Chapter 47

Li Shuang was extremely excited and looked proud. Jiang Sen kept his mouth shut and didn’t laugh, then said to Xie Wendong, “Brother Dong, I think we should go see Xiao Yu. She seems to really need your comfort right now!”
Xie Wendong nodded and led Gao Zhen and Jiang Sen out. Gao Qiang followed behind. Passing by Li Shuang, he saw him still smiling foolishly and kicked him, “Hey, fat guy, stop being silly. Haven’t you understood Brother Dong’s meaning yet?!”, then shook his head and left the room.
Li Shuang was stunned and took a while to realize what had happened. He shouted loudly, “Brother Dong, it seems I’m not just good at talking!”
Jiang Sen led Xie Wendong and Gao Zhen to the door of a guest room and gestured for Xie Wendong to enter. Xie Wendong glanced at Gao Zhen, who smiled and said, “Brother, you go first. I’ll come in in a bit!”
Xie Wendong blushed, knocked lightly on the door, and went in.
Gao Huiyu, who was lying on the bed crying, looked up when she saw Xie Wendong enter and called out, “Wendong!” She threw herself into his arms and cried bitterly. Xie Wendong hugged her tenderly and comforted her softly, “Xiao Yu, it’s okay. I know you’ve been wronged. I promise this won’t happen again!”
Gao Huiyu sobbed, “Wendong, do you know? I was so scared back then. I thought I would… never see you again…”
Xie Wendong smiled and said, “It’s all in the past. Stop talking about it and don’t think about it anymore!” He patted Gao Huiyu’s shoulder and asked her to sit on the bed. Turning his head, he saw Gao Hui Mei standing nearby with red eyes. He wanted to go comfort her, but seeing Gao Huiyu crying, he held back.
Gao Huiyu grabbed the corner of Xie Wendong’s clothes and whispered, “Wendong, can you hold me for a while longer?” Seeing Gao Huiyu’s tear-streaked, pitiful face, Xie Wendong’s heart ached. He sat on the bed and held her in his arms. Gao Huiyu leaned on his shoulder, and her cold heart finally felt warmth. After a while, glancing at Gao Hui Mei who was head bowed, he couldn’t bear it and whispered, “Wendong, go comfort your sister!”
Xie Wendong nodded, pulled Gao Hui Mei over, and asked softly, “Xiao Mei, you weren’t wronged, were you?!”
Gao Hui Mei, held by Xie Wendong, blushed and lowered her head. “No!” Hearing this, Xie Wendong said relieved, “That’s good! That’s good!” Gao Hui Mei couldn’t hold back anymore and burst into sobs on his shoulder.
Xie Wendong sat awkwardly on the bed, glanced at Gao Huiyu, seeing that she didn’t show any reaction. Now, with Gao Huiyu wrapped around his left side and Gao Hui Mei leaning on his right side, he smiled bitterly inwardly and silently endured the tears of the two sisters.

After a while, the two sisters calmed down. Gao Hui Mei got up from Xie Wen Dong’s arms with a red face. Seeing this, Gao Hui Yu suddenly asked, “Sis, do you like Wen Dong too?”
Gao Hui Mei was extremely embarrassed and lowered her head, staying silent. Gao Hui Yu then turned to Xie Wen Dong and asked, “Do you like my sister?”
“I… um… I…” Xie Wen Dong stammered for a long time without coming up with a clear answer. He wasn’t even sure if he liked Gao Hui Mei; what made him blush was that he felt the same for her as he did for Gao Hui Yu. This made him feel shameless. He kept telling himself it was wrong, but his young heart was beyond his control.
Gao Hui Yu stopped talking and silently made plans. The room grew tense. After what seemed like a long time, Gao Hui Mei raised her head and asked, “By the way, Li Feng said my brother is in danger! How is he now?”
At that moment, Gao Zhen’s voice came from the door, “Oh, my sister finally mentioned me! That really touches me!” Saying this, Gao Zhen entered the room, glanced at his watch exaggeratedly, nodded, and said, “Hmm, you’ve been in the room for forty-five minutes and twenty-five seconds—finally remembered me! I’m really a failure as a brother!”
Hearing Gao Zhen’s words, both Gao Hui Mei and Gao Hui Yu blushed. Gao Hui Yu said in a sweet voice, “Brother~ You’re so annoying~!”
“Haha!” Gao Zhen laughed happily at his sisters’ red faces, but inwardly he grew more worried about them. If they really fell in love with Xie Wen Dong at the same time, that would be a real problem!
Xie Wen Dong stood up and said, “Brother Gao, have you been in for a long time?!”
“Not long. If I’ve disturbed you, I’ll leave. I came mainly to tell my sisters I’m fine and they don’t need to worry about me!” After saying that, Gao Zhen really walked outside. Gao Hui Yu pulled him back and cooed, “Brother…!!”
Xie Wen Dong shook his head and said to Gao Zhen, “I think you brothers should talk more. I’m leaving now!” He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Jiang Sen and the others were at the door, smiling ambiguously when they saw Xie Wen Dong come out. Xie Wen Dong cleared his throat and said, “Where is Li Feng? I want to see him!”
Jiang Sen laughed and said, “He’s on the third floor. I left five or six brothers to ‘take care’ of him!”

