Those Classmates who Suddenly Disappeared
Chapter 204: Only after a Full Meal Can One Have the Qi to Think

Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Only after a Full Meal Can One Have the Qi to Think

Gu Fan thought for a moment, but decided to decline their assistance with a righteous tone. The reason was simple; Dujun who betrayed them was not worth the risk of coming to his rescue. If anyone ought to rescue him, it should be Lin Xi. It had nothing to do with Gu Fan.

"Seriously, you’ll just stand by and watch him die?" Xu Haowen was somewhat disappointed, he had been hoping for some unexpected turn of events so he could get involved.

Seeing Gu Fan’s indifference, Qin Jia had no choice but to call Lin Xi for help.

Lin Xi was furious when she heard: "Gu Fan is such a petty man. Qin Jia, hand him the phone, let me deal with him."

"Alright!" Qin Jia handed her phone to Gu Fan. Gu Fan shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. When he picked up, he heard Lin Xi’s angry voice over the phone: "What are you up to? You can’t even do me this little favor? When did you become so merciless? Where’s your sense of justice, your sense of responsibility?"

Gu Fan responded indifferently, "Sorry, people change. Why can you change, but I can’t?"

After hearing this, Lin Xi was outraged: "Gu Fan, don’t be so petty. Remember, I used a lot of my supernatural power to save Sister Su last time, you should repay me."

Gu Fan was unimpressed: "You saved Sister Su, not me. Let Sister Su help you. Why are you asking me? Besides, Sister Su still owes me rent."

"So, if I ask Sister Su for help and she runs into trouble, won’t you join in to help? Let’s not beat around the bush. Helping me is like helping Sister Su, so we can call it even." Lin Xi knew Gu Fan was shirking, and tried hard to suppress her anger, attempting to communicate politely with Gu Fan.

However, Gu Fan said lazily, "Sorry, I like to owe others favors. Not only that, but I also want Sister Su to owe you one. We will not help."

Lin Xi snorted coldly, "So, you won’t help. If any of you run into danger next time, I will just stand by."

"Helping is fine, but you have to reveal some information for me, such as where did the invincible guy Sister Su encountered come from, and what is that thing..." A series of questions from Gu Fan left Lin Xi hesitating for a while. There was a long silence on the phone, and finally, Lin Xi answered, "It’s better for you not to know about that invincible guy for now. Even I am not his opponent. And about that thing... I will tell you at the right time."

Gu Fan sighed and looked disappointed, "I thought we were already enemies, why did it turn to you helping me and vice versa. What’s going on?"

"You..." Lin Xi gritted her teeth in anger but still held back, trying to talk to Gu Fan in a calm and peaceful tone, "We can say that our interests have not clashed at the moment, to some extent we can help each other."

"One moment we’re enemies, the next moment we’re allies. You switch too quickly. I have a slow adaptation ability. Let me think." Gu Fan almost pissed off Lin Xi with this, Lin Xi fought back her anger and said, "Gu Fan, I never knew you could be such an asshole, can you please stop trying to provoke me."

Gu Fan knew when to stop, "Aya, don’t say that. You understand me. I never slack off when I have something important to do. If you don’t trust me, why would you come to me for help?"

Lin Xi finally suppressed her anger, "Fine, I trust you. I want to trust you. I believe you won’t let me down."

"Trust is the beginning of collaboration. I have this feeling that we will enjoy this cooperation." After saying this, Gu Fan kissed the phone, which gave Qin Jia and Xu Haowen the goosebumps. On the other side, Lin Xi rolled her eyes.

After hanging up, Gu Fan stood up and announced, "Alright, I announce the establishment of the rescue team for the most annoying rich second-generation Dujun in history, and I am the leader. Any objections?"

Xu Haowen immediately raised his hand, "No objections. Can I be the deputy leader?"

"Ah, you learn fast. But considering your lack of experience, you should learn from our actions, gain experience, and strive for the opportunity next time." Having said that, Gu Fan started to make calls, trying to mobilize everyone he could.

Very soon, under the appeal of Gu Fan, Lu Yi, Jie, and Su Hui all arrived. They were not so eager to rescue Dujun, but were there to repay the favor to Lin Xi and Su Hui who saved their lives.

Seeing that all the team members were present, Gu Fan specifically took out a small blackboard and started writing on it. While writing, he said, "We all know that Dujun is a rich second-generation, he is arrogant, full of superiority, narrow-minded...and so on, with a string of defects..."

After hearing so much, everyone was speechless. It seemed that Gu Fan couldn’t help demeaning Dujun even before the rescue. Su Hui couldn’t help but interject, "Sorry, let me interrupt. Even if you are so bitter about Dujun, you don’t need to slander him like this. Could you please delete these irrelevant contents and jump directly to the main point?"

