Chapter 55

"Uncle Tan, are you sure it's Zhu Changyong himself?"

"I can't be completely sure, but it's highly likely to be him. Because when the other party applied for the visit, he provided relevant supporting materials and photos showing he had once been a colleague of Zheng Haiyang's mother."

"Does the psychiatric hospital have them on file?"

"No."

Psychiatric hospitals were indeed stricter in terms of management, but that was internal, not external. Moreover, the frequency of external visits from patients' families was already very low.

Many families, after sending their mentally ill relatives in, hoped to forget about this person.

"Uncle Tan, are you sure it was suicide?"

"Her method of suicide was slitting her throat in public."

Li Zhuiyuan pulled his collar up a bit.

That was suicide then. After all, if there were other hidden circumstances or a black hand, it wouldn't have been done in this manner.

"Uncle Tan, does this Zhu Changyong have any suspicion of inducement or instigation?"

"There is in the law, but how can it be adjudicated? Zheng Haiyang's mother was already a psychiatric patient. The local police station could only find him for questioning. He did leave an address and phone number on the application form, but it was for a hotel."

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and looked at Tan Yunlong. He suddenly understood the real reason why Officer Tan had come here.

"Uncle Tan, you are here to find Zheng Haiyang."

Tan Yunlong nodded. He also felt a sense of relief in his heart; talking to Xiaoyuan was really much simpler than talking to his own silly son.

"Xiaoyuan, the hotel address Zhu Changyong left is in our Shigang."

Zheng Haiyang walked out of the school gate at this time. He had eaten with Tan Wenbin and Li Zhuiyuan at noon, and because Tan Wenbin was following Li Zhuiyuan and not attending the evening self-study, he walked by himself in the evening.

"Brother Bin, why are you still here?" Zheng Haiyang saw Tan Wenbin first and went over to greet him.

Tan Wenbin pursed his lips toward that direction.

"Oh, Uncle is here too."

Tan Yunlong naturally noticed this too. He turned his head, pointed at Tan Wenbin, and shouted, "You and Haiyang go to the cafeteria to eat, and then accompany him to evening self-study."

"What?" Tan Wenbin was stunned for a moment. Accompanying his buddy to eat was no problem, but not attending morning and evening self-study was his current pride of being unconventional!

Tan Yunlong's gaze glared.

Tan Wenbin's knees softened immediately, and he responded at once:

"Yes, sir!"

When the tiger was faking anger and one could be lively and naughty, and when the tiger was truly going to eat people—as a son, he could tell the difference.

Even a tiger doesn't eat its cubs, and that's because the young tiger has the ability to read the situation.

"Let's go, Haiyang, let's go to the cafeteria to eat."

"Brother Bin, going to the cafeteria now not only requires queuing but there might not be any food left..."

"Stop talking nonsense. If it really doesn't work, go to the school canteen and buy a few packs of Tang Seng meat. If you don't leave with me, my dad might pull out his belt and whip me in public at the school gate."

When Tan Wenbin and Zheng Haiyang went in, two plainclothes police officers also followed them in, clearly to protect the target.

During the morning and evening commute, the school security guards didn't stop people who looked like students, but they still paid more attention to adults.

So those few security guards greeted the two plainclothes police officers very enthusiastically.

It was a small town, a small place where people saw each other all the time, and these two police officers often came to the school to do legal publicity.

Letting them go was also to facilitate communication with the teachers, so as not to cause misunderstandings.

Soon, two physical education teachers from the school, Luo Jinwen and Luo Wenhui, were also selected to cooperate with the police action.

These two PE teachers were cousins. Originally, one planned to buy groceries after work to celebrate his wife's birthday, and the other had an appointment to watch a movie with his girlfriend after work. Now, everything was ruined.

After the director found them and arranged the task, he also appeased their emotions, comforting them that they were the people the school leadership relied on most.

This was a fact. The last time the school sent people to the capital to investigate Li Zhuiyuan's student status, it was the two of them, and it was also them who installed the curtains and spring bed for the principal's office.

"Let's go, Xiaoyuan, let's go to the hotel and take a look."

"Hasn't the person checked out yet?"

"The station called to ask, and the person checked out in the morning, but we still have to go and take a look. In addition, I have also arranged for police officers to protect Zheng Haiyang's home."

