Chapter 270: Chapter 270

Jiang Xinhua hastily ran towards the alley and whistled upon entering. After receiving a response, he intentionally slowed down as he ran further in.

At this moment, Li Xianglu caught up and stood at the entrance of the alley shouting, "Stop running!"

Turning his head in feigned horror, Jiang Xinhua staggered backward upon seeing the person at the entrance of the alley, his face in disbelief, wondering to himself why Qin Xi was nowhere to be seen. Could he have gone to get reinforcements? No good. Then he threw himself forcefully to the ground from a distance, it looked as if he had been tripped up.

Usually, a pursuer would be glad to see the chased person tumble and would speed up to capture them, but Li Xianglu didn’t play by the rules and stayed put, tilting her head as she observed the person struggling to get up from the ground.

After waiting for a long while with no one approaching, Jiang Xinhua grew suspicious and looked around. He got up, pretending to be injured, and ran towards the interior of the alley. As soon as he turned a corner, he saw four or five people already standing to both sides, all in uniform, but they looked like waiters.

And at the back came a young man in a white short-sleeved shirt, dragging someone along.

Jiang Xinhua quickly realized that his people had been caught and instantly turned to run towards the alley entrance.

Li Xianglu still stood there, watching the inside. Even when she saw him running out, she didn’t budge. He was puzzled. The pursuers behind him were fast. He couldn’t worry about that – if he couldn’t escape, he would just seize Li Xianglu and threaten them.

But just as his hand reached out towards Li Xianglu at the mouth of the alley, she pulled out a black baton from behind her back. It crackled as she struck the onrushing Jiang Xinhua, and with a violent jolt, he was stunned, his body electrified, and he fell to the ground.

Three people emerged beside Li Xianglu, staring in surprise at the person lying on the ground and then at the black baton in Li Xianglu’s hand.

At this time, Qin Xi ran out of the alley with several people escorting two more. Including the one on the ground, that made three in total. Everyone quickly tied up the captured individuals.

Just then, the public security police car arrived, and three or four officers hurriedly descended, holding a photo to compare with the unconscious Jiang Xinhua. They nodded, saying, "This is the man. You all worked hard!"

Qin Xi stood there recounting the events - they had been buying things at the Overseas Chinese Store when they bumped into someone. That person was Jiang Xinhua, already sought after with his photo posted by public security. Hence, he talked to the security department of the Overseas Chinese Store, and they split into two groups to give chase, resulting in the capture of three people.

After a brief report was taken, the store security received high praise from public security officials; they said they would report it to the higher authorities and publicly commend them.

By the time all this was said, it was already past five o’clock in the afternoon. The two hurriedly rode their bicycles on the way home. Li Xianglu, puzzled, asked, "How did you know something was off about Jiang Xinhua?"

Indeed, Li Xianglu had intended to chase after him, but Qin Xi had pulled her back, suggesting that Jiang Xinhua might be feigning it to attract their attention and set a trap.

And it turned out to be true - there were two people lying in ambush, both armed. Even if Qin Xi had gone there, it would have been tough. All three of them had weapons; they could have gotten injured.

But what exactly was Jiang Xinhua trying to do? To find out what?

When the two returned home, Sister Xing had finished washing up and started to put away the newly bought chicken, duck, fish, eggs, and meat, while Li Xianglu recounted the events to Mr. Li.

Mr. Li frowned, while Su Yan nodded and said, "You go give the Lu Family a call first, inform them about the situation so they can also be prepared. I have a feeling this isn’t over yet."

Li Xianglu hurriedly called the Lu Family. Lu Anna had already returned home, and when she picked up the phone, she joked that someone missed her as soon as she left.

Li Xianglu felt somewhat helpless. Anna’s personality had changed quite a bit over the year, becoming more lively and outgoing. Perhaps it was because she had been in contact with Qin Zhen too much.

After explaining the whole situation, Anna was stunned. She uttered "This isn’t good," making Li Xianglu anxious. Anna quickly said, "Iro, she went out this morning, I just went to look for her, and she still hasn’t returned. This won’t do, I have to tell Brother Ai."

Li Xianglu hurried her to hang up.

After ending the call, Li Xianglu went outside. At that time, Qin Zhen and Li Jianqing had arrived, bringing a cartload of furniture. They said there was more, and it would require two more trips to bring it all. Qin Xi, having changed clothes, followed them out to borrow a tricycle from the An Family to help transport the rest.

Li Xianglu quickly repeated Lu Anna’s last words, and Mr. Li’s expression changed instantly as he quickly stood up and went inside.

Su Yan frowned and said, "That Iro girl seems clever, why is she being foolish? She just left because someone called her?"

Li Xianglu sighed without saying a word. When it’s a matter of the heart, one can’t easily judge if someone is foolish or not. She stood up to help Sister Xing with cooking.

They made rice porridge and steamed hot flower rolls, also stir-frying four hot dishes and preparing two cold dishes. Almost as soon as everything was set on the table, the two tricycles returned.

Li Xianglu went to help unload the items, and to her surprise, there were four well-preserved sourwood armchairs. They seemed to carry a hint of the late Qing era. She nodded in approval, "Not bad at all, this batch of furniture is great. These four chairs are a set and could definitely fetch a good price after some cleaning."

Su Yan also stood up, came over to have a look, and nodded, "Indeed, let’s clean them up. When I leave, I can take them to Hong Kong and have the master craftsmen there restore them, to get you a good price."

Upon hearing this, Qin Zhen’s eyes brightened. Ignoring the dirt on him, he eagerly moved closer and asked, "Grandma Su, how much could these four chairs sell for?"

Su Yan, slightly put off by Qin Zhen’s dirty appearance, stepped back a bit and said, "These four are well preserved, they look good. If the craftsmen over there restore them well, we might be able to sell them for more than ten thousand."

However, in Li Xianglu’s mind, she thought that in the 80s, they might go for 50,000, and if they were sold in the 90s, they might fetch more than 200,000 a set, but the current currency was more valuable, so over ten thousand was excellent.

Indeed, the faces of Qin Zhen and Li Jianqing lit up with smiles, and they were so excited they couldn’t speak for a while. Energized, they planned to travel farther to collect more items in the future.

The meal was sumptuous, and the family ate and drank until eight o’clock when the phone rang. After Li Xianglu answered, her face turned pale. Iro still hadn’t returned; they had searched the nearby area but couldn’t find her, and her family was very worried. On top of that, Jiang Xinhua had apparently committed suicide by poisoning. The other two were just temporarily hired hands who knew nothing, meaning the lead on Iro had gone cold.

ps: Yesterday, some shameless person said they wouldn’t accept a penny less than twelve thousand...

Supplementary, supplementary, supplementary!