You're my wife, don't doubt it!

The two men gave each other a couple of casual high-fives and bumped fists. Liang Yanan then pushed Xiao Yao into the car and told Xu Wuchen to drive.

"Why do I feel like I've been kidnapped?" Xiao Yao said with a grin.

Liang Yanan's face was tense as she typed something on her phone, while Xu Wuchen glanced nervously at the rearview mirror, neither smiling nor speaking.

"Old Xu, are you an adult?" Xiao Yao asked Xu Wuchen, then glanced at Liang Yanan: "Is he an adult?"

The two people remained silent with blank expressions, as if no one had heard Xiao Yao speak.

"Damn, am I really being kidnapped?" Xiao Yao said.

"Don't make a sound." Liang Yanan put down her phone and explained her action plan for tonight to Xiao Yao.

……

……

"I thought you would take me to the main gate, show me your police ID, and then we would go in." In the car, Xiao Yao expressed his surprise as he did after hearing Liang Yanan's plan.

“I never choose the easiest path, I’ve said that before.” Seeing Xiao Yao’s confused expression, Liang Yanan continued to explain, “Showing your police ID will certainly get you in, but then what? Even if I tell the guard not to make a fuss, do you think he’ll listen?”

"Won't you?" Xiao Yao asked back.

"Of course not. I'm not his boss, and neither is the police station," Liang Yanan shrugged. "If the police come to his door, the security guards will definitely report to his superior. Guess who his superior is?"

"Security captain? Property management company?"

"It's Miwei Group, the developer of this residential complex. And the boss of Miwei Group lives in this complex; he happens to be the father of the girl you're meeting."

“…Oh.” Xiao Yao understood that once he entered the house openly as a police officer, Shen Jie’s family would be notified immediately. And given Shen Jie’s father’s style—even if he wasn’t home, Johns was there—he would never be indifferent to the police coming to the door.

Even if they forcibly entered Shen Jie's home using their official power, they would not be able to see Shen Jie herself, let alone take her out.

Xiao Yao nodded and thanked Xu Wuchen, who was driving.

Xu Wuchen covered his ears and said, "I'm just a guy driving around, I don't know anything, you're welcome."

The "electricity inspection vehicle" circled the West Suburbs Garden for a long time, and it was already getting dark.

As they passed that closed roller shutter door once again, with no other pedestrians or vehicles in front or behind, Liang Yanan took out a slingshot, instructed Xu Wuchen to slow down, then pulled back the slingshot and aimed at the light bulb under the awning above the roller shutter door.

Behind this roller shutter door is the community's garbage transfer station. Every afternoon, the community's sanitation department collects the garbage from each household here, and then the sanitation department regularly sends trucks to remove the garbage.

Today is the day the sanitation department sends vehicles to collect the garbage.

Liang Yanan shot at the light bulb several times with her slingshot, but despite Xu Wuchen's slow speed, she still missed.

Xiao Yao saw beads of sweat on her forehead, and he knew it wasn't because of the stuffiness inside the car—it seemed that her physical disability had made her far from what she used to be.

"Let me give it a try," Xiao Yao said abruptly.

Chapter 249 Reunion with Xiao Shenjie

2023-06-29

*This chapter is also known as "Operation Green Light"

"Let me give it a try," Xiao Yao said abruptly.

"Let's go around one more time." A car appeared in the oncoming lane, so Liang Yanan had no choice but to give up, close the window, and helplessly instructed Xu Wuchen.

However, as time went on, the traffic flow on this road increased, and the window for executing the plan became narrower and narrower. To make matters worse, on this roundabout way, Xiao Yao could already see the sanitation garbage trucks slowly driving along the road.

As Xu Wuchen drove back onto the road directly opposite the garbage transfer station, Xiao Yao pulled the slingshot from Liang Yanan's iron hand.

Liang Yanan nodded and gave up her shooting position.

The vehicle slowed down again. Xiao Yao pulled back the slingshot, about to launch the rubber bullets, when another vehicle approached from the opposite lane.