"Uncle Tan, wait a moment."

Li Zhuiyuan ran toward Runsheng's tricycle and explained it to A Li. A Li nodded.

Except for that time when she discovered Li Zhuiyuan self-harming his palm and the girl left resolutely, at other times, no matter what Li Zhuiyuan wanted to do, she never complained.

Runsheng asked if he should send A Li back first and then come over with the equipment, but Li Zhuiyuan refused.

After saying goodbye, Li Zhuiyuan ran back, got on Tan Yunlong's motorcycle, and the two soon arrived at the hotel.

The hotel name was very common, called "Happiness Hotel."

On the left side of the entrance was a breakfast shop, and on the right side was a hair salon.

An ordinary hair salon would at least have an iron barber chair. This one not only had no chairs, but even scissors and combs couldn't be seen on the table. There was only a simple long sofa placed inside, and two heavily made-up women were sitting on it, crossing their legs and knitting sweaters.

On the glass door, besides "Haircut, Shampoo," there were also "Cupping, Foot Wash, Massage, PSA."

For the last one, Li Zhuiyuan suspected that the letters were pasted incorrectly.

The hotel entrance was very small, with just a small staircase going up, and the front desk was also on the second floor.

Tan Yunlong took out his ID and asked the other party to produce the check-in record.

When the station called earlier, they had confirmed that Zhu Changyong had stayed here, and they had also requested that the room be temporarily kept off the market.

Led by the boss, they walked deep into the hotel, opened the door, and walked in.

The space inside was very small, just a bed, a bedside table, and a coffee table, and there was no TV.

Tan Yunlong began to inspect and found many traces of water seepage on the floor: "What happened here?"

"I don't know. It started seeping water last night. The shop downstairs even came to find me. We checked the bathroom water pipes at the time, and they were normal. And there was a large amount of water on the ground, so we suspected whether other water pipes were leaking and seeping in."

Li Zhuiyuan knelt on the ground, allowing himself to get closer to these water stains.

Although they had been cleaned, the residual water stains still carried a slight stickiness.

This was very consistent with the characteristics of the water overflowing from the dead.

Tan Yunlong looked at the boss and asked, "After he stayed here, besides him going out himself, did anyone else enter this room to find him?"

Li Zhuiyuan raised his head and also looked at the boss.

The boss waved his hand: "No, no one entered this room to find him."

Li Zhuiyuan could see that the boss's micro-expressions indicated that he was lying.

But Li Zhuiyuan knew that Tan Yunlong must also be able to hear it, because Tan Yunlong had set a trap when asking the question.

For such a deep room, and with your front desk outside, how could you be sure no one had entered his room? The correct answer should have been "I don't know," rather than asserting there wasn't.

Tan Yunlong said sternly: "I'll give you one more chance. Think clearly before answering. Do you know what he committed? If we find out later that you lied today, that's the crime of harboring, or even being an accomplice."

The boss panicked immediately, his face showing struggle, but finally decided to say: "Amei came in."

"Who?"

"It's the one from the hair salon downstairs. She came in."

"Did you arrange it?"

"No... not exactly." The boss's face was very ugly, and he began to sweat.

Nowadays, hotels secretly doing this kind of business was almost an unspoken rule. Some bosses cooperated and split the profits, and some bosses were simply the pimps themselves.

"Where is she?"

"Right downstairs."

Tan Yunlong and Li Zhuiyuan walked out and came to the hair salon next door. Amei was one of the two women sitting on the sofa knitting sweaters.

Seeing Tan Yunlong walk in, one of the women went to pull down the rolling shutter door very naturally.

Until she saw Li Zhuiyuan following behind, she was stunned and couldn't help but laugh: "Little brother, are you here to play too?"

"He is with me."

"Okay, big brother, you choose one of us, and the other will stay to accompany the child to watch TV."

There was a black-and-white TV in the room, but it should have been broken and wasn't plugged into a socket.

It was just that Li Zhuiyuan was too young now, but if he were a few years older, he could have been received.

"Which one is Amei?"

"Brother, choose me. Isn't this your first time here? Did a friend introduce you?"

Tan Yunlong took out his ID: "I am a police officer. I'm here to ask you something. Sit down."

