Hou Ning held the earpiece out to Zhu Yun again. She didn’t want to take it.
“Wu Zhen already walked away,” Hou Ning said. “Just listen — once you hear it, you won’t be jealous anymore. This is the real business.”
Zhu Yun took the earpiece. Inside she could hear the sound of high heels on the floor, but soon Wu Zhen reached somewhere quieter, lit a cigarette, and said: “He wouldn’t tell me anything.”
Another voice said: “Of course he wouldn’t if you asked directly.”
Zhu Yun’s back went cold the moment she heard Fang Zhijing’s voice — she recognized it immediately. She looked at Hou Ning. He raised a finger to his lips.
Almost immediately Wu Zhen shifted her tone again. “Then again, he did seem fairly interested in me. He gave me his contact details.”
Fang Zhijing laughed quietly. “Who wouldn’t be interested in you?”
Then came a stretch of damp, entangled sounds.
Wu Zhen said languidly: “But the most I’ll do is flirt with him. Don’t get any ideas about me actually doing anything with him — his attitude toward me is terrible. He’s nothing but a nouveau riche who’s made money on one project and thinks the world revolves around him. He smells too — cigarettes and sweat — I nearly choked. What a waste of those looks and that build.”
Fang Zhijing pressed against Wu Zhen’s lips and said: “Flirting is enough — go too deep and it’s easy to be caught out. Just remember: keep talking to him, get as much out of him as you can. You’re the best at this — you don’t need me to teach you.”
Wu Zhen pushed him. “What are you talking about — ‘getting things out’ of people. Everything I’ve done has been mutual.”
“Right, right, whatever you say.” Fang Zhijing murmured into Wu Zhen’s ear: “His people — the ones around him — avoid them if you can. None of them are harmless, especially their boss.”
Wu Zhen let out a lazy laugh. “Fine, I know. I’m going to sacrifice my looks for the cause. Shouldn’t you show a little appreciation?”
Fang Zhijing: “Of course. Jewelry, accessories — whatever you want.”
Wu Zhen made a dismissive sound. “Who cares about any of that?”
Fang Zhijing: “Then what do you want?”
Wu Zhen: “Shares, obviously.”
Fang Zhijing said nothing. Wu Zhen continued: “You’re gearing up for a stock market listing — don’t think I don’t know. Lao Gao in his current state has no fight left in him to go up against you. He works like a beast and earns less than a chicken, and in the end it’ll all come to nothing. I’m nothing like him. Don’t think you can get rid of me that easily.”
Fang Zhijing laughed softly. “Don’t worry — you’ll get your share. Compared to Gao Jianhong, I think you and I make a much better team.”
They spoke a little more about the details of the listing. Their company currently had sufficient capital but lacked any flagship projects. Most of their games were impressive on the surface but showed steep declining metrics three to six months after launch, making it difficult to pass the regulatory commission’s review.
“If we had a project on par with Playboy, things would be very different,” Fang Zhijing said.
Wu Zhen: “Then just make one. You and Lao Gao both have programming backgrounds — what are you lacking compared to that upstart?”
Fang Zhijing went quiet for a moment, as though not quite sure how to answer Wu Zhen’s question.
Wu Zhen: “Lao Gao’s been locking himself in his room writing code every day now, saying he’s going to develop a game better than Playboy. He’s not eating or sleeping properly. Doesn’t he know his own situation? He’s really trying to kill himself.”
Fang Zhijing: “The thing is, their system is quite unique. It needs real development time, and we don’t have enough of that right now.”
“Useless,” Wu Zhen said without mercy. “Can’t deliver when it counts — and in the end it comes down to the women. Men.”
Fang Zhijing patiently coaxed her: “Of course — women hold up half the sky.”
Wu Zhen was put out. “Who are you calling ‘women’? By the time I reach the age of being called a wom—mmph—!”
Wu Zhen got cut off mid-word as Fang Zhijing sealed her lips.
---
Zhu Yun removed the earpiece and stared at the dusty corner of the stairwell for a long moment, unable to pull herself together.
“Li Xun planned it all,” Hou Ning said. “He knew Fang Zhijing would have his eye on Playboy. Li Xun’s system was entirely independently developed — breaking it down and replicating it takes time. The shell company Fang Zhijing is using for the backdoor listing, ‘Juxin Toys,’ has already published its draft asset reorganization plan and is currently in the review stage. Fang Zhijing is definitely trying to maximize the company’s revenue data in this window.”
Zhu Yun was quiet a moment, then asked: “Will the monitoring on Wu Zhen’s phone be discovered?”
“Absolutely not.” This was finally his area of expertise. Hou Ning straightened up confidently. “The software I installed was written by me personally. It can be remotely uninstalled and leaves no trace whatsoever.”
“You’re sure.”
“Of course.”
Zhu Yun said quietly: “This isn’t a small matter.”
Hou Ning: “Relax, there’s no way anything goes wrong.” He then lowered his voice: “Don’t tell Li Xun that I told you.”
Zhu Yun: “Told me what?”
Hou Ning: “Li Xun originally didn’t want me to tell you. Right now only the three of us know — me, him, and Dong Siyang.”
Zhu Yun: “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Hou Ning looked at her for a moment. He was very thin — skin and bone — which made his eyes look unusually large. He gave her a shrewd look and said: “Do you genuinely not know, or are you pretending not to? What a waste for Li Xun, honestly. They’re not even together anymore, and he’s still walking on eggshells around your feelings. You don’t even take it seriously — and it’s made him lose all his swagger.”
Zhu Yun said nothing. Hou Ning said sarcastically: “And Political Commissar Zhu has a banner hanging in the office — you think I’m the only one who can see it? For someone like me, planting surveillance and tapping signals is just everyday stuff. But you don’t see it that way. Li Xun doesn’t want you to know he’s doing something underhanded.”
Zhu Yun: “This doesn’t count as underhanded. Fang Zhijing walked into this with bad intentions himself.”
“Oh, come on!” Hou Ning rolled his eyes. “Your principles are perfectly fine until Li Xun is involved, and then they go completely crooked! Exactly like Dong Siyang says — you can’t trust a word a woman says.”
Zhu Yun said coolly: “Do you want to go up to the roof for some fresh air again?”
Hou Ning shuddered involuntarily.
Zhu Yun said: “Send me a copy of any recordings of Wu Zhen’s meetings with Li Xun.”
Hou Ning looked at her slowly and said: “Fine, I can do that. But why do you want the recordings? Afraid?”
Zhu Yun: “What would I be afraid of?”