Chapter 49: Fireflies

In the current situation, aside from Du Qiu, only the mastermind behind “Wolf’s Kiss” might know the purpose of the crystal pillow.

Du Qiu uses the word “might” because he thinks it’s not such a coincidence that someone else would happen to use the crystal pillow to sleep and dream for nearly a month.

Du Qiu is inclined to believe that the mastermind values the crystal pillow for some other reason and is willing to repeatedly send people to snatch it.

Moreover, this mastermind has only appeared in the past few months. They likely did not know about the crystal pillow before, otherwise, how could his father have obtained it?

But no matter what, they didn’t exclude Qin Yun from their search after having searched her home last time.

Being a man alone, the item in his possession, it seems somewhat inappropriate to let them harass Qin Yun and Zhang Mingliu again and again.

He is not afraid, but if anything happens to Qin Yun and the other two women, big and small, it’s no joke.

Haven’t you seen in police and criminal films where the police always arrive too late, when everything has settled down?

Thinking of this, Du Qiu starts to ponder how to take precautions.

Hire a bodyguard to follow 24 hours a day? He doesn’t have that much money to burn.

After some thought, Du Qiu slaps his thigh. “I really am foolish. Just let the news leak that the object is with me, and then ‘Wolf’s Kiss’ will definitely come to me.

They’re bound to find me eventually, so it’s better to let them come directly. I can set up a trap and catch them.”

Du Qiu thinks for a while and then picks up his phone to dial Tang Wenhai’s number.

The phone rings for a long time. Just as Du Qiu realizes it’s quite late and Uncle Tang is probably sleeping and is about to hang up, the call connects.

“Xiao Qiu, what do you need so late at night?” Tang Wenhai’s voice is a bit hoarse, obviously due to being woken up by the call.

“Uncle Tang, sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to the time.”

“Speak quickly if you have something to say!” Tang Wenhai seems a bit irritated. He’s been suffering from insomnia lately and had just managed to fall asleep before Du Qiu’s phone call woke him up.

“I wanted to ask if those ‘Wolf’s Kiss’ mercenaries are treated as criminal offenders?”

“Yeah, what about them?”

“Could you, during interrogation, pretend to let slip that I have the item with me?”

“What the hell are you thinking?” Tang Wenhai suddenly wakes up a bit more and urgently inquires.

“I’m worried they’re going to keep coming back to trouble Zhang Mingliu and her sisters-in-law. I’m thinking of drawing the fire to myself instead so they can be safe.”

“I say, isn’t Zhang Mingliu your ex-girlfriend? You’re still so good to her?”

“It’s a special situation involving personal safety. I can’t disregard it. Ain’t I a human being? Qin Yun just had an incident tonight. Su Jianming is still troubled by it now.”

“Oh, something happened? Then be careful yourself. Remember I’ve already spoken on your behalf. Don’t cling on to old connections and make things difficult for me.”

Du Qiu is puzzled and asks, “Which family have you spoken for?”

“Which else? Haven’t you taken a fancy to Officer Ning? I’ve swallowed my pride and praised you sky-high. If you mess up, see how I deal with you!”

“Wait, did you really talk to Officer Ning?”

Du Qiu never expected that a joke he made with Uncle Tang, which was intended to tease him, would be taken seriously.

Uncle Tang, oh Uncle Tang, how could you take it seriously?

“Would I be so stupid to talk to Officer Ning!”

“Oh, you haven’t said it yet? That’s good, that’s good…” Du Qiu wipes the cold sweat from his forehead.

“Good, my foot! I’ve talked to her supervisor! And her supervisor has also talked to her!”

“What? You can do that?” Du Qiu is entirely speechless, his hand on his forehead.

“Nonsense. I represent your elders, and her supervisor represents her elders. It’s after our consensus that you two can be brought together!”

“That’s not right. It’s true you represent my elders, but doesn’t Officer Ning have close relatives? Why would her supervisor represent her?”

“Officer Ning’s father isn’t in the country. Her supervisor can represent her!”

Du Qiu suddenly remembers why he called Tang Wenhai in the first place. How did the topic drift so far off course?

“Uncle Tang, let’s not talk about this first. What do you think of my suggestion just now?”

“You’re trying to cover fire with a hat! If you do this, will they believe you? It might backfire.”

“Oh, right. Then I could post a request online and put a photo of that crystal up. That would definitely turn me into a firefly.”

“Okay, firefly, I want to sleep now. You figure it out yourself!”

“Uncle Tang, you’re quite fiery.”

Hearing the beeping sound from the phone, Du Qiu muses to himself.

His right hand reflexively massages his temples as he thinks about his plan to expose the crystal pillow and attract the attention of “Wolf’s Kiss.”

Who would have thought, just recently he wanted to hide it, and now he has decided to expose himself—truly, fortunes do change with time.

Fortunately, he made a fake good last time. When “Wolf’s Kiss” comes knocking, he can use it to fool them temporarily.

Still, this is not a long-term solution. Tonight, in his dream, it’s best to search again and see if there is any information related to the crystal pillow.

Du Qiu isn’t sure if the man who incited the three women is the same person from “Wolf’s Kiss,” but since he found the three extras online, he must know how to use the internet.

He immediately starts working on the computer, posting on several local forums of Magic City, seeking help and attaching one of the photos taken previously.

The post is from a newbie asking if the Mayan civilization could have such a crystal product passed down to this day.

It was immediately ridiculed by many people.

“The poster wants money so bad, identification over.”

“The poster is probably influenced by the Mayan crystal skull, gone nuts.”

“If this crystal cube isn’t a modern product, I’ll live stream myself eating five stacks of electric fans!”

…

Everyone is mocking him; no one believes the crystal product could be a heritage from the Mayan civilization.

Ha Ha, that’s exactly the effect he wants. As long as “Wolf’s Kiss” sees it, they will naturally come looking for him.

After posting, Du Qiu checks the surveillance network on his computer. There are no anomalies on the screen, so he shuts off the monitor and prepares to rest.

A WeChat message notification from his phone chimes in.

Du Qiu picks it up; it’s from Zhang Mingliu.

【Two Yellow Orioles】: Are you asleep? Thank you for helping my sister-in-law get out of a jam today.

【Wanderer of the Starry Sea】: It was a company gathering just tonight, helping out was necessary.

【Two Yellow Orioles】: Is your company doing well lately? I heard my sister-in-law say she wants to jump ship to your place.

【Wanderer of the Starry Sea】: Just starting out. We began supplying to Tianqi today; speaking of which, I should thank you.

【Two Yellow Orioles】: Well then, I’ll wait for you to come and thank me!

Du Qiu is taken aback. He was just being polite, and now Zhang Mingliu is taking it seriously.

Besides, she doesn’t seem to be reacting much to the incident with Qin Yun tonight?

Could it be Qin Yun didn’t tell her the truth? Then he definitely shouldn’t let anything slip.

Besides, he was just warned by Uncle Tang not to keep clinging to past connections. It’s better to say less.

【Wanderer of the Starry Sea】: Tired, goodnight.

【Two Yellow Orioles】: (Question mark emoji) Didn’t you use to sleep late?

【Wanderer of the Starry Sea】: Changed.

【Two Yellow Orioles】: Then how do you do your research?

Du Qiu doesn’t reply anymore. This back-and-forth doesn’t seem to have an end.

Just about to turn it off, WeChat pings another message.