The two women were frightened immediately, but the other one reacted quickly, and her charming expression emerged again, but under Tan Yunlong's gaze, she instantly subsided.

"Did you go to the Happiness Hotel to do business last night? Do you remember room 8025?"

"I... I don't remember."

"Think clearly before answering. I'm not here to crack down on prostitution this time."

The woman next to her pushed Amei's arm: "Hurry up and say it, tell the truth, cooperate with the work."

Amei was also anxious and said: "I did several jobs last night. I don't know which one was that room."

The woman next to her changed color immediately: "You actually went behind my back to secretly..."

Clearly, Amei had a better relationship with the hotel boss.

Generally, in this kind of shop, unless a guest specifically points out a person, when facing a stranger, they all take turns in order.

Those staying at a hotel definitely wouldn't be regular customers. After all, there were small compartments in the hair salon, and there were beds inside.

Li Zhuiyuan reminded: "The floor in his room was very wet, there was a lot of water, and the room was very damp."

"Ah, I remember, it's him. But I didn't do it with him. He gave money, but just asked me to go to the front desk to get a quick-boil heater to boil water for him to drink. He said he was very thirsty. I boiled a lot of water for him, and in the end, he let me go."

"Are there any other details, such as his accent?"

"It seems to be a northern accent. In addition, he carried a black briefcase. As for the rest, I don't know. We didn't take off our clothes either."

"Facial details, try to recall again."

"He was quite tall, 1.8 meters, very thin, but had muscles on his body. He wore a duckbill cap and had relatively dark skin, as if he had been tanned. There was peeling on the back of his hands. I even asked him if he was sunburned."

Tan Yunlong nodded. Although there was no direct photo, from the description, it was indeed the person who went to the psychiatric hospital to visit Zheng Haiyang's mother.

"If he looks for you again, remember to find an opportunity to call the police. He is very dangerous."

"Huff... huff..." Amei was so scared that she kept patting her chest. Being caught for prostitution was just detention. People in their line of work were indeed afraid of the police, but even more afraid of bad people.

Tan Yunlong pulled up the rolling shutter door, brought Li Zhuiyuan out, and sat back on the motorcycle.

After the vehicle drove quite a distance, Tan Yunlong suddenly said again: "Xiaoyuan, some things can never be swept clean."

"Ah?" Li Zhuiyuan was surprised for a moment, thinking Tan Yunlong was talking about the case. He soon understood and responded, "Uncle Tan, I understand."

"A house can never be clean forever, so you have to clean it diligently."

"Hmm, Uncle Tan."

The retired elderly in the family courtyard also liked to say similar things to him. This meant that they truly treated him as a promising younger generation and hoped to pass on correct values.

The next stop was Zheng Haiyang's home.

Zheng Haiyang's home was a very new two-story self-built house. Li Zhuiyuan had been there on the day of the funeral.

Originally, Zheng Haiyang's family conditions were actually very poor, but Zheng Haiyang's father knew how to handle things. Over the years, he had taken his wife to work as sailors and had indeed earned a lot of money, and the family had also built a new house.

Outside the house were two plainclothes police officers. After Tan Yunlong greeted them, he brought them into the house together.

The two elderly people were still wiping away tears; they should have known the news from the psychiatric hospital.

Actually, what they were more worried about was their grandson. Losing his father and mother in a short period of time, what would happen next?

The only thing to be glad about was that the house had been built, and over the years, their son and daughter-in-law had sent a lot of money home, all of which was saved.

Tan Yunlong explained the purpose of his visit, asking if any strangers had approached here recently. The two elderly people replied that there hadn't been.

But this was clearly impossible, because since Zhu Changyong chose to stay in Shigang, his goal could only be here.

During the questioning process, Tan Yunlong specifically pointed out that this person might pose a danger to Zheng Haiyang. Upon hearing this, the two elderly people were very afraid and desperately requested the police to catch the bad guy.

This was a test, a test to see if the two elderly people had indeed not contacted Zhu Changyong.

Sometimes, handling a case would encounter very bizarre twists and turns. What brought the bizarre wasn't the case itself, but the people involved in the case.

However, when it came to their grandson, the two elderly people also performed normally, which proved that Zhu Changyong had come alone for his own purpose.

