What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Rescue

After dinner, Shu Xuanmin indeed took the group along on a detour to the Elk Winery.

Zhang Mingzhi and Shu Wen did not join them. They sensed that, aside from Shu Xuanmin, the other young people were stiff and constrained by the presence of elders. The two older women shook their heads with a smile, saying they wanted to return home early to rest, politely declining Shu Xuanmin’s invitation to take a relaxing stroll through the winery.

Shu Qiong sat in the car driven by Su Chen for the third time.

Truth be told, when Shu Xuanmin was present, Su Chen was indeed a steady and excellent driver. At that moment, Shu Qiong suddenly thought of another “good driver” and frenemy, Jin Yan, so she quietly nudged Yan Xiangyu: “Forgot to ask you, how come you came to the banquet earlier with the Jin family?”

Yan Xiangyu replied helplessly, “Fang Yingying demanded it. Despite her nonchalant attitude, she’s actually very invested. The Fang family isn’t without its internal power struggles, and after Shu Mufeng’s incident, the branch of the Fangs deeply involved with him was affected… Well, over the past few days, it wasn’t just Jin Yan and me gathering information; Fang Yingying put in a lot of effort too. I see the two of them are getting along much better now.”

Shu Qiong adopted a thoughtful expression. “Her, huh.” Wonder when Jin Yan will finally catch on.

As she spoke, Shu Qiong caught a glimpse of Shu Xuanmin leaning against the backrest with her eyes closed, napping lightly, while Su Chen drove the hovercar with increasing steadiness, glancing at the rearview mirror every few seconds. Shu Qiong let out a breath. Feeling relieved, she straightened her back and scooted closer toward Yan Xiangyu.

Yan Xiangyu, thinking Shu Qiong was tired and wanted to lean on her, whispered, “Sleep for a bit too?”

Shu Qiong didn’t explain and simply closed her eyelids. Following the faint, drifting scent of tea, her heart seemed to settle into peace. The car fell into an even deeper silence; no one spoke.

Suddenly, a ringtone broke the quiet. Shu Xuanmin, in her state of light sleep, instantly lost all drowsiness and reflexively answered the video call. She assumed it was another work call, but after connecting, there was a brief silence from the other side.

Shu Xuanmin looked at the caller ID with hesitation. It took a while to dig the identity out of her memory, which made her even more confused. “Is something the matter? I recall you rejected my offer of cooperation last time.”

The camera on the other end was pitch black; the surroundings were indistinguishable. The caller seemed to have been looking elsewhere alertly, only snapping back to reality upon hearing Shu Xuanmin’s voice. Her voice trembled with obvious terror: “Help me! You—you said that if I helped you, you would transfer my sister to a place they couldn’t find? I agree to everything! Please save me! I…”

The person was crying, their emotions so high that their sentences were jumbled, yet they were forced to whisper out of fear. Seeing that Shu Xuanmin actually answered, her tone flickered with a glimmer of hope amidst despair.

The voice was very low and muffled. Shu Xuanmin frowned and turned on the speakerphone to boost the volume. “Qi Yuan, calm down. Give me your address.”

Everyone in the car shifted their attention to this unusual call. Shu Qiong had already opened her eyes, finding the name strangely familiar.

Qi Yuan’s camera was shaking constantly, barely capturing the contour of her features and the tear tracks reflecting the light. “I’m at the Elk Winery! Shu Xuanhe, he…”

The words cut off abruptly. The screen shook violently accompanied by bursts of static. Everyone in the car held their breath.

Click.

In the absolute silence, everyone heard the distinct sound of a door opening. Simultaneously, Shu Qiong lunged forward, her hand covering the camera on Shu Xuanmin’s wristband, and gave a silent shake of her head.

She finally remembered who Qi Yuan was. The person had appeared in the surveillance footage before—the starlet Shu Xuanhe had brought to the Elk Winery! Shu Qiong had seen her face on street billboards; it matched the glimpse of the face she had just caught.

