truly reveal his true colors.

Zhan Shili suddenly stepped forward, embracing him from behind and covered his hand with his palm, stopping him from losing his composure further.

Zhan Shili’s voice sounded close to Xu Shen’s ear: “Calm down. If something really happens to him now, it will only benefit others.”

Xu Shen was panting. After a moment, he released his grip as if drained of strength, the steel bar in his hand striking the trunk one last time before rolling onto the ground.

Zhan Shili pulled the man back into the house and sat him down on a chair. He knelt down in front of Xu Shen, holding his hand as he looked up at him.

Xu Shen’s breathing was unstable, his mind muddled, in a daze until he met Zhan Shili’s silent, comforting gaze.

Kneeling in front of him—this posture gave Xu Shen immense psychological solace, letting him gradually calm down.

“Feeling a bit better?” Zhan Shili asked gently. It seemed to be the first time he showed such tenderness towards Xu Shen.

Xu Shen looked at him, eyes flickering as he muttered, “I really wanted to kill him just now, but you’re right. If something happens to him now, it will only benefit others. I have to hold back.”

Zhan Shili raised his hand and gently stroked the corner of his eye with his fingertips: “Seren, I’ve never seen you like this.”

Xu Shen, realizing that he had completely lost his composure, became somewhat resigned: “Now that you’ve seen it, are you happy?”

Zhan Shili thought for a moment and said, “Don’t let anyone else see it. Fourth Young Master Xu shouldn’t show his weakness to others.”

Xu Shen sneered, tightly gripping onto his hand: “Was this how you tamed Xu Zikang?”

“I’ve said it before, I don’t want to tame you,” Zhan Shili said earnestly. “You’re not him; I consider myself lacking that capability.”

“Isn’t it disgusting?” Xu Shen said in a harsh tone, “Do you know what kind of creature Xu Zikang is? When I said that he was just like Xu Ziren, equally selfish and afraid of death… did you think I was making it all up?”

Zhan Shili said, “If you want to speak, I’ll listen.”

Xu Shen looked at him quietly. The relationship between them was not pure, nor had there ever been any trust to speak of, but he was tempted to tell this man about all those past events and rip open his own scars right now.

“I was kidnapped as a child, too, because of Xu Zikang.”

Xu Shen’s voice was a little hoarse, and he spoke very slowly: “When Xu Shiji took me back then, it was because he wanted to use my heart to replace Xu Zikang’s. During that period of time, they often brought me in and out of the hospital. Once, I ran into Xu Zikang downstairs at the hospital and played with him. This Third Young Master Xu had long been targeted by people; the kidnappers knocked out the nurse taking care of him and forcibly pulled him onto the car. I had originally avoided it, but he just had to tell those kidnappers that I was Xu Shiji’s son as well, making those people drag me out and take me away with him.”

Zhan Shili’s brows furrowed slightly, while Xu Shen let out a sarcastic laugh, the emotions in his eyes profound: “He wasn’t stupid though; he told those kidnappers that he was a cripple and kidnapping him was useless, saying that a lively illegitimate child like me was valued more by Xu Shiji. I was young back then, so he thought I didn’t hear him or had simply forgotten this incident after so many years. Even facing me now, he isn’t remorseful in the slightest.

“The kidnappers demanded 100 million yuan from the Xu Family after capturing the two of us. Xu Shiji prepared the money, but only wanted to pay the ransom for Xu Zikang. I was locked in the trunk of a car for a day and a night by the kidnappers, just like Xu Shiji. In the end, I managed to escape and ran away on my own.

My mother didn’t dare to let me go back to the Xu Family again, so she moved with me and hid. My heart transplant with Xu Zikang wasn’t a match, and the Xu family didn’t have time to bother me anymore. Later, my mother died, and before she died, she asked someone to send me abroad. It’s been over twenty years. Didn’t you ask me what I came back to the Xu family for?

I came back to collect debts.”

His voice grew softer and softer, light and airy, almost surreal. Zhan Shili held his hand, his fingers slowly tightening, while his other hand caressed his face.

Xu Shen felt somewhat distressed; he hadn’t even told his godfather or godbrother about these things, but now he had told Zhan Shili. This was not a good sign—he really didn’t want others to see his weak points, yet today he had made an exception.

Zhan Shili suddenly got up and hugged him.

Pulled into Zhan Shili’s arms, Xu Shen was stunned for a moment.

This was a truly intimate embrace, unlike the previous ambiguous, push-and-pull interactions. Zhan Shili held him and patted his back tenderly, a gesture of reassurance that was genuinely heartfelt.

“Don’t think about those unhappy things anymore.”

Xu Shen’s eyelashes drooped, trembling slowly, as he raised his arms to hug him back.

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t/n: Oh, so now we know why he hates Xu Zikang. But really, even so… hate Xu Zikang a little, but hate Xu Shiji more, okay? My cute Ah Shen really is a grudge-holder!!!

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