In the future, Nie Zhao would suffer from hemiplegia and be confined to a wheelchair, likely due to the prolonged, deep coma and brain oxygen deprivation he was currently experiencing. If he could be awakened sooner, perhaps his fate of being wheelchair-bound could be changed.
Furthermore, because of this kidnapping case, the original owner of this body and Nie Han would both end up dead in the Philippines after suffering humiliation. In her previous life, given Nie Zhao’s capabilities, he had surely identified the mastermind and sought revenge—the unconventional, illegal kind—which was why, in the files Chen Rou later saw, the case was only mentioned vaguely without any detailed explanation.
But now, things were different from her previous life. Chen Rou was alive, Nie Han was alive, and they were about to return to Hong Kong.
Would the mastermind behind the scenes take further action to harm them after seeing them return to Hong Kong unscathed? She might be able to handle it, but Nie Han was just a young girl, unarmed and defenseless. What if she were harmed by that mastermind?
Therefore, she had to find the mastermind in advance and be prepared. Only then could she ensure the safety of herself and Nie Han; and to do that, she had to wake Nie Zhao up as soon as possible.
***
The speedboat was tied to the medical ship, making it easy to board. Chen Rou arranged for Wandaozai and the skinny prostitute to guard the speedboat with guns, then took Kuangzai with her onto the medical ship.
The ship had plenty of beds. Nie Han had already moved her uncle to a more comfortable large bed and was keeping watch. Seeing little Kuangzai enter, she was startled for a moment before saying, "Kuangzai, why are you here?"
Noticing the injuries on Kuangzai, she understood: "You were captured by the pirates too? And you were beaten so badly?"
Coming across an acquaintance so suddenly was a surprise to Kuangzai, but he was just an ordinary person while Nie Han was a wealthy heiress, so he acted a bit reserved. He bowed and said, "Hello, Miss Nie. Long time no see."
This was no time for small talk during a flight. Nie Han had arrived at the same conclusion as Chen Rou. She said, "Kuangzai, my uncle has a pulse, but he won't wake up. I'm so afraid he’ll die like this. Please, check his pulse and see what’s wrong with him."
Little Kuangzai actually knew a thing or two about traditional Chinese medicine.
Nie Zhao lay flat on the bed. Nie Han had washed his face and covered him with a quilt. In his coma, he looked peaceful, as if he were just sleeping. Kuangzai took his pulse and remained silent for a moment before saying, "Mr. Nie's pulse is extremely weak!"
He lifted the quilt to examine the ghastly wound on Nie Zhao's collarbone, then reached out to touch his head. After feeling around for a while, he parted the hair and showed Chen Rou the top of his head: "Mr. Nie was struck here by someone. It's likely a brain hemorrhage."
Chen Rou had also checked Nie Zhao's head, but it had been too dark at the time, and since there was no bleeding, she hadn't found the wound, assuming his coma was caused by the chain on his collarbone. In the daylight, she observed his skull carefully and saw that while there was no blood, it was severely swollen.
Nie Han saw it too. Thinking back to how she had "bang-bang" hit her uncle’s head twice in the water dungeon, she cried out, "Sister A-Rou, do you think my uncle’s head injury might have been caused by me?"
Chen Rou said, "It has nothing to do with you. This was clearly caused by a blunt instrument."
Kuangzai added, "Ghost-head Chang loves to use hammers on disobedient hostages. He often drives nails into their skulls, not all at once, but by tapping them in slowly, bit by bit, torturing them to death."
Being pirates, they were, of course, inhumane.
Nie Han gently stroked her uncle's head, wiped away her tears, and asked Kuangzai, "Then my uncle, do you think he can still live?"
Kuangzai pulled back Nie Zhao's eyelids to examine them closely. He nodded and then shook his head, saying, "I can try acupuncture to help clear the intracranial blood stasis and reduce the pressure, but I need a set of needles—acupuncture needles."
Having been kidnapped, beaten, tortured, and then having escaped, Nie Han had never felt as excited as she did at this moment. She was so happy she cried: "This is a medical ship; there might be needles! You wait, I’ll go find them."
She ran off eagerly.
Kuangzai turned to Chen Rou and asked, "Miss Chen, you and Mr. Nie..." He hesitated, then probed, "You're not married, are you?"
The marriage between Nie Zhao and the original owner involved a specific person: Nie Zhao’s half-brother, Nie Yao.
Nie Father, Nie Rong, originally only had one wife, Han Yuzhu. They had been married for twenty years and were as loving as when they first wed, a model couple in Hong Kong. However, after getting drunk one day, he mistook Han Yuzhu’s cousin, Mei Lu, for his wife, and they spent a regrettable night together.
