1.9

After Qi Yuxuan was discharged from the hospital, he constantly accompanied the heavily pregnant Qi Yuxin. He almost never went out anymore. Even though he stayed inside, the affair between Shu Wenjie and him spread like fire. Everyone in H city knew about it. For months on end, that was all everyone talked about when they went out for tea. Eventually, Qi Yuxuan was too humiliated to show his face in public.

When Qi Yuxin was seven to eight months into her pregnancy, her cravings were especially bad. She had cravings for something from here and another thing from there. Qi Yuxuan would personally go out and retrieve everything she wanted to eat. He never uttered a sound of complaint or made any signs of being fed up with her wishes. On top of that, he would help massage Qi Yuxin's swollen feet every day. Mr. and Mrs. Qi were moved by his dedication. Any shred of doubt or blame they had left over from the whole wedding room debacle evaporated into thin air.

Qiao Chen, on the other hand, worked in Mr. Qi's company. Qi Beichen was a quick learner. It was just that he had an average performance. He didn't do particularly well, and his performance was considered quite flat. With no accomplishments or notable efforts, he just shuffled along with the other workers.

After he finished work, Qiao Chen headed to the underground parking lot. As he walked towards his car, he was suddenly ambushed. His head was quickly covered by a black sack and dragged into a running car. Everything happened in a matter of seconds. As Qiao Chen predicted, Qi Yuxuan moved his kidnapping scheme ahead of the previous life's schedule. The kidnappers forced Qiao Chen into an abandoned building on the outskirts of the city. The kidnappers shoved him on to a chair, tied him, and removed the bag that covered his head. It wasn't long before Qi Yuxuan was brought in by the kidnappers as well. Playing along, he struggled fiercely and shouted for his freedom.

Qiao Chen calmly watched as Qi Yuxuan put on an act. He thought as he watched, He's so good at acting. I think that if he really went for it, then he'd probably be quite the popular actor…

Then Qiao Chen appraised the kidnappers' costume. A black hat, black sunglasses, a black ski mask, and black pants… even the shoes are black too! The entire person covered in black. The costume design was all there too.

The kidnapper called Mr. Qi's phone. He lowered his voice and harshly spoke, "I have both of your sons. If you want them to live, you need to prepare 100 million Yuan (~ 15 million USD). You have three hours. If you alert the cops, they're dead."

After the kidnapper finished his speech, he turned on the video call function. Then he flipped the camera to Qiao Chen and Qi Yuxuan for Mr. Qi to see.

Qi Yuxuan yelled desperately at the phone, "DAD! Help! Please save me!"

A pale Qi Beichen appeared to be scared witless and just looked at the cell phone in the kidnapper's hand. The kidnappers took out their guns and fired two shots. One was aimed at Qiao Chen's feet, while the other at Qi Yuxuan's. Qi Yuxuan screamed out twice. Qi Beichen shrunk back and seemingly scared stiff.

The kidnapper flipped the camera back to the selfie mode and continued speaking to Mr. Qi face to face, "You call the cops. I kill them both. Crystal clear?"

"Don't! Don't be reckless now! I won't call the police. I won't, but you can't harm a single hair on their heads. If- if you do, then you won't get a single cent." Mr. Qi nervously said.

"You have three hours 'daddy'. I'll tell you then where you need to put the money." The kidnapper shut off the phone. Then he ordered the others to seal Qi Yuxuan and Qiao Chen's mouths shut. They waited for Mr. Qi to gather the funds.

One hundred million was a hefty ransom. The Qi family didn't have that kind of money on hand. To make matters worse, they had to gather it all within three hours. Unfortunately, Mr. Qi had no other choice than to comply. Both of his sons were in the hands of the kidnappers. After the kidnappers hung up the phone, Mr. Qi immediately contacted his secretary and assistant. He had them withdraw all the cash at hand. The amount he gathered was nowhere near the amount needed for the ransom. He had to dip into the company's funds. He looked into the accounting books and withdrew all he could. Seeing as that wasn't enough, Mr. Qi borrowed some money from a few of his family members too. After going through all those avenues for the millions, Mr. Qi finally gathered enough for the ransom. Mr. Qi brought all the money back home to the Qi villa. Then he anxiously waited for the kidnappers' call.

