While sitting there, no one went in there. So far, Qiuzhen had been alone. Qiuzhen had wondered if there was a new rule in their housing complex that forbade people to sit or hang out there. Finally, he got bored. He almost decided to just go home and sleep at home. But suddenly he saw two people walking towards him. The two of them were carrying enormous backpacks. They were his two housemates, namely Zhengyi and Xinxiu.
Qiuzhen held his magazine high so that it covered his face as the two of them passed the substation. Qiuzhen lowered his magazine. He intended to continue his surveillance for at least another two hours. After that, he will go to the station to rest in the capsule hotel that was there. He saw that Xinxiu and Zhengyi had already passed about fifty meters from him.
When he turned his face in the opposite direction, he saw two people walking while looking straight ahead. The two of them were very strange. They walked, but their eyes seemed not to focus on the things around them. Instead, they were looking far ahead. Qiuzhen followed those people's gazes and immediately realized that the two of them were observing and following Xinxiu and Zhengyi.
Qiuzhen didn't know what to do. He had thought about going home and telling Shanquan everything he knew. But after remembering the photos in Hanrong's bag, he abandoned the plan. If their house was being watched, then people who come or go from the house will also be monitored. If he went home now, he would soon be on the list of people to watch out for. Maybe he should call their house to warn his friends. However, their landlines might have been tapped. It was also impossible for Qiuzhen to enter the house by any other means. The walls to the side and back of the house were very high.
Qiuzhen then stood up. He decided to walk away from his house. He also wanted to know where Xinxiu and Zhengyi were going. Besides that, Qiuzhen also wanted to see how far the two people would follow his friends. If it turned out that the two people had bad intentions or hurt their friends, then Qiuzhen could immediately come to help. Qiuzhen strolled so as not to arouse suspicion either from the people around the place, especially from the people he was following. While walking, he suddenly noticed something strange. Between him and the two people he was following, there was another person. Actually, it was not unusual if there were many people on the street. The distance between Qiuzhen and the two people was a bit far, so it was natural for someone to walk between them. Qiuzhen didn't realize that person was between him and the two since when. Like Qiuzhen, that person was also wearing a reversible jacket. Qiuzhen knew it was a reversible jacket because earlier when he bought the alternating jacket that he was currently wearing, there was a jacket that was precisely the same as the jacket the person now walking in front of him was wearing.
After walking for a while, it seemed that the person wearing the reversible in front of Qiuzhen was following the two people in front of him. Realizing that, Qiuzhen then stopped his steps. He thought the situation was more complicated than he had initially thought. Qiuzhen didn't want people in reversible jackets walking in front of him to notice that Qiuzhen was following him. Qiuzhen tried to keep his distance so he didn't get too close to the people he was following.
Qiuzhen didn't know Zhengyi and Xinxiu's destination. They stopped at the bus stop, about a hundred meters from where Qiuzhen was standing. It looked like they were going to take the bus from that stop. Qiuzhen didn't dare to approach because he was worried that Zhengyi and Xinxiu would recognize him. After the bus arrived, Zhengyi and Xinxiu boarded the bus. The two people who were following Zhengyi and Xinxiu also got on the bus. The person in the reversible jacket who followed the two people also got on the bus. Qiuzhen walked closer to the stop. He then sat there. He still had not decided what to do.
Three minutes later, the bus with the same route stopped at the stop. This was a rare thing. Usually, at this hour, the bus with this route stopped at this stop every ten or fifteen minutes. Only three minutes later, there was another bus on the same route. This was the first time Qiuzhen had experienced it. But maybe not weird either. Qiuzhen only lived in this area for six months. What he knew was not necessarily a fixed thing. Maybe now buses with this route come at a faster frequency. Without thinking, Qiuzhen immediately jumped onto the bus. Without realizing it, his feet took him to the back of the bus. He then sat right in the back row. After sitting there, he went back to reflect on what he had just experienced.
The bus moved. Qiuzhen was busy wondering if his two friends knew they were being followed. Not just by one person, even by three people at once. Qiuzhen didn't know how much they knew about this case. Qiuzhen was sure that when he arrived at Shanquan's house, he would have told him everything he knew. So at least Xinxiu and Zhengyi already knew that there was a problem that wasn't simple. Qiuzhen wished them to be careful and constantly vigilant in doing everything.
