Chapter 810: A Prolonged Battle

Translator: Azza

Chen Shi smiled and changed the subject. "It seems that Lie Guoxiao's reaction is very strong right now. By the way, do you remember Boss Shen’s employee?"

"Why should I remember him?"

"He’s still tight-lipped, ready to go to jail for three years in order to earn that huge sum of money. However, if he knows that the person who promised to give him the money is now unable to protect themselves and cannot give him the money, would he continue to be so loyal?"

He Jingjing's eyes suddenly widened, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

Seeing that his threat had worked, Chen Shi thought that he would let fear continue to brew in He Jingjing's heart. He said to Lin Dongxue, "Let's go back and try interrogating that guy again."

"Okay!"

When the two left, Lin Dongxue said, "Are you planning to turn back and catch them off guard this time?"

"No, let's just monitor them from the intersection. It doesn't matter what they do in the house. The important thing is that they cannot be allowed to leave this pawn shop."

"Hey, imagine how much stress there’d be doing this kind of thing? I won’t be able to do it…"

Chen Shi remembered that seven years ago, He Jingjing had made use of her biological father to kill her adoptive father and successfully obtained the right to inherit the pawn shop. After several years of cautious and conscientious management, she had transformed from a weak woman from a poor family into a self-reliant rich woman.

Chen Shi wasn’t surprised that she had committed the shocking crime this time. Perhaps this girl will never be content.

Noisy quarrelling and smashing sounds came from the pawn shop. Lin Dongxue was puzzled. "Huh? They’re having a row?"

"First, the thugs came to ransack the house, then we came. They are about to explode from stress, so quarrelling is normal. Will they take some action next? Let's keep watching the door without budging a step."

Chen Shi drove the car to the intersection and turned it off. Night-time in Shangma Street was in deep darkness. It was the best possible cover. Lin Dongxue took out her cell phone. "I’ll call Xiaodong over. The three of us can take turns to rest tonight."

"Okay, ask him to buy some fried stinky tofu on the way over for us to eat. I suddenly want to eat that."

Chen Shi found that Lin Qiupu was quite indulgent with him. He could investigate the cases as he wished. This kind of freedom was similar to the time when he was still Song Lang.

He didn’t know when Lin Qiupu had realized the similarities between Chen Shi and Song Lang. Although Chen Shi had appeared as though he wasn’t fazed when he was probed a few days ago, he still felt a little panicked in his heart.

The secret would be exposed sooner or later, and all he could choose was whether to reveal it himself or be discovered by others.

Chen Shi glanced at Lin Dongxue who was looking down at her phone. The light from the phone screen illuminated her cute face. Countless times when they were alone, he had wanted to tell Lin Dongxue the truth, but that sentence stuck in his throat and was left unsaid.

Chen Shi let out an almost inaudible sigh , but Lin Dongxue still heard it. She asked thoughtfully, "What's up with you? Are you unhappy?"

"No, I'm just a little sleepy." Chen Shi smiled.

"Hold on for a while longer. Xiaodong will be here soon."

"Any progress?"

"I’ve been reviewing the task force’s chat group. There are many clues, but none of them point to these two people."

At this moment, Xu Xiaodong knocked on the window of the car from outside. After he got into the car, he took out drinks and biscuits from a bag, and then handed a glass jar to Chen Shi. "Brother Chen, you can’t buy stinky tofu[1] at this time of the night. Use fermented bean curd[2] to curb your cravings for now!"

Chen Shi acted as though he was about to blow his top. "Do you think I want stinky tofu in order to smell it? Then you might as well take a lump of…"

"Don't use vulgar language." Lin Dongxue reminded him.

"You came from Jiefang Road. How can there be no stinky tofu for sale there? When you pass Simao Alley, the smell is as though a toilet had exploded. You can find it just by smelling it!"

Xu Xiaodong looked ashamed. "I don't usually eat this, so I don't know where they sell it."

Chen Shi was weighing up his options. "Should I go there myself?"

"You want to eat stinky tofu that badly?" Lin Dongxue said, "Don't go. What if something happens here when you leave?"

"How can such a coincidence happen?"

"It’s hard to say sometimes. Usually, when you’re home alone and order takeout, they don’t come while you’re waiting. The doorbell will ring as soon as you go to the toilet."

"How about ordering takeout?" Xu Xiaodong suggested.

"We’re on a stake-out right now. Ordering takeout? You think our presence isn’t obvious enough?" Chen Shi mocked.

Harboring resentment over not being able to eat stinky tofu, Chen Shi placed his hands on the steering wheel and kept staring at the door. After 11:00, the whole street was too dark to see anything. At this time, a motorcycle rode over. The motorcycle lights were blindingly bright.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a food delivery man. He parked the motorcycle at the door of the pawn shop and went in with a bag of food.

Chen Shi, who was initially a little sleepy, suddenly became alert. "We must check anyone who comes out of that door!"

"I think that was just an ordinary takeout delivery person." Xu Xiaodong said.

"How can you be sure that it would be the same person coming out?" Chen Shi said, pushing the car door open. Lin Dongxue followed him, taking the opportunity to move her stiff limbs.

About ten minutes later, the delivery person walked out. Instead of getting onto the motorcycle, he walked straight to the two of them. He pointed to Chen Shi's car and asked in a traffic police-like tone, "This is your car?"

"Yes, what's the matter?"

The takeout delivery person handed a small box to Chen Shi. "That household said they ordered this for you."

"Ordered this for us?"

"Yeah, I forgot to read the remarks. It says, ‘For the friends who are on a stake-out outside’."

Chen Shi took the small box, wondering if it’d be stinky tofu. When he opened it, it was just a box of stir-fried he fen. [3].

He sneered. It turned out that He Jingjing knew they were outside and had used this way to express her calmness.

The delivery staff didn’t know that they were the police, so he looked at Xu Xiaodong curiously and asked, "How much can you earn for this kind of work in a month?"

"Less than what you get from delivering takeouts."

"No way!" The takeout delivery man returned to his motorcycle with a suspicious look and left.

"We’ve been exposed." Lin Dongxue said.

"It doesn't matter if we’ve been exposed."

Back in the car, Chen Shi opened the box of takeout. Lin Dongxue said, "Hey, this food passed through their hands. What if they had added something into it?"

"No, that's tantamount to giving us something to use against them. That woman wouldn’t do this kind of thing." As he spoke, Chen Shi tasted it.

The boring stake-out continued until dawn, and the three of them found their weariness unbearable. When the first ray of morning light shone in, Lin Dongxue rubbed her eyes and sat up. She looked around in the car and cried out in distress. She thought all three of them had fallen asleep.

Unexpectedly, Chen Shi, who was slumped in his seat, said, "Don't worry, I didn't fall asleep."

"It gave me a shock."

"Nothing happened all night." Chen Shi rubbed the bridge of his nose. The situation was turning into a prolonged battle.

Lin Dongxue yawned for a long time, turned on her phone and took a look. She suddenly shook Chen Shi's arm excitedly, "Hey, there’s a lead!"

1. Stinky tofu is a Chinese form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. It is usually sold at night markets or roadside stands as a snack, or in lunch bars as a side dish, rather than in restaurants. Can be a deep-fried golden brown color, or black, depending on which region you get it from.

2. Fermented bean curd is a Chinese condiment consisting of a form of processed, preserved tofu used in East Asian cuisine.

3. Stir-fried flat rice noodles.