"Don't worry, the purpose of the carrier pigeon is to let me know that you need my help. I'll still come and look for you. After all, this is what I'm paid to do. I'm someone who has professional ethics," Yao Nian said as he looked at Qiao Mei resignedly.
If not for the fact that he had not earned enough money yet, he really wanted to quit this line of work and go to a mountain village to live a self-sufficient life. It was really tiring to have a job when he was on tenterhooks every day.
When he worked as a private agent for other people, the issues he was asked to investigate were all trivial matters, such as who had stolen the Zhang family's chickens, or whether the girl from the Li family was being intimate with another man, or to look for missing items.
However, the things that Xia Zhe wanted them to investigate were completely different. They either had to investigate people from prominent families, or they had to delve into military secrets or things related to mafia organizations. Each and every case was dangerous and life-threatening. If not for the fact that they owed Xia Zhe a favor and did not have enough money, they would have quit long ago.
"Then let's get down to business. I would like you to help me investigate a person. To be precise, it's a family with the surname Ye." Before Qiao Mei could finish speaking, Yao Nian took out a folder from his pocket.
"This is all the information related to that family, as well as a list of all the suspicious people who had come into contact with them," Yao Nian said.
Qiao Mei opened the envelope doubtfully. The photo on the front page was really of the Ye family's mother and daughter. No wonder Xia Zhe kept such a team on standby in the capital. They were much faster than any of the Xia family's secret spies.
However, why did such a capable secret agent only take orders from Xia Zhe and not become one of the Xia family's secret spies?
"That's because I don't want to work so hard, but I still need money, so I only work for Xia Zhe. I'm not the only one. There are two more people who are also Xia Zhe's secret agents," Yao Nian explained.
Could it be that Yao Nian had some kind of special ability like her? How did Yao Nian know exactly what she was thinking?
"How do you know what I'm thinking of?" Qiao Mei asked.
"I'm a secret agent. I need to investigate many things in the dark. I have to investigate things that are not put down in writing and can only be found out through observing the relationships between people. I can't go to their houses one by one to ask them, can I? The only thing I can do is to observe their every move." When Yao Nian explained these things, he spoke as if he was explaining to a fool about why humans needed to drink water.
"If you become a psychiatrist, you'll be a very good one," Qiao Mei said seriously.
"But the things that come out of my mouth will make the patient wish that he's dead. I'm going off. If you need anything else, use that stupid pigeon to contact me." After walking out of the door, Yao Nian disappeared into the night.
The pigeon stared at the door blankly and motionlessly. In the end, it fell over and onto the bottom of the birdcage.
Qiao Mei looked up at the birdcage for a moment and then lowered her head to continue reading the information on the Ye family. This pigeon must have fainted from grief.
It seemed that this pigeon was really out of the ordinary. It was not a bad idea to raise it as a pet. Perhaps in the future, it could become a pigeon with special abilities after eating the food produced using her energy?
Now that she thought about it, it was indeed something for her to look forward to.
Seeing that Qiao Mei stayed in the study until late at night and slept there again, Sister Feng wanted to move a bed into the study. She did not know what Qiao Mei was so busy with every day that she had to spend the night inside the study.
"Mei Mei, don't tire yourself out. It's not good for your health," Feng Hua said worriedly.
In order for Qiao Mei to get more nourishment, Feng Hua even specially made some black chicken soup with ginseng roots for her. It was a very nourishing dish!
"Alright, I'll definitely take Sister Feng's advice. Sister Feng, please ask Sister Xu to get the car ready. Elder Sister and I are going to the Deng family's house later," Qiao Mei said as she drank the soup.
Feng Hua immediately did as Qiao Mei asked and went out to do her work. After Qiao Mei finished eating, she took the brown paper bag and went with Xia He to the Deng family house in a low profile manner. They did not drive the car up to the house but slipped in through the alley at the back.
Deng Fan had told Xia He that when this house was built, there was a very obscure small door installed as an emergency escape route. The two of them entered the Deng family's house through this small door.
"I really don't expect your house to have something like this. It's such a big surprise to me. If I had known that you are so capable, I would have hired you when I repaired my courtyard house. Come to think about it, it's really quite a pity," Qiao Mei said regretfully.