Chapter 169: Chapter 165: Discovering the Enemy

The old lady looked at her and said with feigned annoyance, “I had just finished cooking and was on my way to pick up Dandan when I ran into Xiangyang. He came to bring us to your place to eat, so now we’ll be eating leftovers tonight!”

“It’s fine. The weather is cold, so we don’t have to worry about it going bad,” Lin Lan said, then turned to ask Li Xiangyang, “Do you want a drink?”

Li Xiangyang shook his head with a smile. “No, thanks. I have to butcher a pig this afternoon.”

Hearing this, Little Douzi and Dandan squeezed up to him and asked curiously, “Uncle Xiangyang, is butchering a pig scary?”

Li Xiangyang narrowed his eyes, remembering how his hands had trembled the first time he held the butcher’s knife. He smiled and nodded. “It’s scary the first time. After you’ve done a few, you’re not afraid anymore.”

After hearing that, the two children looked toward the pigpen. Thinking of the big, fat pig inside, they felt scared too.

“Uncle Xiangyang, you’re so amazing!” Little Douzi said, spreading his arms wide to show how big the pig was. “A big, fat pig is *this* big, and you can still kill it.”

Dandan poked Little Douzi. “Silly, they tie the big, fat pig to a large bench to kill it. I saw them do it at Great-grandfather’s house. There was so much blood.”

Li Xiangyang nodded with a smile. “That’s right! It’s tied to a butchering bench to be killed.”

Lin Lan brought a dish of spinach to the table and said to the three of them chatting by the door, “You three, hurry up and wash your hands. Come in and eat.”

“Coming!” Little Douzi replied loudly.

Dandan was the first to finish washing her hands. She walked to the table, and upon seeing the potato cakes, she happily sat down. “I love potatoes!”

Lin Lan smiled. “I just dug up a whole bunch. Later, Auntie will send a basket home with you so Great-grandmother can make some for you.”

Dandan nodded with a wide smile. “Okay!”

Dandan and Little Douzi each ate a chicken leg, then started on the golden-fried potato cakes.

As Li Xiangyang ate the cold-dressed chicken pieces, he thought that Lin Lan’s cooking skills were just as good as her baking skills.

’I’ll get to eat her cooking every day from now on, and I can make my specialty dishes for her too.’ The thought made him bubble with happiness.

The old lady waited until the two children had finished eating and gone out to the courtyard to play. Then she looked at Li Xiangyang. “Xiangyang, since you’re set on Lin Lan, once your father agrees, you should go with her to Shilian to see her parents. Once you have their consent, you can make a formal marriage proposal.”

Li Xiangyang said, “Grandma, my dad has already softened his stance. He said he’ll think about it for a few days.”

The old lady then turned to Lin Lan and said, “Xiangyang is a man of good character. You won’t go wrong choosing him. When you have time, go back and talk to your parents so they can be prepared. You two should make your relationship official.”

“Okay!” Lin Lan agreed.

The old lady looked at the two of them with relief, then thought of her other grandson. “Xiangyang, do you know where Ding Bang went for his assignment? When is he coming back?”

Li Xiangyang shook his head. “Grandma, Ding Bang didn’t tell us. You know how it is with the Public Security Bureau—not everything can be shared.”

The old lady sighed. “I know, I’m just worried about him! You two have it good. His job is too dangerous!”

’Xiangyang is settled now, but Ding Bang is still single. When will he finally bring a granddaughter-in-law home?’

****

At that moment, Yang Dingbang was at the East Market power plant, which was under construction in the western part of the city. Dressed in a power plant uniform and a hard hat, he carried a tool bag on his back. He and his colleague, Little Wang, were posing as new employees while patrolling the facility.

Yang Dingbang pretended to casually survey his surroundings when he suddenly spotted a hunched-over old man. The man was carrying a dustpan in one hand and a broom in the other, and he had begun sweeping near the generator room.

He watched him from the corner of his eye. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: the person trying to blow up the power plant didn’t necessarily have to be a technician or an employee. It could be someone else, like this old janitor.

He shared his suspicion with Little Wang. “You keep an eye on that old man. I’m going to check and see when that janitor started working at the plant.”

Little Wang nodded. “Got it!”

Yang Dingbang slung his tool bag over his back and hurried downstairs.

Little Wang secretly observed the old man and noticed that he lingered near the generator room longer than anywhere else. He too began to feel suspicious.

Yang Dingbang found the old man’s file. It recorded his surname as Gou and stated he was a solitary old man with no family. His home wasn’t far from the plant, and he had been working as a janitor there since it was first built. The file noted he was a diligent worker, responsible for cleaning the entire large facility by himself.

The file showed nothing unusual, so he went to the street where the old man lived. The man lived in a small courtyard house at the corner of an alley. Inside the yard, a peach tree grew close to the surrounding wall.

The small courtyard was well-connected. Both the front and back gates opened onto alleys, and the section of the wall next to the peach tree also bordered another alley. His first impression was that this place would be very convenient for an escape.

After looking around, he went to the local street administration office to investigate the old man’s history before he worked at the power plant. The investigation revealed that the old man was a local. He had left to make a living when he was young and worked as a street sweeper after returning, only later taking the job at the power plant.

Yang Dingbang’s suspicions grew. When he returned to the power plant, Little Wang told him what he had observed.

Yang Dingbang nodded. “Keep watching the old man. Stall him, don’t let him go home. The moment he gets near the generator room, arrest him. I’ll report this back immediately.”

“Yes, sir!” Little Wang nodded in acknowledgment.

Yang Dingbang went to the plant’s administrative office. He reported his and Little Wang’s findings to his superiors and requested authorization to search the old man’s house.

His superiors ordered Little Wang and the other officers to continue surveillance on the old man. Meanwhile, Yang Dingbang and the officers on the perimeter were to check the old man’s residence. They were to report immediately if they found anything.

Yang Dingbang returned to the generator room, but Little Wang told him the old man had already left. The two of them walked through the areas where the old man had lingered the longest and discovered that several of those spots had a clear line of sight to the generator units.

Little Wang looked at him. “Captain Yang, could he be looking for an opportunity to strike?”

Yang Dingbang thought for a moment and agreed it was possible. “You guys keep watch here. I’m going with the perimeter team to check the old man’s house. You stall him and don’t let him go back.”

Little Wang urged, “Captain Yang, be careful.”

Yang Dingbang nodded, then went out to meet the officers providing backup and headed to the old man’s house.

The two of them reached the outer wall of the old man’s courtyard. Taking a short run-up, they scaled the wall and leaped down, landing without a single sound. They stood in the quiet courtyard. From the yard next door, they could hear a child crying and fussing.

Someone was scolding the child not to be naughty. Seeing that the room’s doors and windows were shut tight in broad daylight, the two officers exchanged a look, drew their guns, and moved toward the main hall.

Yang Dingbang produced a key, inserted it into the lock, and gave it two gentle jiggles. The lock clicked open.

He pulled out the key and removed the lock. After gently pushing the door open, the two of them entered and scanned the interior. The main room contained an Eight Immortals table and a few stools. The bedroom had a canopy bed, a chest, and some miscellaneous items. The contents of the house were visible at a glance; they didn’t find anything or anyone that shouldn’t be there.

The two of them left the room and checked the kitchen, but they found nothing unusual there either. As they were leaving, Yang Dingbang noticed something strange about the ground next to the pile of firewood in front of the stove.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep