石器盒子

“Xu Youning, go and open the door.”

“...” Xu Youning covered her head with the blanket, thinking, “D*mn, I’m sleeping!”

After a while, Xu Youning couldn’t fall asleep and suddenly realized that it was Mu Sijue’s voice.

She was rather shocked. “Am I with Mu Sijue!?”

She opened her eyes and saw the medical equipment in the ward; only then did she remember that she had gone to Mexico after Mu Sijue got injured.

There was a knock on the door again; Xu Youning reluctantly turned over and got out of the sofa. She opened the door and saw Jie standing there.

Jie handed Xu Youning an insulated lunch box and said, “Miss Xu, Brother Yuechuan ordered this for you and Seventh Brother. The restaurant just sent it here. I’ve checked, and it’s safe.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Xu Youning closed the door in bewilderment. “Mu Sijue said I have to cook for him. Why does he change his mind?” She thought.

“Is it because the doctor said my hand can’t get wet?”

Well... She would rather believe that Mu Sijue had wanted to scare her at noon. After all, he had always been picky. She was surprised that he could eat the disgusting lunch she had made; if he continued eating what she cooked in the future, she would be scared.

“It’s impossible that he’s worried about my injury. Mu Sijue has never cared about me!”

After dinner, Xu Youning wanted to take a shower but she found that she had no luggage with her except her cellphone and purse.

She walked to the sickbed, staring at Mu Sijue with a determined look on her face and said, “No matter how many guys are going to stop me, I must go out. The shopping mall will be closed soon!”

Mu Sijue glanced Xu Youning and got her point. He handed her a bank card and said, “No password is required. Jie will go with you.”

Xu Youning had prepared herself to argue with Mu Sijue, without expecting that he would be kind to her. After a while, she came to herself and asked, “Are you... going to let me out?”

Mu Sijue gave Xu Youning a cold look and said, “You have three seconds to get out of my sight.”

Xu Youning took the card and turned to run. She reached the door and then turned back, staring at Mu Sijue.

“Hey...”

She grinned, her beautiful eyes shining with unique radiance. Mu Sijue frowned; before he could ask her anything, she suddenly cupped his face in her hands and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. After that, she fled and disappeared from the ward.

Mu Sijue stared at the door for a long time, stroking where Xu Youning had kissed and subconsciously turned his lips into a smile.

He thought, “What a wicked girl. I’ll pay you back!”

At that time, Mu Sijue didn’t realize that he wasn’t able to decide whether Xu Youning would return.

...

Outside the hospital, Xu Youning was in a cheery mood, which was noticed by Jie who was with her on the way to the shopping wall.

Jie stroked his chin and began to think.

He had seen many kinds of women around Mu Sijue; after they stayed with him for a day or at most a month, they would leave Mu Sijue with the check he gave them, as if they had never appeared.

They had one thing in common: all of them had come out of Mu Sijue’s room with their head lowered and the timid ones of them had even trembled.

Mu Sijue had never done anything to them. However, Mu Sijue had a bad temper and when he woke up in the morning, he had always been in his worst mood, so it was difficult for others to stay with him; even the guys who worked for him had always chosen to report to him after his breakfast.

Xu Youning was the first one that could get out of Mu Sijue’s room with a smiling face.

When they reached the shopping mall, Xu Youning was glad that she found her favorite brands there. She picked several suits in a store without hesitation and paid the bill.

Jie asked in surprise, “Miss Xu, why didn’t you try them on?”

Xu Youning handed the card to the salesclerk, then she looked back and smiled. “Don’t you hate shopping with women?”

Jie gave her an awkward smile and said, “I’ve... never gone shopping with a girl.”

“I see... Now you’re playing a key role in my shopping time!” With that, Xu Youning handed piles of bags to Jie.

“...” Jie was temporarily at a loss, then he smiled and said, “I got it.”

The outer garments she bought were all in Jie’s hand. Xu Youning wanted to buy some underclothes, but she would be embarrassed if Jie followed her. She pointed to an underwear store and said, “You can find another place to sit and wait for me. I’ll go there alone.”

Jie looked over and got her point at once; he blushed and said, “I, I am waiting for you here. You, you can call me if you are ready.”

Xu Youning was clear about her size, so she directly took some underwear to the checkout. The cashier smiled and said, “Miss, your boyfriend is very handsome!”

Xu Youning thought, “Boyfriend? Is Jie here?”

Xu Youning was about to turn, and she suddenly felt a hard item against her back. She had been circled by an arm around her waist from behind, which looked romantic; however, a man was threatening her with a gun.

She couldn’t be more familiar with that man; even if he tidied up his appearance, she could still recognize him from his sinister temperament; it was Kang Ruicheng.

Kang Ruicheng circled Xu Youning’s waist with his arm as if he was protecting her. He whispered, “Go.”

Xu Youning said thanks to the salesclerk and moved toward the gate with Kang Ruicheng

Hey, Miss, you forgot your clothes here,” the salesclerk said.

