You are my wife, don't doubt it!

"Even if stepmother is sincere, she is still a child after all, young and ignorant. Shouldn't you play a leading role?" Shen Tianyun said.

I was young and ignorant too, Xiao Yao thought with some sarcasm.

"How can I take the lead? I'm just a son-in-law..."

Just like that, the two of them chatted and bickered with each other, and fell asleep one after the other without realizing it, even forgetting to turn off the lights.

When Xiao Yao woke up, he found that it was already daybreak. Shen Tianyun had not gone out, nor had she stayed in bed. Instead, she was humming a melody and vacuuming the carpet.

The boy got out of bed and took the vacuum cleaner from Shen Tianyun's hand. The two of them did a thorough cleaning together, and then cleaned the room on the 04 side as well.

At noon, Xiao Yao volunteered to cook lunch for Tianyun.

The dishes are not very varied and the taste is not that great. It can only be said to be okay, but quite okay.

"Stop complaining and eat," Xiao Yao said, "At least it won't kill you."

On such a bright afternoon, Xiao Yao suddenly had an inexplicable illusion that "the years were good", as if as long as he and Changsheng lived a simple and interdependent life, his life would be quite satisfying and hopeful.

In the evening, at dusk, Xiao Yao met Liang Yanan in a community park as instructed by her.

She was doing pull-ups on the horizontal bar alone.

"It seems that you don't intend to prove me wrong." Liang Yanan didn't even look at Xiao Yao, and said to the air in front of him.

"Zhou Qi did conceal something from the police," Xiao Yao confirmed cautiously, "but he shouldn't be held legally responsible, right?"

"Don't get me wrong," Liang Yanan said, "I'm not asking you those questions on behalf of the law enforcement agency, but only on behalf of myself."

"That compound is indeed very well guarded. I have to admit that I have no way of getting in." Xiao Yao also imitated Liang Yanan and tried to do a pull-up, but failed immediately: "Are you sure she is in there, and do you have a way to help me?"

Before obtaining the spiritual fortress, Xiao Yao indeed did not have the strength to complete pull-ups, but after obtaining Don Quixote's fortress, the situation changed subtly.

At this moment, I feel so weak again. I guess the fight last night has drained my energy.

"I'm sure she's in there, but I don't have anything to use as evidence right now." Liang Yanan told Xiao Yao: "I can take you in, see her, and then you can tell me what Zhou Qi has hidden from the police. Is that okay?"

Xiao Yao frowned and asked, "Is there any way to get her out of there?"

Ask for a high price and pay it back on the spot.

"Bringing him out is really an understatement." Liang Yanan chuckled, "Kidnapping is a very serious crime."

"Okay," Xiao Yao said, "That's true, let's do as you say."

"Very good, let's get going now." Liang Yanan jumped off the horizontal bar and glanced at the watch on his wrist.

"Now?" Xiao Yao said.

"It's past 5 o'clock. We have to hurry."

……

Liang Yanan made several calls on the spot, showing several different faces, and then asked Xiao Yao to exercise while waiting, and expressed regret for the boy's physical fitness and athletic ability.

About half an hour later, an old yellow van stopped in front of them. There were four words written on the side of the van: "Electricity Inspection".

The driver who opened the car door and got out was actually the "pilot head" Xu Wuchen.

The two men clapped their hands twice and bumped fists in a random manner. Liang Yanan pushed Xiao Yao into the car and let Xu Wuchen drive.

"Why do I feel like I'm being kidnapped?" Xiao Yao said with a smile.

Liang Yanan had a tense face and was typing something on her phone. Xu Wuchen nervously glanced at the rearview mirror inside the car without smiling or speaking.

"Old Xu, are you an adult?" Xiao Yao asked Xu Wuchen, and then glanced at Liang Yanan: "Is he an adult?"

The two men continued to keep a straight face and said nothing, as if no one heard Xiao Yao's words.

"Fuck, was I really kidnapped?" Xiao Yao said.

"Stop making noise." Liang Yanan put down her phone and explained to Xiao Yao her action plan for tonight.

……

……

"I thought you would take me to the gate, show me your police ID, and then we'd go in." In the car, Xiao Yao expressed it in surprise after hearing Liang Yanan's action plan.

"I never choose the easiest way, I said that." Seeing Xiao Yao's confused expression, Liang Yanan continued to explain: "Of course you can go in if you show your police ID, but then what? Even if I tell the guard not to make a fuss, do you think he will listen?"

"No?" Xiao Yao asked back.

"Of course not. I'm not his boss, and neither is the police." Liang Yanan shrugged and said, "If the police come to our house, the security guard will definitely report to his superiors. Who do you think his superior is?"

"Captain of security? Property management company?"

"It's Miwei Group, the developer of this community. The boss of Miwei Group lives in this community and happens to be the father of the girl you want to meet."

"...Oh." Xiao Yao understood that once he entered the house openly as a policeman, Shen Jie's family would be notified immediately. And with Shen Jie's father's behavior - even if he was not at home, Johns would be there, and he would never remain indifferent if the police came to the door.

