169: Chapter 169 A Mother Who Rekindles Hope

He picked up his phone and glanced at it; the screen displayed "Da Ping."

Tian Jun's heart involuntarily clenched. He was now somewhat sensitive to Chen Shaoping's calls.

His mind had already begun to guess what kind of illegal and criminal intelligence Chen Shaoping could provide this time.

"Four Jun, what are you doing?" Chen Shaoping's voice came through the phone.

Tian Jun yawned, and two tears rolled out of his eyes.

"I'm watching Shu Xin; there hasn't been any movement."

He didn't intend to hide it, and in his heart, he still wanted to get more information about Fire Fox from Chen Shaoping.

"Thank you for your hard work, Comrade Police Officer. I have some information for you, listen carefully."

Without waiting for Tian Jun to reply, Chen Shaoping eagerly began to speak.

Tian Jun yawned again, not interrupting Chen Shaoping, and listened quietly.

A moment later, his expression grew more and more shocked, more and more incredulous.

Chen Shaoping quickly finished speaking.

Tian Jun recovered from his shock, all traces of sleepiness gone.

Although it was a bit unbelievable, coming from Chen Shaoping's mouth, he had no choice but to believe it.

"Da Ping, are you sure what you're saying is true?"

Chen Shaoping's voice on the phone was a little displeased. "Four Jun, are you doubting me again? I'm giving you a chance to earn merit; if you don't want it, I'll just call the police directly."

"No, no, no, Da Ping. I was wrong, I won't dare to do it again next time."

"Since that's the case, get to it quickly."

"Beep beep beep!"

The call was hung up. Tian Jun waved two fists at his phone, then laughed and kissed the phone.

He stretched, loosening his stiff body.

He became energized, his eyes sparkling.

Then, he vigorously shook Tan Zhuo.

Tan Zhuo woke up with a start, his eyes still bloodshot, and saliva overflowing from the corners of his mouth.

"Deputy Team Leader, is there any movement?"

He asked instinctively.

"No." Tian Jun handed over the binoculars, and also pulled out a tissue. "Wipe yourself. I have something important and must go back to the station. You keep watch for now."

"Oh, okay."

Tan Zhuo rubbed his face vigorously with both hands, forced himself to cheer up, took the binoculars, and got out of the car.

Tian Jun poked his head out of the car window. "Just hold on a little longer; someone will come to relieve you soon."

Tan Zhuo made a gesture indicating he understood. Tian Jun said no more and drove off with a stomp on the accelerator.

...

After Chen Shaoping hung up Tian Jun's call, he muttered to himself, "This guy hasn't even treated me to a meal, and he dares not believe me. It seems he needs a lesson."

Anger aside, what needed to be done still had to be done.

He took a deep breath, his expression grave, and dialed Zhang Yu's number.

The call went through, but no one answered.

After waiting for a while, Chen Shaoping called again.

This time, the call connected.

A weak voice came through, "Who are you looking for?"

"Hello, are you Ms. Zhang Yu, the actress?" Chen Shaoping asked.

At this moment, in a blockhouse in a building near Kyoto Peoples Hospital.

A haggard woman with sparse white hair felt a mix of emotions upon hearing Chen Shaoping's words.

It had been years since anyone had called her that.

She hadn't been addressed as an actress in a long time.

After a moment ofstunned, she replied, "I am Zhang Yu, who are you? What do you want with me?"

"You don't need to know who I am. I'm looking for you because I want to buy something you possess."

Hearing this, Zhang Yu tried hard to think of anything she owned that others might covet.

Nothing.

Beauty? Long gone.

Wealth? Not only did she have none, but she was also deeply in debt.

Assets? Her old house had been sold long ago to pay for her son's medical treatment, and her current residence was rented.

The landlord pitied her, only symbolically collecting 20 yuan a month.

To facilitate her son's medical care, she had lived there for a long time.

Looking at her emaciated, pale-faced son sleeping soundly on the bed.

Her tears fell uncontrollably.

She quietly left the room, afraid of waking her son, who had difficulty sleeping.

"Sir, you must have made a mistake. I don't seem to have anything you would need, do I?"

"No, Ms. Zhang Yu, I'll be direct. I want the videos of you and the director from back then. Money is not an issue."

Zhang Yu's head buzzed, and only then did she remember the videos.

When she was about to leave the entertainment industry, she had publicly mentioned the existence of these videos, but they had no impact on those directors whatsoever.

Instead, several directors conspired to slander her in the newspapers, twisting black and white.

She sued the directors, but lost both the first and second trials.

Disheartened, she got married, and even her deceased husband never knew about the existence of these videos.

She didn't know why the person on the phone wanted these videos.

But if he wanted to buy them, could it be...

At this moment, her extinguished heart began to stir again.

Her son was only six years old and hadn't truly lived a single good day.

Zhang Yu raised a hand to wipe away her tears, her eyes becoming resolute.

"Please wait."

She walked back into the room, placed the phone on the bed, squatted down, and gently pulled out a peeling box from under the foot of the bed.

Opening the box, she gently took out an iron box from within.

She opened the box, and the contents were wrapped in red envelopes.

She uncovered the red cloth, revealing a stack of discs and dozens of photos.

The photos were stills from TV series she had acted in; she was smiling very happily back then.

She gently caressed the photos, recalling her life, and sorrow welled up, making her want to cry her heart out.

Tears silently fell.

"Sir, I've found what you want, but how much are you offering?"

She had no idea how much it was worth, hoping in her heart that it would be as expensive as possible, expensive enough to cure her son's illness.

"Ms. Zhang, name your price. How much do you want?" Chen Shaoping asked.

"If I ask for 200,000, can you give me 2,000,000?" Zhang Yu said casually.

"As long as the items are fine, 200,000 will be 2,000,000."

Chen Shaoping genuinely felt that this price was not high.

"Two... two million?" Zhang Yu's voice trembled as she repeated the astronomical figure.

In an instant, immense hope, like a strong light piercing through darkness, made her dizzy.

The phone in her hand almost dropped.

Her heart pounded as if she saw her son going to school, getting married, and having children.

"The items are definitely correct; there are twenty-one discs, but I'll have to trouble you to come and pick them up yourself."

Seeing that the system mentioned videos, Chen Shaoping thought they were simply videos that could be sent via phone.

He didn't expect them to be discs, meaning he had to make a trip.

But it didn't matter.

After hanging up the phone and receiving the address from Zhang Yu, Chen Shaoping said hello to Zhou Bule and set off.

Wang Bo and Zhang Ying were still rehearsing, so he didn't need to supervise them.

After Zhang Yu hung up the phone, she tightly hugged the twenty-one discs to her chest.

She didn't even notice her own photos scattered on the floor, as she looked at her son sleeping soundly.

She murmured to herself, "My son, soon you won't suffer from the torment of illness, soon you'll be well."

At the same time, her heart was pounding, hoping the person on the phone would arrive quickly.

After an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on the door.

Zhang Yu, who had fallen asleep by the bed, was woken up by the noise.

She quickly walked to the door and opened it.

A young man wearing a baseball cap and a mask appeared before her.