"You’re absolutely right, no doubt about it," Leng Lingxiao stood up, making a victory gesture.
Suddenly, there was a muffled bang.
Tang Xiaowan’s heart skipped a beat.
In an instant, tears streamed down her face as she stared at Leng Lingxiao, seemingly voiceless, unable to utter a word.
"Silly girl, it wasn’t me, I’m fine, it might have been a kid playing with a pellet gun."
Seeing that Tang Xiaowan was still stunned, Leng Lingxiao quickly turned around, raising his arms and stretching his legs, performing a couple of stretches.
Only then did Tang Xiaowan let out a sigh of relief, but her heart was still in complete turmoil.
Had she heard wrong? It certainly sounded like it!
"Huahua, you scared me to death, the sound came from behind you, so... I thought, bleh, I’m talking nonsense, nothing happened." Tang Xiaowan explained incoherently.
The man’s eyes flashed with delight, his gaze filled with joy. His little wife cared so much about his safety that, in that moment, he felt his heart melting.
"So worried about me?" Leng Lingxiao raised an eyebrow and asked with a mischievous smile.
"Because that sound really came from your..."
Leng Lingxiao nodded and pulled Tang Xiaowan to the edge of the rooftop, then pointed with his hand: "It was there, wasn’t it? Across the street, in that building."
"Wang Jinhui? He couldn’t be using durian to make something, could he? Then something went wrong..."
"Hmm, quite possible, shall we go have a look?"
And so, Leng Lingxiao led Tang Xiaowan down from the rooftop, heading straight for the building across the street.
As they got closer, the smell of smoke and barbecued meat grew stronger. A racket along with Wang Jinhui’s excited laughter reached their ears, as if something wonderful had happened.
However, when they pushed open the door, they were met with absolute chaos.
The kitchen was filled with smoke, two ovens were sizzling, and a third was already destroyed, beyond repair. Wang Jinhui stood excitedly to the side, holding a piece of golden grilled meat that, surprisingly, seemed rather appetizing.
Tang Xiaowan silently marveled to herself: He actually prepared three ovens!
"Hahaha! I’ve succeeded! It looks like I can be a chef now! She will definitely like it!" Wang Jinhui muttered to himself, brimming with pride.
Leng Lingxiao and Tang Xiaowan exchanged glances and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Despite the chaos, everything was still under control, with only some items damaged while everyone was safe and sound.
"I say, how did you guys get in?" Wang Jinhui asked in surprise.
"Grandpa, you didn’t lock the door, it was left open, we just waltzed in," Tang Xiaowan said cheerily, walking straight towards the oven.
"Oh, I must have... forgotten."
Leng Lingxiao walked over, patted Wang Jinhui on the shoulder, and trying to suppress his laughter, said: "I say, Brother Wang, are you... creating a feast with durian?"
"You should be calling me grandpa along with Tangtang!"
Leng Lingxiao frowned and responded with a half smile, "Well, that seems a bit..."
He was not used to it; after all, the two had been calling each other "brother" for many years, and changing that was going to take some time to get used to.
"Never mind, never mind! Can’t be bothered with you. I really was experimenting with a new dish, I wanted the fragrance of durian to fully meld with the barbecued meat, so I gave it a try, and indeed, it’s not bad! Since you’re here, why don’t you act as judges and have a taste?"
"Grandpa, you didn’t add any ’dark cuisine’ in here, did you?" Tang Xiaowan teased.
"How could I? This is specially designed for your grandma. It just has a little bit of meat, a little bit of vegetables, a little bit of... in short, it’s not ’dark cuisine,’ so go ahead and taste boldly."
"Oh, alright, for grandpa and grandma’s sake... I’ll risk it, let’s taste."
Tang Xiaowan took a piece of the grilled meat, took a small bite, and immediately savored the sweet taste of durian mixed with the richness of meat, delicious and unique.
"Wow, this is so good, really fragrant, so tasty!" Tang Xiaowan praised, somewhat surprised. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
Thus, the three of them sat around the table, savoring this creative dish.
Yet, not far from them, inside a black van, a man with his mouth sealed by tape was being held by two mercenaries.
The man’s legs were still bleeding, and his eyes were wide open. It was clear to see, he was very scared.
Tang Xiaowan’s suspicions were correct.
There had indeed been the muffled sound of gunfire. Even though it wasn’t loud, she had heard it and accurately judged its direction.