The behavior shown by Duanmuh Jinqkang more or less attracted Iren's attention. The young man was looking at one by one the middle-aged men sitting in the dining room. Although the young man's face looked calm, but he seemed to have heavy things on his mind.
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Iren laughed inwardly when imagining such a thing. While waiting, he tried to recall the series of events he had experienced over the past few days.
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Without him realizing, Iren tapped his finger on the table. He did it several times, forming a certain pattern, like the notes in a song. The other friends immediately looked at him.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to," said Iren.
After that, Iren tried to be as calm as possible while waiting for the others to finish their lunch. Luckily, he didn't have to wait too long. A moment later, everyone had finished eating.
Just as Iren was preparing to remind Yihshyong that it was time to tell his story, suddenly Tsaehorng raised his hand.
"What's wrong, Tsaehorng?" Yihshyong frowned.
"Regarding the matter of Uncle Duanmuh's disappearance, I think we should investigate the people around him."
Iren was surprised. What Tsaehorng brought up was something one would definitely do when conducting investigations into missing persons.
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"Including the mysterious girl we saw earlier." Tsaehorng had not finished speaking yet. He reminded them of the existence of a girl who might have something to do with Shannchyuan's disappearance.
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"But we don't know who she is," said Iren. "We don't even know what Dahge has to do with that girl."
"But at least we know her face. So, we can use that as a starting point in conducting an investigation."
"It's true that except for Jinqkang and I, everyone now present here has seen the girl," Yihshyong said. "But we don't have her picture."
"What if later I will send one of my employees who is good at drawing to come here? He will sketch the girl's face based on the description that you will give."
"Aren't you also talented at painting yourself?" Chioujen looked at Tsaehorng.
"But I'm not good at drawing people's faces," replied Tsaehorng. "There is an employee of mine who is superb at capturing people's faces and transferring them to paper or canvas."
"If it won't bother you, of course we welcome it." Iren nodded. He turned to Yihshyong. "Now let's not waste too much time. Shyongge, please tell us as accurately as possible."
"How about I just tell the story here? So we don't have to move into the living room." Yihshyong chose to stay in the dining room.
Everyone present nodded. It didn't really matter where Yihshyong wanted to tell.
"Before starting to explain the things that happened here, I have to ask you something first."
"Okay!" Iren nodded. "What's the thing you wanted to ask?"
Yihshyong spat out the words word by word at a slow tempo. "Actually, where are the cops gathered to monitor this kidnapping?"
Tsaehorng, Chioujen, Jenqyih, and Iren smiled at Yihshyong's question. Jenqyih raised his hand. He pointed back.
"What do you mean?" Yihshyong raised his eyebrows.
"The house that the police use as a monitoring site is the house right behind our house." Jenqyih laughed.
Yihshyong laughed too. "We thought it must not be far from here. But it's very close. Only a few meters."
"Now, can you start talking?" Iren started to feel impatient.
"Okay! Now listen carefully!" Yihshyong straightened his seat.
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"I was so panicked because it was almost half-past twelve, but you guys haven't shown up yet." Yihshyong started his story. "Then, through the Huahshiang device, the police reported what had happened at the mall near the station. I panicked even more because it meant you guys could be stuck there for a long time."
"Did he really panic that much?" Chioujen turned to Jinqkang.
"Mr. Shimen did look very nervous. However, he still manages to control himself." Jinqkang gave a thumbs up.
Yihshyong smiled. He opened his mouth again. "Then it was twelve o'clock. The kidnappers were right on time. Not like some people I know."
The people there looked at each other with a smile.
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Yihshyong stopped talking. He seemed to want to see the response from the listeners. But he was just starting to talk. There were no things that were stressful or made people curious. From the look on his face, Iren guessed Yihshyong was also aware that people were lazy to listen to long tales.
"Long story short, they only wanted to talk to Dahge. They didn't want to talk to me," Yihshyong said.
"Then, what happened?" Chioujen squinted his eyes.
"They said they would call again."
"Have they called again?" Iren asked.
"Yes. They called again about fifteen minutes later," Yihshyong replied.
"Did they change their minds?"
"No. They're sticking to their original stance. Those people only wanted to talk to Dahge."
"Then what did you do to change their minds?" Iren asked.
"I didn't do anything. As the saying goes, 'If there is no rattan, then even the roots are useful.' So, I just got 'Fake Dahge' to talk to them."
Tsaehorng also laughed. "How did Uncle know? This Jinqkang once tried to work as a voice actor for cartoons."
"I was just kidding." Chioujen laughed even louder. "I can't believe it turned out to be true."
"Are you serious?" Yihshyong looked at Tsaehorng. His face changed. "I don't know about that. He hasn't said that yet."
Tsaehorng nodded. "Uncle can ask Jinqkang about it."
"Must be a Chuannan cartoon." Jenqyih laughed.
Chuannan was an area known for many things. One of them was the production of cartoon films. The language spoken in Chuannan was so different from the language spoken in this city that the cartoons made in Chuannan circulating here must be dubbed. Therefore, there was a dubber profession in this city.
"Yes, it's a cartoon made in Chuannan. But, at that time, I was just trying to work as a dubber. Not too serious. There was no intention to make it a profession. So, I did that only briefly. Just a few months." Jinqkang grimaced.
"That's it! That's another time we will discuss. Now, continue your story about what happened earlier." Iren smiled at Yihshyong.
"Okay, I'll continue. So, they, the kidnappers, actually believe that it was Dahge who spoke to them."
After that, Yihshyong fell silent. Iren waited for Yihshyong to say more. But Yihshyong just smiled.
"Shyongge! Then what next?" Iren was getting impatient.
Yihshyong was still smiling. "My story ended there. Jinqkang will continue."