adminSu Wan showed a surprised expression and asked, “When did you become so insightful?”
“This has nothing to do with observation skills! I think it’s because the things I experienced recently were too outrageous, and I’ve seen things that many ordinary people won’t encounter in their lifetime, so I’m not as shocked by this anymore.” Li Cu took out a delivery box, which contained several compressed biscuits, and said, “Have you noticed? Most of the boxes here have missing items. Look at this box of compressed biscuits; if it were full, it could hold thirty biscuits. But there are only twenty-one inside.”
“And then?”
“And then this situation is quite common. For example, that box over there has only half a box of compressed biscuits, fifteen in total. If it were me, I would definitely combine these scattered items into a complete box. Not only would it save on shipping one less box, but it would also minimize empty space in those cardboard boxes, reducing damage during transport.”
“Maybe the person who sent these things is just careless? They think everyone is like you, a detail-oriented person?” Su Wan said.
“I’m not detail-oriented,” Li Cu denied, adding, “Most people would do this. After all, it’s not just two boxes; all the boxes here have this issue to some extent. This means that these people didn’t organize anything before sending out these boxes. Moreover, these items are not new; they’ve all been used by someone.”
“What do you mean by ‘used by someone’?” Su Wan shivered, “You, you, you… can you elaborate?”
“I mean, these are leftover supplies. Someone sent all the supplies used by this team during an operation to you.”
“Not me, but you.”
“Okay, it’s me,” Li Cu said. “But why would they do this? Let me give you an example. If we held a party and then sent all the leftover alcohol to a friend, what do you think the reason would be?”
Su Wan replied, “Could it be because we have no place to store these things, and our parents are coming back, so we can only move them out this way?”
“I think so too,” Li Cu said, then thought of that phone and asked, “After you received the items, did you ever call that phone to ask what was going on?”
Su Wan said, “Of course I called, but I couldn’t get through later. I didn’t dare to call again after thinking about it. They sent a gun, after all.”
“Don’t courier companies check the goods anymore? That would make arms smuggling so much easier,” Li Cu said. The two of them hid everything away, leaving only two phones on the bed.
Li Cu couldn’t understand: Why send all these things to me? To them, I’m just a stranger. Even if I accidentally stumbled into their world, it was only a little bit. Why suddenly send things to me? Aren’t they afraid I’ll report it?
After pondering for a moment, Li Cu clicked his tongue, thinking, could it be because I’m not at home? So they think that if they send the items to me, I won’t open them and look since I’m not home, making it temporarily safe. But my dad is home!
Wait a minute, he suddenly thought of Su Wan’s words. Su Wan said that the other party claimed to have sent things to his house several times, but they were all returned, which is why they were sent to the school. It was only after Su Wan discovered this that they were redirected to Su Wan’s address.
There are several points of doubt here. He wasn’t home, but his dad was. His dad should have signed for the packages, yet that wasn’t the case. Clearly, his dad wasn’t home during that time either. Where did his dad go? He suddenly recalled his dad’s strange attitude; from the moment he woke up until now, his dad hadn’t communicated much with him. He hadn’t said anything, and his dad hadn’t asked many questions either.
In the past, his dad wouldn’t have acted like this. Previously, if something like this happened, his dad would have interrogated him about every detail until he was satisfied. This matter might have something to do with his dad.
“What’s wrong?” Su Wan asked when he saw Li Cu staring blankly.
“Nothing.” Li Cu looked at Su Wan, feeling puzzled again. But if it was related to his dad, why did they easily forward the items to Su Wan afterward? “You should hide these things for now. I need to go home first.” Li Cu glanced at the clock on the wall; his dad should still be at work. He needed to go back and see if it was indeed related to his dad.
He borrowed twenty yuan from Su Wan and took a taxi home. His home was in the southern city, and that twenty yuan was only enough to get him halfway. When he got out of the car, he had to leave his student ID with the driver.
Rushing home, he quickly searched the place and found that his dad was indeed not there, so he went into his dad’s room.
His dad’s room was very messy, filled with the smell of various liquors. Besides being a bedroom, it also served as a storage room—there were bottles of alcohol under the bed and around the desk. But he knew where his dad kept the most important things.
