It’s this same old trick again!
Su Tang clenched her fists tightly.
"Did you report it?" Su Tang asked.
"Yes, but it's useless for now," Shi Han said. "Both girls are adults, and they both expressed a desire for intensive training, so the police decided to wait and see."
"What? Wait and see?" Su Tang exclaimed. "What if they run into bad people? Wouldn't it be too late then?"
"The police in Nian Xiaobei's case have registered it, but the other one, who has been missing for less than a week, was judged by her father's previous calls with her to be undergoing intensive training."
"Then, how did her father know his daughter might have encountered bad people?" Su Tang asked.
"Two days ago, her father suddenly received a call. The call connected, but no one spoke. Later, someone was secretly crying, and her father recognized it as his daughter. Shi Han said, then her father became anxious and searched everywhere, reporting to the police. However, when the police asked him to provide the phone number that called him, they found the phone was missing. Checking the call history, the displayed number turned out to be a phantom number.
"Do you believe her father?" Su Tang asked.
"How can I not believe him!" Shi Han said. "I initially thought this was just an isolated case, but it kept getting bigger. Yet, no one took it seriously. Later, I saw the news about the newspaper explosion, and that's how I traced back to discover that Chen Meiqi, the earliest victim, also disappeared through Ma Delu's company."
After thoroughly sharing the case information, Su Tang finally gained a clear understanding of the case before her. Especially when Shi Han read out nine names, her initial anger turned into fear. These nine names were collected by Shi Han over a year of inquiries, names of missing girls all related to Ma Delu and Diana.
Lunchtime passed, and the detective partners, who had been engrossed in the case, finally felt hungry. Detectives had to live too, especially one as dashing as a jade tree and the other as flamboyant in her attire. Putting down their work, they naturally wanted to go shopping and grab some snacks.
Unfortunately, there were always some clueless guys who liked to ruin Su Tang's good mood.
For example, Zhang Xiao'ao, who was holding a bag of buns and insisted on giving them to Su Tang.
He wouldn't let Su Tang leave without eating two first, or he would go with her. This clingy behavior was supposedly arranged by their master.
"Your boyfriend is really cute," Shi Han said with a smile. "Go on and eat, you're so thin."
"No, it's not, this isn't, oh no, I don't have a boyfriend yet." Su Tang was extremely embarrassed. Was he complimenting my thinness, my good figure?
"Not thin, she has plenty of flesh, especially on her butt. The last time she sat on me, she almost made me... Ouch!" Zhang Xiao'ao's thoughtless words were cut short when Su Tang stepped on his foot with a decisive kick. "Heh, you two have a good relationship, very interesting." Shi Han acted as if he hadn't heard anything and said, "Then let's do as we agreed. I'll wait for your plan."
"Don't rush, how about—" Su Tang snatched the buns from Zhang Xiao'ao's hand and said, "Eat two before you go!"
"Ah, these lousy buns aren't worth eating. Let's have you call this kid next time we get together," Da Shu gave Old Yuan a look. Old Yuan nodded in understanding, opened the door, and let Shi Han out.
"Don't rush— go on—" Su Tang said, almost crying.
"You've gone too far. Our rule is you can't date until you're twenty-five, you set that yourself," Da Shu consoled her.
"I was wrong." Su Tang looked up at the sky, lost in thought.
No one paid attention to Su Tang's infatuation. Seeing Shi Han walk away, everyone moved chairs, picked up cards, and began to play. Zhang Xiao'ao, who had been acting like a loyal guard dog moments before, loved playing cards with the older men. Now that the pretty boy was gone, he didn't bother comforting his senior sister's empty heart and grabbed cards to play "Upgrade."
Ping An, of course, didn't know his eldest disciple was having a daydream. Having recovered quickly, he was discharged from the hospital three days early and returned home happily without telling anyone. His office was renovated and he could start working tomorrow. He had grown accustomed to an organized life over the past two years and was enjoying it.
"Hello, how did you know I was discharged early? Your ears are really sharp!"
On his way home, Ping An received a call from his former superior, Fei Keqing.
"Oh, what, the Media Alliance? They can form an alliance? Who invited them? An's? What does that have to do with me?" On the phone, Fei Keqing assigned him a new task: An International was leading four cultural and entertainment companies in Hechuan City to jointly organize the first "Miss Hechuan" model competition. To expand its influence, the organizers invited four nationally renowned self-media companies to form a "Media Alliance" for joint promotion and hype of the competition. The Hechuan Newspaper, as a local mainstream media, not only became one of the top ten judges but was also responsible for official publicity and guiding public opinion. Needless to say, Ping An was fully in charge of this job.
