As the phone rang and vibrated, the caller displayed on the screen was Chongzong Uesugi.

Usually, Hayami would be happy because in such an emergency situation, Chongzong was the first person to think of him.

But now, Hayami felt like a fish bone stuck in his throat, even guilty.

Chongzong trusted him so much, and yet he had already betrayed Chongzong.

"Why are you just standing there? Answer the phone and put it on speaker!" (Uhaku)

"You should already know what to say, right? Act dumb as much as possible to get more information out of them." (Uhaku)

Uhaku noticed Hayami's hesitation, which further confirmed her suspicions. Although she hadn't seen the screen of Hayami's phone, she was 99% sure that the call was from Chongzong Uesugi, whom she was looking for.

But Hayami was still hesitating, hoping that Chongzong would hang up quickly.

"Don't think of playing tricks! If you don't answer, I'll shoot!" (Uhaku)

Realizing that Hayami was waiting for the call to end, Uhaku also became nervous. She rudely pointed the gun directly at Hayami's mother's temple.

Fearing that if Uhaku impulsively pulled the trigger, Hayami had no choice but to answer the call and put it on speaker.

Afterwards, with a guilty conscience, Hayami talked with Chongzong and pretended to be ignorant, blaming Chongzong.

Although Hayami tried to avoid revealing Chongzong's whereabouts in his words, in the end, he followed Uhaku's intentions and obtained information about Chongzong's next move.

——Take care, Uesugi.

Hayami silently prayed for him in his heart.

"I've said what you wanted, are you satisfied now? Can you let go of her?" (Hayami)

Hayami questioned Uhaku, his tone filled with obvious anger.

"Not so fast, not so fast. You kept me here for so many days, and I'm here with you for less than an hour, hasn't your mother taught you the basic manners of being hospitable?" (Uhaku)

As Uhaku spoke, she kicked Hayami's mother as well.

She did it on purpose. She wanted to see how Hayami would react when angry. As long as she held the gun to his mother, he would have to behave himself obediently, not daring to say a word.

"You continue to kneel, and put your phone on the table." (Uhaku)

Uhaku ordered smugly.

Hayami, with no other choice, complied. In this situation, he had no way to turn the situation around.

"Yes, and then put your hands behind your head, don't think of any tricks." (Uhaku)

Uhaku stared at Hayami for a while, confirmed there was no threat, maintained the posture of holding the gun with one hand, and took out a phone to make a call.

"Hello, it's me, that high school student, Chongzong Uesugi. He's on his way back home now, this time, make sure you don't mess it up again, got it?!" (Uhaku)

"If you mess up again this time, not only your lives, but also the lives of your family members will be at stake." (Uhaku)

"Mr. Bai's actions are well known to all of you." (Uhaku)

With that, Uhaku hung up the phone.

There is a habit that people have, which is to take another look at the screen when hanging up the phone, to confirm that the call has been disconnected.

This habit has persisted from the era of feature phones to the age of smartphones.

In some special situations, such as when driving or when busy with something else, this process might be naturally ignored due to the focus being elsewhere.

But when people are relaxed and not busy, this is a common habit.

At the beginning of the call, Uhaku had been alert to Hayamizu, so she automatically skipped this step.

However, just now, in a moment when she had become accustomed to the space, the interaction, and believed she had complete control, she ended the call and unconsciously glanced at her phone screen.

It was just over a second, less than two seconds.

But in that instant, Eiji Hayamizu, who seemed to have given up all resistance, suddenly sprang up and lunged towards Uhaku.