Yandere Erii, stop tormenting Lu Mingfei!

The taxi stopped on a fairly busy street in Brooklyn.

The street was narrow, lined with a variety of shops such as grocery stores, laundromats, and mobile phone shops. The ground was messy, littered with all sorts of garbage, and homeless people sat scattered on the ground sunbathing. The air was filled with an unpleasant smell.

A five-story apartment building that looked quite old stood on the street corner, its red brick exterior walls darkened. A tall figure stood at the entrance, craning his neck to look around.

As soon as Lu Mingfei got out of the car, the figure waved frantically, calling out, "Here! Mingming!"

That person was Old Tang.

He looked more muscular than in the video, with clean-cut short hair and wearing a faded gray hoodie, his chest muscles stretching the fabric a bit too much.

But his face was surprisingly honest, with thick, bushy eyebrows, and when he smiled, his mouth stretched wide, making him look like a comical bear.

Lu Mingfei quickened his pace and walked over. Based on their countless online friendships built through all-night gaming sessions and casual conversations, he took the initiative to extend his hand.

Old Tang shook hands with him, seemingly somewhat disappointed, and said, "Why aren't you wearing women's clothes? I was really looking forward to it."

"I consider you a brother, you wouldn't have any improper thoughts about me, would you?" Lu Mingfei was speechless.

"Just kidding, I'm a real man! I only like pure sissies!" Old Tang said.

He then looked at Erii, who was looking around with a blank expression, and quickly complimented her, "Your girlfriend is even prettier than in the photos! I still can't accept this fact."

Then, he looked at the tall man next to him, wearing a comical floral shirt and with long, dark gray hair covering half his face. "Who is this?"

"Finger, Lu Mingfei's senior, is a handsome man who is unrestrained and has a melancholy expression."

Fingel stepped forward, shook Old Tang's hand, and casually smoothed his long hair in front of his forehead with his other hand, revealing what he thought was a dashing smile.

"Let's talk upstairs, it's cold outside." Old Tang turned and led the way.

This old-fashioned apartment building, built decades ago, has no elevator. One of the lights in the stairwell is broken, making it dimly lit, and some of the paint on the walls is peeling off.

"What exactly is the situation?" Lu Mingfei asked as he climbed the stairs.

"The girl's name is Maria, she's sixteen, of Mexican descent, and her parents both work at a Chinese restaurant, often not returning home until after ten at night," Old Tang said quickly, his voice filled with anxiety.

"She usually goes to the community high school. She's a quiet girl and usually goes straight home after school. She doesn't go out much. Last night, her parents came home and found her missing. They assumed she had gone to a friend's house and called around, but no one said they hadn't seen her. When they still hadn't heard from her this morning, they started to panic."

"Could it be that you went to a classmate's house for the night and forgot to mention?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"Impossible." Old Tang shook his head, his tone very certain. "Maria doesn't have many friends. She's a bit... what's the word again? Social anxiety? Autism? Anyway, she's quite introverted and keeps to herself at school."

"Oh, you know so much about it?" Fingel's gossip radar activated, his voice echoing in the stairwell. "More than most people's parents?"

Old Tang paused for a moment as he went upstairs, without turning around, but Lu Mingfei noticed that the tips of his ears were a little red.

He muttered something in a low voice, barely audible, "I... I just kept an eye on her. Sometimes she reads on a park bench nearby. I've chatted with her a few times, I've helped her clean her house, and she even baked some cakes for me."

"Unrequited love!" Fingel said, revealing the truth.

Lu Mingfei scratched his head. No wonder Old Tang, this rough man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, understood him so well when he confided in him about Chen Wenwen before. It turned out they were in the same boat!

Old Tang's neck turned red, and he turned his head away with an innocent look on his face: "I don't know, maybe, anyway, I was quite happy when I saw her, so I'm very anxious when she disappears."

Erii nodded. "If Sakura were to disappear, I would go looking for him, even if it meant turning the world upside down."

Fingel suddenly said seriously, "You can't say things like that carelessly, or it might come true."

Erii blinked her confused eyes, clearly not understanding Fingel's subtle idiom.

"It means saying auspicious things," Fingel explained. "Because there are gods watching over you, if you say unlucky things, they might actually bring some disaster upon you."

Maria's home was on the third floor. The woman who opened the door was a slightly overweight Latina with red-rimmed eyes.

Maria's father was also very worried about his daughter, but he had to go to work, otherwise he would be fired and their family would be in even more dire straits.

When the woman saw Old Tang, she asked urgently in English with a heavy Latin accent, "Ronald, is there any news?"

"Not yet, Mrs. Sanchez," Old Tang quickly said, stepping aside to let Lu Mingfei and the others pass. "These are my friends from China. They are... well, detectives! Yes, detectives! Especially good at finding people! I asked them to come and help."

"A detective?" Mrs. Sanchez paused for a moment, her gaze sweeping over Lu Mingfei, Erii, and Fingel, especially Fingel's flashy Hawaiian-style outfit, which clearly didn't fit her image of a detective.

Her face showed a mixture of hope and worry. Her fingers twisted unconsciously. She whispered something quickly in Spanish, then stammered in English, "Detective, we may not be able to pay much. My husband and I can only offer a maximum of two hundred dollars as payment."

"It's free, ma'am," Lu Mingfei quickly interrupted her, speaking in as gentle a tone as possible. "We're Old Tang's friends, here to help, for free. Like Robin Hood, the kind of good Samaritans who stand up for what's right!"

Mrs. Sanchez's eyes reddened again, and she thanked them repeatedly, making way for them to enter the house.