Later, Mei Lu became pregnant and gave birth to the child in secret—this was Nie Zhao’s second brother, Nie Yao.
Knowing she had wronged her cousin, Mei Lu took the child and retreated to Australia. She only returned after Han Yuzhu fell gravely ill and was nearing death. It was with Han Yuzhu’s permission that she eventually married Nie Rong. Nie Yao was then duly entered into the family genealogy and became the second son of the Nie family.
For the past few years, Nie Zhao had been living in Europe, while Nie Yao remained in Hong Kong, in charge of the local Nie business.
The Nie family happened to know a fortune teller who knew the birth dates of the original owner and the Nie brothers. Once, when Nie Rong and his wife asked him to cast horoscopes for a potential match for Nie Zhao, he claimed that the match between the original owner and Nie Zhao would be disastrous—a "greatly ominous" marriage. However, he said a marriage with Nie Yao would be "a dragon and phoenix in harmony," an extremely auspicious union that would bless the parents, the descendants, and the entire family.
It was said that the original owner's parents had saved Han Yuzhu’s life, and Han Yuzhu was very fond of her, which was why the engagement was made.
Although Han Yuzhu had originally engaged her to Nie Zhao, Nie Zhao and Nie Yao were only six months apart in age, and Nie Yao was Nie Zhao's equal in height, appearance, knowledge, and business acumen. Nie Rong, being quite superstitious, had the idea of changing the betrothal so the original owner would marry Nie Yao instead. He had even subtly hinted at this to the original owner, asking if she wanted to switch brothers.
Naturally, the original owner had refused. Although she and Nie Zhao didn't see each other often, according to her memories, she harbored love for him. And because of that love, when Nie Zhao returned this time and asked about the marriage, she had agreed immediately.
Kuangzai asked about the marriage because his family had a good relationship with the Nie family and knew the story. Before the original owner and Nie Zhao registered their marriage, almost everyone who knew them thought they would never actually wed.
Chen Rou replied calmly, "Mr. Nie Zhao and I have already registered. We are legally married."
Kuangzai was just a teenager with no ulterior motives; he spoke his mind. He said, "The Second Madame of the Nie family must be very disappointed. I heard my father say she always wanted to set you up with the Second Master of the Nie family."
Yes, in Chen Rou’s memory, Nie Zhao’s stepmother, Mei Lu, liked her very much. People in Hong Kong were generally superstitious, and as the wife of the richest man, Mei Lu had mentioned more than once in public that she wanted her to become her daughter-in-law as soon as possible. She hadn't said it outright, but the implication was that she wanted her to marry Nie Yao.
Chen Rou was born under the red flag in Zhonghua. Even though she had transmigrated, she did not believe in feudal superstitions. As for Nie Zhao’s stepmother, Mei Lu, his second brother, Nie Yao, and the other relatives around him, Chen Rou suspected they were highly likely to be the masterminds behind this kidnapping. In her years of experience in solving cases, crimes involving murder were almost always committed by those close to the victim.
As they were talking, Nie Han returned. She had actually found a set of acupuncture needles.
Kuangzai was only a boy, but they couldn't afford to be picky while fleeing. Chen Rou let him go ahead and perform acupuncture on Nie Zhao.
Leaving the room, she went to the cockpit. The moment she entered, she smiled. Song Yuanchao was piloting the ship steadily, while the doctor was tied up like a dumpling in the co-pilot's seat.
"Not bad. It seems our Comrade Yuanchao has already learned how to drive a boat," Chen Rou said with a smile.
The weather was fine today, and the sea was calm, but Song Yuanchao didn't dare to lower his guard. He kept both hands firmly on the wheel, focused on the front, and laughed: "This thing is just like driving a car. Even a dog could learn it."
On a waveless sea, of course, anyone could drive. But if there were high winds and waves, or if they were being pursued by pirates, that might be a different story.
Chen Rou’s next plan was to get fuel, after which they could go full speed to international waters and head straight for Hong Kong. She had her own plan for obtaining the fuel. After explaining it to Song Yuanchao, she added, "If things go well, I’ll steal the oil and we’ll leave immediately. But if a firefight breaks out, our ammunition is limited. You must aim carefully. Every bullet must take down a pirate."
Song Yuanchao said, "Don't worry. Back in the day on the battlefield, your Brother Song was a famous sharpshooter."
Chen Rou suspected Song Yuanchao had a military background, but it didn't make sense for a soldier to be captured by pirates. Furthermore, in Zhonghua, the military had strict discipline; soldiers who had served on the battlefield weren't allowed to go abroad. Yet here was Song Yuanchao in the Philippines. She suspected he might have committed a crime or killed someone back home and was a fugitive on the run.
