Chapter 286: Mr. Control, Mo Jingshen
The middle-aged scar man took a cold look at Ji Nuan and turned around to say some words to his men. The other men immediately ran out to check out what happened outside.
Several minutes later, they ran in. Obviously, they were not all Cambodians, and most of them were gangsters from all over the world. They spoke Cambodian and broken English when they talked to each other.
But Ji Nuan heard these men called the middle-aged scar man Aqib respectfully. It seemed that this Aqib was the leader of the gang. Even if he was not the leader, he must be an important figure.
She finally got some clues from their broken English.
"It was a fisherman from a nearby village who went hunting in the forests, stepped on the minefields and blew up, so the sirens went off just now. The XI base men outside the forests hadn't taken any action yet."
With a straight face, Aqib didn't pay any more attention to the man who just came in and reported to him, and turned his eyes to the two men who came in behind Ji Nuan, asking, "Did you capture this woman?"
The two men immediately answered respectfully, "Yes."
Aqib seemed not to be satisfied with their answer and asked with a frown, "Why?"
The pudgy man hurriedly said, "This woman was not with the XI base people but was sneaking around Tonlé Sap Lake. We suspected her, so we knocked her unconscious and brought her back."
"Women are never allowed to enter XI base. Have you found out where she comes from? Who sent her here?"
The pudgy man paused and hummed and hawed for quite a while before he finally said, "She looks like a tourist to a village near Tonlé Sap Lake. Cambodia has seen a lot of tourists in recent years. This woman looks fragile and brought nothing with her. She can't be related to the XI base. Maybe she was caught by us by mistake..."
Aqib snorted, sat down on a chair, took another glance at Ji Nuan, and frowned before he asked the old woman a few words in Cambodian.
The old woman took Ji Nuan's hand and said a few more words to him, trying to convince him that Ji Nuan was mute, but he still stared at Ji Nuan suspiciously and said a few words coldly. Then someone came up and pulled Ji Nuan out of the cabin.
They took her out and began to frisk her!
These creepy-looking and dark-skinned men dragged her into a tent and were about to tear her clothes off. Ji Nuan struggled hard in terror. At this moment, the old woman came in. She glared at them and said something, and then these men walked out of the tent reluctantly.
The old woman came to frisk Ji Nuan and carefully searched her from inside out. Then the old woman looked at her in satisfaction, helped her put on her clothes, and untied the rope binding her hands.
Ji Nuan's hands were finally free, but she knew she couldn't rashly run out. She had a feeling that the old woman seemed to feel that she was of some use and therefore protected her.
She couldn't escape, so she had to bide her time.
—-
As Ji Nuan expected, this woman was a nanny hired by Aqib. She had been taking care of these gangsters for years. She cooked and mended clothes for them. Although she just did housekeeping jobs, she was aged and took good care of these people, so she was trusted and somewhat respected by them.
The old lady was now in poor health and had little energy for work. She found out that Ji Nuan could cook, so she let Ji Nuan cook and wash clothes with her.
After a sleepless night, Ji Nuan was taken to Aqib again by the old woman the next day. By then, she had been forced by the old woman to change into a white dress of the sort often worn by women on Cambodian farms, with no pockets from top to bottom.
The old woman said something to Aqib in Cambodian. From the way Aqib and his men suddenly looked at Ji Nuan, she could figure out that the old woman was suggesting them to keep Ji Nuan here to work for them and have someone follow her and keep an eye on her at all times to make sure she didn't do anything that threatened them. The old woman probably had mentioned that Ji Nuan was a pretty woman who could cook. They would have no loss keeping her here. The way they looked at her became more and more intolerable to her.
Ji Nuan kept her head down and didn't speak, as if she could not read their expressions or understand their words. She just held the dishes she had just cooked with the old woman and put them on the table. Then she lowered her head and grabbed her white dress in her hand as if she were scared and nervous. She was so quiet as if she didn't even exist and would not disturb them.
Unlike his men who were staring at Ji Nuan lasciviously, Aqib still looked at her coldly and suddenly said in English to his men, "Don't kill her for now and let her work here. Dali, follow her from now on, and if she does anything suspicious, kill her."
The young, strong, and dark man named Dali nodded.
Aqib could have told Dali this in Cambodian, but he used English. Apparently, he was warning Ji Nuan.
This man was still suspicious of her. It seemed that it was not easy for her to escape from here.
She kept her head down as if she had heard nothing.
After Aqib tasted the food she made, he looked at her thoughtfully for a moment and then turned to speak to one of his men in English, "Mr. Control hasn't eaten for three days, has he? Let her cook for Mr. Control. The food she cooked tastes good. He might eat it."
Who is Mr. Control?
Subconsciously, Ji Nuan thought that the person whom Aqib called by the code of Mr. Control could never be simple.
The old woman obviously didn't expect that Aqib would have Ji Nuan, whom he didn't trust at all, to send person food to that person, so she asked him a few words incredulously. Aqib glared at her and turned to Dali, "Dali, take her to bring the food to Mr. Control."
Dali nodded and signaled Ji Nuan with his eyes to follow him out.
She didn't know what they were going to do, but for the time being, she would have to obey his orders to stay alive. She went back for the meal she had prepared, carefully placed it on a tray, and followed Dali all the way to a particularly secluded area behind the forest.
When they reached a heavily guarded log cabin, Dali looked at her coldly and opened the door to let her in.
She carried the tray into the cabin. The cabin smelled damp and musty too, but as soon as she stepped in, she caught a familiar, refreshing whiff of vegetation.
She froze and then raised her eyes to look into the cabin.