Shu Xuanmin tilted her head in slight surprise but quickly refocused on the bizarre call. In the small room, Qi Yuan’s camera had fallen sideways, the perspective spinning. The person who entered kicked Qi Yuan, and apparently still unsatisfied, slapped her across the face and stomped hard on her wrist. Qi Yuan let out a suppressed, ragged gasp of pain.

Then the image shook again, reflecting the tip of a man’s leather shoe and a hand.

“Heh.” The man let out an ambiguous scoff, and then the screen went black. The call was cut.

Only then did Shu Qiong release her hand from the camera. Shu Xuanmin lowered her wrist and pressed hard against the bridge of her nose.

Su Chen, feeling the atmosphere in the back turn cold and heavy, asked, “Are we still going to the Elk Winery?”

Shu Xuanmin answered directly: “Yes.”

She truly hadn’t expected that Shu Xuanhe, missing for a day and a night, had actually been hiding in the winery.

“Bullying the weak while fearing the strong, he’s really something,” Shu Qiong sat back in her seat, letting out a mocking laugh.

After that, Su Chen drove extremely fast. Once the winery gates came into view, she accelerated straight to the entrance and skidded to a stop, the car doors sliding open automatically.

Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu were the first to jump out. Seeing the scene at the gate, they were provoked into a cold laugh.

“Is this fun?” Shu Qiong looked at the row of hostile-looking security guards. “What did that turtle’s grandson Shu Xuanhe give you to stand guard here? Don’t you know he can barely protect himself now?”

The tall, muscular security guards at the entrance blocked the path with expressionless faces, completely unmoved. They didn’t recognize Shu Qiong.

It wasn’t until Shu Xuanmin stepped out a moment later that they realized the gravity of the situation, yet they still refused to yield. “Miss, the Eldest Young Master is handling business inside. Unrelated persons are not to disturb him.”

Su Chen moved alertly in front of Shu Xuanmin, taking a defensive stance.

Shu Xuanmin’s voice turned heavy. “What is the surname of this winery?”

The head of security replied, “It is Shu, Miss.”

“The entire Shu Group is mine.” Shu Xuanmin looked the man straight in the eye, her words powerful. “Doing work for that failure—are you blind?”

The security captain replied without a change in expression, “The winery belongs to the Shu family, but I do not pledge my loyalty to the Shu family.”

This sounded like he served Shu Xuanhe personally, but to Shu Qiong’s ears, it held another meaning.

Shu Qiong’s right hand had already slipped inconspicuously into her pocket when the confrontation began. Her knuckles were tense, her thumb idly rubbing a cold object. She glanced at her side and rear with the corner of her eye.

Based on the reverse analysis of the surveillance angles in the chip, a hidden camera was likely tucked into the canopy of the tall tree in the green belt opposite the winery gates.

Su Chen whispered to Shu Xuanmin, “Sister Minmin, when will the people you called arrive?”

Shu Xuanmin’s voice dropped. “Ten minutes at the earliest.”

She had overestimated Shu Xuanhe’s competence, but underestimated his audacity.

Shu Qiong finished observing the surroundings and quickly shifted her gaze back to the security personnel, studying each one carefully. Most looked standard, but the leader was clearly a dangerous character; he wore a loose jacket, and there was a bulge at his waist.

She exchanged a glance with Yan Xiangyu, noticing the latter’s hand brush lightly against her own waist.

Shu Qiong suddenly looked up. Her right hand whipped out of her pocket with lightning speed. As she fired, she rapidly retreated behind the hovercar.

Bang!

Bang!

Two gunshots, one light and one heavy, rang out in rapid succession. Birds flew in a panic from the tree canopy behind them.

The scene erupted into chaos as if a signal had been given. Yan Xiangyu burst into motion immediately after, kicking down the nearest guard and covering Shu Xuanmin and Su Chen as they moved behind the vehicle.

The tiny pocket pistol in Shu Qiong’s hand glinted coldly, still aimed.

The security captain’s face turned pale, a mixture of shock and fear. Just as he had received an order and reached for the weapon at his waist to fire at Shu Xuanmin, the stranger opposite him had beaten him to the punch, a bullet precisely hitting his gun’s grip.