At that time, even if he forcibly used public power to enter Shen Jie's house, he would not be able to see Shen Jie in person, let alone take her out.

Xiao Yao nodded and expressed his gratitude to Xu Wuchen who was driving.

Xu Wuchen covered his ears and said, "I was just driving for a ride. I don't know anything. No need to thank me."

This "power inspection vehicle" circled around Xijiao Garden for a long time, and it was already getting dark.

When passing by the closed rolling shutter door again, with no other pedestrians or vehicles in front or behind, Liang Yanan took out a slingshot, told Xu Wuchen to slow down, then pulled the slingshot and aimed at the light bulb above the rolling shutter door and under the awning.

Behind this rolling shutter door is the community’s garbage transfer station. Every afternoon, the community’s cleaning department will collect the garbage from each household in the community here, and then the sanitation department will regularly send vehicles to take away the garbage.

And today is the day when the sanitation department sends vehicles to collect the garbage.

Liang Yanan shot at the light bulb several times with a slingshot, but she still failed to hit it even though Xu Wuchen was driving very slowly.

Xiao Yao saw beads of sweat on her forehead, and he knew it was not because of the stuffiness in the car - it seemed that her physical disability made her no longer the same as she used to be.

"Let me try." Xiao Yao said suddenly.

Chapter 249 Reunion with Xiao Shen Jie

2023-06-29

*This chapter is also known as "Operation Green Light"

"Let me try." Xiao Yao said suddenly.

"Let's turn around again." A car appeared in the opposite lane, so Liang Yanan had to give up, closed the car window, and reluctantly ordered Xu Wuchen.

However, as time went by, the traffic volume on the road increased, and the window for executing the plan was getting narrower and narrower. What was worse was that during this detour, Xiao Yao could already see the sanitation garbage trucks slowly moving on the road.

When Xu Wuchen drove onto the road opposite the garbage transfer station again, Xiao Yao pulled the slingshot from Liang Yanan's iron hand.

Liang Yanan nodded and gave up the shooting position.

The vehicle slowed down again. Xiao Yao pulled the slingshot and was about to fire the rubber projectile when another vehicle came from the opposite lane.

In order to avoid suspicion, Xu Wuchen increased the speed of the car. The time was urgent. Xiao Yao held his breath, pulled the slingshot again, and without waiting for Xu Wuchen to slow down, he shot the bullet again at the maximum distance of the slingshot's range.

The rubber bullet drew an arc and just hit the light bulb. A crisp sound seemed to be heard not far away.

Their car was merging with oncoming vehicles, and Xiao Yao had already hidden back in the car with the window rolled up.

"It seems that it cannot be broken." Xu Wuchen parked the car at the corner and turned back to ask.

"There's no need to break it. Breaking it will only cause trouble." Liang Yanan answered Xu Wuchen while looking at his watch.

"If this kind of light bulb is even slightly damaged, like a crack or something, it will burn out once the electricity is turned on." Xiao Yao also explained, while picking up a walkie-talkie.

The clock pointed to 7:00, and the street lights, the lighting on the community walls, and the decorative lights all lit up, and the originally dim streets suddenly became bright. The light under the awning outside the garbage disposal station also lit up at the same time, but after a few seconds it flickered and went out.

No one in the car spoke anymore. Xiao Yao picked up the intercom and listened carefully.

After a while, a somewhat lazy female voice sounded over the intercom: "The light outside the garbage station is burnt out. Who will go check it out later?"

Xiao Yao waited for 10 seconds, then pressed the intercom and tried to lower the tone so that his voice sounded like an adult: "Got it, I'll be there right away."

Then, Liang Yanan and Xiao Yao opened the car door and got out. They both changed into gray-blue work clothes with Sunshine Property written on them, and wore hats. They took out a folding ladder from the car, stretched it out, carried it one after the other, and walked from the other end of the street, along the wall of the community where the lights were just coming on, to the gate of the garbage transfer station.

"Will it really not arouse suspicion?" Xiao Yao asked Liang Yanan in a low voice, somewhat worried.

"It's shift change time now. No one wants to do such trivial things in such hot weather. As long as someone says they are coming, they won't care who it is. They might even laugh at the person who took the job and call him an idiot."

"The cost of securing the property here is very expensive, right? Is that so irresponsible?"

"Loyalty is not a virtue that can be bought with money. Besides, no matter how high the fees are, how many will be left in the hands of these workers? It's good enough if the work they do is worthy of the salary given by the superiors. It's the same all over the world. But you have to be careful not to look at the camera. Just pretend it doesn't exist."

They came to the door of the garbage transfer station and set up a stepladder. Liang Yanan held the ladder while Xiao Yao climbed up and pretended to do maintenance in front of the surveillance camera three feet away.

At this time, a yellow and green truck came around the corner. It was the sanitation garbage transfer truck. The truck arrived outside the rolling gate of the garbage transfer station, turned its head with ease, pointed the rear of the truck at the gate, and honked twice.

