Outside an office building not far from the metropolis, a commercial van quietly drove into the courtyard.
"Is this the car?" Inside a storage room in the courtyard, Su Tang peered through the window at the van and asked nervously. "Most likely." Compared to Su Tang, Shi Han was very calm. He took out a thermos cup and said, "Have some hot water, it's quite cold today."
"Thank you!" Su Tang enjoyed the atmosphere of being cared for by a handsome man and took the cup.
"Look, a girl is coming out." After taking a big gulp of hot water and warming up a bit, Su Tang suddenly pointed at a girl in a trench coat, carrying a suitcase, walking out of the office building. The front passenger window of the van rolled down, and after the person inside said a few words to the girl, she got into the car.
"Why hasn't Ma Delu appeared?" Su Tang asked anxiously as the car seemed about to drive off.
"It looks like this old fellow won't show up," Shi Han said. "You stay here and watch. I'll go follow that van. Remember, don't wander off. If I don't call you in an hour, you go back on your own. The iron gate there isn't locked at night, so you can leave when no one is around."
"Ah!" Before Su Tang could react, Shi Han had already slipped out. With agile movements, he cleared the low wall behind the storage room with a running jump.
The commercial van flashed its lights, turned its head, and quietly drove away.
At the same time, the low hum of a motorcycle gradually grew louder. Shi Han seemed to have indeed caught up.
The old man watching the iron gate yawned and closed it. The courtyard, only the size of a basketball court, was empty and eerily quiet.
Although Su Tang was brave, it was her first time doing something like this. She counted the time and waited for an hour, but Shi Han didn't call. After thinking for a moment, she decided to call him, but he didn't answer.
Perhaps he's still chasing the car, Su Tang thought. Since that's the case, she could go back first.
The iron gate was not far away. The old gatekeeper had just gone into the office building with a pile of food. With no one watching, Su Tang was confident she could leave unnoticed.
At this very moment, Ping An also desperately wanted to leave unnoticed because after he finished singing, he discovered that Lin Dang was not alone.
Awkwardness, capital A awkwardness! Even though the audience gave Ping An the loudest applause, he still felt it wasn't the kind he wanted.
"Brother Xiaofei, Brother Meiqian, Heidu! Uncle Xiang! Hello!" Lin Dang ignored Ping An, who was awkwardly standing on stage, and greeted her old acquaintances.
"Oh, why didn't you say you were back earlier!"
"Tsk tsk, you've been gone for two years, and now you're a senior white-collar worker!"
"Old Gao was still talking about you yesterday, saying how close he felt when he first met you and you were holding a big sword..."
Everyone surrounded Lin Dang, talking to her and leaving Ping An on the sidelines.
"I came back because of pressing matters. I have to discuss work with Teacher Ping An tonight. I'll treat everyone to a meal another day," Lin Dang said politely.
"Yes, we need to discuss official business. Those who aren't involved should leave!" Hearing Lin Dang's words, Ping An immediately got energized. He pushed and pulled the four people to leave, and at the same time, he didn't forget to give Lin Dang's companions a meaningful look – you all should go too!
"No need. It just so happens that people from your Public Security Bureau are here, so we can discuss things together." Lin Dang suddenly gave Ping An a fierce look, then placed a pile of documents on the table and took the lead in sitting down in a chair.
Well, they were here to discuss official business tonight. Ping An had overthought things. Gao Xiaofei and the others looked at Ping An sympathetically, then, with a defiant look of "I'm not leaving," they sat down one by one.
Seeing that all the guests were seated, Ping An, despite his lingering reluctance, couldn't say anything more. The songs he sang tonight were in vain.
Watching Ping An finally return to a normal state, Lin Dang explained the purpose of their meeting and conveyed the decision of the Model Competition Preparatory Committee.
Lin Dang, who had clearly never done anything like shifting blame before, spoke cautiously throughout the process. She desperately wanted to gauge Ping An's reaction from his eyes, but after trying for a long time, she realized that all she saw in his eyes was herself.
"This is our resolution. Teacher Ping An, to be honest, this is indeed a bit too demanding," Lin Dang said guiltily.
"Certainly, I'm willing to take it on," Ping An interrupted Lin Dang's pleasantries and readily agreed.
"Are you sure?" Lin Dang, seeing Ping An's perfunctory reply, pressed for clarification.
"Sure. Crisis public relations? I'm very good at it. Let's hold two press conferences, one for each incident. Make them high-profile, long, and with plenty of media. Then, we'll publicly tender for a security company. Two million is enough to hire the best security company in the country. Once this is handled, you can all go about your business..." Ping An spoke as if he were joking about his plan.
