Villain Boss Chapter 180
Translated by Digitalian (ko-fi)
Chapter 180: Walking Into A Trap
After waiting downstairs for nearly an hour, Xie Chengzhi finally saw the familiar figure.
He forced himself to smile and walked forward.
Jiang Ran headed downstairs with a pancake in her mouth, and ran towards the crop experimental base while grabbing her hair.
She ignored Xie Chengzhi who was beside the flower bed.
Xie Chengzhi’s raised hand and smile on his lips froze.
Jiang Ran ran a hundred meters and suddenly heard someone calling her name behind her. She subconsciously stopped and turned around.
Xie Chengzhi? What was he doing here?
After finishing the pancake in her hand, Jiang Ran took out a wet tissue and wiped her fingers slowly.
While waiting for Xie Chengzhi to approach.
Standing in front of Jiang Ran again, the smile on Xie Chengzhi's face disappeared.
He coldly sized up the girl in front of him—from her appearance, he couldn't tell that she was any different from before, except that her eyes were a little sharper...
"Xie Chengzhi." The man stared at her as soon as he arrived, not saying a word. Jiang Ran was in a hurry to get to work. "If you have something to say, say it quickly. If not, I'm leaving."
"Jiang Ranran." The girl's hostility was obvious, and Xie Chengzhi felt an inexplicable sense of annoyance and indignation. "I want to talk to you."
Jiang Ran raised an eyebrow. "About what?" What else could they talk about?
"You..." Because of Yi Xi's words, he had a lot of questions, but facing Jiang Ran's indifferent expression, he suddenly couldn't utter a word. "How have you been recently?"
"Huh?" Jiang Ran suspected that she was hearing things. "What did you say?"
Xie Chengzhi clenched his fingers in frustration, pursed his lips and said nothing.
Noticing his change in expression and recalling the words she had asked Yi Xi to convey, Jiang Ran let out a meaningful smile. "Xie Chengzhi, don't forget, you and Jiang Ranran have broken up. Your girlfriend is Luo Rui, and she's suffering in the base’s dungeon right now. You're not coming to me hoping to rekindle our past relationship, are you?"
Her sarcasm made his cheeks flush red, and Xie Chengzhi glared at her. "You're overthinking it, Jiang Ranran."
He turned to leave angrily. "You’re on your own. Goodbye!"
You’re on your own... It seemed like more than one person had said that to her.
Jiang Ran shrugged, dismissing his warning.
Xie Chengzhi had come to her simply to confirm Yi Xi's true meaning.
Unfortunately, she wouldn't tell him the answer.
……
When Shen Youyou woke up, the apartment was empty.
The little girl got up, washed up, and walked into the living room. Breakfast was already set on the table. She climbed onto a chair and began to devour it.
Before she could finish breakfast, there was a knock on the living room door. The little girl glanced back, licked the grease from her fingertips, and jumped off the chair to open the door.
"Youyou." Zheng Li smiled gently at the door. "Senior Mr. Shen asked me to pick you up."
Shen Youyou's eyes blinked, and after a long moment of thought, she nodded.
She followed Zheng Li, closing the door behind her, not forgetting to check the place once more before leaving.
……
Jiang Ran stopped in her tracks when she encountered Su Qin, who had been waiting for a long time at the base’s gate.
"Captain Qin, are you waiting for me?"
Su Qin smiled. "Yes, I’m waiting for you."
She pulled Jiang Ran to the side of the gate to avoid blocking other people's way.
"Ranran, are you free after work today?"
Jiang Ran nodded. "I’m free."
"Have you seen Yaoyao recently?"
At the mention of Shen Yao, Jiang Ran realized that she hadn't seen her for a while.
"The last time we met... was the day the laboratory was attacked."
Su Qin frowned. "Me too. I've been asking her out recently, but she seems unwell and keeps refusing me. She wasn't like this before."
"She’s unwell?" Jiang Ran was puzzled. "If Sister Yaoyao isn’t feeling well, Si Xu should know."