After seeking the consent of the elderly, the two police officers were arranged to go into the house to take a look.

Tan Yunlong walked to the dam, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep breath.

"Uncle Tan, you've worked hard."

This shouldn't have been a case for Tan Yunlong to handle, and it might not even be considered a case.

"Xiaoyuan, what are you saying? You can't just leave a potential danger and act like you didn't see it, right? That, Xiaoyuan, what are your thoughts?"

When asking this question, Tan Yunlong's gaze swept slowly around like a hawk. He had a feeling that Zhu Changyong might be hiding nearby.

"Uncle Tan, is it possible that Zhu Changyong came here not to target people, but for a specific item?"

"Item?"

"Yes, he might not have come to kill."

This was Li Zhuiyuan's guess. The person who truly grasped Zhu Changyong's real identity information was Li Lan's secretary, Xu Wen.

But from Xu Wen's attitude toward Zhu Changyong that he heard in the restroom, they weren't in a hostile relationship, and might even have been a bit intimate.

"See him alive if he's alive, or his corpse if he's dead"... if this wasn't describing an enemy, it could be another extreme.

This could also sideways explain Zhu Changyong's identity. Although he also mixed into that ship, he was different from the two groups of people, Honda and Ashley.

Even if something bad happened on the seabed, he wouldn't have to target the crew's family members after going ashore.

"Then I'll go ask again."

Tan Yunlong went to ask again.

Li Zhuiyuan didn't follow, but learned Tan Yunlong's previous actions and scanned the surroundings.

It was just that Tan Yunlong was looking for people, while he was looking for the dead.

But the result was the same, nothing was gained.

Li Zhuiyuan took out the talisman from his pocket, stuck it on the dam, and also stuck it on the door. He always carried quite a few in his pocket, and this time he stuck them all on.

Tan Yunlong came out: "Asked, there are no special items. However, this time it might be a lie."

Since he saw that they were lying, as long as he brought them back to the station and used the atmosphere there, it would be easy to ask it out, but he couldn't do that now.

"Uncle Tan, you can tell Zheng Haiyang to let Zheng Haiyang come back and ask."

"Hmm, good idea." Tan Yunlong rode the motorcycle and carried Li Zhuiyuan back to the school gate, and asked for two bowls of noodles in the small shop outside.

"Xiaoyuan, what topping do you want to add?"

"I don't need it, Uncle Tan."

After the two finished eating, the evening self-study for the third year of high school ended, and the noodle shop would close for a rest after finishing the last batch of business today.

Tan Wenbin and Zheng Haiyang walked out side by side. Father and son were connected, and he immediately sensed his father's position.

Tan Yunlong talked to Zheng Haiyang. He didn't tell him about his mother without authorization, but just explained the stakes to him. The gist was that a bad guy had targeted something in his house, and his grandparents knew but deliberately didn't tell the police, which might bring danger to the family.

Zheng Haiyang immediately guaranteed that he would definitely ask his grandparents clearly when he went back.

Then, Zheng Haiyang pursed his lips and asked: "Uncle, is my mother also gone?"

As sailors, his father was confirmed dead, but his mother was nowhere to be found and didn't come to attend the funeral. Zheng Haiyang actually had a premonition in his heart long ago.

"This, you have to ask your grandparents yourself. Uncle doesn't know."

"Okay, I understand, Uncle."

After speaking, Tan Wenbin put his arm around Zheng Haiyang's shoulder and pulled him aside, giving him a buddy-to-buddy entrustment:

"Brother, look, my dad and Brother Xiaoyuan are standing together. You have to be obedient. Believe me, you don't have to listen to my dad, but you have to listen to our Brother Xiaoyuan. Not listening to my dad at most means going to jail, not listening to Brother Xiaoyuan might mean having to sit at a funeral banquet."

"Brother Bin, I understand. I only have my grandparents left. I hope my family is well. In addition... actually, I feel very guilty."

"What's wrong?"

"My dad is gone, and my mom might also be gone, but I, as a son, don't feel much sadness in my heart. I feel like I'm not much of a person."

"Hey, what are you thinking? Your parents were away from home all year round, and you only saw them once a year. It's normal for the feelings between you to be a bit thin."

"But they went out to work, also for me."

