Three days later, Qin Xiaoxia secretly decided to head out.

To be on the safe side, even though he was sure the little thief wouldn’t leave the house to follow him, Qin Xiaoxia still went to the center of Kehua District, which was a bit of a trek.

The urban layout of Yue City, a third-tier city, was different from that of a standard metropolis. Its districts encompassed numerous towns and villages. Just a few years ago, these areas were merely subordinate counties and had only recently been rezoned as urban districts.

But plans were one thing, and reality was another. The area was still a patchwork of towns and villages, interspersed with large swaths of undeveloped land, fields, and wilderness.

Around ten in the morning, Qin Xiaoxia arrived at a large pharmacy in Kehua District.

A pharmacist in a white coat gave Qin Xiaoxia a suspicious look, making him feel a little uncomfortable.

"Sir, you need a doctor’s prescription to purchase anesthetics or sedatives, including sleeping pills. You look quite energetic; you don’t seem to be suffering from insomnia."

Qin Xiaoxia froze, immediately realizing he was probably being mistaken for some kind of shady character.

"Haha, well, you see... lately, I’ve been waking up to find that things have been hidden around the house. I’m worried I might be sleepwalking, so I wanted to try some sleeping pills."

The pharmacist looked completely unconvinced.

"Sir, sleeping pills don’t treat sleepwalking. In a situation like yours, you should go to a hospital first, get a prescription from a doctor, and then we can fill it for you."

His tone had become noticeably sterner.

Even someone as thick-skinned as Qin Xiaoxia felt deeply embarrassed. Mumbling apologies, he gave a hollow laugh and left the pharmacy.

He hadn’t been able to get what he wanted at the pharmacy, but in this day and age, there were plenty of people looking to buy strange things. There were always some back channels to be found.

These channels played a constant game of cat and mouse with law enforcement. They never lasted long, but they were impossible to stamp out completely.

After leaving the pharmacy, Qin Xiaoxia, having learned from his bitter experience, decided to try and find one of those channels.

"Powerful aphro... Works in one minute... The ultimate XXX weapon..."

When he searched online for terms like "anesthetic" or "knockout drugs," all that popped up were these kinds of ad slogans. They looked completely bogus.

’#$@%! How can ads like this even get approved...’

While inwardly cursing the internet moderators, Qin Xiaoxia thought of someone.

Yep. Brother Gou.

Qin Xiaoxia remembered having seen quite a few "forbidden toys" in Gou Junbao’s house.

These things weren’t forbidden when people born in the 70s, 80s, or even 90s were kids, but they were no longer legal toys.

And Gou Junbao had a special fondness for them—high-quality replicas, at that. As for where he got them... heh.

Naturally, you couldn’t buy these things through normal channels. In Qin Xiaoxia’s mind, people who sold illegal goods were the type who would do anything for a buck. They might have the right connections.

On his way back from Kehua District, Qin Xiaoxia made sure to stop by a cake shop with good online reviews to buy some pastries.

For the time being, he decided to treat the little thief as a "minor."

After all, what kid doesn’t like sweets? Cream cakes, in particular, were irresistible.

However, he bought one made with non-dairy cream. The ones with real dairy cream were too expensive—a tiny one cost as much as a whole roast chicken.

...

At a Lanzhou ramen shop in Qingzhen, after waiting for a little over ten minutes, Qin Xiaoxia was finally joined by Gou Junbao, who had rushed over during his lunch break, taking advantage of the perks of his job.

"I’m telling you, Little Hero, what was so urgent you had to drag me all the way out here? Oh, right, I still haven’t paid you for your work the other day. It’s not about that, is it?"

Gou Junbao spotted Qin Xiaoxia the moment he walked in. Teasing him, he grabbed a can of beer from the beverage cooler, cracked it open, and took a swig.

"Boss, one bowl of beef ramen!"

"You got it!"

Qin Xiaoxia was already digging into the bowl of ramen in front of him, a bag of small cakes sitting at his side. He ignored Gou Junbao’s joke.

Seeing this, Gou Junbao reached for the little cakes himself.

Qin Xiaoxia slapped his hand away.

"These aren’t for you. I need them for something."

Gou Junbao smirked.

"You, you... Alright, spill it. What’s up?"

