Rose Lock - Chapter 20

The cold snow at the entrance of Zhengyuan Street was melting, and spring had quietly arrived.

Miss Yi’en had gone home to rest due to a leg injury, but the letters never stopped coming. Hua Manyi couldn’t stop her, so she eventually just didn’t bother to care.

Not seeing Xiaoxiao first thing in the morning, Hua Manyi went downstairs in confusion. Before leaving her room, she glanced at the old almanac and was suddenly startled by a fact: Sister Fuling had been gone from Fenghai for three months.

But… she hadn’t returned, so Xiaoxiao…

Hua Manyi turned around and went downstairs to look for her, searching all over Fenghai, but couldn’t find her. Upon asking, she learned that Xiaoxiao had taken leave early in the morning to go back to her hometown (her mother’s home).

“But didn’t she just go back a few days ago? Didn’t she say her mother’s health had improved?” She felt perplexed.

Aunt Zhang in the kitchen said, “I don’t know either. I only know that Xiaoxiao’s eyes were very swollen from crying when she left!”

The more Hua Manyi thought about it, the more wrong it felt. Before she even returned to her room, her eyelid suddenly twitched. She asked for Xiaoxiao’s address, and before leaving, she thought for a moment, then also got Sister Fuling’s address, and hailed a rickshaw.

Unexpectedly, just as she left, a Ford car pulled up in front of Fenghai.

Gong Yan looked at the slender retreating figure, then turned to Ahua, who was wiping cups at the front desk, and asked, “Where is Hua Manyi planning to go?”

Ahua said, “Sister Manyi seems to be looking for Xiaoxiao.”

“Why look for her?” Gong Yan looked dazed, ready to go upstairs. “Ahua, send that new bottle of wine up to me later.”

Ahua: “Alright.”

Not long after, Ahua brought up the new wine. Gong Yan told him to leave, poured a glass, and was about to drink, when Steward Fu rushed up, his face clouded with worry, “Madam, Miss Jiang Yin is in trouble…”

As soon as he finished speaking, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang. Gong Yan frowned, looked at Steward Fu, and picked up the phone.

Steward Fu watched Gong Yan’s face gradually become serious, and he probably guessed who the call was from. “Madam, Feng Wu is being insatiably greedy time and again, should we…”

Bang, the hand-cranked phone was hung up.

“Help me contact Bureau Chief Zhao. Just say I have a gift to send him.”

…

The North Street area was a relatively remote part of Haicheng. Many residences still retained the ideas of the previous generation, with white walls and grey tiles. The lanes were not as spacious and bright as the bustling Zhengyuan Street, only wide enough for two people to pass side-by-side.

Hua Manyi took a piece of paper from her bag and searched for the address house by house. After finally finding it, she knocked on the door, only to be greeted by an elderly woman.

The woman had a square scarf wrapped around her head, an old apron tied around her waist, and kind wrinkles on her face. Inside the house, one could even smell the smoke from the firewood cooking.

“May I ask who you are looking for?”

Hua Manyi didn’t know the woman, and her eyes scanned inside. “Is Xiaoxiao here?”

“Xiaoxiao?” The woman was surprised. “Didn’t she go back to work a few days ago? Did something happen to her?!”

The woman was clearly more sensitive, thinking something had happened and Hua Manyi had come to inform her, which almost scared Hua Manyi. After a few kind words of persuasion, she managed to calm the woman down.

Walking out of the white-walled, grey-tiled residence, Hua Manyi became increasingly worried. Xiaoxiao hadn’t returned home, so where could she be?

A spring rain had just fallen on the bluestone path, making the road damp. The tail end of winter had just left, and spring hadn’t fully settled in. A sudden gust of spring wind made her shiver.

She took out Sister Fuling’s address and asked a few people. Everyone said the place was very far from Haicheng, a remote, poor village in the countryside, and it would take at least half a day to get there from Haicheng.

And now, it was already getting late. It would be too impulsive for her to go there now.

Hua Manyi walked out of North Street, hailed a rickshaw, and took out three copper coins. “Master, please go to Fenghai.”

The rickshaw puller adjusted his felt cap and tightened the towel around his waist. This was his first fare of the day, and his family could finally have a meal. He smiled brightly, “Alright!”

Hua Manyi got into the rickshaw. The wheels spun quickly on the bluestone pavement. Near the intersection of North Street and the center of Haicheng was a church, surrounded by greenery, where nuns could be seen walking around at any time.

Because she was worried about Xiaoxiao, she only glanced at it briefly and intended to dismiss it, but it was that quick glance that made her suddenly focus.

On the steps of the church’s main entrance, a familiar figure caught her eye.

“Stop, Master, stop the cart!”

