"According to the board of directors' vote, the acquisition plan for the technology sector is completely abandoned..."
"Due to irresistible reasons, Ms. An Wei resigns from her position as Chairman!"
"Ms. An Jing is unanimously elected as the new Chairman of Anshi International."
"Overseas R&D... technology will be unconditionally handed over to the state for disposition."
"This company solemnly declares: The criminal acts currently occurring are the personal actions of Ms. An Wei..."
"According to the latest news, the former Anshi International Chairman, An Wei, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for alleged job-related crimes..."
Throughout the entire summer, Ping An's mood had not improved. Driving on the endless highway under the scorching sun, he felt the burning sensation of the heat waves.
"Damn it, I just wanted to buy a photo from you, and you were so sneaky, changing the meeting place three or four times!" Ping An rolled down his car window, extending his hand, still clutching 300 yuan. He yelled at a young man with a wronged expression.
"Brother, don't wrongly accuse me!" The young man didn't take the money, but instead said an apology with a mournful face, as if utterly bewildered.
"What do you mean?" Ping An's temper flared. Did the other party not have the photo at all?
Of course not, but something worse than that.
"Don't move!"
With a familiar warning, Ping An watched helplessly as seven or eight police officers rushed out from all directions, surrounding him.
"Hey! Isn't this a bit much? I just wanted a photo, why are so many police officers here!" Ping An felt like crying and laughing at the same time, but he had to cooperate with the police, putting his hands behind his back and obediently squatting down.
"Name?" The leading police officer seemed like a rookie, more nervous than Ping An.
"Ping An!" Ping An replied helplessly.
"Do you know what you're doing?" The policeman said with an expression of righteousness.
"Buying a photo, what's wrong with that?" Ping An still couldn't understand why he was surrounded by police just for buying a photo.
Three hours later, Gao Xiaofei, looking dejected, was pulling Ping An out of the yard of the Criminal Police Detachment of Heg Valley District Public Security Bureau.
"Can't you do anything else but buy that kind of photo? You scoundrel, aren't you ashamed?" Gao Xiaofei said, full of disappointment.
"What kind of photo are you talking about? Where did your mind go?" Ping An pushed Gao Xiaofei away, feeling very unhappy. He was investigating a case, so why was he being smeared with all sorts of rubbish?
"The guy you were dealing with is a pervert. He takes photos of women's exposed bodies all over the street. If he captures someone kissing, he'll bet they're not in a legitimate relationship, and then he'll extort them with the photo..." Gao Xiaofei explained. "You tell me, what photo were you looking for from him? Don't tell me you were photographed by him?"
"Photographed my ass!" Ping An retorted. "I'm really investigating a case!"
It turned out that a month ago, after An Wei was sentenced, Ping An and An Jing met their mother outside the courthouse. Everything had been cleared up, and there were no longer any issues. While many of his mother's actions were indeed illegal, her imprisonment was her own doing.
However, just as his mother was about to get into the police car, a long arrow descended from the sky, aimed precisely at An Wei's head. At the critical moment, Ping An reacted first, blocking the arrow with his backpack. He then looked up and saw a figure on a parking building across the street, withdrawing a bow.
"You were there too at the time! We followed, but they got away," Ping An explained. "I've been investigating this matter these past few days. I finally found a paparazzi who was preparing to take a photo of my mother in handcuffs, and in his haste, he accidentally captured the appearance of the person who shot the arrow. I was prepared to pay a high price for that photo, but who knew..."
"Didn't I tell you! That bow and arrow had no lethal force. Even if it hit Auntie, it would have only caused a minor wound!" Gao Xiaofei insisted.
"Nonsense! Don't underestimate that arrow. If you calculate it with formulas, you'll find the force isn't enough. That's because the arrow was shot in a parabolic trajectory, and the aim was below my mother's ear, the softest spot. If it had hit, there would have been no time to save her," Ping An said angrily. "Are you guys talking about bows and arrows? You're not listening to me!"
In fact, Ping An had one more piece of information he hadn't told Gao Xiaofei: the long arrow that fell from the sky was indeed shot with a rare parabolic trajectory, and in the river basin, the only ones who could execute such a shot were himself and his father, Ping Fan.
During his previous investigations, although Ping Fan hadn't been able to replicate it on himself, Ping An had always had a vague feeling that his father was always around.
For the past month, in order to find the paparazzi, Ping An had been preoccupied with nothing else. He didn't dare to hope to see the full, complete face, even a silhouette would be enough to infer whether it was his father.
He couldn't explain these things to Gao Xiaofei.
After a whole car ride of criticism, Ping An finally returned home.
Two months ago, under Ping An's relentless pursuit, Lin Dang had reluctantly returned to Ping An's home. That same night, they had deepened their understanding of each other. In just a few days, they had already begun to consider marriage.
As he walked through the door, he first heard Su Tang tidying up Zhang Xiao'ao, and then from the kitchen, he heard Lin Dang cooking.
Ah, this was life.
Putting on a smile, Ping An happily ignored Zhang Xiao'ao's silent plea for help and headed straight for the kitchen, hugging Lin Dang from behind.
"Be careful, the children are here!" Lin Dang said, a little embarrassed.
"What are you afraid of? They're all grown up, they've seen everything!" Ping An joked.
"Stop messing around! I'm telling you, my period hasn't come this month!" Lin Dang suddenly said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "Could it be that, you know, it happened?"