"It's great that you're discharged early. I'm about to give birth, so I'll leave these activities to you. You must remember, our task is to guide those four self-media companies and try to get them to use our reports. We can't let them spread rumors or improvise..." Fei Keqing's confident voice came through the phone.
Alas, he had hoped to sneak in a few days of rest before working again, but work found him. Ping An sighed and called Su Tang. After all, Su Tang should go home. An Jing was also about to give birth, and her mother-in-law would be arriving in the coming days, so Su Tang shouldn't stay at An Jing's place.
Whether it was work or cases, Ping An was happy to be home. Especially when Su Tang, looking unhappy, and Zhang Xiao'ao, looking happy, returned home together. Seeing these two children brought him comfort. Without a word, he decided to cook a few big dishes for them to try.
Watching their master cook, Su Tang couldn't just sit around and rolled up her sleeves to help wash vegetables. Zhang Xiao'ao seemed to like this atmosphere. Although he couldn't do anything, it didn't stop him from hovering around his senior sister to show his affection.
"Get lost!" Zhang Xiao'ao blocked Su Tang's way, and Su Tang cursed him without hesitation, "If you dare to say I'm too fat or too thin, or ask if I smell good again, I'll break all your fingers."
Seeing his senior sister angry, Zhang Xiao'ao stuck out his tongue in fear and hid behind their master.
A family must have its overt etiquette and hidden rules. He completely turned a blind eye to Su Tang disciplining Zhang Xiao'ao. It was between the two of them, and he found it inconvenient to interfere with their emotions.
A hearty meal could always heal a wounded family.
Even Su Tang, looking at the chili-fried intestines and sweet and sour pork ribs on the table, cast aside her unhappiness and started eating heartily with her chopsticks. Zhang Xiao'ao, eating his master's cooking for the first time, carefully picked up a piece of fish, closed his eyes, and sent it into his mouth. Then, he started eating with abandon.
"An Jing is about to give birth, and her mother-in-law is coming to help. You two shouldn't disturb them during this time."
Ping An instructed.
"Master, are you still going to solve that case?" Su Tang asked, her cheeks puffed out, speaking indistinctly.
"The police are handling it. I've stopped investigating cases long ago," Ping An said.
"What about the people who kidnapped you at the hospital?" Su Tang asked worriedly.
"Your uncle mentioned they were silenced in Malaysia. Anyway, your master is very safe now and can protect your safety. You just study hard and don't mess around, understand?" The final "don't mess around" from Ping An was clearly directed at Su Tang.
"Oh!" Su Tang replied guiltily, then shot Zhang Xiao'ao a fierce glare, the meaning clear: if you dare to tell anyone about me and Shi Han working together, I'll kill you!
After dinner, everyone naturally went about their own activities.
Su Tang grinned sinisterly as she assigned Zhang Xiao'ao foreign language homework, then carried a plate of fruit upstairs humming a tune to watch dramas. Zhang Xiao'ao stared blankly at the pile of homework, calculating clumsily for a long time before realizing he wouldn't be able to sleep tonight. As for Ping An, a lonely man, in the quiet of the night, he naturally thought of women. At this moment, he was soaking in the bathtub, playing with a wooden "great sword" in his hand. "My name is Lin Zexu."
The bathroom was filled with mist, and Lin Dang's appearance suddenly appeared before Ping An's eyes.
She was still as lovely as ever.
"Girl, two years have passed, how are you?"
Ping An whispered softly.
Under the dark, curtain-like night sky, an airplane slowly landed at the airport.
A fashionably dressed beautiful woman, carrying a handbag and wearing sunglasses, walked briskly and confidently out of the arrival hall. Behind her, a tall, sturdy young man and a thin, small beautiful girl followed closely, bickering as they carried their luggage.
"I told you people from the Hechuan Regional Company are the most unreliable. They promised a warm welcome, a bag-carrying service. This is simply not putting our boss in their eyes!" the tall young man complained.
"Shut up. Our boss hasn't spoken yet, and you're nagging endlessly here," the beautiful girl said. "Be sharp. This time our boss is coming to Hechuan not only to replace that idiot as the head of the regional company but also to complete the 'Miss Hechuan' billion-dollar project. So, be patient and don't mess around. What did our boss say? If this project goes smoothly, we can eat for three years!"