The policeman who had been asking for Songfei's belongings was approaching them at a fast pace. He was carrying the blue bag he had taken from Shanquan.

"Mr. Duanmu, here I return these things," said the policeman.

It is true that they will only borrow the things briefly.

"So I can bring these things home?" Shanquan asked.

"That's right, Sir! Today, we only recorded and identified these items. We have taken photos of all of them. But it is possible that we will still need these items again in the future."

"When do you think you guys will need this stuff again?" Yiren asked.

"We don't know yet, Sir. Everything depends on the results of further investigations. But if our investigation results lead to other causes, it's very likely that we don't need these items anymore," the police officer said.

"Thank you," said Shanquan.

"You are welcome, Sir!" The policeman bowed respectfully.

"Is there anything more we need to do?" Shanquan looked at the police officer.

"Please wait a moment, Sir. Someone is coming here," said the policeman.

Who else should we meet? This person hasn't appeared here yet. Is he an important person?

They all then sat back down. It wasn't long before someone approached them. He was carrying a large bag.

"I'm sorry for making you have to wait so long here." That person's voice was similar to that of their old landlord. “My name is Bobai Renyao. I have something to give you, gentlemen." The man opened his bag right away. He took out two much smaller bags. He opened one of the small bags and showed its contents to Yiren and his friends.

What else do they want us to do?

"This is a new telephone. We want you to replace your telephone with this one."

"Will our phone lines be secure after that?" Yiren asked.

"Not necessarily, Sir. If the wiretapping took place in another place, such as a telephone pole or other places, your conversation will still not be safe."

Shanquan nodded.

"Does the telephone at your house use a splitter?" asked Bobai Renyao.

"We only have one phone, so there's no splitter," replied Shanquan. Except, of course, tools like the splitter that the police sent us yesterday."

"The device is already anti-tapping, but it would be even better if you added a splitter before connecting the telephone cable to the device," said Bobai Renyao.

"So you suggest we install a phone splitter?" Yiren asked.

"That's better, Sir," said Bobai Renyao. He took a phone splitter out of his pocket and quickly put it in the small bag he had just opened.

"What if it turns out that the bugs are in other parts of our house? Not the telephones?" asked Qiuzhen.

"Good question," said Bobai Renyao. He then took out another small bag from the big bag beside him. He opened the small bag and took out its contents. They saw an instrument they had never seen before.

"What is that, Sir?" Yiren asked.

"I think it's a tool to detect if there are bugs in the spot that we're going to check." Zhengyi preceded Bobai Renyao in answering Yiren's question.

"You're right! How to use it has been explained in full in the manual that we have also provided."

"What if it turns out later that there is indeed a bug in our house?" asked Shanquan.

"Actually, we are not sure that a sound-tapping device is installed in your house. But to be sure, we provide this tool. So, if later it turns out that you really did find a wiretapping device, we have prepared other things."

"What other things?" asked Shanquan.

"You should report it."

"How to report it?"

"By saying a secret code as certain words when the police contact you later."

"What kind of secret code?" asked Shanquan.

"You just say that your family is sick. So, for example, you can say that you have to call your family because you got the news that a relative of yours is sick. Of course, it doesn't have to be like that. That's just the outline."

Shanquan nodded. "Thank you, Sir! We'll do that as soon as we get home."

Bobai Renyao bowed respectfully. "I hope all this trouble passes soon, Sir."

"We all hope so, too," said Yiren.

"Sorry, Sir! I have to go. I still have to meet someone here." Bobai Renyao bowed his head respectfully.

"Please, Sir," said Zhengyi

Bobai Renyao then hurried away from them.

"Who is he supposed to meet here, anyway?" Zhengyi looked at Shanquan.

"I don't know. Maybe someone important is here."

"Important person?"

"I think he has to meet the police chief in this place," guessed Yiren.

"What police chief?" Zhengyi smirked. "This isn't a real police station."

"I mean the police with the highest position and rank here," said Yiren. "The one who is in charge here."

"I think so." Shanquan looked at his friends. "Whoever he's going to meet doesn't really matter to us. Our business is done here."

"So, shall we go back home now?" said Caihong.

Shanquan and the company nodded.

They returned to the garage. The driver was ready to take them back to the mall. On the way to the mall, no one spoke. Each one was busy with his own thoughts. They didn't realize they had arrived at the underground parking lot of the mall near Jongharng Station. The car stopped right beside Caihong's car.

They all got out of the van right away. After dropping them off, the van didn't leave. It turned out that the police had assigned the driver to be on standby at the mall parking lot.

"Where are we going now?" Zhengyi asked.

Shanquan looked at his watch. "I think we still have a little time before the kidnappers call again."

"Are Dage worried Xiongge hasn't cooked lunch yet?" Yiren smiled.

"That's right! I think the ingredients in the fridge have run out. And right now, he can't go out to buy groceries at all," Shanquan replied. "There's definitely no way Yixiong would have gone out of the house and left Zhuge and Jingkang."

"So, now we stop by the food shop to buy lunch? Said Yiren.

Shanquan nodded.

