You're just a locksmith! What are you doing catching swindlers at the start?

Cola Novels: turn the page and you're in another world.

Because he genuinely doesn't own a car, that fact is undeniable.

"Okay." He sent the address.

Su Wan glanced over. It was the apartment buildings in the east of the city. "What are you doing there?"

"Unlock. Lock cylinder replaced, 500."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.

Su Wan's voice suddenly became somewhat subtle, with a hint of inexplicable personal emotion mixed in with the calm tone she used when taking statements.

"The locksmith's shop is quite far. Didn't you grab a bite to eat while you were there?"

Lin Zhou leaned against the utility pole, looking down at a streak of dust on the knee of his work pants, trying to keep his tone similar to when he was reporting the lock cylinder model.

"No. I just drank half a bottle of mineral water at the client's house."

"Male customers and female customers."

"……female."

How big?

"I didn't ask. Probably thirty."

He immediately added after he finished speaking, "The lock cylinder has been replaced, the money has been collected, it's a normal lock-picking service."

Su Wan didn't press the matter further. The sound of her taking out her car keys came from the other end of the phone—a soft clinking of metal—followed by footsteps.

She said "wait" and hung up.

Lin Zhou took the phone away from his ear. The call duration on the screen was just over two minutes.

He looked at Su Wan's name on the screen and remembered the tone of her voice when she took his phone from him at Starbucks this morning and spoke to his mother—steady, natural, and she even said he unlocked the door very quickly.

He initially thought she was just helping him out of professional ethics.

Looking back now, she was simply going along with the situation to solidify their relationship.

He put his phone back in his pocket, turned around, and walked back downstairs to his apartment building.

The woman was still standing at the door, clutching the two new keys in her hand, wearing a long down jacket over her black velvet miniskirt.

I probably put it on casually when I went out to see him off.

She leaned against the doorframe and saw Lin Zhou walk back. The carefully crafted smile on her lips was gone, replaced by a genuine, unadorned curiosity.

"What's wrong? Did your partner check up on you?"

Lin Zhou walked to the door and stretched out his hand.

"Give me the money. Five hundred. Cash or QR code?"

The woman looked at his outstretched palm.

The fingers were long and slender, the palm lines were clear and clean, without even a trace of tobacco stains.

She suddenly remembered how she had asked those hands for the "heart lock" earlier, and the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up.

This time it wasn't a carefully designed curve; I just remembered the serious look on his face when he said "I don't accept organs."

She didn't say anything more, but took out five red bills from her down jacket pocket and put them in his hand.

The banknotes were new, folded twice, and the edges were crisp.

When she handed it over, her fingers didn't touch his palm or brush against his wrist.

Lin Zhou took the money, folded it twice, and put it in his pocket.

He put the lock cylinder money he received yesterday in the same pocket. He turned to leave.

"master."

He stopped.

The woman leaned against the door frame and pulled her down jacket collar up.

She looked at the young man in the blue down jacket—the smell of laundry detergent, the frayed edges of the cuffs, and the tool bag slung over his shoulder.

The tone he used when giving the address to that person named "Su Wan" on the phone was completely different from when he spoke to her.

When I told her "two hundred for unlocking, three hundred for replacing the lock cylinder," my tone was very flat.

When I spoke to that person, my tone was more urgent, more nervous, but more genuine.

Good luck. Hope you have a smooth meeting with your mother-in-law.

Lin Zhou did not turn around.

He raised his hand and waved it behind him, then walked down the corridor toward the elevator.

When he got off the elevator and the doors opened, he saw the two men still leaning against the wall smoking.

The toolbox was still the same toolbox, and the blue down jacket was still the same blue down jacket, but the way those two people looked at him was different from a few minutes ago.

"Are you out?"

"That woman—isn't she a prostitute?"

Lin Zhou patted the dust off his tool bag.

"I'm a locksmith. I'm just a locksmith, I don't know what she was doing."

He pushed open the glass door of the apartment building and went downstairs.

Then he flipped his phone over so the front-facing camera was pointing at his face.

"Brothers, what should I be aware of when meeting my future mother-in-law for the first time?"

The live chat exploded.

"The Three-Second King is meeting his future mother-in-law! Not Su Wan, but Su Wan's mother!"

