"Master, even if Aunt Lin Dang is back, you don't have to torture yourself like this?" Su Tang looked worriedly at his master, who kept changing into various outfits and then dissatisfiedly taking them off. It had been two hours. Frankly, it was just meeting an old flame, was it necessary?
"You know nothing! Get lost!" Ping An brusciously dismissed his apprentice who was watching the spectacle and forcefully straightened the collar of his shirt.
Indeed, as people age, no matter what they wear, they lose the sharp vigor of their youth. However, even though he was 35, he was only 35. It was like aged fine wine, speaking of a man's composure and responsibility. Finally, Ping An, dressed in a simple shirt and trousers, with the most fashionable hairstyle of the time, hummed a little tune and walked out of the bedroom.
The last date was two years ago. Now, time had flown by, everything had changed, yet everything remained the same. At the very least, in these two years, he had finally figured it out. He loved Lin Dang and would be devoted to her for the rest of his life.
"Master, you look so handsome in this outfit. If you carry my 'Adi Wang' later, you'll be even more dashing!" Zhang Xiao'ao, who had been squatting nearby watching the fun, fawned again. But Ping An didn't blame him; the kid was naturally simple-minded, beyond help.
No need to leave a message for the two children. He might not be back tonight. Your old master, Ping An, is going to the 'Echoes of Waves' tonight.
Outside the door, in the car, Gao Xiaofei, who was in the passenger seat eating a steamed bun, looked at Ping An coming out of the house as if he had seen a ghost.
"Knowing Lin Dang is back, are you trying to show off your charms!" Gao Xiaofei rolled down the car window and cursed. "Now you're making it so hard for me to ask for guidance on the case! Do you have any leads or not? If not, we're calling it quits!"
Looking at Ping An's flamboyant appearance, Mei Qian and Hei Dou, who were also in the car, nodded in unison.
"I have leads! I really have leads!" Ping An got into the car, sat in the driver's seat, and turned back to the three of them, saying, "But you guys have to help me out tonight. If this works out tonight, everything else will be a piece of cake!"
Perhaps unable to resist the temptation of Ping An's "leads" on the case, or perhaps out of sincere well wishes from an old friend, Gao Xiaofei gritted his teeth and nodded.
The car drove away. Su Tang, who had been pretending to be busy in the house for a long time, also secretly slipped out.
"Su, you're not taking me today?" Zhang Xiao'ao asked curiously.
"I have something very important to do tonight, I'm not taking anyone!" Su Tang widened his eyes and threatened them before quietly leaving.
Outside the door, Shi Han, who had been waiting for a long time, rode out from behind a large tree on a small scooter.
"You didn't invite any outsiders, did you?" Shi Han asked in a low voice.
"No, I didn't even tell Da Shu," Su Tang said after getting on the back seat. "Are you sure a girl will be sold by Ma Delu tonight?"
"Sure! Don't worry, I've been keeping an eye on him for a while. The girls who couldn't participate in the modeling competition this time were all signed by him, and then I overheard his plot with Diana."
It turned out that Shi Han had managed to get a job in Ma Delu's company by working part-time. A few days ago, he took advantage of Ma Delu forgetting to lock his office door and sneaked in to look for clues. Unexpectedly, Ma Delu returned midway, so he had to hide under the boss's desk. It was also because of this that he overheard a conversation.
"In the recording you made, Ma Delu only told Diana on the phone, 'This batch of goods' is ready, when to pick it up, and then Ma Delu repeated the time, which is 8 PM tonight, and then hung up the phone," Su Tang recounted the recording Shi Han had given her earlier while on the way. "Based on this alone, it's really hard to prove what 'goods' Ma Delu prepared."
"Don't rush, we'll find out when we go and see," Shi Han said. "By the way, has Diana contacted you recently?"
"No, I don't know if she was scared off by Boss Wan, she hasn't contacted me these past few days," Su Tang said. "I've also checked the situation with my uncle and Hei Dou, and the police generally haven't made any effective progress on this case."
"I keep wondering, with Ma Delu being so suspicious, why haven't the police made a move?" Shi Han asked.
"Oh, how should I put it, do you know Mr. Ke?" Su Tang said. "It's mainly a matter of not wanting to scare the snake by beating the grass. They want to find out if the forces behind Ma Delu are related to Mr. Ke."
"Mr. Ke?" Shi Han fell silent as he heard the name.
The lamps were lit, the city was bustling with lights and colors, a prosperous metropolis.
"I'm just asking you, are you in or not! There's half an hour left!" Inside a car in the parking lot outside a commercial building in the bustling city, a man's heart-wrenching voice was heard.
