Chapter 25: Is It True?
A ringing tone startled the four of them. Ah Si took out his mobile phone and answered it. Xi Men, Mei Zhuo and Lei anxiously looked at him, waiting to know the result from the call.
Their hopes shattered when, "Stupid! How can you not find her? If you don't find her whereabouts in another hour, you're not going to find anymore jobs here in Taiwan. I promise you that! Go now!!"
Giving out a loud, frustrating sigh, Ah Si slumped his back again to the back of the sofa. Looking at his three best friends, he shook his head.
"They didn't found her. They don't even have a clue where she has been taken to or who was behind her sudden disappearance. I think it's time to confront with her," told Ah Si in a very disturbing and angry tone, expressing clearly on the word 'her'.
Lei looked directly at Ah Si before speaking out his mind, "Not yet. Call Zhuang first."
"That's right! Call Zhuang first. Maybe she knows something and could help us against your mother," agreed Mei Zhuo straight away.
Ah Si, turned his sight to Xi Men, in a way of asking his own opinion on the matter. Xi Men nodded his head, agreeing with the other two, Mei Zhuo and Lei's opinion. Having all his friends consent, he took his mobile phone from the table and dialed Zhuang's number.
"Hello, Jie? How are you? Are you busy?" said Ah Si, opening a conversation.
"There's nothing wrong! I am not in trouble! Why do you always assume that I'm in trouble?!" argued Ah Si on the phone with her sister, as always.
Mei Zhuo smirked, looking over at Lei, "This is going to take some time. You want a beer?"
Lei nodded and watched Mei Zhuo got up and went to the kitchen to get three more cold beers, adding to the mount of beer cans on the table. Taking the handed out beer can from Mei Zhuo's hand, he looked back at Ah Si, who was still arguing and making faces on the phone.
Lei knocked his can to Ah Si's knee, "Get to the point," he said, flatly.
Ah Si glared at Lei for disturbing him and reminding what he should be doing instead of what he was doing just then, before finally he nodded and started to speak seriously about the real matter.
"Jie, I need to know something from you. Did you, by any chance hear or know anything about mother's new corrupted, wicked plan to ruin my life?" Ah Si asked, matter-of-factly and not to mention a bit rude.
Xi Men and Mei Zhuo just smiled at Ah Si's final remarks. If it was his mother, he wouldn't dare to say anything like that and if they guessed correctly, Ah Si would be arguing again with her sister about that same remark. Lei were a bit disappointed with Ah Si's little snide remarks and playfulness. He hurriedly got over to grab the phone from Ah Si. He was anxious to know about the condition of his love one and he was beginning to feel impatient with the dragging delay. Seeing Lei's sudden move, Ah Si held on tight to the phone and gestured for Lei to sit down.
"Jie, the truth is that, my friend or directly, my pet- sister was kidnapped this morning and I have a feeling mother was a part of this."
"Well, how did I know she was going to do that to her! I was just trying to delay the wedding!! We are not more than just like you and me! So, do you or don't you know anything about it?!"
"You have no idea? Well? What should we do? We can't just wait around for something to come up!! I'm going to call her and asked her directly to free Shan Chai! Yes, that's her name!!"
"What? You are coming over here? What for? I am not going to do anything stupid! Why do you always think I would spoil everything! I'm not a kid anymore!!!"
The bickering goes on and on. The three heard enough to know that Zhuang has no idea what was exactly going on. Drinking their can of beer, all were looking down and frustrated. They don't know what to do next. Where should they start to look for her?
Out of nowhere, a ringing tone was heard and Xi Men quickly took out his phone from his back pocket. Looking at the screen, he got up, "I need to get this call," he said before walking away from all of them.
With Ah Si still battering on the phone with his sister, Mei Zhuo looked at Xi Men with full interest. Leaning close to Lei, he whispered, "Who do you think call him? He never walked away from us before when he received a call."
Mei Zhuo's questioned made his curiosity build up. Looking over at Xi Men also, he began to wonder. True, never once Ken acted that way when he received a call, especially not when it's from his Mei Mei's. From the distance, it seems that Xi Men was trying to comfort the person on the other line. Wonder who would it be?