"How should I put it, buddy? Look at it openly. Don't be stubborn with yourself. The dead cannot be resurrected. If your parents could see, they definitely wouldn't want you to cry your eyes out and never be able to walk out. They definitely would rather you live healthily and happily. Eat well, drink well, study well, get into a university. You still have your grandparents to take care of in the future."

"Thank you, Brother Bin."

Li Zhuiyuan walked over at this time: "Brother Binbin, do you still have talisman paper in your pocket?"

"Yes, this is our anti-counterfeiting mark."

"Give it to Haiyang. Haiyang, I stuck some talisman paper outside your house. When you go back, check to see if it has changed color, and then stick some on the doors of your bedroom and your grandparents' bedroom. Don't tell others that I gave it to you."

"I understand, Brother Xiaoyuan. I'll just say this is a peace talisman."

After the morning self-study ended the next day, Li Zhuiyuan and Tan Wenbin had just walked into the classroom when Zheng Haiyang walked over and whispered:

"I asked my grandparents last night, and they told me. When my parents came home last time, they indeed brought back an item."

Tan Wenbin hurriedly asked: "What item?"

"That, I can't describe it. Let me draw it." Zheng Haiyang picked up a pen, opened a page in Tan Wenbin's notebook, and began to draw.

Tan Wenbin frowned: "What kind of ghost thing is this?"

"I haven't seen it. I drew it based on my grandparents' description."

Li Zhuiyuan said faintly: "A ding (tripod)."

"Damn, a national treasure."

They were third-year high school students, after all, so they naturally knew what a "ding" represented.

Li Zhuiyuan recalled that Zheng Haiyang's mother had said she was entering that place for the first time, but her husband wasn't.

So, when her husband entered for the first time, he brought out an item.

"However, my grandparents said this thing is very small..."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Not every ding is very large. There are small ones. What color?"

"Black-green."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Then it really might be a cultural relic."

It was no wonder Zheng Haiyang's grandparents chose to hide it when facing Tan Yunlong's second questioning yesterday. After losing their son and daughter-in-law, the elderly clearly valued this kind of thing more.

Tan Wenbin asked: "Did you bring it?"

Zheng Haiyang shook his head: "At that time, this thing was hidden by my parents in the well on the dam at home. I tried to fish it out with my grandfather last night, but couldn't fish it out."

Tan Wenbin: "Then let Runsheng go to your house to fish it out tonight. Runsheng is a professional."

Li Zhuiyuan asked: "Has the talisman paper changed?"

"I looked when I went back last night, and looked again when I came to school this morning. It hasn't changed color."

Tan Wenbin let out a breath: "Very good, he hasn't come."

Li Zhuiyuan corrected: "It's hasn't come yet."

"Will something happen to our family?" Zheng Haiyang asked worriedly.

Li Zhuiyuan said: "There are police outside your house."

Tan Wenbin said: "It's impossible to stay too long, at most these two days. Otherwise, the people below will be dissatisfied, after all, there's no case filed."

"Brother Xiaoyuan, Brother Bin, then I..."

"We'll go to your house tonight," Li Zhuiyuan said very calmly, "Fish the item out of the well, and your family will be fine."

Tan Wenbin asked curiously: "How to handle the item after fishing it out? This thing looks like a hot potato now."

Li Zhuiyuan was lying on the table preparing to take a nap first. He had drawn the little yellow oriole for half the night last night.

However, the boy still answered in passing:

"Hand it over to the state."

Tan Wenbin asked cautiously: "If this cultural relic is found in international waters, it seems it doesn't need to be handed over to the state, right?"

The boy had already adjusted his arm pillow posture, closed his eyes, and asked back:

"Then take it home for yourself."

"No, no, no!" Tan Wenbin shook his head in fear immediately, "Better hand it over to the state, give it to the state."

At noon, the three went out to eat. After the meal, Tan Wenbin called Auntie Zhang's small shop and told Runsheng not to carry A Li over tonight, but to bring the equipment and come over.

Just as they walked back to the school gate, they saw Wu Xinhan going out in his own car. The driver was focusing on driving, and Wu Xinhan was sitting in the back seat waving his hands self-forgetfully, talking with great interest.

He was going to a meeting, and didn't forget to have a final rehearsal for himself on the way.