To avoid suspicion, Xu Wuchen increased the car's speed. The time was of the essence. Xiao Yao held his breath, pulled back the slingshot again, and without waiting for Xu Wuchen to slow down, fired the projectile at the maximum range of the slingshot.

The rubber bullet traced an arc and just barely hit the light bulb, a crisp sound seemingly heard from a distance.

As their car met an oncoming vehicle, Xiao Yao had already retreated back into his car and rolled up the window.

"It seems like it couldn't be broken." Xu Wuchen parked the car at the corner and turned around to ask.

“There’s no need to break it. Breaking it will only cause trouble,” Liang Yanan replied to Xu Wuchen while glancing at her watch.

"If this kind of light bulb is even slightly damaged, with a crack or something, it will burn out as soon as it's plugged in," Xiao Yao explained, picking up a walkie-talkie as he did so.

The clock struck 7:00, and the streetlights, the lights on the walls of the residential complex, and the decorative lights all turned on at once, instantly brightening the previously dim street. The light under the awning outside the garbage disposal station also turned on at the same time, but flickered for a few seconds and then went out.

The people in the car fell silent. Xiao Yao picked up the walkie-talkie and listened carefully.

A moment later, a somewhat languid female voice came through the walkie-talkie: "The light outside the garbage station has burned out. Anyone want to go check it out?"

Xiao Yao waited for 10 seconds, then pressed the intercom button, trying to lower his voice so that it sounded like an adult: "Okay, I'll be right there."

Afterwards, Liang Yanan and Xiao Yao got out of the car. They had both changed into gray-blue work uniforms with the words "Sunshine Property Management" on them and were wearing hats. The two took a folding A-frame ladder from the car, extended it, and carried it one in front of the other, walking confidently from the other end of the street along the wall of the residential area as the streetlights began to illuminate the evening, towards the gate of the garbage transfer station.

"Won't this arouse suspicion?" Xiao Yao asked Liang Yanan in a low voice, somewhat uneasy.

"It's shift change time now. Nobody wants to do this kind of trivial work in this sweltering heat. As long as someone says they're coming, they won't care who it is. They might even laugh at the person who took the job as an idiot."

"The security and property management fees here must be very expensive, right? How can they be so irresponsible?"

"Loyalty isn't a virtue that money can buy. Besides, no matter how high the fee, how much of it will end up in the hands of these workers? It's already pretty good if the work they do is worth the pay they get from above; it's the same all over the world. But you need to be careful in a moment; don't look at the camera. Just pretend it doesn't exist."

They arrived at the entrance of the garbage transfer station and set up a ladder. Liang Yanan held the ladder, and Xiao Yao climbed up. In front of the surveillance camera just three feet away, they pretended to start repairs.

Just then, a yellow-green truck turned the corner; it was a garbage truck from the sanitation department. The truck arrived at the rolling gate of the garbage transfer station, turned around with practiced ease, positioned its rear end facing the gate, and honked its horn twice.

Xiao Yao completed the repair work very promptly, and the replaced light bulb lit up. He climbed down the ladder, and Liang Yanan folded it up and removed it, greeting the garbage truck driver as if they were old acquaintances.

At the same time, the tightly closed roller shutter door of the garbage transfer station rose with the sound of a motor running.

Xiao Yao and Liang Yanan exchanged a glance, then bent down, carried the ladder, and entered the garbage transfer station.

The garbage transfer station was well-lit and looked clean and tidy, but it was still a stuffy box filled with several days' worth of household garbage, with no windows or ventilation, and the smell was unsurprisingly suffocating.

Just as Liang Yanan had predicted, there were neither staff members to coordinate with the operation nor any surveillance cameras set up.

The sanitation workers, wearing thick masks, had no doubts about Xiao Yao and Liang Yanan's identities. They backed the truck in and began to carry out their work efficiently, clearly not wanting to stay there any longer.

