"Xiao Fei, Xiao Fei, how are you?" Wu Qixian roared.
However, there was no response from the phone.
Wu Qixian bellowed into the phone, "You people on the other end, listen! I'll give you anything you want, but please don't touch my son! If you dare to lay a finger on him, I swear I'll make you all regret it!"
"Dad, save me..."
"I feel like I'm dying!"
Wu Fei's agonizing cries from the speaker made Wu Qixian's heart bleed. He continued to roar into the phone, hoping to scare away whoever had harmed Wu Fei.
After a while, Wu Qixian heard a young woman's voice on the phone. Her Mandarin was a bit awkward, suggesting she was foreign. Wu Qixian, not caring about anything else, gritted his teeth and said, "Tell me, did Li Qiutao send you to deal with my son?!"
The young woman chuckled, "You're mistaken. I wasn't sent by anyone; I simply wanted to kill your son."
"Why would you do that?" Wu Qixian demanded angrily.
The woman continued to laugh, "Who told this Wu kid to play with me and not pay? Not paying means paying the price."
Wu Qixian trembled with rage. Li Qiutao not only wanted to kill Wu Fei but also wanted him to die with such a shameful accusation. It was an attack on both his life and his reputation! If this got out, it would severely damage the Wu family's prestige.
"He didn't pay, so what? I'll repay you a thousand, ten thousand times over. I beg you to spare my son's life. Or, you can make any demand you wish. As long as it's within the Wu family's capabilities, we won't hesitate," Wu Qixian said through clenched teeth, his only thought now was for his son to survive.
"I'm sorry, it's too late," the woman said with a smile.
As her voice faded, a gunshot rang out, and Wu Fei fell dead.
Wu Qixian's mind went blank again. Before he could unleash an angry roar, the young woman had already hung up. No matter how many times Wu Qixian tried to call back, no one answered.
"Ah!!!"
Wu Qixian's furious roars echoed through the courtyard. "Li Qiutao, you scumbag! I will personally kill you! I'll chop off your head and use it as a chamber pot, and then I'll chop off Chen Jinzhao's head and use it as a stool!"
The butler appeared beside Wu Qixian at some point, cautiously asking, "Second Master, what happened?"
Wu Qixian looked up, his bloodshot eyes startling the butler.
"Xiao Fei is dead!"
"This must be Li Qiutao's doing. I will make Li Qiutao pay the price! Otherwise, Xiao Fei will not rest in peace." Wu Qixian's teeth were nearly ground to dust. The butler's head spun upon hearing that Wu Fei had been shot. Wu Fei was the Second Master's only son! Li Qiutao was truly pushing his luck!
The butler quickly said, "Li Qiutao has gone too far. I think we should retaliate in kind and kill Miss Wu Lingyun as well! Li Qiutao broke the rules first, so we can't be blamed for retaliating by any means necessary. What do you think, Second Master?"
Wu Qixian said coldly, "Indeed. I command you to capture Wu Lingyun, then break all her limbs and throw her into a chicken coop in Nanyang. I want her to suffer a fate worse than death, to live in torment day and night."
The butler shivered. Such a cruel method. However, as things had come to this, Li Qiutao had brought it upon himself, and Wu Qixian was not to blame.
"Understood!"
"I'll do it now," the butler replied.
Wu Qixian said coldly, "Oh, and remember to leave some trace for Li Qiutao, so he knows it was me. Then, I'll watch that dog kneel before my son's grave and beg for forgiveness. I will make him wish he were dead."
There was an even more sinister plan that Wu Qixian didn't voice. The butler vanished like a ghost. Wu Qixian calmed himself down and picked up the phone to call Li Qiutao. Li Qiutao answered with a smile, "Second Brother, why are you calling so late at night?"
"Bastard, you killed my son!" Wu Qixian roared.
Li Qiutao chuckled, "Ah, that's not quite right."
"Xiao Fei is my most beloved nephew. How could I bear to kill him? Second Brother, one can eat whatever they want, but one cannot speak whatever they want."
The address "Second Brother" made Wu Qixian's lungs feel like they would explode. He knew this was Li Qiutao's doing, but if Li Qiutao refused to admit it, there was nothing he could do. Wu Qixian let out a cold snort and said, "Remember this, it's not over for Xiao Fei. You'd better not let me catch you, or I'll make you wish you were dead."
Li Qiutao feigned surprise, "Wu Qixian, I advise you to check the foreign news. Your son's death is already a headline. Tsk tsk tsk, I saw the live footage inserted into the news headline. Wu Fei died miserably. Such a pity."
"Li... Qiu... Tao!" Wu Qixian bellowed.
Li Qiutao laughed heartily.
"I won't talk to you any longer. I need to rest. We can talk about this tomorrow."
Before Wu Qixian could react, Li Qiutao hung up.
Crash! He smashed the phone and cursed a few more times. This was too much! If he didn't kill Li Qiutao with his own hands, he swore he wouldn't be human.
Fengtian. In a hotel, Li Qiutao stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the Shenguo Pharmaceutical building in the distance. He said to Xiaowu beside him, "Keep a close eye on Miss. Never let her come to harm. Wu Qixian is a man who will do desperate things when he goes mad."
Xiaowu quickly agreed, but he hesitated, "I think we don't need to worry too much. Miss's ward is connected to Mr. Chen's ward. Second Master Wu probably doesn't have the ability to take the Young Lady away under the noses of those people."
"It's better to be safe than sorry," Li Qiutao lit a cigarette. Xiaowu said no more.
Ring, ring—
Xiaowu's phone rang. With Li Qiutao's permission, he went aside to answer. A moment later, he returned to Li Qiutao with an even more peculiar expression, looking as though he had something to say but hesitated. Li Qiutao saw this and asked, "What is it?"
"Sir, something big has happened," Xiaowu said. "According to our informants, the Wu family seems to have been surrounded. Those people are dressed normally, but they are all young men with crew cuts. They might be planning to wipe out the Wu family."
Li Qiutao was startled and immediately thought of old man Xu Hanchen. Then he shook his head and muttered, "It's unlikely that only this old man would act. He's always been cautious and values evidence. If he were to act, there would certainly be others helping." Perhaps someone from the Li family... Thinking of this, Li Qiutao felt that tonight was destined to be a bloody one. He thought for a moment and then said to Xiaowu, "Call Xiaohu and tell him to protect Pei Qin. If possible, have her come to Fengtian tonight."
"After tonight, it's uncertain whether the Wu family will still exist."