The explosion at the newspaper building successfully attracted the attention of national media and eventually trended. The people of Hekuan love to chat, and within a day, eight or nine out of ten tables in tea houses across the city were discussing the bombing. It wasn't just talk; some people, by nature, loved to get involved, as if they wouldn't feel legitimate discussing it unless they claimed to be a party involved...
At this table.
"I heard that although the explosion was big, only two people were injured. One was a reporter named Ping, and the other was a security guard?"
"That's right, that security guard is my second son, my own brother, working at the newspaper. He's the only one injured in this explosion!" A bald man with a shining scalp at this table, with one foot on his stool, danced with his hands as he described his "brother" after the bombing.
At another table.
"I was still stir-frying when I got the call saying my brother was bombed. I was so scared I dropped my phone into the pot..."
"Hey, your brother is that reporter?"
"What are you talking about? That reporter's surname is Ping, and mine isn't. That's my own brother! My brother is a security guard..."
At that table.
"Hey, that's not right. You said that security guard is your own brother? But you also said that security guard is your own brother?" A blunt person who wasn't listening properly to the story finally couldn't help but ask, "Then you two are also brothers?"
The people at this table suddenly looked at the other table.
The people at the other table also suddenly looked at this table.
"Hey! Maybe three people were bombed!"
"Of course, we don't know each other."
"Exactly, hey, what are you doing? You're just listening to the story, why are you causing trouble?"
"People like you are the most annoying!"
...
The lively chatter was over. In a hidden corner by the tea house, a stylishly dressed young man sipped his tea while eavesdropping.
The lively chatter was over. The young man stood up reluctantly, threw down some change, and quietly left the tea house.
Walking onto the street, the young man looked towards the end of the street, where a large hospital stood. He heard that the person who was bombed the previous night was staying there.
A girl with a long braid suddenly ran over carelessly from a distance and accidentally bumped into the young man.
"Crack!" The plastic bag in the girl's hand fell to the ground, and a few steaming buns rolled out.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry..." The girl bumped into him first and, without bothering to pick up the buns, quickly apologized to the young man.
"It's okay, are you going to see a patient? Take it slow." The young man smiled, revealing his pearly white teeth, bent down to pick up the plastic bag, and handed it to the flustered girl.
Handsome people always get a few extra glances. Especially girls in their first bloom of love; if they find someone they like, within ten minutes, they've probably already thought of names for their future children.
"Thank you, are you okay?" Seeing that the person she had bumped into was an incredibly handsome young man, the girl almost drooled.
"I'm fine." The young man maintained his smile and waved goodbye to the infatuated girl before leaving.
Watching the young man's retreating figure, the girl stood rooted to the spot, thinking about how their hands had accidentally brushed when he handed her the bag just now. Oh, her heart was pounding.
"Su Tang, slow down! Your master is awake, not dead. Why are you running so fast?" This infatuated girl was Su Tang. Only after the "young man's" figure had completely disappeared did she react to the loud scolding from behind.
"Go on, why aren't you moving?" Ga Da, who had caught up with Su Tang, patted her forehead with a slap as he saw the girl staring ahead blankly.
In the hospital, Ping'an, who had been unconscious for a day, finally woke up.
After more than two years of peace and quiet, something like this happening unexpectedly was hard for anyone to accept.
"Don't worry, all the parts are in place, and you'll be discharged in a week." Mei Qian, who was accompanying him, said with a smile, "I don't know if you attract trouble, or if trouble finds you. You even encounter such a rare event."
"Is the person who played with the bomb dead?" Ping'an asked weakly. "Besides me, were there any other casualties?"
"Besides you and your newspaper's security captain being hospitalized with injuries, there were no other casualties. Don't worry, although the incident was big, the losses are controllable," Mei Qian comforted him.
"Why are you here? Where's An Jing?" Ping'an tried to sit up, but the pain in his chest almost made him faint again.
"An Jing and Fei Keqing went for a prenatal check-up. The doctor said you wouldn't wake up until tomorrow, so I came to make up the numbers," Mei Qian said. "You're really lucky. That person named Chen Fei has problems. He used to scare many people with empty detonators and was a regular at the police station."
"What? He's crazy? He didn't seem like it!" Ping'an was startled by Mei Qian's words.
"I'll show you the files when you're discharged. He stayed in a mental hospital for several years and was only recently discharged. We thought he was better, but he became even more insane," Mei Qian said.
"That's not right. If he's crazy, who gave him the explosives? And the information he gave me, there was a lot of it!" Ping'an tried hard to recall.