It was in the middle drawer of the desk, which contained money and many of his father’s notes. Li Cu pulled at it, only to find that the middle drawer was locked. This drawer sometimes wasn’t locked at all; its locked status completely depended on whether his dad had drunk too much the night before.
Although it was locked this time, Li Cu wasn’t worried. He had learned how to pick locks, and he was particularly skilled at opening this drawer. Years ago, he could perfectly unlock it, pull out the red bills inside, and then lock it up again flawlessly. All it took was a ruler.
Li Cu opened the drawer again; he was very familiar with its contents. As he rummaged through the familiar notebooks, wallets, and documents, he suddenly found a stack of new papers.
He picked up the stack and flipped it open to find a letter inside.
Li Gong:
If you don’t do as we said, your son and others will soon find out about your dealings.
We will gradually send things to your son, and I believe that once you see those items, you will find them very familiar.
Don’t say you’ve completely forgotten those things from back then.
Li Cu flipped through the other papers and found them all to be engineering design drawings. He swallowed hard and put the letter back. Then he locked the drawer.
Damn it. He thought to himself; he understood how everything was connected now. He also realized why these things were later sent to Su Wan.
It seems that these items are meant to intimidate my father. From the letter, it is clear that these items are related to something from his past. The sender wants me to see these items in order to achieve the goal of scaring my father. If I were to receive these items, I would definitely tell my father, and he would have to comfort me while also keeping the secret in his heart, which amounts to a double threat.
Given the number of items sent, it’s evident that the sender is in a hurry to intimidate him, almost not wanting to give my father a chance to breathe. However, my father has chosen the dumbest method—avoidance. When he argued with my mother back in the day, he behaved the same way, which ultimately led to the current situation. In my opinion, although my father is technically skilled, he is indeed too cowardly as a man.
My father avoids the delivery person or simply hides away. The sender has no choice but to send the items to the school. This suggests that the sender does not know that I am already in the desert. So, could it be that the black bear and the person sending these items are actually two different groups? It’s possible; clearly, the black bear is a lone wolf, and the person who called for help may not be affiliated with him.
Wu Xie is in the first tier. The black bear is secretly protecting Wu Xie. However, there are others preparing to support the black bear from the shadows. Judging by the phone models used, it seems that those who are intimidating my father and those supporting the black bear are likely from the same group.
Should I ask my father? No, that would play right into someone else’s hands. I don’t want to become a burden to him. Or rather, being a burden doesn’t matter as much, but I don’t want to let others succeed. After all, no matter how bad my father is, he is still my family. How could I let something happen to him?
But why would my father be threatened? He is such an honest and quiet person who has never had any disputes with others. What could he possibly have that’s worth threatening? He recalled a few design drawings that were with the letter. Could it be related to my father’s work? He regretted not looking more closely, but the priority now is to eliminate any traces.
He left his father’s room, put everything he had bumped into back in place, and then went into the bathroom to pee before heading out. His father finishes work earlier than he finishes class, and if he finds out he is home, he will definitely know he skipped class.
Just as he was halfway through, the phone rang suddenly. He hesitated for a moment, picked it up, and heard Su Wan’s voice: “Ya Li, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me,” Li Cu said. “What’s up?”
“Come to my house right away; something’s happened,” Su Wan said.
Li Cu was puzzled; it hadn’t been long since he left Su Wan’s house. “I don’t have any money left; the taxi fare from last time isn’t enough,” Li Cu replied. Back and forth like this, it would add up to another hundred. When will I ever pay this off?
“Just come over; I’ll pay for you. I’ll wait for you at the intersection. You have to come; this is a big deal.”
Li Cu was even more puzzled; Su Wan wasn’t the type to use such exaggerated words. “What exactly happened? Did your parents find out about something?”
“No, another huge package just arrived. I can’t fit it under the bed. Damn it, hurry up and come.”
“What? Did they send a tank?”
“Well, at least the tank can be passed off as a model tank to fool my parents. But this thing is impossible to deceive anyone.”
“What exactly did they send?” Li Cu thought for a moment, picked up the wireless phone, and returned to his father’s room. He pried open the drawer again and pulled out a red object.
“I don’t know. But it feels like it’s a person!” Su Wan said, “There’s a person inside the package.”
What the hell! Li Cu shivered and nearly dropped it.
