The two went downstairs and saw that Xin Bai was standing on the first floor.

Gu You said, "This guy snuck in quietly, and I suddenly found someone behind me, so I screamed in fright."

"I'm sorry, Miss Gu." Xin Bai smiled indecently. "I'm here to find materials."

"Why are you here?" Lin Dongxue asked curiously.

"Haha!" Chen Shi smiled. "I texted him. This guy always asks me what new material I have, and asks me to bring him when investigating a case. Such good material was here, so I called him since this isn’t a real investigation anyway."

"You should have told me." Lin Dongxue complained with a smile.

Xin Bai leaned closer to observe the man in the cage. Liu Tao shrank his shoulders in fright, and Xin Bai said hello, "Hello, material. Tell me your story!"

"Aiya, aiya, I'll talk to you later!" Chen Shi said.

"Should we go now?" Lin Dongxue asked.

In this state, Liu Tao couldn't provide any more clues. Chen Shi said, "I'll change his infusion bottle."

Chen Shi changed the bottle, and the four left together. After walking a certain distance, Chen Shi seemed to hear something behind him and hooked his finger at her implicitly. Lin Dongxue knew that he was going to turn back again.

The two went to the house and looked through the hole in the door panel. Liu Tao's wife walked down carefully carrying a bowl. The bowl was still steaming. She saw the infusion bottle next to the cage and cursed, " Nosy police".

Then, she put the bowl on the ground, kicked the cage with her foot, and shouted, "Come out!"

Liu Tao obediently opened the cage from the inside. He shivered and seemed to be very afraid of his wife. The wife pulled his arm and roughly pulled out the infusion needle. She then held Liu Tao's head with one hand and picked up the medicine bowl on the ground with the other. She ordered, "Bastard, take the medicine."

Liu Tao shook his head desperately and kept retracting like a snail, but he couldn't break free of his wife's hand. Finally, he was forcefully fed a bowl of medicine, and the liquid dripped down the corners of his mouth.

This scene shocked the two of them. Just as they were peeping attentively, an eye emerged from the crack in the door, peering back at them.

"What?!"

Lin Dongxue took a step back in fright.

Chen Shi recognized that the eye was the little girl's. She moved up, exposed her mouth to the crack of the door, and mouthed, "Get lost!"

Since they were noticed, the two left angrily. Lin Dongxue said, "Want to call the police? Liu Tao seems to be under control."

"What can be done even if the police came? Liu Tao's situation is probably a bit like him from before..." Chen Shi pointed to Xin Bai. "It’s not the iron cage that traps him, it’s the prison of the heart!"

"This whole family is very strange."

"Don't worry, I will come again. I will investigate this matter clearly."

Seeing the two approaching, Xin Bai suggested, "Let's eat. My treat!"

"No, we plan to return to the bureau." Lin Dongxue declined.

"We should eat the Haidilao from last time, yeah? There’s a branch nearby." Xin Bai excitedly recommended.

"AA system!"[1] Gu You suggested.

"Whatever you want." Lin Dongxue reluctantly agreed. It was noon and she was hungry as well.

Before they made it to Haidilao, Xin Bai was attracted by a newly opened pizza restaurant and insisted on eating this. However, when he entered the restaurant, he found that he had to wait in line and changed his mind...

Half an hour later, the four of them were sitting in an ordinary fast-food restaurant eating fast food. Xin Bai said elegantly while eating fries, “That’s why they say that it’s the most troublesome if a few people go out together. It’s hard to unify what they want to eat.”

"It's because you’re always changing your mind. Crazy!" Lin Dongxue was dissatisfied.

"Don't call me crazy. I have already recovered. If you don't believe me, I can recite the alphabet for you. ABCDEFG..."

"Stop!" Chen Shi gestured. "You seem crazier like this."

"We writers are active in thinking. The speed of your ordinary people's brain is ten beats per second, and I am one hundred beats." Xin Bai said happily, attracting a lot of people's attention.

Lin Dongxue felt embarrassed and suggested to Chen Shi, "Shall we go to eat by the window?"

"It’s okay, let's talk about business. Don't you want material?"

"Ai-ai!" Xin Bai nodded desperately.

Chen Shi recounted the current situation as Xin Bai listened intently. He commented, "That’s even more exaggerated than what people write about... Miss Gu, is it really possible to control dreams?"

"Don't try that kind of thing. Sleep was originally a very basic thing. If you have to deliberately train it, it will make you very anxious."

"I’ve tried Da Vinci's sleep method. It was good at first, but after some time, I found that my body was very tired. If people lack deep sleep for a long time, they will be unhealthy." Xin Bai said.

"What’s Da Vinci's sleep method?" Lin Dongxue asked.

This madman changed the subject again. "Right, I remember now. The trick to dream control is dream recognition, right?"

"How did you know?" Chen Shi asked.

"Nonsense. You’re all written by me, of course I know!"

"Have you gone mad again?"

"Just kidding! I've seen this stuff. A writer's belly is like a grocery store. I know a bit about everything. By the way, have you heard of the flat Earth theory?"

Chatting with this guy was really exhausting. They couldn’t keep up with the rhythm of him jumping around conversations, so they simply ignored him. The three of them talked about their own affairs. Lin Dongxue said, “My brother said that the procedures wouldn’t be able to be processed today. The prison’s inefficiency is quite shocking."

"It doesn't matter. I’m sorry for taking up your time." Gu You said.

"No, I would also like to know the full picture regarding this matter."

"I think that after visiting Liu Tao today, things have become even more mysterious. Let's not be led by the nose. Let's investigate as if this was a case. Check the identity of the deceased and find the motive!"

Gu You held her cheeks and said, "Can I insist that dream exchange is real?"

"Do you really think so? Or is it out of other considerations?" Chen Shi asked.

"Using dialectical thinking, let's just explore this matter using a positive and negative perspective."

"Haha, well, the more rebuttal there is, the clearer the truth becomes. I’m of the negative perspective. I insist that the whole thing has a realistic explanation."

Lin Dongxue said, "I remain neutral...This burger is really unpalatable. It's high in calories and tastes bad. I don't know why so many people like it."

"Don't drink Coke so as to eat less calories." Chen Shi reached for it.

"Thank you, but no need!" Lin Dongxue picked up the iced Coke and took a big sip, protecting the food vigorously, "I take full responsibility for my fat!"

"I think Officer Lin would be more beautiful if she was fatter." Gu You said, "I’ve never been able to get fat. I’m too thin."

"You can't see the meat on my body. Ever since I met this guy, I don't know how much fatter I’ve become." Lin Dongxue sighed.

"I have no chance to see it!" Gu You said. "Why don't we go to the hot spring club together when you have time."

"Do hot spring clubs really have hot springs?"

"Of course not. Has Officer Lin never been to a spa?"

"I have no time to go!"

The two women chatted enthusiastically. Chen Shi simply lowered his head to eat. He suddenly found that Xin Bai was missing. It turned out that he went to the next seat and was chatting with a dazed little brother about an unknown topic. "...So, this Sumerian civilization is most likely from outer space..."

1. You pay for your own share.