"We're investigating the explosives. As for the other things, like the information he showed you, it's actually from three years ago. You probably didn't have time to verify it," Mei Qian said. "What he said is true, but it didn't happen last year, nor this year, but seven years ago. And he did have a daughter named Chen Meixi."
"Then was Chen Meixi also... like he said?" Ping'an asked.
"If what he said matches this document, then I can tell you, yes, it's completely true." Mei Qian opened her phone and handed Ping'an a picture of a document.
The document was a case file, recording Chen Fei's report from seven years ago. The content was exactly as Chen Fei had said: his daughter was kidnapped, rescued, and died on the returning smuggler ship.
"What happened to this case later?" Ping'an asked.
"I visited the police officer in charge of this case this morning. They told me that the entertainment company Chen Fei pointed to, Bonnie Creation Entertainment Culture Co., Ltd., is now closed. The company's legal representative, Ma Delu, is now the chairman of another company," Mei Qian said. "The police officer in charge at the time said that Ma Delu's company had no connection with Chen Meixi. According to investigations, although Chen Meixi was a trainee at Ma Delu's company, she was poached by another company at a high price. Ma Delu's company even sued Chen Meixi. Later, Chen Meixi died on a smuggler ship, and the lawsuit was dropped."
"What about Chen Meixi's experience? I remember there was also a rescue call or something." Ping'an asked.
"I asked about that too. She was tricked by an international prostitution ring and was first trafficked to Greece, where she was auctioned off as a virgin, and then sold to Turkey," Mei Qian sighed. "There is an international charity organization called 'Broken Wing Angels' that specializes in rescuing girls like Chen Meixi who are tricked into going abroad. A team from this organization accidentally discovered Chen Meixi's distress signal and contacted the local embassy. Embassy staff tried to rescue her several times but failed. Some people in the prostitution ring had dealt with the charity organization before, bypassing the embassy, where a sum of money paid by the girl's family would lead to her release. This time, they asked for a high price of 500,000 yuan through the charity organization. Chen Fei, upon hearing this news, paid the money without hesitation. The prostitution ring accepted the money and arranged for a smuggler ship to take Chen Meixi, and you know the rest."
"Why did Chen Fei only find the media now, seven years later?" Ping'an thought for a moment and said, "Oh, when I confronted Chen Fei, he called a detective named Han."
"A detective? I don't know about that. Chen Fei doesn't even have a phone. Are you sure he made a call?" Mei Qian asked.
"I'm sure. Check if the phone can be found at the scene and identify that detective. I have a feeling that this detective must know the reason for all this," Ping'an said, becoming weaker as he spoke.
"You should go back. An Jing also needs you to take care of her. Go out and find me a male caregiver and rent a simple bed for the male caregiver to sleep outside at night. It's not a big deal, just inconvenient for going to the toilet. Otherwise, I don't need anyone," Ping'an arranged.
"Alright, take care of yourself," Mei Qian said. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, we have our people outside the ward and outside the hospital. This explosion is very strange, and we can't rule out that it's related to Mr. Ke's people. It's always good to be cautious."
"You still have the nerve to mention Mr. Ke to me? Two years ago, after you almost got me killed in front of Gao Xiaofei's ancestral grave, you, representing our country's criminal police, triumphantly took down Mr. Ke's stronghold in Korea with the help of Interpol. You got all the glory, and the information was passed to you through me by that person," Ping'an said with a stern face.
It turned out that two years ago, when Ping'an was investigating the mystery of the wind power company, Mei Qian and An Jing, who were traveling abroad, were about to return home as planned. However, they were stopped by comrades from the Ministry of Public Security when boarding their flight. It turned out that Qiao Yiyan had used hypnosis to transfer all the intelligence about Mr. Ke that she possessed to Ping'an. Mei Qian, as a criminal police officer who had been involved in the case, was chosen to represent China in an Interpol operation to crack down on Mr. Ke's organization in Korea. Finally, the arrest of Hua Laotou led to the disclosure of Mr. Ke's specific location in Korea, and Mei Qian triumphantly took down Mr. Ke's stronghold.
"Brother-in-law, you can't do this to me. That was a decision by the organization at the time. I wasn't glorious either. The planned operation still had loopholes, and several key leaders escaped," Mei Qian said. "However, precisely because of this, this bombing incident feels strange, and protecting you is a necessary precaution."
It had been two years, and Ping'an actually didn't blame Mei Qian anymore. He was just bringing up the old matter now to assert his authority as an elder brother-in-law.
Finally, only Su Tang and Ping'an were left in the ward.
The master and disciple rarely talked much at home, and now they just stared at each other, speechless.
