Chapter 31: Ingenious Mechanism
Lu Qiaoge didn’t expect it to really just be demolished.
She couldn’t help but look toward Old Lu, who was sitting under the jujube tree drinking tea.
Old Lu shook his head at her secretly.
Lu Qiaoge understood; he didn’t want anyone to know, not even family members.
Lu Da took full responsibility.
By now it was when every household had lights on, but smoke could be seen billowing in the distance.
That location should be the warehouse.
And at this very moment, in a household on the second floor of Building 32 in the apartment building, several stern-faced plainclothes officers burst in and pinned two men who were trying to flee in panic to the floorboard…
Meanwhile, at a certain warehouse, the precise demolition succeeded. Facing the ruins of the warehouse, Qin Hengzhi’s expression was cold, his gaze sharply fixed on one spot.
An iron contraption like a gear peeked out from the blasted-open large iron-sheet door.
The Security Department’s section chief Old Jia pointed at the main door in shock, unable to speak for a long time.
The warehouse’s main door was wrapped in thick iron, the kind very old, with even the rivets in antique bronze color.
It had been inspected at the time, and the composition was normal; who would have thought there was such an ingenious mechanism inside.
Qin Hengzhi looked at the break in the door hinge, where countless tough steel wires and copper wires were hidden; he couldn’t help but sigh at the designer’s exquisite craftsmanship.
There’s a saying that’s right: there are people beyond people and skies beyond skies; a person’s life is spent in constant learning.
Master Lu had made a great contribution this time.
But he had promised to keep it confidential for Master Lu, so he could only give a reward secretly.
Lu Qiaoge also breathed a sigh of relief. She checked the time; it was just after seven. She decided to go to the Qi Family to take a look.
Earlier, Naughty Swallow had come and told her that in the afternoon, Old Li’s Family next door had argued with Qi Shuang, mainly saying Naughty Swallow was a thief that made people uneasy, so they might as well poke down the swallow’s nest.
Swallows are also auspicious birds; whoever has them build a nest likes it.
Who would poke it down?
Especially old people; they actually believe in these things a lot. Lu Qiaoge decided to go take a look.
She didn’t know that the Neighborhood Committee’s voting results had already come out.
There was no suspense, no twists and turns, and no one jealous of the talented; cadres working at the grassroots level nowadays are basically very pragmatic. Thus, Lu Qiaoge passed the recruitment examination with the first-place vote count.
She could handle onboarding procedures tomorrow.
Huang Juan excitedly went to the Lu Family, just missing Lu Qiaoge who was heading to the Qi Family.
Lu Qiaoge walked quickly and soon arrived at Qi Shuang’s home with the calico cat.
Nowadays Qi Shuang lived alone.
At this time, there were quite a few people outside; it had been a bit stuffy hot these past few days, so many people were outside cooling off.
In Qi Shuang’s courtyard at this moment, Qi Shuang was speaking amicably with Old Mrs. Li’s second daughter-in-law.
“Sister Cui, what I mean is there’s still bird eggs in the swallow’s nest, and they seem about to hatch. Once they come out and can fly, they’ll naturally fly away.”
Cui Min leaned against the wall, her face sullen and pointedly saying: “You know, a certain someone actually still suspects I deliberately put the gold ring in the swallow’s nest, so I’ll just prove it to her.”
In just a few words, Lu Qiaoge understood.
Old Mrs. Li’s face also looked bad: “Cui Min, you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder these past few days and ignoring me. I was just saying it casually, but you go making a mountain out of a molehill, even wanting to demolish the swallow’s nest. Impressive.”
“Am I making a mountain out of a molehill? Clearly the swallow stole the gold ring; everyone saw it with their own eyes. I thought the matter was over, but no, you go telling your youngest son I have too many wits, that I might be the one who stole it and put it in the swallow’s nest. Is that how you talk? Is that how you act as an elder? Should I jump in the river and die to prove my innocence?”
Old Mrs. Li’s face flushed red at Cui Min’s hysterical questioning: “I was just saying it casually; I really didn’t mean it that way.”
“Your Old Li Family doesn’t just have me living there; there’s also your eldest son and his family. Why say that about me? Li Zhenhui, come out! Tell me if we can still live like this. If not, let’s divorce!”
Li Zhenhui, who was in a dilemma, had wanted to come out early, but what could he do?
He swore to heaven that Mother was just talking casually, but unfortunately his wife overheard.
Not only had she just flipped over the table while everyone was eating, but now she came to the Qi Family to poke the swallow’s nest.
“Stop arguing, okay?” Li Zhenhui grabbed his hair and shouted from the doorway.
But no one took his words seriously.
Old Mrs. Li and Cui Min started arguing again.
Qi Shuang looked helplessly at the arguing mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, while Lu Qiaoge looked at the two swallows huddled together trembling in the swallow’s nest.
At this moment, they were so scared they didn’t even have inner voices.
The calico cat didn’t go forward; there were too many people and a brat, which it didn’t like, so it jumped onto the nearby courtyard wall. But it also told Lu Qiaoge that it couldn’t communicate with Naughty Swallow.
The next moment, the furious Cui Min grabbed a bamboo pole and went to poke the swallow’s nest; she was like a madwoman: “This is the culprit. Without it, none of today’s mess. Don’t blame me later for losing things; even if found, you could still shut your eyes and say I stole it and put it inside.”
Some onlookers went to stop her; this was too much. There aren’t many swallows building nests in the city to begin with; poking down a perfectly good one—isn’t that crazy?
Old Mrs. Li clutched her chest in anger, saying she felt uncomfortable.
A few kids were still bouncing around, one excitedly shouting: “Auntie, Auntie, can I poke it? I want to eat roasted bird eggs.”
Qi Shuang couldn’t stop her and didn’t dare to.
What if she really angered Cui Min, and she turned around to falsely accuse her of stealing and putting it in the swallow’s nest? Then she’d be at a loss for words even with a mouth full.
Old Mrs. Li’s mouth was too vicious, and Cui Min’s temper wasn’t great either.
Qi Shuang had no choice but to step back a few steps.
The two swallows in the swallow’s nest still had no inner voices, just like humans with blank minds. They hadn’t even seen Lu Qiaoge, shrinking foolishly in the nest, guarding three eggs, not even knowing to fly out.
Lu Qiaoge had to push through the crowd and grab Cui Min, who was really about to poke the swallow’s nest.
Her strength was great; the few women who had tugged at Cui Min earlier had been shaken off by her, but she couldn’t break free from Lu Qiaoge.
She grabbed Cui Min’s arm and said with a beaming smile: “Sister Cui, you’re right; the swallow is indeed the culprit. I support you on this.”
First affirming instead of persuading, plus Lu Qiaoge being pretty with a crisp, pleasant voice, cooled Cui Min’s anger a bit.
Lu Qiaoge took the chance to take her bamboo pole and hand it to Qi Shuang, who had come over.
Lu Qiaoge said again: “Sister Qi, let’s move the swallow’s nest.”
Qi Shuang was stunned and asked: “Where do you plan to move it?”
And at this moment, the two swallows in the swallow’s nest finally came to their senses. Seeing Lu Qiaoge had come, it was like seeing their savior.
【Wah wah wah, save us.】
【We’ll move house, move right now.】
【Wah wah wah, can we go to your home?】
Lu Qiaoge heard the swallows’ crying voices from the sounds.
She comforted the two swallows in her mind: “It’s okay; I’ll take you away right now.”
Lu Qiaoge spoke softly to Cui Min: “Sister Cui, I’ll move the swallow’s nest in a bit, so don’t be angry anymore.”