"Is there still time? Qiuzhen looked doubtful.

"We only buy food. After that, we go straight home," said Shanquan. "Later, we'll have lunch together at home."

"If that's the case, it's better if we just buy a little more. So, we don't have to buy any more food for dinner," said Zhengyi. "We'll just have to heat it up later."

"I agree, Uncle," said Caihong. "But we'd better put these things in my car first." He pointed to Songfei's bag and the two small bags the police gave them.

Shanquan nodded. They then put the items in the car's trunk. After that, they left the car park and entered the mall.

As usual, the atmosphere was very crowded in the mall. There did not appear to be any concern that the 'explosion of light' that occurred a few days ago would be repeated. The faces of the mall visitors were so cheerful.

"Did you two talk to our landlord earlier?" Yiren asked.

"Earlier, when you were giving a statement to the police, we did speak to him," said Zhengyi.

"What did he say?" Yiren asked.

"As we expected. The police asked him to let us stay at his property until the case is over," said Zhengyi.

"Then?"

"I don't think he has any other choice. He's allowed us to stay there for free." Zhengyi smiled. His expression was exactly like a child who had just got the new toy he wanted so badly.

"Is he aware that this matter might drag on?" Yiren asked.

"I think he's aware of that, too. But he has a lot of property. One unproductive property won't have much effect on him," said Shanquan.

"So we're not moving house anytime soon." Zhengyi nodded with satisfaction.

"Isn't that great?" Shanquan said.

"In a way, it's good." Zhengyi took a breath. "But on the other hand, we don't have a chance to try living in Caihong's apartment."

Caihong laughed at those words. "That's not true, Uncle."

"So we can still stay at your apartment from time to time?" Yiren looked at Caihong.

Caihong nodded. "Of course, Uncle! Don't worry. The door to my apartment is always open to you, Uncles."

"Thank you." Yiren cupped his hands about ten centimeters in front of his chest.

"You're welcome, Uncle. But Miss Lüqiu will still be there, right?" Caihong asked.

"That's for sure." Shanquan's voice was steady. "It's for her safety. I hope you don't mind."

"I see, Uncle!" Caihong smiled.

By now, they had left the parking lot and entered the mall. Caihong, who was walking in the front, looked back. "Uncles, what would you like to order?"

"Eh! You don't have to spend money. This time, we buy lunch with our own money." Zhengyi seemed to feel bad that Caihong had helped them so much.

"It's okay, Uncle. While I'm still in this city, then I can treat you guys. After the exhibition is over, I will most likely return to the city where I have lived for the past six months," said Caihong.

"Ah! Why don't you just stay here? I don't think that gang of delinquents will dare to bother you anymore," said Zhengyi.

That's not the case, Uncle. There, I also have a few activities that I need to pay attention to as well. Even now, every day, I have to call there at least twice a day to monitor the activities of my business unit there. Maybe later, when I can delegate everything permanently, I will move here again. But I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon because I haven't started a business there for a long time."

"What an extraordinary young man like you. Very young, but very active," said Shanquan.

"Ah, it's not much, Uncle. I just started it."

No more debate. Shanquan didn't seem to mind letting Caihong spoil them one more time. They followed Caihong into a diner. The restaurant was quite big. It even had its own restroom. So, restaurant visitors did not need to leave the restaurant if they wanted to go to the restroom.

"Uncles, what would you like to order?" Caihong looked at them with a bright face.

"That's up to you," said Shanquan. "We'll just go along with it. We'll agree to whatever you order."

Caihong looked like he was about to say something. But the young man did not open his mouth.

Actually, he definitely wanted us to order whatever we wanted. But, it took a lot of time to persuade us. Instead of arguing at length and wasting time, he chose to order food according to his wishes.

Caihong called the waiter. He ordered takeout. Carefully, the waiter took notes. There were lots of drinks in the house. So, Caihong only ordered food.

They then sat around chatting while waiting for the food. While they were talking, Shanquan suddenly stood up. He looked out of the restaurant. Even though they were sitting inside the restaurant, they could still see outside because only a glass wall separated the front part of the restaurant from the corridor in its front.

They followed in the direction where Shanquan looked. Outside the diner, a girl was standing. She stopped while opening what appeared to be a notebook. After looking at the note, she put the notebook into his bag. Soon after that, she walked away.

Shanquan stepped out of the diner. At first, he just walked fast, but then he ran. In an instant, he had disappeared after the girl. Caihong turned to Yiren and the others with a questioning look.

"We also don't know who she is," Zhengyi said. He turned to Qiuzhen. "Do you know who she is?"

Qiuzhen tried to remember. But in the end, he just shook his head.

Yiren took a deep breath. After all his friends looked at him, Yiren let out a word for word at a slow tempo. "That's the woman I saw Dage talking to on the side of the road."

"Isn't that the same woman that Dage chased into this mall a few days ago?" Zhengyi said.

Yiren nodded. "But I don't know more than that."

Everyone looked at Yiren. An enormous question mark crossed Qiuzhen and Caihong's faces. Three seconds later, they showed sad faces as if begging him to tell them more.