It wasn't just that. More importantly, since Zhou Ren believed neither of his sons was his, why did he still invite everyone over for dinner and spend the morning fiddling in the kitchen?
Did Zhou Ren have a problem and just enjoy being a father?
No, something was very wrong.
Ren Yu realized what Liu Chen had noticed.
They exchanged a look, reading a single sentence from each other's eyes: they had searched everywhere in this house, but there was one place they had never been!
The kitchen!
Although Liu Chen had guessed what was happening, her heartbeat was so loud that she couldn't even hear what Ren Yuanying was saying.
She gasped for air, feeling as if she couldn't breathe.
Despite this, Liu Chen still remembered to send a message to Sang Ling on her phone.
'Sang Ling, stall Ren Mo, don't let him come back, and stay away from the neighborhood.'
Zhou Ren naturally saw his eldest daughter-in-law sending a message on her phone. However, in his eyes, his eldest daughter-in-law was likely sharing this with her friend, his youngest daughter-in-law.
Therefore, Zhou Ren didn't think of stopping her at all.
As for Ren Yuanying, because she was sitting to Liu Chen's left, she clearly saw what Liu Chen sent to Sang Ling, and then later, Liu Chen closed the chat window and opened a contact named Guō. Ān, sending a text message.
Seeing this, Ren Yuanying almost had her heart jump out of her chest.
Because Liu Chen had sent:
We are at Zhou Ren's home, Nanshan District, Building 3, Unit 302. There is a suspected timing bomb in the room. The suspect is suspected to be Zhou Ren. Zhou Ren repeatedly mentioned the mealtime and urged everyone to return, suspecting that the mealtime is the time of the bomb explosion.
Liu Chen deliberately let Ren Yuanying see the text message she was sending. On one hand, it was to let Ren Yuanying understand the current situation and predicament, and to remain as stable as possible, not to provoke Zhou Ren further. On the other hand, it was to get Ren Yuanying to cooperate with her subsequent actions.
Of course, besides Ren Yuanying, Xia Tian and Dong Tian also saw the text message Liu Chen sent.
In the living room, apart from Zhou Ren, who was still talking, everyone else, despite managing to maintain their previous expressions, had their fingers and toes frozen.
Just as Zhou Ren was about to say something else, Liu Chen noticed that only fifteen minutes remained until the countdown.
If it has to be done, it has to be done!
"Ren Yu!"
Liu Chen suddenly stood up, suppressing Zhou Ren, who was sitting in a single armchair.
After being startled, Zhou Ren immediately resisted, but how could Zhou Ren, who had sat in an office for decades, be a match for Ren Yu?
"Dong Tian, watch him!"
The reason Liu Chen asked Ren Yu to act was because Ren Yu was sitting closest to Zhou Ren, and on Zhou Ren's side. It would take Zhou Ren some time to react, and this time would be enough for Ren Yu to subdue him.
As soon as Liu Chen spoke, panic appeared on Zhou Ren's face, but he quickly suppressed it, glaring fiercely at Liu Chen:
"You little girl! This is your first time at your father-in-law's house, and you're rummaging through everything and having your bodyguard subdue me! Even if you're Ren Yu's partner, you're too arrogant! You're not welcome here! Get out with your lackeys!"
However, Zhou Ren was destined to be disappointed. Liu Chen ignored what Zhou Ren said. After Dong Tian helped to tie Zhou Ren up with a rope, Liu Chen and Ren Yu quickly went to the kitchen.
Opening the sliding door of the kitchen, they saw two pressure cookers on the cabinet and a rice cooker, which was plugged in and kept warm.
There was also a wok on the stove, and through the glass lid of the wok, they could see chili stir-fried with meat.
Liu Chen quickly scanned the items on the countertop, then immediately squatted down, mentally trying to open the cabinets in front of her one by one. The temperature of the mobile phone charm did not change, still rising at a certain rate.
This meant that opening the cabinet doors would not pose a danger.
"I'll search this side, you search that side."
Liu Chen had never disliked a U-shaped kitchen as much as she did now. To avoid missing anything, Liu Chen even took out everything from the cabinets, but still couldn't find anything resembling a bomb.
After searching both sets of base cabinets, they stood on stools and searched the wall cabinets above as well.
There was nothing, except for some simple bowls, chopsticks, and seasonings. The kitchen was very clean.
They shifted their gaze to the refrigerator.
This time, they didn't compete over who would search, but rather, with great tacit understanding, one searched the fresh food compartment and the other searched the freezer.
