Chapter 104: Cover Up

Bi Qiao’an felt the leadership at Qingli Mountain’s farm was truly clever. Scheduling the slaughtering at this time allowed them to earn a tidy profit while avoiding potential future losses.

Following the crowd, Shen Yanming bought a few dozen pounds of pork and mutton from the farm. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to buy more, but the farm simply didn’t have that much meat left. This time, they had culled almost all their livestock and poultry, keeping only a small number of younglings.

After lunch, the group packed up their belongings, preparing to head home. Shen Yanming let Director Zhu know that since they had bought so much meat, they would visit a friend first. He then left with Bi Qiao’an, Ji Kangyong, and Li Zhaozhao by another route—precisely, the route to the warehouse.

Half an hour later, Shen Yanming brought the group into the warehouse. Seeing the mountain of boxes, Li Zhaozhao and Ji Kangyong rushed to start unpacking them one by one. It was all meat and fruits, all kinds of dried fruits!

Li Zhaozhao’s eyes lit up. “Old Shen, you’re awesome! No wonder you’re the most successful among us buddies!”

Ji Kangyong was equally excited. “Now I get why you two weren’t in any hurry buying meat—you were already prepared!”

Shen Yanming nodded. “We can’t haul all this back in just our two cars. You guys go rent a small truck and move it back tonight.”

“Where are we taking it? To a warehouse?” Li Zhaozhao asked.

“Home, you think we can really hide this haul?” Shen Yanming stated matter-of-factly.

Indeed, while Shen Yanming had avoided others by purchasing these supplies, he made no real attempt to conceal them. Because these supplies were themselves a cover-up, a half-truth to obscure his dealings with Zeng Yiming.

After some discussion, they decided Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an would head home first to smooth things over with security. Ji Kangyong would rent the truck while Li Zhaozhao followed in his car to assist.

Shen Yanming had no objections. He took Bi Qiao’an home by car, not returning to Qingyu Community until hours later.

Upon inquiry, they learned the night shift guards on duty were Chen Shunwei and Wang Lai. Bi Qiao’an marveled at their fortuitous encounters with these two young guards whenever something came up.

Rather than rushing, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an parked in the basement, unloaded their luggage, storage boxes, meat, and fruit haul into the storeroom, before enjoying a nice hot bath and sleep.

It wasn’t until 12:30 a.m. that Shen Yanming brought Bi Qiao’an to the community’s security office. Spotting the couple, Chen Shunwei and Wang Lai welcomed them eagerly.

“Mr. and Mrs. Shen, what brings you here? Is there something we can help with?” Chen Shunwei asked.

Shen Yanming handed him some dried fruit. “We were on vacation at Qingli Mountain during the holidays and bought some meat from the farm there. But we have quite a lot, so the delivery won’t arrive until around 1:30 a.m.”

Chen Shunwei understood immediately. “Rest assured, Mr. Shen, I’ll let them in as soon as they arrive. Wang Lai and I are tight-lipped. The surveillance cameras at that time…”

Recalling Shen Yanming’s consistent kindness, Chen Shunwei firmed his resolve. “…will have malfunctioned in the early morning hours.”

Shen Yanming smiled. While being caught on camera wasn’t that serious to him, having Chen Shunwei handle it was convenient.

However, disabling the cameras would at most prevent the community from knowing how much they purchased. Anyone truly determined could still get that information from Qingli Mountain.

Rather than going home, Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an chatted with Chen Shunwei and Wang Lai in the security office. The two guards shared some recent family anecdotes and updates about the city, while the couple recounted Qingli Mountain’s scenery and the malicious mother-daughter duo’s antics.

Hearing this, Chen Shunwei broke out in a cold sweat, appalled that children around his daughter’s age could harbor such darkness.

Before they knew it, the depths of night had arrived when Shen Yanming received a call—Ji Kangyong had exited the highway and would reach Qingyu Community in about 10 minutes. Chen Shunwei timed it to shut off the surveillance just before the truck pulled through the gates.

Shen Yanming and Bi Qiao’an rode with Li Zhaozhao to Building 6, Wang Lai tagging along to help while Chen Shunwei stayed in the office.

It took them many trips to move all the cargo into Building 6, dividing it into four portions—one for Shen Yanming’s home, one for Zhang Heping’s, and the final two for Ji Kangyong’s place.

With Zhang Heping on night shift, Shen Yanming used the spare key he had left to store Zhang’s share in his storeroom.

As for Li Zhaozhao, fearing his family might compromise the supplies as favors, he opted to move his portion into Ji Kangyong’s home, since the single Ji had no relatives to worry about.

After an arduous evening transferring everything, Ji Kangyong stayed behind to organize his and Li Zhaozhao’s shares while Li Zhaozhao drove the rental truck back home. Of their group, only the unemployed Li Zhaozhao had no work the next day, giving him time to rest before returning the rental. Li Zhaozhao sighed. He really didn’t want to make this extra trip!

Shen Yanming and Wang Lai took the truck back to the community entrance. From the truck, Shen Yanming unloaded two boxes of canned meat. “These are for you two, remember to hide them well!”

“No, no need. We didn’t do much to deserve so much,” Chen Shunwei stammered.

Li Zhaozhao hopped off the truck. “Just take them. Since Old Shen and the others are here, you two should give them a bit more support going forward. Don’t be so modest and wishy-washy.”

Accepting the boxes, Chen Shunwei thought inwardly, ‘Wishy-washy? You have no idea how difficult it is to get meat these days.’ This small box alone would last his family two to three months.

After Li Zhaozhao left, Shen Yanming also returned home. Seeing only Wang Lai remained with him, Chen Shunwei exclaimed, “Good heavens, how capable is Mr. Shen? You have no idea, but those boxes of meat could feed me for years!”

Chen Shunwei smacked Wang Lai’s head. “Forget everything you saw tonight and keep your mouth shut. Mr. Shen is clearly someone of great ability. Plus, he’s been good to us both—think of all the benefits we’ve received from him.”

Rubbing his head, Wang Lai replied, “I know, I’m not ungrateful. Since Mr. Shen is so kind to us, if we stay on good terms, he’ll surely lend a hand should we face difficulties in the future.

“There aren’t many people with basic decency left these days. Who knows what the future may hold? I have a feeling that no matter how much we could help Mr. Shen, it pales compared to what he could do for us.”

Chen Shunwei nodded. “Building a good relationship with Mr. Shen is truly our blessing!”

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