As he asked, he pulled out his phone and sent a digital red envelope to Qin Xiaoxia. The amount was 588 yuan, 88 more than they had agreed upon.

"Hey, Brother Gou, come on, we’re friends. No need to be so formal."

Qin Xiaoxia put down his chopsticks, a wide smile on his face. His words were pleasant, but he accepted the transfer faster than anyone could blink.

Gou Junbao’s eye twitched at the sight.

"Brother Gou, I really do have something to ask you this time. That seller you get your ’pet’ toys from... are they well-connected?"

(The term "pets" mostly refers to "chickens" and "dogs," which are general terms for airsoft guns. Some use glass marbles or small steel balls as ammunition. "Chickens" are usually spring-cocking air guns, while "dogs" are often electric or powered by gas canisters. Their power levels vary.)

"What, you want to get into the hobby? Heh, I only mess with these at home. If I took them outside, they’d be confiscated for sure. But to be honest, that seller offers a lot of different things. Sometimes I see their social media posts and break into a cold sweat."

Just then, the ramen arrived. Gou Junbao snapped apart his disposable chopsticks, gave the noodles a quick stir, added a dollop of the shop’s chili sauce, and started slurping it down.

Eager to please, Qin Xiaoxia added a bit more chili sauce to his friend’s bowl, pushed two of the small cakes toward him, and then slid over the fried egg he had ordered for himself.

"Brother Gou, I’m not looking to buy ’pets.’ I want to buy something else... um, like some really potent knockout drugs."

"GULP—COUGH COUGH COUGH..."

Gou Junbao choked on the mouthful of beer he was trying to swallow, coughing uncontrollably.

He stared at Qin Xiaoxia in utter disbelief.

"Cough, cough... Little Hero, I never would have guessed! You... you’re an animal!"

"What the hell! It’s not what you think! I need it for something important!"

"Important like what?"

"Er... would you believe me if I said it was for my insomnia?"

Gou Junbao stared at Qin Xiaoxia without blinking, his face an open book of disbelief.

"Fine! My house is haunted, and I want to knock the ghost out!"

Gou Junbao’s mouth twitched.

"You won’t believe the truth, so I’ll have to tell you a lie. My buddy’s girlfriend cheated on him. We’ve already found the bastard she did it with, and we’re planning to use a honey trap to lure him in, knock him out, and teach him a lesson!"

Qin Xiaoxia said this with a perfectly crafted expression of righteous indignation, then added,

"I’m in charge of getting the drugs."

Gou Junbao was stunned.

"Don’t joke around. This is too ridiculous!"

But Qin Xiaoxia maintained his pained and indignant expression.

They stared at each other for a moment.

Gou Junbao opened his mouth.

"Is it... Huang Jiutian?"

As far as Gou Junbao knew, the only person the homebody Qin Xiaoxia would call a "buddy" was Huang Jiutian. The only other person was Gou Junbao himself, and he definitely hadn’t been cheated on! ’Pah! Not now, not ever!’

With a solemn expression, Qin Xiaoxia nodded and sighed.

"Sigh... If you see him, don’t you dare bring this up. It’s best to act like you don’t know anything. If a few of us hadn’t happened to spot them while we were out for barbecue the other day, he never would have told anyone who it was. That’s Jiutian for you. He looks cheerful, but once he gets stuck on something, he’s liable to do something stupid! But tell me, as his brother, don’t you think I have to get even for him?"

For a moment, Gou Junbao didn’t know what to say. His mind was racing, trying to picture the whole sordid affair. It took him a long while to snap out of it.

"Damn right you should! Is there anything I can do to help?"

Qin Xiaoxia quickly pushed the plate with the fried egg a little closer to him.

"Brother Gou, you don’t need to get involved. We know where to draw the line; we won’t go too far. Just give me the contact, that’s all. Whether we end up taking naked pictures of the bastard or something else is a discussion for later."

Gou Junbao was still a little worried, afraid that Qin Xiaoxia and his young friends might do something that crossed the line.

But when he thought of the cheerful-looking young Huang Jiutian suffering such a painful experience, Gou Junbao silently nodded in agreement.

...

"Heh, this seller has some serious nerve, stocking so many restricted and dangerous items! Hmm... ’Potent Sleeping Agent.’ This should do the trick!"

Muttering to his phone screen, Qin Xiaoxia took a walk through the park after lunch to aid his digestion.