“The weak fall prey to the strong. If you’re not capable, you have to give up your seat to others. Isn’t this how the world works? Didn’t you have something to tell me in person? It’s been so long already, tell me.”
The elder replied, “I received information a few days ago. There’s a mystery person who used rocket prices to hire top assassins from here, and they have secretly entered S Nation. They’re heading for you. This news is not verified yet, I’ve sent my men to check. We can’t rule out the possibility that someone’s leaked this fake news. But, Young Master, you ought to bring more men around with you.”
“Heading for me?” Jin Qingyan frowned. Such news reached him every year until he was used to it already. “Elder, be sure to check and tell me.”
“Yes. Young Master, how many days are you intending to stay here for?”
“Three or four days.” He stood up and went on, “I didn’t sleep well last night, I’ll go and get some sleep.”
The elder got up and replied, “Alright.”
After Mei Yangyang had just checked the accounts, Long Tianze’s call came in.
“What’s the matter?”
“I just wanted to tell you, your advertisement will appear on the hottest channel tonight, it’s more than ten seconds long.”
Mei Yangyang was slightly excited. “Umm, got it.”
“Are you at the store?” Long Tianze asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to have lunch later?”
“Okay.”
After she hung up, Mei Yangyang grinned to herself. Xu Jingwen commented, “Sister Yangyang, you were speaking in such a gentle tone just now.”
Mei Yangyang got up and threw her phone into her pocket. “No, I wasn’t.”
“In my opinion, Sister Yangyang — if there’s a hot guy wooing you, you should just accept him. Or else, someone else may strike first.”
“If he can be snatched away, then it’s a good thing for me.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door. “I’m going out to eat, both of you look after the store. When I’m back, you can go out to eat.”
“Okay.”
As the New Year had just passed, both sides of the streets had leftover firecrackers. Mei Yangyang put on her bunny hoodie and kept both her hands inside her sleeves, slowly walking on the pathway.
Not long after, a car horn started sounding.
She turned back to look and realized it was his car.
She walked briskly towards his car window and asked, “How did you come here so quickly?”
“Quick, get on.”
“Okay.” She went around the front of his car and got into the seat beside his.
Long Tianze drove towards a nearby restaurant. Looking at her outfit, he couldn’t help but comment, “You’re already so petite, now you look even more like a little girl.”
“I like it when people treat me like a little girl.” She turned to look at him. “Today, I feel like eating fish with pickled vegetable.”
“What else?”
“Sweet potato balls… but I’ve called my father to get him to fry some for me at home.”
“Guess what I want to eat?” he asked her.
Mei Yangyang predicted his answer, “Don’t say you want to eat me.”
He pulled over the car and reached out to hold her face and kissed it. “You’re right.”
“Are we considered to be in an ambiguous stage?” After being kissed a few times by him, Mei Yangyang did not feel alarmed by it anymore.
“If you agree to be my girlfriend, then we won’t be anymore.”
The two entered the restaurant together.
Jin Qingyue drove by and coincidentally saw this scene. While she was not hungry as she had just eaten, the thought of what that little girl had said before made her stop her car and follow them into the restaurant.
Long Tianze and Mei Yangyang sat at a table in the hallway. When they had just finished ordering, they saw Jin Qingyue enter and head towards their direction.
What a small world this is!
Mei Yangyang pretended that she did not see her and kept An Xiaoning words in mind, refraining from talking to her.
Jin Qingyue was not so tactless as to sit at the same table as them. Instead, she sat at the table beside them.
After she sat down, she turned and cast a glance at them, suddenly regretting her act of following them here.
But it was not nice to sit there without ordering anything, so she still ordered two dishes and took her own sweet time to eat.
Throughout the whole time, Long Tianze did not initiate a word of conversation with her at all.
After eating a few bites, Jin Qingyue moodily paid for her meal and left.
Sitting in the car, she felt extremely uncomfortable.
The feeling of something she did not want getting into others’ hands was something she could not get used to.
Ultimately, she decided to forget it. She didn’t care for it anyway.
She finally drove off.
An Xiaoning stood before a rusty front gate and reached out to knock on the door. “Is anyone there?”
“Who’s that?” A bright voice of a female sounded from inside.
“Madam, I’m from the police force. I need to understand the situation again.”
Hearing this, the door was opened almost immediately. An old lady of about sixty stood before the door. Her hair had all turned white, and she was wearing an old blouse. Looking at her, she remarked, “What are you still here for, it’s been so many years and the case still isn’t solved. You police are certainly a bunch of useless things.”
