False evidence

Chapter 158 Long time no see
I was taken aback when I heard the other party's 'request'.

The next second, the other person spoke again, but their tone became cheerful: "Sanqi, do you remember me?"

"Of course I remember. Brother Liu, what made you think of calling me?"

On the phone, Liu Hong chuckled, "Sorry to bother you, are you free right now?"

"You say."

"Didn't we say last time that you found Lin Qin'en? My grandpa suddenly went crazy again today and insisted that I contact you, saying he wants to catch up with an old friend."

"I'm fine on my end, but..."

I thought for a moment and said, "They shouldn't have any issues. When are you going over?"

"You gave me your address last time, right? Let's go find you now, and then we can go together afterwards, okay?"

After hanging up the phone, Pidan asked me, "Did you make plans with friends? I'm going home now."

I told her not to leave yet, and dialed another number.

"Hey……"

I'd barely uttered a single word when a string of profanities came through the receiver: "You bastard Yan, it's only been a few days and you've already got some tricks up your sleeve again? Do you want me dead, or do you want to die? Give me a straight answer..."

After a long period of noise on the phone, Yan Fengwei finally spoke, panting and with a sob in her voice:
"Brother, please come over right away! It's a matter of life and death! I'm at the shop in Dongtaimen right now, the address is..."

I had just clearly heard the last number when I heard a "click" and then the line was busy.

Pidan and Xiao Shen San were both standing close to me, looking up at me with blank expressions, and asked in unison, "What's going on?"

It's really not their fault. The two people on the phone were so loud that even without speakerphone, everyone around them could hear them clearly.

I held my head in my hands and remained silent for a while before the tinnitus disappeared.

I organized my thoughts and first said to Pidan and Xiao Shensan, "If we have a map, we have to find the things. You two said it yourself, it was given to me by Choudan."

"And then?" Xiao Shensan sat down opposite me and crossed his legs.

I said, "I was just about to call Yan Fengwei. He's an expert in collecting things. He and his wife deal in antiques. He used to be a landscaping worker."

Shen San nodded: "Those who dig up the land, no matter where they go, will definitely settle in the old houses. So even if he is not a local, he may know the local area better than the locals."

"I overheard them arguing on the phone just now. Is it okay for us to go over there now?" Pidan asked.

Xiao Shen laughed heartily: "Silly girl, these two are probably hoping we'd come over. If an acquaintance comes to mediate, they'll have a way to back down."

I asked Shen San, "Are you going?"

Xiao Shen was taken aback: "Can't I go?"

I thought for a moment and said to him, "I can go. But a friend just called me... His first words were—don't tell the truth."

Shen San rolled his eyes and nodded: "I'll pretend to be mute."

Pidan couldn't hold back any longer and grabbed my ear, asking, "Didn't you say you were introverted last night? Where did you get these friends? Are they male or female?"

……

After receiving another call, the three of them went out, arrived at the street corner, and got into the waiting car.

Liu Yi'er, whom I had met not long ago, was sitting in the passenger seat. As soon as we got in the car, he seemed quite excited, but still nodded to me politely and said:
"Sorry, little friend, I took a nap in the recliner this morning and dreamed about an old friend, so I just wanted to... Hehe, sorry to bother you."

I quickly said, "It's alright, don't bother me," and then introduced Shen San and Pi Dan to him and Liu Hong, who was driving.

Liu Hong simply nodded slightly to the two of them, while Liu Yi'er stared at Pi Dan through his sunglasses for a while before turning to me and asking, "Little friend, do you know Kumu Hall?" I immediately replied, "I've heard of it, and I've met someone named Li Si, but we're not close."

Liu Yi'er did not respond immediately, but instead looked up at Liu Hong.

Liu Hong didn't turn around, but seemed to sense something. As he turned the steering wheel, he said, "Kumutang specializes in treating difficult and complicated diseases, but the fees are too high. Diseases that would normally cost tens of thousands of yuan to treat in a regular hospital might cost them ten or a hundred times more. I've met that Li Si before, but we're not close..."

Liu Yier raised his hand: "Alright, I just want to catch up with old friends today!"

……

To be honest, Dongtaimen isn't exactly a 'pitfall,' but it definitely is.

Whether it's a street stall or a seemingly well-maintained shop, there are always items that can catch your eye. But even so-called "experts" can't guarantee they won't pay the price of gold for scrap metal.

The group of five got out of the car and had only walked a few steps into Dongtai Road.

Liu Yi'er suddenly turned to me and asked, "Did you bring any money?"

Before I could react, he pointed with his cane to something on a stall and said to me, "This is a good item. If someone who knows its value finds it, it can be resold for at least ten thousand. If you have money with you, buy it for no more than ten thousand."

Before I could even speak, Pidan grabbed my arm and said to the stall owner, "Ninety or eighty-eight? Locals, bring your old man for a stroll, don't wait until you leave to call out."

The stall owner was a chubby man in his forties, not yet fifty, with half-gray hair.

Probably bewildered by Liu Yier's tightly packed package, after hearing what Pidan said, he reacted for a moment and said, "I can't take it... If you really like it, give me 1,800!"

Before Pidan could say anything more, Liu Yier quickly tapped my foot with his cane.

I immediately said, "I'll take the thousand!"

"Take it!" the fat man said decisively.

I took out my phone. "Where's your WeChat QR code?"

After transferring the money, I looked at the balance, which was less than four digits, and then at Pidan, who was holding a newspaper bag and staring at me sideways. I was a little dumbfounded.

Liu Yier adjusted his sunglasses and smiled without turning his head, "Sell this to Qin En later for six thousand six, as a gift from an old friend."

Following the address given by Yan Fengwei, we arrived at a shop.

Several layers of people had already gathered outside, pointing and whispering.

Inside the small storefront, hysterical screams from women and muffled, suppressed 'resistance' from men could be heard from time to time.

"Cough! Cough!"

Liu Yi'er coughed twice.

Liu Hong, who had been by his side, immediately raised his voice and announced in a drawn-out, almost chanting tone, "Let's hang up the firecrackers!"

The room immediately fell silent.

Soon, Yan Fengwei's bald head peeked out from behind the curtain.

He was facing me.

But when his gaze shifted and met Liu Yi'er's face, who was completely covered up, he immediately became breathless.

"Who's hanging firecrackers?" Meng Zhen lifted the curtain and gave him a hard shove.

Yan Fengwei didn't react at all, he just wrinkled his nose, faced Liu Yi'er, and tears streamed down his face, "Brother! Long time no see..."

(End of this chapter)