"Get lost! Absolutely not!" Gao Xiaofei was so angry his hair was about to explode.
"Xiaofei, through thick and thin for over a decade, I have no particular friendship with you, yet I would face any danger with you!" Ping An pouted, glared, and grabbed Gao Xiaofei's collar excitedly. "I'm just asking you to help me with the harmony, is it that big of a deal?"
"Fine, fine, for the sake of the case, I agree!" Gao Xiaofei felt that Ping An might hug his leg and beg next, and finally nodded.
"Brother-in-law, why aren't you asking for our opinions?" Mei Qian, sitting in the back seat, asked unhappily.
"6765321——" Ping An recited a string of numbers without even looking at Mei Qian.
"My ancestor! Is there anything you don't know!" Mei Qian looked as if his pigtails had been grabbed.
Hei Dou, looking bewildered, gazed at his boss Ping An with admiration, and even seemed eager to try.
"Hei Dou!" As expected, Ping An pacified Mei Qian with just a shout.
"I'll go through fire and water! Boss, just command me!" Hei Dou responded excitedly.
Ping An nodded with satisfaction and once again made arrangements. "So it's settled. When Lin Dang appears later, I will play and sing the classic song 'Say You! Say Me!' on stage. You four must provide backup vocals. Only then can the song move people."
"There are only three of us. You're the protagonist, where are you going to steal the fourth person from?" Gao Xiaofei complained.
"So you see, your Director Xiang is behaving himself!" Ping An pointed through the car window at the person smoking outside the mall. That person was actually Xiang Wanfeng.
"Good heavens, you're playing a big game, from director level to deputy county head, from section chief to deputy section chief. We old buddies are all here to help you woo a girl!" Gao Xiaofei was amused and angered. "If you don't have any leads for this case, I'll make you regret it in no time!"
The Metropolitan Shopping Mall's first-floor coffee shop is for members only, so there are usually very few customers.
Ping An chose this place because it was both low-key and luxurious. As for the entertainment for the evening, he had already asked the mall manager to make arrangements, including a piano for the performance, fine wine, food, flowers, and everything else. Of course, the four police officers who were accompanying him tonight would leave immediately after the backup vocals – helping is helping, but one shouldn't freeload.
"I'm on my way, I'll be there in ten minutes!"
Ping An glanced at the text message, smiled happily, and then seriously told the four old brothers standing hand-in-hand behind him, "When providing backup vocals later, you need to have some actions, don't just open your mouths!"
"Ping An, privately, I really want to help you, but that foreign song, I've never even heard it before, you see..." Xiang Wanfeng looked constipated.
"Just hum along, Xiaofei and Mei Qian can sing, and Hei Dou can hum too," Ping An waved his hand dismissively.
"Mei Qian, what were those numbers Ping An recited earlier?" Gao Xiaofei secretly asked while Ping An was looking at the menu.
"Don't even mention it, that's my bank card number!" Mei Qian said with a look of chronic constipation. "My private savings!"
The speaker was heartbroken, and the listener was sympathetic.
The other three had an expression of "understanding," looking at Mei Qian with sympathy, and then all turned and glared fiercely at Ping An. As expected, one shouldn't marry Ping An's sister. Lin Dang, despite rushing, was still a few minutes late. Although she had long adapted to her high-intensity work, she was still struggling with the sudden "trouble" thrown at her. She was going to negotiate with Ping An! Others might not know Ping An, but Lin Dang knew him too well – he seemed calm and collected on the surface, but his mind was full of schemes. Relying on the contract? Ping An never played by the rules. Besides, Ping An was someone from the big boss's side. Both Wan Rou, who was aware, and Ou Erjian, who was not, were waiting for her to fall out with Ping An.
Would they fall out? If it were Ping An from two years ago, he would have always struck hard against such near-framing tactics and would never have taken any unfair treatment. But facing her, would he fall out? Old feelings? Were they valuable?
Hesitating endlessly, Lin Dang, with a subordinate, hurried to the Metropolitan. Her task tonight was heavy. She didn't know if he was still the same person he used to be. If he was, then tonight would definitely lead to a falling out. If he wasn't, then tonight would inevitably lead to a falling out.
The glass door of the coffee shop opened. The dark lobby, then flashing colored lights, and a strong beam of light shone on a grand piano in the center of the coffee shop, and the man in front of the piano.
"Say you! Say me! Say it for always..." The piano music began, and the male voice started singing.
This was already a tender love song. Under Ping An's impassioned performance, it actually immersed everyone in the room in a beautiful moment.
"Lin Zexu? Why don't you call it 'Tiger's Mouth Smoke'?"
"You have guts. This experience is enough for you to brag about for a lifetime."