Zhang Hongyan waved to her daughter, "Let's not talk about this anymore. Go to the main room and set out the dishes. I'll start eating after I finish cooking these two dishes."

"Okay," Xia Qingqing replied with a smile, then turned around and went to the cupboard to get bowls and chopsticks.

After she set out the dishes and was about to call Gou Dan to eat, she saw that Gou Dan had already followed Xia Heping over, so she decided to go to the kitchen to help Zhang Hongyan.

Xia Heping smiled at his daughter: "Qingqing, you rest, I'll go help your mother."

Without giving Xia Qingqing a chance to refute, he walked towards the kitchen.

Gou Dan curiously approached his sister and asked, "Sis, what were you and Mom talking about in the kitchen just now? You were making such a big fuss."

"Oh, you remember that murder case from last time? The killer has been caught," Xia Qingqing said casually.

"Really? That's great! I don't have to worry anymore!" Gou Dan cheered happily, patting his little chest in a serious manner.

Xia Qingqing was amused by his reaction. She had to admit that Gou Dan was quite afraid of death. Ever since he learned that a murderer had fled from Beijing, he had been extremely worried and dared not go out to play alone.

"Yes, now you can go out and play without worry again," Xia Qingqing said with a smile, ruffling Gou Dan's hair.

Suddenly, he exclaimed, "Hey, Gou Dan, shouldn't you get a haircut?"

Gou Dan touched his hair blankly; his original short haircut had already covered his eyebrows. "It seems so. Mom hasn't taken me to get a haircut in a long time."

"I'll take you to get a haircut tomorrow afternoon."

"Okay," Gou Dan happily agreed.

Zhang Hongyan, who was carrying the dishes, overheard the siblings' conversation and said with a smile, "What a coincidence! I was just thinking of taking Gou Dan to get his hair cut during the holiday. Since you two siblings have made a promise, Qingqing, why don't you take your brother?"

“Yes, I’ll take him tomorrow afternoon. Huimin will treat us to lunch at the state-run restaurant,” Xia Qingqing said.

Zhang Hongyan suddenly remembered something and asked, "By the way, did your school's anniversary performance go well today?"

Xia Qingqing nodded with a smile: "It went smoothly. Aren't we planning to celebrate tomorrow?"

The next day, Xia Qingqing didn't get up until after 10 a.m. Her family knew that she liked to sleep in during her holidays, so no one woke her up.

Zhang Hongyan left her breakfast on the table: two sweet potatoes and a boiled egg.

Xia Qingqing thought that lunch was coming soon, so she ate an egg to fill her stomach, but didn't touch the sweet potato.

Seeing that it was almost time, she said goodbye to Gou Dan, who was doing his homework in the room, and then rode her bicycle out.

When she arrived at the state-run restaurant, her roommates hadn't arrived yet, so she found an empty table and sat down.

She had only been sitting down for two minutes when two middle-aged men sat down at the table next to her. They didn't care whether there were other people around them and started chatting loudly.

"Have you heard about what happened the night before last?"

"What's going on? I haven't heard anything about it."

"You don't know?! You remember that murder case on South Street, right? The other night, the gang of murderers came out to commit another crime while it was raining heavily, but they were subdued by an unsung hero."

"Oh, this great hero is truly ridding the people of evil!"

"Who says otherwise? I heard that the woman who was murdered the night before last almost died, but even if she didn't die, she wasn't in much better shape."

"What kind of logic is that? Not dying is just lucky."

"Sigh, he's been ruined. He even has a hole in his head and is still in the hospital getting treatment."

"What a pity... How could such a good person have to be so unlucky as to encounter something like this?"

......

Xia Qingqing listened intently to the two's conversation, unaware that Liu Huimin and the others had arrived.

Liu Huimin waved her hand in front of Xia Qingqing: "Qingqing, what are you thinking about? You didn't hear me when I called you."

"No, I wasn't thinking about anything. I was just waiting for you to come and order," Xia Qingqing said with a smile.

"You three order, each of you order one dish you like, and four bowls of rice," Liu Huimin said domineeringly, waving her hand.

Xiang Qiu looked at her with a smile: "Then I won't be polite, but you can't be stingy."

Liu Huimin snorted arrogantly: "Don't look down on people. What's there to feel sorry about? I don't care how much you eat when I treat you to a meal."

"Since you've put it that way, then I'll just pick the more expensive ones," Xiang Qiu said jokingly.

That's what they said, but the three of them still knew what they were doing, and in the end they ordered one meat dish, one vegetable dish, and one soup, which was enough for the four of them.

After all the dishes were served, Xia Qingqing first ladled herself a bowl of soup: "I'll have a bowl of hot soup to warm myself up first, would you like a bowl?"

"No need, I'll eat first and drink the soup last."

"I don't need it either. I won't be able to eat anything after drinking the soup."

Xia Qingqing shrugged: "Okay, then I'll drink it myself."

The two men at the next table ate very quickly and had already finished and left.

After everyone left, Xia Qingqing whispered to her roommates, "You guys just asked me why I was spacing out, right? Actually, I was listening to those two middle-aged men at the next table chatting."

"What were they talking about just now?" Liu Huimin asked immediately, curious.

Xia Qingqing repeated what she had just heard to her roommates: "That's all. They didn't talk about it anymore."

Liu Huimin frowned: "Ah, how come I haven't heard anyone at school discussing something this big?"

Xiang Qiu said calmly, "Everyone was busy with the school anniversary celebration yesterday, so they didn't have time to discuss these things. You didn't go out to chat with anyone today either. You'll see, a lot of people will definitely be discussing this in class tomorrow."

"I really want to know who the hero who helped save people is. Don't you all want to know?" Chen Xiu said softly.

Liu Huimin nodded vigorously: "Of course I want to know! I think the Public Security Bureau should give the hero a banner, no, they should give the hero a reward of money, so that everyone knows that doing good deeds will be rewarded, and more and more people will be willing to do good deeds."

Xia Qingqing smiled slightly upon hearing this. Sister Huimin is quite a nice person. It's a pity that even if there were a bonus, she wouldn't get it. After all, she's a little hero who does good deeds anonymously.

"Speaking of which, aren't you all curious about why those two killed someone, and why they used such cruel methods? It's absolutely inhuman," Xiang Qiu asked, looking at everyone with curiosity.

Regardless of whether the two men's purpose was robbery or sexual assault, there was no need to kill them. If they hadn't killed them, this case certainly wouldn't have received so much attention.

Liu Huimin paused in her chopsticks: "I'm curious too, but only the murderer should know the reason, right? No, maybe the police already know the reason for their crime through interrogation, but I don't know if they will make it public."

Xia Qingqing's eyes flickered slightly. Ning Zhiyuan works in the Public Security Bureau, she wondered if he knew.