"Generally speaking, these kinds of adult entertainment venues are rented spaces within hotels, not directly operated by the hotels themselves. While the profits in this industry are high, the risks are equally significant. Owners can face criminal charges if caught, so most major hotel proprietors avoid running such establishments directly. However, the hotels are certainly aware—they charge much higher rents for these venues and simply turn a blind eye. As for uncovering the real owner behind the spa center, that's tricky. Sometimes even the madams don't know who the actual boss is."
In a small private room of the Maplewood Hotel's second-floor tea lounge, Zhang Yi'ang poured tea for Li Qian and Song Xing seated beside him while explaining the basics of the adult entertainment scene to the rookie Li Qian. They were all in plain clothes—Zhang Yi'ang in a jacket, Song Xing in a casual blazer looking somewhat stiff, and Li Qian, on Zhang Yi'ang's suggestion, wearing heavy makeup. After all, this might be the suspect's territory, and blending into the entertainment scene required the right appearance.
"So, is the madam also a working girl?" Li Qian asked naively.
Zhang Yi'ang couldn't help but laugh, thinking to himself, Is your uncle a cop? Of course, he wouldn't dare voice such a reckless analogy. Instead, he vaguely replied, "Every profession starts from the grassroots."
Soon after, the door opened, and Wang Ruijun walked in wearing a fitted shirt. Behind him was a beautiful woman in her thirties, her face filled with hyaluronic acid giving her the composite look of multiple celebrities. Dressed flamboyantly, she was unmistakably from the entertainment industry.
The woman followed Wang Ruijun cautiously, stepping forward with a practiced smile, her eyes downcast as she nodded at each person and repeated "Hello, leaders" three times in a friendly tone.
Li Qian studied her curiously and asked, "Are you Madam Zhou?"
"Uh, I'm Manager Zhou," the woman replied awkwardly, forcing a smile. "Zhou Qi. You can call me Xiao Qi, leaders." She glanced up at the female officer who'd called her "Madam Zhou," realizing she was just a green young girl—quite pretty, too. Why would someone so good-looking become a cop? she thought. She'd make ten times more working for me.
Wang Ruijun shut the door carefully and moved beside Zhou Qi. After exchanging a glance with Zhang Yi'ang, he said, "Sit down. Our leaders have questions for you."
Zhou Qi obediently nodded and nervously perched on an empty seat.
Zhang Yi'ang gave Song Xing a nod, and Song Xing immediately adopted a stern interrogator's tone. "Who else knows about our meeting today?"
"No one," Zhou Qi hurriedly replied. "I just told my assistant upstairs I was stepping out for something."
"Good. Let me remind you again—what we discuss today stays here. Either forget it or keep it buried. If word gets out, it won't just be the venue under investigation. You'll be joining us. The ones who usually oversee you are the local police or vice squad. We're from the criminal investigation unit. Let me be clear—our methods are nothing like theirs."Zhou Qi was so frightened that the hyaluronic acid in her face seemed to change color. It took several seconds for her to calm down before she could put on a professional smile again and say, "I’ll definitely keep it a hundred percent confidential. I understand the principle—whatever the leaders ask, I’ll answer truthfully. Brother Jun has already made it very clear to me. I’ll absolutely complete the task!"
"Brother Jun?" Zhang Yi'ang frowned involuntarily, glancing between Wang Ruijun and Zhou Qi. "You two know each other?"
Zhou Qi quickly waved her hands. "No, not at all."
"If you don’t know each other, how do you know his name?"
"Yeah, how do you know my name?" Wang Ruijun suddenly flared up, slamming the table.
"Right, I... how would I know your name... know your name..." Zhou Qi’s voice grew smaller, her eyes darting around as she struggled to answer.
Wang Ruijun decided to give her a hint. "Did you see it when I showed you my ID just now and remembered it?"
"Yes, yes! You did show me your ID earlier, and I remembered it after seeing it."
Wang Ruijun turned to Zhang Yi'ang to explain. "You see, people in this line of work deal with clients every day—they generally have good memories. It’s understandable, really."
