Ice is not averse to deception

As Liu Ruo stood by the hotel window, staring intently at Dongmei's door, Sun Bing had already left.

Especially when he realized that Dongmei might still have feelings for him, Sun Bing couldn't wait to leave this place of trouble.

Investment failures led to financial hardship, leaving him unable to even afford his daughter's dance class tuition. He was scorned by his mother-in-law's family, and his brother-in-law even came to his door pressuring him to divorce. He finally found some information about ice sources, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Faced with the rich woman's crazy advances, Sun Bing felt no relief. He felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his throat, making it impossible for him to breathe.

Especially when he thinks of Liu Ruo's divorce message, Sun Bing's heart is plunged into a painful struggle. He never imagined that the woman he once loved most had really gone his separate ways.

Undoubtedly, the daughter, Sun Xiaoni, is the most innocent person, facing the situation of a single-parent child because of her own incompetence.

The series of blows left Sun Bing completely drained of energy. He wandered around the seafood market, smoking a cigarette.

The cold wind made it hard for him to open his eyes. Even with snot running down his nose, Sun Bing didn't notice. In addition, his sprained ankle hadn't fully recovered, making his gait look awkward. He looked like a dejected drug addict, pale and listless.

"Does anyone have ice? Does anyone have ice? Can anyone give me ice?"

Sun Bing muttered to himself the whole way, appearing to be escaping reality, and had no hope of finding any information about the source of the ice.

"Does anyone have ice? Does anyone have ice? Can anyone give me ice?"

Unbeknownst to Sun Bing, as he struggled forward with his injured ankle, a man with a monkey-like appearance was watching his every move from a short distance away.

For some reason, the man seemed very cautious, quietly following behind Sun Bing for a long time, seemingly to avoid being discovered by Sun Bing, so he always kept a distance of several tens of meters from her.

He didn't know how much time had passed, and after Sun Bing had spun around countless times and muttered to himself countless times, a monkey-like man suddenly blocked his way.

The man was very cautious, glancing around as he spoke, his eyes filled with alertness.

"Are you looking for Bing?" the monkey-like man asked cautiously as he approached Sun Bing.

Surprisingly, when Sun Bing heard this, he didn't seem excited at all. Instead, he exuded a listless and dejected aura.

He laughed and said, "What? You have ice? I think you're crazy, huh?"

Seeing Sun Bing's state, the monkey-like man didn't turn around and leave. Instead, he seemed even more convinced of his guess and turned to walk into a secluded corner of the seafood market.

"If you want ice, come with me."

Seeing the monkey-man walk away, Sun Bing gradually came to his senses. He wondered if he had encountered a swindler, but then he thought that he only wanted to find Bingyuan, and even if he was a swindler, he wouldn't choose someone like him as a target.

I guessed that Wu Dayong had been searching for information about the ice source for the past two days, and perhaps he had been mistaken for someone else.

Anyway, there's nothing to lose, so what's there to be afraid of?

Dragging his injured leg, he staggered towards the monkey-man. He walked for an unknown amount of time, turning countless corners and passing through countless alleys before finally stopping at the entrance of an alley where no one was around.

There weren't many people around, and the surrounding area consisted of old, low-rise buildings. Although the alley entrance was secluded, it was open in all four directions. Sun Bing couldn't guess why the monkey man would bring him to such a... strange place.

"Your voice doesn't sound like a local's," the monkey-like man asked, looking around.

Sun Bing sneered, "I'm from Harbin, and I've been here for several days."

"You're looking for Bing?" For some reason, when the monkey-man said this, his eyes suddenly sharpened, staring intently into Sun Bing's eyes.

Sun Bing snorted, sensing that the matter was hopeless, and said jokingly, "If I don't come to Bing, am I supposed to come to you?"

The monkey man showed no displeasure at Sun Bing's provocation; on the contrary, he seemed quite satisfied with Sun Bing's reaction.

"Why not look in Ice City?" the cautious monkey-man continued to ask.

It was just about finding an ice source, yet they were asking so many questions. Coupled with Sun Bing's already bad mood, she lost her patience, turned and made a move to leave, coldly asking, "Do you even have ice? Are you playing me? If I could find ice in Ice City, would I need to come all the way to Yanji? Do you think I have nothing better to do?"

"Is there any in Ice City?" The monkey-like man blocked Sun Bing's path, and out of caution, he continued to ask.

