The bearded man handed Teacher Gao a bag full of small, but long and narrow parchment bags. Teacher Gao said, "For safety reasons, we need all of you to turn off your phones, put them in these bags, and write your name on the bags. I won’t touch the phones. I’ll return them to you after we reach the exam venue early tomorrow morning or pass them directly to your parents. Come, pass them towards the back!

The two rows of students began to pass bags. Xu Xiaodong thought that Brother Chen was like a deity that could foresee the future. He hid the other cell phone in his shoes.

However, it was embarrassing that Xu Xiaodong didn’t have a pen. He saw other students take out their stationery bags with their exam admission tickets, ID cards, pens, pencils, erasers, etc. Li Mengran said, "Didn’t you bring any stationery?"

"My mom was afraid that I would lose my ID and will come over and give them to me before the exam tomorrow." Xu Xiaodong lied on the spot.

"Then how will you do the exam papers tonight?" Li Mengran handed a ballpoint pen over to him. "Use mine for now!"

"Thank you."

Xu Xiaodong found that the mobile phones were placed into three bags with the numbers "1,2, and 3" written on the bags. He wondered what was up with that.

Immediately after that, the bearded man distributed mineral water to everyone. The atmosphere inside the car relaxed a little. Some students who knew each other were chatting and most of them were talking about how much they were looking forward to university life. Xu Xiaodong heard a girl complaining, "I don’t know whether I should apply for Peking University or Tsinghua University. Tsinghua University’s science and technology courses are the best but Peking University has a rich culture. Haii, they are both in Beijing. When I think about being so far away from home, I feel so lonely."

Li Mengran said gloomily, "My dad was two points away from getting into Peking University and regretted it all his life. I’m tired of hearing his complaints, so he pinned all his hopes on me and desperately urged me to study. I scored just over 650 in the mock exams, but he is obsessed and said that it has to be Peking University. If it’s not Peking University, it won’t do. If I can’t get into Peking University, he said I’d no longer be his daughter. I really don’t know what’s so good about Peking University. Is it built of gold?”

Xu Xiaodong couldn't help but feel sympathetic, and whispered, "Don't you think they’re scammers?"

Li Mengran laughed. "I actually wish they are scammers so that my dad will suffer some loss. In the future, if he mentions Peking University, I’ll bring this back up so that he’ll lose face!"

At that moment, the bus stopped, and the exam candidates looked out of the windows. Teacher Gao asked the students in the first eight rows on the right to get off and then to get inside a van. Xu Xiaodong saw three identical vans parked outside.

He thought that the scammers were really smart, knowing not to put all their eggs in the same basket. They wanted to divide the candidates into three groups.

The second group of students were also called out and they got into the second van. Xu Xiaodong pulled out his mobile phone from his shoes. Li Mengran saw and opened her mouth in surprise. Xu Xiaodong made a “shh” gesture and opened WeChat.

There were actually over a hundred unread messages on WeChat, all asking Wang Haitao if he wanted to come out for dinner, karaoke, or golf. He thought that second-generation rich really had a lot of friends.

After searching for a long time, he still couldn't find Chen Shi's WeChat. He was so anxious that he could only write a text message, "Niubi Hill[1], I Xiaodong" and then typed in the SMS police emergency hotline number "12110" before sending it out.

"You need to all come out!" Teacher Gao said.

Xu Xiaodong hurriedly put the phone into his pocket, and Li Mengran looked at him with surprise.

Chen Shi and Wang Haitao returned to the office. kk and Sun Zhen were already sitting there. kk was smoking cigarettes that meant for customers. Sun Zhen was playing games. Wang Haitao was surprised. Chen Shi explained, "They’re on our side. They’re very good at what they do."

kk asked, "Brother Chen, why did you call us here? Are we investigating a case again? Why isn’t Sister Gu here today?"

"I need your help. We might have to work overnight."

Sun Zhen stared at the screen and said, "That’s fine with me. I usually don't sleep until the morning."

kk laughed and asked, "Will I get paid?"

