When the kidnappers saw the tables had turned against them, they dragged Xiang onto his feed and scrambled for the door. Before they could reach it, the door slammed open with a loud band as a team of policemen and bodyguards in black charged into the room. With every kidnapper having to face against a few men at once, they were swiftly arrested. In just a blink, the tiny room was filled to the brim with bodies.
Then, and only then when all threats had been nullified, JingYuan turned around and rushed over to YiHan. With gritted teeth, he carefully untied the ropes from YiHan's wrists. By now, those ropes were crusty with blood. JingYuan's wrists were also bloodstained from the process of releasing YiHan from his bonds. He tenderly reached out and pulled YiHan into his embrace. He tapped his forehead against YiHan's as his arms started quivering.
"You came," YiHan exhaled.
A tear burned its way down JingYuan's cheek and landed on YiHan's face. JingYuan gently wiped it away and spoke with a trembling voice, "I came. Don't be scared, HanHan. It's fine. I'll protect you. This won't ever happen again. Don't be scared."
Chen TianYang had charged into the room with the policemen. He had been distracted by taking down a thug attempting to escape. It was only then did he have time to look up and see his dishevelled future brother-in-law. The sight made his vision go blank for a few seconds. He strode over and took off his jacket to wrap YiHan in it. He was so angry that his entire being was quivering. He turned to look at Feng Qun to find Bai Yan still beating the man up!
By now, Feng Qun was unable to shout or scream anymore. All he could do was weakly groan as punches rained down on him. TianYang walked over and grabbed Yan's wrist.
"Mr Bai," TianYang solemnly said. "There's another mastermind behind this. Feng Qun wouldn't be this bold otherwise and he wouldn't be able to afford this. We've got to keep him alive so we can find out just who did this to YiHan."
Yan glared up at him with bloodshot eyes before his fists went lax and he slowly stood up. TianYang then took a few steps away from the duo when the bruises he saw on his cute brother-in-law's abdomen and waist flashed before his eyes once more. He then went back and threw a few hard kicks at Feng Qun's stomach.
Feng Qun's eyes rolled. He collapsed unconscious. Yan shot TianYang a glance as he gravely marched over to his younger brother to check on the other.
JingYuan had lifted YiHan into a carry and out the room. On the way out, he gave Feng Qun a kick so harsh that the fallen man slid across the floor. His body twitched and jerked before going silent once more.
The mouths of the policemen standing by the side all flinched. They kept their mouths shut and said nothing. These rich heirs were all so harsh. They were even harder on criminals than a policeman would ever be. Were they trying to steal their job? It's so hard being part of the police these days.
When JingYuan passed by with YiHan in his arms, everyone else looked away. Some looked up at the sky. Some looked at the floor. Some stared at the thugs. Not a single person looked at YiHan. There was no helping it. Curiosity killed the cat. The moment something happened to the Little Master Bai, a whole bunch of powerful men got involved. Out of the five great families of the city, four of them acted. The Bai and Mu families were expected to, of course. But the Chen family heir rushed over in a panic. The old Mr Yan even threw his power behind them. From the Little Master Bai's kidnapping to his successful rescue, less than three hours had passed. The Bai and Chen family heirs and the Mu family head personally participated in the entire operation. The Mu family head was even the first to charge into the scene. Professionally trained policemen were no match for his running speed. "Love and worry lead to panic" was a very apt phrase to be used here. Right now, this precious young man was covered in the jacket of the Chen family heir, carried by the Mu family head and flanked by the two family heirs. The three men had sombre looks on their faces. One could almost see the dark aura the three men radiated. What's more, there were the other family members of the Bai family charging up in a flurry so hurried that smoke could be seen from their feet and there was the old Mr Yan who'd already called thrice in the past hour or so to pressure the police force to work faster.
Anyone with a positive IQ knew this was definitely not the time to come in contact with these powerful men. Furthermore, the Little Master Bai was not someone they could let their eyes linger on for a second longer than they needed to. They all stared down at Feng Qun with pity. That man had been beaten up to the point of unrecognisable. Idiot. Who gave you the courage to touch him? Were you sick of living? Did he have to drag them down with him? They were scared stiff by this incident. Their poor chief. He was driven to a panic that left him pacing furiously and drenched in sweat. His balding hair had gotten even balder from this.
They watched the powerful men carry the Little Master Bai into the ambulance.
"Bring the criminals," the captain in charge of the rescue operation said with a wave of their hand. "Search the area. Collect any and all evidence found and report to the officers. Move out!"
***
When YiHan drifted awake, he heard a stranger's voice softly speaking, "...there were a lot of sprains and bruises on his joints. Some mild bone fractures in his chest area. There's some bleeding in his stomach. A mild concussion. The rest are just flesh wounds. He wasn't...ahem...raped. He just needs to focus on rest and keeping an open mind. Perhaps you could hire a psychiatrist for him to make sure he's not overly traumatised. When the patient wakes up, he might be dizzy or nauseous. That's just the effects of the concussion. It's normal. Thankfully, it's nothing too serious. He'll be fine soon."
Then came JingYuan's deep voice, "Thank you, doctor."
"No problem," the voice replied. Then, YiHan heard footsteps coming and going and his mother quietly crying.
His heart raced. He wrestled his eyes open to find his mother quickly flouncing over to his side.
"You're awake," Ma said, trembling. "My dear baby, how do you feel? Does your head hurt? What about everywhere else? It's my fault. It's all my fault..."
