As Su Ziyu stared at the man at the door, frozen on the spot, a chill crawled up her spine. She knew that even with three more years of training, she couldn't break a solid wood coat rack with a single punch. Yet, this man, Wangzhe, could. She began to believe that Wangzhe, who seemed a bit dim, wasn't joking with her.
Su Ziyu took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. "Who hired you to kidnap me for a million yuan?"
"Apologies, beautiful lady," Wangzhe replied, shaking his head. "We assassins would rather die than reveal any information about our employers."
Su Ziyu pressed on, "Aren't you afraid I'll call the police for kidnapping me so openly?"
"That is part of the deal I want to make with you," Wangzhe said, his right hand trembling with pain, yet his voice remained calm. "Zhao Lianjin, who sought revenge on you, is currently in my hands. I'll hand him over to you in exchange for you not calling the police."
Su Ziyu's expression changed. "Zhao Lianjin is in your hands?"
"Indeed," Wangzhe confirmed.
"What other deal do you want to make with me?" Su Ziyu asked softly, her face a mask of shifting emotions.
Wangzhe pulled a bank card from his pocket and tossed it to Zeng Ting. "You can call and check the balance. It's fifty thousand yuan. The PIN is on the back of the card."
Zeng Ting, holding the card blankly, didn't react.
Wangzhe then turned to Su Ziyu. "This fifty thousand yuan is the deposit from my employer. I'll give it to you now. Please cooperate with me and pretend to be kidnapped. Then I'll call my employer to prove you're in my custody, and he'll pay me the remaining fifty thousand. I guarantee your safety and that you won't be harmed. This way, we both earn fifty thousand yuan. Isn't that wonderful?"
Wonderful? Su Ziyu's head spun. "After you take me, your employer will threaten my family, won't he?"
Wangzhe hesitated, then nodded. "A peerless beauty, as expected, is sharp."
A thought struck Su Ziyu. "Mo Bin paid you to kidnap me! And then he'll use me to force my husband, Li Qianfan, to treat him!"
Wangzhe remained silent. He had vowed not to reveal his employer, and he wouldn't. If Su Ziyu could guess it, that was her business.
Understanding dawned on Su Ziyu. "What if I don't cooperate?"
Wangzhe, pale from blood loss, sighed softly. "Then I'll have to use force. And I won't hand over Zhao Lianjin to you. Also, for safety reasons, your lovely little secretary…" He glanced at Zeng Ting. "Apologies!"
As Wangzhe raised his left hand to knock out Zeng Ting, Su Ziyu urgently said, "Don't hurt her! I agree to your deal." She was truly afraid Wangzhe would harm Zeng Ting and quickly intervened.
"A wise choice," Wangzhe said with satisfaction. He walked to the sofa and sat down. "Could you find a doctor to treat my wound first?"
Su Ziyu hesitated. "Aren't you afraid I'll use this opportunity to call the police?"
Wangzhe retorted, "Can't people trust each other?"
Su Ziyu opened her mouth, but found herself speechless. She picked up the phone. "Dr. Wang, please bring your emergency kit to my office. We have a patient here whose hand was pierced by a nail."
As she said the words "nail pierced hand," Zeng Ting, now more awake, chuckled. The legendary King of Assassins didn't seem so terrifying after all.
Wangzhe's face darkened. "Miss, please show some respect for my formidable demeanor."
Zeng Ting quickly shut her mouth.
Dr. Wang arrived soon after. Treating such a minor wound was a piece of cake for him. He assumed Wangzhe was a friend of Director Su and was very polite. After all, ordinary patients wouldn't be treated in the director's office.
"Thank you," Wangzhe said politely to Dr. Wang. After he left, Wangzhe turned to Su Ziyu. "Now, I'll take you to Zhao Lianjin."
"Where is he?" Su Ziyu asked.
"Still in the hospital. I've tied him up." Wangzhe took out a syringe from his pocket. "This is the poison he intended to use against you. In a way, I saved you. But don't worry, I'm helping voluntarily and won't ask for any reward."