As she finished speaking, she turned and headed inside the house. An Xiaoning followed behind her and explained, “Madam, our higher-up takes this case very seriously. Even though there were no results from past investigations, we are now re-investigating it, and I will be leading my team. This case, we will definitely try our best to solve it.”
The old lady passed her a chair and said, “Take a seat.”
An Xiaoning sat down and watched as the old lady called her spouse out. The three faced each other and, looking at their accustomed expressions, An Xiaoning said, “I’ve read the information from this case. It says that on the night your son, Jiang Ying, daughter-in-law, Liu Yan, and granddaughter, Jiang Shui, were murdered, both of you were not at home but at your eldest daughter’s house. Is that right?”
“Yes, according to the time that the police investigated, we can confirm that we were indeed not around. Let me say it like this, I’m not on good terms with my son and daughter-in-law. Even if I were at home and something had happened to them, we wouldn’t find out at the first moment.” As she spoke about this, the old lady appeared downcast. “Because of this, we have no clue who did it either.”
An Xiaoning nodded and asked them frankly, “Madam, do you believe in fortune-reading?”
The old lady sneered. “Why should I believe in that sort of thing? I don’t.”
“But, I’m a police officer who can read one’s fortune. Can you tell me when your son was born?”
The old woman replied, “XXXX, the seventh day of the eighth lunar month.”
“What time was he born?”
The old lady looked at her husband and asked, “I’ve forgotten. You can remember, when was it?”
“Around four to five in the afternoon.”
An Xiaoning recorded it down, then asked, “Do you know your daughter-in-law’s?”
“No.”
“How about your granddaughter’s?” An Xiaoning looked at the two of them. “Do both of you know when your granddaughter was born?”
The couple shook their head in unison. “No, when my daughter-in-law gave birth, her own mother accompanied her there. We didn’t go, so the child’s grandmother would be more clear on that.”
“Where does her grandmother live in?” An Xiaoning looked at them earnestly. “Sir and Madam, if I know your daughter-in-law and granddaughter’s birth characters, this case will have a ninety percent chance of being solved. Please believe me.”
The couple turned and looked at each other, still in doubt. But since she was a police officer, the two thought it over and replied, “Forget it, I’ll just bring you to where my daughter-in-law’s family lives.”
An Xiaoning nodded. “Alright, is it far from here?”
“It’s just the village beside ours, it’s not too far.”
“The weak fall prey to the strong. If you’re not capable, you have to give up your seat to others. Isn’t this how the world works? Didn’t you have something to tell me in person? It’s been so long already, tell me.”
The elder replied, “I received information a few days ago. There’s a mystery person who used rocket prices to hire top assassins from here, and they have secretly entered S Nation. They’re heading for you. This news is not verified yet, I’ve sent my men to check. We can’t rule out the possibility that someone’s leaked this fake news. But, Young Master, you ought to bring more men around with you.”
“Heading for me?” Jin Qingyan frowned. Such news reached him every year until he was used to it already. “Elder, be sure to check and tell me.”
“Yes. Young Master, how many days are you intending to stay here for?”
“Three or four days.” He stood up and went on, “I didn’t sleep well last night, I’ll go and get some sleep.”
The elder got up and replied, “Alright.”
After Mei Yangyang had just checked the accounts, Long Tianze’s call came in.
“What’s the matter?”
“I just wanted to tell you, your advertisement will appear on the hottest channel tonight, it’s more than ten seconds long.”
Mei Yangyang was slightly excited. “Umm, got it.”
“Are you at the store?” Long Tianze asked.
“Yes.”
“Do you want to have lunch later?”
“Okay.”
After she hung up, Mei Yangyang grinned to herself. Xu Jingwen commented, “Sister Yangyang, you were speaking in such a gentle tone just now.”
Mei Yangyang got up and threw her phone into her pocket. “No, I wasn’t.”
“In my opinion, Sister Yangyang — if there’s a hot guy wooing you, you should just accept him. Or else, someone else may strike first.”
“If he can be snatched away, then it’s a good thing for me.” She slung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards the door. “I’m going out to eat, both of you look after the store. When I’m back, you can go out to eat.”
“Okay.”
As the New Year had just passed, both sides of the streets had leftover firecrackers. Mei Yangyang put on her bunny hoodie and kept both her hands inside her sleeves, slowly walking on the pathway.
Not long after, a car horn started sounding.
She turned back to look and realized it was his car.
She walked briskly towards his car window and asked, “How did you come here so quickly?”
“Quick, get on.”
“Okay.” She went around the front of his car and got into the seat beside his.
Long Tianze drove towards a nearby restaurant. Looking at her outfit, he couldn’t help but comment, “You’re already so petite, now you look even more like a little girl.”