Mrs. Qi and Qi Yuxin knew about Qi Yuxuan and Qi Beichen's abduction. They were of no help at all because they were racked with worry and fear. Qi Yuxin herself was so stressed that she could have gone into early labor. Mr. and Mrs. Qi had to do all they could to calm her down even though they were on edge too. They comforted her, telling her that the kidnappers were only asking for money. "We have the money already, so of course we can get them back."

Mr. Qi heard his phone ring and immediately answered it.

"You get the cash yet?" The kidnapper's gruff voice sounded through the phone.

"It's ready." Mr. Qi quickly replied. Then he arranged the stacks of money for the kidnappers to see.

The kidnapper was satisfied. He told Mr. Qi an address. His instructions were, "Drive by yourself. No one else can come with you."

Mr. Qi gathered the money into the bags and placed them in the car. He prepared himself before he drove to the drop off location.

"Husband, be careful." Mrs. Qi said as she wiped the tears that fell from her eyes.

"Daddy… you need to bring Yuxuan back safely." Qi Yuxuan said with reddened eyes. To further emphasize her point, she held her pregnant belly as she spoke.

"I'll be careful. If I don't come back within three hours, call the police." Mr. Qi grimly instructed. Then he got into the car, started it, and drove off.

After Mr. Qi arrived to the drop off location, he called the kidnappers. The kidnappers quickly told him to head to another location and hung up. Mr. Qi once again started up his car and headed to the new address they gave him. This happened several times. Mr. Qi just drove to each address they told him. Along the way, the instructions randomly changed twice. They instructed Mr. Qi to drop off the cash in two separate locations among the scramble and told him to go back and wait.

As Mr. Qi returned home, Mrs. Qi and Qi Yuxin hesitated to call the police once the three hours were up. They wanted to wait in case Mr. Qi was just running late, but they didn't know if something happened to him either. They also wanted to call Mr. Qi to make sure he was alright, but didn't know whether they'd interrupt contact with the kidnappers. When they saw Mr. Qi finally pull up the drive way, they dropped the phone and quickly ran over.

"Where are they? Where's Yuxuan?"

"They told me to come back and wait for further instructions." Mr. Qi replied as he sat on the sofa. Then he wiped away the sweat from his forehead.

The three people restlessly waited in their home. Mr. Qi's phone finally rang again and he quickly answered it.

"I've dropped off the cash like you told me two. Now release my sons." Mr. Qi nervously said.

"Yeah, we know. We got the money. But now there's something you have to do…" the kidnapper said.

"What else do I need to do?"Mr. Qi's already anxious heart raced.

"Well you just got to make a decision. You got two sons right? Pick the one you want us to release. We're taking the other once as a hostage."

"What did you say? What do you mean choose one?" Mr. Qi yelled into the phone, "I've already given you the money! I followed your instructions. I didn't call the police either. You want to keep one? You need to let both of them go immediately!"

"Yeah, yeah. You just haven't called the police yet. We need insurance so you don't call them while we're making our get away. After we get away safely, we'll let your other son go. So here are your new instructions: Don't even try and go looking for us. Like before, don't call the cops. You break any of our rules, we'll just kill him. Now, you have 30 minutes to choose. Once the time's up we escape with one of them. You can't choose? No worries, we'll just take both of them." Then the kidnapper immediately hung up.

"They said they're only setting free one. They're taking the other as insurance so we don't call the cops." Mr. Qi weakly notified Qi Yuxuan and her mother.

It wasn't easy for him to decide. He gripped the phone as he thought about it. One is my own flesh and blood. The other I raised through my blood, sweat, and tears… He's married to Qi Yuxuan and is the father of my future grandson.

"Daddy, you need to choose Yuxuan. Have them release him first. Please, daddy." Qi Yuxuan sobbed as she persuaded her father.

Mrs. Qi had been opening her mouth to give her input, and then shut it before she spoke any words. It was obvious that she wanted the kidnappers to release Qi Yuxuan first. All of them knew that the one who stayed with the kidnappers was likely to just be killed off. But she couldn't tell her husband to give up his own flesh and blood son, Beichen. Her husband would be extremely unhappy if she was the first to tell him to release Qi Yuxuan first. But the reality was that they could only choose one.