"Nothing."
"I don't have anything here either."
They found nothing. Only ten minutes remained until the countdown given by the system task.
Zhou Ren, who was firmly controlled by Dong Tian, gradually lost the tension on his face as he heard the sounds of rummaging in the kitchen, replaced by a calm demeanor.
He even said:
"Ren Yuanying, look at the daughter-in-law you found. I'm not saying this, but even the illiterate people from my old village were more well-behaved than her..."
"Slap!"
Before Zhou Ren could finish speaking, he was hit with such force that his head turned to the side.
Ren Yuanying, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa since earlier, rushed forward upon hearing Zhou Ren's words and slapped him across the face with a half-swing.
This slap was delivered without any restraint. Although Ren Yuanying was not someone who did manual labor, she was not a frail person. Combined with the force of the swing and the weight, it naturally resulted in a severe blow to Zhou Ren.
Zhou Ren, who had been feigning calmness, was stunned for a moment and then began to curse:
"Ren Yuanying, are you crazy! You dare to hit me?! Do you think I'm still the powerless Zhou Ren I used to be!"
Ren Yuanying stood in front of Zhou Ren and sneered upon hearing his words:
"Zhou Ren, I'll ask you one question. Where did you put the bomb? If you don't say, I'll dismember you."
Zhou Ren, who had been furious moments ago, suddenly deflated upon hearing the word "bomb."
He sat down as if meditating, suddenly losing all his anger.
Unable to find the bomb he had inferred, Liu Chen also became uncertain.
Thinking of the words in the system task, Liu Chen glanced at the task countdown, which showed only ten minutes left.
Liu Chen silently thought, "Now, open the door and let everyone run out of this building."
The charm remained unresponsive?
Previously, when she thought this, the charm had warned her of danger.
Wait!
Liu Chen stood up and quickly walked to the door, pressing down on the doorknob and then pushing outwards.
The security door did not budge. Liu Chen tried several times and confirmed that the door had been locked from the inside with a key.
Hearing the movement behind him, Zhou Ren's face showed a faint sneer, as if he was sure Liu Chen couldn't open the door.
Seeing this, Dong Tian quickly stepped forward, pulled out a thin wire from the sole of his shoe, and inserted it into the keyhole of the door.
The wire had not even penetrated the depth of a fingernail before it was blocked from the outside.
Seeing this, Dong Tian squatted down, shone his phone's flashlight inside, then stood up and shook his head:
"The keyhole is blocked with glue."
Upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Zhou Ren's face.
He had seen Ren Yu and her partner rummaging through the room earlier and had been wary of them. Later, when they went to the study, he simply sealed the lock cylinder of the door with 502 glue.
As for whether Ren Mo would return?
He had originally planned to detonate the device when Ren Mo returned to open the door. It was just a cheap security door, and it couldn't withstand such a large explosion.
It was a pity that everything was going smoothly, but it was all ruined by that girl named Liu Chen.
However...
Even if he didn't detonate it himself, it would detonate on its own when the time came. It was just a pity, he wondered if Ren Mo would be able to return by then?
Zhou Ren was calculating in his mind, never worrying that these people would escape.
After all, they didn't know that his house was about to explode. To them, it was at most that he had trapped them in the house. Even if they called the fire department, they would only try to open the door.
By then, his house would have already exploded.
Just as Zhou Ren felt everything was under control, he heard Liu Chen speak from behind him:
"Godmother, come with me to the study."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ren's expression changed drastically.
The study window did not have a security grille. He hadn't installed one initially because he felt that the security grille would make the view ugly when looking out from the study chair.
Could this Liu Chen be...
Thinking of this, Zhou Ren exerted all his strength to twist his head to the side and look.
As he looked, he saw Liu Chen's tense expression.
The study window was a sliding type. Once one side was opened, there was the outdoor unit of the air conditioner, and below it was the roof of the security grille of the floor below.
Ren Yu poked her head out and her face turned pale upon seeing this.
"Heh heh, although my third floor isn't that high, for you to try to land from the window, it's still a ten-meter drop. You'll either die or be crippled."
Zhou Ren said triumphantly, seeing Ren Yu's expression at this moment.
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a head suddenly appear outside the window.
"Hello, one by one, let's move quickly."
This person seemed to know everything that was happening inside the room.
Liu Chen gently pushed Ren Yu outwards, and the firefighter outside quickly grabbed Ren Yu's hands and helped her down the ladder.