Even holding his breath, Xiao Yao could hardly stop the stench from making his eyes water. He tried to open his eyes wide, silently searching for the exit on the other side of the garbage transfer station.

Liang Yanan arrived at a door that appeared to be for property management staff. She turned the doorknob and gently shook her head at Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao went to the large roller shutter on the other side and tried to pull the iron chain hanging down next to it. The iron shutter made a few noises and was pulled up a little, about knee height.

Seeing that the sanitation workers weren't paying attention, Liang Yanan pushed the long ladder out from under the iron gate without hesitation, then rolled to the side and got out.

She held the iron gate open from the outside with both hands, and Xiao Yao quickly ducked under it and crawled out. Then Liang Yanan let go. After a loud bang, the two of them were inside the fortress.

Xiao Yao took a few deep breaths, patted his chest, and tried to calm his wildly beating heart.

"Don't panic, we can't stay here any longer, you need to stay calm." Liang Yanan picked up the long ladder and handed the other end to Xiao Yao.

Xiao Yao took the ladder and followed behind Liang Yanan, continuing to walk one after the other.

"What if someone talks to us?" Xiao Yao asked in a low voice.

“In a place like this, as long as you’re wearing work clothes and carrying a ladder, you’re practically invisible. Nobody will pay any attention to you. Unless they ask you to do something, in which case we can just go through the motions.”

“What if there are patrolling security guards? We’re new faces,” Xiao Yao said.

"There's unlikely to be any patrols at this time. If there are, don't go looking for him. For the rest, you'll have to be flexible."

The two walked along the road, where the streetlights provided ample illumination and surveillance cameras were scattered throughout, but they didn't encounter many people.

On both sides of the road are detached or terraced villas of various shapes and sizes. Some are lit up, while others are dark inside but brightly lit in the yard.

Xiao Yao tried to identify Shen Jie's house based on her memory of her description of her home, but he quickly gave up on this effort.

Besides the fact that all these houses are uniformly three stories high, Xiao Yao's observations of these houses can only lead to a simple and indistinguishable conclusion: luxurious.

If "Yu Luying's dream home" was still within the limits of Xiao Yao's imagination, then these courtyards in front of him were completely beyond Xiao Yao's comprehension. Just as humans cannot hear ultrasound, they can only feel uncomfortable because of its influence.

Liang Yanan seemed quite familiar with the place. Xiao Yao was certain that this was not her first time here, but she wouldn't admit it, and Xiao Yao was helpless.

Finally, Liang Yanan stopped outside a courtyard: "This is it."

Xiao Yao observed the courtyard and suddenly felt that Shen Jie was a very confused person. She mentioned many details about her home that Xiao Yao could not truly understand, but she deliberately omitted the most obvious feature: her house and courtyard were at least three times the size of the other houses.

Xiao Yao was unaware that Shen Hongsheng had once stated in an interview that the development of this community was "solely to find 248 neighbors."

The courtyard is quiet now, with only a few scattered lights in the yard, but most of the rooms inside the house are lit.

Liang Yanan whispered to Xiao Yao, "Watch out for that glass balcony."

There is indeed a balcony on the second floor that is completely enclosed by glass, but there are no lights on inside, and you can't see anything at all.

"Is she there?" Xiao Yao asked.

"Yes." Liang Yanan's answer left no room for doubt.

For now, all we can do is wait.

Xiao Yao hid in the shadows of the trees by the roadside, staring longingly at the dark glass balcony, feeling as if every second was an eternity.

No one knows exactly how much time passed, but the entire Shen family suddenly seemed to "wake up" and became lively. More lights were turned on in the rooms and courtyard, servants went in and out, busy sweeping and wiping, gardeners were busy pruning flowers and trees, and the aroma of cooking wafted on the wind.

However, the glass balcony remained pitch black, so these changes in the Shen family only made Xiao Yao anxious.

Liang Yanan tugged at Xiao Yao's sleeve: "There are surveillance cameras all around. We can't just stay here and not move. Let's go for a walk somewhere else and then come back."