Yixiong was stunned to hear Yiren's words. He looked up at the ceiling in the room. Yixiong often saw Shanquan did that. He did not know what purpose Shanquan looked up at the ceiling. Sometimes, Shanquan's behavior was difficult for them to understand. Yixiong, who had been living with Shanquan for more than a year, from time to time felt like he was groping in the dark as he tried to interpret what Shanquan was doing.

"Xiongge, what are you doing?" Yiren asked.

"I did nothing," Yixiong replied. Still looking up, he turned to Yiren. It turned out that Yiren was also doing the same thing as him. "What are you doing?"

"Of course I do the same as you."

"Do you know what I'm doing?"

"I think Xiongge must be imitating Dage."

Yixiong laughed. Still looked up. "Right! What do you think Dage is looking for on the ceiling?"

"Based on Dage's personality, it's very likely that this act was one of Dage's ways of getting some inspiration."

"You do realize that an answer like that is stupid, right?" Yixiong smiled.

Yiren laughed. His head still looked up. "That's something my relatives always say back home. I don't think they were completely wrong. The fact that I'm here with you now may prove that what they said was right."

"You're not alone. My cousin said that too when he found out that I quit my job and chose to travel."

They both chuckled.

"Then, according to Xiongge, what is the real reason?"

"Reason for what?"

"Of course, Dage's reason for looking up at the ceiling like this!"

"Maybe Dage was just trying to stretch his neck muscles. That makes a lot more sense."

"Hmm," muttered Yiren.

"Or maybe there really wasn't a particular reason. Dage just wanted to do that."

They both burst out laughing. Under those circumstances, anything could be funny. In stressful situations, as was the case at that time, they often laughed at themselves. It's one of the mechanisms they built to make themselves felt a little better.

"What are you guys doing?" Qiuzhen's voice startled Yixiong.

"Imitating Dage," replied Yiren.

"Ah! This is very interesting!" Qiuzhen laughed. "Do you want to try too?" said Yiren. "Hmm..." Qiuzhen was still laughing. "I just wanted to ask about our dinner. Should I prepare it now?"

"About that," Yixiong didn't look at his friends at all, neither at Yiren nor at Qiuzhen. He kept looking up at the ceiling. "I haven't showered yet. But you can start preparing now. So, after I'm done showering, I can go straight to dinner."

"Okay. I think in five minutes I'll start preparing dinner," Qiuzhen said.

"Has Dage done something like this recently or has it been his habit for a long time?" Yiren asked Qiuzhen.

"Do what?"

"Certainly doing what we are currently doing," said Yiren.

"As I recall, Biaoshu used to do this often too," Qiuzhen said. "When I was a child, when I visited my friend's house, I would often see Biaoshu gazing alone and staring at the ceiling."

"Did Dage never explain to you why he did this?" Yixiong asked.

"Never."

"And you never asked him either?" Yixiong asked.

"Never," Qiuzhen replied. "I think it's a private matter. I don't want to interfere at all."

"Have you ever tried it?" Yixiong asked.

"Of course I have!"

"So what did you get?" Yiren asked.

"My neck hurts so bad. I have to put some medicine patches on to ease my suffering," Qiuzhen replied.

The three of them burst out laughing.

"Ah! You all seem to enjoy doing this too," came a voice.

The three of them turned. Yixiong and Yiren turned towards the voice while still looking up. Jingkang was already beside them. Turned out he had finished taken a shower. They were so excited to look up, then they didn't even hear when Jingkang opened the bathroom door.

"What do you mean?" asked Qiuzhen.

"Of course, looking up at the ceiling. Isn't that what you're doing now?"

Yiren looked at Jingkang. "Don't you find this strange?"

"Of course I find it a little strange. But isn't that the custom of the ancients?"

"Who said that to you?" Yixiong asked.

Maybe I'm not sociable. So I do not know the customs of the ancients!

"No one. But I used to see my grandfather in Yuandong doing this a lot. Not only my grandfather, but his relatives too. So I came to the conclusion that this is a habit that old people sometimes do."

Yixiong poked Yiren. "You've heard of this."

"No." Yiren shook his head vigorously. "This is the first time I've heard of such a thing."

"Perhaps this is just a custom of the Duanmu Family," Qiuzhen said.

Qiuzhen's words were probably just a joke. But maybe he's serious. That's quite reasonable. There were so many mysterious things about the Duanmu Family.

Do I need to ask Dage about this?

After that, they all fell silent. Everyone was busy with their own thoughts. Because no one was making a sound, the sound of the television can be heard very clearly.

"The delivery of the ransom at night is very unfavorable to us." Yixiong broke the silence by making the statement.

"Right! It's easier for criminals to escape. Especially if they are very familiar with the area," said Yiren.

"In addition, the night atmosphere also makes it easier for them to monitor anyone who comes to the park," said Qiuzhen."During the day, the park is very crowded. But after sunset, except on weekends, not many people come there. So, if suddenly there are a lot of visitors, it is not difficult for the criminals to conclude that those people are the police."

"I think the police must have considered the matter well," Jingkang said.

"I hope you're right. At night, of course, the police will find it difficult to disguise themselves. Maybe they will hide in places that are not very clearly visible, such as in the bushes, in the trees, or on the roofs of buildings that are there. One thing is for sure. There's no way they disguised themselves as plants," Yixiong said.

They heard a car driving in front of their house. Immediately after, the sound stopped.

"The car stopped in front of our house," said Yiren. "Someone's coming!"

"Let me see!" After saying so, Qiuzhen rushed out of the house.

"I think it's Caihong's car," said Yiren.

Yixiong nodded. "That kid really keeps his word."