Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 196 Kidnapped

Chapter 196: Chapter 196 Kidnapped

On this day, Jie had asked Gu Fan and Lu Yi to play basketball with him, mentioning that a pro would be joining them to ensure an exciting game.

Upon hearing the mention of a pro, Gu Fan and Lu Yi immediately got excited and hurried over. As soon as they arrived, they saw a tall man standing out under the basketball hoop. As they expected, it was Jie’s older brother, Hai.

Gu Fan recalled the first encounter he had with Hai’s skills in basketball, being thoroughly beaten. This was his second experience playing against him, and he wondered if the gap had narrowed.

Hai made a statement, "Friendship first, competition second." But despite his words, he defeated Gu Fan and Lu Yi thoroughly. It seems that some people’s talents are indeed hard to surpass.

After they all had been playing basketball for a while, Hai kindly bought water for everyone, showing a friendly demeanor that added to Gu Fan’s and Lu Yi’s increasingly good impression of him. Plus, Hai’s slam-dunk during the game had astounded everyone.

Jie admired Hai immensely and considered him a role model. He was proud to have such a brother.

During a casual chat, Hai casually asked, "What have you been up to recently?"

Lu Yi answered, "I’ve been working part-time to earn some money. I hope it will come in handy when we graduate. I heard that many people seek further training after graduation, and that requires money."

Hai agreed, "It’s good to see you guys being so proactive. I hope Jie can work hard with people like you. I’ve heard that Jie is also working part-time and that you guys pooled your money together to buy an electric bike for commuting."

Lu Yi nodded, "Yes, we all take turns using it. As there are many expenses, we only have one for now, but we plan to buy another one in the future."

"Struggling is a good tradition. Keep it up," Hai said, slightly changing the subject. "Having just one electric bike isn’t ideal. If it gets damaged, the repair costs can be steep. I have already fixed it for you."

"Really? That’s great." Lu Yi responded, thrilled. He had been worried about the repair costs, and now this saved him an expense.

Hai then said, "Be careful when you ride the electric bike. I saw that it was significantly damaged last time. You shouldn’t be recklessly driving around on roads."

Upon being questioned, Lu Yi scratched his head, "I did run into some trouble that day. Sometimes, even if you obey traffic rules, it doesn’t guarantee you’ll be safe. If others don’t obey the rules, it might jeopardize you."

"That’s true, but it’s always good to be cautious. When I saw the damaging on the bike, I wasn’t worried about the repair costs. Frankly, a damaged bike can be repaired, but if anything happens to a person, then..." Hai sighed heavily after his words, seeming to be reminded of a sorrowful past event.

"I understand, brother. I will be careful on the road in the future," aseguró Jie.

Hai nodded, then turned to Lu Yi and asked, "Lu Yi, I don’t care about the repair costs. I just want to know what happened that day. Who hit you? How did they hit you? Did they compensate for your medical expenses? There has to be an explanation."

"Well... the person involved ran away. I suppose I was just unlucky." Lu Yi replied hesitantly, leading Hai to confirm his suspicion that Lu Yi had been the one at the accident scene that night, secretly recorded the incident with his phone, and had left on the electric bike.

The damage on the bike would naturally raise questions from Lu Yi to Jie about what happened, and Hai found out through Jie that the timing matched his suspicion that it was indeed Lu Yi involved in the incident.

To test Lu Yi, Hai intentionally organized the basketball game through Jie, inviting Gu Fan and Lu Yi to extract more information through casual conversation.

Playing angry, Hai exclaimed, "What do you mean, ’the person ran away’? Did you report it to the police? I know a cop. He can help me catch the hit-and-run culprit."

Lu Yi quickly dismissed the idea, "No need, I wasn’t injured. The bike only suffered minor damage. It’s fine."

"As long as you’re okay." Hai didn’t push the matter further, knowing what he needed to do next.

The four of them played basketball for a little while longer, sweating profusely and feeling exhausted. It was a satisfying end to their day. Before they knew it, it was almost nine o’clock and time to head home.

Everyone said their goodbyes and set off for home. As Lu Yi walked, he hummed a tune and occasionally took a sip of water. He felt this was the most enjoyable game of basketball he had ever played. Playing against a skilled opponent was indeed different and served to fuel his competitive spirit.

Just then, a minivan suddenly pulled up beside Lu Yi, which caught him by surprise. Something felt off, he sensed a murderous look coming from inside the vehicle.