Sun Bing was also exasperated, deciding to just kill time: "It was there last year, but this year, I don't know what happened, it all just disappeared. This damn thing is really messing with me!"

Sun Bing's words increased the monkey man's trust in him even more.

Indeed, due to the crackdown, many of his peers said that business in Harbin was difficult. With the crackdown so strict, no one dared to ship goods, and it was incomparable to the previous year.

That makes sense. It seems this颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of listlessness, apathy, or dejected appearance) man did indeed come to Yanji in search of ice.

After confirming everything, the monkey-like man finally lowered his guard and leaned closer, saying, "I have the ice you want, but I don't have it with me. Do you understand what I mean?"

Sun Bing chuckled upon hearing this, then said with a wry smile, "Do you even know anything about this stuff? You can't carry this on your person? Are you new here?"

Unexpectedly, Sun Bing was quite knowledgeable, knowing that people in this line of work don't carry their goods with them at all times, which made the monkey man even more certain that he had found the right person.

"Since you know the rules, that makes things easier. We need a deposit. How much can you take?" the monkey man asked again.

Sun Bing didn't hesitate and said directly, "As long as it's available, I can take 200,000."

Hey, he's a big client!

Upon hearing the price of 200,000, the monkey-like man's eyes lit up instantly. He had only gone out today to try his luck, since the market had indeed been very bad recently, just as Sun Bing had said. Business was tough for his peers, and with the crackdowns, there weren't many people who dared to go out looking for clients like him.

Before the monkey-like man could even speak, Sun Bing snapped impatiently, "Stop talking nonsense! You only get a deposit if you see the item. Why should I give you a deposit if you can't see it? Trying to scam me?"

Sun Bing turned to leave, but this time, the monkey man didn't stop her; instead, he followed her.

"Still here in three days. I'll check the goods for you. I'll be there promptly at 11 a.m.

Before Sun Bing could react, the monkey-like man had already vanished in a flash.

Sun Bing thought to himself: It really is a monkey!

After the monkey man walked away, Sun Bing gradually returned to normal, thinking that maybe the other party really did have information about the Ice Source, otherwise there wouldn't have been a strange appointment time.

Why does it have to be three days later?

Just to be on the safe side, Sun Bing still inquired about ice sources everywhere in the seafood market.

In reality, the monkey man hadn't gone far. He continued to secretly observe Sun Bing's every move. Seeing that Sun Bing was still in that half-dead state after he left, constantly asking passersby for directions at the seafood market and occasionally taking a puff of smoke to relieve his stress, the monkey man's trust in Sun Bing grew stronger and stronger.

Sun Bing wandered around aimlessly from morning until noon, her mind preoccupied with worries, feeling no hunger whatsoever. She just kept pacing back and forth. Perhaps the blow she had suffered was too great, or perhaps Dongmei's affections had come too suddenly; Sun Bing even bought a pack of cigarettes at a nearby shop.

Sun Bing has been a smoker for two years. The reason she quit smoking was simply because Liu Ruo suddenly said that she felt uncomfortable when she smelled smoke. Without hesitation, Sun Bing, a smoker of more than ten years, successfully quit smoking in just one day.

Looking back now, it's really quite laughable.

Having not smoked for two years, this puff felt like it hit a nerve, almost killing Sun Bing. But he didn't give up; the discomfort from smoking allowed him to temporarily ignore his inner turmoil.

He kept smoking, puff after puff, smoke swirling around him, tears and snot streaming down his face, but he didn't stop.

The monkey-man, who was watching this scene from a distance, finally revealed a satisfied smile.

He immediately took out his phone and dialed a number, saying confidently, "Boss, I've found a client, a big client, who can come up with a deposit of 200,000 yuan at once."

The other person was clearly more cautious than the monkey man: "Who is this person? Is he reliable? They're cracking down hard right now, so don't fall into their trap."

The monkey-like man seemed very confident: "Probably not. I've been observing him all day, and he's a complete drug addict. It's not like I'm new to this; I can tell at a glance whether someone does this or not."

After hesitating for a moment, the other party said, "Let's observe further. We'd rather not make money than get caught. Those of us in this line of work have to be careful."

"Don't worry, brother."

Sun Bing did indeed come looking for ice, and the monkey man did indeed have information about the source of ice. However, the ice that the monkey man was talking about seemed to be completely different from the ice that Sun Bing was looking for.