“Wen Ying!”
Deng Shangwei disapproved of Wen Ying so casually asking about Boss Qin’s wealth.
Boss Qin didn’t mind. “Shangwei, let Wen Ying keep talking. It’s good she has her own ideas. Don’t interrupt her.”
Not only did Boss Qin encourage her, he also answered her question seriously.
If Qin Jiao were kidnapped and Yu Wenhao demanded cash ransom, even if Boss Qin were willing to drain his fortune to save his daughter, pulling it off would be tough.
Businessmen keep some cash at home, but not a ton.
Right now, Boss Qin’s safe held a million in cash.
Beyond that, give him three days, and he could pull ten million from the bank. If he asked friends to chip in, another twenty million in three days wouldn’t be a problem.
Boss Qin was well-off, but most of his money was tied up in business. Annual profits went into other investments, not just sitting in a bank collecting interest.
A million or two was no issue to move, but big sums needed prep time.
That kind of prep wasn’t measured in days, but months or even years. Moving hundreds of millions instantly? That’s either a mega-tycoon or their money manager.
The former’s truly rich, the latter’s just flexing with investors’ cash. But Wen Ying hadn’t heard of any kidnapping where the crooks gave victims a month to gather ransom. Kidnappers bank on the chaos of short time gaps. Wait a month, and the cops would’ve cracked the case—no ransom left to claim!
Wen Ying mulled it over.
“So if Yu Wenhao kidnapped Qin Jiao Jie, to avoid getting caught, he’d need the money fast. Uncle Qin, you could only scrape together thirty million for him. No secret stays hidden forever. If he took thirty million from you, even without showing his face, you’d track him down eventually. He couldn’t stay in Rongcheng, or even the country—he’d have to flee abroad with the cash. But I don’t think Yu Wenhao would risk it for thirty million. It’s not enough for him, maybe not even to clear his debts. Fleeing abroad, how would he keep up his lavish life?”
Deng Shangwei sucked in a breath.
His niece’s tone was wild.
Thirty million wasn’t enough?
He doubted Wen Ying could even pull out three thousand.
Well, maybe three thousand—she’d taken ten thousand in “pocket money” from him since arriving in Rongcheng. Half went to Detective Luo for fees, so she probably had some left.
Still, the way she tossed around “thirty million” like it was pocket change cracked Deng Shangwei up. “You’re even planning Yu Wenhao’s escape route now, saying he’d flee abroad? If he’s careful enough, we might not pin it on him. With thirty million, he could live large for years!”
If someone only cared about the moment, spending without saving, thirty million could last Yu Wenhao a good while.
As long as he stayed out of Macau.
In a casino, money’s just chips, not cash.
Plenty of gamblers only snap out of it when the chips are gone. If Yu Wenhao hit Macau again, thirty or forty million wouldn’t last long.
Wen Ying muttered, “Uncle, I’m not planning his escape. Uncle Qin told me to share my thoughts, and this is what I think! Thirty million’s a fortune to me, and to ninety-nine percent of regular folks it’s astronomical. But Yu Wenhao was a billionaire once—thirty million won’t bring back his glory days.”
Would a crook risk kidnapping a tycoon’s daughter just to pay off debts?
Only decent folks with shame lose sleep over owing money. Yu Wenhao wouldn’t blink.
Wen Ying figured he wasn’t just after a quick ransom—he wanted his old shine back.
She wasn’t guessing blindly, she had some basis.
“If Yu Wenhao only wanted to kidnap Qin Jiao Jie for ransom and run, why set up that honey trap on you, Uncle? Doing both at once, he’s got some stamina! They’ve got to be connected. I can’t figure out how, but Uncle Qin and you can.”
Scheming long-term meant bigger stakes.
Recalling her past life, when Deng Shangwei sold off his seafood company post-divorce, Wen Ying suspected Yu Wenhao’s real endgame wasn’t Deng, but Boss Qin.
Sure, a skinny camel’s still bigger than a horse—Yu Wenhao could live better than a salaried stiff on old ties. But at his age, clawing back to the top from scratch was a long shot.
And “Brother Wen,” who’d blown a fortune in Macau, wouldn’t have the patience to rebuild step-by-step. Why not just snatch someone else’s success?
Deng Shangwei’s modest wealth wouldn’t fill Yu Wenhao’s gap.
Boss Qin’s fortune would.
After all, Boss Qin could rustle up thirty million in cash in three days. Even if twenty million was borrowed, people lending that much trusted he could repay!
If Wen Ying tried borrowing, two thousand might be doable with effort. Twenty thousand? Pure daydreams.
Even yelling, “I’m reborn, invest in me, you won’t lose!” folks would just call her nuts.
(╥╯^╰╥)!
If she desperately needed twenty thousand, Deng Shangwei might be her only shot.
Aunt Chen Li would grill her on where it was going.
Deng Shangwei spoiled her more.
Thinking this, Wen Ying flashed him a warm smile. That’s why, in this redo, she kept trying to save Chen Li and Deng Shangwei’s marriage, to pull him from the abyss.
Deng Shangwei was floored.
Wen Ying hadn’t given him a kind look in days.
The Qin father and daughter watched her.
Qin Jiao’s first thought: No wonder Dad wants me to befriend Wen Ying, she’s so sharp!
Second thought: Wang Shuang’s blind as a bat—Wen Ying’s this smart, she doesn’t need to kiss up to anyone.
Boss Qin found it amusing.
What Wen Ying deduced, he’d already pieced together.
But he was how old, and she was what, a teenager?
He couldn’t shake the question: Did Wen Ying really stumble onto Yu Wenhao’s oddities via a PI catching an affair?
Boss Qin felt Deng Shangwei had the timeline and priorities backward. To him, it seemed more like Wen Ying zeroed in on Yu Wenhao deliberately, and the affair was just a bonus.
