Chapter 267: Is Jing Shu an Inside Mole?

A loud explosion shook the entire villa, and Qian Duo Duo’s prized walnuts rolled to the floor, getting stomped on several times by people scrambling in the chaos.

Qian Duo Duo, who had been calm and collected until now, was no longer able to maintain his composure. He bent down, crawling on the floor to retrieve his precious walnuts, all the while getting stepped on by others.

Once everyone had recovered from the shock and commotion, they realized that something had exploded outside. Flames shot up into the sky despite the heavy rain. It was clear that this was the result of one of the gas canisters Su Xiangnan had brought along. And this was likely just an appetizer—if he really had brought a thousand gas canisters, the entire West Mountain could be blown apart.

Fortunately, the explosion didn’t happen inside the villa, or else everyone present would have been doomed.

Grinding his teeth, Qian Duo Duo shouted, "Su, you madman! You’re actually doing this for real?!"

Su Xiangnan’s already grim face showed a flicker of surprise, but he quickly regained his cold demeanor, growling, "I only have one precious daughter, and if anything happens to her, I won’t care if I die—I won’t be able to face her mother in heaven. I’m not joking with you, Duo Duo. Does my daughter’s disappearance have anything to do with you or not?"

Qian Duo Duo, having gathered his walnuts, sighed quietly. It seemed that Su Xiangnan’s daughter really had been kidnapped. In a low voice, he responded, "It sounds like you’ve been set up. I swear I have no knowledge of this. Why don’t you tell me exactly what happened?"

Su Xiangnan waved his hand, and his old butler stepped forward. "Sir, Miss Su, along with Uncle Gou, two bodyguards, and her classmate Jing Shu, came to West Mountain today. Here is their route, and their last known location was indeed on your property. They stayed there for more than an hour, meaning they still had signal during that time."

"Additionally, the GPS signal from Miss Su’s car also vanished around the same time."

"Here is all of Miss Su’s recent communication data, including chats with Uncle Gou, the bodyguards, and her classmate Jing Shu. The only ones who knew about her plans to go out today were those directly involved."

The butler continued, "And here’s what we know: someone named Fatty, one of your men, arranged a meeting with Miss Su this morning to discuss a business deal. The timeline fits—the deal took place between 10:30 and 11:00 AM, right when she disappeared. At first, I suspected someone impersonating your people to frame you, but the deal records confirm it was indeed your man."

Qian Duo Duo nodded. This all seemed plausible, and he, too, feared someone might be trying to set him up.

"But the ID and IP address used by Fatty match your records, confirming it was your person. They did indeed make the trade with Miss Su, and it involved oil in exchange for the goods. Is that correct?"

Qian Duo Duo furrowed his brow. "Hold on a second. Fatty is indeed one of my men, and he’s someone I’ve trusted for years. Let me call him in to confirm the details. Go, bring Fatty here, and make sure he has all the documents from this morning's trade."

A servant hurried off to fetch Fatty.

The atmosphere in the guest villa grew increasingly tense. A few moments later, Fatty arrived, sweating and out of breath, carrying a stack of papers.

"Boss, you called for me? I’ve brought all the documents. Is something wrong?" Fatty asked, wiping the sweat from his face.

Qian Duo Duo waved his hand. "Tell everyone here about the trade you conducted this morning."

"Yes, sir," Fatty began. "Yesterday, I arranged with Miss Su to meet today to inspect the goods. She arrived on time this morning, and we completed the trade as agreed. Here are all the items she brought, and this is the contract we signed. We agreed to three batches of blood mushrooms, and I paid 20 tons of oil in exchange. After the deal, Uncle Gou took the oil and left with it. That’s all that happened."

Su Xiangnan gave a subtle nod, and his butler stepped forward to inspect the documents. After reviewing them, the butler confirmed, "These are indeed Miss Su’s goods."

The butler then showed a photo on his phone to Fatty. "Take a close look. This is Miss Su. This is the man she calls Uncle Gou. These two are her bodyguards, and this is her classmate, Jing Shu. Were these the people you dealt with?"

Fatty carefully examined the photo and replied, "Yes, Uncle Gou and Miss Su were there for sure. But the bodyguards wore hats, so I didn’t get a clear look at them. As for her classmate... there were only four people during the trade."

Su Xiangnan and his butler exchanged a look.

The butler pressed on. "Are you absolutely certain that Jing Shu wasn’t present, not even waiting outside?"

Fatty nodded firmly. "Absolutely. There were only four of them. They arrived in a custom-built luxury car, and I personally went to meet them."

The butler and Su Xiangnan frowned deeply.

The butler added, "According to Jing Shu’s records, she left with Miss Su this morning. So either Fatty is lying, or Jing Shu is an inside mole."

Qian Duo Duo was silent for a long time before finally speaking. "I know this girl, Jing Shu. We’ve done business together a few times, and she’s always been reliable. As for Fatty, I trust him completely. I can provide all of his recent data if you want to review it. I believe there’s been some kind of misunderstanding here."

Just then, a servant rushed in, breathless. "Sir, we’ve found Miss Su’s car! It’s still parked where the GPS signal disappeared—hasn’t moved an inch!"

Su Xiangnan clenched his fists, his expression growing even darker. "And you still say this has nothing to do with you? Her car hasn’t even moved, and she disappeared on your property."

A bead of sweat trickled down Qian Duo Duo’s forehead. Was someone really trying to frame him? Who could it be?

Two possibilities raced through his mind: 1. Someone was truly trying to set him up, but the plot seemed too crude. 2. Su Xiangnan was staging this whole thing to entrap him.

"Stay calm," Qian Duo Duo said after a pause. "I’ll pull up all the security footage from West Mountain. Anyone who enters or exits is caught on camera. And if anyone tries to leave West Mountain, there’s no way they’ll escape undetected. I even have helicopters patrolling the skies. The most likely scenario is that they’re still on the mountain."

"I don’t care how deep they’ve hidden," Su Xiangnan said coldly. "I want every inch of this mountain searched. Dig up the entire area if you have to. Start where my daughter’s car was found—check every corner, every hidden passage."

Just then, another servant rushed in with more news. "Sir, we’ve found an underground casino near where Miss Su disappeared!"

-- Author's Note --

Starting tomorrow morning, there will be an explosive update! Mwah!