Chapter 112

It was not until noon that Chen Qing and Jiang Wan finally emerged from the villa.

Two days had passed, and aside from the dozens of new messages on Jiang Wan’s phone, the world seemed to have stood perfectly still. They walked to the snack street outside the villa complex; it felt as though every mission they undertook ended with a meeting at a local eatery.

"About Zhang Lan’s parents..." Jiang Wan began, hesitating. "What do you intend to do with them?"

"What about you? What are your thoughts?"

She looked at Chen Qing, her mind filled with various considerations. "First, if you can handle it yourself, then everything between us can continue as it has. Second, we could involve the police department."

She watched Chen Qing eating with gusto, her voice softening slightly. "If we choose the second option—if the police get involved—it will likely spiral out of control."

"Spiral out of control?" The young man seemed surprised, though he kept his head buried in his food.

"Yes," she said, her expression grave and conflicted. "There are some things that, if I don't report them, others can simply pretend they don't exist. But once something is reported, it follows official procedure... For one thing, I don’t know if I would be the one assigned to work with you in the future."

Chen Qing glanced at her sideways, looking rather dismissive. "They’d transfer you?"

"And replace me with another officer."

She nodded, but was met only with a scoff from Chen Qing. "Who do they think they are? Just because they come looking for me, does that mean I have to partner with them?"

"And for the second point..." Jiang Wan continued, "regarding cases involving the extraordinary, I truly have no idea who would be put in charge. What happened with Xie Hongbo could happen again. Oh, right—he contacted the Foundation at the time, didn't he? Can we still reach them?"

As she spoke, Chen Qing tapped his chopsticks rhythmically against his plate. He held his head in his hands, weighing the possibility of her suggestion. After a long silence, he shook his head. "Forget it... The Foundation is too disorganized. You can't guarantee they’ll put in the effort to help you properly."

"After all..." He left the sentence unfinished, but both understood the implications.

"In that case... how long will it take for you to clear out her house?"

"How long until it's handled?" he asked again.

Jiang Wan chided him playfully, "I'm asking you!"

He chuckled, gesturing upward. "I'm asking her."

"How long, big sister?"

"How long?" Bu Zhaozhao, hearing him call out to her, seemed rather annoyed. "How would I know how long! Get me a containment facility first!"

"Fine, that was as good as saying nothing." He fell silent for a moment before looking up at Jiang Wan. "In any case, leave this matter to me. The police won't handle it any better than I can, and there’s no need to invite unnecessary trouble."

He paused, then shifted the subject. "Right. There’s something else."

"I asked you to investigate a phone number for me a while back—do you remember?"

"A phone number..." Jiang Wan thought for a long time. "I don't quite remember. What was it?"

"My uncle's phone number," Chen Qing replied. He pulled his phone from his pocket and texted her a string of digits.

She took a look, expecting to see the previous number, but was surprised to find a completely different set of digits.

"This is..."

"My uncle gave it to me," he added. "He said it... it was the number my father used to use. But... you know how the situation is now. I’d appreciate it if you could look into it."