Chapter 140: Huang Qiang's Plan Fails

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After hearing Wang Guilan’s words, Lin You thought they made sense. Xia Yan usually loved buying things for the children, so if the supply cooperative had received children’s goods, she really would have gone there at once.

“Then, Auntie, I’ll go take a look at the supply cooperative. As for the vegetables, Xia Yan and I will pick them up when we come back later.”

“All right. I’ll pack them up for you in the meantime.”

After leaving Wang Guilan’s house, Lin You broke into a hurried jog toward the supply cooperative. By the time he reached the entrance, the clerk was just preparing to lock up for the day.

“Hey, wait!” Lin You shouted from a distance.

“Commander Lin, is something wrong?”

The clerk recognized Lin You as well. He put down the keys in his hand and waited where he stood.

“Comrade, did a nineteen-year-old girl come by to buy something this afternoon?”

As he spoke, Lin You gestured to indicate Xia Yan’s height.

“She should have been wearing a flower-patterned cotton-padded jacket today.”

The clerk thought for a moment, then shook his head under Lin You’s expectant gaze.

“No. I was in the shop all afternoon. The only people who came were a few military wives. There definitely wasn’t a nineteen-year-old girl like the one you described.”

“Think carefully. Could she have come while you were using the restroom?”

“That’s impossible. My colleague was off today, so I was the only one here. I barely even dared to drink water, because I was afraid I’d need the restroom and miss customers.”

The clerk spoke with absolute certainty.

Lin You frowned. If Xia Yan had not gone to the supply cooperative, where could she have gone?

After thanking the clerk, he went to the school. By then, however, the school gates were already shut. Lin You peered inside several times, but all he could see was darkness.

“Where on earth did she go?”

Up on the mountain, night had completely fallen. Xia Yan opened her eyes in a daze, her head throbbing with pain. She tried to speak, but something had been stuffed into her mouth, leaving her able to make only muffled sounds.

“Qiang, she’s awake!” Zhuang Lili warned from nearby.

“I know! I’m not blind!”

Huang Qiang turned and glared viciously at her. His savage expression frightened Zhuang Lili, and she instinctively shuffled several steps backward.

By now, Huang Qiang had completely lost his patience. Lin You had not come. It seemed that the man truly did not care at all about the rumors circulating outside.

Without Lin You, his entire plan had failed.

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He had originally planned to wait for Lin You to come up the mountain, drug him as well, and then knock Zhuang Lili unconscious while she was off guard. He would strip the two of them and throw them together, then go down the mountain to summon people and completely ruin Lin You’s reputation.

Naturally, before going down the mountain, he would not spare Zhuang Lili either. That way, when she woke and discovered that she had lost her virginity, even if she guessed that he was responsible, she could only insist that Lin You had done it.

As for Xia Yan, once everyone’s attention was focused on Lin You, he would take her away. Then, while she was “brokenhearted,” he would possess her.

But now that Lin You had not come, all his plans had come to nothing.

“What do we do now?” Zhuang Lili asked cautiously, afraid of provoking Huang Qiang.

“How should I know what to do? You couldn’t even handle one little task properly. What else can I expect you to do?!”

Huang Qiang had decided that everything had gone wrong because Zhuang Lili had failed to carry out her part.

“Why don’t we... why don’t we go back first?”

By now, Zhuang Lili was already having second thoughts.

“Bullshit! Go back? Do you think we can go back now? Xia Yan already knows we did this. Do you think you can still stay here?”

“Then what do you say we should do?”

“Either we wait for Lin You, or...”

A murderous look appeared in Huang Qiang’s eyes as he stared at Xia Yan. Lying on the ground, Xia Yan felt a chill run down her back, and the muffled sounds from her mouth grew louder.

To keep Xia Yan from making any more noise, Huang Qiang had no choice but to knock her unconscious again. Before she lost consciousness, Xia Yan could only pray over and over that Lin You would hurry and come.

Down the mountain, Lin You was already frantic. Xia Yan had truly disappeared.

“Commander, we’ve searched the entire base, but we haven’t found your wife.”

Li Guoxiang came running over with several soldiers, all of them drenched in sweat.

“Could Xia Yan have gone down the mountain?” Ruan Xiaotian suggested. Lin You’s parents were at the foot of the mountain; perhaps Xia Yan had gone down to look for them.

“She wouldn’t have. If she were going down the mountain, she would have told me. And I already asked around—there were no vehicles heading down this afternoon. Xia Yan wouldn’t walk down alone without some urgent reason.”

Lin You shook his head. The base was not very large. Where could Xia Yan possibly have gone?

Then he suddenly remembered the letter from earlier that day. He raised his head and looked toward the woods on the mountain. Without bothering about anything else, he grabbed a flashlight and ran uphill.

Ruan Xiaotian and the others followed.

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Half an hour later.

From behind a tree, Huang Qiang saw numerous pinpoints of light moving toward them. He could faintly hear people calling Xia Yan’s name.

“Damn it! Why are there so many people?”

Huang Qiang cursed under his breath. He had no choice but to flee down the mountain that very night. Otherwise, once Xia Yan woke up, everything would be too late.

Zhuang Lili ran over at that moment.

“Qiang, a lot of people are coming. What do we do now?”

“What else can we do? Run!”

“Wait, that isn’t the way to the pasture.”

Zhuang Lili immediately followed when Huang Qiang took off without another word, but halfway there she realized that he was heading down the mountain, not toward the pasture at all.

Huang Qiang stopped, turned around, and seized her by the arm.

“Zhuang Lili, I thought you were clever. I never imagined you could be this stupid. Go back to the pasture now? So Lin You and the others can find us there? We’ll be finished!”

“But all my things are at the pasture. How are we supposed to run without money?”

Huang Qiang patted his pocket.

“I brought money. Now hurry up and leave. If they catch us, we’ll both end up in prison!”

“I... I don’t want to go to prison!”

Zhuang Lili was genuinely terrified now. Without thinking about anything else, she followed Huang Qiang down the mountain.

Lin You had just reached the woods. In the moonlight, he saw a figure in a red padded coat lying on the ground.

“Xia Yan!”

“Li Guoxiang, take the soldiers and search the surrounding area. See if anyone else is here. If you find them, arrest them immediately!”

Seeing Xia Yan bound on the ground, Ruan Xiaotian’s heart gave a jolt. Nevertheless, he immediately issued the order to Li Guoxiang and the others behind him.

“Xia Yan! Xia Yan, wake up!”

Lin You called her name again and again, but the woman in his arms did not move at all.

He reached out with trembling fingers and placed them beneath Xia Yan’s nose...

The few seconds that followed felt to Lin You like several hours. He was terrified—terrified that Xia Yan was no longer breathing.

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