Xie Wendong nodded and said okay. Li Feng was currently trapped in a single room about twenty square meters large, held down by two people, while three others were “comforting” his stomach by making howling noises. His face was covered in snot and tears, and he was missing four front teeth. That’s what Xie Wendong saw when he entered the room. When those men saw Xie Wendong come in, they stopped what they were doing, bent down, and said in unison, “Brother Dong!”
Xie Wendong nodded in response. One of them brought over a chair, and Xie Wendong smiled as he sat down in front of Li Feng with his legs crossed. Li Feng stared at Xie Wendong in terror and said in a trembling voice, “Xie Wendong, you… you’d better let me go. Otherwise… otherwise my dad won’t spare you!”
“Hmph!” Xie Wendong sneered. “It seems you haven’t suffered enough! Guys, teach him how to talk first!” The men responded and threw Li Feng to the ground, kicking him violently. In less than half a minute, Li Feng was unconscious, shouting, “Stop hitting me! Ah! I… I was wrong, Brother Dong! Stop!”
Xie Wendong waved his hand, and his men stopped. Looking at Li Feng, covered in blood, Xie Wendong thought for a moment before handing him his phone. “Li Feng, if you want to live, call your dad and tell him to come here!”
Li Feng stared at Xie Wendong in shock and said fearfully, “Why… why do you want my dad to come? Are you going to hurt him? No… I won’t call him!”
Xie Wendong smiled, thought for a moment, called over one of his men, and whispered something in his ear. The man nodded as he listened, then rushed out as soon as Xie Wendong finished speaking. Li Feng was puzzled, not knowing what Xie Wendong was planning, and shouted, “If you want to hit me, go ahead! Anyway, I’m not calling my dad!” Now, Li Shiming was Li Feng’s last hope. He believed that as long as he stayed alive, his father would definitely come to save him. But if his father came because of him, given Xie Wendong’s nature, both father and son might die here. So Li Feng reluctantly acted tough for once.
But it didn’t take long before he lost his strength. The man Xie Wendong had sent out returned, carrying a very thin bamboo tube. Xie Wendong glanced at Li Feng and shouted, “Hang him up!”

Li Feng was terrified, struggling violently. “Xie Wendong, what are you doing? Let me go… Aiyah!” Someone stepped forward and punched him hard in the lower abdomen. The pain made Li Feng’s stomach feel like it was shrinking, and he could no longer scream. A few people hung him high from the heating pipe, his legs suspended half a meter in the air. The man summoned by Xie Wendong came over, holding a bamboo tube in one hand and a basin in the other. With a cold smirk, he thrust the bamboo tube deep into Li Feng’s thigh. Li Feng screamed in pain, regaining some clarity, and cursed loudly, “Xie Wendong, I swear to God! If you’ve got the guts, fight me alone! What kind of skill is this—tormenting me when there are so many of you?”

“Drip… drip!” Blood from Li Feng’s body flowed down the bamboo tube into the basin. Xie Wendong glanced at his watch and said darkly, “Li Feng, you have only forty-five minutes. After that, you’ll die from blood loss! As soon as your father arrives, I’ll pull out the tube. You don’t have much time—think carefully!” With that, Xie Wendong picked up a cigarette and started smoking.

Li Feng looked down at the bamboo tube buried deep in his thigh, blood continuously flowing from the other end into the basin below. Even he, who thought he had seen much, turned pale with fear. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Xie Wendong, you’re so cruel!”

Xie Wendong stood up, spat smoke in Li Feng’s face, and sneered, “It’s mutual. What you’ve done is far more despicable than mine. And your father, Li Shiming, too!”

Sweat beaded on Li Feng’s forehead as he couldn’t speak for a while. Only the dripping sound could be heard in the room. After some internal struggle, Li Feng finally spoke, “Xie Wendong, I’ll have my father come right now, but you have to let me go immediately!”

Xie Wendong replied, “Li Feng, don’t try to bargain with me. You don’t have the right. I hope you stop wasting time too. You have thirty-eight more minutes to live!”

Horrified, Li Feng realized his life would end in thirty-eight minutes. He didn’t want to die and couldn’t care about Li Shiming’s fate now. Screaming, he said, “Give me the phone! I’ll call! I swear to God, I’ll call!” Then he began to cry.

Xie Wendong snorted, “Say the phone number!” Li Feng choked out the number. Xie Wendong signaled his men; one brought a chair and stood on it, dialing the number Li Feng had given. Someone answered quickly. Li Feng shouted, “Hello! Dad, it’s Xiaofeng! Dad, save me! I’m dying!”

Hearing it was his son, Li Shiming jumped up in panic and asked urgently, “Xiaofeng, where are you? I’ll send people to save you right away!”

Before Li Feng could say anything else, Xie Wendong snatched the phone and said, “Li Shiming, it’s great to talk to you. I’m Xie Wendong. Your son is in my hands. He has only 38 minutes left to live. If you want to save him, come to the Northern Hotel. I’ll be waiting for you there. Remember, he only has 38 minutes!”
Li Shiming shouted, “Xie Wendong, what have you done to my son? If anything happens to him, I’ll tear you to pieces!”