"Hello, Xiao Bin, why aren't you home yet?"
"Oh, Aunt Xuan, I'll be back later tonight. Something came up over here."
"Oh, then I won't wait for you to eat. Don't come back too late, and be careful."
"Okay, don't worry."
After hanging up on Qu Yunxuan, Dong Xuebin put away his iPhone 4 and finished the last bite of vegetarian fried pancake at the small restaurant. Seeing that pedestrians still occasionally passed through the demolition area, he could only suppress his impatience for the moment and lower his head to seriously write the report he had to hand Director Xu tomorrow. By the time he was nearly done, it was exactly eight o'clock. The pitch-black night sky pressed down overhead, and there was basically no one around anymore.
It was time.
Dong Xuebin's gaze sharpened as he lifted the curtain and stepped out of the small restaurant.
The dim streetlights illuminated the chaotic construction site of the demolished area. Since official construction had not yet begun, there were no large excavators or bulldozers, so there were no protective measures at all, much less anyone standing guard. Apart from two grimy stray cats and a stray dog with drooping ears, there was no one else in sight. It was filthy, messy, and late at night. No one would come here. Watching his step around broken bricks and tiles, Dong Xuebin sneaked back to the spot from that afternoon. Looking down, he saw that the stone brick was still there, lying quietly just as it had when he left.
Dig.
Dong Xuebin rolled up his sleeves and rubbed his hands hard. Only after both hands had warmed up did he squat down, hook his fingers under the irregular, icy stone brick, and strain to lift it. He had no idea whether