Chapter 017
Beeihae Shinnshiow
Beeihae Shinnshiow was standing in front of their neighbor's house. For a moment, he stood there frozen. A medium-sized padlock was attached to the inside of the gate. For as long as Shinnshiow could remember, the gate had only been locked at night. Early in the morning, their neighbor, Horngshi Gauchyh, usually woke up from his sleep and started his activities. He would immediately go out of the house to unlock the gate and bring the lock into the house. That afternoon, the gate should be easy to open. If the padlock was still neatly attached, then it's likely that their neighbor was away. Since the old man only lived alone, it meant that the house was empty.
"Good afternoon Sir! Who are you looking for?" There was a voice from behind.
Shinnshiow spun his head. Behind him stood a young man who was about twenty-five or twenty-six years old. His skin was very dark. Even darker than Jenqyih's skin tone.
"Who are you looking for?" The young man repeated his question.
"I want to meet Mr. Horngshi. But it seems he is not at home."
"He really has some business to do. Maybe he'll be back at seven or eight o'clock in the evening."
The young man then advanced closer to the fence. He reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a string of keys. After reaching for the lock, he put one key into the lock. The lock opened, the young man opened the gate and went inside.
"Who are you?" Shinnshiow had never seen the youth before.
"I am one of Mr. Horngshi's assistants."
"Assistant?" Shinnshiow was surprised.
"I'm helping Mr. Horngshi with his work."
Shinnshiow was stunned. He had no idea what their neighbor's job was. All this time, Shinnshiow thought that their neighbor, Horngshi, didn't have a job. But now it turned out that the old man had an assistant. So maybe he's been wrong all along.
"Is there something important you want to tell Mr. Horngshi?"
"It doesn't really matter much," said Shinnshiow. "I just want to water the plants. Coincidentally, three days ago, Mr. Horngshi borrowed our water hose."
"Oh!" The young man was silent for a moment. "Please come in first, sir. I'll find the hose first."
Shinnshiow entered their neighbor's yard. He followed the young man. After the door opened, the young man invited Shinnshiow to enter. Since it was pretty hot outside, Shinnshiow didn't want to turn down the offer. Waiting in the living room is much more comfortable than waiting outside the house.
"What's your father's hose like?" The youth asked after Shinnshiow sat down on the sofa in the living room.
"Its color is dark blue. It is about thirty meters long."
Before the young man had time to respond to the information Shinnshiow gave, the house phone rang. The young man immediately ran to the phone.
Shinnshiow really didn't want to know about other people's business, but because the young man answered the phone in such a loud voice, he couldn't help but hear what the young man had to say. From the words that came out of the young man's mouth, Shinnshiow could draw a conclusion. The point was that someone was supposed to come to the house to deliver something. For some reason, which Shinnshiow didn't know, the man's vehicle had a breakdown somewhere, which was actually quite close to the house. As a result, the vehicle can no longer run. The man did not want to leave his vehicle, so he asked the young man to leave the house and go to the caller to pick up the goods that should have been delivered to the house.
"Excuse me, Sir! I have to go for a moment to get something."
"You wanna go to get that stuff?"
"That's right, Sir! Near the grocery store out front. That guy's vehicle broke down there. He called from a pay phone in front of the grocery store."
"It's all right," said Shinnshiow.
"If you're really in a hurry, you can find the hose yourself. There isn't one in the front yard, so maybe it's in the backyard, or in the warehouse. The kitchen door leading to the backyard isn't locked. Likewise, with the shed's second door, which overlooks the backyard. You can easily enter the shed."
Shinnshiow nodded. Just like the shed room in their house, the shed in their neighbor's house also had two doors. The first door was the door that led to the dining room, the second door was the one that led to the backyard.
"But what about after I find the hose?" Shinnshiow still didn't understand what the young man meant.
"I'm only gone for a while. So it's okay if you leave the house after finding the hose."
The young man seemed to be in a great hurry. He immediately said goodbye after saying that. Shinnshiow could only shake his head. Their neighbor's assistant turned out to be very careless. Even though security in the housing complex was guaranteed, such actions were still not justified. If Shinnshiow wasn't a good person, there would be a lot of bad things that could happen.
Wasting no time, Shinnshiow went to the backyard. The shape was exactly the same as the backyard in their house. After looking around, he did not find the hose he was looking for. Shinnshiow immediately moved to the door of the shed.