After finally getting the cart to stop, Hua Manyi paid the driver, held her handbag, looked left and right to see if there were any cars passing, and then quickly ran across the main road to the church lawn.

The church was Christian, with a distinct Gothic architectural style, a pointed wooden gable roof, towering and sharp, reaching straight to the sky.

Hua Manyi watched the figure disappear at the church door. If she hadn’t been mistaken, it should have been Jiang Yin, and she looked unwell. Why would she be here?

Turning around a long corridor, she suddenly stopped, looking at a black Ford car underneath. The familiar license plate on the car’s tail silently told her whose car it was.

So… Jiang Yin was here, and so was Mother Gong.

Today was neither a Saturday nor a Sunday; there were hardly any people coming to the church. What were they doing here…

…

Meanwhile, inside the church, several rough-looking bandits stood in the center, looking at the woman sitting on the long bench, and glanced at the silver banknotes in the box, half of which were missing.

This woman actually played a trick.

But the hostage was snatched away by her during the exchange of money, and now they had no leverage to threaten her.

The leader’s teeth were almost ground to pieces, and his eyes were sinister. After arguing for most of the day, the woman just wouldn’t budge, and he was losing patience. “You, surnamed Gong, I know your father is Gong Ao, the former direct commandant of the Navy. As the eldest daughter, are you trying to send a beggar off with this little bit of money?!”

“Feng Wu, don’t go too far. This is clearly the amount you originally agreed upon. It’s you who suddenly changed your mind and demanded an exorbitant amount.” Jiang Yin stood beside Gong Yan, her hands slightly trembling. Heaven knew how terrifying it was to be blindfolded and kidnapped as soon as she left the house this morning.

This Feng Wu person was a former bandit in Haicheng. For over ten years, he had been entrenched in the deep mountains connecting Haicheng and Nancheng by road, often looting transported supplies, sometimes even foreign goods, without mercy.

“Shut up!” The man named Feng Wu glared at her with cruel eyes, then looked at the woman lazily smoking a cigarette beside him. Although the other party’s attitude infuriated him, he knew that if he fought hard, he wouldn’t gain anything. Even if he killed this woman, he, Feng Wu, probably wouldn’t live long.

He had witnessed how protective Gong Ao was thirteen years ago. After injuring that man’s youngest daughter, his base was finally wiped out, leaving only a few of his brothers to survive, scattering and fleeing ever since.

Although he, Feng Wu, loved money, he loved his life more. Without life, no amount of money would be any good.

“Gong Yan, I give you my word, this is the last time. Once the money is in hand, I will definitely not bother you again.” Feng Wu thought for a moment and decided to back down, doing this final job. Once the money was in hand, they would absolutely not step into Haicheng again.

Gong Yan chuckled, staring intently at him, “Is that true?”

“It’s true.”

Feng Wu guaranteed it, his eyes fixed on the woman who stood up, afraid she wouldn’t believe him. “I, Feng Wu, guarantee on my personal integrity that after receiving the money, I will absolutely not step into Haicheng again.”

“Your suggestion is indeed very tempting…”

Feng Wu’s heart leaped with joy, thinking the other party was about to agree. However, in the next moment, the black barrel of a gun was pointed at him.

“But on what grounds should I, Gong Yan, trust a person who is insatiably greedy?”

A gunshot suddenly rang out, and screams erupted. Hua Manyi’s heart lurched violently, and her handbag fell to the ground. Then, three or four gunshots followed one after another. Intense fear radiated from all directions. She didn’t know if she would be hit by a bullet in the next second, her head exploding and blood splashing on the spot.

Hua Manyi’s face was deathly pale, and her heart pounded wildly. She ran outward in panic, but as she went, her foot missed a step on the stairs. With a thud, she fell sideways onto the lawn.

“Take Jiang Yin away first!”

“A-Yan, you have to leave with me…”

At the back door of the church, several bodyguards in black suits shielded the front, covering the three people inside. “Madam, except for Feng Wu who was injured and hid, everyone else has been controlled by Bureau Chief Zhao’s men.”

“Don’t let your guard down!”

Just as she finished speaking, a voice full of intense hatred came from behind, “Gong Yan! Since you are unjust, don’t blame me for being ruthless—”

Another gunshot rang out. A bullet in the air grazed through the gap between two bodyguards, heading straight for the graceful figure in the cheongsam.

“Madam, look out!”

“A-Yan—”

Gong Yan turned around with a solemn expression. A face that shouldn’t have appeared suddenly flashed before her. The bullet instantly entered a body, and crimson blood spilled from Hua Manyi’s mouth, freezing her gaze.

“Mother Gong…”

“Hua Manyi!”

Support Rose Lock