Chapter 52 Extortion

Sunlight streamed through the half-drawn curtains, spilling across the living room sofa.

Wen Wan'er leaned halfway across the couch with a bright smile, her slender fingers dancing gently over Wu Xi's shoulders.

Wu Xi sat on the sofa, her expression stern and a hint of worry flickering in her eyes. She did not seem fully immersed in the massage, choosing instead to sit quietly, letting those warm little hands wander over her shoulders.

"My brother is a grown man now. The person he chooses must be exceptional; otherwise, how could she have captured that frosty, homebody heart of his?" Wen Wan'er's voice carried a playful, coaxing tone as she moved from behind the sofa to stand in front of Wu Xi, linking her arms through hers.

Wu Xi stared at Wen Wan'er, her tense expression softening not a bit at her younger sister's words.

"Wan'er, can't you take Mom to go meet that woman?" she asked, a trace of urgency in her voice. "You can't tell anything from just a photo. Your brother won't say a thing, so how are we supposed to know about that girl's family background and character? She might look nice, but having just a pretty face isn't enough."

Wen Wan'er gently patted Wu Xi's hand, comforting her, "Don't be impatient, Mom. Just wait for the flowers to bloom; when the time is right, everything will become clear. Brother is a sensible person. Since he chose this girl, he must have his reasons."

As she spoke, Wen Wan'er's gaze drifted inadvertently toward the cell phone on the coffee table.

The screen suddenly lit up. She picked up the phone, cast a quick glance at the notification, and then looked up at Wu Xi. "Mom, I have something I need to take care of."

Wu Xi gave a slight wave of her hand, and Wen Wan'er hurried out of the living room with her phone, leaving Wu Xi alone on the sofa.

Cloud Crest Villa.

Inside the pitch-black bedroom, a feeble ray of sunlight stubbornly squeezed through a gap in the curtains, casting mottled light upon He Lingfeng's semi-nude torso.

He Lingfeng's hair was a complete mess. A quilt covered only the lower half of his body, while a bath towel and clothing lay scattered haphazardly across the floor like the aftermath of a wild celebration.

An empty whiskey bottle stood alone on the bedside cabinet, and the air was thick with a strong, intoxicating scent of alcohol.

Bzz, bzz, bzz...

The phone on the table continued to vibrate with a humming sound. He Lingfeng rolled over, remaining deeply immersed in his murky dreams.

Knock, knock.

Thump, thump, thump.

"He Lingfeng!"

"Are you there?"

Meanwhile, the knocking at the front door downstairs was extremely urgent, one strike after another like a life-催命 drumbeat, accompanied by Quan Duoduo's anxious shouts, shattering the morning quiet.

He Lingfeng snapped his eyes open and held his breath, fearing it might be a hallucination.

The knocking was real, and it was growing closer and louder.

He frowned, sitting up from the bed with a face full of irritation, glancing at the messy room as a nameless anger surged in his heart.

Reluctantly, he picked up the bath towel, draped it around his waist, and staggered downstairs to open the door.

The moment the door swung open, Quan Duoduo's anxious face came into view.

Her expression was full of worry, and her eyes revealed an indescribable tension. "I thought nobody was home! You wouldn't answer your phone, and you wouldn't open the door. What on earth are you doing?" Her words carried a hint of reproach and dissatisfaction.

As soon as she finished speaking, Quan Duoduo caught the pungent smell of alcohol, and her gaze immediately swept over him.

Her expression shifted slightly. In a panic, she pushed He Lingfeng aside, strode directly into the room, and began searching inside and out.

The bathroom, the wardrobe, behind the bedroom curtains—she left no potential hiding spot unchecked.

He Lingfeng followed behind her with a mocking smile at the corners of his lips. "Are you looking for a woman? Don't waste your effort. There's no 'prey' of yours to be found here."

Quan Duoduo ignored his mockery, pacing anxiously back and forth across the room.

Finally, her gaze landed on the empty wine bottle on the table.

She shot He Lingfeng a dissatisfied look, her tone laced with blame. "Why wouldn't you answer your phone? Something huge has happened!"

He Lingfeng gave a slow, drawn-out response, collapsed back onto the bed, and said with utter indifference, "As long as Yun Qiuyya hasn't woken up, the sky isn't falling. What kind of fuss is she making early in the morning, acting in such a blind panic?"

Seeing He Lingfeng's unhurried attitude, Quan Duoduo grew even more anxious.

She picked up his phone and glanced at it, seeing over a dozen missed calls, all of which she had dialed herself.

Throwing the phone back onto the bed, her voice verging on tears, she cried, "Look at this! I called you so many times and couldn't reach you. I was worried sick!"

The indifferent expression that He Lingfeng had worn previously gradually faded away.

Realizing that Quan Duoduo's tone was not a joke, he sat up straight and looked at her. "What on earth happened? Why are you in such a panic?"

Quan Duoduo picked up He Lingfeng's phone once more and handed it right in front of him. "I called you so many times and couldn't reach you, I was worried to death! Look at these missed calls and text messages for yourself!"

He Lingfeng took the phone; the screen displayed over a dozen missed calls and several text messages.

He quickly scanned the contents of the messages, and his expression gradually turned grave.

"Those three brothers are shaking me down for money?"

"Did you see the video? They've definitely been taken hostage!"

"If we can't scrape together ten million within three hours, they're going to live-stream it!"

These messages burst before his eyes like a series of heavy bombshells.