Hou Diankui was serious. "Hey, Xiao Liu, what if Jiang Qiao and I get caught selling things and accused of speculation? Shouldn't you guys give us some kind of certificate?"

Liu Zhanyu smiled at the old man and said, "With Jiang Qiao around, what are you afraid of, old man?"

Hou Diankui waved his hand in dissatisfaction, "Don't, don't drag Jiang Qiao into everything. This girl has sacrificed too much for you. It's good enough if she doesn't do anything wrong, let alone do anything good."

What if some fool jumps out again? You're having trouble protecting yourselves, so who's going to take care of us?

Go back and talk to your boss. Ask for a temporary pass or a letter of introduction, anything will do. I won't take it. Give it to Jiang Qiao. At least then the two of us can explain what's going on.

"Don't let it come to a point where no one speaks up for us. To be honest, it's not that my son and I are short of money. Jiang Qiao and I could do anything else that would earn more. We're just thinking about your jobs, so it's better to be safe than sorry."

"Okay, okay, I'll go back and tell the director, you need to prove that you're doing your job."

Jiang Qiao smiled at Hou Diankui, thinking to herself that the old man was getting better and better at learning.

"You'd better handle Haozi's transfer carefully and avoid any mishaps. The girl has had it tough enough; let's not cause any more trouble for our own people."

Liu Zhanyu came over with another matter: "Old man, did you lie to people back then and say you could cure my father's illness?"

Hou Diankui still remembers this. He doesn't easily deceive people; he always speaks based on his abilities. That day, however, he actually managed to deceive them for once.

"What's wrong? I said the time wasn't right yet, and that young man couldn't resist?"

I knew it! When I went to deliver the fish today, the young man seemed hesitant to speak. Apparently, he was asking me to come and find medicine for him.

Let me ask this young man first, how has he been behaving lately? His previous attitude won't do.

"Who is our Qiao'er? She's not someone they can just label as bad without any real reason."

Jiang Qiao couldn't help but laugh. "Master Hou, you still hold grudges? Let's not stoop to the level of a child. Young people are ignorant. They think they're something special just because they work in that department."

Never mind, what's the situation with this comrade's father?

Liu Zhanyu recounted the father's situation to Jiang Qiao.

"This person is not bad. He even apologized to me afterwards. It's not that he didn't want to speak up for Jiang Qiao, but in this investigation team, he had no room to speak."

So let's not dwell on this matter. At least, what they did and said afterward seemed alright to me.

Jiang Qiao sighed, "When it comes to treating illnesses, just hearing about it sometimes doesn't guarantee results. My situation is a bit special right now. Let him take this prescription back and try it. If it works, then continue taking it. If it doesn't work, then we'll see."

After seeing Liu Zhanyu off, Jiang Qiao and Hou Diankui sat in the house and began discussing what kind of food to sell.

“The expensive stuff is too expensive for most people to afford. How about we make some snacks, the kind with local specialties, especially the kind that the special envoy likes to eat? When Jian Ling comes over later, ask her what that woman likes to eat. After all, those two met back then.”

Sure enough, this person couldn't help but mention Jian Ling. As soon as he started talking about her, she came over gracefully, bringing food with her.

"Hey, how come you have time? Aren't you going out tonight?"

Jian Ling put her things down. "I'm resting tonight. Lao Zhou and Lao Wang are going out. It seems that eavesdropping isn't very effective now. The enemy has fallen silent. At most, it's just a psychological scare."

Besides, you always bring us fish, so we'll have a nice feast tonight. This is some eggs and vegetables I bought from the countryside. You two can eat these first, and we'll talk about it later if we run out.

"By the way, I heard that a lot of explosives were found today. My husband and I couldn't explain it clearly either. What exactly happened?"

The old man sighed, "This is a long story, it has something to do with the fish you ate..."

After hearing the whole story, Jian Ling was speechless. "What's with your feeling? Your sixth sense is too strong! Just because of that one sentence, you dared to enter someone's house. You're incredibly bold. Luckily, no one was home, otherwise, they would have accused you of burglary."

Jiang Qiao said dismissively, "I checked at the time and there was no one there, so I went inside. If there had been someone there, I wouldn't have gone in. It was just bad timing. Who knew I would find something so big?"

"Aunt Jian, what do you think this special envoy likes? He's already here, we don't even know where he's hiding. Master Hou and I have been thinking about it, maybe we should sell some snacks or something, targeting the things he likes."

Jian Ling waved her hand. "Don't ask me. I'm not familiar with her. We've only met a few times. If we're talking about understanding, Xu Shaoqing understands her better. But this person is hiding even deeper than the envoy. I can't count on him. Just make something simple. Anyway, I think everything you make tastes good."

That woman is from the south, so you should make some southern snacks, but don't make them too expensive. If she doesn't buy them, we can't afford to lose money, right?

"Hehe, got it. If we can't sell them, have Master Hou deliver them to us. We won't mind."

Hou Diankui chimed in from the side, "You may not be picky eaters, but we can't afford to feed you all. Only Jiang Qiao knows how to cook. Look, she's pregnant. Let me tell you, we're limited. We only make two pots a day. That's all. If you want some, come early."

Jiang Qiao casually asked if anyone had noticed these people lately.

"Yes, I heard they've locked onto two. As for further cases, I don't know. Our people are keeping an eye on them; it's all under Lao Wang's command. I don't know if that's true or not."

"two?"

Jian Ling raised an eyebrow. "What, is it missing?"

Jiang Qiao chuckled twice. "That's quite a lot already. It's not easy for us to find the Cobra people. Do you know why it's so hard to spot the people here?"

Hou Diankui and Jian Ling both looked at Jiang Qiao and asked, "Why?"

"Xu Shaoqing is so cunning. He won't use his men easily unless it's absolutely necessary. It's not easy for them to stay hidden in this area for so many years. They all have their own connections. So, how many of those we arrested before were his people?"

Jian Ling nodded knowingly. "You know what, it's true, this guy is holding back his strength."

Hou Diankui summarized it as, "This is their common problem; they all think about consuming others' resources while preserving their own, a mindset similar to that of warlords."

Jian Ling thought further, "So, once their target appears, it's time to activate these people?"

Jiang Qiao nodded. "I guess so. Cobra has his own ideas. He will definitely do his best this time. He's not young anymore. How many more years can he work? He will definitely find a way to leave. This is his leverage to leave."