Entering the school, the banner of good news had already been hung.

"Enthusiastically congratulate our school's student Li Zhuiyuan for winning first place in the city Math Olympiad competition!"

A very peculiar operation was that the original last three words were "First Prize," but they were crossed out with a slash, and "First Place" was temporarily added.

Because this competition ranked awards by position, there were quite a few first prizes, but there was only one perfect score.

The banner had been made in advance, and the words were also changed according to Principal Wu's request. There was no need to change the banner. This banner looked even more domineering!

This middle school was in such a hell-difficulty competition area and had been suppressed for too long. Having finally caught an opportunity, naturally, they had to vent and celebrate.

Li Zhuiyuan just took a look and then lowered his head to continue walking forward.

Tan Wenbin slapped his thigh hard, ran back to the classroom first, and called the poor students in the class:

"What are you still stunned for? Get to work, get to work! Bind the second, third, and fourth volumes together to sell. Except for students who receive school poverty subsidies who can enjoy a discount, no bargaining for anyone else!"

When Li Zhuiyuan returned, the inside and outside of the classroom seemed to have become a large publishing house distribution site. People were moving inside, and even more people were crowding the hallway outside.

Once the Math Olympiad competition good news was announced, the entire school market boiled over.

Those coming to buy exercise books were not only third-year students, but also many second-year and first-year students, and even quite a few from the junior high department ran over to buy them.

For the younger students, anyway, they would be able to use them in the future; most importantly, when they were in high school, the award winner would have already gone to university, so they had to hurry and buy them to get some good luck while the person was still there.

After many people bought the exercise collection, they immediately pulled out the talisman paper, kissed it with their mouths, and then carefully stuffed it back in very solemnly.

One person's exercise collection slipped when passing by Li Zhuiyuan and fell to the ground.

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and looked at the cover, discovering that Tan Wenbin had given the exercise collection a name:

"Zhuiyuan Secret Volume."

The hot-selling atmosphere hadn't ended even after the lunch self-study bell rang.

Finally, the vice-principal and the head teacher Sun Qing came over, called Tan Wenbin out, and the crowd dispersed.

An hour later, Tan Wenbin returned. He sat back in his seat with a beaming face:

"Brother, it'll be convenient for us to sell exercise collections in the future. You just set the problems, and then wait to count the money."

"Then why did you go for so long?"

"Stupid, I definitely had to negotiate the copyright split with the school. Family or not, business is business!"

"Hmm?"

"It's not just selling this round. In the future, selling to other schools in the city, selling to other schools in the province, we have to collect authorization fees or copyright fees. This split has to be negotiated well. Even if we graduate and go to university, we can continue to collect."

"Brother Binbin, you really have a business mind."

"I'm nothing. It's mainly because of you, my brother. You are the one who is a rare commodity to be hoarded. Then after school tonight, go and sign the contract with the school? We have a school-run enterprise brand, which was originally half-dead, but now it can be utilized just right."

"I authorize it to you, you go."

"Brother, you trust me that much?"

"Hmm."

Li Zhuiyuan had no obsession with making money.

On this point, he was very similar to Brother Liangliang. Their attitude toward money had always been that enough was enough, and they mainly pursued things on another level.

During class in the afternoon, Tan Wenbin was tinkering with his plan.

Li Zhuiyuan glanced at it twice and discovered that he was making a phased plan, a bit similar to a valuation adjustment mechanism.

For example, winning an award in the provincial Math Olympiad competition, winning an award in the national Math Olympiad competition, and winning an award in the international Math Olympiad competition—the corresponding split ratio had to be increased level by level.

Tan Wenbin himself had no fate with the Math Olympiad competition, but he understood the competition process very well and clearly.

Besides this, college entrance examination results were also included.

"Brother Binbin."

"What's wrong?"

"What does Auntie do?"

"My mom? She's an accountant."

Because he had to go to Zheng Haiyang's house after school, he used a small trick before the fourth-period math class to measure a fever and get a leave note. After handing it to Teacher Yan in the office, he went to negotiate.

During the fourth period, Teacher Yan handed out test papers for everyone to do, because he was called by the school leadership to help calculate the contract accounts, and as a result, he had a teacher-student "chance encounter" with Tan Wenbin.