"His voice was trembling when he told Su Wan on the phone that he fell in love at first sight. Now he's squatting by the roadside asking what to be careful about when meeting his future mother-in-law."

"Lock-picking king, putting everything else aside, just say you have unparalleled lock-picking skills!!"

"The classic line for meeting your mother-in-law for the first time: Your daughter is excellent in every way. I fell in love with her at first sight, and I am working hard to give her a better life." Three-Second King forgot all of these lines. He only remembered the few lines he had rehearsed with Su Wan on the phone just now.

"Don't overpraise her. Just say she's hardworking, independent, and very polite to her seniors—I learned this from Brother Zhou, who said she gave the commendation to a senior colleague after making a contribution."

"Three-Second King's current mental state: The tension is even higher than yesterday when he opened the German military-grade safe. Five mistakes while opening the safe resulted in an explosion; one mistake when meeting his mother-in-law could cause it to explode. But Su Wan is already on her way; she's figured out how to deal with her mother."

"The person upstairs is awesome, they can even divorce their mother-in-law."

Lin Zhou looked at the comments on the screen and slowly took a breath.

He put his phone back in his pocket and squatted on the curb to wait for Su Wan.

A few minutes later, a white sedan turned into the intersection and stopped in front of him.

The car window rolled down, and Su Wan sat in the driver's seat.

She changed into a beige cardigan over a white T-shirt, her hair tucked behind her ears, and the mole on her earlobe rested quietly on the edge of her short hair.

She glanced at Lin Zhou, who was squatting on the curb, and the natural curve of her lips slightly curved.

"Get in the car."

Lin Zhou stood up, opened the passenger door, and got in. He placed the tool bag at his feet and fastened the seatbelt.

Su Wan didn't start the car immediately. She turned to look at him and then spoke.

"It was love at first sight. It happened at the barbecue restaurant when you patted me on the shoulder."

That was after I met you. Not during our blind date.

"Just say you hit on me. You thought I was pretty, so you came over and asked for my WeChat. I told you to sit down first, and we had a drink together. Then, when we went on a blind date, I found out it was you—that would explain why we became so close after knowing each other for only one day."

"OK."

Lin Zhou silently recited this passage in his mind: striking up a conversation, asking for WeChat, sitting down for drinks, and then discovering on a blind date that it was all the same person.

"What about the details? How are you going to explain it? You can't just say this one sentence, can you?"

"I knew you were a man of few words, but every single one of them hit the nail on the head."

Su Wan shifted the car into drive, stepped on the gas, and drove the car out of the apartment building area and onto the main road.

"You're just a locksmith! Why are you catching adulterers at the start?" is currently being serialized on Cola Novels and is not to be missed!

"When I first met my mother-in-law, I didn't say anything. Now she's my second mother-in-law."

"The person upstairs is awesome, they can even divorce their mother-in-law."

Lin Zhou looked at the comments on the screen and slowly took a breath.

He put his phone back in his pocket and squatted on the curb to wait for Su Wan.

A few minutes later, a white sedan turned into the intersection and stopped in front of him.

The car window rolled down, and Su Wan sat in the driver's seat.

She changed into a beige cardigan over a white T-shirt, her hair tucked behind her ears, and the mole on her earlobe rested quietly on the edge of her short hair.

She glanced at Lin Zhou, who was squatting on the curb, and the natural curve of her lips slightly curved.

"Get in the car."

Lin Zhou stood up, opened the passenger door, and got in. He placed the tool bag at his feet and fastened the seatbelt.

Su Wan didn't start the car immediately. She turned to look at him and then spoke.

"It was love at first sight. It happened at the barbecue restaurant when you patted me on the shoulder."

That was after I met you. Not during our blind date.

"Just say you hit on me. You thought I was pretty, so you came over and asked for my WeChat. I told you to sit down first, and we had a drink together. Then, when we went on a blind date, I found out it was you—that would explain why we became so close after knowing each other for only one day."

"OK."

Lin Zhou silently recited this passage in his mind: striking up a conversation, asking for WeChat, sitting down for drinks, and then discovering on a blind date that it was all the same person.

"What about the details? How are you going to explain it? You can't just say this one sentence, can you?"

"I knew you were a man of few words, but every single one of them hit the nail on the head."

Su Wan shifted the car into drive, stepped on the gas, and drove the car out of the apartment building area and onto the main road.