"Master, why aren't you closing your eyes yet?" Su Tang leaned on the hospital bed, resting her chin on her hands, making small talk.
"Nonsense, if I close my eyes, I'll be dead. You're cursing me!" With no outsiders around, Ping'an naturally didn't need to show his apprentice any respect.
"Oh!" Su Tang glanced nervously at the door, then lowered her head again.
"How's that 'House of Miscellaneous Affairs' of yours doing?" Seeing that his apprentice had unknowingly grown into a young woman, Ping'an felt very gratified after his near-death experience. He suddenly remembered the place he had forcibly renamed and asked with a suppressed smile.
"A broken-down shop, it's not fun." As soon as Su Tang heard that even her master knew she had opened a "House of Miscellaneous Affairs," and it was even called "Wai Tang," she knew everyone must know. Her mood instantly soured.
"Alright, go call those three fools outside. They're about to push the door open," Ping'an said, patting Su Tang's head with a smile.
Alas, other detectives recruit subordinates who are incredibly capable, but why were all of hers three dolts? Su Tang dejectedly went to open the door.
Da Shu, Lao Yuan, and Lao Fang entered with foolish smiles, carrying large bags of gifts, not to mention the suitcase Lao Fang was carrying at the end. Was he here to spend the night?
Putting aside other things, Da Shu and the others didn't matter for now. The braised pig trotters that Lao Yuan was carrying emitted an incredibly enticing aroma as soon as they entered the ward. Ping'an hadn't eaten for almost a day and a night. How could he withstand such temptation? That's right, this showed true understanding of people. Those three dolts weren't stupid either.
"Reporter Ping'an, uh, we've come to see how you are," Da Shu said with a sheepish grin.
"Sit down, sit down, we're all old acquaintances, no need to be polite." Ping'an actually valued these three people highly. For more than two years, ever since they started following Su Tang, they had driven away countless hooligans who tried to flirt with his apprentice. Moreover, these three were seasoned veterans of the jianghu. With them around, even if Su Tang was a bit mischievous, Ping'an was at ease.
"Lao Fang made these pig trotters himself. They smell pretty good, and we thought you usually liked them, so we brought some for you. Look..." Lao Fang spoke with difficulty and usually kept quiet when he saw Ping'an. Most of the explanations came from Lao Yuan.
"Alright, you've gotten the message. After all the pleasantries, I've been waiting for you to say that."
"Oh, that's too embarrassing," Ping'an said, waving his hand and pushing Su Tang to get the food container from the table.
"Master, you're still sick, can you eat that?" Su Tang couldn't believe it.
"They brought it with good intentions, hurry up!" Ping'an winked and threatened her.
"No need to trouble yourself. We prepared disposable gloves for you when we came. These are best eaten by hand. Uh, Lao Fang, hurry up and give them to Reporter Ping'an." Lao Yuan was the most perceptive, knowing that Ping'an was probably starving. He pushed Lao Fang forward.
"This bucket is brine. My niece came to see me today and helped me make a pot of sauerkraut. She happened to have some brine..." Da Shu also brought a bucket at the opportune moment.
Brine? That's good stuff. Pig trotters are greasy, and brine is perfect for cutting through the richness. Hmph, he didn't have anyone to take care of him. He was clearly injured, yet they insisted on feeding him bland food. What a disappointment. Plain noodle soup was unappetizing, but pig trotters were hearty.
Ping'an put on disposable gloves, picked up a front trotters, and first performed a "Lion Shakes Head," followed by a "Bear Adds Honey." He ate with gusto.
"Reporter Ping'an, we came today actually to see how you are. Uh, we have some intelligence that we don't know if it will be useful to you?" Da Shu said, seeing Ping'an eating heartily and seizing the opportunity.
"What intelligence?" Ping'an mumbled, his mouth full of meat.
"How should I put this?" Da Shu scratched his head and slowly began to speak.
It turned out that the previous afternoon, Da Shu, Lao Yuan, and Lao Fang, having nothing else to do, went to the nearby disco. During the day, there were naturally no beautiful women at the disco, but to generate revenue, the disco had a billiard room open during the day, and the three of them went to play billiards.
Recently, a group of hooligans had appeared on Flower Street. They were said to have come from a coal mine. These hooligans didn't look impressive, but they were still disciplined. They even toasted Boss Monk once, and the people on Flower Street naturally didn't make things difficult for them.
When they had money, they would go dancing at the disco. When they didn't have money, they wouldn't cause trouble. They had even come to the milk tea shop for milk tea and had become familiar faces to these three.
While the three of them were playing billiards, this group of hooligans suddenly arrived. Not only did they arrive, but they also distributed cigarettes and treated everyone in the billiard hall to drinks.
