Chapter 30: 030 The So-called General’s Demeanor
The next morning, the moment Pei Ningle woke up, she felt hunger in her stomach.
The young girl rubbed her belly and instinctively wanted to brush her teeth and wash her face, but upon entering the restroom and turning on the faucet, she remembered that the tap water here had long been cut off.
She could only take a bottle of mineral water, rinse her mouth several times as a substitute for brushing teeth, then splash some water on her face as washing her face.
As for breakfast, she could only drink a few more mouthfuls of water, trying to fill up on water. This way, at least the hunger wouldn’t feel so intense.
Then Pei Ningle came to the living room and saw Wang Heng still lying on the sofa, sleeping soundly.
Birdsong and insect chirps came from outside the window, full of vitality, yet they made the young girl particularly melancholy. She could faintly hear the sound of cars passing by, but the source of that sound was too far from here, too far to hope for.
She sat on the sofa armrest, looking down at Wang Heng’s sleeping face. After a long time, the young girl stomped her feet and made up her mind.
“We can’t just starve to death in here. Good luck, trying more won’t make it worse!”
Pei Ningle came to the window side and pushed hard on the anti-theft bar outside the window. Those iron bars as thick as thumbs were already covered in rust spots, yet solid to the point of despair. She held her breath again, pushing with all her strength, but it still didn’t budge.
In this house, besides the living room window, the bedroom, kitchen, and toilet each had a window. The toilet’s window was too small to consider for now, and the kitchen and bedroom windows also had anti-theft bars.
After futilely probing around with her hands, Pei Ningle searched the house for tools. But soon she discovered that the house had been cleaned out quite thoroughly. Not to mention crowbars or the like, she couldn’t even find a small knife or a needle. Besides empty mineral water bottles, there were just some plastic trash and such; nothing else seemed to be there…
After wandering around the house for who knows how long, the young girl suddenly heard Wang Heng’s calm voice:
“What are you doing?”
Pei Ningle turned around and stared at him, but found no trace of panic on his face. Seeing his expression, the young girl’s emotions steadied a bit.
She said, “I’m looking for something that can smash the window.”
Wang Heng smiled. “Brother Song locked us in here precisely because he’s certain we can’t get out. Even if there were usable tools here originally, he’s not a fool; he’d definitely take them away in advance.”
Pei Ningle retorted, “Then do you have any ideas?”
Wang Heng: “Didn’t I say yesterday? Just wait. Anyway, he doesn’t dare to tear up the ticket.”
“Just wait like this?” This answer naturally couldn’t convince Pei Ningle. The young girl, who had just calmed down a bit, couldn’t help but widen her eyes again, hands on hips, looking like she wanted to get angry but had nowhere to vent her fury.
She certainly understood that falling into this unsolvable trap was entirely her own responsibility; Wang Heng was dragged down by her, and it was already quite decent of him not to lash out at her. But understanding was one thing; the young girl had a chest full of indignation with nowhere to vent, which was really uncomfortable.
Seeing this, Wang Heng knew it wouldn’t do to not soothe her a bit. So he took out his mobile phone, made a shushing gesture, then typed a few words in the phone and handed it to her.
Pei Ningle looked at the mobile phone screen and saw this sentence on the unsent text message page: 【Don’t make a sound, there’s still a bug in this house, but no camera. I can confirm that.】
Meeting the young girl’s puzzled gaze, Wang Heng nodded quite firmly.
Brother Song’s actions last night actually proved this point. That opening line of the negotiation, “How do you know I won’t tear up the ticket,” was enough to prove the bug’s existence. And if there was still a camera, that guy wouldn’t have bothered trying to negotiate at all.
Pei Ningle thought for a moment, took the mobile phone, deleted that sentence, typed a few words, and handed it back.
【So what should we do?】
【Don’t worry, I’ve already called the police.】
【When?】
【Yesterday afternoon, I told a friend that if I don’t contact them, call the police.】
Seeing this sentence, the young girl finally let out a long breath, her whole body relaxing a lot.
But soon, she had a new worry. She leaned on Wang Heng’s shoulder and whispered into his ear: “Are you sure the police can find this place? It’s such a remote spot…”
Wang Heng instinctively shrank his neck and dodged away.
Then he took back the mobile phone, thought for a moment, and typed another sentence: 【When I called the police, I included that car’s license plate. Rest assured, the police will find us in less than two days.】
Seeing this, Pei Ningle was almost in tears, nearly biting Wang Heng’s ear: “You’re not lying to me?”
Wang Heng typed 【Of course】 on the mobile phone. But before he could hand it over, he realized Pei Ningle had already hugged him. Finally seeing hope of rescue, the girl’s tears were about to spill over.
He found an excuse to break free and whispered in the young girl’s ear: “I need to use the toilet, let go of me.”
Pei Ningle obediently let go and watched him enter the toilet.
Wang Heng not only closed the toilet door but also locked it from inside. However, he didn’t actually relieve himself; instead, he took the gray hamster out of his trouser pocket, held it in front of him, and stayed silent for a few seconds.
The hamster said in a thin voice: “There’s no bug in the toilet, rest assured.”
Wang Heng asked in a low voice: “Did you scratch me in the pocket just now?”
The administrator mister raised his little head: “You’ve been in this predicament for so long, why didn’t you ask me for help?”
“Because I don’t think there’s life danger. That Brother Song doesn’t have the resolve to see blood at all. A kid like Pei Ningle can’t tell, but I can. Factoring in mental age and rounding up, I’m a thirty-year-old uncle.”
Wang Heng suddenly felt it was a pity he didn’t smoke; otherwise, lighting one up now and exhaling a puff of mist thick with vicissitude might give him a real mature uncle vibe.
At this moment, the administrator mister said again: “I have to admit, your judgment is correct. The police will arrive within today.”
Wang Heng’s smile widened at the corners of his mouth: “You guarantee it?”
“Yeah, I can remind you. No need to be so cowardly in the future. I already said my time-space privileges are tied to your life, so I won’t sit by and watch you die. Whether it’s amateur kidnappers like this time or the girls you’ll encounter later, if there’s real life danger, I’ll definitely remind you.”
The administrator mister patted his little chest, looking very cute, though how reliable these words were, who could say.
Wang Heng didn’t argue with him, just nodded to show he understood, then put him back in his pocket and actually used the toilet.
Since the water was long cut off, the toilet’s flush button was just for show. Wang Heng used a bottle of mineral water to flush the toilet, washed his hands, shook them dry, and leisurely walked back to the living room to sit down.
The Pei Ningle beside him couldn’t help but exclaim: “You’re really not nervous at all…”
Wang Heng smiled: “This is what they call the demeanor of a great general.”
————
