Xu He stared at the lock on the door, wishing she could stare a hole through it.
Removing the lock was easy; she could just smash it with sothing and then tell Luo Cuilan she needed to urgently fetch sothing since they lived close by and often shared belongings anyway.
But if she did that, she worried Luo Cuilan might suspect her when she returned.
After all, it was Xu He’s first ti doing sothing harmful to others. Even though she was strong-willed, she was still terrified, trembling all over, and constantly uneasy. She was afraid of exposing herself even over trivial matters, so she dared not act rashly.
She looked at the lock, thinking perhaps she could just find an excuse later when Luo Zhiming returned to have him break the lock.
Although she planned this in her mind, she was still scared that Luo Cuilan and the others might suddenly co back, and maybe bring the police with them. If that happened, those poisoned cookies would be imdiately discovered, and she might not be safe from investigation. Worried, she dared not even stray far from Luo Cuilan’s door and just lingered around outside.
As Xu He anxiously paced back and forth at Luo Cuilan’s doorstep, a sudden shout pierced the quiet courtyard, "Are you Xu He?"
Xu He jumped, and imdiately lifted her head looking toward the person who called her na, only to see a roughly twenty-sothing young man in a blue jacket and long hair, exuding a ruffian vibe.
Xu He couldn’t rember if she had seen this person before but felt he looked sowhat familiar, and just kept staring dumbfounded.
Seeing Xu He not responding, the young man walked straight over, sized her up, and seed to recognize her but was still uncertain as he asked, "Are you Xu He, the one whose man owes our boss money?"
Hearing about debts, Xu He imdiately thought of Shuanzi.
This person ntioned ’boss’ and Luo Zhiming owing money, so it’s very likely their boss was Shuanzi.
However, Xu He didn’t ask directly and just watched him warily, "Who are you?"
Confirming she was Xu He, a hint of a smile appeared on the young man’s face; that smile, how should I put it, was faint, as if laced with so contempt, yet seed sowhat reluctant to show it completely—a bit contradictory, also later his face seed sowhat fawning.
He introduced himself while looking at Xu He, "My na is Xibao, underling of Brother Shuanzi. Brother Shuanzi wants to see you, co with ."
Knowing this person was sent by Shuanzi, and just now Xibao also ntioned the debt matter, plus Xu He calculated that it had been a few months since Shuanzi last gave Luo Zhiming ti to gather money. Xu He suspected Shuanzi was here to collect, so she imdiately denied, "I don’t know any Shuanzi, whoever owes him money should deal with it, don’t involve ; I’m busy here."
Hearing this, as if truly afraid Xu He won’t go, Xibao quickly said, "What are you busy with? I can help you finish it, then you co et my boss. He specifically asked to bring you. If you don’t go, I’ll be punished by my boss."
Xu He glanced at Xibao, shook her head, and turned to leave, "I already said I’m not going, I don’t know Shuanzi."
But before she could take a step, Xibao suddenly muttered behind her, "You might not recognize it, but the child in your belly does."
Upon hearing this, Xu He froze for a mont, then her heart nearly leaped to her throat. She quickly turned around and stamred at Xibao, "What... what do you an?"
Xibao seed to understand why Xu He was so nervous. He looked around, seeing that no one was nearby, yet he still lowered his voice and said, "You know what I an, if you refuse to co along, don’t bla for talking to your man about this child."
"You..." Xu He was so frightened that her face turned pale and she dared not make a sound.
Seeing this, Xibao softened his tone a bit, as if persuading her, "Co on, my brother Shuanzi said he needs to see you for sothing, he won’t mistreat you."
"Alright then." Xu He realized she had no choice but to go. She wanted to see what Shuanzi was up to. She decided to go but rembered the poisoned cookies at ho. She glanced at Xibao and suddenly said, "But see if you can find a way to unlock this door for . I need to grab sothing, and then I’ll imdiately follow you."
Xibao looked at the lock and quickly agreed, "Sure, that’s a piece of cake."
After saying this, Xibao reached out to ss with the lock, looking like he was going to wreck it.
Xu He imdiately stopped him, "Don’t smash it, make sure not to damage the lock, so no one can tell soone broke in."
Hearing this, Xibao was puzzled but cleverly responded, "Alright, I’ll try."
Most of Shuanzi’s n were ruffians. Not every one of them committed serious cris, but small thefts were nothing new to them, and picking such simple locks was extrely easy. Xibao found a piece of wire in the yard and quickly got the lock open.
Seeing the lock open, Xu He was relieved. She didn’t care that soone else was present, or perhaps she thought others wouldn’t interfere. No longer hesitant, she rushed inside and took several packets of cookies she had poisoned from the table.
Coming out with the cookies, just as Xibao was about to close the door for her, Xu He hurriedly called out to him, "Wait, I have another thing to do."
With that said, Xu He quickly ran back into her house and took several more packets of the sa cookies, placing them where she had removed the others, even counting the number of cookies she had opened very carefully.
Xibao watched her series of actions from outside, narrowing his eyes slightly. Though he didn’t speak, he was making so assessnts in his mind.
This woman must be involved in so disreputable deeds, disposing of evidence here. Ordinary people might not react so quickly, but having done these things so often, they could tell right away.
However, this woman was specifically requested by their boss to et, naturally he knew what should be said and what shouldn’t.
After Xu He finished handling everything, she returned ho for a mont, took the packets of cookies, and said to Xibao, "Let’s go, et your boss."
Xibao nodded and gestured for Xu He to follow him.
As the two walked together, Xibao noticed Xu He holding the packets of cookies, the expression on her face very tense. Several tis, as she passed garbage piles, it seed like she wanted to throw away the cookies. But after deliberating, she ultimately didn’t toss them, instead holding them tightly, which made them seem like a hot potato at one mont and a precious treasure the next.
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