The two of them ran to ask Xue Yue, but the answer was, "I’m sorry, no. There’s a five-year age difference between you and Xiao Yu, so the school won’t allow it. Besides, she wouldn’t be able to keep up even if she did go."

Hearing this, Xiao Yu drooped her head in disappointment, then turned and ran off.

"Xiao Yu—"

Ruanruan pouted and turned to tug on Xue Yue’s hand. "But Xiao Yu said she’s scared to be alone. How about we put her in the same class as Shiyi? That way, Shiyi can protect her."

Shiyi immediately stuck out his lips. "No way! She’s a crybaby. I don’t want to be in the same class as her."

Xue Yue let out a "Tsk." "Shiyi, you can’t talk about Xiao Yu like that."

Shiyi ran over, flopped into Xue Yue’s arms, and nuzzled his head against her.

"Mom, I just don’t want to be in the same class as Xiao Yu, that’s all." 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Xue Yue ruffled his hair. "Alright. Xiao Yu is a year younger than you, so you two couldn’t be in the same class right now anyway."

"Good." As he spoke, he tilted his head and huffed at Ruanruan. "Mean sister."

Ruanruan stuck her tongue out at him.

Xue Yue said to Ruanruan, "Alright, Mom knows you’re just worried about Xiao Yu, but you don’t need to trouble yourself with this. Grandpa and Grandma will take care of her."

Ruanruan nodded helplessly. "Okay, then."

「That Sunday, Xue Xingzhou and Zhang Qian came over with their child.」

Xue Yue teased, "Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. What brings you here today? Did you crack the case?"

Xue Xingzhou nodded. "More or less."

Xue Yue raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, ’more or less’? Is it solved or not?"

Zhang Qian lifted Tun Tun onto a stool and took off his coat.

"Your brother means it wasn’t a perfect wrap-up."

As soon as Xue Yue heard that, she looked at Xue Xingzhou. "You still haven’t found the gold bars?"

Xue Xingzhou said, "We’ve recovered most of them. We’re just a little short."

But then he added, "However, your brother here still managed to perform a meritorious service. Of course, some of the credit goes to you. If you hadn’t reminded me, I would have forgotten about it. Three months before the incident, the bank had fired a security guard. He used to be a soldier, but he was discharged from the army after one of his legs was disabled. His commanding officer felt sorry for him and assigned him a job as a security guard at the bank. But after just half a year, his boss found an excuse to fire him. He had no job, a disability, and then his wife ran off with another man. He couldn’t handle it, so he planned this robbery with a few criminals he found."

Xue Yue was surprised. "So you’re saying he was the planner, the mastermind, and the inside man for this whole thing."

Xue Xingzhou nodded.

"They only took half the gold bars from the vault at the time. The other half was in the basement of the bank’s security office."

Xue Yue asked, "Then what about the half they took?"

"We’ve found over half of it, but the numbers still don’t add up to the total. The bureau borrowed a detector from the army, but it’s not very effective."

In this era, there were no detectors made specifically for gold, just simple metal detectors. You’d walk a few steps with one, and it would go off. But after digging with all your might, you’d just unearth some scrap metal. They’d been searching with the detector for a week with very little to show for it.

"So, is the case considered closed now?"

"Mhm. The chief has already reported it up the chain. At least we can say we have something to show for it. As for the remaining gold bars, we’ll just have to keep searching for them slowly. The current detectors aren’t precise. They said they’ve already reported it to the relevant departments to see if they can invent a specialized detector."

Xue Yue nodded. "Even though there are some minor flaws, at least you got most of it back. So, you guys are here today to...?"

Zhang Qian said with a smile, "Your brother earned a commendation. They said he’s getting a reward at the end of the month. So, we came to celebrate with you all today."

A smile in her eyes, Xue Yue said, "Should we go out for a big celebration dinner, then?"

Xue Xingzhou nodded. "Sure."

Xue Yue said, "He Lang isn’t here. Let’s go find him. We can have lunch out. There’s a good place to eat across from the supermarket."

Xue Xingzhou shrugged. "Up to you."

They told Mrs. He, but she waved her hand dismissively. "I won’t go. I can’t be bothered to run around. You young people go ahead. If you’re taking the kids, take Xiao Yu with you too. Let her see a bit of the world."

Xue Yue nodded. "We can do that."

They took the kids on the bus to the supermarket to find He Lang.

Zhang Qian and Xue Xingzhou had only been there once, for the grand opening.

They saw a lot of people at the entrance, coming and going.

Walking inside, the first thing they saw were the checkout counters.

There were three employees at the counters, and Little Chen was one of them. He was currently ringing up a customer.

Xue Xingzhou glanced around a few times and said to Xue Yue, "You should have the staff wear the same clothes. It would make them easier to identify."

Xue Yue looked at him. "You mean, like, custom uniforms?"

Xue Xingzhou nodded. "Preferably. With the supermarket’s name printed on the clothes. That way, you can spot them at a glance."

Xue Yue thought for a moment. "Hey, you know what? That’s not a bad idea. I’ll tell He Lang in a bit."

Shiyi tugged and swung Xue Yue’s hand. "Mom, I want to buy yummy snacks and a toy."

Shiyi was still young and didn’t understand that his family owned the supermarket. He had only been here with Xue Yue a couple of times, and she hadn’t let them just take things.

Xue Yue glanced at the expectant looks on Ruanruan’s and Xiao Yu’s faces and nodded.

"Alright. Today, you can each pick one toy you like and two snacks you like."

"Yay! Thanks, Mom!" Shiyi danced with joy.

Xue Yue gently tugged Tun Tun’s little hand. "You get some too. Just tell Auntie what you want, okay?"

Tun Tun nodded.

Xue Yue smiled and patted his head. "Such a good boy."

Little Chen happened to look up and saw Xue Yue and the others.

"Auntie, Uncle Xue, you’re here."

Xue Yue smiled at him. "We’re looking for your Third Uncle."

Little Chen said, "Third Uncle is in his office on the third floor. Should I give him a call?"

Xue Yue waved her hand. "No need, we’ll go up and find him."

It wasn’t convenient to take so many kids upstairs.

"Big Brother, you and Sister-in-law take the kids to pick out what they want. I’m going to the third floor to find He Lang. I’ll be down in a minute."

"Go ahead," Xue Xingzhou nodded.

Xue Yue went up to the third floor. The third floor was for home appliances, but they only took up half the space. The other areas were offices and some break rooms.

Xue Yue walked to the door of He Lang’s office. It wasn’t closed, just ajar, leaving a small crack.

Just as she was about to push the door open, she heard a woman’s voice from inside.

"Mr. He, this isn’t the first time we’ve worked together. Seeing as you’re a man of your word, I can give you another ten percent off our original terms this time."

"Can you really make that decision?" It was He Lang’s voice.

"It’s simple. My daddy spoils me. I’ll just go back and mention it to him, and I guarantee he’ll agree. But... since I’m giving you such a big concession, can you grant me one little request?" The woman’s voice was soft and syrupy, with a hint of a coquettish tone.

Goosebumps broke out all over Xue Yue. She stood at the door, just staring at the crack.

He Lang’s voice soon followed. "What request?"