The anticipated negotiation did not unfold into the current stalemate.
Stating what he truly desired was clearly impossible. Could he really expect the woman before him to help him obtain the New District Enforcement Division seal? The thought itself was laughable.
Furthermore, he had been photographed on the face by the damned miniature human positioning device she wore. He had no idea if the data had already been transmitted to headquarters, or if the Quan family knew. Regardless of how he thought about it, he was the one in a passive position.
He could also silence them by killing them, but that was only if he hadn't been exposed. If he had been exposed, to avoid implicating the Qu family, the only thing he could do was negotiate.
And this negotiation was entirely dictated by the other party.
Quan Jiu understood her current predicament even better. To this man, she was a hot potato. Regardless of how high his status was, the higher it was for her, the better. Only then could she make this man wary.
This was their New District.
Therefore, she let out a light laugh, "Do you understand? I am giving you an opportunity now. Although your information holds little value to me anymore, I am willing to let Liu Zhi Xi know that her plan has failed. If I calm down, I might just forget about tonight."
This was asking him to reveal Liu Zhi Xi, with the premise that he still possessed information she had not yet obtained.
Qu Yi's brows furrowed slightly, his suspicion evident. "Can you be so generous? I was the one who captured you. Can you just let it go without holding a grudge?"
"I believe in your character. You should give me some trust too," Quan Jiu said, feeling somewhat speechless. "Some things are actually very simple. It's us 'people' who complicate matters. If I had been as suspicious as you just now, you would probably be meeting the King of Hell by now."
Qu Yi felt a slight discomfort at having his thoughts exposed, as if he were a coy young bride. He knew he had lost his bargaining chip. After all, the woman before him was the daughter the Quan family had finally found. The Qu family currently had no power to contend with the Quan family.
In fact, he didn't even know it was Liu Zhi Xi who had called him. To be honest, he had acted impulsively this time, acting rashly without fully understanding the situation, especially without correctly assessing the strength of this thorny rose before him.
"Liu Zhi Xi, or perhaps I should call you Quan Zhi Xi, she called me and wanted me to capture you and hand you over to her. Although I didn't agree, I learned from her that you are the Quan family's lost bloodline, which is why I wanted to meet you. Although the method was not honorable, I never harmed you from beginning to end."
Quan Jiu let out a cold laugh, her disdain evident. "You didn't harm me. If I hadn't known a bit about the honey trap and some martial arts, you wouldn't even dare to say this."
Qu Yi knew he was in the wrong, but how could he truly reveal his intentions? He could only shamelessly continue to fabricate. "Although the process did cause some misunderstanding..."
After a moment of hesitation, he truly didn't know what other plausible excuse he could give for his "kidnapping." He decided to go all out. "Anyway, that's how it is. You tell me, what do you want?"
Quan Jiu knew he wasn't telling the truth, but she also knew that it was better to let the man become her sharp blade than to stubbornly pursue an impossible outcome.
"Two days from now is the day I will be recognized by my ancestors. I have only one request. If you handle it well, I will pretend that you kidnapping me never happened. Don't worry, you know I'm someone who can assess the situation well. Exposing you or using you is not a difficult choice for me."
Qu Yi could roughly guess what it was. Indeed, after hearing Quan Jiu's words, he couldn't help but laugh. "This strategy of yours, to remove the firewood from under the cauldron, is truly impressive."
"You flatter me," Quan Jiu nodded faintly. "Give me ten yuan and a car."
Qu Yi paused for a moment, finding it both amusing and somewhat frustrating. However, he still took out ten yuan from his wallet and handed it to Quan Jiu. Then, he called back his subordinates who had wisely kept their distance, not wanting to disturb their master's good deed, along with an SUV.
Quan Jiu didn't care if the car had a tracking device or not. She just needed to get onto the main road.
Getting into the car and preparing to leave, she was stopped by Qu Yi.
"Your locator, the facial data collected..." Had it already been sent back to the Quan family? If so, wouldn't all his efforts be in vain?
Quan Jiu calmly started the car. "I will delete it."
As the car sped away, Qu Yi's expression turned grim. He glared hatefully at his subordinates who had been too sensible, but his anger had nowhere to go. He could only get into his car and leave.
Quan Jiu, with one eye blurred, finally managed to drive onto the main road, but only dared to go one block before pulling over.
"You ruined one of my contact lenses," Quan Jiu grumbled, kicking the car twice. She got out, found a shop employee, borrowed a phone, and first called Chu Rong.
Upon receiving the call, Chu Rong's voice was as cold as if it had been taken from an ice cellar. "Qu Yi, you'd better be fully prepared."
Qu Yi? Quan Jiu quickly said, "A Rong, it's me. I'm fine. I'm at the 24-hour convenience store at 378 Taihang Street. Come and pick me up."
Hearing Quan Jiu's voice, Chu Rong's expression immediately tensed. He wanted to say many things, to ask many questions, but not a single word came out. After a long while, he let out a heavy "Okay, I'm coming right away."
Ten minutes later, a luxury car screeched to a halt at the convenience store entrance.
Quan Jiu was slurping noodles when she saw the familiar car. She quickly wiped her mouth. Before she could even walk out of the convenience store, she was embraced tightly by Chu Rong, who exuded an aura of frost.
They remained silent for a long time.
It wasn't until someone outside wanted to come in but showed displeasure because the two people showing affection at the door were blocking the way, that Quan Jiu gently patted Chu Rong's back and moved aside, comforting him, "I'm fine. It's all resolved perfectly, and I didn't suffer any losses. I just took some medicine, and my head is still a bit unclear. And I'm hungry. One bowl of noodles isn't enough."
"Okay, let's go eat something delicious."
Chu Rong's gentle voice carried a hint of lingering fear and regret. He held Quan Jiu's hand tightly and returned to the car in silence. They didn't say much for the rest of the journey.
Quan Jiu knew he was blaming himself, and fearing he would get stuck on this, she gritted her teeth and said, "So the person who kidnapped me is called Qu Yi? Who is he? How do you plan to deal with him?"
Chu Rong paused for a moment before saying, "He is the eldest son of the Qu family, one of the four major families in the New District. Since he dared to harm you, I will make the Qu family pay a heavy price for it."
"Make them compensate me for emotional distress and physical harm. They won't get away with it for less than a hundred million. Transfer it to my account, and I want to see it tomorrow," Quan Jiu bared her teeth.
Chu Rong was not entirely pleased. "They are not short of money. This amount means nothing to them."
"It's a huge sum to me," Quan Jiu said seriously. "Qu Yi and I have reached an agreement. He will help me with something, and I will let bygones be bygones. Anyway, he didn't do anything to me. I want to utilize him to the maximum. Fighting with the Qu family is not beneficial to you or me."
If Qu Yi wasn't from one of the four major families, she wouldn't have stopped Chu Rong. But since that person's status was very noble in the New District, she couldn't afford a mutually destructive outcome, as that would be too meaningless.