The door opened and a few individuals wearing hats and masks jumped out. Even before their feet touched the ground, Lu Yi bolted off, employing the speed of a hundred-meter sprinter. His heart sank a bit, he had not anticipated these people coming right to his doorstep.

"Oh my God, no way, how did they find me? That’s unscientific." Lu Yi ran swiftly, albeit slowed down by fatigue from having just played basketball. He was soon unable to keep running, the footsteps catching up from behind made his heart pound with terror.

Lu Yi was quickly caught and pinned to the ground. "Listen fellas, there must be some mistake, I’m an exemplary student with good academic standing. I’ve never cheated on a test, even though I haven’t received any scholarships."

"Shut up and come with us." The men picked up Lu Yi and shoved him straight into the van, brazenly kidnapping him.

With his eyes covered, Lu Yi’s heart pounded in sheer terror as he wondered what was happening.

One of them threatened savagely, "Do you still have that video on your phone? Tell us your phone password. Don’t mess with us, or you’ll regret it."

"Alright, I’ll cooperate properly," Lu Yi said, sharing his secret with them, praying a thousand prayers that he would survive this ordeal and vowing never to meddle in others’ affairs again.

Lu Yi regretted not improving his combat skills like Gu Fan had; otherwise, he wouldn’t be stuck taking punches when things like this happened.

The men quickly found the video in Lu Yi’s phone. After watching it for a while, they were furious. One of them grabbed Lu Yi’s collar and harshly questioned, "Tell us, how many copies of this video have you made? Who else has seen it?"

"No one, I’ve always kept it hidden in my phone. You can delete it if you want, and if you don’t mind, you can have the phone too," Lu Yi pleaded, solely focused on survival at this point.

"You never should’ve taken that video let alone run away. Now look what’s happened," replied one man, making it clear they had no immediate plans to let Lu Yi go.

"Please, I know I was wrong. I promise I won’t do it again, can you guys spare me?" Lu Yi was genuinely terrified now. If the video was deleted, Su Hui still had a copy. If his phone was smashed, he could always buy a new one. But he only had one life.

Whether to release him or not was a decision Hai, sitting in the passenger seat, was finding difficult to make. He feared that Lu Yi had made several copies of the video or passed it to others. Therefore, he couldn’t let him go as the video precisely contained a certain scene that could possibly expose their identities.

After much thought, the man finally addressed Lu Yi, "We don’t believe you don’t have backup. We’re going to message your comrades right now and tell them you’re with us. They should bring the video for your exchange. If they bring it, it means you lied to us. Know that the consequences would be grave; you’ve seen how we deal with loose ends."

"Okay, now that you mention it, it does seem that I’ve shared it with a friend," Lu Yi said, instantly feeling an intense murderous look from the surrounding people, as though they were itching to throttle him.

Lu Yi honestly shared Su Hui’s name without revealing Su Hui’s identity as a police officer, hoping that she would assault these kidnappers unknowingly and then come to his rescue.

However, Hai knew Su Hui’s identity and knew it was nearly impossible to directly try and snatch Su Hui’s cellphone. He instantly felt cornered.

After much thought, he decided to send a message to Su Hui using Lu Yi’s cellphone, asking her to bring the video in exchange for the hostage and not to involve the cops, or the hostage was at risk.

At this moment, the van entered an almost abandoned old factory. The place was scarcely populated, with very few passerby. Su Hui and Zhuo Hang had been keeping an eye on it for some time, planning to nab the gang all at once.

Through her telescope, Su Hui saw the van pull in and watched them escort a blindfolded individual, presumably a hostage, out of the vehicle.

Just as Su Hui was wondering, she suddenly received a message from Lu Yi’s phone. After reading the content, her face turned pale, she hadn’t expected Lu Yi to be kidnapped, with the kidnappers demanding the video in exchange.

"Wait, hang on?" Su Hui’s brow furrowed as she suddenly gasped, "No way, what a coincidence! Could that hostage be Lu Yi?"

Realizing that Lu Yi was in immediate danger, with no time to waste, Su Hui immediately relayed the situation to Zhuo Hang, urging action to free the hostage.

However, Zhuo Hang believed it wasn’t the time to rush things and told Su Hui to keep her cool as they couldn’t afford to lose the leads they had painstakingly found.

While Su Hui understood this, she couldn’t remain calm. Without orders from above, she couldn’t act, yet she couldn’t ignore Lu Yi either. Her only option was to message Gu Fan.