I need to hire a plumber to check where the problem of no hot water is.

I hurriedly called the driver, but he refused outright because it was the Lunar New Year holiday and he wanted to spend more time with his wife and children, a kind of companionship that money couldn't buy.

I suddenly developed a deep fear of the night, as if all troubles originated in the darkness; what's even more terrifying is that the air, steeped in darkness, is filled with a desolate and lonely atmosphere that is unbearable!

If I'm like this, what about Tetsuo and Momo right now?

I was willing to put myself in their shoes, so the next moment I mustered my strength, rode my motorcycle, and sped through the darkness toward "Majiuyi".

...

After meeting Taozi, I didn't hide the fact that Tienan had been harboring others for drug use and prostitution, and I told her everything I knew. Taozi broke down emotionally and sat on the sofa without saying a word...

After half an hour of this, I finally spoke to Taozi, saying, "You are the closest person to Tie Nan. Think carefully, have you seen any unusual people or phenomena in the inn?"

Peach stared at me blankly.

Yang Sisi, who was sitting next to her, repeated what I had said.

Peach then showed a look of recollection, and after a long while, she said to me, "About two weeks ago, a foreigner came to the inn. There are quite a few foreigners in Dali, and at first I didn't pay much attention. But in the following days, every day or two, a different woman would come in and out of his room..."

I asked with concern, "How long has he been staying here?"

"It was just over a week ago, and I only checked out two days before the incident."

Are there any other suspicious individuals?

"There was also a guest from Malaysia who came with two women. Later, when I was cleaning the room, I found a disposable syringe in their room."

I slapped my leg hard and said, "Are you stupid? How come no one has taken this kind of thing seriously?"

“I mentioned it to Tie Nan, but he said it’s none of our business what people do behind closed doors…”

I shook my head helplessly...

Peach choked up as she said, "It's my fault, I'm partly responsible. I've seen too many things like this when I was working in Shanghai, so I just dealt with it with a 'it's nothing new' attitude..."

Yang Sisi looked at Taozi with a puzzled expression and asked, "Sister, what kind of work did you do when you were in Shanghai? Why do you seem to take such dirty things for granted?"

When people are on the verge of a breakdown, they are prone to making careless remarks, and Yang Sisi is a woman who likes to gossip, so she caught Taozi off guard and left her speechless.

I picked up the conversation and said to Yang Sisi, "Now is not the time to dwell on the past... so don't ask so many questions."

Yang Sisi glanced at Taozi, then chose to remain silent...

A moment later, I felt a wave of frustration. Peach was talking about things she had seen, but she spent most of her time working in a bar in the old town. How many things had she not seen?

At this point, I began to doubt the authenticity of the ledger, and things were far more complicated than they appeared on the surface... To be fair, Tie Nan was a cunning person; he even kept Tao Zi by his pillow a secret while doing these things, and even made a fake ledger... Of course, the ledger might be real, but those irregular incomes were not reflected in it.

Even so, it at least shows that Tetsuo was consciously engaging in criminal activities.

What I don't understand is how he got in touch with these people, and how the innkeeper who reported him found out? To be honest, he had kept this matter quite secret.

I want to know the answer, but I don't want to face it...