161: Chapter 161 is stuck.

Early in the morning, after Lin Ning finished the loving breakfast Jiang Yu made for him, he acted weak and was helped back to bed by her.

Once he was lying down, he pulled Jiang Yu's hand, just about to say something—

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

The violent pounding on the door made the doorframe shake.

Accompanied by Wang Qiao's voice, usually soft and gentle but now unusually sharp, roaring, "Lin Ning! Open the door for me! Lin Ning! I know you're in there, open the door!"

The expression on Lin Ning's face froze. Feeling guilty, he tugged on Jiang Yu's hand, signaling with his eyes: Don't open the door, let's play dead.

Jiang Yu pinched his cheek, shook off his hand, and went to open the door.

She knew Wang Qiao well enough to know that unless he was pushed to a certain level of anger, he wouldn't be so uncharacteristically unrefined as to pound on the door and roar like that. And since Wang Qiao had come all this way, he definitely wouldn't give up easily.

The moment the door opened a crack, Wang Qiao squeezed inside and headed straight for the bedroom.

He berated Lin Ning, who was lying in bed, "You unfilial son, you've been keeping Jiang Yu for a whole week now. What exactly are you trying to do? You dumped everything on me; doesn't your conscience hurt?"

Lin Ning weakened his voice, "I'm sick, and Jiang Yu is taking care of me. You're trying to steal her away, you're the one without a conscience!"

Wang Qiao was so angry he laughed, spitting as he exposed him, "Who are you pretending for? When you were hospitalized before, from visiting you to picking you up, don't I know what state you were in? By the fourth day, you were dragging me to look at houses, you were full of energy. Now you're telling me it's been a week and you're still like this? Why don't you find a mirror and look at your face? You're absolutely glowing right now. Also, can you stop putting on that fake voice? It's disgusting."

Jiang Yu stood to the side, pressing her lips together, her tongue pushing against her cheek to suppress the urge to laugh.

She rolled her eyes at Lin Ning and said to Wang Qiao, "I was planning to go to the company after I finished making his breakfast today."

Hearing this, Lin Ning was displeased and sat up abruptly, "I haven't fully recovered yet!"

Watching his pathetic act, Wang Qiao didn't want to entertain him at all and just spat with infinite disdain.

"How did I end up knowing such a guy?" Then he turned and left.

He didn't even want to lecture Lin Ning. When he called, Lin Ning wouldn't answer. When he sent messages, Lin Ning would definitely pretend not to see them. He didn't want to list all the ridiculous things Lin Ning had done. As long as Jiang Yu agreed to come back to work, that was enough; Jiang Yu was much more reliable than him.

Jiang Yu glanced at Wang Qiao, who was waiting at the door and didn't want to deal with Lin Ning anymore, and finally couldn't help but laugh out loud.

She packed her bag, getting ready for work.

Facing Lin Ning's aggrieved, outstretched hand, she gave him a playful, reproachful glare, "Eat your lunch properly, and I'll come back to make dinner for you tonight. Be good and rest at home."

Then, with a graceful turn, she left decisively with Wang Qiao.

The sound of the door closing echoed through the empty house.

Lin Ning sat on the bed alone, feeling a bit embarrassed and angry.

He climbed out of bed indignantly and went to the bathroom.

The person in the mirror was indeed as Wang Qiao had said—rosy-faced and full of energy.

Damn it, I thought my acting skills were so good. It seems Jiang Yu had noticed long ago.

But then, he felt happy inside—she noticed but still indulged him.

Heh, I have a girlfriend. Wang Qiao must be jealous of me.

What an unfilial guy, not only is he not helping me out, but he's also coming to cause trouble.

The home, which had been filled with various aromas and murmurs, became quiet.

Lin Ning scrolled through his phone for a while, then felt incredibly bored.

He pulled up the enforcement notices he had looked at a few days ago.

Better get to work. His wife is making money to support the family, he can't really just be a deadbeat.

He had picked the three with the highest enforcement amounts at the time, but only glanced at them briefly. Now that he pulled them out, he had to analyze them properly.

The bad news was that one of the three was already in prison for other crimes, so pass. The other two had bounties on their whereabouts—no one could find them.

The good news was that as long as he could spot these two, the bonus would be secure.

He had to think carefully about how to find them.

The first one: the enforcement court was in Beijing, but the debtor's address was in Wuhan. He couldn't possibly travel that far to scout for clues.

Only the last one remained.

Although the person was nowhere to be found, the listed address was in Chaoyang, Beijing.

Lin Ning clicked his tongue.

Previously, he would just report people as soon as he saw them, or track them to their location and hand them over to Jin Er and the others. This time, doing the preliminary search and investigation would be a test.

However, he was still relaxed. If he couldn't find them, there was no loss; if he found them, it was a big payout.

He put on his yellow battle robe, grabbed his equipment, and went out.

He headed straight for the address left by the person named Sun Guoqiang.

As he went out, he ran into Jin Er and his two buddies playing chess and chatting in the residential complex pavilion.

"Yo, Lin Zi, are you better? Starting to take jobs? Hahaha..."

Jin Er and the others knew Lin Ning wasn't actually doing food delivery, and seeing him in that outfit, they couldn't help but laugh.

Lin Ning naturally understood what they were laughing at. He got on his little electric scooter, gave them the middle finger, and rode straight out of the complex.

The power of summer in Yanjing was already starting to show. It was a little past nine in the morning, and the sun was making people dizzy. But as the electric scooter picked up speed, the wind blowing against his face made Lin Ning feel refreshed.

He rode all the way to his destination—Mingzhu Garden on XX Road in Chaoyang District.

Seeing the exterior and the gate of the residential complex, Lin Ning had a bad premonition.

It was a high-end complex. Not only were the rules troublesome, but the people were even harder to approach.

At the guard post, as expected, he had to register, and he had to go in on foot.

He was puzzled. Why hadn't this high-end residential address registered to a deadbeat been enforced? Was it not in his name?

But since he was already here.

Lin Ning registered, casually took a piece of high-calorie chocolate from his insulated box—which he had prepared to replenish his energy so he could activate the Eye of Insight—tossed it into a bag, and carried it inside.

The complex had great greenery, with old people and children chatting and playing in the spacious public areas.

When he arrived at the building, he couldn't even get through the entrance door.

He pressed the video doorbell, but no one answered.

How on earth was he supposed to investigate this?

Lin Ning wasn't willing to give up. He scanned the area. A few kind-looking elderly ladies with good demeanor were sitting on a bench chatting.

He approached them, putting on a shy and embarrassed expression.

"Aunties, I'd like to ask, can you reach the people at Unit 1801, Building 01? I accepted an order to deliver something, but no one answers the phone, and there's no response when I ring the doorbell. I'm a delivery runner; if I can't return the goods, I'll have to pay for it myself."

Lin Ning played the victim.

"Oh, them." An auntie with her hair in a bun and a refined temperament replied, "Try calling again. They work during the day, so there shouldn't be anyone home."

The other aunties remained silent.

Their different way of acting and their caution immediately showed the difference between them and the people in ordinary residential complexes.

Seeing how alert they were, Lin Ning had to give up.

He left the complex and found a quiet coffee shop to sit in.

He took out his phone and flipped through his notes.

His original plan was: Sun Guoqiang himself wasn't there, but his spouse or children should be living at the address. Using the Eye of Insight, he would be able to find clues about Sun Guoqiang's whereabouts.

He was stuck at the very first step.