Chapter 233: Chapter 210: Now Helpless and Alone, I Must Rely on Myself for Everything

"Yeah," Lin Li nodded.

A small minority of people were against installing security cameras all over the city, claiming it was an invasion of privacy.

Lin Li was one of the supporters. He believed that installing cameras in public places would help the relevant authorities by providing strong evidence when dealing with incidents like the one Xia Qing had encountered today.

Besides, if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Only people who did illegal things in secret would be afraid of cameras in public.

Lin Li and Xia Qing chatted by the roadside for a little while longer. Soon, they spotted an empty taxi. After they got in, the driver took them back to the Ping’an Garden District.

......

CLICK.

THUD.

Zhou Tongtong, who was sitting in the living room watching cartoons, heard the door open at the entrance. She immediately hopped off the sofa and trotted over.

"Mommy, you’re finally back!"

"I am." Xia Qing smiled as she watched her daughter stare gleefully at the small bag of ice cream in her hand.

"You must be hungry! Mommy will go make dinner now. You can have the ice cream after we finish eating."

Zhou Tongtong nodded obediently and said, "I ate an apple just now, so I’m not that hungry... Mommy, can I have the ice cream? I’ll help you put it in the freezer."

Xia Qing smiled and nodded, then handed the plastic bag of ice cream to her daughter.

Watching her daughter hurry toward the kitchen with the small bag of ice cream, Xia Qing tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, changed into her house slippers, and walked to the kitchen herself.

When she got to the kitchen, Xia Qing saw her daughter crouching in front of the refrigerator. She had opened the freezer door and was taking the ice cream cartons out of the plastic bag one by one, placing them inside.

"Mommy, what were you busy with earlier? Why are you back so late?" After putting away all her beloved ice cream, Zhou Tongtong stood up and asked her mother, who was tying on an apron.

"Mommy found a wallet on the way home and was waiting for the owner to come get it. That’s why I’m back so late." Xia Qing smiled and explained to her daughter, choosing not to tell her the truth about what had really happened.

"Mommy, if you find a wallet, aren’t you supposed to call the Security Officers and give it to them?" Zhou Tongtong said.

Hearing her daughter say that, Xia Qing recalled her earlier encounter. She sighed and said, "Yes, you’re right. I should have just given the wallet directly to the Security Officers.

In the future, Tongtong, if you ever find a wallet on the street, you have to remember to call the Security Officers right away and hand it over to them."

"Okay." Zhou Tongtong nodded, a little confused about why her mother was telling her this. ’Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do anyway?’

"Alright, Mommy is going to start cooking now. Why don’t you go back to the living room and watch some cartoons? I’ll call you when the food is ready," Xia Qing said to her daughter.

After her daughter, Zhou Tongtong, left the kitchen to watch cartoons in the living room, Xia Qing was left alone. She couldn’t help but think back to what had happened earlier.

Before Lin Li showed up to help her, she had been at a great disadvantage facing that sallow-faced middle-aged man all by herself. She had been pretty scared at the time.

Whenever something like this happened and Xia Qing was alone, she couldn’t help but think of her husband, who had passed away many years ago.

If her husband hadn’t passed away, she wouldn’t have had to face such things on her own. She could have just left it to him to handle.

"Sigh..."

A long sigh echoed in the quiet kitchen. A moment later, the sound of sizzling oil filled the air.

......

In Lin Li’s home, the sound of rushing water came from the bathroom.

CLICK.

Having finished his shower, Lin Li walked out of the bathroom wearing a black tank top and a pair of board shorts.

He had already removed the white gauze bandage wrapped around his right arm. The wound, which had been treated with hemostatic ointment, had now scabbed over. He would probably have to wait until tomorrow or the day after to peel off the scabs.

He walked into the living room, sat down on the sofa, and picked up the TV remote to turn on the television.

"This evening, a traffic accident occurred on East District’s Wangxi Road. A small, overloaded truck tipped over while making a turn.

The truck immediately caught fire after it tipped. At that critical moment, a female Investigator from the Superpower Administration Bureau stepped forward... Next, let’s take a look at footage of the incident filmed by a bystander at the scene."

The beautiful anchorwoman introduced the news segment, and then the director switched to a video of the accident scene.

’So the woman who lifted the truck is an Investigator from the Superpower Administration Bureau!’

Lin Li watched the footage of the accident on the news and realized it was the same short video he had seen earlier while eating noodles.

CRUNCH.

Lin Li reached for the fruit bowl on the coffee table, picked up an apple, and took a bite. Then, he picked up his phone from the sofa.

"Hm?"

After unlocking his phone, Lin Li saw that his old classmate, Zhang Dawei, had sent him a message.

"Lin Li, we said we’d find a time to get together at the bar again. Everyone’s free tomorrow night, so you should come out for a drink too."

After reading the message from his old classmate, Lin Li thought for a moment. He didn’t have anything to do tomorrow night anyway, and he had already agreed last time to go out for drinks again, so he replied.

"Okay, send me the address and time."

Not long after he sent the message, Zhang Dawei, the organizer of this get-together, immediately replied with the time and place.

Lin Li glanced at the location for tomorrow night, making a mental note of it. Then he found his chat with Su Yue and sent her a message.

"Su Yue, are you free? Wanna play a game?"

DING-DONG.

A few minutes after Lin Li messaged Su Yue, she replied, "Sorry, I’m not free! I’m out shopping with my friends right now!"

"Ah... okay, got it." After seeing Su Yue’s reply, Lin Li sent a quick response. Then he opened his game to team up with some random players.

......

Inside a bustling shopping mall.

The sisters Wang Jing and Wang Ling, who had been trying on clothes, came out of the fitting rooms. They saw Su Yue holding a chosen outfit but not heading to a fitting room. Instead, she was looking at her phone, seemingly replying to a message.

"Su Yue, who’re you messaging? You look so serious," Wang Ling, now wearing a beautiful white dress, asked Su Yue.

"A friend asked me to play a game! I told him I was out shopping with you guys." After replying to Lin Li’s message, Su Yue locked her phone, put it back in her bag, and smiled at Wang Ling.

"Oh." Wang Ling knew that Su Yue played mobile games in her free time, so she just assumed Su Yue had been replying to a friend she’d met in-game. She then asked casually, "Are there any fun new games out recently?"

"There are. For example, I’ve been playing a shooting game called National Shooting recently, and I think it’s pretty good," Su Yue said to her friend as she walked toward the fitting room with her clothes.

"National Shooting? I’ll download it when I get home. You should invite that friend of yours, and we can all team up," Wang Ling said.

"Uh..." Su Yue, who was about to step into the fitting room, hesitated for a moment when she heard Wang Ling ask her to invite Lin Li to play with them. Then, she nodded and said, "Sure!"

With that, Su Yue went into the fitting room, locked the door, and started changing into the dress she had picked out.

"Sis, you should download that game later, too. You can come play with us!" Wang Ling said to Wang Jing, who was looking in the mirror.

"You guys go ahead and play. I’ll sit this one out." Wang Jing, who wasn’t interested in games, shook her head with a smile.

......