The interior space of the apartment is not large; you can see the whole thing at a glance.

A small living room that doubles as a dining area is furnished with an old sofa and a folding dining table; a cramped open kitchen has unwashed dishes piled on the counter; the doors to both bedrooms are closed. The furniture is old, but it's kept fairly tidy. There's a faint smell of smoke in the air.

The balcony door was open, and from there you could see a light rail viaduct. A train was rumbling past, making the windowpanes vibrate.

"This place is at least fifty years old, older than my mother," Fingel muttered, his eyes scanning the surroundings like a scanner.

Lu Mingfei looked around the living room but didn't find anything unusual. He looked at Mrs. Sanchez: "Could we take a look at Maria's room? Maybe we can find some clues."

Mrs. Sanchez nodded and pushed open one of the bedroom doors. The room was small, barely big enough for a single bed, a desk, and a wardrobe. Several faded pop star posters adorned the walls. On the desk lay a few textbooks and an old-fashioned silver laptop.

"Can we take a look at this?" Lu Mingfei pointed to the computer, sensing that there might be information inside.

"Yes, yes," Mrs. Sanchez said quickly.

Fingel had already taken a step forward and plopped down in the creaky chair in front of the desk. He opened the laptop lid, the screen lit up, and asked for a password.

"It has a password," Lu Mingfei said.

"No problem." Fingel grinned. "Junior brother, just you wait, I'm not going to eat your pizza for free!"

His fingers flew across the keyboard, pressing several key combinations to bring up a black-and-white interface. His fingers continued to tap away at the keyboard, the speed so fast that they left afterimages.

He smirked and said smugly, "It's just a very basic password. I can easily penetrate the Pentagon's firewall."

"Done." Fingel pressed Enter, the password screen disappeared, and he successfully entered the desktop.

Old Tang and Mrs. Sanchez were both stunned.

Lu Mingfei was secretly amazed. "Wow, you're a hacker! That's cool!"

Although Fen is a dog, his skills are a must-have in any team!

"You guys go outside and sit down. I need to spend some time investigating this girl's privacy; maybe I'll find something," Fingel said.

Everyone left.

Fingel acted as if he were in his own home, expertly opening his browser history, social media cache, and document history, his eyes rapidly scanning the screen. He even clicked on a few files that appeared to be backups of chat logs.

"Hmm, I see." A few minutes later, Fingel stroked his chin, his expression turning a bit strange.

He stood up and walked out of the room.

"Did you find anything?" Old Tang asked eagerly.

"Brother Tang," Fingel said slowly, his tone carrying a sense of sympathy, "I've discovered some news that might be a bit...stimulating for you."

"What news?" Old Tang's heart tightened.

"Miss Maria, she went out by herself last night and went to Queens," Fingel said.

"What was she doing in Queens?" Old Tang pressed.

"Meeting someone." Fingel sighed, looking at Old Tang with a "I feel sorry for you" look. "Meeting her boyfriend, an online relationship, they've known each other for about two months, and he asked her to meet him in person last night."

Old Tang was completely stunned, as if a thunderbolt had struck his brain. His eyes widened, and he murmured repeatedly:

"Boy...boyfriend? Are you kidding me?!" Old Tang rubbed his aching heart, his expression sad, with tears welling up in his eyes. He looked utterly miserable.

He finally found a girl he liked, who happened to be his neighbor. Although he was a coward and didn't dare to confess, he just wanted to stay by her side quietly. But he never expected that she already had a boyfriend!

And it was an online relationship!

Did I miss my chance because I hesitated to confess my feelings?

Old Tang's body was suddenly covered in gray lines, and he became depressed.

"You might not believe it, but she mentioned you in her chat with that boyfriend. She said you're a really nice guy, like a reliable older brother, and that she wants to invite you to her wedding so you can sit in the family row!"

There's also a finishing move!

Old Tang felt like he couldn't breathe, his whole body was trembling, his hands and feet were ice cold, and he was about to collapse to the ground and become a corpse.

"Where in Queens did she go?" Lu Mingfei quickly interrupted Fingel to prevent Old Tang from having an emotional breakdown.

"The chat logs show that she went to Sweetheart Market, which should be a location code, but I don't know where it is," Fingel said with a shrug.

"Ah!? What is she going there for? That's all South American gang territory!" Old Tang said in a panic. "They do all sorts of evil things. They sell enhancement drugs, traffic people, run brothels and casinos, and they often skin people alive who offend them, making their heads into sugar apples and hanging them on trees. Even the police don't dare to go to that area."

"Old Tang, getting involved with the gang might be a big deal. Do you still want to find that girl?" Lu Mingfei asked seriously.

"Mingming, thank you. Now that we know she might be there, let me go find her by myself. Don't come with me; it's too dangerous there." Old Tang wiped away his tears of heartbreak and said resolutely and bravely.

"Let's go! Together!" Lu Mingfei suddenly stood up.

"Elbow!" Erii stood up as well. Although she didn't know where to go, she felt like something interesting was about to happen.

"Where are you going?! Are you planning to rush into the gang to rescue her?" Fingel exclaimed in surprise. "We don't even know her. Besides, what if she's actually fine and just sleeping in her boyfriend's arms?"

"Then I wish them happiness." Lu Mingfei clenched his fist, thinking that he hadn't been beaten up by Genjiro for nothing in Tokyo. It would be good to test the depths of the South American mafia.

Isn't it just a gang?

I'm the son-in-law of a Japanese yakuza! Am I proud of that?!