“He didn’t want you to see this person, of course. So actually, without needing confirmation, we can be sure this man is connected to your mother. Are you sure you still want to go?”
Just as Li Jinyu finished speaking, the car slowly stopped at the entrance. Ye Meng slammed the door with a heavy and determined bang that made his ears ring. She bent down and said to Li Jinyu through the car window, “You say you’re here to spend the rest of your life with your grandmother, and it’s the same for me. I just want to know why my mother committed suicide back then. Because you don’t know how much she loved me—she couldn’t possibly have abandoned me to die.”
Ye Meng’s mother was from out of town, a young girl who grew up in the north. Later, she followed her father to the southern provincial capital to do business, where she met Ye Meng’s father, who was studying at the university in the provincial capital at that time. She then married and moved to Ning Sui. The young girl who had grown up carefree and cherished by her parents never imagined she would marry into a family that was in the eye of the storm. None of the aunts in the Ye family could bear children, so all their hopes were placed on her. Although the old lady didn’t say anything, those expectant gazes and daily prayers, along with the gossip and cold stares of those watching the spectacle in the small town, more or less affected Ye Meng’s mother, who had always been sensitive. Add to that the changes in her figure before and after pregnancy, and her husband’s silent cowardice, it was almost unsurprising that she developed depression.
But all this never affected her love for Ye Meng.
Ye Meng was a person who understood the value of reciprocity. All these years, she knew in her heart that her grandmother and aunts had wanted a boy, but even though she was a girl, they had always treasured her like a jewel. But this love had a barrier. The only one who loved her unreservedly was her mother. She kept everyone else outside that barrier, giving them a very polite, official, and considerate response.
Only with her mother could she surrender herself completely. She seemed enthusiastic, but in reality, she was quite cold-hearted.
So she always held a grudge about her mother’s death. If there was even the slightest clue, she wouldn’t miss it.
…
Dai Ji Restaurant.
At that time, a bespectacled hotel attendant with a crew cut came out of private room 502. He silently calculated in his mind that there were still five minutes until the next dish would be served. He could go to the entrance for a smoke. Just as he took out his lighter, he looked up to find a stack of bright red Mao bills in front of him.
Ye Meng had waited a long time but couldn’t find a female attendant. Fortunately, the male and female attendants at this hotel wore the same uniforms, differing only in size. Ye Meng’s pants were too big and she couldn’t wear them, so she loosely put on just the top. Luckily, her pants were already black suit pants of the same color system, so they looked quite matching. By the time she finished changing and came out, the bespectacled crew-cut attendant had already changed into another set of work clothes that he kept in the break room.
“You have a lot of clothes,” Ye Meng teased him.
The crew cut guy had a look like she was inexperienced, “I have several sets. Working in a restaurant, spilling dishes happens all the time. Hurry up, the next dish is about to be served, I’ll take it for you. And don’t think I’m helping you because of that five hundred yuan. I also have a heart for justice and an axe of love. I definitely won’t tolerate outsiders committing crimes on our turf.” After thinking a bit, he cautiously added, “If that person is a fugitive, you—you—you—you… wait until they leave before calling the police, okay?”
“Okay, okay, okay,” Ye Meng perfunctorily agreed while tying her belt, “You are a passionate good youth.”
The private room door opened a crack, and Ye Meng gently pushed it open. That man was also wearing an ill-fitting suit. He was burly, with a delicate Hermès belt cinching his round belly. Li Jinyu was right—he was quite young, about thirty-five or thirty-six, wearing a jade-inlaid gold thumb ring on his hand, which he kept turning.
Somehow, seeing him sitting with Cheng Kairan, Ye Meng immediately visualized a scene of a fat monk and a skinny monk doing business together, only to be swindled out of their investment.
A stick of sandalwood incense was burning in the private room, with wisps of smoke rising. Even through the hazy smoke, Ye Meng could be certain she had never seen him before. This man was not the one her mother had met a few days before her death.
But she could confirm that this jade-inlaid gold thumb ring was the same one worn by that man back then.
“Your vinegar fish,” Ye Meng bent down and said softly.