Finally ending the line with his sister, Ah Si took his can of beer and opened it before taking a big gulp from it.
"Zhuang's coming over. She told us to wait for her before doing anything stupid. Huh! Like we are so dumb and do something like that! Hey, did you hear me? What are you two whispering about? Where's Xi Men?" asked Ah Si, curious with his two friend's act.
Mei Zhuo just pointed over to where Xi Men were standing and gestured Ah Si to gather close to him.
"Remember the night we thought you're going to fight with Lei? And we left you together to discuss your problems? Well, Xi Men and me went back to VS. He told me that you were using Shan Chai as your shield to postponed the wedding and how he felt that Shan Chai have a feeling for somebody else," Mei Zhuo started, retelling back the incident that happen just last night.
Taking a breath, he continued, "That's old news, I know. Well, here's the juicy part. Xi Men accidentally told me that he was on the phone with someone at the beach, in the middle of the night when most of us has retreated to our rooms. Do you think that, that person on the other line was the same person from that night? I wonder who? What do you two think?"
"Probably one of he's new girlfriends. What's so interesting about that?" grunted Ah Si, not as curious and as excited as Mei Zhuo.
"Lei?" asked Mei Zhuo.
"It's not one of his Mei Mei's. The way he looked, I believed it was someone he really cared about."
"You don't think he has finally fallen in love? I saw him flirting with other girls just last night," Mei Zhuo added, not believing Lei's little theory.
They were about to discussed it more when finally Xi Men hanged up the mobile phone, putting it back in his back pocket and walked over to them, stopping their small discussion.
"So, what did Zhuang say?" asked Xi Men, looking at Ah Si and sat beside him after taking his beer from the coffee table.
Mei Zhuo adjusted his sitting posture and looked at Xi Men teasingly. Before Ah Si could answer Xi Men's question, he budged in, "Who called?"
"Huh? Ohh... it's a friend. Just needed my advice, that's all. No biggie," answered Xi Men plainly and with a straight face.
Glaring over at Mei Zhuo for interrupting his answer, Ah Si looked back at Xi Men, "Zhuang have no idea whose hand was behind all this but she wanted us the wait for her arrival before making any action."
Nodding, Xi Men agreed, "Yeah, I think that would be the best. Well, since we're wouldn't be able to do anything for now, I'm going back home. See you guys tomorrow. Ah Si, call me if you receive any news from the investigator or Zhuang. Bye guys..."
"Yeah, I'm going to. Xi Men, give me a ride home will, ya? I think it's a bit too late to call for the driver. Lei, are you coming?"
Standing up, Lei looked at Ah Si, "Call me," he said before walking out through the main door of Ah Si's mansion, sulking and obviously still worried of Shan Chai's safety.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Shan Chai stared in the dark. She was thinking how she could escape from the room. Eyeing the camera and considering whether they would see her in the dark, she carefully crept out from the bed and slowly made her move, creeping to the door. Using the hair pin Lei had given her, she tried to unlock the door knob from what she sees in the television spy shows.
She was busy prodding and turning the doorknob when she received the fright of her life. The door opened! Not because she succeeded from using the hairpin but it was because the door was opened from the outside. The bodyguard from before was staring down at her with a fierce face.
Standing up, she acted as if nothing had happened and walked away back slowly to the bed, with her eye still stealing glances on the big build man by the door. But as the bodyguard was about to close the door, she ran and pushed herself through the startled man. She was about to feel the freedom when a pair of unexpected hands grabbed her from behind.
"LET ME GO!!" she screamed, wearing her lungs out, repeatedly.
Kicking, struggling and screaming to free herself, she was exhausted when the grip got even tighter. Finally, she gave up and relaxed. Glancing over her head, she saw that the person that caught her was the other bodyguard. Sighing, she bared herself to be lifted and carried back to her room.
Without any word coming out from the two bodyguards, the door was again closed and locked.
