Was it because he hadn't produced the ninety million yet, leading to his rage?
Zhang Liunian's mind raced through various thoughts, but he knew now wasn't the time for speculation. He immediately got up and walked to the window to look down. To his surprise, he saw two groups of people meeting below, numbering around forty.
They seemed to be communicating, possibly exchanging information, and weren't rushing to come up.
However, it was only a matter of time. After all, Gu Sanqing had escaped to his home, and it was inevitable they would come looking for him.
"Xiao Qian, call the police and report a home invasion and attempted murder."
Zhang Liunian frowned as he instructed Zhang Qian, then continued to observe the people below. He took a moment to glance at Gu Sanqing and asked, "Do you know what this is about?"
Gu Sanqing clutched his stomach and replied, "I know they want to kill you and take the money you have. I also know about the many scams he's set up, how he defrauded everyone, and his plans to continue scamming people. If I come forward, they'll be in serious trouble."
He paused, then decided to sweeten the deal. "The scams in Pengcheng before were all orchestrated by them. I have evidence for all of it. This evidence was given to me by my father. He used to be an inside informant for the Chen Jiayuan group, helping Chen Jiayuan accomplish one task after another. I can testify to this."
In his desperation to gain Zhang Liunian's help, Gu Sanqing didn't care about the shame his father's betrayal would bring him. He only wanted to survive. For such a small wish, he disregarded his reputation entirely.
"..." He knew quite a lot. No wonder Chen Jiayuan wanted him dead. Knowing so many of their secrets, anyone would want him gone!
"But, we have no enmity, why does he want to kill me?" Zhang Liunian turned to Gu Sanqing and asked, testing the waters.
"If you're not pleasing to the eye, or not obedient enough, those can be reasons. You must understand that anyone he dislikes doesn't live long. You refused to hand over money several times, and you were already blacklisted in his mind. It's remarkable he's kept you alive this long. He's only acting now because he can't wait any longer; there are no other reasons."
"..." Zhang Liunian was speechless. Gu Sanqing's words made perfect sense. For some arrogant individuals, human life was as insignificant as grass. In their minds, only they were considered human; others were worthless.
"Stay put. Later, no one will be able to pay attention to you. Consider this shelter a repayment for your help on previous occasions. Although your intentions weren't pure then, I can pretend I didn't notice. We'll be square from now on."
As Zhang Liunian finished speaking, he saw the two groups below heading towards the apartment building. Just as he was about to have everyone prepare, his gaze swept over a figure below, and his expression drastically changed.
How could it be her? She was in Pengcheng?
Zhang Liunian rubbed his eyes in disbelief, then looked again. He saw his wife, Jiang Qingqing, holding their son with one arm and their daughter with the other, appearing below. Behind them were Yi Wanghua and a few bodyguards, a total of only six people, not many.
"This is bad!" He couldn't let them be here. Absolutely not.
Realizing this, Zhang Liunian grabbed a bucket and threw it down, successfully landing it in front of Jiang Qingqing and the others, halting their advance.
Startled by the falling plastic bucket, Jiang Qingqing wondered who was throwing buckets downstairs in broad daylight. Then she looked up and saw her husband frantically waving at her, pointing towards the community gate. The message was clear: he wanted them to leave.
What had happened? Why did Liunian look so anxious and gesture for them to leave?
As Jiang Qingqing was wondering, she suddenly recalled a large group of people going upstairs. Her face paled, and she opened her mouth to say something, but meeting her husband's continuously waving hands, Jiang Qingqing could only swallow her words.
"Let's go quickly, something might be happening here." Jiang Qingqing said to Yi Wanghua, turning to leave with her children.
But at that moment, Hua Bao saw his father upstairs and shouted happily, "Dad!"
Zhang Liunian's face changed. Afraid of those people discovering his wife and daughter had arrived, he waved again, urging Jiang Qingqing to leave quickly. Jiang Qingqing was also startled by her daughter's shout. Receiving his signal, she immediately pulled her daughter away, giving her no chance to speak again.
Yi Wanghua, behind them, not only noticed Zhang Liunian's distress but also realized the group upstairs were killers. Having a hunch, she quickened her pace, scooped up Hua Bao, and sped away. She knew how much Zhang Liunian cared for his wife and children, and her mission was to protect Jiang Qingqing and her two children. Regardless of the reason, she couldn't let anything happen to them.
However, Zhang Liunian couldn't be harmed either. As she left the community, Yi Wanghua casually pulled someone aside and asked them to deliver a message to her father, then felt relieved. This was her hometown, and she had plenty of ways to find her father. As long as her father intervened, Zhang Liunian would surely be fine.
Meanwhile, seeing his wife and daughter leave safely, Zhang Liunian breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, his wife understood his intentions; otherwise, if they were captured as hostages, it would have been disastrous. But why had his wife suddenly appeared here? He hadn't known anything about it. Had Tang Shitong come up with some new trick, forcing her to come here for refuge?
"Bang bang bang..." Just as Zhang Liunian was thinking this, the door was suddenly violently kicked.
Zhang Liunian snapped back to attention, his eyes immediately scanning the storage cabinet beside him. He walked forward a couple of steps and pushed it to block the door, then said to the bodyguards inside, "Come block this with me. Once the police arrive, we'll be safe and won't have to fight."
Zhang Liunian suddenly didn't want to engage in a direct confrontation. If he got injured, wouldn't it make his wife heartbroken for a long time? It wasn't worth it.
Upon hearing this, the bodyguards naturally dared not disobey. They immediately came to Zhang Liunian's side with their weapons and jointly blocked the door, unwilling to let anyone in.
"Crash bang bang..."
"Bang bang bang..."
The sounds of smashing and battering from outside not only continued but grew even more intense. Zhang Liunian and the bodyguards held firm, but the solid wood door soon began to show problems. First, the screws loosened, then a giant axe appeared from inside the door and pierced through the back of the cabinet.
Seeing this, Zhang Liunian could only instruct everyone to stand by the door, brace the cabinet, and prepare for battle. Although he didn't want a direct conflict, the other side seemed determined to annihilate them, even bringing an axe.
"Crack!"
Before long, the door and the cabinet showed cracks. Those outside intensified their assault, continuing to chop.
"Everyone prepare to fight, follow my lead." Zhang Liunian, seeing that the cabinet could no longer hold, found pots, pot lids, and other tools that could be used to block the axe and handed them to the bodyguards. The tools were limited, and not everyone received one. Zhang Liunian himself took an iron rod and stood by the door, awaiting the first person to rush in and deliver a fatal blow.
In the main hall, Gu Sanqing, who had been sitting to the side, had already retreated to the kitchen. He also held a small stool, planning to rush out alone if Zhang Liunian and the others couldn't hold out. He could only hope Zhang Liunian could deal with all these people; otherwise, both of them would die here.
Unaware of Gu Sanqing's worries, Zhang Liunian now saw the Hong Kong merchant killers successfully breach their first line of defense and enter his home.