But she had never heard Si Xu mention it.
"That's why I'm finding it strange," Su Qin said. "As you know, Shen Yao can't cook. She used to eat in the cafeteria, but she hasn't been going there lately. I'm really worried she'll starve to death at home."
A thought struck Jiang Ran and she pondered. "Why don’t we go to Sister Yaoyao's house together after I get off work?"
"Hey, that's exactly what I was thinking!"
Someone in the distance called out, "Captain Qin." Su Qin glanced at her watch and said hurriedly, "I have meetings. I got a sudden notice today to attend two meetings, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. It's so annoying—I'll come find you after the meetings and we'll go to Shen Yao's house together."
Jiang Ran agreed, "Okay."
……
Because Qi Yao was gone, her work fell to Jiang Ran as well. As soon as Jiang Ran arrived at the studio, she was busy all day long, leaving no time to think about Shen Yao.
Finally getting off work, Jiang Ran sorted out the data and information she had collected and handed it to her team leader. It was already past seven o'clock when she left the base.
Su Qin hadn't arrived yet.
"Is she still in the meeting?"
Bored waiting at the gate, she started counting the floor tiles to pass the time.
After walking around twice, someone tugged at her sleeve. Jiang Ran turned around and saw Shen Youyou standing behind her, her delicate fair hands tightly grasping her sleeve.
"Youyou?" Jiang Ran turned around and leaned over to ask her, "Why are you here? Are you hungry?"
This child only tried to express her wishes to others when she was hungry or saw delicious food.
The little girl shook her head and tugged at her sleeve, leading her out.
"Where are you going, Youyou?" Jiang Ran stopped after a few steps. "I still have to wait for someone. Is there something wrong? Are you hungry? Or are you not feeling well?"
The little girl shook her head again and continued to tug at her, pointing in a direction. "Over there."
Jiang Ran looked in the direction she pointed. "North gate? What's going on over there?"
"Someone, waiting for you."
Someone was waiting for her at the north gate? Jiang Ran tried to get more information. "Who's waiting for me?"
"Your, family."
Her family? Jiang Ran speculated, "Marshal Shen?"
"No."
"Sister Yaoyao?"
"No."
Jiang Ran hesitated. "Shen Yang?"
The girl looked at her and nodded.
It was indeed Shen Yang.
Si Xu had said that Shen Youyou was a puppet developed by the Shen family.
Hence, Shen Yang was considered Shen Youyou's master.
No wonder he arranged for Shen Youyou to come find her.
Jiang Ran followed the little girl to the north gate. "Why is Eldest Brother asking to see me? Could it be about Sister Yaoyao?"
Shen Youyou walked quickly, leading her around the crowd and reaching the gate of the north city wall in no time.
Jiang Ran held her hand and looked around. "Youyou, where’s Eldest Brother?"
As soon as she finished speaking, she found her palm empty—the little girl had let go of her hand and taken two steps back.
Jiang Ran was still confused when she suddenly felt a pain in the back of her neck and collapsed uncontrollably to the ground.
In her final moments of consciousness, she saw the little girl squatting in front of her, her clear eyes reflecting her figure without any emotion.
……
Unexpectedly, the meeting lasted from four in the afternoon until after seven. Su Qin slumped over the table, feeling hopeless. She glanced at Si Xu, who looked as expressionless as a robot, and sighed.
She had originally wanted to find time to visit Yaoyao with Ranran, but she didn't know what time it would be after the meeting ended.
If it was late at night, Seventh Brother definitely wouldn't let Ranran go.
It seemed like she'd have to wait until tomorrow.
"Sigh." The girl sighed deeply.
At the main seat, Shen Lang was still discussing future plans in a serious manner.
Suddenly, alarms blared throughout the base.
Each siren was like the alarm bells of doom.
There were hurried footsteps approaching, and the person didn't even have time to knock, but simply pushed the door open and walked in.
"Marshal Shen! Bad news! The north gate has been opened, and a horde of zombies has broken in!"
