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30 million for a child—what else could he be but a human trafficker?
Zhao Jiamin held her child tightly while trembling with rage.
So, this was what it was all about!
Seeing the fat man’s greasy, disgusting smile as he stepped closer, Zhao Jiamin suddenly grabbed the bedside lamp and hurled it at him.
Unfortunately, he dodged it with a tilt of his head.
"Useless." he said with a triumphant grin. "Even if you could take her back, what then? Zhou Wei would just bring her back again. I suggest you think carefully—you’re still in his hands, after all."
These words turned Zhao Jiamin’s face deathly pale.
Yes, she couldn’t even protect herself—how could she protect her daughter?
She glanced at her daughter’s peaceful sleeping face, and suddenly, her mind became eerily calm.
And a murderous intent slowly spread in her eyes.
To ensure her daughter’s safety, it seemed the only path left was to kill.
Her hand had already reached for the phone cord. If only he would lower his head...
"Ugh!"
The fat man’s body suddenly stiffened then he collapsed heavily to the ground, revealing Jiang Chenyi, who had been completely hidden behind him.
Before Zhao Jiamin could react, the young man’s cold eyes bore into her with his words piercing her heart: "Were you just about to kill someone?"
Zhao Jiamin’s hand, clutching the phone cord, jerked back as if burned and she tightly grasped the blanket covering her daughter.
She avoided his gaze because his eyes made her feel as if her innermost thoughts had been laid bare—her weakness, helplessness, and pain all exposed to a stranger.
She hated this feeling.
"If you kill someone, your daughter will have nothing left. Do you remember your wish? You’ve been screaming in your heart to take her away from Zhou Wei. If you go to prison, she’ll have to stay with him."
After Jiang Chenyi finished speaking, Zhao Jiamin vehemently protested: "No! I’ll kill him! I’ll kill Zhou Wei! I must kill him!"
Her emotions were extremely agitated. Seeing this, Jiang Chenyi crouched beside her and placed a hand on her head.
"Calm down."
His voice was like a bucket of icy water poured over her and instantly froze Zhao Jiamin's hatred.
Seeing her calm down, Jiang Chenyi sat beside her and slowly began to analyze the situation: "Let's assume! If you successfully kill this man and your husband Zhou Wei, then your daughter will either be taken care of by the neighborhood or sent to an orphanage."
"You have no family left, but Zhou Wei does. He even knows other people. What do you think would happen if you left your daughter alone outside?"
What would happen?
Zhao Jiamin shuddered, as if imagining some very unpleasant scenes.
"You see, you also know they would definitely retaliate, right? And that's assuming you succeed in killing them. What if... you don't succeed?"
Jiang Chenyi gently turned her head towards him. In his light golden eyes reflecting the frail figure of a woman.
"Not to mention the natural strength difference between men and women, it was already extremely difficult for you to resist when he was abusing you. So how could you possibly kill him?"
Zhao Jiamin followed Jiang Chenyi's words and fell into deep thought.
And the more she thought, the more despair she felt.
"Then what should I do? I have no way out! As long as he's around, not only me, but Xiao Rui will also be controlled by him for the rest of her life!"
If it were just her being controlled, Zhao Jiamin could endure it. But not her daughter Xiao Rui. She knew very well how despicable and disgusting Zhou Wei was. With him around, Xiao Rui would definitely not have a good life!
At this moment, Jiang Chenyi suddenly leaned closer to her and stared directly into her eyes: "What exactly does he have on you?"
Otherwise, with her fame, all she needed to do was report the domestic violence to the police, and this marriage would definitely end.
Zhao Jiamin remained silent.
After a while, she let out a laugh, which soon turned into loud, uncontrollable laughter. Her face wounds reopened, and blood mixed with tears.
Jiang Chenyi didn't comfort her and just watched quietly until she had vented all her emotions.
After some time, she finished crying with her strength seemingly drained. Holding her daughter and leaning against the bed, she began to recount the foolish things she had done in the past.
"He said he wanted to capture me at my most beautiful." And she believed him, so she let him take the photos.
"He said it was just for his own viewing and not to be shared." She believed that too, but later found out that more than just Zhou Wei had seen them.
"He said if I didn't obey, these photos would be spread all over the internet." Zhao Jiamin's face remained calm as she spoke these words.
If she were the only victim, she wouldn't mind going down with him.
At worst, she could retire from acting and live a quiet life in the countryside.
"If it were just me, I wouldn't be afraid. At worst, it's just death." Zhao Jiamin's eyes were bright; she truly wasn't afraid of death.
But she had a weakness now—her precious daughter, Xiao Rui.
Xiao Rui's full name is Zhou Rui, but Zhao Jiamin couldn't stand hearing the surname Zhou, because it was Zhou Wei's Zhou.
"I thought his cruelty, his disgust and his brutality would only be directed at me. Xiao Rui is his daughter and he is her father. There's a blood bond between them, so he would surely have some fatherly affection for her."
But she underestimated Zhou Wei's lack of conscience.
She was foolishly naive to think he was still human.
