Li Qian, having completed the important task of releasing Yang Wei with great enthusiasm, was immediately kicked back to the office like a soccer ball by those three despicable men, leaving her fuming with anger. Back in the office, she picked up her phone and saw that Zhou Rong had sent her several long text messages on WeChat.
Just moments ago, she had been assigned to apprehend Mei Dong, and she had instantly decided to shelve her private investigation into Zhou Rong. Now, however, she had no choice but to pick up this cold, leftover "steamed bun" that was Zhou Rong again. If she alone could obtain evidence of Zhou Rong's crimes, just watch how those deceitful policemen would bow their heads and apologize to her!
Scrolling through her phone screen, her eyes landed on a clichéd piece of middle-aged man's pickup advice.
"Walking outside every day, we encounter countless people who brush past us, most of whom will never cross paths with us again. That's why I've always believed that meeting and getting to know someone is a rare and precious fate. Take me, for example—I rarely visit 4S dealerships, and even when I do, I don’t stay long. I imagine it was just by chance that you happened to be at the dealership that day too. I was there, you were test-driving, and our cars just happened to graze each other. Statistically speaking, the probability of such an encounter is unbelievably small. It all feels so magical to me."
"..."
"Don’t forget—you promised to treat me to ten meals." The message was accompanied by a playful emoji.
Li Qian sneered and typed a reply: "Of course, I haven’t forgotten. I just worry that someone as busy as you won’t have the time." She added a playful emoji of her own.
It was clear the recipient would be overjoyed upon receiving this message. Several laughing emojis immediately followed, along with another text: "Haha, being busy depends on the person. For you, I always have time. How about this—I’ll make some arrangements, and we can set a proper date."
The double entendre in "set a proper date" was not lost on Li Qian. She wanted to get close to Zhou Rong to gather clues, but she certainly wouldn’t sacrifice her own body to solve the case. As a woman—even a tough one like Li Qian—playing along and feigning disinterest were tactics she could effortlessly deploy.
After a brief moment of contemplation, a plan formed in her mind. She sighed. The intelligence about Zhou Rong’s womanizing tendencies was clearly accurate, but it seemed he wasn’t entirely superficial about it. A man of his stature—the wealthiest in Three Rivers Estuary—actually had the time and patience to type out messages word by word to chat with her. He was far more sincere than those three deceitful men.
On the other end of the phone, Zhou Rong had just returned to his office. Hu Jianren, seated at the computer logged into the desktop version of WeChat, eagerly reported his success: "Boss Rong, it’s done. That girl agreed to a date."
Zhou Rong walked over to the computer and skimmed through the chat history before sighing. "She agreed so easily—it’s actually a bit boring."
"It wasn’t easy, Boss Rong! I spent three whole days chatting with her. Most girls agree the same day you ask, but this one held out for three full days."
"But in the end, she still agreed too easily. It lacks the fun of the chase," Zhou Rong lamented.
Hu Jianren scoffed inwardly. If you want the fun of the chase, why don’t you type out the messages yourself instead of always making me do it? No matter how much fun I have chatting with her, in the end, it’s still you who gets to sleep with her.Zhou Rong glanced at him and immediately saw what was on his mind. Smiling, he walked over to the decorative glass behind his desk, smoothing his hair with evident satisfaction at his appearance. "Alright then, invite her to my place for dinner tomorrow night," he said.
Hu Jianren tapped away at the computer for a few moments before adding, "By the way, Rong-ge, Zhu Yifei's men just called. They said Boss Zhu might come to Three Rivers Estuary anytime in the next few days. He wants us to prepare a million dollars in cash as a deposit for the day they arrive."
Zhou Rong frowned, displeased. "We haven’t even seen the goods yet, and the deal isn’t even close to being finalized, and he wants me to prepare a deposit?"
"He means it as a show of our sincerity. He’ll bring one of the small Chime Bells with him that day. If we have the million ready and the deal goes through, we’ll trade for that one first. The rest of the bells will be delivered by his men as soon as possible. With one small bell left in our hands as collateral, we don’t have to worry about him running off with the million."
Zhou Rong thought for a moment. "Is one small Chime Bell worth a million dollars? Then how much would the big ones be?"
"You can’t calculate it like that. These bells are like shoes—no matter how expensive a pair is, a single shoe is worthless. So leaving one small bell as collateral for the deposit is a safeguard for both sides."
Zhou Rong nodded and instructed Hu Jianren to prepare the million dollars in cash.
On the other end of WeChat, Li Qian received Zhou Rong’s invitation for dinner the next evening. He would send a car to pick her up—the location was his home.
This message left Li Qian with mixed feelings.
The good news was she hadn’t expected Zhou Rong to invite her to his home. Going there would give her a chance to confirm whether there really was a safe in his study—and perhaps even find a way to open it and retrieve evidence of his crimes. If she could pull evidence from that safe, no one in the entire Criminal Investigation Division would dare underestimate her again. See? You guys couldn’t pin Zhou Rong down for years, but Auntie here got it done single-handedly.
The bad news was that intelligence suggested Zhou Rong had a reputation for being a womanizer. Asking her to dinner at his home instead of a public place made his intentions painfully obvious. Once she stepped alone into that villa behind high walls, if Zhou Rong tried anything, there’d be no way to call for help.
Li Qian was torn.
Decline the invitation? But the opportunity was too rare to pass up. No police officer had ever set foot in Zhou Rong’s home before—they knew nothing about its layout. She considered reporting this to her superiors and coordinating an inside-out operation, but she dismissed the idea immediately. Knowing Director Zhang’s temperament, if he found out she wanted to infiltrate the enemy’s lair alone, he’d flat-out refuse and assign someone to watch her 24/7. Even if she managed to shake off her tail, Director Zhang would undoubtedly rush to Zhou Rong’s doorstep with the entire division in tow, megaphone in hand, shouting, "Li Qian is a cop! Let her out now, or we’re coming in!"
Informing her superiors was out of the question. Consulting other detectives wouldn’t work either—Wang Ruijun, Song Xing, and the others were now blindly obedient to Director Zhang. Who would help her?
Weighing her options, the best outcome would be securing Zhou Rong’s incriminating evidence. But what was the worst that could happen?Going to Zhou Rong's house for the appointment, Zhou Rong naturally wanted to sleep with her, and she would of course refuse. Surely someone of Zhou Rong's status wouldn't resort to rape, right? If Zhou Rong was bold enough to actually attempt rape, Li Qian could reveal her police identity at the last moment, informing him that she was an undercover officer. She could warn him that if he dared to force himself on her, the police outside would immediately storm in. Naturally, Zhou Rong would back off then.
So, the worst-case scenario would be Zhou Rong finding out she was a cop, thus alerting him and ruining the operation. She’d likely get an earful from Chief Zhang upon returning to the station, maybe even be reassigned. But right now, Chief Zhang wasn’t letting her participate in cases anyway, so being reassigned wouldn’t make much difference.
All things considered, the worst outcome didn’t seem too bad.
After weighing the pros and cons, Li Qian decided to go. Still, she couldn’t help but think—what if Zhou Rong, knowing she was a cop, still couldn’t resist her beauty and chose to rape her despite the risk of getting caught? Hmm… being beautiful could be a burden. Better to prepare for both possibilities.
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