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The next two stops were not far from the bus stop where Qiuzhen was boarding. But the third stop was a bit far. When Qiuzhen's bus arrived at the stop, it overtook another bus that was stopping in front of it. Then the bus stopped right in front of the bus that had just been overtaken. The driver shouldn't have done that. He had to wait for the bus in front of him to finish lowering and picking up passengers before he moved the bus forward to stop at the stop. But maybe he had his reasons. This bus stop was pretty significant. It serves several bus routes. So people could say that the bus stop was a kind of small hub. Therefore, this stop was quite long. It could serve three buses at once. So if the bus that came first stopped at the front end of the bus stop, then the bus that came next will pick up and drop off passengers without waiting for the bus in front of them to finish picking up and dropping off passengers. The bus that had stopped in front of the bus that Qiuzhen was riding did not stop at the front end but at the back end. Maybe before this, a bus stopped in front of that bus. That's why the bus driver Qiuzhen was riding was desperate to overtake the bus in front of him. Namely, so that as soon as possible to raise and lower passengers.
Because the position of the bus he was riding in was at the very front, Qiuzhen looked back to see the bus that had just been overtaken. From the rear window, Qiuzhen could see that the bus was another bus with a fairly long route. While watching the passengers boarding the bus, Qiuzhen saw that Xinxiu and Zhengyi were among them. It turned out that the two of them had gotten off at this stop and then changed to another bus route. After Xinxiu and Zhengyi got on the bus, it turned out that two of the three people who had followed also boarded the bus. Qiuzhen quickly stood up. He was ready to get off at the stop. He couldn't possibly get on the bus that was currently stopping behind him because by now, the bus had finished loading its passengers and was getting ready to leave the stop, but he could take another bus from that line which would come a few minutes after this.
After getting off, Qiuzhen waited for the bus from the lane that his two friends were riding. A few minutes later, the bus arrived. Qiuzhen rushed up. He also chose to sit in the back row so he could get off quickly when the bus stopped. The bus on this line was slightly longer than the bus he was on. After passing three stops, the bus then arrived at an intersection. At that time, the traffic light was turning red, so the bus had to stop. Qiuzhen looked to the left. His eyes fell on a figure walking on the sidewalk. The figure then turned left. In an instant, the person disappeared from his sight. Qiuzhen recognized he was one of the two who had been following his friends. Most likely, his two friends had already gotten off at the bus stop he had just passed. And now his two friends were walking in front of this person Qiuzhen had just seen.
People could only get off at the bus stop, so there was no way Qiuzhen could get off here. All he could do was get off at the next stop, get back on the bus from the opposite direction, and get off at the stop before that intersection. After that, he needed to walk to this crossroads and follow their trail from there. Qiuzhen knew this was a strange idea. He didn't know where his friends were going, how it was possible to follow them just based on the last place he saw the person following his friends. However, no matter how unlikely the success of his plan was, he still had to do it. Maybe a miracle would happen.
The next stop turned out to be quite far. Qiuzhen had already lost a lot of time. But he did not despair. Keep trying was the only way he had to do. After getting off the bus and then crossing the street, he sat at the bus stop waiting for a bus from the same line to return in the direction he had come from. Luckily, the bus he was referring to arrived soon. He immediately got on the bus. Even though it was only one stop away, Qiuzhen felt the journey was too long. After arriving at the stop, he immediately got off. He ran across the pedestrian bridge that connected the two opposite stops. After arriving on the other side, he immediately rushed towards the crossroads where he last saw the person earlier.
Turning left, he realized the street was quite busy. About one hundred and fifty meters from the intersection, there was a train station. It's not a subway station. It's an elevated train station. Qiuzhen thought that maybe his two friends had taken the train there. If so, it would be tough for him to find them. Qiuzhen walked on ahead. He didn't realize he had arrived in front of the station. Qiuzhen didn't go up. He just looked at the building from below. Then he glanced around the area. There were lots of shops there. Qiuzhen then continued to walk forward. It was then that he began to think even harder. He considered what he should do now.
If I were Xinxiu or Zhengyi, what would I do in this place?