"I... I really did stick it on..." The owner's heart went cold as ice. Had he been exposed, just like that? How was he supposed to do business after this?

"I don't care whether you stuck it on or not — give me my money back, now! I've dropped thirty yuan at your stall. Hand it over!" The young man was out of patience; he had no interest in hearing the owner explain.

"Fine, fine, I'll refund you right now..." The owner wanted to smooth things over. After all, how could he possibly stand up to a fitness trainer?

"We want refunds too! Give the money back — I played here yesterday..."

"Me too — I played here the day before yesterday..."

"I played here half a year ago. Refund me too..."

The owner keeled over on the spot, frothing at the mouth. His cash box was snatched clean by the crowd; those who came up empty-handed started grabbing at his plush toys and prizes, and in an instant there was nothing left of the stall at all...

When the owner came to, he found he had nothing left! But who was there to blame? Who told him to run his business without a shred of honesty?

Wei Zhao, of course, had no idea how unlucky the owner had been after he left — and even if he had known, he would not have cared. What did it have to do with him? By now Wei Zhao had accompanied the young miss and Xiaoshu to the fried mushroom stall.

"That stuff isn't healthy. You'd be better off not eating it..." Seeing Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu eating with such relish, Tang Yun could not help warning them. "If you want some, you can make it at home."

"That's right — Arrow Bro, can you make fried mushrooms?" Shen Yushu figured she had a point. Who knew whether the mushrooms outside had even been washed, or whether the oil was gutter oil?

"I suppose so..." Wei Zhao had watched the owner once and already learned how it was done.

"Then you can make it for us from now on, and we won't eat out anymore!" Shen Yushu was overjoyed — at last she could have delicious fried mushrooms at home.

Tang Yun rubbed her smooth forehead, a little annoyed with herself. She really had gone looking for trouble — she had only made more work for Wei Zhao!

Now that she knew Wei Zhao could fry mushrooms, Shen Yushu had no heart to keep eating. If she could have them every day from now on, there was no need to stuff herself sick in one sitting.

After the fried mushrooms, Wei Zhao saw that it was about time, and offered to take Tang Yun back to the hospital.

With the young miss and Shen Yushu around, Wei Zhao could not do anything with Tang Yun anyway; the four of them together made things awkward.

Tang Yun's thoughts were much the same as Wei Zhao's, so when she heard his suggestion she agreed.

Gu Mengyao and Shen Yushu were following Wei Zhao in any case; they had come home loaded with loot today, a rich haul, and had no wish to keep shopping. They had school tomorrow — stay up too late and they would never get up.

...

Chen Yutian and Qiu Lingshan left An Jianwen's hospital room. Qiu Lingshan frowned. "That friend of yours is a bit strange. There's something more behind his kidney being cut out..."

"I hadn't been in touch with him for years either. If I hadn't come back this time on business, I wouldn't have looked him up." Chen Yutian shook his head. "Still, the An family has grown strong these past years — they have quietly become the most powerful of the Five Minor Houses..."

"They got rich through crooked means. Sooner or later someone will deal with them!" Qiu Lingshan said flatly.

"Heh. How about dinner together — do you have the time?" Once outside the hospital, Chen Yutian asked Qiu Lingshan.

"No. I have too many cases; I don't want to waste time." Qiu Lingshan turned him down outright. "Besides, I'm in uniform. I'd have to change — too much trouble."

"Actually, I came to you because I have official business to discuss as well." This time Chen Yutian was full of confidence. He had come to Songshan City on official duty, originally to carry out a classified mission, but since one part of it required cooperation with the local police, he had asked his superiors for permission and was now ready to make contact with Qiu Lingshan.

To make contact properly, procedure dictated that Chen Yutian first approach the local police chief. But he had already given Yang Huaijun a heads-up, and since Qiu Lingshan was the captain of criminal investigation and happened to be in charge of this matter, it made a perfectly legitimate reason.

"Official business?" Qiu Lingshan was slightly taken aback. "If it's official business, then let's talk in my office. Dinner we can forget."

"It's about dinnertime now. Surely we can't discuss matters on empty stomachs?" Chen Yutian said with a wry smile.

"Fine, then. Two fast-food meals." Qiu Lingshan said flatly. "There's a cafeteria in this hospital!"

"All right..." Chen Yutian had no choice. Fast food, at least, still counted as eating together — though any romance in it was certainly gone.

The two went to the cafeteria inside the hospital. Qiu Lingshan was in police uniform and Chen Yutian in his armed-police uniform, but no one paid them much attention — for some time now many people from the police bureau had been stationed at the hospital, and eating work meals in the cafeteria was perfectly normal.

Chen Yutian wanted to get a private room and order a few dishes, but Qiu Lingshan simply bought two fast-food meals, so decisive that there was no room for him to raise any objection, and Chen Yutian could only smile bitterly.

"If there's something on your mind, say it." Qiu Lingshan found a corner with few people, set the fast food on the table, and glanced at Chen Yutian. "If you've come to me on official business, you ought to have contacted my supervising chief first."

"I've already given Yang Huaijun a heads-up." Chen Yutian was hardly going to hand Qiu Lingshan an excuse to refuse him.

"All right then, Major Chen. Is there anything you need us to cooperate with?" Qiu Lingshan nodded and asked.

Hearing her tone, Chen Yutian felt rather helpless. Could Qiu Lingshan not talk to him the way a friend would?

"While patrolling the border, we discovered a cultural-relic smuggling ring. They opened fire on us when they crossed the border — a fierce exchange. Their leader is the husband-and-wife pair famous in the black market for relics." Chen Yutian briefly explained how it had begun.

"That should be a matter for your people to cooperate on with the local police and the cultural relics department — not with the Songshan police, surely?" Qiu Lingshan had of course heard of these "Husband-and-Wife Thieves" — a notorious gang of tomb robbers whose leaders were a man and a woman, hence the name.

In fact, wanted notices for the Husband-and-Wife Thieves had gone out long ago, but no one knew their real faces. The two wore masks at all times, so their true identities remained a mystery.

"In theory, yes. But we found a work notebook on the Husband-and-Wife Thieves." Chen Yutian lowered his voice. "It records their next operation..."

For the fastest updates and pop-up-free reading, please.