In response, Gu Fan shook his head, "Sister Su, you are also a police officer and you should understand why I analyze this way. With all of Dujun’s shortcomings and problems, so many people would be dissatisfactory and resentful towards him that there might be a lot of suspects who would want to kidnap him."

Lu Yi agreed, "Gu Fan, you make sense. But the person who has the greatest prejudice against Dujun here is you. We suspect that you are the mastermind behind Dujun’s kidnap."

"Sorry, my alibi’s solid for the kidnapping. Xu Haowen was at my place that whole time, refusing to leave no matter what." After saying this, Gu Fan pointed to Xu Haowen, who immediately nodded to confirm that he could corroborate his statement.

Qin Jia grew anxious, "Alright, rescuing someone is like putting out a fire, please take this seriously."

"Beautiful lady, who said we weren’t taking this seriously? We’re strategizing, aren’t we?" Gu Fan pointed to the small blackboard and then went on, "Du Jun is a second generation rich kid. If someone kidnaps him for money, that’s actually easier. But they suggested a trade -- Lin Xi for Du Jun, an offer she’s already accepted."

Xu Haowen jumped in immediately, "Lin Xi has decided to become the bait herself, to lure the kidnappers out and thus rescue Du Jun."

"Yes, that’s about it," Gu Fan had just finished his statement when Jie posed a question, "Since Lin Xi has her own plan and Du Changhui has manpower, why do they need us?"

In response, Gu Fan nodded his head somewhat puzzled, "Exactly, Lin Xi already has a plan, so why does she need our help? I can’t figure it out."

Lu Yi voiced a concern, "At the critical moment, might Lin Xi betray us to secure her and Du Jun’s safety?"

Su Hui shook her head, "Lin Xi just asked for our help in finding Du Jun. She never dictated what we should do. She can’t control our actions, and therefore she can’t sabotage us."

"Good point, but we still need to be careful," Gu Fan scratched his head in confusion, "Leaving aside what Lin Xi intends to do, the only clue we have to find Du Jun is what you, Qin Jia, saw."

Qin Jia looked troubled, "The group was all masked and hooded, so I didn’t get a good look at their faces. I only noticed they were driving a van, common like a million others. I did, however, remember their plate number."

At the mention of the van, Lu Yi shivered as he recalled an unpleasant experience.

Su Hui added, "The license plate number could be fake, we’ve seen that ploy before. And as to the van, they’re a dime a dozen. Neither are particularly useful clues."

Xu Haowen was stunned before asking, "What do you mean by that? Up till now, we don’t have a single lead to work on. How are we supposed to find Du Jun?"

Su Hui went on, "We can check CCTV footage, though I don’t have access to that."

"If I were the kidnapper, I would take Du Jun to a desolate place, using only the routes with the least CCTVs. It indeed would be hard to track someone based on that alone," Gu Fan’s uninspiring statement left everyone disheartened.

Xu Haowen chimed in, "If this isn’t possible and that isn’t possible, then maybe our ragtag rescue team should just disband."

"Solutions don’t come out of nothing, we need to brainstorm together and we might come up with something," Gu Fan said, his face suddenly serious as if deep in contemplation. Yet, no one knew what he was truly thinking about. For all they knew, he might have been wondering what to eat for dinner.

"One thing is for sure, Du Jun’s safety is paramount. The kidnappers won’t harm Du Jun since they’ve proposed a trade with Lin Xi," A sense of relief washed over Gu Fan, Lu Yi, and Jie after hearing Su Hui’s comment.

"Given that the hostage isn’t in immediate danger, what’s the rush? Let’s eat first and then think. Without food, where are we going to get the energy to ponder?" With that, Gu Fan started ordering takeaway.

Seeing this, Qin Jia felt a bit frustrated with this supposedly special task force for hostage rescue, which seemed more like a problem-solving group, having less than proactive interest in the hostage situation.

Eventually, food arrived and they ate until they were full. Lu Yi even let out a contented burp. Jie topped it off with a comment that nearly led Qin Jia to despair, "Why don’t we talk about what we’ll eat for supper?"

"Van, van, van?" Suddenly, Gu Fan looked as if a light bulb had illuminated in his brain, his eyes flashed with determination as he perked up.

"Last time, when we ambushed the kidnappers’ factory to rescue Lu Yi, we not only captured their people but seized three of their vans as well. So, they might be short of vehicles and need to buy new ones, perhaps more than one," declared Gu Fan solemnly.

Su Hui nodded, "I get it now. We need to check where similar vans were sold recently, especially areas selling large quantities at once. Those leads would be most worth our investigation."

Listening to this, Qin Jia couldn’t help exclaim, "No way, has Gu Fan become a different person altogether after a full meal?"