Lin Yan's negotiation tactic was the simplest and most straightforward. He first presented a condition he knew they couldn't possibly agree to, then slowly began to bargain. By all rights, they shouldn't have fallen for such a clumsy ploy, but in the end, it was his son that was their undoing.
With the threat of being childless hanging over him, he was destined to be in a passive position.
............................................................................
In Modu, several vans drove out of the city center at a leisurely pace.
"Modu's traffic is as bad as Kyoto's!"
The driver of the leading van grumbled.
"Less nonsense, find a secluded spot and finish them off quickly. We have other things to do and can't waste too much time on them."
"Yes, boss!"
The driver steered the van and drove for another ten minutes. The convoy of vans arrived at a very secluded dense forest. It was rare to find such a place on the outskirts of Modu city.
The cars stopped, and several subordinates carried the Chen family of three out of the vehicles and dumped them onto the grass in front of them.
Kun Liu didn't get out of the car. He ordered a few subordinates to handle it; this was not a task that required his personal attention.
The family of three reunited, and the scene of parting in life and death was inevitably filled with tears.
Chen Qianqian's mother threw herself into Chen Shenglong's arms, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably, quickly soaking through Chen Shenglong's clothes. Her crying was as intense as Chen Qianqian's.
Six or seven bodyguards led the Chen family of three into a grove of trees. Escorting them in was better than dragging them in after death; they didn't want to move corpses.
"Brother, could you do me a small favor?"
"Hmm? What favor?"
As they walked forward, Chen Shenglong suddenly spoke to one of the bodyguards escorting him.
"There's a bank card in the back pocket of my pants. The PIN is four sevens followed by two twos. Could you let me speak with my wife for a bit longer?"
Chen Shenglong glanced around and whispered to the bodyguard.
Upon hearing this, the bodyguard escorting Chen Shenglong felt around in Chen Shenglong's pants pocket and indeed found a bank card.
This bodyguard was quite reliable; he didn't just take it and leave. He looked around and consulted with his brothers.
"Alright, five minutes at most."
Letting them die five minutes later was a small matter they could handle.
Deep in the dense forest, with the remaining brothers watching them, two bodyguards began using their phones to extract money from the bank card. They knew the person they were escorting was a big boss, so he would surely have a bank card with money.
Indeed, after successfully binding the card, they saw the account balance, which contained several million.
The two bodyguards exchanged glances, seeing the surprised smiles in each other's eyes. They entered the PIN and withdrew the money. Perfect!
"Stop crying."
"You damn woman, stop crying!"
Seeing his wife crying incessantly, Chen Shenglong tried to comfort her, but it was no use. He finally yelled at her in frustration.
As expected, yelling was more effective than comforting. Chen Shenglong's wife stopped crying.
"Old Chen, now... what should we do!"
"Yeah, Dad, those guys are still looking for my sister!"
Chen Xiang, who had been beaten black and blue, also came over. Knowing his predicament, Chen Xiang's expression was also extremely grim.
"Your sister is fine. I told her to go to the Lin family for help, but I'm afraid it won't be of much use."
Chen Shenglong, fully aware of his situation, said despairingly. Although his daughter was in Jinmen, closer to the Lin family's headquarters in Kyoto, and help might arrive quickly, it had only been an hour. Even if the Lin family was willing to send people to rescue them, it would take too long to travel from Kyoto to Modu. Moreover, many members of the Song family were currently in the Modu area.
Looking at his wife and son, Chen Shenglong sighed.
"What are you talking about, Chen Xiang? Don't mention your sister. If it weren't for her insistence on helping the Lin family, how would our family have ended up in this situation? And that Lin family, they're probably not good people either. They haven't sent anyone to save us yet. If they don't come soon, we'll be dead... *sob sob sob*..."
Chen Shenglong's wife complained a few times, and by the end, her voice was tinged with sobs.
"Mom, my sister is quite good to me."
Chen Xiang pouted. He didn't understand why his mother had such a strong opinion of his sister. They were just half-siblings; what was there to mind?
"Woman's opinion!"
Chen Shenglong glared at his wife and muttered under his breath. If he had another chance, he would have helped send the Su family away. It was an opportunity for a leap to heaven, but unfortunately, they had lost their gamble.
"Alright, stop crying. Chen Xiang is the only male heir in our family. We need to think about how to get him out."
"Get out? How can we get out?"
Upon hearing Chen Shenglong say they could get out, his wife's eyes lit up.
Chen Shenglong glanced at his wife and said.
"There's a blade inside my shoe. Help me get it out and cut the ropes on Xiao Xiang's hands."
Chen Shenglong had hidden the blade in his shoe while in the car. There was a razor in the car, and luckily, he had maintained his habit of using a manual razor for years, otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get this item.
Following Chen Shenglong's instructions, his wife quickly found the blade and began cutting the ropes on her son's hands.
"Dad, Mom, I'm not going."
"Stop your nonsense. You are the only male heir of our Chen family. Later, your mother and I will try our best to stall them. Whether you can escape depends on your fate. If you escape, remember to go to Kyoto and seek refuge with your sister."
Chen Shenglong quickly said this while shifting his body to block his wife's actions.
However, before he could finish speaking, he saw the bodyguards nearby approaching them.
"Gentlemen, this... this hasn't been five minutes yet!"
"Hasn't it been five minutes? Why does it seem like almost six minutes to me?"
The bodyguards pretended to look at their watches, but there was nothing on their wrists. They had the money; what did they care about a few minutes? It was better to finish the job quickly and leave.
"Oh ho, old man, you dare to play tricks on me."
As the bodyguards approached, one of them keenly noticed his wife's action of putting away the blade. He grabbed Chen Shenglong's wife's hand and took the blade.
Then, he slapped Chen Shenglong across the face.
Chen Shenglong fell into despair. It was over.