As a self-reliant, hard-working young entrepreneur, Li Ang would take part-time jobs as a private tutor during his spare time to supplement his living expenses. Since his academic performance was quite impressive, the fees he charged were sufficient to sustain his life in Yin City.
Moreover, Li Ang had his own methods for dealing with unruly children. A combination of sharp rebukes and a series of military-style boxing moves could transform even the most rebellious brats into paragons of virtue—the so-called "flowers of the motherland." He had an excellent reputation among parent groups in Yin City.
Many parents who struggled to discipline their children planned to hire Li Ang as a tutor for once-a-week home visits, including some from high-society families with annual incomes in the millions or tens of millions.
It felt like being in an episode of that American National Geographic reality show, *Dog Whisperer*...
After tutoring several challenging children, Li Ang, who was about to go home to cook, received a QQ message from Wang Congshan.
"Are you there?"
Raising his eyebrows, Li Ang replied, "I'm here. What's up, Kindness-Kingly-Princess?"
"??? What does that mean?"
"Praising you as a benevolent, kind, and noble princess."
"I'll buy that," Wang Congshan replied with a resigned expression and typed, "My parents went to a class reunion; they're not home right now."
"So, what's up?" Li Ang, walking along the road and looking around somewhat guiltily, typed, "I wouldn't dare sneak a kiss with you, meow."
"What are you thinking? My computer's broken. Can you come over and help me fix it? I'll treat you to a meal from Ele.me afterward."
"Coming! Give me fifteen minutes."
Energized by the promise of a free meal, Li Ang rode his old Phoenix bicycle, braving the light rain. Following the directions on Baidu Maps, he arrived at Wang Congshan's home and swiftly fixed the desktop computer in her bedroom.
"It was just a loose connection on the memory stick."
After putting the computer case back under the desk and dusting off his hands, Li Ang casually said, "It's all good now that it's dusted. In the future, you can use a hairdryer to blow the dust out of the power supply fan and spray the motherboard with electronic cleaner. Then, use a small brush to gently dust it. As for the gold fingers on the memory stick, you can also lightly rub them with an eraser..."
Wang Congshan clasped her hands over her head, an expression of agony on her face. "Master, Master, stop preaching! Wukong knows he was wrong!"
Wukong, my ass! Do you even have a retractable Monkey King Bar?
A twitch developed at the corner of Li Ang's mouth. He was about to continue bantering with Wang Congshan when he heard a knock at the security door.
"Delivery!"
A muffled male voice called from outside.
"Huh?" Li Ang looked at Wang Congshan. "Did you order delivery?"
"Nope, I was planning to order a boxed meal to be delivered to your place tonight," Wang Congshan said, puzzled. "Wrong address, maybe?"
"I'll check." Li Ang went to the door, opened the security door, and saw a large delivery guy standing outside.
He was at least 1.9 meters tall, broad and hefty, wearing a yellow motorcycle helmet and a very thick, yellow-and-black delivery uniform, with a white mask over his mouth.
"2084? Spicy hot pot?" the delivery guy asked in a deep, muffled voice.
"Uh..." Li Ang looked at the label on the delivery package. "Seems like it's for the apartment across the hall."
"Hmm..." The delivery guy glanced at the paper delivery order. "Sorry about that, my mistake."
"No problem."
Closing the door, Li Ang sighed and said to Wang Congshan, "And here I was, thinking you'd had a change of heart and wanted to surprise me."
"You're overthinking it, buddy," Wang Congshan said, pursing her lips. "There is ice cream in the fridge, though. Want some?"
Definitely. After they polished off the mung bean cakes, Li Ang couldn't resist Wang Congshan's enthusiastic invitation. They locked the security door, drew the curtains, and lay on the bed, whipping out their phones to play ten rounds of Duo Rank in Pesticide.
Unsurprisingly, ten consecutive losses.
"This sucks, this really sucks," Wang Congshan's face emerged from behind her phone, casting a reproachful look at Li Ang. "Can't you do any better?"
"A woman can say anything she likes, but she can't say a man is incompetent," Li Ang said shamelessly. "When I go for a 'grand health treatment' at the foot massage place, I only pick the 298 yuan package. What does that tell you about my abilities?"
Just as they were blaming each other, the sound of a key turning in the lock came from Wang Congshan's security door. Simultaneously, a woman's voice called from outside, "Shan Shan, come out and help me with the groceries. Your dad's class reunion today was canceled, so we just went to the market and got your favorite crabs."
Wang Congshan sucked in a sharp breath and looked at Li Ang. "My parents are back."
As childhood friends, Li Ang knew that Wang Congshan's mother worked in the education department and her father was a criminal investigator in Yin City. Her upbringing was strict; in her parents' eyes, Wang Congshan had always been a well-behaved girl, not the type to secretly bring boys home.
"Ah, then we might as well come clean," Li Ang nodded. "I'll take responsibility for our child."
"Take responsibility, my foot!" Wang Congshan said, glaring at him sideways. "There's a drainpipe outside the balcony; you can climb down that."
"...You live on the 20th floor, right?" Li Ang asked, squinting slightly.
"Tch, so you remembered," Wang Congshan pursed her lips, scratching her head in distress. "You go to the study first. Later, just say you came to deliver notes, got it?"
Li Ang gave an "OK" gesture.
By the time Wang Congshan opened the door and was explaining things to her parents, Li Ang had already tidied his hair and put on a professional smile. Clasping a notebook in both hands, he adopted the posture of an exemplary student and stepped out of the study. "Hello, Uncle and Auntie. I'm Congshan's classmate. Today, I came to..."
His words caught in his throat.
He had met Wang Congshan's father before, right downstairs from Building No. 7 in Wanhe Residential Area.
It was the detective in charge of the elderly Mrs. Zhang Cuilian's death case.
Officer Wang Fengnian, a policeman for over twenty years, glared and said, "It's you?"
"That's me," Li Ang replied. He couldn't help but marvel at how small the world was. "I'm just a successor to socialism, a tender flower of the motherland, a Young Pioneer who does good deeds without seeking recognition."
Here we go again, who asked you that?
Both Wang Congshan and her mother looked surprised, asking in unison, "You two know each other?"
"Sort of," Wang Fengnian said, his eyes narrowing as he scrutinized Li Ang. "You're Shan Shan's classmate? What's your name? Where's your household registered? What about your family situation?"
"Hey, what are you doing?" Mother Wang chided, pushing her husband. "It's not often Shan Shan has a classmate over. Why are you acting like you're interrogating a criminal?"
Wang Fengnian glowered, his suspicious gaze sweeping back and forth over Li Ang.
Officer Wang's glare unequivocally conveyed his thoughts: his pride and joy would not be carried off by some unidentified wild boar.
"Xiao Li, is it?" Mother Wang, after whispering a few words to Wang Congshan, flashed a cryptic smile. "Why don't you stay for dinner? We happened to buy crabs."
Li Ang immediately felt Officer Wang Fengnian's icy glare on his back, but as a food enthusiast, nothing could stop him from eating crabs.
"Then I'll be troubling you, Auntie," Li Ang replied with a polite smile.