Gao Tingting: “??”
She really hadn’t expected that these people who kidnapped her wouldn’t rape her, kill her, or even demand money.
Instead, they wanted her to leave Qin Shi?!
Sheng Qing grew impatient: “I’m asking you a question. What are you playing dumb for?”
Gao Tingting snapped back to reality and said cautiously, “If… if I don’t do what you say, will you let me go?”
Sheng Qing smiled gently. “Of course I will. I’m not a terrorist. I wouldn’t resort to beating confessions out of someone or torturing them for information.”
Gao Tingting had just breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Sheng Qing slowly pull a small folding knife from her pocket, its blade glinting coldly.
She twirled the knife in her fingers as easily as spinning a pen. “But whether you go back in one piece or missing an arm or a leg… that’s hard to say.”
Combined with the smile on her face, the words were especially chilling.
Gao Tingting didn’t hesitate. “I’ll break up with Qin Shi! I’ll do it as soon as I get back!”
“That quick?”
“My life matters more.”
A flash of blade light, and her chin was lifted by the tip of the knife. Gao Tingting nearly screamed in fright.
Sheng Qing stared at her coldly. “I’ve been deceived before, so the thing I hate most in this life is being lied to.”
Gao Tingting trembled. “I’m really not lying to you. Actually, I’ve wanted to break up with him for a long time…”
“He’s rich, powerful, and high in status—a prince charming in the eyes of women. You’d want to break up with him?”
Gao Tingting bit her lip, her expression strained, as if she had a belly full of grievances to pour out.
But she held it in and forced a dry laugh. “I’m not good enough for him. We were bound to break up sooner or later.”
“So you cheated on him and betrayed him instead?”
Gao Tingting denied it outright. “I didn’t…”
“No? Then what’s this?”
Sheng Qing pulled out a stack of photos and tossed them in front of Gao Tingting. “Take a look. You look like you’re enjoying yourself. This guy—he’s not Qin Shi, is he?”
Gao Tingting’s mind went blank with a buzz.
They were intimate photos of her and her lover.
“Who exactly are you?” Gao Tingting stared at her in terror. “Why are you following me? And why are you taking secret photos of me?”
“I didn’t want to take such eyesore photos either, but without these as leverage, would you have obediently listened?”
Gao Tingting glared at her. She had indeed planned to agree to the two kidnappers’ demands first, then talk after she got out safely.
But she hadn’t expected this kidnapper to have brains—and to have a backup plan.
“No need to stare at me like that. I’m often shocked by my own clever intelligence myself.”
Gao Tingting: “…”
Sheng Qing rolled up the photos and tapped them against her palm lazily. “When you go back, don’t tell Qin Shi you were kidnapped. And it’s best if you don’t call the police either.”
“As for the breakup, it needs to be done without a trace. Don’t let him catch even a hint.”
Qin Shi was such a proud man. If this ugly woman not only betrayed him but also initiated the breakup, it would be a huge blow to his confidence.
Gao Tingting was thoroughly enraged now. “You took photos of me, and you still want me to obey like a dog? Dream on!”
Sheng Qing raised the photos in her hand. “Then I’ll just be the villain to the end. I’ll send a copy to your family, friends, relatives—everyone.”
“You woman, what a venomous heart!”
Sheng Qing shrugged carelessly. “Venomous or not doesn’t matter. As long as I’m prettier than you, that’s all that counts.”
“…” Gao Tingting gritted her teeth in fury. “You’re a man, and you want to compare eye size with me, and now you want to compare beauty? You’re sick, you freak!”
Sheng Qing’s face was expressionless. “I have an even more twisted side. Do you want to see it?”
Gao Tingting shrank back slightly and said nothing.
Sheng Qing sneered. “If you can’t act tough, then behave yourself.”
Gao Tingting said dejectedly, “What if I propose a breakup and Qin Shi doesn’t agree?”
Sheng Qing thought to herself, Do you think you’re some stunningly beautiful woman or something…
But looking at her face, she wasn’t so sure anymore. Qin Shi’s taste was damn picky—maybe he really wouldn’t want to let her go.
“If he doesn’t agree, can’t you think of a way?”
Gao Tingting said, “Then I’ll just tell him directly that I don’t like him anymore and want to break up?”
Sheng Qing suppressed the urge to punch her. “You want to dump him? Where do you get the nerve? Make him dump you instead.”
“What do you mean?”
“As long as he hates you, wouldn’t it be a piece of cake for him to dump you?”
“I don’t understand…”
“…” Sheng Qing was speechless. Did she really need to teach her this?
The saying “big chest, no brains” was indeed a lie.
Look at her—she was so smart.
“Even if you’ve never eaten pork, you’ve seen a pig run, right? Do you know how to make unreasonable scenes?”