Zhang Yi'ang let out a big yawn, squinting one eye at Wang Ruijun, who quickly lowered his head. Zhang Yi'ang smiled faintly and turned to instruct Song Xing, "Keep asking."
Song Xing kept a stern face. "Do you know Ye Jian?"
Zhou Qi thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I wouldn’t know just by the name. If there’s a photo, I might recognize him."
Song Xing took out his phone, pulled up a saved photo of Ye Jian, and handed it to her. "Swipe left and right—the next few photos are all of the same person."
Zhou Qi respectfully took the phone with both hands. The photos included professional shots of Ye Jian as well as candid group photos from company events. She swiped through them for a long time before finally looking up with a helpless expression. "This person has never been to our company."
Song Xing asked coldly, "Are you sure?"
Zhou Qi hesitated uneasily, then thought again before confirming, "At least I’ve never seen him. But maybe he came when I wasn’t here. When I’m not around, the assistants handle the reception."
Zhang Yi'ang observed her expression. After a while, convinced she wasn’t lying, he nodded at Song Xing to continue.
"How many assistants usually handle the reception?"
"Two. Both are here today."
"Call them both down."
Zhou Qi quickly agreed, taking out her phone to call the two assistants and asking them to come to the teahouse downstairs. Within minutes, they arrived. Zhang Yi'ang instructed them not to enter—Wang Ruijun followed Zhou Qi to the door to confirm. This matter had to be kept tightly under wraps.
Soon, the two returned to the private room. Wang Ruijun told the others, "Ye Jian really hasn’t been here."
Zhang Yi'ang nodded and signaled to ask about other matters.
Song Xing pulled up a VIP card from the spa center on his phone and asked, "You know this card, right?"
"This card!" Zhou Qi’s face showed a flicker of surprise when she saw it. "Where did you get this?"
Song Xing glared at her. "Am I asking you, or are you asking me?"
"Ah, sorry, sorry," Zhou Qi realized her mistake and hurriedly explained. "Very few guests have this card. If a guest presents it, all expenses are waived.""All expenses covered!" The group showed expressions of surprise. They had initially assumed the VIP card was just a discount card for the spa center's services. With fierce competition among entertainment venues nowadays, VIP promotions tied to prepaid memberships were common, and establishments involved in illicit activities naturally kept up with the times. But completely free consumption was truly unprecedented. If such a card fell into the hands of ordinary men in society, they'd likely become emaciated within three days—the consequences were unthinkable!
"This card has a serial number. Your system must have consumption records for it, right?"
Zhou Qi shook her head: "The boss said not to keep records. Just account for it normally, and he'd personally reimburse the expenses."
Song Xing quickly pressed: "Who is your boss?"
"It's... it's..." Zhou Qi hesitated, "I don't actually know who the boss is."
"Bullshit! You just mentioned your boss a moment ago!"
Zhou Qi scrambled to explain: "The boss... the boss contacts me by phone. I... I've never actually met the boss."
Song Xing slammed the table and shouted: "Don't play games with me! Which phone does your boss call, when did they call, what's the number—we can trace all of that. If we have to dig it all up before you talk, you'll regret it! Tell me, who's the boss?"
Zhou Qi trembled in fear: "It's... it's President Lu."
"Lu Yibo?"
Zhou Qi nodded timidly: "Yes."
"Was the VIP card given out by Lu Yibo?"
"I don't know about that."
Having finished his main line of questioning, Song Xing turned to Zhang Yi'ang.
Zhang Yi'ang smiled and comforted Zhou Qi: "Don't be nervous. We're investigating a case unrelated to your establishment. Just answer honestly. Tell me, has anything unusual happened at the shop recently?"
From her earlier interactions, Zhou Qi could tell this man was the leader among the officers. Facing the senior official's questions, she grew even more nervous: "What... what would count as unusual?"
"For example, strange customers or abnormal occurrences."
"Well..." Zhou Qi thought for a moment before answering, "Nothing major. But recently there was a customer who gave two hostesses gold necklaces as tips. They had them authenticated outside—the necklaces were real. He claimed to have many jewelry pieces he could sell to us cheaply. Tempted, I bought a diamond necklace from him for twenty thousand, but when I had it checked later, they said while genuine, it was only worth a few thousand. When I demanded a refund, he refused, saying all his goods were authentic and even Three Rivers Estuary's richest man, Boss Zhou, bought from him. As long as the items were genuine, there'd be no refunds."
