Chapter 76: My Xiaxia Has Always Been So Kind

Gu Pingsheng’s eyes were sharp and icy. “A man who makes her comfortable?! What man makes her comfortable, she…” He took a deep breath, forcing down his irritation and restlessness, waved his hand, and signaled Aunt Wang to leave.

Only then did Aunt Wang breathe a sigh of relief. Yet as she turned to go, she couldn’t help but say, “Sir, it’s better for couples not to let their arguments last overnight. Madam seems like a reasonable person. Why not sit down together and talk things through? Maybe once you’ve talked, the matter will pass.”

Gu Pingsheng’s fingertips stirred slightly, rubbing together as if in deep thought.

Aunt Wang waited for no reply, but saw that after Gu Pingsheng picked up a call, his gaze suddenly darkened. “Where are they being held?”

Wen Zhixia was walking through the mall with Jebon, never expecting to run into Zhang Zhiyan.

At first, Zhang Zhiyan caught sight of Wen Zhixia through the shop window, sitting on a sofa, watching a man try on clothes. He thought he must be mistaken. Especially when the man draped himself over Wen Zhixia’s arm in a coy, almost coquettish manner—by Wen Zhixia’s usual standards, she ought to have shrugged him off at once. But to his disappointment, she did not.

Instead, she straightened the man’s collar for him, and there was an undeniable intimacy between them.

“…If you like it, just wrap it up,” she said.

As Zhang Zhiyan stepped inside, he heard her say this.

He knew Wen Zhixia had a younger brother, but this man bore no resemblance to her at all. In fact, he exuded… something Zhang Zhiyan couldn’t quite name, but he found it unsettling.

“Zhixia,” Zhang Zhiyan called out.

She turned, nodded politely. “President Zhang, what a coincidence.”

Zhang Zhiyan glanced at the man beside her. Jebon also studied him. After their eyes met, Jebon gripped Wen Zhixia’s arm more tightly. With such a generous patron, he had no intention of letting go.

“And this is…?” Zhang Zhiyan asked, noting Jebon’s possessive gesture.

Wen Zhixia patted Jebon’s hand, signaling him to let go, then introduced them. “Zhang Zhiyan, CEO of the Zhang Group. As for him… you can just call him Jebon.”

Upon hearing Zhang Zhiyan’s identity, Jebon’s gaze faltered. Whether yesterday’s Gu Pingsheng or today’s sharp-eyed Zhang Zhiyan, both men were leagues beyond his reach. “President Zhang,” he greeted respectfully.

Zhang Zhiyan nodded slightly.

Jebon returned to browsing clothes, tactfully leaving them some privacy, though he didn’t go far—just enough to keep them in view if he looked back.

Zhang Zhiyan cast a sidelong glance at Jebon. “Who is he? You two…”

Wen Zhixia didn’t answer. Instead, she asked, “What brings you here, President Zhang? Coincidence?”

“This place belongs to the Zhang Group. I just dropped by to take a look,” Zhang Zhiyan replied.

Wen Zhixia nodded in understanding. “Incognito inspection.”

Zhang Zhiyan smiled. “If you put it like that… I suppose there’s nothing inappropriate about it. But…”

“But what?” Wen Zhixia looked up at him.

“You’re out with another man—won’t Gu Pingsheng be angry?” Zhang Zhiyan had long witnessed the depth of Gu Pingsheng’s possessiveness over her.

Wen Zhixia tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her voice cool. “Why bring him up out of the blue, President Zhang?”

Zhang Zhiyan could guess then that something must have happened between the two of them. “Perhaps…”

Wen Zhixia’s phone vibrated. It was a call from Gu Pingsheng. Zhang Zhiyan glimpsed the screen, swallowing the invitation he’d been about to extend.

“Where are you?” Gu Pingsheng’s voice was as calm as ever.

“If you simply want to track my whereabouts, you can always have someone investigate. Why bother calling?” He’d monitored her long enough, flaunted his affair with another woman right under her nose—what else was he capable of?

“Must you speak to me with veiled accusations?” Gu Pingsheng paused. “The people who kidnapped you have been found. Give me your address, I’ll take you there.”

Her kidnappers…

“How many did you catch?” she asked.

“Three.”

“Give me the address.”

That was clearly a refusal to go with him—she preferred to meet him at the destination.

After a pause of several seconds, Gu Pingsheng finally told her the location.

Wen Zhixia bid Zhang Zhiyan goodbye, then left a bank card for Jebon. Jebon came over and kissed her on the cheek. He had discovered that while Wen Zhixia disliked kissing on the lips, she rarely refused cheek kisses—a subtle gesture he believed would win her over as a regular client.

