24: Chapter 24 Master, follow that car

Feeling uneasy, Zhao Jian hailed a taxi.

"Driver, follow the motorcycle in front."

The driver didn't rush to start the car, but asked vigilantly, "What are you doing?"

"Those are my friends in front; there are too many people for the motorcycle to fit everyone."

If he said he suspected there was a criminal in front, the driver would likely call the police immediately, wasting time.

Besides, Zhao Jian wasn't absolutely certain that Lin Chuyang was Xu Chen.

He was just connecting the day's experiences and felt it was likely.

Especially since he had vaguely seen an Adam's apple on Lin Chuyang's throat.

Hearing they were friends, the taxi driver felt reassured and started driving.

The roads in Xiong City weren't too complex, making it easy to follow them.

Trailing behind for an hour, Zhang Xinxin and her friends must have been tired from playing.

They stopped by the lakeside and got out.

The taxi also drove over.

At first, the five of them were a bit curious, wondering why a taxi would come to the lakeside in the middle of the night.

Seeing that it was Zhao Jian who got out, their eyes held a teasing look.

"You miser, why are you here?"

Zhang Xinxin tilted her head, her eyes occasionally darting around, waiting for Zhao Jian to apologize.

"I was worried about you, so I came to check."

That one sentence made Zhang Xinxin turn from anger to joy.

"Then treat me to a late-night snack? I'm hungry."

Zhao Jian thought to himself: If I'd known, I wouldn't have come.

The landlady had waived the bill for that meal during the day, so it counted as a free meal.

It was reasonable to treat them back.

Moreover, he needed to get to know Lin Chuyang better to determine if she was Xu Chen.

A meal was a good opportunity.

"Fine, I'll treat you all to barbecue."

"Yay! The stingy miser finally plucked his feathers!"

There were no taxis on the way back, so Zhao Jian rode in Zhang Xinxin's car.

"Big Brother, take your phone out, it's poking me."

Zhao Jian sat in the back seat. Compared to last time, Zhang Xinxin was sitting very far back, encroaching on his space.

He had been holding his phone in his hand the whole time; he hadn't put it in his pocket at all.

"Just drive your car properly!"

"Oh."

Passing a barbecue stall, they stopped.

Zhao Jian leaned forward calmly and said, pretending to be thoughtful: "Order whatever you like to eat, I'm paying tonight."

He had checked; the most expensive item, grilled pig brain, was 10 yuan per serving.

He could afford it.

"Thank you, Brother Zhao."

The little friends were very happy.

Only Lin Chuyang smiled, pursing her lips.

After noticing Zhao Jian's gaze, she nodded in thanks but didn't speak.

Then Zhao Jian felt his ear being tugged.

"Ouch, Brother Zhao! So generous. Why are you so stingy when I ask you to treat me?"

The miser was treating them, which made Zhang Xinxin happy.

But the fact that the treat was for her friends made Zhang Xinxin unhappy!

Zhao Jian held her hand and said softly: "Stop messing around, I need to ask you something serious."

"What is it?"

Having her hand held, Zhang Xinxin couldn't bring herself to pull away for a moment.

She felt a bit pleased.

Zhao Jian leaned into her ear and whispered: "When did you and Lin Chuyang meet?"

"About five months ago. She's not from our school, so we met quite late."

Five months!

Half a year ago, Xu Chen was wanted, and the whole city was conducting key investigations on 20-year-old males, but he seemed to have vanished into thin air.

And five months ago, a girl named Lin Chuyang became friends with Zhang Xinxin.

The timing basically matched.

"Does he have any abnormal behavior?"

"Why, did you really fall in love with her? I hate you, Zhao Jian!"

Zhao Jian was about to say no.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Xinxin gritted her teeth and said: "I can accept that you love her! But your money must be spent on me!"

He poked her forehead hard with his finger.

"Ouch!"

Only when Zhang Xinxin begged for mercy did Zhao Jian explain the whole story to her.

Looking at the silent girl, he prepared himself to persuade her.

During the day at the shop, in front of the Police Officer, Zhang Xinxin had lifted a chair, ready to help him escape.

Clearly, she was a reckless person.

A reckless person with a sense of loyalty.

Now that she knew her little friend might be a wanted criminal, she might do something outrageous.

"Just call the police, don't catch him."

"Will it implicate us?"

"How about we pin him down here?"

Zhang Xinxin was eager to try.

"No need, just pretend you don't know."

Zhao Jian's breath hitched.

This wasn't what he had expected!

But the result was satisfactory.

He made an excuse to go to the restroom and quietly called the police.

Soon, a van drove over, and five people got out.

Zhao Jian recognized one of them; it was the policeman who had found him at the restaurant to understand the situation.

At this moment, he was in plain clothes, and those who didn't know would just think they were customers coming for barbecue.

But when Lin Chuyang saw them, she turned and ran.

She even threw away the grilled brain.

How could an unsuspecting person run out of a pre-arranged encirclement?

She was quickly pinned to the ground and taken into the police car that had just arrived.

Seeing that it was the police making an arrest, the customers finally felt relieved.

After a day of tossing and turning, Zhao Jian didn't return to his rented room until midnight.

He had no income today, and instead spent over 80 yuan treating others.

It added more gloom to his exhausted heart.

Although he still had 290,000, enough for his daily life, the dream of becoming a billionaire was getting further and further away.

He was anxious!

In his drowsy state, the time reached midnight.

A light screen appeared before his eyes, making him perk up.

[Today's Intelligence (Red): Decades ago, a villager named Wang Xuan hid an ancestral Qing Dynasty silver coin inside a kerosene lamp, valued at 400,000 yuan. This kerosene lamp will be sold at stall number 39 on Antique Street today.]

Antique Street?

He had heard of the Antique Street in Xiong City.

It was filled with modern handicrafts, modern artificially aged handicrafts, and modern imitation antique handicrafts.

There were basically no real items.

He didn't expect there to be a treasure there.

A silver coin worth 400,000; if he could get his hands on it, he would once again possess a huge sum of nearly 700,000.

He could consider buying a house!

His mind was full of how to live it up after becoming rich, and he fell asleep without realizing it.

He could sleep, but Su Wanyin could not.

She stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, staring blankly at the distant lights.

She only realized the cigarette in her hand was about to burn out.

She threw it gently onto the floor.

There were already over a dozen extinguished cigarette butts there.

She took out another one, but didn't light it yet.

A knock on the door sounded.

Following it was her Best friend's concern: "Yinyin, open the door, it's me. I've brought the money."

Hearing her voice, a glimmer of hope rose in Su Wanyin's numb eyes.

She hurriedly ran over to open the door.

"What happened?"

Her Best friend waved her hand to disperse the thick smell of smoke.

"I transferred my salary to my dad, asking him to use it for my mom's treatment in Kyoto, but he, he took the money to gamble again! My mom doesn't have money for medicine and her condition has worsened!"

"How could he do this!"

Su Wanyin cried sorrowfully, and her Best friend Zhou Yun joined her in condemning her unreliable father.

Then she took out 50,000 yuan from her bag and said: "Don't cry, don't cry. You take this money first to treat your mom. If it's not enough, tell me."

Wiping away her tears, Su Wanyin said: "Thank you, Yunyun. I'm going to Kyoto first, I'm leaving right now. I have to deliver this money to the hospital myself."

"Let's go, I'll drive you."