"Where did these kids get so much money to be so carefree every day? I was curious, so I casually asked. To my surprise, the leader, a kid named Torch, even bragged to me," Lao Yuan said. "Torch said they recently got some 'firecrackers' (explosives) from the mine, but before they could find a buyer, a boss bought them at a high price."
"At first, we all thought these kids were just bragging. But by the evening, we found out about your accident," Da Shu continued. "Nowadays, it's strictly regulated, and it's not easy to get 'firecrackers.' I suspected that what those kids said wasn't false. It's possible that the 'firecrackers' they got were the ones that exploded at your place."
"Is the information reliable?" Gao Xiaofei suddenly entered from outside the door at some point. It turned out that the door hadn't been closed properly, and he had overheard everything outside.
The three knew that the胖子 (fat person) in front of them was Gao Xiaofei and dared not speak carelessly. They all looked at Ping'an.
"Speak. They're our own people. If the information is reliable, remember to ask him for a bonus," Ping'an said, half-full and also drawn in by the words of these three.
"To verify, we spent the whole day searching for those people all over the city. Later, we even cornered Torch in the bathhouse," Lao Yuan said. "Torch confessed on the spot, saying he did steal the 'firecrackers,' but he didn't know if they were related to the newspaper explosion."
"Did they tell you who they sold the explosives to?" Gao Xiaofei asked eagerly.
"No," Da Shu shook his head.
"The higher-ups are pressuring me, and I don't know what to do. I thought I'd come to you for advice after you woke up, but I didn't expect to arrive at such a fortunate time," Gao Xiaofei said, looking at the three with admiration.
"It's a pity they don't know who they sold it to. Didn't you ask further at the time?" Ping'an frowned and said.
"No, why don't you ask?" Da Shu tentatively asked.
"Ask? How can I ask?" Ping'an was stunned.
Da Shu looked at Lao Yuan, and Lao Yuan kicked the suitcase with his foot and said, "We brought him in case you wanted to ask something else."
"What?" Gao Xiaofei exclaimed in surprise.
Lao Yuan and Lao Fang worked together to open the suitcase. Inside was Torch, wearing only his underwear.
In front of the astonished eyes of Ping'an, Gao Xiaofei, and Su Tang, Lao Fang tore off the tape from Torch's mouth and said fiercely, "You, you, you cowardly brat, speak properly. Say whatever you're asked. If you dare to mess around, I'll continue to blast you to death with my butt."
From Torch's lifeless expression in the suitcase, one could imagine that Lao Fang and the others must have subjected him to a tragic biochemical attack in the bathhouse.
"I'll say it, I'll say it. I stole the 'firecrackers,' I stole them," Torch cried out, seeing Gao Xiaofei in his police uniform as if he had found a lifeline, and voluntarily confessed to stealing the explosives.
It turned out that Torch's father was a warehouse keeper, and Torch often stole things from the warehouse to exchange for money. A week ago, a person driving a car stopped him on Flower Street and asked if he could get some explosives. The price was negotiable.
In a place like Hekuan, the only way to get explosives was from people who stole them during illegal mining. Torch didn't pay much attention and, when his father wasn't looking, stole ten pounds of high explosives and ten detonators in one go. He had the goods, but the client never contacted him again. It wasn't until three nights ago that a man wearing a mask found them at the disco and was willing to pay thirty thousand yuan for this batch of "firecrackers."
Thus, with the attitude of "selling to anyone is selling," Torch sold the goods to the masked man.
"I really didn't know he would use the explosives to do something stupid," Torch cried profusely.
Looking at Torch, Ping'an thought to himself, he really is capable.
"Ping'an, I'm taking this person with me. If what he says is true, then we can find the person by following the clues," Gao Xiaofei said. "Now give me a straight answer, are you going to follow this case?"
"No. Since Chen Fei was a fool, it means he wasn't targeting me specifically. I just want to rest well and be discharged soon," Ping'an said, shifting his position.
"Master, this case is so interesting, why aren't you taking it?" Su Tang was very upset that Gao Xiaofei had cut in.
"Everything is like this, and you still want to investigate the case specifically?" Ping'an said helplessly.
"Okay, then you take good care of your health." Gao Xiaofei was extremely happy to have found a new lead.
"Master, look, they're taking him away," Su Tang was still unwilling.
"Then let them take him," Ping'an said calmly.
"Master, are you scared this time?" Su Tang suddenly asked.
"Is being scared an attitude!" Ping'an gave Gao Xiaofei a look, and the chicken-like Torch was immediately taken away by Gao Xiaofei.