Chapter 267 - Shenzhen - Five Images
The two women looked at each other in tacit understanding. Xiu Mei nodded at her.
"I’ll open it." She volunteered. With Lee In’s other arm still bleeding, she reached out to grab the box from her hand.
Her hand trembled a little bit the moment she placed her other hand on top of the box to lift it open. All Albert’s previous present were full of eccentricity and creepiness. She was even suspecting that maybe this was a bottle of blood since he had been continuously sending her stuff dyed with blood which was super scary and creepy.
She lifted it open and saw multiple polaroids inside.
Pictures?
She looked at it puzzledly and reached out to check all the images. Because it was all faced upside down, she grabbed and turned it over to see what was on the other side.
Xiu Mei’s eyes widened as her breath hitched. She gasped, stunned to see the pictures she saw in front of her.
There were five photos in her hand.
It was her, her mother in her military uniform, Lu Chen, her eldest brother and.... Lu Qiang.
Xiu Mei’s hand trembled that she almost dropped the polaroids. She sensed a foreboding approaching.
How... when did he became aware of her son’s existence?
All the photos weren’t of high quality and looks like it was taken with an old camera. And each photo were captured in their daily activities.
Hers was taken when she she was returning home. It was a picture of her climbing off the car after it was parked in their home garage.
Her mom’s was a side view photo of her in a military uniform and it looks like she was in a military base.
Lu Chen’s was a bit darker and scary. It was a picture of him walking out in some kind of dark narrow alley. She couldn’t recognize where it was so she assumed it may be somewhere in the underground city.
Her eldest brother’s picture were taken somewhere crowded. He was carrying something like a bag, and Xiu Mei thought that it looked somehow familiar.
And lastly, her son’s.
It was a picture of him playing basketball with his friends at school.
Xiu Mei’s heart tightened in fear as soon as she saw Lu Qiang’s picture. She even felt dizzy and almost fainted on the spot just by thinking if something terrible happens to her son.
She halted her train of thoughts as she panicked and immediately contacted a teacher in Ku Qiang’s school. After confirming that Lu Qiang was in class and doing some drawing along with his classmates, Xiu Mei felt her heart that was hanging by a thread and was relieved when she knew that her son was fine.
But not for so long.
Lee In also saw the five images as well and messaged Lu Shao. She immedistely informed him to tighten Young Master Lu Qiang’s security as his existence have now been known by Albert Chen.
That person was too bold that he even dared to explode a car to create a means of escape for him.
Other than the Madame and the Young Master, Lee In deemed the rest to be capable of handling themselves.
Putting back the phone down, her eyes caught on something as she peeked at the photos again.
"Isn’t this yesterday?" Lee In blurted out.
Xiu Mei’s sight followed the picture she was pointing at. It was the date stamped on the photos indicating the exact date and time when the photo was captured.
All of the dates on the photos were fairly recent but her eldest brother’s. The date indicated was yesterday’s date.
Xiu Mei frowned. Yesterday?
She wasn’t usually aware of her older brothers’ schedule, most especially the eldest one since his travels are usually work related so his locations are usually classified.
She tried to contact her brother through his phone but it says it was unavailable. After trying for a couple more times, she switched to contacting her other brother instead. He was also useless and replied that he didn’t know where he was.
Xiu Mei stared at her phone again before dialing her husband’s number this time. The last time she remembered, he was meeting his eldest brother recently for their investigations. So maybe there’s a chance that he knows where her eldest brother was at the moment.
She was just about to press the call button when Lu Chen’s name suddenly flashed on her mobile screen. She quickly slid the accept call button and placed her mobile on her ear.
"Wife, are you okay?!" His voice sounded very worried.
"I’m fine. We’re all fine since we were able to get out there quickly." She said straightforwardly and even assured him that they aren’t around that area anymore.
She heard him sigh in relief on the other side of the call. Xiu Mei would usually felt moved by his worry, but she was more occupied with other important stuff to worry about and had no time to chat with her husband.
"Chen Chen, do you know where my brother went to yesterday? He’s not answering his phone." She asked.
Lu Chen stopped. He found her question strange even though it sounded as if she was just a normal question about a younger sibling looking for her brother.
But this was Xiu Mei. And she was asking about Xiu Min whom she knew so well. And she was asking him about Xiu Min’s whereabouts?
Why was she suddenly asking him that? And of all people, she was asking him?
Is there another thing going on?
So instead of answering her, he returned a question.
"Why are you looking for him?"
Xiu Mei knew Lu Chen was suspicipus and immediately caught that something was going on. She could only sigh and started explaining her side.
"I received another gift from Albert. We met him at the parking lot here in Shenzhen."
As soon as she finished her words, the sound of something falling echoed on the other side. Before she could ask what that was all about, Lu Chen spoke first.
"That bastard appeared there?!" Lu Chen said in between his gritted teeth. He almost ordered someone to book him a flight ticket to Shenzhen right at this moment if it weren’t for the fact that he remembered thay Xiu Mei mentioned that they already got out of that place.
Still, knowing that pyscho was in the same city with his wife, he really wanted to fly to her side right now to personally protect her.
He was already planning multiple ways to torture that psychotic bastard in his mind when the sound of her wife cut off his thoughts.
"Yeah. But that’s not the focus here so listen to me. He gave me another present, and I opened it just now. There’s five pictures inside -- mine, mom’s, elder brother’s, yours and Qiang Qiang’s."
Lu Chen blanked out for a split second when he heard her say that a picture of Lu Qiang was included in it.
"All of it are stamped with dates that are fairly recent but eldest brother’s was the latest one. It was just taken yesterday. I can’t figure out where he is based from the photo and I can’t contact him at all.
I doubt that Albert sent me these photos without any reason behind it. Mom is still in the military barracks and Lee In already contacted Lu Shao for Qiang Qiang. I know you’re at your work and I have Lee In with me. I’m worried about my elder brother and that something might happen to him. Since he just got out of the hospital after getting badly wounded, I wanted to at least warn him just in case.
So tell me, do you know where my eldest brother is now?"
Lu Chen listened carefully at his wife’s lengthy explanation. And the two have the same opinions that Albert was surely up to something again by giving them this images.
"Last time before the stock trading incident, he said he was going to start now. Then the stock trade suspension happened after that so he must have another plan in mind again." Xiu Mei continued.
"I’ll contact Xiu Min." He dodged her question. Xiu Mei was hesitant in asking him any further where her elder brother was since he usually travels for work. So she dropped the question and let Lu Chen contact him instead.
"Okay. Thank you." She entrusted her husband since for sure, he knowd a different way to contact him.
"Give Lee In the box and the photos. She’ll know what to do." Lu Chen said.
"Okay."
"Don’t stray from Lee In’s side from now on. Since that bastard is in that same city with you, who knows what he’ll do. I can send Lu Shao there to take over for you instead so you can quickly return here."
"No! No! No! I can do it. I can handle it. No need to have Lu Shao fly over here."
" But wife, remember your current situation there. There’s Albert and... you have another little one to worry about in your tummy. What if something happens to you?"
I might not be able to take it, were the words he left unsaid.