'They'll surely tighten up the security after this. How on earth could I get away from this place? Does anyone notice that I'm gone? Why do they do this to me? Oh, Lei... please help... '
A ringing tone startled the four of them. Ah Si took out his mobile phone and answered it. Xi Men, Mei Zhuo and Lei anxiously looked at him, waiting to know the result from the call.
Their hopes shattered when, "Stupid! How can you not find her? If you don't find her whereabouts in another hour, you're not going to find anymore jobs here in Taiwan. I promise you that! Go now!!"
Giving out a loud, frustrating sigh, Ah Si slumped his back again to the back of the sofa. Looking at his three best friends, he shook his head.
"They didn't found her. They don't even have a clue where she has been taken to or who was behind her sudden disappearance. I think it's time to confront with her," told Ah Si in a very disturbing and angry tone, expressing clearly on the word 'her'.
Lei looked directly at Ah Si before speaking out his mind, "Not yet. Call Zhuang first."
"That's right! Call Zhuang first. Maybe she knows something and could help us against your mother," agreed Mei Zhuo straight away.
Ah Si, turned his sight to Xi Men, in a way of asking his own opinion on the matter. Xi Men nodded his head, agreeing with the other two, Mei Zhuo and Lei's opinion. Having all his friends consent, he took his mobile phone from the table and dialed Zhuang's number.
"Hello, Jie? How are you? Are you busy?" said Ah Si, opening a conversation.
"There's nothing wrong! I am not in trouble! Why do you always assume that I'm in trouble?!" argued Ah Si on the phone with her sister, as always.
Mei Zhuo smirked, looking over at Lei, "This is going to take some time. You want a beer?"
Lei nodded and watched Mei Zhuo got up and went to the kitchen to get three more cold beers, adding to the mount of beer cans on the table. Taking the handed out beer can from Mei Zhuo's hand, he looked back at Ah Si, who was still arguing and making faces on the phone.
Lei knocked his can to Ah Si's knee, "Get to the point," he said, flatly.
Ah Si glared at Lei for disturbing him and reminding what he should be doing instead of what he was doing just then, before finally he nodded and started to speak seriously about the real matter.
"Jie, I need to know something from you. Did you, by any chance hear or know anything about mother's new corrupted, wicked plan to ruin my life?" Ah Si asked, matter-of-factly and not to mention a bit rude.
Xi Men and Mei Zhuo just smiled at Ah Si's final remarks. If it was his mother, he wouldn't dare to say anything like that and if they guessed correctly, Ah Si would be arguing again with her sister about that same remark. Lei were a bit disappointed with Ah Si's little snide remarks and playfulness. He hurriedly got over to grab the phone from Ah Si. He was anxious to know about the condition of his love one and he was beginning to feel impatient with the dragging delay. Seeing Lei's sudden move, Ah Si held on tight to the phone and gestured for Lei to sit down.
"Jie, the truth is that, my friend or directly, my pet- sister was kidnapped this morning and I have a feeling mother was a part of this."
"Well, how did I know she was going to do that to her! I was just trying to delay the wedding!! We are not more than just like you and me! So, do you or don't you know anything about it?!"
"You have no idea? Well? What should we do? We can't just wait around for something to come up!! I'm going to call her and asked her directly to free Shan Chai! Yes, that's her name!!"
"What? You are coming over here? What for? I am not going to do anything stupid! Why do you always think I would spoil everything! I'm not a kid anymore!!!"
The bickering goes on and on. The three heard enough to know that Zhuang has no idea what was exactly going on. Drinking their can of beer, all were looking down and frustrated. They don't know what to do next. Where should they start to look for her?
Out of nowhere, a ringing tone was heard and Xi Men quickly took out his phone from his back pocket. Looking at the screen, he got up, "I need to get this call," he said before walking away from all of them.
With Ah Si still battering on the phone with his sister, Mei Zhuo looked at Xi Men with full interest. Leaning close to Lei, he whispered, "Who do you think call him? He never walked away from us before when he received a call."
Mei Zhuo's questioned made his curiosity build up. Looking over at Xi Men also, he began to wonder. True, never once Ken acted that way when he received a call, especially not when it's from his Mei Mei's. From the distance, it seems that Xi Men was trying to comfort the person on the other line. Wonder who would it be?