“Take care on the road.”

Wen Zhixia nodded and left.

Zhang Zhiyan watched Jebon holding the bank card, realization dawning. He pursed his lips unconsciously—never had he imagined that one day Wen Zhixia would be involved with a young gigolo living off a woman’s money.

An hour later, Wen Zhixia drove to Huaxi Road, where Gu Pingsheng had already been waiting for half an hour.

When he saw her arrive, he opened the car door.

Without a word, they walked into a warehouse, where five or six bodyguards and three men bound to chairs awaited.

The three men were trussed up tightly, rags stuffed in their mouths, their bodies showing various injuries, clothes ragged. At the sound of footsteps and the bodyguards’ unified greeting—“Sir, Madam”—they turned toward the entrance.

When they saw Wen Zhixia, all three stared in shock, their pupils dilating.

The image of Wen Zhixia being kicked down the hillside, lying motionless, flashed through their minds—wasn’t this woman supposed to be dead?

The third man, who had gone down to check on her at the time, was especially terrified, trying to shrink behind his chair, but the ropes held him fast.

“Mmmph mmmph…”

“Mmmph mmmph mmmph—”

As Wen Zhixia approached, the three emitted muffled sounds of shock and fear.

“It seems we caught the right men.” Gu Pingsheng’s gaze was cold as he looked at the bound trio. He raised his left hand, and the nearest bodyguard placed a dagger in it.

“Who ordered you?” he asked.

The three exchanged sidelong glances, each looking at the others, then fell silent.

Gu Pingsheng sneered, his resolute features frosted with chill. He spun the dagger in his hand, then, instead of acting, pressed it into her palm, enclosing her hand in his.

“Xiaxia, since they killed our child, why not put a hole in their bellies yourself? Wouldn’t you agree?”

His thin lips brushed her ear, his breath hot. Yet his words sent chills down the spine.

Wen Zhixia spun around, eyes wide with shock.

The three kidnappers were equally horrified, shaking their heads wildly, their bodies rocking so hard the chair legs screeched against the ground.

Gu Pingsheng shot a cold glance at the bodyguards, who immediately pinned the three men down.

He pushed Wen Zhixia forward. As the dagger was about to pierce one man’s body, she abruptly let go; the dagger fell onto the third man’s leg. He was drenched in cold sweat.

“Mmmph, mmmph mmmph…”

He seemed desperate to say something, but the gag prevented him from making himself heard.

Wen Zhixia shoved Gu Pingsheng away, demanding, “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Gu Pingsheng retrieved the dagger, his fingers caressing her cheek, lips curling into a smile. “My Xiaxia is always so merciful. But it’s fine—if you can’t do it, I will. The pain you suffered losing our child, I’ll make them pay a hundredfold.”

The three kidnappers could only shake their heads in panic. The third man struggled to speak, clearly eager to explain.

“Remove the rag from his mouth,” Gu Pingsheng ordered coldly.

Wen Zhixia frowned. Gu Pingsheng had misunderstood what she meant by losing the child, but she didn’t care to explain. She never imagined he would go so far as to want to cut these men open.

“Send them to the police—you’re abusing vigilante justice, this—”

“We didn’t kill your child! It wasn’t us! When she fell, I went to check—she only had a wound on her forehead! I thought she was dead, but there was no blood beneath her. The child…the child had nothing to do with us!”

The third man, his gag just removed, blurted out the words as fast as he could, his speech a little clumsy from being gagged so long, but clear enough for Gu Pingsheng to hear.

“It wasn’t us! We didn’t kill your child! There really was no blood under her when she fell! You—you’re rich, right? Go check, go investigate! Your child has nothing to do with us!” From such a height, it was possible to miscarry, but a miscarriage would mean bleeding. From the moment he went down to check if she was dead, there hadn’t been a drop of blood.

The other two nodded vigorously, whether or not they had actually seen anything.

Wen Zhixia, standing aside, had fallen silent from the moment the third man began to speak.

Gu Pingsheng slowly turned to look at her, as if trying to see through her completely. After a long moment, he finally asked, “Xiaxia, why aren’t you saying anything?”

She had claimed the child was gone, yet these three insisted it had nothing to do with them.

Only then did Gu Pingsheng recall—just last night, she had been drinking at that club. Could a woman who had recently miscarried drink?

“Is it true, what he said?” He stepped closer, his eyes never leaving her face, his well-defined hand coming to rest on her flat belly.