Chen Shi went up to see that the person standing downstairs was the female neighbor from earlier. He asked, "Are you interested in her?"

"No... no... don't talk nonsense!" Xin Bai was suddenly as shy as a middle school student, and his thoughts were written all over his face.

The female neighbor downstairs said, "Come to mommy." Then, a little toddler walked into her arms and she kissed the toddler. Lin Dongxue said in surprise, "She already has children."

"Even if you have children, you don't necessarily have to be married..." Xin Bai said with a blushing face. "She’s a single mother. It’s said that she was cheated by a scumbag before. She was pregnant and couldn't bear to have an abortion. She gave birth alone. Up till now, she still doesn’t have a residence permit in Long'an. It’s very hard for a person to work alone in a fast food restaurant while raising a child." He showed a sympathetic expression while he explained this.

"Are you two close?" Chen Shi asked.

"We only... only greet each other every day!"

"Look at you. You’re still single in your thirties and live like a giant baby. The person you obviously like is right in front of you, but you don’t dare to take action." Chen Shi commented.

"What... take action? You make it sound so ugly. Everything will go according to fate!"

"’Everything will go according to fate’ is a phrase of self-deception. The person you like appeared in front of you. If you don't take the initiative, the other person will never know that you like them. Waiting is unreliable. It will only delay time and you’ll miss the opportunity. There are so many people in this world. Encountering true love is inherently a low-probability event. This is already what you call fate. If you don't take the initiative, in the end, destiny won’t take care of you again."

Hearing this, Xin Bai blushed and fell into silence. Lin Dongxue said, "As a woman, I will add my two cents. In fact, it’s also possible to chase after girls using pick-up gimmicks. There are 'tips' that you can find on the Internet. But if you really pursue her, you will find that it is easier than you think. They will unconsciously be accepting of these gimmicks."

"Isn't that too hypocritical?" Xin Bai used sophistry to cover up his cowardice.

"Pick-up gimmicks don’t mean hypocrisy. You can understand it as a social etiquette between the sexes. For example, if you buy two movie tickets and say you accidentally bought an extra and want to invite her to watch a movie, or tell her you bought too much dim sum and can’t eat it all. After that, they’ll know your intentions. If she’s interested in you, she will agree. If not, they will decline. In this way, neither side will lose face. Ximen Qing even used a ten-step plan to seduce Pan Jinlian!"

"What are those examples?!" Chen Shi commented.

Lin Dongxue laughed out loud. "I’m not very educated and haven't read any romance novels."

Xin Bai didn't speak, as if he was thinking about something. Then, suddenly he denied, "Everything will go according to fate. Everything will go along with fate. I don't have the mind to think about this. Only perverts would think about how to pick up girls all day."

Saying that, he went back into his room. Lin Dongxue smiled at Chen Shi. "You’re a pervert!"

"Fuck, what gimmick did I use on you?"

"Didn't you use one back then?"

It was getting dark, and the two of them didn't plan to leave tonight. At night, Xin Bai became anxious and kept peeping out the window. He asked, "You two will protect me tonight?"

"Are two not enough?" Chen Shi said.

"What if you fall asleep?"

"It's okay. I will contact Captain Lin and add a few people to keep watch outside." Lin Dongxue said.

Soon after, there was an extra car downstairs. Lin Dongxue said, "Look, reinforcements came."

Xin Bai was relieved and pointed to the game console. "Can I play it for a while?"

Chen Shi said, "This is your home. You can play as much as you want without asking us."

"Oh, it’s a habit... It’s a habit."

As midnight approached, both Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue were nervous, fearing that the guy wouldn’t keep his promises and would keep killing people. Suddenly, Lin Dongxue received a message. After reading it, she said, "There shouldn't be a third victim." Then, she showed Chen Shi the text.

It turned out that one hour ago, Lin Qiupu followed Xu Guolong's traces and arrived at a certain housing district. At the time, there was a scream coming from a building. The police rushed up to see that when the lady of an apartment was taking a shower in the house, the front door was pried open by somebody. Rope, tape, gloves, and other items were placed on the coffee table in the living room, which frightened her.

This was obviously Xu Guolong conveying a message, telling the police that he could’ve killed the woman but didn’t. He was fulfilling his promise.

When 12:00 came, Lin Qiupu didn't receive a call from Xu Guolong again. After a day of running, he announced tiredly that everyone could go back to rest first.

"It seems like it’ll be safe tonight." Lin Dongxue said.

"Will he come?" Chen Shi looked out the window, "One possibility is that he will come. The other is that he won't."

"Aren’t you just stating the obvious?"

"What I’m worried about is that he’ll run away. Even if this dog that everyone wants to hit doesn’t kill people today, he may kill people for a bowl of rice, corn, or a pair of shoes during his escape. This is the most troublesome situation."

"You actually want him to come, right?"

"But will he come? There’s no way he wouldn’t think that the police are here lying in ambush!"

"Let's not sleep tonight."

"I'll go down and buy some food and drinks in preparation for an endurance battle. Do you want to drink Red Bull or Coke?"

"I’ll have what you’re having."

When Chen Shi went down, he checked the surroundings of the housing district, especially around the surrounding walls and security cameras. Then, he bought a large bag of drinks from the convenience store, gave some to the two police officers who were keeping watch below, and returned to the house.

Chen Shi turned off the light in the living room. He and Lin Dongxue sat in the dark. However, solely sitting with each other was really boring. Chen Shi improvised some stories and Lin Dongxue listened in delight.

At 2:00AM, in the middle of the night, even with the effects of their Red Bulls, they couldn't stand it anymore. The biological clock is such a powerful force. Lin Dongxue was already asleep on the sofa. Chen Shi was also in a daze as he slapped his forehead repeatedly. He sent a message to the police officers below. "I can’t do it anymore, you two. I will have to have some shut-eye for a while."

Policeman A replied, "Brother Chen, you can sleep for a while. I’m a night-owl. I’m very energetic at night. I’ll keep watch!"

"Call me as soon as possible if a situation arises."

After the call ended, Chen Shi leaned on a pillow. He had accumulated too much exhaustion from a few nights of not sleeping, so he fell asleep soon after.

Hearing a soft snoring sound in the living room, Xin Bai, who was pretending to be asleep in the bedroom, walked out lightly. He whispered, "I'm sorry", then quietly opened the door and snuck out.

Living here, he naturally knew how to avoid the police downstairs and took a taxi after leaving the housing district.

His heart was thumping along the way. Why did he do this kind of thing? He knew it was a trap, so why was he stepping into it? However, there was another voice in his heart saying, ‘No, you must go!’

He finally arrived at a park and followed the instructions on the text message into the forest. He suddenly saw a person "floating" in the air, and he screamed.

"My baby, do you miss me?"

The gloomy voice laced with intimacy made his pores shrink all over his body, and his urine was about to burst out. He tremblingly turned to the direction of the voice. "Mas- Master!"