Chapter 278: Chapter 278

It was strange that both Ai Qinzheng and Li Jianqing were calm for the next two days before they left. After seeing them off in the morning, Li Xianglu returned to tidy up the house.

According to what had been previously discussed, Tian Tian and Lin Dongxue were supposed to stay in the middle part of the building, but Tian Tian later felt it was still too far away. If there was an issue, they wouldn’t be able to hear it; even if listening devices were installed, by the time they ran over upon hearing something, it would be too late. It might be better just to stay in the living room.

Thus, Li Xianglu cleared the chairs from the living room, removing them, and placed two wooden beds, each ninety centimeters wide, where the chairs had been.

After finishing the tidying, Li Xianglu saw Qin Xi arranging some old books outside. Just as she was about to help, she heard knocking at the door. They exchanged glances, but Tian Tian and Lin Dongxue, who were originally investigating in the living room, gestured to them first.

Li Xianglu had been trained before that if there was someone at the door, she should first respond, then ask what the visitor wanted, and finally look to Tian Tian for instructions.

Li Xianglu followed these steps when the person outside claimed to be delivering a parcel from the Post Office, and his voice was indeed that of the regular delivery person. Li Xianglu nodded and, seeing that Lin Dongxue had nearly finished checking outside, opened the door.

Normally, the Post Office would just give you a slip to collect items yourself, but due to Mr. Li being a retired military, the Post Office made an exception and would deliver parcels directly. As usual, the deliveryman, Xiao Zhang, knocked and was startled to see three people at the door, including a tall man, hurriedly signed the papers and took the parcel.

Li Xianglu was just about to open it, but Tian Tian stopped her. They placed the parcel on the table, and Lin Dongxue leaned over it to listen, her expression changing as she rapidly pulled everyone back.

Qin Xi, with his long arms, quickly pulled Li Xianglu back, matching the retreat speed of Tian Tian and Lin Dongxue.

Li Xianglu opened her mouth in surprise, as Lin Dongxue frowned and said, "There’s a ticking sound."

What, a bomb? Impossible, the Post Office wouldn’t allow such items to be mailed. All three stepped back as Lin Dongxue took a pair of scissors, carefully cut open the external packaging, revealing a square wooden box, and the ticking sound became clearer.

Qin Xi asked, "Are you confident?"

Lin Dongxue replied, "We’ve learned basic bomb disposal. If it’s timer-controlled, it’s still quite challenging for us."

Seeing the situation, Qin Xi hurriedly led Li Xianglu towards the interior of the house. Mr. Li had gone to the backyard to check on the watermelons and wasn’t around. Qin Xi put Li Xianglu down inside the house and went to make a phone call.

He was heard saying, "Bring someone over, quickly, it’s urgent."

Li Xianglu looked on eagerly as Qin Xi came back, quickly pulling her toward the exit, moving very fast. Once they reached the corridor, he instructed, "Good baby, go find your grandfather now, stay with him, and don’t come over until I call."

Li Xianglu, upon hearing this, grabbed Qin Xi’s arm tightly and said, "No!"

Qin Xi, seeing her stubborn appearance, rubbed her head gently and said, "It’s fine. Lao Qi will be here soon. I’m going to open the box now to check the time. If there’s not enough time, I’ll just throw it directly into the vegetable cellar."

The kitchen had a vegetable cellar located against the wall, originally used for storing winter vegetables, conveniently near the eastern wall, which was next to a road. If it exploded there, it would be relatively okay. Given the amount of explosive used nowadays, the power should not be very strong, unlike in the future where a tiny item the size of a fingernail could blow up a building, so Qin Xi was not too worried.

But Li Xianglu couldn’t do it; she worried something might happen to Qin Xi, so she was unwilling to let him go.

Just at that moment, Mr. Li walked over from the opposite side of the corridor with a basket, asking in confusion, "What’s going on here?"

Li Xianglu didn’t dare to tell the truth, instead wearing an odd smile and saying, "It’s nothing, Grandpa. Qin Xi wanted to go out and play, but I stopped him and was just holding onto him."

Mr. Li frowned, thinking his granddaughter treated him like a fool. Qin Xi wasn’t Qin Zhen, who’d go out to play. He sternly asked, "What actually happened?"

Just as Qin Xi was about to speak, Tian Tian shouted from ahead, "Someone’s coming."

Qin Xi quickly pushed Li Xianglu towards Mr. Li, speaking hurriedly, "We received a package, suspected to be a timed bomb. The bomb disposal expert has arrived. Grandpa, keep Xiangxiang safe and don’t let anyone come over!" Without looking back, he then left.

Li Xianglu was just about to follow, but Mr. Li grabbed her, frowning and asking, "What exactly is going on?"

Li Xianglu briefly explained the situation. Mr. Li’s brows furrowed even deeper; it seemed unlikely that the person would cause loss of life - it wasn’t his style to favor money over lives.

Li Xianglu anxiously paced about when Mr. Li stepped forward, saying, "Let’s go take a look."

As soon as they reached the front courtyard, there was a loud bang followed by a burst of red and blue smoke. Li Xianglu was so scared she almost kneeled on the ground.

Mr. Li grabbed her, and when the smoke cleared, they saw five people standing in the center. Then, a short old man, waving his hand and chuckling said, "Pretty fun, huh? This thing isn’t bad at all, don’t know how they mixed the dust inside. Oh my, if I had known, I wouldn’t have blown it up; I should have taken it back to study, really!"

Then Li Xianglu saw Qin Xi, with a face as black as the bottom of a pot, grabbing the man who was laughing in front of the table and pulling him to sit on a nearby chair, angrily saying, "Is this a time for playing games!"

The old man wiped his face, confusedly asking, "When is it then?"

Li Xianglu sighed in relief, quietly speaking to Mr. Li, "This man is Lao Qi, a friend of Qin Xi’s, a bomb disposal expert."

Mr. Li had heard of him before. He walked over to the two girls dusting off themselves and said, "Go change and wash up; everything’s fine here now."

Tian Tian was about to explode with anger. Just now when they opened the box and checked the timer, there were only five minutes left. The plan was to immediately throw the stuff into the vegetable cellar, but this old man came, got overly excited, and declared it fake. As they were about to approach, the old man fiddled with it, and it exploded. She was going to protect everyone, but then she smelled a strong scent of chili and pepper.

Mr. Li looked at the stuff on the table, his brow furrowing, and then asked Old Qi next to him, "Take another look at this thing. I have a feeling it’s not that simple."

Old Qi, thinking Mr. Li was a fellow expert, paused, then stood up and started to tinker with the messy device. Upon a closer inspection, he indeed made a discovery: a small listening device was hidden inside. Quite interesting!

ps: While frying meatballs, oil splashed and scalded the back of my hand, but I can still type and enjoy delicious food...

And there’s one more update to come.