Lao Ding swallowed the rice mixed with broth, wiped his mouth and walked towards the office.

"Hey, Lao Du, are you busy?"

After entering the office, Lao Ding called Comrade Lao Du first.

"I just finished dinner and I'm not busy now. What's wrong?"

"If you're not busy, come over. I have something to talk to you about!"

"What's so mysterious that you can't tell me over the phone? Tell me now, I might have a car to deal with soon!"

Comrade Lao Du said to Lao Ding on the phone that he felt it was a bit strange. What couldn't be said on the phone? And why was it so mysterious?

"I'm not lying to you, it's true! Something really happened! Liu Hongjiang was beaten!"

As a last resort, Lao Ding told the story of Liu Hongjiang being beaten.

"Liu Hongjiang was beaten, why did you ask me to do that? Go find whoever beat you up."

Comrade Lao Du said speechlessly on the phone.

"I suspect someone hired someone to commit the crime!"

"What the hell? Hiring someone to commit a crime? What do you mean? Do you think I hired someone?"

Comrade Lao Du was so angry that he laughed. He didn't even hire someone to commit murder.

"I didn't say it was you, but what about Du Bin and Du Chen?"

Lao Ding lowered his voice and spoke softly into the microphone.

"Impossible?"

Comrade Lao Du thought about it and felt that the brothers Du Bin and Du Chen really had the courage to do this.

"Come here quickly! Let's talk in detail!"

"Okay, wait for me, I'll be there in about ten minutes!"

Comrade Lao Du agreed and promised Lao Ding that he would be there in about ten minutes.

…

"Sister Miaomiao, where is my brother? Why isn't he with you?"

After school in the evening, Du Chen was waiting for Du Bin and Ding Miaomiao at the school gate, but found that only Ding Miaomiao came.

"Du Bin said he needed to play basketball for a while and would be back later."

"Playing basketball? My brother must be talking nonsense. You only have 40 minutes to eat, and you still have to go to school for the next two nights. What's the point of playing basketball in such a short time? Is he going to eat?"

Du Chen shook his head to express his disbelief. He didn't believe that Du Bin was going to play basketball.

"Sister Miaomiao, go back to the restaurant and eat first. I'll go to the playground to take a look!"

Du Chen said something to Ding Miaomiao and prepared to go to the basketball court to look for him and confirm whether Du Bin was really there.

"I'll join you. I ate cookies this afternoon, so I'm not hungry now."

Ding Miaomiao also wanted to see if Du Bin was in the playground, so she said she would go with Du Chen to find Du Bin.

"Then let's go, Sister Miaomiao, let's move quickly."

As he spoke, Du Chen ran towards the playground, and Ding Miaomiao followed closely behind him.

When the two arrived at the playground, there were indeed a few students playing basketball there, but Du Bin was nowhere to be seen.

"Sister Miaomiao, look, let me tell you, my brother is definitely not on the court!"

"So where do you think he went?"

"Sister Miaomiao, where can I find entertainment around the school gate? For example, places like game halls."

After thinking about it, Du Chen asked Ding Miaomiao beside him.

"It seems like there's a street west of the school gate that's full of game halls. I don't know if there are any other arcades. I heard about them from my classmates."

Ding Miaomiao said to Du Chen hesitantly that she was not quite sure.

"Okay, let's go over and take a look. As expected, my brother must be playing there! Come on, let's go find him!"

The two walked back to the main gate and headed east. Within two minutes, they saw a bustling street with students coming and going. Du Chen was immediately certain Du Bin was playing there.

Du Chen led the way in front, and Ding Miaomiao followed behind him curiously and nervously. It was her first time to come to such a place, so Ding Miaomiao kept looking left and right, and everything was new to her.

After walking a few steps into the street, Du Chen saw a group of people gathered in front of him, and he could hear the sound of "pa pa" from time to time. When Du Chen heard the sound, he knew that someone was playing billiards. In his previous life, he also set up a pool table in his modification shop to attract customers to sit there whenever they had time.

Du Chen squeezed into the crowd through the gap. His intuition told him that Du Bin should be inside. Ding Miaomiao grabbed Du Chen's schoolbag strap and followed him in. As soon as he squeezed into the crowd, Du Chen saw Du Bin and a young man playing billiards with their butts sticking out.

Du Chen pulled Ding Miaomiao without saying anything. Instead, he watched for two minutes before shouting.

"elder brother!"

Du Chen shouted at Du Bin. When Du Bin heard the shout, he turned around and saw Du Chen and Ding Miaomiao staring at him.

"Chenchen, Ding Miaomiao, why are you here?"

Du Bin looked at Du Chen and Ding Miaomiao with some embarrassment and nervousness. After all, it was embarrassing to be caught lying. What he feared most was that Du Chen or Ding Miaomiao would report him, and then he would be in trouble.

"Brother, are you guys betting on football?"

When Du Chen saw so many people gathered around, he guessed that someone was betting on football, with each game being worth a few dollars, and the loser had to pay.

"Ah, Chenchen, listen to me..."

Du Bin didn't expect that Du Chen could tell at a glance that he was gambling on football, so he became even more nervous and prepared to explain to Du Chen.

"How much is one round? How much have you lost?"

Du Chen continued to ask, he didn't believe Du Bin could win. He had just observed the opponent and it was obvious that the opponent's level was much better than Du Bin, a rookie.

"Ten dollars a round, and I haven't finished this round yet..."

"Hey, kid, do you want to play or not? If not, then admit defeat and pay!"

The young man who was fighting against Du Bin was getting a little impatient and stood there calling out to Du Bin.

Hearing the urging from the other side, Du Bin felt a little embarrassed. Just as he was about to say something, Du Chen spoke first.

"Brother, my brother is not feeling well, let me play a game with you!"

"You'd better call your brother over, kid! If you have money, you should play with me!"

The young man, holding a cigarette in his mouth, spoke to Du Chen in a nonchalant manner.

Du Chen reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture of the "Big Four" and slapped it on the billiard table.

"Brother, how about a hundred?"

"Ouch, are you sure?"

The young man stared greedily at the hundred yuan on the billiard table with his eyes wide open, and asked Du Chen anxiously.

"Are you sure, brother? You don't even have a hundred, right?"

“Who said that!”

After hearing what Du Chen said, the young man rummaged through his pockets for a long time, and then borrowed money from people he knew nearby, and finally managed to get together a hundred yuan.

"Chenchen, what are you doing?! This is my first time playing, I guess you're even worse off!"

Just as the young man was collecting money, Du Bin said to Du Chen anxiously that if he lost gambling, at most he would be beaten, but if his parents knew that Du Chen came to gamble because of him, he would probably have to stay in the hospital for two or three days.

"Yeah, Chenchen, give him ten dollars and let's go!"

Ding Miaomiao was also persuading Du Chen.

"Don't worry, brother, sister Miaomiao, how often have you seen me do something I'm not sure of? Besides, I can afford to lose a hundred yuan!"