Xiao Yao's maintenance work was also completed in a timely manner, and the replaced light bulb lit up. He came down from the ladder, Liang Yanan folded up the ladder and took it away, and greeted the driver of the garbage truck like an old acquaintance.

At the same time, the tightly closed rolling shutter door of the garbage transfer station rose up with the sound of the motor running.

Xiao Yao and Liang Yanan exchanged glances, then they bent down, carried the ladder and went into the garbage transfer station.

The garbage transfer station was well-lit and looked clean and tidy, but it was still a stuffy box with days' worth of domestic waste piled up inside, no windows, and no ventilation. Unsurprisingly, the smell was suffocating.

Just as Liang Yanan predicted, there was neither staff to liaise with the unit nor any surveillance equipment.

The sanitation workers wearing thick masks had no doubts about the identities of Xiao Yao and Liang Yanan. They backed the truck in and started to do their own work skillfully. Obviously, they didn't want to stay here for long.

Even if Xiao Yao held his breath, it was still difficult to stop the stench from rushing to his eyes. He tried to open his eyes wide and calmly looked for the door on the other side of the garbage transfer station.

Liang Yanan came to a door that seemed to be for property staff to enter and exit. She turned the door handle and shook her head gently at Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao came to the large rolling gate on the other side and tried to pull the iron chain hanging next to it. The iron gate made a few sounds and was pulled up a little, about knee-high.

Seeing that the sanitation workers were not paying attention to this side, Liang Yanan pushed the ladder out from under the iron gate without hesitation, then rolled sideways and went out.

She held the iron gate with both hands from the outside, and Xiao Yao quickly leaned over and got out from under the iron gate, and then Liang Yanan let go. After a loud bang, the two were already inside the fortress.

Xiao Yao took a few deep breaths and patted his chest, trying to calm his pounding heart.

"Don't panic. We can't stay here for long. You have to stay calm." Liang Yanan picked up the ladder and handed the other end to Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao took the ladder and followed Liang Yanan, continuing to walk one after the other.

"What if someone talks to us?" Xiao Yao asked in a low voice.

"In a place like this, as long as you are wearing work clothes and carrying a ladder, you are invisible and no one will pay attention to you. Unless they want you to do some work, then you just have to do it perfunctorily."

"What if there are patrolling security guards? We are strangers here." Xiao Yao said.

"It's unlikely that there will be a patrol at this time. If there is, don't take the initiative to go and see him. For the rest, you have to adapt to the situation."

The two of them walked along the road. The street lights were sufficient and there were surveillance cameras everywhere, but they really didn't encounter many people.

On both sides of the road are single-family or townhouses of various shapes. Some have lights on, while others have lights off in the rooms but still bright in the yards.

Xiao Yao tried to identify Shen Jie's house based on her description of his home in his memory, but he soon gave up the effort.

In addition to the fact that these houses are all three stories high, Xiao Yao's observations of these houses can only lead to one simple and unrecognizable conclusion: luxurious.

If "Yu Luying's dream home" was still within the limits of Xiao Yao's imagination, then the courtyards before him were completely beyond Xiao Yao's cognition, just like humans cannot hear ultrasound and will only feel uncomfortable due to its influence.

Liang Yanan looked like she was familiar with the place. Xiao Yao was very sure that this was not her first time entering here, but she denied it and Xiao Yao could do nothing about it.

Finally, Liang Yanan stopped outside a courtyard: "This is it."

Xiao Yao observed the yard and suddenly felt that Shen Jie was a very confused person - she said a lot of details about her home that Xiao Yao could not really understand, but she missed the most obvious feature: her house and yard were at least three times the size of those other houses.

Xiao Yao didn’t know that Shen Hongsheng once said in an interview that he developed this community “only to find 248 neighbors.”

The courtyard is very quiet now, with only a few sparse lights in the yard, but most rooms in the house have lights on.

Liang Yanan whispered to Xiao Yao: "Pay attention to that glass balcony."

There was indeed a balcony on the second floor that was completely enclosed by glass, but there were no lights on inside and nothing could be seen at the moment.

"Is she there?" Xiao Yao asked.

"Yes." Liang Yanan's answer was unquestionable.

All we can do now is wait.

Xiao Yao hid in the shadow of a tree by the roadside, staring at the dark glass balcony, feeling like every second seemed like an eternity.

It was unknown how much time had passed, but the entire Shen family suddenly seemed to have "woke up" and became lively. More lights were lit in the room and yard, servants were coming in and out, busy sweeping and wiping, gardeners were busy pruning flowers and trees, and the aroma of cooking drifted in with the wind.

However, the glass balcony was still pitch black, so these changes in the Shen family only made Xiao Yao feel anxious.

Liang Yanan pulled Xiao Yao's sleeve and said, "There are surveillance cameras all around us. We can't just stay here. Let's go somewhere else and come back."