YiHan's mouth opened and close. "Mom, don't be sad," he gasped. "How could it be your fault? This is just an accident."
FuRen stepped up, patted his wife on the shoulder and said, "HanHan's right. It's just an accident. No one would've thought it'd happen. Don't cry. You'll make HanHan sad."
JingYuan poured out a glass of warm water from the jug on the bedside table, took a straw and slowly fed YiHan some water with it.
With all the great seats by the bedhead taken, the Bai family siblings and TianYang had no way to get closer to YiHan to display their concerned for him. XueQing's eyes darted around the room and stretched her neck out to take a closer look of YiHan.
"How do you feel, brother?" she asked. "I'll go get the doctor."
TianYang laid a firm hand on XueQing's hand and said, "You're exhausted. You stay here. I'll go get the doctor." Then, he turned and left the room.
FuRen looked up and stared at XueQing and where Chen TianYang used to be. He frowned and glanced at JingYuan. The other man was currently focused on feeding YiHan water. The man didn't seem to notice what happened. FuRen let out a long exhale but kept quiet.
The doctor and TianYang then walked back into the room. After a series of checks, the doctor stepped back. "Don't worry," the doctor said with a smile. "Just make sure to rest up and you'll be all healed up soon."
Ma stood up to send off the doctor before returning to her youngest son's bedside. "HanHan, does your head still spin?" she softly said, caressing him on the cheek. "Any nausea?"
YiHan raised a hand up to hold his mother's. "I'm fine," he whispered. "Don't worry, Ma."
His raised hand then exposed bandage-wrapped wrists to his mother's eyes. The sight of which reminded Ma of the horrifying injuries she knew were hiding beneath the gauze. Her fingertips cautiously wandered the edges of YiHan's bindings. Tears began streaking down her cheeks once more.
"It's all my fault. JingYuan said not to let you go out. I insisted on having you go shopping with me. I was just so envious when I saw Madam Chen's son always going shopping with her. I wanted to experience that joy with you too. I didn't think it'd bring harm to you. If JingYuan didn't make it in time...I can't even think what would happen. If anything happened to you, I couldn't bear to live on anymore."
"No, Ma. Don't say that," YiHan hurriedly said. "Feng Qun told me he'd been stalking me for a few days before he finally found an opening. That meant that if he didn't succeed this time, he'd try another time. I can't stay in the house for the rest of my life. Our opponent was so adamant about it that there's no perfect defence against him."
JingYuan froze. The hand lifting a corner of YiHan's blanket to tuck YiHan in paused in the air. His fingers clenched down hard at the fabric until his fingers could be heard audibly cracking. A cloudy gloom loomed over his face.
"I'm to blame for this," TianYang glumly said. "I didn't chop off the snake's head. I left loose ties untied. Since I started the fight, I shouldn't have given him the chance to breathe."
YiHan panicked at that. His eyes darted to look at his sister. What a silly brother-in-law he had, he internally sighed. Why was TianYang so honest? What if XueQing didn't like what he said and really blamed him for it? What would he do then?
Thankfully, XueQing didn't seem upset and she wasn't visibly furious.
"No, no," YiHan drily chuckled. "Feng Qun said you only beat him up for me. You did it with good intentions. Who could've thought Feng Qun would go crazy? Right. He said he didn't plan on doing anything to me but someone contacted him. They gave him some money; told him they would send him overseas and ensure he would live a life free of worries. That was the only reason why he risked it."
Not even as a patient could YiHan stop wrecking his mind for the sake of his future brother-in-law.
FuRen nodded at YiHan's explanation The second they knew YiHan was kidnapped, TianYang flew over to help them. He even risked his own life in the rescue attempt. No matter what was going on, the Bai family owed TianYang a favour. His youngest son was also right. The man was not to blame for this incident. His little baby has really grown up. He knew to apply reason and logic now, to not hurt others through his emotions. FuRen felt so relieved and glad.
"HanHan's right," FuRen said with a gentle smile. "Mr Chen, you've helped us so much in rescuing HanHan. We're so very grateful."
"No, don't say that," TianYang rushed out. "YiHan and I are friends. Our families have always been close. It's my duty to help out if anything happened to YiHan. I didn't really help out much anyway."
FuRen nodded once more and said nothing.
"It's getting late and HanHan's tired," JingYuan said. "Let's leave him to sleep. Everyone had a tiring day. Uncle, Aunt, Yan, XueQing, Mr Chen, you guys head back. I can take care of HanHan for the night."
"How can we do that?" Ma said. "You've had a busy day, JingYuan, and you personally rescued HanHan. You must be more exhausted than we are. You guys head home. I'll take care of HanHan."
XueQing took a step forward and shot a wink at FuRen and Yan. "Mom, you're not that tough and you've had a stressful day," she said. "How could you stay up all night? The doctor said HanHan's fine. Dad, take her home for some rest first. Leave us young ones to take care of HanHan."
Yan thought that was a great idea. He took a closer look at his young brother to find the young man silently leaning against JingYuan's arm and fiddling with a corner of the older man's shirt. His brother's fingers were wrapped so tightly around the shirt that his fingertips were pale white. Yan's heart ached.
"XueQing's right," Yan said. "Mom doesn't need to stay up overnight. That's what us kids are here for. Dad, hurry up and take her home. Tell Aunt Yang to make her some soup."