Cheng Kairan instinctively looked up, his expression changing immediately. Ye Meng calmly winked at him, indicating that he should remain calm: “Please enjoy. The next dish will be ready in three minutes.”
The fat monk didn’t pay much attention, merely glancing up at Ye Meng, his eyes slightly appraising, “Why did they change to a female attendant? She’s quite pretty.”
Cheng Kairan looked at her for a while, then picked up the conversation: “The town isn’t that particular, whoever’s free comes.”
Ye Meng gently closed the door and walked to the staircase corner, leaning against the wall, counting in her mind: 1, 2, 3…
10—
“What are you doing here?” Cheng Kairan grabbed her and pulled her into the corridor, “How did you know I was here?”
Ye Meng smiled, “Who is that man?”
Cheng Kairan held back his anger, “Where’s Li Jinyu?”
Ye Meng looked at him persistently, turning a deaf ear, already 70-80% certain in her heart. Afraid of eavesdroppers, she calmly took out her phone and typed a string of words—
[Are you investigating my mother’s matter?]
[I’m doing business with him. You leave first, I’ll tell you about it later.]
The crew-cut guy hadn’t been able to smoke earlier as he was interrupted and had his clothes taken by Ye Meng. Now, wearing a new set of work clothes, he was happily preparing to go to the entrance for another smoke. Just as he took out his lighter, miraculously, another bright red Mao bill appeared in front of him.
The crew cut guy thought he had soul-transmigrated into Doraemon’s pocket. He couldn’t believe it and stuffed the lighter back to see if he could pull out more—but the Mao bill remained steadfast, just one hundred.
He looked up to see an extremely handsome man standing in front of him, smiling harmlessly and saying, “Come on, handsome, thanks for your hard work. Take off your clothes and give them to me.”
Crew cut guy: Again?!
Ye Meng was just about to go to the bathroom to change back into her clothes when she heard steady, calm footsteps in the corridor that somehow seemed familiar. She instinctively turned to look.
The bathroom was in the corner, and the corridor was long without a single light. Only a faint glow from the small window at the end provided some illumination. It was quiet and dim. Against that faint light, Ye Meng could only see a tall dark figure approaching her. Before she could make out who it was, a lean arm with a distinctly masculine presence reached out and, with lightning speed, not giving her time to react, directly and unexpectedly hooked around her neck and unceremoniously dragged her into the adjacent men’s bathroom.
Li Jinyu’s movements were clean, efficient, and orderly. Ye Meng was pushed against the door panel, still unsteady and tilting, when through the haze she saw that he had already calmly checked each toilet stall one by one, ensuring no one was there, before leaning against the sink and saying to her: “Did you find out? Is that man connected to your mother’s death?”
Ye Meng shook her head, “Although I haven’t seen him up close, I would still recognize him if I saw him, and it’s not him. But, weren’t you supposed to be at the hospital with your grandmother? How did you come here?”
“Come here,” Li Jinyu leaned against the sink with one hand in his pocket, beckoning to her.
Ye Meng walked over to him.
He said softly: “Cheng Kairan might be in some trouble. That car downstairs, the 5677, has fake plates.”
Ye Meng was surprised, “How did you find out?”
Li Jinyu said: “Because his license plate doesn’t match his car paint. Some plates are old and the paint is new, meaning it’s a new car with old plates. But this isn’t a new car. His paint job is freshly done, and the paint underneath the bumper is the original color of the car. Some cars with fake plates are meant to show off, using fake plates from someone else’s luxury car, but his 5677 plate itself isn’t a prestigious number. It’s a smuggled or stolen car.”
“How did you notice his paint job?” Ye Meng asked again.
“Because I noticed there was someone in his car,” Li Jinyu looked down at her, lowering his voice, which was extremely hoarse, “Cheng Kairan has three cars, and all his men went to eat, leaving no one behind. But this guy left someone in his car. Do you know why he left someone? Because there’s no designated parking at the back hillside of the inpatient department, and during this parking peak time, someone might ask to move the car at any moment. They probably aren’t doing legitimate business, so they don’t dare leave a contact number on the car. If they don’t leave someone behind, others would call 114 (information), which would connect to the original owner’s phone. If the original owner is contacted, they would discover their license plate has been cloned.”