"A master! Press conferences represent authority and attitude. High-priced tenders for security companies are a preventive measure. If the outside world sees us being so high-profile, they naturally won't worry about rumors anymore."
"Tsk tsk, hitting the nail on the head. Truly a master."
"We really underestimated this guy back then. And he even dares to pursue our boss."
It had to be said that Ping An's plan was brilliant at first hearing. After all, he was a veteran journalist who had been in the field for over a decade and was very familiar with handling such matters. Lin Dang listened to Ping An's plan and, after careful consideration, found no hint that Ping An was just rambling. She was also impressed by his quick thinking – handling such a thorny issue so readily?
"Teacher Ping An is indeed remarkable. I was still a little worried, but now I see I was overthinking it," Lin Dang said sheepishly. "Also, seeing some old friends today, they also wanted to inquire about the case of the female corpse in the sewer."
Saying this, Lin Dang looked directly at Ping An and asked about the case. It was right to ask Ping An about the case. She didn't believe him when he said he didn't care about it before and hadn't investigated cases for over two years. Asking Xiang Wenfeng or Gao Xiaofei wouldn't yield useful information; it was best to ask Ping An.
Lin Dang's question brought smiles to the faces of Gao Xiaofei and Mei Qian. They had originally wanted Ping An to make a move, and now someone was helping to urge him. They immediately perked up their ears, wanting to hear Ping An's opinion. To be honest, they never believed Ping An hadn't investigated these matters; they always felt he was hiding something, waiting for the opportune moment to unleash his ultimate move. But— "The case? I don't know anything about it!" Ping An looked innocently at Lin Dang.
"Weren't you also bombed? And kidnapped? Your mind..." Seeing Ping An's perfunctory response, Lin Dang almost blurted out the truth and said with some reluctance, "Aren't you curious?"
"Right! "The Public Security quartet asked in unison.
"Not curious. I'm a young man in his prime, with flowers blooming all around. Isn't it better to be in love? Why bother with cases?"
Ping An continued to look innocent.
"Ma Delu, aren't you curious about him? And the organization behind him, that... that organization behind him, aren't you curious about it?" Gao Xiaofei asked anxiously.
"Not curious. Don't bother me with cases anymore. I haven't solved a case in over two years, and I'm completely out of practice now," Ping An spread his hands innocently and said. "I just want to live a normal life."
"What?" Lin Dang found it hard to believe that after not seeing him for over two years, the man before her had become... so ordinary.
"What are you 'whatting' about, Lin Dang? I won't hide it anymore. To tell you the truth, I fancy you, I like you, I've always loved you, and you've noticed it. My life for the past two years has been miserable. Give me a definitive answer, yes or no?" Ping An looked at Lin Dang with affection.
Weren't they supposed to be talking about the case? How did it suddenly shift to this?
"I haven't thought it through!" Lin Dang said in a panic, in a daze.
"Then I'll wait. Don't worry, I know you're not leaving this time. I'll wait for you," Ping An seemed unhurried.
"What are you talking about? Let's put our personal matters aside for now. Do you have a definitive answer? Is there any connection between the female corpse in the sewer and our model activity?" Lin Dang asked anxiously. The Public Security quartet also looked at Ping An uniformly.
"I don't know. At most, I can help with public relations. For the specific case, you should ask... oh, ask Xiaofei!" Ping An pointed at Gao Xiaofei.
"Get lost! You promised to give me advice back then. What advice?" Gao Xiaofei asked irritably.
"No advice! Just do things your way. I have no intelligence, so how can I give advice?" Ping An started acting like a scoundrel.
"I'm going to kill you!" Gao Xiaofei, feeling tricked, jumped up from his chair in anger.
"Stop fooling around, Ping An. We're in a dilemma regarding Ma Delu right now. If you have a solution, please tell us. We're all your old friends, you can't just stand by and do nothing, can you?" Xiang Wenfeng, who had been silent, also showed some displeasure.
"Old Xiang, aren't you telling me every day to stay away from cases according to my mother's wishes? I've stayed this far away, and now you're saying such outrageous things?" Ping An retorted.
"I'll beat you to death! Don't stop me!" Old Xiang was also pushed to his limit and started jumping around, ready to hit Ping An.
"Ping An, if this case is involved, I'll have to investigate it myself. Will you help me?" Lin Dang, who was desperately eager to know about the case, suddenly said this.
"You're not going to stop me from pursuing you just because I don't help you, are you?" Ping An said shamelessly.