"That's not my fault, you were so eager that night..." Ping An said with a wicked grin.
"Get lost!" Lin Dang playfully cursed before instructing everyone to eat.
In this household, the position of the young mistress was naturally the highest.
Su Tang was naturally close to Lin Dang and also naturally feared her.
At the dinner table, Ping An casually shared the news of Lin Dang's potential pregnancy.
"Oh my god, I have a little junior brother?" Su Tang curiously stared at Lin Dang's stomach for a long time before saying, "Are you and Master, Mistress, planning to have a shotgun wedding?"
"Who knows!" Ping An said. "Actually, I don't mind. If your Mistress agrees, we can have the wedding tomorrow!"
"I haven't had a check-up yet, let's not talk about this topic for now," Lin Dang said, her face flushed.
Zhang Xiao'ao, as quiet as ever, looked at Lin Dang for a long time before suddenly reaching out his hand, past Su Tang, and touching Lin Dang's stomach.
"Where are you putting your hand?" Su Tang, seeing Zhang Xiao'ao's rudeness, hit his hand hard with her chopsticks.
"Xiao'ao, what are you thinking?" Ping An didn't feel it was a big deal and joked, "Your little junior brother is probably not even the size of a bean yet!"
"Oh, oh, I didn't mean to. I was just happy, hehe," Zhang Xiao'ao said, realizing it a bit late.
After an incredibly rich dinner, Ping An's home entered "free mode." Su Tang hid in her bedroom with a bag of snacks to watch dramas. Xiao'ao had reached his "practice accuracy" time and went out with his bow and arrows. Ping An comforted Lin Dang, saying he had "overtime," and quietly left home.
That photo was like a thorn, stuck in Ping An's throat.
In fact, all the cases were over.
Even Xiang Wanfeng, who had retired early and was now wholeheartedly learning to write novels at home, like Ping An, said that the assassin who tried to kill An Wei might be a "remnant" of "Mr. Ke." Why use a bow and arrow? Was archery invented by the Ping family? Can't others use it? China prohibits firearms! Bow and arrow is the only weapon that can kill at a distance!
Ping An sincerely hoped that all of this was over.
What remained were good days.
But the bow and arrow were the same, yet the archery technique was impossible to replicate.
And the arrow shot by the assassin was too similar to that person.
This afternoon, Ping An had already obtained the information he wanted from the public security bureau.
That photo had indeed been taken, but it wasn't on him. It had been kept at the paparazzi's home as a discarded piece.
Tonight, Ping An requested to see that photo.
Riding his motorcycle, Ping An arrived at the paparazzi's house.
This was a shantytown in the suburbs, with narrow alleys and dilapidated low-rise houses, and garbage piled up everywhere along the roadside.
Ping An arrived at a house with an unlocked iron gate. He looked at the rusty iron bars, carefully found the lock, and then used a small pair of pliers he carried with him to clip it. The gate opened.
Entering the yard, Ping An kicked open the door of the house. He searched for a long time inside the house, only to find a place for developing photos in the basement.
After searching everywhere, he found nothing but photos of women's exposed parts.
Could it be in the trash can outside?
It was very dark outside. Ping An, holding a flashlight, returned to the yard and found the trash can at the entrance of the house.
Indeed, there was a stack of photos in the trash can. While sifting through them, he actually found a photo of the assassin who attacked his mother.
Ping An aimed the flashlight at the photo and was about to examine it closely when a familiar voice suddenly sounded in his ear.
He looked up abruptly, dropped the photo in his hand, and even took a step back. In an instant, Ping An completed three actions and then saw a long arrow with a rope attached to the tail and a hook at the tip "whoosh" shoot towards the photo.
Ping An didn't have time to look for the shooter. After realizing there was no danger, he quickly reached out to grab it, but the photo was quickly retrieved along with the arrow.
Following the trajectory of the arrow's return, Ping An saw a person on the rooftop, holding a long bow, wearing a mask, rapidly drawing the string. Upon seeing Ping An's flashlight shining at him, the person didn't hide but raised the bow, drew an arrow, and shot at Ping An again.
The distance was close, and the power was immense. Ping An saw the arrow embedded in the wooden door and felt a chill in his heart. With the force of this arrow, if it hit him, he wouldn't see the sun tomorrow.
"Who are you?" Ping An, unarmed and fearing an attack, asked from behind a large tree in the yard.
Unfortunately, the other party didn't seem inclined to talk to Ping An.
"Grandson! Can you put down the bow and arrow?" Ping An knew the other party was about to run. In his exasperation, he cursed again.
"Whoosh!" A long arrow once again shot towards Ping An's position.
Ping An watched as this powerful arrow grazed the bark of the tree and finally lodged in the ground, sending another chill through him!
This skill, this power, in the dark, this accuracy, seemed even more formidable than his own. When had another archery master appeared in the river basin that he didn't know about? Unconsciously, Ping An's head was covered in cold sweat.
He cautiously peeked out again and saw that the other party had indeed left.
After repeatedly confirming his safety, Ping An pulled the long arrows out of the door and the ground.
These were homemade long arrows, and the arrowheads were hardly as sharp as professional ones.
Yet, these "semi-finished products" had shot two perfect arrows.
"Could it be?"
Ping An suddenly had a terrible thought.