Song Xing snorted coldly: "Are you bringing up your personal grievance to get us to fight your battles for you? Using us as your weapon?"
Zhou Qi hurriedly explained: "No, no! The leader asked about unusual occurrences, and this was all I could think of."
"Wait a moment," Zhang Yi'ang raised his hand, "You just said Three Rivers Estuary's richest man, Boss Zhou, bought from him?"
"That's what he claimed."
"What's this man's name?"
"I don't know his full name. People call him Brother Zheng."
Zhang Yi'ang nodded and instructed Song Xing to record the man's basic information.After some more questioning, there were no further developments. Finally, Zhang Yi'ang stood up, walked over to her, took out his phone, opened a photo, and held it close to her face. "One last question for today. Look carefully—have you ever seen this man before?"
Zhou Qi scrutinized the photo for a long while before nodding emphatically. "Yes, I have. He doesn’t come often, but whenever he does, he books a room upstairs first and then calls me, specifying what kind of girl he wants. Since he’s a VIP client, I always personally escort the girls up to him."
Zhang Yi'ang put his phone away, visibly pleased with the answer, and double-checked, "You’re certain he’s a VIP?"
"Yes, absolutely."
Zhang Yi'ang thought for a few seconds, then nodded with a mysterious smile. "Let me be frank with you today. We’ve already gathered substantial evidence that the hydrotherapy center upstairs is involved in organized prostitution. There’s no point in denying it—I wouldn’t make such claims without proof. I’m sure you’re aware that while the girls might just get two weeks of administrative detention, the organizers face years in prison if caught."
The fillers in Zhou Qi’s face twitched.
"But I can offer you a deal. As long as the club upstairs stays open, I won’t arrest you, and you won’t have to worry about what happens next. But this all depends on whether you’re willing to cooperate and earn some leniency."
"Cooperate and earn leniency..." Zhou Qi murmured for a moment before nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes! But we’ve only ever dealt with the local police station before. Someone at your level... Could you give me an idea of the... terms? I’ll discuss it with the boss." Her tone was resolute, but the deep furrow in her brow betrayed her financial strain.
"What are you thinking? You think I’m here to collect protection money?"
"Of course not, of course not! This isn’t protection money—how could it be? It’s a consultation fee." Zhou Qi laughed knowingly.
Zhang Yi'ang pressed his lips together and clarified, "I don’t want money. I just need you to promise me one thing: if the man in that photo comes again, don’t tell anyone. Notify your ‘Brother Jun’ immediately. I won’t say more—you know what’s at stake today. If you breathe a word of this, you’ll face the consequences!"
"I... I’ll do exactly as you say!" Zhou Qi agreed hastily, as if granted a pardon, and quickly left the room with Zhang Yi'ang’s permission.
The remaining officers couldn’t contain their curiosity. "Director Zhang, who did you just tell her to notify immediately?"
Zhang Yi'ang smiled. There was no need to keep secrets from his trusted team—if even they couldn’t be relied on, the case might as well be abandoned. He showed them the photo on his phone.
After a few seconds of silence, all three exclaimed in unison, "Mayor Luo!"
Unbelievable—truly unbelievable. Even Song Xing, the usually self-assured veteran detective, was now thoroughly impressed with Director Zhang.
Ye Jian’s clues had pointed to the Hydrotherapy Club, and Song Xing’s mind had only gone as far as raiding the place for prostitution and interrogating the suspects. But who would’ve thought the director could play it this way—leaving the club untouched to lure out the mayor, and possibly even more? Ancient military tactics spoke of besieging a point to ambush reinforcements; today, Director Zhang besieged the club to ambush the mayor. This wasn’t just detective work—this was detective artistry!Now it all depends on the Hydrotherapy Club's next move. But whether it's the boss Lu Yibo or the manager Zhou Qi, both are old foxes. Will they comply obediently? Will Ye Jian's case take another turn? And what other key figures have yet to make their appearance?
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