Chapter 28
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In the GS|M cellular mobile communication system, the A-GPS system uses the mobile phone location server as an auxiliary server to assist the GPS receiver in completing ranging and positioning services. It is faster than pure base station triangulation and also more accurate.
Li Yan certainly wouldn't know this, nor does he have the authority to ask the mobile network operator for assistance. He had just asked a friend with excellent electronics and hacking skills; they are a group of people. By means of intrusion, they "borrowed" some data. He isn't really sure how long this process would take.
At this moment, Yu Xiaodi, locked in a small dark room, felt the rarity of freedom for the first time. Usually finding life dull and tedious, trying hard to find fun with friends. But now that she has lost her freedom, with no security and her life in danger, she realizes that things were already pretty good. She didn't know how lucky she was.
The proliferation and convenience of electronic devices have made people's memories gradually lazy, giving way to various memory cards. The widespread use of phones made people forget addresses and writing letters, and mobile phones made people forget phone numbers. Now, with her whole bag taken away, she couldn't remember her home or father's phone numbers.
Fortunately, she still had a new little phone on her. It was last week when she used it to record Li Yan's number, preparing to prank call him to wake up at midnight. But that day, he recorded a threatening video, and then saved her once more. Yu Xiaodi didn't dare, nor did she have the nerve, to prank him again. After Li Yan got off the car, she even started seeing this annoying person as a friend.
She also didn't know what kind of mindset she had at the time, she didn't delete Li Yan's number, nor did she enter it into the usual phone, and didn't transfer the card collection over, instead she kept carrying the small temporary phone with her.
Was she thinking of pranking him someday? Or to contact him alone?
She wasn't sure.
Now she's glad she bought the phone with the intent of disposing of it after use; anyway, the money was insignificant to her, so she had a new machine and card set up quickly. If it was just a new card, it would be useless now.
It seems that carrying this phone these days was a premonition of something like this happening. In the small dark room, Yu Xiaodi rationalized it this way to herself.
After dialing Li Yan's number and especially after keeping the call going, her heart settled significantly, feeling as if Li Yan was constantly keeping watch here, which provided her with great support and comfort.
Why does she have such faith in a man she's only seen twice and who isn't fond of her?
She's also a bit puzzled, maybe because he's decent and once saved her.
More than half an hour later, the people outside were done eating, and every little noise made her nerves tense, terrified someone might creep in to violate her and she didn't dare make a sound, anxiously waiting for Li Yan to come. Rationally knowing how difficult it would be for him to find this place, or perhaps he couldn't find it at all, or the phone might be dead, all she could do now was to endure with hope.
She didn't even dare to take out the phone to look, afraid it might be discovered or worse, the call might have been cut off. That would feel like cutting off all hope to her!
...
When driving near the city center, Li Yan received a short message with nothing else but an address, one not too detailed with a road section covering about a junction range. Though finding an imprisoned person in such a vast area wasn't easy, getting this information in such a short time, he couldn't complain.
He immediately drove to that section of the road; accelerating his speed didn't take too long, yet arriving at the stretch of road, Li Yan realized it was harder than imagined. The road had several restaurants and street stalls along the way, surrounded by countless lit residential buildings. Clearly, the kidnappers chose this complex setting, renting an apartment to hide their captive.
Listening for a while to determine no strange sounds, Li Yan softly called out: "Yu Xiaodi… can you hear me?"
"Yu Xiaodi…"
On the sixth call, there was finally a response, a faint voice of Yu Xiaodi struggling through the earphone: "Li Yan! Why haven't you come yet? I'm so scared… every minute feels so long… please hurry!"
Realizing she was less composed and slightly losing her cool, another hour passing by, Li Yan understood and gently assured her: "Listen! I'm here; I'm right downstairs, but I can't be sure which room you're in. Can you see if there's a window in your room?"
"There's no lamp… okay, wait a minute…"
After a while, Yu Xiaodi nervously said, "It's too high… I'd fall to my death jumping out… the window can't be opened either…"
Li Yan was speechless; did she think I was that stupid to ask her to jump out?
"Can you see some light outside? Tell me what you can see directly opposite you, those big billboards if any; if not, look at the opposite downstairs."
Again after some time, Yu Xiaodi said, "...No, no billboards… down below is just a parking lot…"
Li Yan slightly frowned; this was something he had considered. For monitoring the environment below, such temporary rentals indeed likely faced the street. Now since Yu Xiaodi couldn't see it, it meant a large apartment was rented, and she was confined in a room facing the other side.
Glancing around, it was impossible to determine the apartment layout of surrounding residential buildings in such a short time; the breakthrough must be put at that parking lot!
"Be careful and stay alert for any calls; I'll contact you once I'm at that parking lot!"
After saying this, Li Yan quickly drove to a nearby small supermarket, bought a flashlight, then asked a cashier about nearby parking lots and was told one existed in a residential area nearby.
Following the person's direction, Li Yan turned his car to the vicinity of that community; such a community that allows temporary rental naturally wouldn't be too formal, except for having a security booth with a person on duty, nobody asked questions, blocked, and he simply drove in.
Once inside, observing at this time, quite a few cars were already parked. It wasn't a formal parking lot, just activity spaces between a few buildings for owners to park at night.
After parking in the middle, with the car lights on, Li Yan called for Yu Xiaodi.
"I'm at the parking lot now… Can you see my flashlight beam?" For now, Li Yan could only hope the parking lot she saw was this one, otherwise, he'd have to search again.