Kang Ruicheng looked back and said, “Someone will come and get it. Please tell him Miss Xu leaves with me.”

Outside the store, Xu Youning subconsciously looked for Jie but didn’t find him.

“He’s been trapped by my men. Mu Sijue’s men are not so able as I’ve thought.” Kang Ruicheng heavily pointed the gun at Xu Youning’s waist and said, “Don’t try to escape. You’re my hostage not the undercover person. Pretend that you’re scared.”

“What do you want to do?” Xu Youning asked.

“I’ll show you something. And I have some questions for you!” Kang Ruicheng pushed Xu Youning into a car and said to his driver, “Go!”

As the car started, Xu Youning was blindfolded. With her hands and feet bound together, she stopped struggling and calmed herself down. “I can explain to you about the offer.”

“Explain to me?” Kang Ruicheng gave her a cold smile and said, “Well, I’ll give you a chance.”

“Mu Sijue told me his offer was 120,000.” Xu Youning frankly said, “When he came to Mexico, he heard about your offer. He wants to crack you down so he offered less than 110,000. I’m telling you the truth.”

“...” Kang Ruicheng was silent.

“Instead of kidnapping me, you might as well go and find out the mole!” Being treated that way, Xu Youning gradually lost her patience. Realizing that Kang Ruicheng was silent, she said in surprise, “You don’t trust me, right?”

“Of course I trust you.” Kang Ruicheng sneered and said, “As you trust Mu Sijue like foolish.”

Xu Youning knew what Kang Ruicheng had implied so she said, “I’ve thought that he has sniffed me out and taken advantage of me to give you false information. But when I asked him about it, he looked as usual. By the way, if he finds that I’m the undercover person, he will kill me. Then how could you kidnap me like this?”

“And you?” Kang Ruicheng tore the eye-shade off Xu Youning’s face and stared at her with his viper-like eyes. “Can you say you didn’t change? Can you?”

Xu Youning looked into Kang Ruicheng’s eyes, then she sneered and said, “You know—I fell in love with Mu Sijue. Do you think that I’ve told him about my true identity and betrayed you?”

Kang Ruicheng seized her by the throat and said, “I can’t trust you!”

“You can.” Xu Youning calmly stared at Kang Ruicheng and said, “I know Mu Sijue well. Even if I tell him who I am and tell him the truth about you, he will kill me. Kang Ruicheng, I don’t want to die let alone die for him. I’ve got a lot of things to do and I have to take care of my grandmother, so I must live.”

“Well. You’d better do what you say!”

Kang Ruicheng released Xu Youning; at the very moment, the car stopped and the driver said, “Mr. Kang, here we are.”

As Kang Ruicheng opened the door, Xu Youning saw a heap of rubble, in which there was a shimmering light. It was too dim to light up the dark night, and it deepened her panic and uneasiness instead of her sense of security.

“What in hell do you want to do?” Xu Youning asked.

“Don’t you want to know what you are to Mu Sijue?” Kang Ruicheng said in a viper-like voice, “I’ll show you.”

Kang Ruicheng rudely dragged Xu Youning out of the car and pushed her into a dilapidated cabin in the rubble. Before Xu Youning could keep her feet, all of a sudden—

With a clapping sound, Xu Youning was slapped hard across the face, then she felt her mouth bleeding.

In Kang Ruicheng’s eyes, she had given him false information before investigating, which led to his loss; a slap was not enough.

Xu Youning felt a ringing in her ears and a sharp pain within her brain. For a moment, her vision became blurred as if she had stepped into a mist.

She shook her head and caught her sight, while the pain within her brain disappeared as if all of that had been her illusion.

Kang Ruicheng pinched Xu Youning’s chin and said, “Will Mu Sijue be worried about you?”

Xu Youning recalled Mu Sijue’s warning; he had told her not to be caught by Kang Ruicheng’s men; then she asked whether he would rescue her, but Mu Sijue said, “What do you think?”

She reckoned Mu Sijue wouldn’t go to rescue her.

Xu Youning smiled and said, “If you want to threaten Mu Sijue with me, that will be pointless. He won’t come. If I die, he will soon find another man to take over my work. I’m nothing to him.”

“Really?” Kang Ruicheng pushed Xu Youning into the corner and said, “What if I make you look worse?”

Before Xu Youning could get up, she saw Kang Ruicheng take a plastic basin from his men; then the water in it poured all over her like a transparent water curtain.

At that cold night, the basin of cold water made Xu Youning clench her teeth and huddle; while she didn’t stop thinking about how to save herself.

Kang Ruicheng fiddled with Xu Youning’s wet hair, staring at her red and swollen cheeks, then he smiled with satisfaction and asked, “A Ning, do you hate me?”

Xu Youning just said, “I asked for it.”

“Fine, then.” Kang Ruicheng asked for a camera, then he aimed the lens at Xu Youning and said, “Let’s see if Mu Sijue will exchange you with his business.”