novelraw Chapter 235 Two Choices
Chapter 235 Two Choices
Gu Yanxu quickened his pace. Jin Qiqi in his arms swayed slightly with his movements, and he instinctively tightened his arms, shielding her face in the crook of his neck to prevent her head from hitting the wall.
He kicked open the fire door on level B2, and the cold air from the underground garage felt like a knife cutting into his face. The empty garage was dimly lit, with several huge load-bearing columns dividing the space into areas of alternating light and shadow. His car was parked in a spot not far from the elevator.
The thin man opened the car door first. Gu Yanxu put Jin Qiqi in the back seat, carefully letting her lie on her side, then opened the driver's side door, got in, and started the engine.
The roar of the engine exploded in the underground garage, like a beast awakened from its slumber.
"Get in!" he shouted to the two men. The burly man opened the passenger door, the thin man climbed into the back seat, and before the door was even fully closed, Gu Yanxu had already floored the accelerator.
The tires screeched as they scraped across the pavement, releasing a burnt smell. The car shot towards the garage exit like a black arrow.
The exit barrier was broken, making a crisp cracking sound.
The moment the car sped onto the street, the city at 2:30 a.m. rushed towards us.
Gu Yanxu glanced at the rearview mirror.
At the garage exit, two car headlights lit up. Then came the third and fourth.
Lin Chen's car has caught up.
"Damn," the skinny man cursed, glancing back at the scene. "They're sticking tight."
Gu Yanxu remained silent, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly, his knuckles turning white. His gaze swept rapidly across the road ahead—traffic lights, intersections, surveillance cameras, speed limit signs. His brain, like a high-speed computer, calculated the optimal solution for each route within milliseconds.
Turn right onto the next street, go through the alley of an old residential area, and take another exit to reach Binhe Road. There is a section of Binhe Road under construction, with only one lane for traffic. If he creates a car's width of space before that, he can use the width restriction barriers in the construction section to block the cars behind him.
This wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. He had already mentally rehearsed this plan at least twenty times before deciding to act tonight.
Turn right. Without even using the turn signal, the front of the car almost slid sideways into the right-turn lane, the tires screeching again. The thin man in the back seat was thrown against the window by the inertia, letting out a muffled groan.
In the rearview mirror, Lin Chen's car also turned right. They were right behind, not missing a single step.
Gu Yanxu frowned slightly.
He saw Lin Chen's headlights flash briefly twice at the intersection—a signal to his teammates. Sure enough, at the next intersection, a black sedan cut in from the side, attempting to flank him from the left. Gu Yanxu accelerated sharply, narrowly squeezing through the gap between the two cars.
The gap is narrowing. It's not that Gu Yanxu isn't driving fast enough, it's that he can't drive too fast—Jin Qiqi is in the car, two subordinates are in the back seat, and more importantly, he can't attract the traffic police, can't have a car accident, and can't let things get out of control.
What he needed was to get rid of Lin Chen cleanly and efficiently, not to risk his life.
But Lin Chen clearly didn't intend to give him that chance.
Ahead was a construction section of Binhe Road. Gu Yanxu saw the width restriction barrier—the space between the two concrete barriers was just enough for one car to pass through. Once he got past that, he could block Lin Chen on the other side.
But just as he accelerated past, a blinding white light suddenly appeared on the road ahead.
It's not a streetlight. It's not a headlight from an oncoming vehicle.
It was Lin Chen's other car, which had somehow circled around to the other end of the construction section and was shining its headlights directly at him.
Behind that car, another car was parked across the road, completely blocking the narrow single-lane lane.
There were obstacles ahead and pursuers behind.
On both sides were construction barriers, their corrugated iron sheets rattling like mocking flags.
Gu Yanxu's heart sank.
He slammed on the brakes. The ABS system kicked in, the brake pedal vibrated violently under his feet, and the car came to a stop less than two meters from the car blocking the way, its front end almost touching the other car's bumper.
Steaming white vapor billowed from under the hood, resembling a cloud of mist under the headlights.
There was a two-second silence.
Then, the car door behind me opened, and footsteps approached from afar.
Gu Yanxu saw Lin Chen walking over in the rearview mirror. He was walking slowly and steadily, as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.
Lin Chen walked to the driver's side window and stood still.
He didn't open the car door, nor did he make any aggressive moves. He just stood there, looking down at Gu Yanxu on the other side of the car window, as if he were looking at an exhibit through glass.
Then, he slowly raised his right hand.
He was holding a cell phone in his hand.
The screen is lit up, displaying the interface of a live streaming platform.
Lin Chen held his phone screen up to the glass so that Gu Yanxu could see it clearly.
"Gu Yanxu." Lin Chen's voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear, as if frozen into an icicle by the cold air of the early morning. "You have two choices."
His thumb hovered above the screen, ready to adjust the angle at any time to ensure the camera was aimed at the driver's seat.
"First, put Jin Qiqi down. I won't call the police about tonight's events."
Gu Yanxu's hands were still on the steering wheel, his knuckles still white, but his gaze had shifted from the blocking vehicles ahead to Lin Chen's phone screen.
Lin Chen didn't give him much time to think.
"Secondly, if you don't release her, I'll call the police right now." Lin Chen's tone was completely flat, as if he were reading a weather forecast. "You kidnapped Jin Qiqi, used drugs, and restricted her freedom. The evidence is conclusive. I have witnesses—your two henchmen can be witnesses; I have physical evidence—that towel and your fingerprints; and I can even livestream the whole thing—"
He moved his phone forward an inch, the lens almost touching the car window, capturing every frame of Gu Yanxu's tightly pursed lips, taut jawline, and the burning red flame in his eyes in the live stream.
"Do you want to add fuel to the fire for your mother's crimes?" Lin Chen said. "What do you think your mother will think if she sees this?"
Inside the car, silence was as heavy as lead.
The burly man in the passenger seat shifted uneasily and glanced back at the thin man. The thin man's face had turned pale, and his hand unconsciously reached for the door handle, as if he were ready to jump out of the car at any moment.
Jin Qiqi was still lying there quietly, as peaceful as a sleeping child.
Gu Yanxu lowered his head and glanced at his hands.
There were still bloodstains left by Jin Qiqi's fingernails on the back of her hand. Several bright red marks looked shocking against the black leather of the steering wheel.
He remembered what she said before she fainted—"Gu Yanxu, I never thought you were this kind of person."
The sound was like a needle piercing his heart, drilling deeper with each heartbeat.
He closed his eyes.