"Don’t worry, you’ll definitely get paid." Wang Haitao said.

"Who is this?"

"Lu Qixing's biological son," Chen Shi said.

"Lu Qixing? ... Oh? That Lu Qixing?" kk stared at Wang Haitao with his mouth open, and Sun Zhen also stopped his game and went over to look at Wang Haitao as if he was an exotic animal.

Wang Haitao adjusted his tie in embarrassment. "My name is Wang Haitao and I’m the owner of this agency."

"Young Master Lu, what do we need to do? As long as you say a word, little brother here would rush into danger and wouldn’t even mind dying 10,000 times for you!" kk clasped his hands together. His eyebrows moved up and down as if he was continuously discharging waves of electricity towards Wang Haitao.

"Have a little dignity, won’t you? Let me explain the situation." Chen Shi said.

After Chen Shi had finished speaking, kk and Sun Zhen were sitting down in their chairs. One was holding his chin in thought, and the other folded his arms. kk asked, "So, how did you become such good buddies?"

Chen Shi was speechless and handed the empty glass to Sun Zhen. "Little Worm, get me some water. I want it to be as hot as possible."

"Don't, don't, don't!" kk exclaimed. "So you want us to help you destroy this gang of scammers and rescue the candidates, allowing them to take the entrance exam tomorrow morning? I don't understand. It's just an exam. What’s the big deal?"

Sun Zhen said scornfully, "For a pig without culture, knowledge is nothing more than ink on paper."

"From an evolutionary point of view, it seems that people with thinning hair are more like pigs?"

"Are you courting death?!"

"Why don’t you come and try me!"

"Don't be so noisy!" Chen Shi interrupted. "I’ve already sent a police officer to go undercover. Once the news comes, we will quickly find the place and rescue the candidates."

"Righteous people don’t resort to insinuations. What will we get out of this?" kk asked.

Chen Shi looked at Wang Haitao. He was the boss, so he would make the decision. He originally thought that Wang Haitao would offer a huge sum without thinking. However, he said, "The pay will be divided equally between the three of you when the customer pays for this case. I won’t be taking any money."

Chen thought to himself that it was a smart idea and said, "I don't want to be paid either. You two can divide the money equally!"

"How much can I get?"

"There are so many parents. If one person gives 1,000, that’s already 40,000 yuan." Chen Shi coaxed him and said that according to the agency’s standard fee, it would probably be more than 3,000.

"Oh!" kk nodded in contentment. "Let’s start! What do we need to do now?"

Chen Shi looked at his watch and said, "It's time to pick up Yueyue." He couldn't go himself and was about to ask Lin Dongxue. As soon as he picked up the phone, Lin Dongxue called. She said, "Old Chen, we just received an alarm message at the police station’s emergency hotline. There were just a few words, 'Niubi Hill, I Xiaodong', what's going on?"

Chen Shi thought for a while and said, "I see... Could I trouble you to pick up Yueyue? I can't go today."

"My brother said that you had borrowed Xiaodong."

"He's in use right now!"

"Is he easy to use?" Lin Dongxue smiled.

"He’s alright."

"What fun mission are you carrying out? I'll come over when I'm done."

"Okay, one more person will add more strength. I'll send you the address."

kk asked, "Who was that?"

Chen Shi said, while sending out the text, "My girlfriend. She’s also a policeman."

"Your girlfriend? Is she a beauty?"

Sun Zhen said, "How can there be a beauty in the police force? A normal girl with regular features would already be the police flower[2]. I’m guessing she’ll only score 60 points.”

kk said, "How could Brother Chen's standards be so low? I’m guessing 70 points!"

"How awful! Don't objectify women!" Chen Shi said.

Sun Zhen whispered to kk, "It doesn't seem like she’s going to look good. Give Brother Chen some face. When she comes, just say that she looks beautiful no matter how she looks."

Knowing the truth, Wang Haitao laughed and said nothing...

1. I assume this is a place name.

2. The prettiest lady in the police force