Can't Think of a Chapter Title

Jessica walked up to the two of them, took a ring from her pocket, tossed it onto the table, and said, "Enough nonsense. You two, take a look. How much is this thing worth?"

Meng Zu frowned when he saw Jessica. He snatched the bottle from her hand and said, "Go wash your face first. You reek of alcohol."

After Jessica went to the restroom, Yang Hai picked up the ring on the table and examined it for a while. "It looks like platinum?"

He then took out a lighter, lit it, and held the ring over the flame. Before long, the part of the ring exposed to the fire turned black. Seeing that, Yang Hai tossed it back onto the table. "Tch, K-platinum. It's worthless."

As soon as Jessica came out of the restroom, she asked Meng Zu and Yang Hai, "How is it?"

"K-platinum. Not worth much—maybe a little over a hundred at most. Where did you get this thing?" Yang Hai asked Jessica.

"I took it off a few little punks. They really were poor as hell." Jessica sat on the couch and grumbled.

Hearing that, Meng Zu and Yang Hai exchanged a look and helplessly curled their lips. Investigative jobs sometimes took them to remote areas, and Jessica was fairly attractive, so little punks occasionally came over to harass her. Jessica also had a fiery temper, and her only response was to beat them up.

Meng Zu asked Jessica, "Where's Frank?"

Jessica sprawled on the couch, squinting drunkenly as she answered, "He's behind me. He should be back soon."

After Uncle Yang brought Jessica into the company, he arranged for her to work on assignments with Frank. On one hand, Jessica was a rookie. On the other, she was only eighteen, so naturally they worried about her safety. Frank was steady, experienced in dealing with people, and fairly skilled in a fight. With him watching over Jessica, there was no need to worry about accidents.

Yang Hai picked up the ring from the table. "Jessica, what are you planning to do with this ring?"

"Handle it for me. Just give me the money afterward," Jessica said without lifting her head.

Meng Zu grinned at Yang Hai, who shrugged helplessly. "Looks like I'll be running an errand for free."

Meng Zu got up, took the bottle to the restroom, poured the remaining alcohol into the toilet, then tossed the empty bottle into the trash. Seeing that Jessica had already fallen asleep on the couch, the two of them quietly continued sorting through the remaining assignment files.

Twenty minutes later, Frank came back. Seeing Jessica asleep on the couch, he sighed helplessly. Frank took a paper bag from his jacket and put it on the table. "This assignment is finished."

"Mm. Then I'll notify the client to come pick it up this afternoon." Yang Hai put the paper bag into a drawer.

"Frank, did something happen on the way?" Meng Zu took a bottle of soda water from the refrigerator and handed it to Frank.

"Thanks, Evan." Frank unscrewed the cap and took a big gulp. Then he glanced at Jessica and said speechlessly, "Right before we got back, Jessica threw up in my car. I went to get it cleaned."

"Haha! You shouldn't have let her drink."

"I tried to talk her out of it, but Jessica insisted on drinking. What was I supposed to do?" Frank spread his hands helplessly.

"Then you should've been firmer. Jessica is supposed to be following you, after all." Meng Zu patted Frank on the shoulder.

After lunch, Meng Zu and Yang Hai continued organizing things. Frank picked an assignment to investigate a husband's affair and left, while Jessica had no one to keep an eye on her, so they let her keep sleeping on the couch.

Jessica slept straight through until seven in the evening. After washing her face, she went home, while Meng Zu and Yang Hai continued organizing things.

When it was seven-thirty, Meng Zu asked Yang Hai, who was rummaging through a cabinet, "Xiao Hai, stop working. Let's go eat. We can finish the rest tomorrow."

"No, Brother Zu. You go ahead. I'll finish this." Yang Hai did not look back.

"Want me to come back and help after I eat?"

"No need. There's only a little left. I can finish it myself."

"All right, then. I'm leaving."

Meng Zu sat in his car, opened the map app on his phone, and muttered, "I heard there's a newly opened restaurant with pretty good food. Hmm, it's a bit out of the way, but I should go try it." After finding the location on the map, he started the car and set off.

Following the navigation, Meng Zu finally arrived an hour later. The distance was not actually that far, but traffic was packed at that time of day. A trip that should have taken half an hour had taken a full hour.

Meng Zu got out, shut the car door, and entered the restaurant. It was a Chinese restaurant, not particularly large, with around fourteen tables inside. Nothing about the decor showed any Eastern elements, but online reviews said it served authentic Sichuan cuisine, and the owner was not even Chinese.

After entering, he found that there were quite a few people inside. Only three booths were empty. The cashier was a blond young man. Meng Zu found a booth and sat down. Before long, a waitress came over with a menu.

Meng Zu took the menu and saw that, just like menus back in China, it even had pictures. The first section was American Chinese food, while the following pages showed authentic Sichuan dishes. The dish names were written in both Chinese and English.

"This, this, and this. Two bowls of rice and a glass of iced fruit juice too." Meng Zu pointed at several dishes on the menu and spoke to the waitress.

"Sir, would you like an appetizer dessert?"

"Hm? Give me a serving of Neapolitan ice cream." Meng Zu had not wanted any at first, but he had noticed that two tables still had not received their food. That meant he would have to wait a while for his order, so he could eat something else to pass the time.

Once the iced fruit juice and Neapolitan ice cream arrived, Meng Zu handed the waitress the payment and tip together. As he slowly ate the ice cream, Meng Zu could not help frowning. Several tables had started talking more loudly, and it was beginning to irritate him. To avoid the noise, he took out his earphones, put them on, plugged them into his phone, opened the music player, and turned the volume up just enough to drown out the noise around him.

About twenty minutes later, Meng Zu's food finally arrived. After taking a bite, he found that it really was authentic Sichuan cuisine, with no weird alterations at all. The flavor was only slightly above average, though, nothing compared to those longtime Chinese restaurants in Chinatown. Still, it was much cheaper, so it was worth the price.

Just as Meng Zu was eating at an unhurried pace, two men, one black and one white, entered the restaurant. The white man was tall and heavily built, with a gloomy face. Despite the summer heat, he wore a thin beige trench coat. The Black man was also tall and heavily built, though slimmer than the white man. As for his expression, his face was so dark that it was impossible to make out anything, and under the lights, it even seemed to reflect a faint sheen.

After the two entered, the waitress had barely gone up to greet them when she saw the white man pull a large paper bag and a handgun from beneath his trench coat. The Black man lifted his shirt, drew the handgun tucked into his waistband, and aimed it at the blond young man behind the register.

The white man tossed the paper bag to the waitress, pointed his gun at the diners, and said, "Listen up, everyone. Hand over every valuable thing you have to this waitress. I'll only say this once. Don't try anything, or I'll give someone a bullet. Understand?"