Chapter 981: Chapter 763: The Final Twist (Part 2)
These specific questions more easily trigger a person’s memory, thereby activating emotional connections.
And a person whose emotional connections are activated—will calm down.
Even Old Zhou could feel a noticeable change in the atmosphere surrounding Old Mo. Compared to the angry beast just now, the person before him was the diligent worker and warm, family-oriented friend he knew.
"Yes, Old Mo, your child is about to be born, right? What does it mean for you to make such a scene now?"
"Would your wife want to see you like this? Would your child want their father to be like this?"
Old Zhou spoke words of persuasion that he and most others in the current scene could think of: "Things haven’t reached a point of no return yet... can you put down the knife? Can you release the young girl? Maybe then everything can still be negotiated!"
This string of words made Nan Zhubin draw a sharp breath, almost unable to resist glancing at Old Zhou.
This man’s actions were really disrupting his negotiation rhythm.
However, fortunately, Nan Zhubin had laid considerable groundwork beforehand, allowing Old Mo to shift his emotions.
At this moment, listening to Old Zhou, Old Mo surprisingly didn’t retort but fell into silence and even began to contemplate.
"Moreover, moreover... Old Mo, think about me. We’ve been friends for so many years." Old Zhou said bitterly, "I’ve been walking around with you these past few days; you doing this... what am I supposed to do?"
"Whether for your family or for me, can you put the knife down?"
Nan Zhubin finally couldn’t resist glancing at Old Zhou.
The issue of disrupted negotiation rhythm persisted.
But at this moment, he couldn’t stop Old Zhou. In this crucial matter, triggering internal chaos could be more fatal after all.
Luckily, Old Zhou’s behavior at this moment wasn’t the best choice in Nan Zhubin’s various plans, but it wasn’t a disaster either.
"Old Zhou..." Seeing Old Mo raise his head and look at his companion with a complex expression.
"Wife, child..." He murmured to himself simultaneously.
He looked around, saw countless fearful eyes, and cameras and cell phones pointed at him.
Everyone present didn’t dare breathe loudly, and Nan Zhubin also stopped at the right moment, refraining from interrupting Old Mo with words.
At the same time, a tall figure finally squeezed through the crowd and came into Nan Zhubin’s view.
Chonghui.
Breathing heavily, this big guy had ensured the safety of many juniors in the project group before finally returning.
Using his physical advantage, he easily squeezed into the position directly behind Old Mo. He intelligently crouched slightly to ensure there were at least two people in front of him as a cover, avoiding being spotted by Old Mo in a random sweep of the view.
Facing such a situation, Chonghui’s handling was already very skillful.
He nodded towards Nan Zhubin, waiting for his signal at that moment.
...
There was a commotion from the back of the crowd again.
The people who first ran out from the cafeteria finally found someone who could "take charge."
The pale HR director and another middle-aged man appeared, and the crowd parted easily, almost squeezing to let them into the inner circle.
"Old Mo, old Mo, you..." From the murmurs in the crowd, Nan Zhubin learned that this middle-aged man was a director from the marketing department.
Two directors, yet no actual leadership from the company came.
The marketing director looked at the kitchen knife in Old Mo’s hand, a bit stunned, but he composed himself quickly and gestured towards Old Mo with the HR director beside him: "This is the leader from human resources... whatever you have to say, say it now. We can talk; we can talk..."
The HR director looked at Shi Chuxin, who had had a face-to-face encounter with her just hours ago, now so embarrassedly pinned on the dining table by a stranger with a knife, her conspicuous lipstick barely hiding her pale lips.
"Yes... we can all talk, please let go of young Shi first."
The situation seemed to be heading in the direction Old Mo hoped, but he abruptly fell silent.
In this silence, barely anyone in the crowd dared to breathe loudly.
Then—
In the sight of hundreds of eyes, Old Mo slowly took a step back.
The cold touch left the neck, leaving a shallow red mark; Shi Chuxin didn’t react immediately. Her whole body was numb, almost losing sensation to the outside world.
After a full three breaths, having lost Old Mo’s support, she finally collapsed to the ground like a puddle of mud, then almost crawled and tumbled into the crowd.
Several nearby female colleagues reached out to comfort Shi Chuxin; the soup-covered Shi Chuxin finally felt a slight warmth returning to her icy body.
She then finally broke down and cried.
"Wooo wooo wooo wooo wooo wooo...!"
In just an hour, too much had happened to her. Even Nan Zhubin couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional at the moment.
From the crowd came sounds of relief; at least there wouldn’t be a bloodshed today.
"That’s right, that’s right," the marketing director’s voice couldn’t help but rise a bit, "that’s how it should be, Old Mo, you’re a long-time employee; everything can be discussed."
Saying this, the marketing director also signaled to a few marketing department employees in the cafeteria with his eyes, seemingly looking for help—but of course, no one responded to his gaze at the moment.
Although he no longer held a hostage, Old Mo still had a knife in his hand now.
These people didn’t understand expressions or situation analysis; they only knew that the person in front of them had acted outside the bounds of rules, and no one could predict what he might do.
What if, after releasing the hostage, he suddenly jumped into the crowd and started indiscriminately harming people?
Nan Zhubin slightly relaxed and couldn’t help but rub his forehead. Just in that little bit, he had used [Flow Mode] and [Memory Palace] an unknown number of times, along with [Emotion Soothing] and [Emotional Infection], far more tiring than doing consultations all morning.
However, without Shi Chuxin as a threat, the following things were simple. At this distance, even if Old Mo acted up, he could use [hypnosis] for a momentary distraction to cooperate with Chonghui to take him down.
Moreover, from his professional viewpoint, Old Mo, who had already been calmed down, should not act impulsively...
"Teacher Nan, it’s not over yet." Suddenly, Nan Zhubin heard a crisp voice behind him.
Xia Tian had somehow squeezed behind Nan Zhubin, lightly poking the young consultant across a distance of two people.
"In cases like these, generally there might still be—" The first half of the sentence was still a soft murmur.
But then, Xia Tian’s volume suddenly rose to an unimaginable level: "—Teacher Nan, look ahead!"
Along with Xia Tian’s voice, Old Mo’s roar echoed.
"Old Zhou—I won’t burden anyone!"
"All of you—watch closely, the company forced me to do this!"
With his roar, Old Mo turned the blade in his hand.
—And slashed down towards his own arm!
...
A bolt of lightning suddenly struck Nan Zhubin’s mind.
Old Mo had indeed been calmed down at that moment.
But after being calmed down, Old Mo turned from harming others to suicide, engaging in a behavior that from an outsider’s perspective appeared extremely impulsive.
For Nan Zhubin, this behavior wasn’t too hard to understand; obedient suicide, calm suicide, thoughtful suicide, they are not uncommon in the psychology field.
However, because it was his first time being involved in such a hostage negotiation, Nan Zhubin hadn’t anticipated that this type of suicide would erupt here and now, in this manner.
Luckily, Xia Tian seemed to have foreseen this, awakening him from his fatigued and dazed thoughts for an instant.
"—Brother!" Nan Zhubin shouted, simultaneously stepping forward.