“I like it when people treat me like a little girl.” She turned to look at him. “Today, I feel like eating fish with pickled vegetable.”
“What else?”
“Sweet potato balls… but I’ve called my father to get him to fry some for me at home.”
“Guess what I want to eat?” he asked her.
Mei Yangyang predicted his answer, “Don’t say you want to eat me.”
He pulled over the car and reached out to hold her face and kissed it. “You’re right.”
“Are we considered to be in an ambiguous stage?” After being kissed a few times by him, Mei Yangyang did not feel alarmed by it anymore.
“If you agree to be my girlfriend, then we won’t be anymore.”
The two entered the restaurant together.
Jin Qingyue drove by and coincidentally saw this scene. While she was not hungry as she had just eaten, the thought of what that little girl had said before made her stop her car and follow them into the restaurant.
Long Tianze and Mei Yangyang sat at a table in the hallway. When they had just finished ordering, they saw Jin Qingyue enter and head towards their direction.
What a small world this is!
Mei Yangyang pretended that she did not see her and kept An Xiaoning words in mind, refraining from talking to her.
Jin Qingyue was not so tactless as to sit at the same table as them. Instead, she sat at the table beside them.
After she sat down, she turned and cast a glance at them, suddenly regretting her act of following them here.
But it was not nice to sit there without ordering anything, so she still ordered two dishes and took her own sweet time to eat.
Throughout the whole time, Long Tianze did not initiate a word of conversation with her at all.
After eating a few bites, Jin Qingyue moodily paid for her meal and left.
Sitting in the car, she felt extremely uncomfortable.
The feeling of something she did not want getting into others’ hands was something she could not get used to.
Ultimately, she decided to forget it. She didn’t care for it anyway.
She finally drove off.
An Xiaoning stood before a rusty front gate and reached out to knock on the door. “Is anyone there?”
“Who’s that?” A bright voice of a female sounded from inside.
“Madam, I’m from the police force. I need to understand the situation again.”
Hearing this, the door was opened almost immediately. An old lady of about sixty stood before the door. Her hair had all turned white, and she was wearing an old blouse. Looking at her, she remarked, “What are you still here for, it’s been so many years and the case still isn’t solved. You police are certainly a bunch of useless things.”
As she finished speaking, she turned and headed inside the house. An Xiaoning followed behind her and explained, “Madam, our higher-up takes this case very seriously. Even though there were no results from past investigations, we are now re-investigating it, and I will be leading my team. This case, we will definitely try our best to solve it.”
The old lady passed her a chair and said, “Take a seat.”
An Xiaoning sat down and watched as the old lady called her spouse out. The three faced each other and, looking at their accustomed expressions, An Xiaoning said, “I’ve read the information from this case. It says that on the night your son, Jiang Ying, daughter-in-law, Liu Yan, and granddaughter, Jiang Shui, were murdered, both of you were not at home but at your eldest daughter’s house. Is that right?”
“Yes, according to the time that the police investigated, we can confirm that we were indeed not around. Let me say it like this, I’m not on good terms with my son and daughter-in-law. Even if I were at home and something had happened to them, we wouldn’t find out at the first moment.” As she spoke about this, the old lady appeared downcast. “Because of this, we have no clue who did it either.”
An Xiaoning nodded and asked them frankly, “Madam, do you believe in fortune-reading?”
The old lady sneered. “Why should I believe in that sort of thing? I don’t.”
“But, I’m a police officer who can read one’s fortune. Can you tell me when your son was born?”
The old woman replied, “XXXX, the seventh day of the eighth lunar month.”
“What time was he born?”
The old lady looked at her husband and asked, “I’ve forgotten. You can remember, when was it?”
“Around four to five in the afternoon.”
An Xiaoning recorded it down, then asked, “Do you know your daughter-in-law’s?”
“No.”
“How about your granddaughter’s?” An Xiaoning looked at the two of them. “Do both of you know when your granddaughter was born?”
The couple shook their head in unison. “No, when my daughter-in-law gave birth, her own mother accompanied her there. We didn’t go, so the child’s grandmother would be more clear on that.”
“Where does her grandmother live in?” An Xiaoning looked at them earnestly. “Sir and Madam, if I know your daughter-in-law and granddaughter’s birth characters, this case will have a ninety percent chance of being solved. Please believe me.”
The couple turned and looked at each other, still in doubt. But since she was a police officer, the two thought it over and replied, “Forget it, I’ll just bring you to where my daughter-in-law’s family lives.”
An Xiaoning nodded. “Alright, is it far from here?”
“It’s just the village beside ours, it’s not too far.”