When school ended in the evening, Li Zhuiyuan saw the principal's car return. The principal opened the car door and walked down, greeting everyone enthusiastically, looking full of energy and spirit.

It was like a daughter-in-law who had been bullied for a long time, finally having outlived the evil mother-in-law.

Before the principal's gaze swept to him, Li Zhuiyuan and Zheng Haiyang ran out of the school gate and found Runsheng.

Tan Wenbin was already waiting here, his left ear red and large, like Maitreya.

"Brother Xiaoyuan, the contract was negotiated successfully. You just set the problems in the future, and then wait to count the money."

"Brother Binbin, your ear..."

"Originally, Teacher Yan only scolded me twice when he saw me. Seeing that I proposed to also count the problems you set for the Math Olympiad group into the Math Olympiad exercise collection, Teacher Yan was so angry he pulled my ear and settled the account with me for taking a fake sick leave."

"You've worked hard, Brother Binbin."

"Not hard, can't let the school take even a little advantage!"

The three got on the tricycle, and Runsheng rode to Zheng Haiyang's house.

After arriving at the dam, Runsheng set about fishing, but he couldn't fish anything out. In the end, he simply went down the well himself, dived down, but still couldn't find that ding.

Tan Wenbin: "The ding isn't inside anymore. Could it be that Zhu Changyong had already come and taken it away?"

Li Zhuiyuan nodded: "There is this possibility."

Zhu Changyong checked out that morning, and the station received the assistance investigation notice in the afternoon. Theoretically, Zhu Changyong could have even come here the night before to take the item away and left Shigang early the next morning.

Zheng Haiyang asked anxiously: "What to do if the item is gone?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "If he has already taken the item, then your family is definitely safe."

Zheng Haiyang patted his chest: "Yes, yes, Brother Xiaoyuan, you are right."

The sky had already darkened.

Zheng Haiyang's grandparents enthusiastically invited the classmates to eat dinner at home before leaving.

Everyone sat at the table together, and Runsheng lit a cigarette before the meal.

Zheng Haiyang's grandparents were very happy in the kitchen, constantly saying that Haiyang hadn't brought any classmates home to play before.

Then, they kept blaming Zheng Haiyang for not telling them earlier, so they could have gone to the vegetable market in the morning to prepare more dishes.

Tan Wenbin skillfully smoothed things over, enlivening the atmosphere, but didn't forget to remind them to "cook more rice."

After a few dishes were served, everyone began to eat.

Zheng Haiyang's grandma laughed: "There's still a head dish, it will be served immediately."

Tan Wenbin raised his chopsticks: "Good, good, good, I love eating head dish the most."

Head dish is also called Tongcheng braised three fresh, also called big mixed stew.

Inside were fish balls, pork skin, wood ear, egg skin, quail eggs, and other ingredients. It was also considered half a soup dish, and it was indispensable on local red and white banquet tables.

While eating, the light overhead began to flicker, and then with a "snap," it went out.

"Old man, see if the house tripped the breaker."

"Coming, coming, old woman, you move aside first. Everyone, don't move. I'll serve the head dish first, don't get scalded."

"Ding-dong..."

It should have been the muffled sound of a large bowl being placed on the table.

"Everyone, eat freely, just like in your own home, there's enough food."

"Old man, hurry up and see if it tripped the breaker. I see the neighbor's light outside is still on, it's not a power outage in the village."

"Hey, good, good, good, I'll go right now."

Before long, the grandfather's voice came from outside: "Old woman, it tripped the breaker, I'll send it up right now."

The power came back on, and the light turned on.

Beside the table, everyone who was holding chopsticks ready to pick up food stopped.

Because placed right in the center of the table, used to hold the head dish... was a ding.

Although the light was on, the complexions of the two elderly people darkened. Standing beside the table, they kept waving their hands and said:

"Eat, hurry up and eat, don't be polite, hehehehe..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 56 =====

The power came back on, and the lights brightened.

At the table, everyone who had been holding chopsticks, ready to pick up food, froze.

Because placed right in the center of the table, used to hold the main course... was a tripod.

Although the lights were on, the complexions of the two old people darkened. Standing by the table, they waved their hands incessantly and said:

"Eat, hurry and eat, don't be polite, hehehehe..."

(End of chapter)