Chapter 323: Chapter 323: The Call Connected, the Ringtone Rang!

The breakfast shop is run by a husband and wife.

When Lin Xi was studying in the county, the couple was only in their forties.

Now, they are in their fifties.

But when they saw Lin Xi before, the couple still recognized her instantly.

Today, upon seeing Lin Xi again, the couple warmly said:

"Xiaoxi, you’re here!"

"Uncle Niu, Aunt, good morning."

"Early, early, early. Xiaoxi, you were so busy yesterday, I didn’t get a chance to ask. Are you back working now?"

Lin Xi shook her head: "No, I came back for a special task this time, but now the task is complete, I might not come tomorrow."

Aunt Niu was taken aback, then she sighed and said, "Oh, we’ve been running this shop for over ten years. We’ve seen off more students than some teachers. Now those who’ve long graduated, rarely do we see them again."

Lin Xi smiled: "I’ll come back home often and visit."

Uncle Niu tugged at Aunt Niu, then asked, "The same as yesterday?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, you all sit down first, and I’ll get you some breakfast. Today’s buns were personally picked by me at the market; they’re fresh!"

Lin Xi said okay, her gaze turning to the other seats.

After choosing a seat and sitting down, Lin Xi tapped her fingers on the table.

The task force members saw this and, although their expressions hadn’t changed, they were already alert inside.

They knew full well that those coming to eat breakfast at this time were the first batch.

As time went on, more people would come.

Uncle Niu brought over several trays of buns and prepared porridge, and after Lin Xi said "thank you," she sighed watching Uncle Niu’s busy back.

The task force members understood why Lin Xi sighed and continued eating their buns silently.

But they ate in very small bites.

Just then, an elderly man eating breakfast nearby suddenly tilted his head and collapsed onto the table unconscious.

The friend sitting with him even pushed him and shouted, "Eating breakfast and you can fall asleep, wake up... Ha."

As he spoke, he yawned repeatedly, finally lowering his head onto the table as well.

If it was just one person, others might have thought they simply hadn’t slept well and fallen asleep at breakfast.

But when two people did, and even one or two more yawned, the customers eating buns and drinking porridge all changed their expressions.

"What’s happening? Why are they suddenly asleep?"

"It can’t be such a coincidence, can it? The buns and porridge they just had, could there be something wrong with them?"

"Ha... I drank the porridge too, and now my eyelids are getting heavy!"

Upon hearing this, Uncle Niu and Aunt Niu stepped out and asked, "That can’t be, we cooked the porridge fresh this morning; how could it make people sleepy?"

"Really, Aunt Niu, we’re so... tired now. Did you... accidentally put something wrong in it?"

"Impossible! The porridge only has rice and water; what could be added?"

As Aunt Niu finished speaking, another person collapsed onto the table, asleep.

Lin Xi immediately got up and walked to one of the sleeping customers, examined them for a while, then said to the task force members: 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"Quickly, call for emergency services. One person asleep is fine, but so many asleep means there’s definitely a problem."

As she spoke, Lin Xi also told Uncle Niu and Aunt Niu, "Don’t sell any more for now. Everyone stop eating. I’m a police officer, and I’ve notified the nearby police station; everyone stay here temporarily!"

The task force members immediately went to the perimeter, temporarily preventing anyone from leaving.

Uncle Niu and Aunt Niu were terrified, especially Aunt Niu, who anxiously took Lin Xi’s hand, saying:

"Xiaoxi, you know our temperament, right? We’ve sold food here for so many years, how could we do anything reckless!"

"Aunt, don’t say anything for now. Where do you usually get these things?"

"Just in the kitchen behind, you’ve been there before."

Lin Xi nodded: "The rest stay here to maintain order, I’ll go alone to check the kitchen."

As she said this, Lin Xi put on gloves.

Uncle Niu and Aunt Niu wanted to follow, but Lin Xi reached out to stop them: "You stay here, don’t go anywhere until the police arrive. This many people fainting could be collective food poisoning; the matter is serious, you need to follow my instructions!"

"Alright, we’ll listen to you."

By now, Uncle Niu and Aunt Niu were panicking, while Lin Xi, saying no more, quickly headed to the back.

Lin Xi had been to the kitchen before.

It remained the same as she remembered.

The reason Uncle Niu and Aunt Niu hadn’t moved in more than ten years was because the shop’s location was their territory.

The kitchen was mostly unchanged from before, clean in every corner.

Just coincidentally it’s breakfast peak time, so some tools were placed casually.

Lin Xi walked to the stove, where there were still two large steamer baskets on top.

But just then, Lin Xi’s body started to sway.

She quickly grabbed hold of a chair, hurriedly pulling out her phone.

Just as she took out her phone, a figure appeared both in front and behind her.

The person in front immediately took Lin Xi’s phone away, seeing the number she had dialed said:

"Trying to call your husband, huh? Too bad we’ve figured out his routine. He’s a detective who dislikes handling aftermath; he leaves as soon as the culprit is caught."

"Hmm... thinking about it, he should probably be nearly at Dongzhou City District now?"

The person behind continued: "Who says not? I saw him get onto the highway myself."

"A real pity, Officer Lin; originally our target was always Han Zai. But later we changed our minds. Although Chen Xiao was our favorite, he’s at Yangguan, and it’s hard for us to find an opportunity."

"Only you are different. You always liked eating at home, and after coming to Yangguan, you kept the habit. So we made you the target. Fortunately, heaven thinks you cops are stupid and deserving to die; otherwise, it wouldn’t be helping us so much."

"Who says not, really? Without heaven’s help, we couldn’t have predicted Officer Lin would still come to have breakfast after closing the case this morning!"

The two laughed as they spoke, and Lin Xi also clearly saw their faces.

"Xiong Nan, Qiao Zhiyuan? You!"

"Surprised? I fed Madman Zhang and helped him, and he always held a grudge against the police because of his daughter’s death, so him helping us isn’t strange at all. Moreover, the police stand for supposed justice, but are you really upholding justice?"

"If you were upholding justice, then why was I imprisoned for years just for not tolerating bullies, while the oppressing bullies became the beneficiaries!"

Xiong Nan said grimly.

Qiao Zhiyuan, full of menace, continued: "There’s no one upholding justice in this world. Everyone claiming to uphold justice should die! Since they can’t punish evil, we should act as heaven’s agents to eliminate you useless people!"

Saying this, Qiao Zhiyuan, who took Lin Xi’s phone, sneered and said: "Wonder what your husband’s mood will be when he hears you scream in agony on the phone?"

"I bet Chen Xiao will be on the other end desperately begging us to spare you! Tsk tsk tsk, Dongzhou’s best detective crying—just think about it, feels so exhilarating!"

After speaking, Qiao Zhiyuan directly dialed Chen Xiao’s number.

And a second later, the call went through, but strangely enough, Xiong Nan and Qiao Zhiyuan heard a loud ringtone!