Luckily, the hose was there. Shinnshiow took the water hose. As he was about to leave the warehouse, Shinnshiow's attention was drawn to a rectangular wooden plank hanging on one shed wall. The wooden board looks very much like a blackboard. There was a photo of a very famous presenter stuck to the board's surface. As Shinnshiow walked closer, he felt like he had stepped on something. Looking down, Shinnshiow saw another photo lying on the floor. The photo sheets might have previously been attached to the same board. For some reason, the photo fell. Of course, that was just Shinnshiow's hypothesis.
Shinnshiow bent down to reach for the photo. He could not see what was depicted in the photo because the side of the photo containing the image was facing downwards. After turning the photo over, he was shocked. Just like the photo that was still attached to the board, there was someone clearly depicted in the photo sheet. Shinnshiow also recognized the person in the photo he had just picked up. But that person was not a public figure, nor an important person in the city where they now live. The person in the photo was an ordinary man. At least that’s what Shinnshiow knew. The person in the photo was none other than Duanmuh Shannchyuan, a middle-aged man who lived in the same house as him.
A thousand questions raced through Shinnshiow's mind. They all knew their neighbor, but they didn't know much about him. When they meet him, they just say hello. Therefore, Shinnshiow was absolutely sure that none of them would just give that person a picture of themselves. Duanmuh Shannchyuan was also not the type of person to pass on photos or any other identification markers to others easily. Shinnshiow still wanted to explore the shed further when he remembered that their friends were waiting for him. He quickly put the photo back in its original place, which was on the warehouse floor, right under the plank on the wall. Shinnshiow came out of the warehouse, entered the house through the kitchen door, then walked straight to the door in the living room. After crossing the front yard, Shinnshiow quickly exited through the gate and returned home.
In the living room, Yinqyueh was waiting with a dazzling and exciting face. In a flash, Shinnshiow and Yinqyueh stepped into their backyard to water the plants. Then Shinnshiow explained to Yinqyueh about the plants in the backyard. Yinqyueh looked thrilled. Then she watered the plants by singing. Shinnshiow watched the girl's movements for a while before returning to the house.
Shinnshiow right away sat down on the sofa in the living room. But just as he threw his butt onto the comfortable surface of the sofa, Shannchyuan informed him that when Shinnshiow was in the backyard, they had already discussed something. Tomorrow they will go to Dafeisy Tower. However, Shannchyuan asked Shinnshiow and Jenqyih to go to the subway station to move some of their belongings as soon as possible. Since it was a mutual decision, Shinnshiow could only nod. Jenqyih invites Shinnshiow to prepare for the things they will bring.
Jenqyih and Shinnshiow put these items into their backpacks, which were quite large. Yesterday, they also packed things. Yesterday morning, they could only move some things. They were not able to bring all that they had previously prepared to the station. Therefore, their activities this time did not take up so much time. In a relatively short time, they were ready to leave the house.
When they arrived at the bus stop closest to their house, Jenqyih stopped instead. He acted as if they were going to take a bus to go somewhere. Jenqyih's attitude made Shinnshiow not know how to react to it. Like the others, Jenqyih loved to joke. But this really wasn't the time to be joking.
"What are you doing?"
Instead of answering, Jenqyih pulled Shinnshiow to sit beside him. "Just do as I did. Now we sit here waiting for the bus."
What is this? Did Yihge improvise without consulting the rest of our friends? This is definitely not a healthy thing!
Without much thought, Shinnshiow decided to just follow Jenqyih's game. He wanted to know what Jenqyih was planning.
"And don't act like a confused person!" Jenqyih said further.
How can I not be confused? You're acting unreasonably like this!
Soon a bus arrived. Jenqyih immediately got up and prepared to get on the bus. Shinnshiow followed behind him.
Uh? Turns out Yihge wasn't kidding! He actually got on the bus!
The bus wasn't full at all. Although Shinnshiow could clearly see the existing seats were only about a quarter filled, he paid little attention to the passengers on the bus. His mind was still focused on the reasons behind Jenqyih's strange actions. Jenqyih immediately moved to the back of the bus. He sat in the back seat. Shinnshiow immediately sat down to his right.
After the bus left, Jenqyih was still silent. The bus then arrived at the next stop, only about three hundred meters from the stop where they had boarded. There was no sign that Jenqyih would get off at the bus stop. Several passengers got off, but none got on. As long as the bus stopped there, Jenqyih also remained silent. The bus then ran again.
Shinnshiow turned to him. This time, he really couldn't wait for a reasonable explanation.
Jenqyih put on a serious face. He said. "Keep looking ahead. Don't look like we're talking."
Because his best friend was being very mysterious. Shinnshiow grew curious.
