Old Wu immediately perked up when he heard that.
"What lead?"
Xiao Qian held his phone out in front of Old Wu. "This is a photo the bureau just sent over. The person in it appeared near Chen Wenhua's house that night."
"Let me see."
Old Wu enlarged the photo. The person in it wore a black hoodie, his face tightly covered. On top of that, it was nighttime, and the roadside camera had been too far away, so only a rough outline was visible.
"Old Wu, doesn't this person's back look like that guy named Jiang Fan from just now?" Xiao Qian muttered.
Hearing that, Old Wu gave Xiao Qian a speechless look.
"So you think Jiang Fan climbed into Chen Wenhua's house in the middle of the night, slipped past all the surveillance cameras, bodyguards, and servants without anyone being any the wiser, and silently carried off the gold? Without leaving a single clue, at that?"
Xiao Qian chuckled and scratched his head. "Of course not. He only has 19 N of blood and qi. How could he possibly pull that off? Never mind him-even a First-Rank Martial Artist would have a hard time doing it."
"Then why are you making wild guesses?" Old Wu was utterly speechless.
"All right, stop letting your imagination run wild. By the way, I asked you to investigate whether anyone had gone to a gold shop to exchange gold over the past two days. Any progress?"
Xiao Qian said, "We've investigated almost all the gold shops in Ancheng, big and small. Only a dozen or so remain. We should definitely have results in the next couple of days. But the thief might not necessarily dispose of the gold in Ancheng. He might also have hidden it away, waiting for the heat to die down before going to a gold shop."
Old Wu nodded in agreement. "Let's wait for the investigation results first."
As soon as Jiang Fan returned to the courtyard, Tang Guo rushed out. When she saw him covered in injuries, her big, grape-like eyes suddenly filled with tears, and she finally burst out wailing.
"Xiao Fan, how did you get hurt so badly?"
Hearing Tang Guo's cries, Wang Shuqin hurried out of the room. She, too, saw the wounds on Jiang Fan's face, neck, and arms.
She immediately covered her mouth, tears of heartache pattering down.
Jiang Fan gave the two of them a reassuring smile. "It's fine. They're just superficial wounds. The constables gave us a ride home on their way and gave me a dose of special medicine. I reckon I'll be mostly healed by tomorrow morning."
Tang Guo and the others did not believe what Jiang Fan said.
What kind of special medicine could heal him almost completely overnight? Clearly, Jiang Fan was only saying this to comfort them.
"All right, you two, stop crying. Xiao Fan is hurt, and he hasn't had dinner yet. Let him eat first. Whatever it is, we can talk later," Tang Fugui said.
"Right, right. Eat first, eat first."
After dinner.
Tang Fugui went into the room with Wang Shuqin, then told her everything that had happened at the Jiang Family home, down to the smallest detail.
After hearing him out, Wang Shuqin felt both heartache for Jiang Fan and immense disappointment in her biological son, Jiang Youtian.
"Youtian... how did he become like this?"
Tang Fugui let out a breath, then said with a resolute expression, "From now on, I, Tang Fugui, have only one son, and that's Xiao Fan!"
Wang Shuqin nodded firmly in agreement. "Yes. Xiao Fan is our only son."
Although Jiang Fan was in his own room, he heard their conversation clearly and was deeply moved.
He silently made a decision.
Dad, Mom, I'll definitely rise above the crowd. I won't let you down!
After calming his emotions, Jiang Fan stood and headed outside.
There was still one very important thing he had not done today.
Before long, he arrived at the cemetery caretaker's residence.
"What are you doing here?" Crazy Old Man looked at Jiang Fan in bewilderment, also noticing his injuries.
"Huh? Were you scratched by a woman, kid?"
Jiang Fan was surprised. "How could you tell?"
Crazy Old Man chuckled. "At my age, I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice. What great winds and waves haven't I weathered?"
Jiang Fan rubbed his chin and reached a conclusion.
"So you've been scratched by a woman before, too?"
Crazy Old Man choked. "What nonsense? How could I possibly have been scratched by a woman?"
Jiang Fan continued staring at Crazy Old Man suspiciously, making him uncomfortable all over.
"Anyway, what are you doing here so late? If you have nothing to do, hurry up and leave."
"Oh, I just wanted to ask, have you eaten?" Jiang Fan asked.
Hmm?
Crazy Old Man had never expected Jiang Fan to suddenly ask that. "No. Why?"
"Then I'll cook for you."
With that, Jiang Fan gave Crazy Old Man no chance to speak. He walked straight into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out ingredients, and began cooking.
Crazy Old Man scratched his somewhat balding head. He prided himself on having weathered great winds and waves and seen all the ugliness of the human heart, long since reaching the point where his expression would not change even if a mountain collapsed before him.
Yet at this moment, he simply could not react.
This kid... what exactly is going on in his head?
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! You cared for an elderly man living alone and did a good deed. Points +1,000]
As Jiang Fan watched Crazy Old Man drinking and eating, the familiar notification sounded in his mind again.
Not bad. Jiang Fan smiled in satisfaction.
Then he turned and silently began clearing away the rubbish in the house. What impressed Jiang Fan was that, despite his having just cleaned up yesterday, the room had become a rubbish heap again in a single day.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! You helped an elderly man living alone tidy his room and did a good deed. Points +1,000]
Another payout had arrived.
Crazy Old Man drank and ate while watching Jiang Fan tidy the room with interest.
"Hey, kid, what benefit are you after?"
Jiang Fan inwardly grumbled, You have nothing but four bare walls. Other than rubbish to inherit, what benefit could you give him?
"You're overthinking it. I just had nothing to do, so I found something to keep myself busy."
Crazy Old Man tipped a toothpick out of its container and picked the meat from between his teeth without the slightest concern for appearances.
"Did Yan Tianyang send you?"
Jiang Fan stopped what he was doing and asked in confusion, "Who?"
"You little rascal, you're pretty good at pretending. Xiao Yan called me a few days ago and said he was sending someone over. Then you just happened to appear. Who else could it be but you?"
The more Jiang Fan heard, the more confused he became. What is all this nonsense?
Of course, he could not be bothered to waste brain cells thinking about it. After all, who would care about an NPC he used to farm points?
So Jiang Fan stopped pondering Crazy Old Man's words and instead walked behind him.
"Let me give you a massage."
As Crazy Old Man enjoyed Jiang Fan's massage, he said, "You're pretty good at enduring things, kid. Let's see how long you can hold out."
Jiang Fan continued ignoring Crazy Old Man's words. He was waiting for the system to give him points.
A few minutes later.
Sure enough, the system notification sounded.
[Ding! Congratulations, Master! You massaged an elderly man, lifting his spirits, and did a good deed. Points +1,000]