Next were Dong Tian and Zhou Ren, then Xia Tian.
Finally, only Liu Chen and Ren Yu were left. Liu Chen's mobile phone charm was still burning hot. Liu Chen hesitated for a moment and, under the confused gaze of the firefighter outside, dashed back to the kitchen.
Seeing Liu Chen's reaction, Ren Yu followed closely. Upon entering the kitchen, he grabbed the rice cooker before Liu Chen could.
However, upon seeing Ren Yu's hand, Liu Chen's direction changed abruptly, and she picked up a brand new pressure cooker placed between the rice cooker and another pressure cooker.
As Liu Chen lifted this pressure cooker, her arms trembled slightly because she discovered that there seemed to be a sound inside the pressure cooker.
"Drip, drip, drip..."
In the quiet room, Ren Yu clearly heard the rhythmic sound. At this moment, Ren Yu suppressed his breathing and followed Liu Chen step by step, afraid to make a sound, for fear of startling Chenchen. If Chenchen's hand trembled, who knew if the bomb inside would detonate?
When Liu Chen carried the pressure cooker back to the study, the firefighter outside was still there. Upon seeing the pressure cooker in Liu Chen's hand, he was also stunned:
"Are you guys taking the stewed soup with you?"
Liu Chen's taut heart finally relaxed upon hearing this.
She glanced at the one-minute countdown on the task panel and swallowed.
"Ren Yu, you go first."
Ren Yu shook his head: "What are you going to do? How can I help you?"
Liu Chen looked at the countdown and no longer wasted time, her gaze flitting between the window and the lake in the wetland park next to the neighborhood.
"Everyone spread out, away from this wall."
After saying this, Liu Chen's expression became serious. She held the still beeping pressure cooker with both hands, braced one foot against the wall, and placed the other foot on the floor parallel to it.
While doing this, Liu Chen was not idle. She had pasted almost all the lucky charms from her backpack.
Of course, with just lucky charms, she wouldn't dare to hold the explosives.
To outsiders, Liu Chen's arms were trembling slightly, and they thought it was because the weight of the pressure cooker made her unable to hold it. But it wasn't. The reason Liu Chen was trembling was purely out of fear.
The pressure cooker had been covered with a "Hundred Transformations Charm" by Liu Chen, making it very easy to handle, weighing about three to four pounds.
If it weren't for the fact that the charm was still scorching hot just now, Liu Chen would not have risked going back to pick up this pressure cooker.
But when she picked up the pressure cooker and used the "Hundred Transformations Charm," making the pressure cooker lighter, the temperature of the mobile phone charm began to gradually decrease.
This proved that Liu Chen's idea was likely feasible.
But the key was that Liu Chen was very concerned. At a height of ten meters, and the distance to the lake in the wetland park, although less than two or three meters, it was obvious that the farther the bomb was thrown, the better.
This would reduce the bomb's power and its impact on the surroundings.
Seeing the countdown reach 45 seconds, Liu Chen shouted:
"Everyone get down, protect your heads!"
After shouting this, Liu Chen rotated her arms holding the pressure cooker halfway and then threw it out the window. As Liu Chen threw the pressure cooker out the window, people outside screamed and ran towards the other side of the building.
However, the pressure cooker did not fall directly to the ground as they had imagined. Instead, like an apple, it was thrown directly onto the lake surface, at least four or five meters away from the shore.
Since everyone was within the neighborhood's perimeter wall, they couldn't see what was happening outside, so someone secretly grumbled:
"Could it be a fake bomb? After all, in this era, where can you get a bomb..."
Before he could finish speaking.
"Boom!!!"
A huge explosion sounded, directly drowning out the speaker's voice. The force of this explosion even caused a water surge nearly four stories high in the lake that had just been filled with water.
Liu Chen was directly pushed to the ground by Ren Yu, who used his body to shield Liu Chen's back and head.
The windows of the buildings closest to the lake were shattered by the shockwave of the explosion, and the glass in the study where Liu Chen and the others were located was also destroyed.
Liu Chen felt dizzy from the explosion. As the dizziness subsided, she opened her eyes and saw that Ren Yu's arm had a large gash from the exploding glass, bleeding profusely.
"Ren Yu, Ren Yu?"
After a few seconds, Ren Yu's voice came from the back of Liu Chen's head:
"I'm here, I'm here."
"Are you okay?"
After Liu Chen said this, she saw the injured arm move. He reached down and took a ring from his pocket.
"I'm fine, Chenchen, I love you."