Shu Qiong’s pocket pistol lacked sufficient power to knock the gun out of his hand, but it successfully jarred his aim as he pulled the trigger. The captain’s shot went wild, nearly hitting his own teammate.

Looking extremely wary, he pressed his earpiece.

The two sides fell back into a silent standoff. The captain seemed to open his mouth to negotiate, but Shu Qiong gave him no chance. She fired again unexpectedly—this time aimed straight at his head.

The sound of the pocket pistol was faint. A flower of blood bloomed on the side of the unprepared captain’s face.

Shu Qiong’s expression was ice-cold. She had aimed for his left ear; the outer ear was now shredded, and the earpiece hooked onto it had been blown away. The captain felt a delayed wave of terror, his mind going blank. He instinctively reached for where his ear used to be; just a second ago, he had been a finger’s width from death.

He began to regret… he shouldn’t have taken this job. But it was too late to turn back. As the only armed member of the security squad, he was destined to be the primary target.

He didn’t even have time to look at the blood on his palm. Alarm bells rang in his head; he tried to retreat.

Everything happened too fast. The situation flipped in an instant. Before he could make an effective move, a fist grew infinitely larger in his field of vision.

Yan Xiangyu leapt forward at the same time Shu Qiong fired. Her target was clear: a punch straight to the eye socket, while her other hand clamped down like a vise on his right wrist. With a second blow, she struck his abdomen, dislocated his shooting arm, knocked the gun to the ground with a chop, and kicked it toward Shu Qiong.

In a fluid motion, Yan Xiangyu twisted his other arm behind his back, kicked the back of his knee, and forced him to his knees before slamming him face-down onto the ground in a pathetic heap.

The captain felt nothing but waves of excruciating pain from every direction. The attack rhythm was like a torrential storm. Before he knew it, both arms had been dislocated by this woman who had carried out such a violent ambush. He could muster no strength and lay there like a dead dog.

“Boss!”

Before he hit the ground, he heard his subordinates cry out in shock and rage.

Su Chen, having recovered from a brief but massive shock, rushed forward to help intercept the guards who were charging at Yan Xiangyu to save their captain. As she faced them, her scalp tingled. She didn’t know where these people had come from, but their style was “wild.” Combined with their leader’s illegal possession of a firearm, it was hard not to link them to the underworld.

“D*mn it! Is that brat Shu Xuanhe involved with the mob?”

Su Chen couldn’t help but curse. She wanted to drag Shu Xuanhe out and pummel him. Why was he so good at increasing her workload!

Earlier, the security captain seemed to have been easily dealt with by Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu’s coordination, but once she stepped in, she realized it wasn’t easy at all. These people used vicious, tricky techniques. Their moves were a mess and lacked any sense of martial honor; they swarmed in, relying on brute force and numbers—little different from a street brawl.

Seeing them grow desperate and start using their teeth and pulling hair, which added a strong visual shock to the physical assault, Su Chen’s forehead veins throbbed.

She struggled to cope while trying to call for reinforcements. Finally catching a breath, she looked up and saw those two “unscrupulous” individuals, Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu, protecting Shu Xuanmin as they charged into the winery. Only Shu Xuanmin looked back occasionally with worry as she ran.

While everyone was busy dealing with Su Chen, they dashed in with ease. Their receding backs wrote a glaringly cruel truth.

She had been temporarily abandoned!

Su Chen struck down a foe who tried to grab her hair, her anger rising. She punched out two of his teeth and screamed at the figures ahead: “Do you people have a heart?!”

A faint, fragmented reply drifted back through the air. Shu Qiong didn’t even turn her head as she shouted while running: “You can do it~ Just hold on for ten minutes~”

Su Chen was furious. Why did these damn bastards always go for her hair? So, she stopped being honorable too, raising her leg to deliver a vicious kick to a man’s groin. After the kick, she felt like her shoe was dirty.

In the midst of her distorted expression, she heard Shu Qiong’s utterly insincere advice. Holding on for ten minutes for backup wasn’t impossible, but the more she thought about it, the more pissed off she became!