“If that doesn’t work, just be arrogant and domineering, stir up trouble everywhere. No matter how much Qin Shi likes you, how long can he tolerate it?”
Just like she herself had done back then—acting up, being stubborn, and rebellious, pinning all her misdeeds on the Qin family.
The only reason Qin Shi hadn’t beaten her to death was out of respect for Qin Zhen.
If Gao Tingting turned into that kind of person with no one to protect her, she wouldn’t end well.
“Got it?” Sheng Qing looked over.
Gao Tingting lowered her head. “You’ve explained it so clearly, how could I not understand?”
“Alright, Xiao Pang, blindfold her.”
Xiao Pang came over, covered Gao Tingting’s eyes with a black cloth, and led her to the car.
The car drove off, reaching a remote street, where they made her get out.
Before closing the car door, Sheng Qing warned half-seriously, half-threateningly: “If you don’t behave, everyone who knows you will see your scandalous photos. You definitely don’t want to experience being pointed at and cursed at.”
Gao Tingting nodded repeatedly. “I understand, I understand.”
Sheng Qing felt something strange inside.
This was going too smoothly—so smooth it made her suspicious.
But she had already said and done everything she could. There was really nothing else she could do. She couldn’t actually beat her up, could she?
“Xiao Pang, let’s go.”
The car drove away.
Sheng Qing took off her mask and opened the window, letting the cool night breeze blow in.
Xiao Pang glanced at the rearview mirror. Gao Tingting’s figure was getting smaller and smaller.
“Qing Jie, are you really going to send her scandalous photos to others? Wouldn’t she be too ashamed to show her face afterward? A girl suffering something like that—it’s pretty pitiful.”
Sheng Qing rolled her eyes. “What’s your IQ? Do I have the phone numbers of her family, relatives, classmates, or friends?”
Xiao Pang: “…”
Damn, he almost fell for it again!
He should have known she was just a paper tiger.
**
After the car drove away, Gao Tingting immediately removed the black cloth covering her eyes.
The fear and panic on her face gradually faded, returning to an expressionless look.
She hailed a taxi, and the driver asked where she wanted to go.
Gao Tingting thought for a moment, then said to the driver, “Go to Nanyuan Apartments.”
**
When the doorbell rang, Qin Shi had just come out of the shower.
He checked the time—it was nearly midnight.
Looking through the peephole, Gao Tingting was standing outside.
Qin Shi opened the door.
Gao Tingting said with red-rimmed eyes, “President Qin, I was just kidnapped.”
The hand wiping his hair paused. Qin Shi looked her up and down. “Kidnapped?”
“They held me for a few hours, then let me go. They didn’t hurt me either…”
Gao Tingting hugged her shoulders with both arms, her body trembling slightly. “I’m so cold, President Qin. Could I come in?”
Qin Shi stepped aside to let her in.
He gestured to the sofa, indicating for her to sit.
Gao Tingting didn’t dare sit. She stood obediently to the side.
Qin Shi tossed the towel aside. “Sit. Tell me in detail what happened.”
Only then did Gao Tingting dare to sit down on the sofa.
“This evening, I was coming back from outside. When I passed through the underground parking garage, two men jumped out and knocked me unconscious.”
“When I woke up, I found myself locked up. They kept me for a few hours. They didn’t abuse me—just threatened me with a few words and let me go.”
Qin Shi frowned. “They didn’t ask for money and just let you go?”
What were the kidnappers after?
“At first, I thought they wanted money too. But then one of the men said they didn’t want money. They wanted…”
“Wanted what?”
Gao Tingting glanced cautiously at Qin Shi. “They wanted me to leave you.”
Qin Shi paused mid-sip of his water.
The kidnappers took Gao Tingting, not for money or profit, but to make her leave him?
What kind of play was this?
It had been a long time since he’d encountered such an interesting bunch of kidnappers.
Qin Shi was intrigued. “Anything else?”
Gao Tingting shook her head. “No. They just threatened me to leave you. They didn’t do anything else out of line.”
Qin Shi said casually, “Threatened you? With what?”
Gao Tingting quickly lowered her gaze. “They… they said if I didn’t behave and listen, they’d make things ugly for me next time.”
Qin Shi lifted his eyelids and stared at her for a long moment. “Got it. You can go back now.”
Gao Tingting breathed a sigh of relief. At least he hadn’t pressed further.
Otherwise, the fact that she’d been with her lover would have come out.
The contract stipulated that during the years she was with him, she couldn’t have relations with other men.
Right—on the surface, Qin Shi was her boyfriend, but in reality, the two of them were in a superior-subordinate relationship bound by a contract.
He paid her a certain amount each year to play his girlfriend and act the part with him.
What she’d gone through tonight was completely a disaster that came out of nowhere.
If those two kidnappers hadn’t held back with her, she might have almost blurted out the truth.