As he spoke, someone outside in the corridor loudly called for an attendant.
The crew-cut guy, who had somehow changed into yet another new set of work clothes, smiled and responded quickly, “Coming! How can I help you?”
“Bring two pots of tea to room 502.”
The footsteps gradually faded away.
Ye Meng peeked through the crack of the bathroom door, quietly checked that no one was around, then turned back to Li Jinyu, saying, “Could Cheng Kairan be in danger from him? He left his phone in the car, and just now he was typing on my phone. He seems to be helping me investigate my mother’s matter.”
Li Jinyu had somehow come to stand behind her. When Ye Meng turned around, she faced his solid chest, his breath gently on top of her head. She could only hear the pounding of a heart. The man looked down at her expressionlessly, and insincerely advised: “If he loves you to the bone, just marry him.”
…
The atmosphere in the private room was somewhat stagnant. After Cheng Kairan finished saying “Can we get the goods next week,” the fat monk didn’t say another word. Instead, he leisurely and methodically started drinking tea. Two boxes of premium Da Hong Pao tea, drinking until his eyes were bloodshot, yet the man kept swallowing it into his belly, not afraid of scalding himself.
After a while, the fat monk took a sip of tea, spat the tea leaves back, and said slowly: “You seem to be in a hurry, Brother Kai.”
Cheng Kairan felt he had been too foolish, showing too much eagerness. He should have said the week after next. He had never been an undercover agent and revealed his position as soon as he opened his mouth. This fat guy was already suspicious of him. When it came to paranoia, he had thought his case was severe, but here was someone with terminal paranoia.
It made sense—how else could this guy afford a Mercedes if he wasn’t so paranoid? Thinking of his own second-hand Audi, bought through connections and exaggerated praise, he felt a wave of gloom.
Like a monkey, he showed a simple smile and said sheepishly: “Isn’t it my mother’s birthday next week? I want to buy a suitable gift for her in time.”
The fat monk was in the antique business. The thumb ring he wore, Cheng Kairan had seen in Ye Meng’s mother’s house. Cheng Kairan had always thought this was quite a coincidence. Although he had grown to hate Ye Meng intensely over these years, Ye Meng’s mother had always supported him during those years. When he was looked down upon by the townspeople and beaten like a drowning dog, it was Ye Meng’s mother who took him home to cook for him and take care of him. Ye Meng’s mother’s suicide had left Ye Meng resentful, and Cheng Kairan couldn’t let it go either. So, it had taken him several years to find this lead.
But he had never been clever. That he had made it this far was entirely due to his unwavering loyalty to his boss back then, which had earned him a promotion. When it came to intelligence, he probably wasn’t even half as smart as Ye Meng. Just a casual word or two from Ye Meng could anger him enough to leave without eating.
The fat monk didn’t believe him and showed a very contemptuous smile.
Suddenly, the private room door was pushed open again, and Ye Meng walked in carrying a small plate of fruit. Her posture was standard, like a professional hostess. She bowed to them, displaying professional training from somewhere, and said with a warm smile: “This is a complimentary fruit platter from our manager.”
Cheng Kairan was overwhelmed—why, why, why have you come again?
As Ye Meng turned to leave, she seemed to suddenly remember something and said to Cheng Kairan: “Oh, by the way, Brother Kai, the manager wants to know if you need champagne for your mother’s birthday party next week?”
What nearly blew Cheng Kairan’s mind, however, was that less than a minute later, Li Jinyu also entered wearing work clothes.
The two coordinated well—one engaged the fat monk in conversation, drawing his attention, while the other, while changing the tea water, casually slipped a note into Cheng Kairan’s palm.
Cheng Kairan’s palm was sweating. While Ye Meng was talking with the fat monk, completely blocking the line of sight, he opened the note and took a look.
[Tell him you don’t want it anymore. Don’t be a coward.]