Right now, as he piloted the boat through the waves, he was in a good mood and his defenses were lower, so Chen Rou began to probe casually: "Comrade Yuanchao, you must have been a soldier, right? Which military district were you from?"
At these words, Song Yuanchao’s expression darkened. Instead of answering, he countered: "And you, Miss Chen? As far as I know, the Hong Kong colonial government doesn't have a tradition of recruiting local conscripts. Where did you learn to shoot? You don't look very old, yet you act like a battle-hardened veteran."
Actually, Chen Rou was even more mysterious than Song Yuanchao. She was only in her early twenties, but her marksmanship and her tactical formations were more seasoned and steady than anything Song Yuanchao had seen on the battlefield. Chen Rou wanted to probe Song Yuanchao's background, and he wanted to do the same to hers. Since their common goal was to escape, they both held deep reservations about each other. Sensing the other didn't want to talk, they stopped probing.
In the blink of an eye, they reached Ghost-head Chang’s compound, Anilao Port. They didn't get too close, instead circling in the surrounding area. It was the "most dangerous place is the safest place" logic; pirates on speedboats were patrolling nearby, but no one specifically came up to question them.
By noon, they were hungry. The medical ship had instant noodles and drinking water, but they lacked tools to boil water. So, everyone just ate dry noodle cakes and bread. Chen Rou didn't forget the fat prostitute and the one with the Wandao accent. She gave the skinny prostitute several large bags of bread and biscuits, along with two large barrels of water, telling her to remove the cloth from the other two prostitutes' mouths so they could eat. Of course, after they were done, she had Wandaozai gag them again.
The afternoon was spent taking turns standing guard and sleeping. As the sun set and night fell, everyone felt rested. It was time to officially set out and get the fuel.
Since they had a speedboat, there was no need to take the medical ship. Chen Rou, along with Wandaozai, the skinny prostitute, and Kuangzai, took advantage of the night to pretend they were mercenaries from the compound, driving the speedboat into the port. Instead of going to the dedicated fuel depot, she drove them to the barracks area.
She had observed from high up when she was hoisted in the air that there was fuel in the barracks area, right by the sea, which would be easier to get.
Of course, if the oil drums in the barracks were empty or had been moved, they would have to head to the fuel depot and take it by force.
Wandaozai was still terrified—scared to death. Ever since entering the compound, his legs had been trembling. But after spending a day and night together, he had developed an immense, almost worshipful admiration for Chen Rou, following Song Yuanchao’s lead.
They drove straight in, arriving at the dormitory area where Ghost-head Chang and his senior officers stayed. Gasoline was stored right by the seaside there, in dozens of barrels. Because of the riot in the camp, all the officers had gone out searching for people, so the area was silent.
Wandaozai jumped ashore first. He pried open a barrel lid and gave a thumbs up: there was fuel!
Chen Rou and the skinny prostitute followed, and the three of them worked together to move the barrels. Kuangzai was especially sharp; a 200-liter barrel was heavy, and Wandaozai was being a bit foolish, trying to move it by raw strength. Just as he was struggling, Kuangzai appeared with a hand-forklift he’d found somewhere. With the forklift, they could move five or eight barrels as easily as three.
The theft went unexpectedly smoothly. In no time, they had three full barrels of fuel on the speedboat. They hadn't alerted anyone. As long as they could get out of the compound, they could take the medical ship straight to Hong Kong.
Wandaozai breathed a sigh of relief. Kuangzai and the skinny prostitute, thinking of their imminent escape, couldn't help but smile.
But just then, someone walked toward them from a distance, talking on a phone. He was speaking Cantonese, and his voice was exceptionally loud: "Damn it, I never expected Nie Zhao to escape alive. If he makes it back to Hong Kong, we’re all dead. No, I have to get out of here and lay low."
Seeing the man coming toward the seaside, Kuangzai and the skinny prostitute dived into the water. Wandaozai was standing there holding a gun, but his legs were shaking uncontrollably, and the "faucet" in his trousers was uncontrollably leaking. He was so terrified that the man would discover him and throw him back into that dark, lightless water dungeon. He had spent half a year there, working endlessly; if he stayed any longer, he would die. He wanted to pull the trigger, but he was afraid—if he fired, it would only attract more mercenaries.
While Wandaozai was trembling with fear, he saw Chen Rou crouched low, quietly creeping onto the shore. Using the oil drums as cover, she walked slowly behind the man and drew a dagger.
In the moonlight, she was agile and light, like a Persian cat.
But she was a Persian cat that knew how to kill!