"You see, the two people sitting on the right. Three rows in front of us," Jenqyih said.
Just as Shinnshiow was about to look over at it, Jenqyih said again, "Don't be too flashy. Don't let people around us notice that we're watching them."
Jenqyih's words made Shinnshiow give up on paying attention to the two suspicious people, at least for the time being. Not knowing what to do, he looked down instead, looking at his own lap.
Jenqyih continued his words. "They've been following us since we left the house."
Shinnshiow was surprised to hear Jenqyih's statement.
We're being followed? Who is following us? What do they really want? In over a year of living here, nothing like this has ever happened!
"Keep looking ahead. Don't look at me."
Shinnshiow, who was about to turn his head towards Jenqyih, stopped his intention. He sat quietly in his seat. Not daring to move his limbs an inch.
"And people are sitting right in the chairs that are behind them," Jenqyih continued. "He is the one who followed the two of them!"
Shinnshiow was even more surprised to hear that.
There were two people following us. But the two people were also being followed by other people. What really happened?
"How did you know?" This time, Shinnshiow dared to open his mouth. But he kept looking ahead.
"I have my own way." Jenqyih did not explain further.
They both said nothing else. After about three minutes, the curious Shinnshiow opened his mouth again. "So Yihge guessed all these things from a long time ago?"
"What I don't know is whether that person is in the same group as the two people he followed."
"If they are members of the same group, why does that person have to follow his two friends?"
"Maybe they are from the same group, but the two people don't know that they are being watched. This is a natural thing. In the past, when we were still working at the company in our hometown, wasn't there also a team in charge of supervising us? Sometimes we don't even know who was assigned to watch over us," said Jenqyih.
Shinnshiow remembered where they came from. Sometimes things like that happen. Before getting a promotion, it was not uncommon for workers to be confronted with strange things that suddenly happened around them. It was to test their integrity. So he felt Jenqyih's words were quite reasonable.
Shinnshiow nodded. "But not necessarily they are from the same group."
"You're right. They don't necessarily belong to the same group. They could even be enemies."
"Then what should we do now?" asked Shinnshiow.
"First, we have to confirm that they are indeed following us."
"How to be sure?" Shinnshiow had never been in such a situation before. So he really doesn't know.
"Soon we will change buses. If they are still following, then we are indeed their target."
The bus then stops at a stop. Shinnshiow calculated that the number of passengers had increased. Several people got on the bus, but no one got off the bus.
"We'll get off at the next stop." Jenqyih's voice was barely audible.
Unlike the previous stops, which were close to each other, this time the bus stop was a bit far away. Six minutes later, the bus stopped at the stop. The two of them stood up and prepared to descend. Several passengers also got off with them. Among the passengers who got off, it turned out that there were people following them. The two of them then sat on the bench at the stop to wait for another bus line that passed the stop. Only one of the two people following them got off at the stop. The other one remained on the bus. Then the person who followed the two people also got off at the stop.
Just waiting less than three minutes, the bus came. This bus serves a different route from the previous bus. The route is a bit far. The size of the bus is also slightly bigger. Shinnshiow noticed that now Jenqyih looked more relaxed, not as tense as before. Just like before, Jenqyih chose to sit in the back seat.
"We know that someone is following us. I think they have some experience with this. So, don't they realize that someone is following them?" Shinnshiow asked in a whisper.
Jenqyih sighed at Shinnshiow's question. "The person following them is more experienced than the two of them." He was silent for a moment, then continued his speech. "Earlier, when he was sitting on the bus, he changed his appearance. Because he was sitting behind the two people he followed, they could not monitor his actions. He is now wearing glasses, changing his hat, turning over the jacket he is wearing. The jacket he is wearing is a reversible jacket. He even changed his bag. He was carrying two bags. The bag he was carrying now was inside the bag he was carrying before. About the bag he was carrying before. He folded it up and put it in the bag he is carrying now."
Shinnshiow was amazed to hear Jenqyih's explanation. He did not expect that Jenqyih notices such things.
Yihge seemed to have some experience with these kinds of things. But so far, he has never told us. I hope sometime Yihge will share his knowledge with all of us.
"Where are we going to get off?"
"We need to lure them as far away from our friends as possible. So I'm planning to get off at the last stop on this route. I hope this isn't a problem for you," Jenqyih replied.
"Okay then. I'll follow all your plans."
Then the two of them sat in silence during the journey. Every second was eerie. Shinnshiow's heart was pounding.
Does this matter have anything to do with Songfei?
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