Before leaving, Yixiong went to the back porch to say goodbye and, at the same time, thanked Pinghe. After that, they all went outside the house.

Yiren and the others got into the car. Jingkang sat in the front seat, next to Gongxi. Yixiong and Yiren sat in the back seat. Yixiong sat down with Songfei's bag on his lap. They waved to Qiuzhen, who was standing tall behind the fence.

"Be careful at home!" Yixiong said.

Qiuzhen nodded. He smiled, even though his smile looked a little strange. Maybe he actually wanted to come along.

"Sir!" Yixiong said to Gongxi. "Now start the car, Sir!"

"Excuse me, Sir!" Gongxi said. "The seat belt."

Yiren and Yixiong haven't put their seat belts on yet.

"Sorry, Sir! We're not used to it yet," said Yixiong.

The two of them then quickly put on their seat belts. Indeed, in this city, people who sit in the back seat of the car were not used to wearing seat belts. The government also didn't seem to force people to wear them. They only take action against people who didn't wear seat belts in the front seats. It's not even on all roads. For small streets, usually the police will pretend not to see such violations.

"Where are we going to, Sir?" Gongxi asked.

"We're going to Qingzhong Park," Yixiong said.

"Yes, Sir!" Gongxi answered in a steady voice.

The car drove away from their house. They looked to their left. Qiuzhen was still standing tall behind the fence. He still waved his hand. Yixiong and Yiren waved back.

As the vehicle slowly drifted away from their house, Yixiong and Yiren turned their bodies around while waving their hands. As the car turned, they could no longer see Qiuzhen. Yixiong slowly lowered his hand. His face looked tense. Even though he tried to hide it, the lines of worry couldn't completely disappear from his face.

At this hour, traffic was usually very heavy in Pingyuan. Many Pingyuan residents work in places that were some distance away. The trip home after a day immersed in work usually took a lot of time. Vehicles crawling at dusk were a common sight they saw throughout Pingyuan. But this twilight felt different. Traffic was not that heavy. It even tended to run smoothly. The car they were traveling in did not even stop, except in front of a traffic light.

"It's a big bump today," said Yiren.

"Yes! Maybe this afternoon's explosion of light also played a part," Yixiong said.

Yiren turned to Yixiong. "Played a part? What do you mean?"

"Earlier, I glimpsed the news on television about the unrest of the employees living in Pingyuan. Many of them worked in other areas of this big city. They were afraid that their families somehow became victims. So they urged the company they worked to give them permission to go home early today. So it's possible that the traffic jam was around three or four o'clock."

"Earlier, when you came to our house, was there a traffic jam on the road?" Jingkang asked Gongxi.

"Yes, Sir! Indeed, the traffic flow was a little more congested than usual," Gongxi replied.

"Xiongge, then your guess is probably right," Qiuzhen said.

"How's Dage doing?" Yiren asked. "I try not to think about it. But I can't. I think about it all the time. It's automatic."

"I think that's natural," Yixiong said. "If we manage not to think about it at all, it's possible that there's something wrong with us."

There was a ring. It sounded very much like Caihong's beeper. Jingkang fumbled in his trouser pocket. He then took out a pager from his pants pocket.

"Wow! Is that Caihong’s pager?" Yixiong asked.

"That's right, Sir! This is indeed his pager."

"Why is that thing in your trouser pocket?" Yiren asked.

"Earlier, Mr. Caihong gave it to me before he left for the hospital."

I’m reminded of that person again! What a pity! I hope it’s not so serious.

"When did he give it?" Yiren asked.

"Mr. Caihong gave me this pager while we were in the room. At that moment, Mr. Caihong and Mr. Dongfang were getting ready to take Mr. Zhuge out of the room."

Yiren nodded. "If you have his pager in your hand, then what number did you call him?"

"Mr. Caihong has two pagers. So I called the other number."