"Tsk tsk, Xiao Chu, your three dogs are really smart." Zhang Meng squatted on the ground, looking at the steamed buns and said with admiration.
"I would say it's a better breed. Xiao Hei is quite smart from a young age, and it teaches everything in one go. We haven't taken care of the two smaller ones; they were raised by itself."
Li Chu took out gloves from his bag and put them on, then picked up the buns from the ground.
"Let the lab check later to see if they can detect any toxins."
Zhang Meng stood up and looked back at the yard: "Xiao Chu, go and turn on all the lights."
The two of them thoroughly inspected the house from the outside in. The three dogs were all fine, so it seemed that no outsiders had been inside.
A knocking sound came from the doorway.
The dog didn't bark, so the person knocking on the door must not be a stranger.
"Who is it?" Li Chu asked as he walked out of the living room.
"Dr. Li, I am your neighbor."
Zhang Meng, who followed him out, glanced at Li Chu.
"It's Professor Ran from next door to the east."
After saying that, Li Chu walked over and opened the door: "Professor Ran, hello, please come in."
Professor Ran, who was standing at the door, looked at Li Chu and said with a smile, "I'm not going in. I just got back and saw that your light was on, so I came over to tell you that someone is looking for you this afternoon."
"Looking for me? Where did you find me, and when?"
“Not in the alley, but on the main road outside.” Professor Ran pointed to the west: “I was in a hurry to get to school at the time, so I only heard the gist of it. The person was asking on the roadside where Dr. Li from Peking Union Medical College Hospital lived. I think he was probably asking about you.”
"Professor Ran, do you remember what that person looked like?"
"I was in a hurry and didn't pay much attention, but the person seemed to be about your age, but not as tall as you."
"Thank you, Professor Ran. He must be my patient. I was busy today and wasn't at the hospital, so he probably rushed over to find me."
"Hey, don't be so polite. We're all neighbors. I was in a hurry and didn't stop to talk to him, but I reckon he would have found your house if he had asked a couple more people. Alright, Dr. Li, I just came to let you know. I'm going back now."
After saying this, Professor Ran ignored Li Chu's attempts to persuade him to stay and went back to his own home next door.
Li Chu walked out of the courtyard gate and watched Professor Ran walk to his own door, open the door, and go inside. Just as he was about to go home, Professor Ran came out of the house again and called out, "Dr. Li, I remember now. That person seemed to have no beard at all. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it was like he didn't grow a beard. It wasn't like he was clean-shaven."
"Thank you, Professor Ran!"
Professor Ran smiled, waved, and said, "You're welcome," before going inside.
After Li Chu entered the house, he looked at Zhang Meng standing at the door of the living room and said, "Brother Meng, it seems that the person who lost the steamed buns this afternoon should be Jiang Cheng."
Can you be sure?
"It should be about right; his fair complexion and clean-shaven face are his best features."
Zhang Meng thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see what news Wu Xiaoliu brings when he comes back tonight."
Neither of them had eaten yet, so while they had some free time, Li Chu went to the kitchen and made some noodles.
When Wu Xiaoliu returned, it was already past 11 p.m.
Zhang Meng opened the door for him; Li Chu had just gone to the bathroom.
As soon as the door opened, Wu Xiaoliu saw a stranger standing there. He took a step back, his whole body tensing up. He didn't know when a dagger had appeared in his hand, and he was ready to attack.
Seeing this, Zhang Meng quickly took two steps back, spread his hands, and said, "You must be Comrade Wu Xiaoliu. My name is Zhang Meng, and I am Xiao Chu's friend."
Wu Xiaoliu looked at Zhang Meng with some hesitation. He could sense that the person opposite him was full of power, a formidable fellow, and had definitely seen blood.
"Sixth Brother, this is one of us. This is Brother Zhang Mengmeng, Uncle Wang's guard squad leader."
At this moment, Li Chu came out of the house. He had heard the knocking in the bathroom and knew that Wu Xiaoliu must have returned. Worried that the two of them might have some misunderstanding, he hurriedly ran out.
Seeing Li Chu come out, Wu Xiaoliu finally relaxed, put away the dagger in his hand, and walked towards Zhang Meng with his hand out: "Hello, I am Wu Xiaoliu."
After the two shook hands and introduced themselves, Li Chu said, "Alright, brothers, let's go inside and talk."
Upon entering the living room, Li Chu first poured Wu Xiaoliu a glass of water before pointing to a cloth bag on the coffee table: "Sixth Brother, this must have been thrown in here after you left this afternoon."
Wu Xiaoliu glanced at Li Chu in surprise, put down his water glass, opened the cloth bag and looked inside: "You mean, these buns were thrown in to poison the dogs?"
Li Chu nodded: "It should be. I don't know if it's poisonous or not, but I don't think anyone would be kind enough to feed my dog through the wall."
"The three dogs didn't eat?"
"No, our dog doesn't eat food fed by other people."
"What a good dog!" Wu Xiaoliu echoed Zhang Meng's praise.
Zhang Meng hadn't spoken since entering the room. He was quietly observing Wu Xiaoliu, and the more he looked, the more alarmed he became: "He truly lives up to his reputation! It's such a pity to let someone like him leave the army."
At this moment, Wu Xiaoliu began to recount his afternoon surveillance, and Zhang Meng dispelled the random thoughts in his mind and focused his attention.
“After I left in the afternoon, I came back first. I didn’t see Jiang Cheng at the entrance of the alley on the east side. I thought he had left. Maybe he found out the terrain here and ran to the west side.”
Li Chu nodded and said, "It should be. My neighbor just came over and told me that when he went out this afternoon, he heard someone asking about my house on the main road to the west. He was in a hurry and only glanced at it before leaving. According to his description, the person asking about my house should be Jiang Cheng."
"The timing basically matches up. I didn't see him on the east side, so I went straight to his workplace and waited until almost four in the afternoon before he came back. After Jiang Cheng went in, he came out right after get off work."
I followed him all the way to his neighborhood, pretending to be looking for a place to live, and went into their alley. It was indeed chaotic there, with many streets. I guessed he had deliberately chosen that area to rent a place.
Wu Xiaoliu paused here, picked up his cup, and took a sip of water.
Zhang Meng then asked, "Comrade Wu..."
Wu Xiaoliu interrupted Zhang Meng, saying, "No, based on age, I'll call you Brother Meng, just like Xiao Chu does. You can just call me Xiaoliu. Calling me 'comrade' sounds too formal."
Zhang Meng smiled and said, "Alright, let's not stand on ceremony, you don't need to use 'you' when you talk to me."
"Xiao Liu, how did you figure out that Jiang Cheng deliberately rented that place?"
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