Inside the office of the Deputy Director of the Kyoto Municipal Public Security Bureau, Nie Qifei’s gloomy expression finally eased into a smile after receiving a phone call.
His daughter had gone missing that morning—but by noon, she had been found.
Along with her, the children of two district bureau chiefs were also recovered. Their children had been missing for two days.
In recent days, many areas of Kyoto—especially the train stations—had been placed under tight surveillance, yet there had been no progress.
Only when the Dongcheng District police station reported the news did Nie Qifei finally breathe a sigh of relief.
This was no ordinary case—it was a premeditated major crime. The missing children were all sons and daughters of important personnel within Kyoto’s public security system.
Through interrogation, it was learned that the six abductors had been hired.
The people who hired them had also been arrested—but they were not the true masterminds.
Someone had offered 3,000 yuan per child for the kidnappings.
Those intermediaries subcontracted the job to the six men, lowering the price to 1,000 yuan per child, pocketing 8,000 yuan without lifting a finger.
The trail ended there, because even those intermediaries did not know who the real mastermind was.
“Xiao Wang, notify Dongcheng District to thoroughly investigate a young man named Lu Ping’an.”
“Remember—from the day he was born until now, I want all his records checked clearly.”
Nie Qifei instructed his secretary.
He had to be cautious.
If this Lu Ping’an had been deliberately arranged by someone—using this incident to win their favor—then the other party’s intentions would certainly be far-reaching.
At his position, one had to eliminate every unstable factor.
“Yes, Director Nie.”
The secretary quickly agreed and left.
Lu Ping’an, of course, had no idea he was under investigation.
After lunch, he told his father and second uncle that he wanted to go out for a walk.
Li Jianguo and Father agreed, only reminding him not to return too late.
Father walked him to the courtyard gate and secretly stuffed five yuan into his hand.
“Buy whatever you need, but don’t spend recklessly.”
Lu Ping’an had wanted to refuse—after all, he already had over one hundred yuan in “huge funds.” But since he needed an excuse to bring things home, he accepted it.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I won’t spend recklessly.”
He waved goodbye and left the courtyard.
This time, he didn’t bring Li Lingyi with him.
He planned to buy goods—especially those that didn’t require ration coupons—so he needed to move freely.
After about ten minutes, he reached a supply and marketing cooperative—different from the one he had visited earlier that morning.
Then began his large-scale shopping.
Salt, soy sauce, vinegar, soybean paste, matches, soap, toothpaste, toilet paper, fruit hard candies that required no coupons—he bought quite a lot.
He walked out carrying a large, bulging bag, a smile at the corner of his mouth.
Such a big bag had cost only eleven yuan—what a bargain!
He also bought several packs of Xiangshan cigarettes, which required no coupons. Those were for Grandpa.
In fact, he had restrained himself, not daring to buy too much of each item for fear of arousing suspicion.
He slipped into an empty alley and stored everything inside his spiritual spring space.
Moments later, he walked out empty-handed.
But as soon as he stepped out, a man wearing a cap blocked his path.
“Little brother, need coupons?”
The man lowered his voice.
Lu Ping’an’s eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded.
“Not convenient to talk here. Let’s go into the alley.”
The man turned and entered the alley; Lu Ping’an followed.
At a corner, where no one else was around, the man stopped.
“Little brother, what’s your surname? Mine’s Liu. Everyone calls me Old Liu. Take a look—what coupons do you need?”
Old Liu smiled, no longer whispering.
“I’m surnamed Lu,” Ping’an replied calmly. “Tell me what you have first—and the prices.”
Old Liu nodded and began listing them:
Kyoto coarse grain coupons: 0.1 yuan per jin
Fine grain coupons: 0.2 yuan per jin
National grain coupons: 0.35 yuan per jin
Cloth coupons: 0.4 yuan per chi
Oil coupons: 0.8 yuan per jin
Meat coupons: 0.4 yuan per jin
Egg coupons: 0.45 yuan per jin
White sugar coupons: 0.5 yuan per jin
Industrial coupons—including bicycle and watch coupons—available, but more expensive
Lu Ping’an was inwardly astonished. Old Liu had quite a stock.
“What about cigarette coupons, liquor coupons, bicycle coupons, and White Rabbit milk candy coupons?” Ping’an asked.
Old Liu replied promptly:
Grade A cigarette coupon: 20 yuan (for a full carton)
Grade B cigarette coupon: 8 yuan
Grade A liquor coupon: 14 yuan (for one bottle of Moutai)
Grade B liquor coupon: 5 yuan
Bicycle coupon: 100 yuan
White Rabbit milk candy coupon: 2.5 yuan per jin
Ping’an calculated silently.
In the end, he bought:
10 jin fine grain coupons
3 jin meat coupons
10 jin oil coupons
2 jin white sugar coupons
3 jin White Rabbit milk candy coupons
10 chi cloth coupons
2 Grade B liquor coupons
1 Grade A cigarette coupon
The total came to nearly 30 yuan.
“Brother Lu, if you need coupons again, come find me. I’m always around here,” Old Liu said with a grin.
“I saw you buying lots of goods earlier at the cooperative, so I figured you’d need coupons.”
He even gifted Ping’an five jin of coarse grain coupons.
Ping’an accepted without hesitation. Old Liu knew how to do business—he would definitely come back if needed.
With so many coupons in hand, the rest became easy.
He visited two supply cooperatives and spent all his money.
In the end, only 0.3 yuan remained.
That included the five yuan his father had given him.
Some coupons were still unused, stored inside the spiritual spring space.
Spending over one hundred yuan in a single day—if Father and Mother found out, they would surely shout, “Prodigal son!”
With no money left, Ping’an lost interest in wandering and returned to Second Uncle’s house.
When he arrived, only a few middle-aged women were chatting in the courtyard.
They all looked at him curiously.
He nodded politely and headed toward his uncle’s home, ignoring the whispers behind him.
Coming to the city had been the right decision.
The money was finally spent.
Now, when he returned home, he would have a reasonable excuse to bring out all the goods.
Just as he stepped inside, he saw his second uncle holding a fishing rod, preparing to go out.