The behavior shown by Duanmu Jingkang more or less attracted Yiren's attention. The young man was looking at one by one the middle-aged men sitting in the dining room. Although the young man's face looked calm, but he seemed to have heavy things on his mind.

I think this kid is starting to suspect that we are a bunch of brainless old people. Could it be that tomorrow he will resign from Caihong's company because he no longer wants to be asked to help weird old people like us?

Yiren laughed inwardly when imagining such a thing. While waiting, he tried to recall the series of events he had experienced over the past few days.

Soon I have to find time to put those things down on paper. If it's too long, there will be many things that are forgotten. Stuff like this is such precious material that it deserves to be included in my memoirs!

Without him realizing, Yiren tapped his finger on the table. He did it several times, forming a certain pattern, like the notes in a song. The other friends immediately looked at him.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to," said Yiren.

After that, Yiren tried to be as calm as possible while waiting for the others to finish their lunch. Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long. A moment later, everyone had finished eating.

Just as Yiren was preparing to remind Yixiong that it was time to tell his story, suddenly Caihong raised his hand.

"What's wrong, Caihong?" Yixiong frowned.

"Regarding the matter of Uncle Duanmu's disappearance, I think we should investigate the people around him."

Yiren was surprised. What Caihong brought up was something one would definitely do when conducting investigations into missing persons.

Isn't that obvious? There is no way Caihong didn't understand this.

"Including the mysterious girl we saw earlier." Caihong had not finished speaking yet. He reminded them of the existence of a girl who might have something to do with Shanquan's disappearance.

Ah! So that's what he's aiming for!

"But we don't know who she is," said Yiren. "We don't even know what Dage has to do with that girl."

"But at least we know her face. So, we can use that as a starting point in conducting an investigation."

"It's true that except for Jingkang and I, everyone now present here has seen the girl," Yixiong said. "But we don't have her picture."

"What if later I will send one of my employees who is good at drawing to come here? He will sketch the girl's face based on the description that you will give."

"Aren't you also talented at painting yourself?" Qiuzhen looked at Caihong.

"But I'm not good at drawing people's faces," replied Caihong. "There is an employee of mine who is superb at capturing people's faces and transferring them to paper or canvas."

"If it won't bother you, of course we welcome it." Yiren nodded. He turned to Yixiong. "Now let's not waste too much time. Xiongge, please tell us as accurately as possible."

"How about I just tell the story here? So we don't have to move into the living room." Yixiong chose to stay in the dining room.

Everyone present nodded. It didn't really matter where Yixiong wanted to tell.

"Before starting to explain the things that happened here, I have to ask you something first."

"Okay!" Yiren nodded. "What's the thing you wanted to ask?"

Yixiong spat out the words word by word at a slow tempo. "Actually, where are the cops gathered to monitor this kidnapping?"

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Caihong, Qiuzhen, Zhengyi, and Yiren smiled at Yixiong's question. Zhengyi raised his hand. He pointed back.

"What do you mean?" Yixiong raised his eyebrows.

"The house that the police use as a monitoring site is the house right behind our house." Zhengyi laughed.

Yixiong laughed too. "We thought it must not be far from here. But it's very close. Only a few meters."

"Now, can you start talking?" Yiren started to feel impatient.

"Okay! Now listen carefully!" Yixiong straightened his seat.

It's better if this time Xiongge really starts talking. Not just stalling for time like before.

"I was so panicked because it was almost half-past twelve, but you guys haven't shown up yet." Yixiong started his story. "Then, through the Huaxiang device, the police reported what had happened at the mall near the station. I panicked even more because it meant you guys could be stuck there for a long time."

"Did he really panic that much?" Qiuzhen turned to Jingkang.

"Mr. Ximen did look very nervous. However, he still manages to control himself." Jingkang gave a thumbs up.

Yixiong smiled. He opened his mouth again. "Then it was twelve o'clock. The kidnappers were right on time. Not like some people I know."

The people there looked at each other with a smile.

It wasn't our fault at all!

Yixiong stopped talking. He seemed to want to see the response from the listeners. But he was just starting to talk. There were no things that were stressful or made people curious. From the look on his face, Yiren guessed Yixiong was also aware that people were lazy to listen to long tales.

"Long story short, they only wanted to talk to Dage. They didn't want to talk to me," Yixiong said.

"Then, what happened?" Qiuzhen squinted his eyes.

"They said they would call again."

"Have they called again?" Yiren asked.

"Yes. They called again about fifteen minutes later," Yixiong replied.

"Did they change their minds?"

"No. They're sticking to their original stance. Those people only wanted to talk to Dage."

"Then what did you do to change their minds?" Yiren asked.

"I didn't do anything. As the saying goes, 'If there is no rattan, then even the roots are useful.' So, I just got 'Fake Dage' to talk to them."

Caihong also laughed. "How did Uncle know? This Jingkang once tried to work as a voice actor for cartoons."

"I was just kidding." Qiuzhen laughed even louder. "I can't believe it turned out to be true."

"Are you serious?" Yixiong looked at Caihong. His face changed. "I don't know about that. He hasn't said that yet."

Caihong nodded. "Uncle can ask Jingkang about it."

"Must be a Chuannan cartoon." Zhengyi laughed.

Chuannan was an area known for many things. One of them was the production of cartoon films. The language spoken in Chuannan was so different from the language spoken in this city that the cartoons made in Chuannan circulating here must be dubbed. Therefore, there was a dubber profession in this city.

"Yes, it's a cartoon made in Chuannan. But, at that time, I was just trying to work as a dubber. Not too serious. There was no intention to make it a profession. So, I did that only briefly. Just a few months." Jingkang grimaced.

"That's it! That's another time we will discuss. Now, continue your story about what happened earlier." Yiren smiled at Yixiong.

"Okay, I'll continue. So, they, the kidnappers, actually believe that it was Dage who spoke to them."

After that, Yixiong fell silent. Yiren waited for Yixiong to say more. But Yixiong just smiled.

"Xiongge! Then what next?" Yiren was getting impatient.

Yixiong was still smiling. "My story ended there. Jingkang will continue."

Jingkang nodded. The young man began to take long and deep breaths.

"When they believed I was Mr. Duanmu, I asked to speak with Mr. Beihai. Actually, I was not lying either. They clearly heard I told them I am Duanmu. I did not say that I am Duanmu Shanquan. I was telling the truth because of my name is Duanmu Jingkang."

"Eh?" Yiren was surprised. "They let you talk to Xinxiu?"