Under the warm sunlight of the southern town, Lao Liu's face was deathly pale. He was almost in a panic as he tried to close the roller shutter of the grocery store.
Miss Wanwan, please, let's go quickly! Let bygones be bygones! I know nothing. Really, I know nothing! His voice trembled noticeably, his eyes evasive, not daring to look into Su Wanwan's eyes.
This kind of reaction is no different from inviting trouble without provocation.
Su Wanwan's heart sank to the bottom, but a stubbornness held her up. She didn't step back. Instead, she took a step forward and blocked the door. Her voice wasn't high, but it carried an unyielding determination: "Uncle Liu, my mother died in a mysterious way." I'm her only daughter and now I'm a mother too. I must know the truth. When you watched me grow up, did you really have the heart to let me live in a mystery for the rest of my life? I just need you to tell me what you know.
Her words touched a tender and guilty corner of Lao Liu's heart. He stopped closing the door. His entire body seemed to have been drained of strength, hunched over. After a while, he let out a heavy sigh.
"Sin..." What a sin..." He murmured, tears welling up in his cloudy eyes, "Madam, she..." What a wonderful person he is..."
In the end, he still let Su Wanwan into the small but tidy living room behind the grocery store. The nanny and bodyguards were stationed outside the store to ensure no one was disturbed.
Lao Liu poured Su Wanwan a glass of water, his hand still shaking.
"Madam..." It did tell me several times that I felt the brakes were a bit soft and the direction occasionally veered off course." Lao Liu's voice was deep and hoarse, lost in painful memories. "I've checked it, but no problem was found." Later... Later, one time when I took my car for maintenance, it wasn't the store I often went to, but... It was a place designated by the gentleman on the spur of the moment.
Su Wanwan held her breath and said, "Did my father specify?" "
Old Liu nodded with difficulty. "Not long after the maintenance came back, my wife said that the problem with the car had become more obvious." The day before the accident, she seriously demanded that I take her for a thorough check-up the next day and said she wouldn't go to the place she often visited... But the next day..." He choked up and couldn't go on.
The next day, that fatal "accident" occurred.
Su Wanwan felt cold all over. Father... Could it really be the father? Did he deliberately send his mother to a place where she might have been tampered with for maintenance?
"After the car accident," Su Wanwan forced herself to calm down and continued to ask, "Didn't the police investigate the maintenance records?"
"Checked..." " Lao Liu's eyes flickered, "But the records show everything is normal..." That store also closed down soon after, and the owner was nowhere to be found... I found it strange at that time, but I didn't dare to say anything... Sir, he... He gave me a large sum of money and told me to leave immediately with my family, never to come back and never mention anything about the Su family to anyone...
A great deal of grief and anger swept over Su Wanwan. Although she had mentally prepared herself, when her guess was gradually confirmed step by step, the pain of being betrayed by the person she trusted the most was still so sharp that it was hard for her to breathe.
Father sealed the story with money to cover up the truth that mother might have been murdered! For what? Just for the "transaction involving human lives" that my mother mentioned in her diary?
Just then, Lao Liu seemed to suddenly remember something even more terrifying, and his expression became even more frightened: "Miss Wanwan, please go quickly!" Stop checking! Those people... We can't afford to mess with those people!
"Who?" " Su Wanwan seized the key words.
"I don't know exactly who it is..." Old Liu lowered his voice and looked around in fear, "But back then..." During that period, the gentleman was under a lot of pressure. I happened to hear him on the phone and mentioned things like "silence" and "clean up" in a very scared way... It seems that he was also forced to do so, being caught by someone with some pretext... The other party is of great significance and extremely terrifying..."
This unexpected piece of information, like a blinding beam of light, pierced through the fog!
The father might not be the mastermind but... Also coerced? Even unable to protect oneself?
This realization made Su Wanwan's mood extremely complicated. Hatred, sadness, doubt, and a glimmer of pitiful hope... Intertwined, they almost tore her apart.
Uncle Liu, thank you for telling me this. Su Wanwan stood up, her voice a little weak, but her eyes were exceptionally clear. "Please rest assured. No one will know that it was you who said what happened today." Take care of yourself."
She left a thick envelope and, without waiting for Lao Liu to reject her, turned around and left quickly.
Sitting back in the car, Su Wanwan leaned against the back of the seat, closed her eyes and felt completely exhausted. Mother's diary and Lao Liu's testimony swirled in her mind like fragments, piecing together a larger and darker outline.
A father may not be the only sinner; he might even be a pawn. There is an even more powerful mastermind behind it.
The car smoothly drove away from the small town. Su Wanwan took out her mobile phone, looked at the photo of Lu Tingchen and her son on the screen, her fingertips hanging over the dial button, hesitating.
This time, is she going to tell him?
Just as she was hesitating, her phone suddenly rang. It was a completely unfamiliar local number.
She hesitated for a moment and picked up.
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, and then a deep and strange voice, clearly processed, came through:
Miss Su, being too curious is not a good thing. "Can you bear to disrupt the peaceful life of Liu Jianjun's family?" "
Su Wanwan's blood froze instantly! The other party knew that she had come to see Lao Liu! And it was right after she had just left! This means that every move she makes is under the surveillance of the other party!
Who are you? She tried hard to keep her voice calm.
A person who reminds you. That voice was cold and heartless, "Stop your senseless investigation." The past is in the past. Some people are not for you to touch. Otherwise, the next time, what is lost won't be as simple as just an insignificant driver.
The call was hung up.
Su Wanwan held the mobile phone, her palms drenched in cold sweat. Fear was like a cold vine, entwining her heart.
Not only did the other party know her actions, but they could also easily threaten the Liu family, who were thousands of miles away! This omnipresent sense of control and the cold threat made her feel suffocated.
She no longer hesitated and immediately dialed Lu Tingchen's phone number.
The phone rang almost once before it was picked up.
"Wanwan?" " Lu Tingchen's voice came. The background was quiet. It was obvious that he was waiting.
"Tingchen..." " The moment she heard his voice, the forced composure crumbled instantly. Her voice carried an imperceptible tone of crying and fear, "I just met Lao Liu..." Then... Received a threatening call... They know...
Send me the location. Stay where you are. My men are right near you. Lu Tingchen's voice instantly turned cold, hard and decisive, with an unquestionable dominance. "I'll be there right away."
There was no questioning, no blaming, only the most direct protection and action.
Su Wanwan hung up the phone and shared her location. A few minutes later, several unfamiliar black off-road vehicles appeared in front and behind, protecting her car in the middle in a protective manner.
Less than half an hour later, the roar of the huge helicopter grew louder and louder, and it finally landed in an open area not far away.
Lu Tingchen strode out of the helicopter. The cold wind lifted the corner of his clothes. His face was stern and his eyes were as sharp as those of an eagle. He walked straight towards her car.
Pulling open the car door, he saw her pale yet feigning composure face. The coldness in his eyes instantly melted, transforming into a thick layer of heartache and worry that he couldn't dissolve.
He bent down and hugged her tightly in his arms.
"It's okay. I'm here." " His deep voice rang in her ears, carrying a reassuring force, "Leave it to me."
Su Wanwan was buried in his strong chest, inhaling the familiar scent on him. Her tense nerves finally relaxed, and tears silently slid down her face.
The path to seeking the truth is strewn with thorns and shadows, but fortunately, she is not alone.
In Lu Tingchen's eyes, the storm was gathering. Someone touched the person he was least capable of moving.
This silent contest is about to escalate.
(To be continued...)"