In less than three minutes, Wangzhe briefly recounted how he discovered Zhao Lianjin's malicious intent and subdued him before he could harm Su Ziyu. Su Ziyu's eyebrows twitched rapidly. She could tell Wangzhe wasn't lying. Thinking about how she might have been harmed, threatened, or worse by Zhao Lianjin if Wangzhe hadn't intervened, she felt a surge of lingering fear.
"Now, take me to Zhao Lianjin. Don't worry, I'll keep my word." Su Ziyu walked around the desk and said earnestly to Wangzhe.
Wangzhe stood up, bowed, and extended his hand. "Beautiful lady, please."
The office door suddenly opened. Li Qianfan walked in. Both Su Ziyu and Wangzhe's expressions changed instantly! Su Ziyu was worried that Li Qianfan would try to stop Wangzhe and get hurt. Wangzhe, on the other hand, thought, *Damn it, why is he back? I can't beat him!*
"Qianfan, why are you here?" Su Ziyu said, walking quickly towards Li Qianfan. Though she was certain she was no match for Wangzhe, if a conflict arose, she would fight Wangzhe to protect Li Qianfan.
"I got a call from Dad saying I can have the day off. I had nowhere to go, so I came to the hospital," Li Qianfan offered a casual excuse, then looked at Wangzhe. "And who is this?"
"He is—" Su Ziyu hesitated, then asked in a low voice, "Qianfan, do you remember someone calling you, saying you had a peerless beauty at home?"
How could Li Qianfan forget? He was taken aback. He looked at Wangzhe, his face filled with disbelief. "You… you're the one who called me and said you were going to kidnap my wife?"
"Indeed," Wangzhe nodded, then said to Su Ziyu, "Beautiful lady, please step outside with this sister (Zeng Ting). I have something to say to Li Qianfan alone."
Without thinking, Su Ziyu flatly refused. "No! I have to be present. What if you hurt him?"
Wangzhe said coldly, "I am a man of my word and will not harm Li Qianfan in the slightest. Now, you can take her to the underground level of the inpatient building to find Zhao Lianjin."
Su Ziyu shook her head again. Li Qianfan persuaded her, "Wife, go outside for a bit. Don't worry, I'll be fine."
"Wangzhe, remember this. If you dare to hurt my husband, I'll find you even if it means losing everything." Su Ziyu whispered to Wangzhe, then left the office with Zeng Ting.
"Your wife loves you very much. You are a blessed man," Wangzhe sincerely praised, then said to Li Qianfan, "But it seems you've always hidden the fact that you're a top-tier expert from her. Even I, the King of Assassins, could only take one punch from you."
Li Qianfan was stunned. Wangzhe clasped his hands in a salute and bowed his head, his voice earnest. "Thank you for showing mercy and letting me go that night outside the Week Hotel."
Li Qianfan suddenly realized. "The idiot who ran into a utility pole that night was you?"
Wangzhe's jaw clenched. He looked up slowly and said, "I am Wangzhe, the renowned King of Assassins in the underworld. Not an idiot. You can defeat me again, but you cannot humiliate me."
"You call yourself the King of Assassins with that kind of performance?" Li Qianfan scoffed. "In my eyes, you're the King of Idiots."
Wangzhe readily admitted, "Indeed, many of my peers affectionately refer to me as the 'King of Show-offs.'"
Suddenly, Li Qianfan was at a loss for words. Wangzhe had more to say. He took out another bank card. "There's over three million yuan in this. You can take a hundred thousand."
Li Qianfan was confused. "What does that mean?"
"A hundred thousand yuan for your silence," Wangzhe said, a skilled assassin's demeanor in his eyes. "You are not to tell anyone that you have defeated me. If, in the future, you're willing to pretend to be an ordinary person in front of me to enhance my King of Assassins' reputation, then I can add another hundred thousand."