Many children bring happiness, a shameless start

At midnight, only the streetlights remained in the darkness.

As the sounds of joy faded away, the light in Fiona's room was finally turned off for the last time.

For some reason, Lip, who had fallen asleep holding Mandy in his arms, felt more stable and calm than ever before, and soon drifted off to sleep.

In his dream, he held Mandy in his arms as they rode a black horse across an endless farm. It took him a while, but they finally returned to their country villa.

A group of children ran over, calling "Mom and Dad," eager to be hugged and lifted up.

Both he and Mandy wore happy smiles on their faces.

Suddenly, a loud, violent noise—"bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, splutter, splutter"—echoed through the entire Gallagher house.

Lip was immediately awakened. He knew exactly what the sound was—it wasn't horse hooves but gunfire. The slight vibrations on the house and window glass confirmed it.

Literally everyone in the house woke up!

Mandy immediately clung to Lip, and the two of them hid at the foot of the bed against the wall.

Glass shards and fragments fell all over the bed.

"Lip, has your family's enemy come to your door?" Mandy asked nervously.

"Our family only has a few neighbors, and we don't have a bad relationship with them, so this shouldn't be happening!" Lip explained patiently.

The gunshots lasted only a few seconds before the roar of an engine filled the air.

More than ten minutes later, after confirming no further sounds, Lip told Mandy to hide in the closet. Then, he quietly left the room.

Lip first returned to his own room to grab the baseball bat from behind the door.

After whispering some comforting words to Ian and Carl, he carefully made his way downstairs in the dark.

Using the dim light from the streetlamp, he felt his way along the walls, trying to find the light switch.

But there was no sign of anyone from the back door to the front door on the first floor.

"Strange! Did they come here at midnight just to stare at the house for a while?" Lip wondered aloud. "What is the other side planning?"

He slowly and carefully approached the window, observing for a moment to make sure everything was safe before heading back upstairs. He knocked on the doors to call out to the family. After a while, everyone was gathered in the living room, wrapped in sheets or blankets.

"This is the first time this has happened since I moved here," Fiona, usually steady, trembled in Steve's arms.

"What happened? Can anyone tell me?" Fiona spread her hands and covered her head, looking on the verge of collapse.

Ian, Carl, Debbie, and Liam huddled together tightly.

Mandy clung to Lip.

But Lip, though shocked, said nothing.

He was deep in thought.

This style of operation didn't feel like the local hoods or gangs.

They wouldn't dare to be so bold.

Shooting at midnight, only to leave afterward, was a clear message. It felt like a warning, something akin to an "ultimatum" directed at his house.

Lip wanted to test his theory, but as soon as he stood up, everyone turned to look at him.

"Lip, what are you doing?" Fiona asked in surprise.

"There should be something outside the door. I'll go check," he replied.

"You want to get yourself killed? What if there are gunmen lying in wait outside?" Fiona said, serious and angry. "Stay here, don't go anywhere!"

"I've called Tony, and he'll be here in a minute."

Fiona lowered her head, covering her face.

More than ten minutes later, a "dong dong dong" knock echoed through the house.

Everyone tensed, nervous and fearful.

"Who… who is it?" Fiona called out, her voice trembling.

"It's me, Fiona," Tony's voice answered from outside the door.

Steve quickly got up and opened the door.

Tony entered, holding an envelope.

"I found this envelope outside my door," Tony said, handing it to Fiona.

Fiona took the envelope, looking at Lip and the others.

"Don't look at me like that!" Lip surrendered, "Okay, okay, I'll explain."

Lip shared his reasoning with the family in detail.

"Lip, you're so smart! You should be a detective or a cop!" Tony praised.

"Three grams of oil, let's talk later!" Lip joked.

"Lip, open the letter!" Fiona urged, looking apologetic. "Sorry, I was a little impatient just now."

"It's okay!" Lip smiled, scratching his head. "Now that Tony's here, everyone doesn't have to be so nervous. Ian, can you turn on the lights now? And who's going to make some coffee?"

"I'll do it!" Mandy smiled and walked toward the kitchen.

"Let's drink some coffee to calm the nerves before opening this letter. I'm afraid no one will sleep after seeing what's inside."

"Lip, did you think of something?" Steve asked.

"If my judgment is right, this should be related to the gunfight I was in yesterday in Longguo City," Lip said calmly, leaving everyone stunned.

"Wait, what?!"

Everyone asked in unison.

Just as Lip was about to explain, music suddenly blared from upstairs.

A domineering female voice with a rock and smoky tone filled the air:

"And I say, hey hey hey hey I said hey, what's going on?"

"Excuse me, that's my ringtone!" Lip put the letter on the table and hurried upstairs. He had a feeling that the person calling was Jessica.