"Daddy please! You can't have your grandson live without a father!" Qi Yuxuan begged as she knelt on the floor. She knelt until her stomach touched the floor.

"You want me to give up Beichen?! He's your own brother!" Mr. Qi replied. Of course he wanted his grandson to grow up with a father, but he also wanted his own son to live too.

"He shouldn't have been a part of the family anyways! He was a mistake- trash. His own mother died after he was born didn't she? No one needs him here. Our family was perfectly fine before he came back. Then he happened his way here and now all of this happens to us? He's a curse! Everything bad that happened is all because of that demon. I bet the abduction with Yuxuan and that thing himself was his entire fault anyways! Why does Yuxuan need to suffer because of it?!" Qi Yuxin screamed.

Businessmen were somewhat superstitious. Mr. Qi didn't really believe in Qi Yuxin's claims, but he believed parts of it. He did think that Qi Beichen was a little unlucky. However that didn't mean he would just give up on Beichen.

Qi Yuxin watched Mr. Qi's reaction. She saw that he didn't immediately agree to have the kidnappers release Yuxuan first. Her stress went through the roof. Pain radiated in her belly. She started panting, quickly gasping for air. "Ow! It hurts! My stomach hurts so much!"

"What happened? Yuxin!" Mrs. Qi immediately went to Qi Yuxin's side. She held her daughter in her arms and looked at her body.

"Mommy. My- My stomach hurts. Something moved and now my stomach hurts so much." Qi Yuxin replied as her face paled in pain.

"What happened to her?" Mr. Qi worriedly asked Mrs. Qi. The sons haven't been saved yet, and now there's a problem with the daughter. The Qi family is in huge trouble now.

"Yuxin's water broke. It's a premature birth. Quickly call the ambulance- hurry up and call the ambulance already!" Mrs. Qi cried loudly. She was too worked up to put on airs.

Mr. Qi trembled as he called the hospital. Three servants stood nearby. They had no idea whether they should help or not.

Qi Yuxin was gasping in pain as she grabbed her father's hand and told him, "Daddy! Daddy! You need to promise me. Save Yuxuan first! If you don't, then I'm not going to the hospital. You need to promise me this before I even step foot in that ambulance!"

"Just promise her already! You'll be the death of us all!" Mrs. Qi repeatedly hit her husband's arm as she yelled at him.

Mr. Qi grinded his teeth and didn't open his mouth.

"Daddy- you would rather watch me and my child die before your eyes, just so you can save Qi Beichen instead of saving Yuxuan? How can you be so cruel, daddy?" Qi Yuxin burst into tears.

She continued doing all she could to persuade him, "If you don't save Yuxuan, then Yuxin doesn't want to live! I won't live anymore. If you save Qi Beichen, it'll just be the two of you. All three of us will die! You'll kill three people just to save Qi Beichen."

"Alright. I promise you! I promise that Yuxuan will be released first." Mr. Qi couldn't bear the onslaught her words any longer and agreed.

"You call them right now. I want to hear you tell the kidnappers that you choose Yuxuan." Qi Yuxin pressed on.

Mr. Qi picked up the phone. It rang out and his trembling fingers pushed the answer button.

"You make your decision yet? Who're we releasing?" the kidnapper asked.

Mr. Qi slowly opened his mouth and replied, "Yuxuan… let him go first."

"You sure? You want Qi Yuxuan to be set free first right?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Mr. Qi said with some difficulty.

The kidnapper hung up the phone. He spoke to Qi Beichen, "It was your dad's decision. We gave him the choice and he chose to save Qi Yuxuan instead of his own son."

The head kidnapper motioned to his two cohorts to untie Qi Yuxuan and take him away. Then he spoke to Qi Beichen again, "You just don't have the life of a rich young master. Just admit it. In the end, he chose the one they raised. Blood doesn't matter at all."

Qiao Chen listened to the kidnapper's words. No expression was on his face. Not one shred of emotion showed, but tears ran down his face. Qiao Chen knew that the sadness and sense of abandonment from being given up by one's only relative belonged to the original body. This wasn't something he strongly felt about. He just couldn't understand why the emotions felt too real, too strong. It felt too raw. It was as if he was the one who was experiencing these emotions that swirled inside…