Finally ending the line with his sister, Ah Si took his can of beer and opened it before taking a big gulp from it.
"Zhuang's coming over. She told us to wait for her before doing anything stupid. Huh! Like we are so dumb and do something like that! Hey, did you hear me? What are you two whispering about? Where's Xi Men?" asked Ah Si, curious with his two friend's act.
Mei Zhuo just pointed over to where Xi Men were standing and gestured Ah Si to gather close to him.
"Remember the night we thought you're going to fight with Lei? And we left you together to discuss your problems? Well, Xi Men and me went back to VS. He told me that you were using Shan Chai as your shield to postponed the wedding and how he felt that Shan Chai have a feeling for somebody else," Mei Zhuo started, retelling back the incident that happen just last night.
Taking a breath, he continued, "That's old news, I know. Well, here's the juicy part. Xi Men accidentally told me that he was on the phone with someone at the beach, in the middle of the night when most of us has retreated to our rooms. Do you think that, that person on the other line was the same person from that night? I wonder who? What do you two think?"
"Probably one of he's new girlfriends. What's so interesting about that?" grunted Ah Si, not as curious and as excited as Mei Zhuo.
"Lei?" asked Mei Zhuo.
"It's not one of his Mei Mei's. The way he looked, I believed it was someone he really cared about."
"You don't think he has finally fallen in love? I saw him flirting with other girls just last night," Mei Zhuo added, not believing Lei's little theory.
They were about to discussed it more when finally Xi Men hanged up the mobile phone, putting it back in his back pocket and walked over to them, stopping their small discussion.
"So, what did Zhuang say?" asked Xi Men, looking at Ah Si and sat beside him after taking his beer from the coffee table.
Mei Zhuo adjusted his sitting posture and looked at Xi Men teasingly. Before Ah Si could answer Xi Men's question, he budged in, "Who called?"
"Huh? Ohh... it's a friend. Just needed my advice, that's all. No biggie," answered Xi Men plainly and with a straight face.
Glaring over at Mei Zhuo for interrupting his answer, Ah Si looked back at Xi Men, "Zhuang have no idea whose hand was behind all this but she wanted us the wait for her arrival before making any action."
Nodding, Xi Men agreed, "Yeah, I think that would be the best. Well, since we're wouldn't be able to do anything for now, I'm going back home. See you guys tomorrow. Ah Si, call me if you receive any news from the investigator or Zhuang. Bye guys..."
"Yeah, I'm going to. Xi Men, give me a ride home will, ya? I think it's a bit too late to call for the driver. Lei, are you coming?"
Standing up, Lei looked at Ah Si, "Call me," he said before walking out through the main door of Ah Si's mansion, sulking and obviously still worried of Shan Chai's safety.
~~~*~~~*~~~
Shan Chai stared in the dark. She was thinking how she could escape from the room. Eyeing the camera and considering whether they would see her in the dark, she carefully crept out from the bed and slowly made her move, creeping to the door. Using the hair pin Lei had given her, she tried to unlock the door knob from what she sees in the television spy shows.
She was busy prodding and turning the doorknob when she received the fright of her life. The door opened! Not because she succeeded from using the hairpin but it was because the door was opened from the outside. The bodyguard from before was staring down at her with a fierce face.
Standing up, she acted as if nothing had happened and walked away back slowly to the bed, with her eye still stealing glances on the big build man by the door. But as the bodyguard was about to close the door, she ran and pushed herself through the startled man. She was about to feel the freedom when a pair of unexpected hands grabbed her from behind.
"LET ME GO!!" she screamed, wearing her lungs out, repeatedly.
Kicking, struggling and screaming to free herself, she was exhausted when the grip got even tighter. Finally, she gave up and relaxed. Glancing over her head, she saw that the person that caught her was the other bodyguard. Sighing, she bared herself to be lifted and carried back to her room.
Without any word coming out from the two bodyguards, the door was again closed and locked.
'They'll surely tighten up the security after this. How on earth could I get away from this place? Does anyone notice that I'm gone? Why do they do this to me? Oh, Lei... please help... '