"He's a beast!" Zhao Jiamin's eyes once again turned fierce, like a tigress protecting her cub after seeing it harmed.
"When Xiao Rui was seven, he took some photos and that's how he controlled me."
She could sacrifice her own reputation, but not her daughter's.
She was still so young!
Would her daughter have to live in seclusion with her for the rest of her life? What if someone recognized her when she grew up and dug up those photos again?
Zhao Jiamin wasn't willing to gamble on that possibility!
"We once had a very warm and happy time together."
Back then, they were truly happy.
So, when his true nature was revealed, Zhao Jiamin's first reaction was disbelief. She even wondered if he was sick.
"I was such a fool..." She covered her face with her hands.
After a good cry, she now found herself unable to shed any more tears.
Jiang Chenyi looked at the little girl in her arms.
The child was probably not even ten years old, with rosy cheeks and delicate features that resembled Zhao Jiamin's, as seen on Baidu Encyclopedia. In fact, she was even more refined and was destined to grow into a stunning beauty.
Then he glanced at the still unconscious fat man before quickly averting his gaze, afraid that looking too long would hurt his eyes.
"I don't know who you are, nor do I understand what you mean by 'commission,' but if you can help me..."
Zhao Jiamin knelt down with a thud in front of Jiang Chenyi with her gaze resolute as she said, "As long as you can ensure Xiao Rui grows up safe and sound, I don't care if it costs me my life."
Along the way, she had witnessed his extraordinary abilities.
Surely... he must have a way to resolve her predicament.
As for the cost? It didn't matter!
She was willing to give up anything except her daughter.
Jiang Chenyi sighed inwardly.
Indeed... the clients who could bring commissions to the supermarket were usually those willing to stake their lives.
He could hardly imagine what would have happened to the child named Xiao Rui if he hadn't come.
Would Zhao Jiamin have gone completely mad upon waking up and turning into a murderer?
Jiang Chenyi's eyes turned completely golden.
In his vision, Zhao Jiamin was surrounded by a faint golden light, a sign of the accumulated virtue passed down from her ancestors and the charity work she had done in the past.
Unfortunately, this Merit hadn't helped her see her partner's true nature when she married.
Still, it wasn't all bad news.
While Zhao Jiamin didn't have much Merit, what she needed wasn't overly expensive.
At least, it wasn't as costly as the 50,000 Merit Points required for Luo Qiuming and Zhang Miaomiao.
"So, what exactly is your request?"
Did she want the leverage over her and her daughter to disappear? Or to completely cut ties with Zhou Wei and live free from his interference?
Or perhaps, make Zhou Wei forget about this entirely?
Jiang Chenyi narrowed his eyes with his mind racing through the various items in the supermarket.
Some were well-suited for Zhao Jiamin and her daughter, with excellent effects but they required a significant amount of Merit Points, more than Zhao Jiamin could currently afford.
Zhao Jiamin had no idea what Jiang Chenyi was thinking.
Faced with his question, she fell into silence once again.
The two of them had been at the hotel for over half an hour.
Just as Zhao Jiamin was pondering how to handle the situation, the phone on the bed suddenly started buzzing loudly.
Zhao Jiamin was startled by the noise and instinctively hugged her daughter tightly.
Jiang Chenyi leaned over to look and chuckled upon seeing the name on the screen: "It's Zhou Wei."
Hearing Zhou Wei's name, Zhao Jiamin's expression momentarily turned fierce but she quickly suppressed it.
After the phone vibrated for a minute, it fell silent.
Only after the phone stopped ringing did Jiang Chenyi remember the footage he had recorded earlier.
He handed the phone to Zhao Jiamin: "This recording might be helpful to you."
"Your husband sold your daughter to me..."
"Thirty million..."
This was the scene of her confrontation with the fat man after she barged in and clearly captured Zhou Wei selling her daughter.
"Just this... isn't enough."
As evidence, it was far from sufficient because she knew very well that the thirty million wasn't transferred through a bank account but was part of Zhou Wei's project.
Moreover, a single statement alone wasn't enough to convict someone.
Zhao Jiamin's mind was racing.
She placed her daughter in Jiang Chenyi's arms and then stripped the unconscious fat man lying on the floor completely.
Jiang Chenyi didn't know what she was planning to do, but the sight was too graphic for him, so he decided it was best to avoid looking.
He simply carried the little girl into the bathroom to wait.
Soon, he heard the sound of a camera flash, and he vaguely guessed what Zhao Jiamin was up to.
If some compromising photos could threaten her, they could also threaten others, especially those public figures who cared about their reputation.
She searched for information about the fat man and, after learning his identity and workplace, slowly exhaled a breath of relief.
Zhao Jiamin's hands were trembling slightly.
What she was about to do next was something even she couldn't guarantee would succeed.
Jiang Chenyi's words echoed in her mind: What did she really want?
She wanted to destroy all photos related to her daughter and ensure that Zhou Wei stayed far away from her daughter, preferably never seeing her again.
For the latter, she needed some help, but for the former... she could try right now.