Chapter 24: An Ultimate Tangle of Beauty…
For those in the bar industry, morning was basically the middle of the night. So even though the hour hand on the wall clock was already pointing to the number “9,” the sunlight was still blocked out by the blackout curtains at the end of the corridor. The entire establishment was silent, with only the logistics team on duty. Tian Luxin, pushing a cleaning cart, pressed the elevator button and nearly collided with the person coming out.
“Brother Yi?” She opened her big eyes in wonder. “Why are you up so early?”
“I have something to do.” Yi Ke, carrying a kraft paper bag in one hand, held the elevator door for her with the other. “You’re going to the third floor?”
“Yeah.” Tian Luxin nodded and lowered her voice. “Don’t worry, Captain Zhuang has already given me a brief training. I guarantee I won’t leave empty-handed!”
Yi Ke gave her an air fist-bump. “You can leave empty-handed, but you must be careful. Contact us anytime if anything happens.”
After sending off the ambitious spy-girl, Yi Ke first straightened his hair in the corridor mirror before bending his fingers to knock on the door of 503.
Zhuang Ningyu put down his mouthwash cup and hastily wiped his face with a towel. He opened the door. “It’s not even ten o’clock yet.”
“Eat first.” Yi Ke placed the clattering paper bag on the table and took out a beautiful white breakfast plate and a matching coffee cup and saucer set. There was a coffee machine in the room. Yi Ke plated a freshly baked crab cake and salted egg yolk sandwich, set out a placemat with a knife and fork, and even included a small bowl of fruit yogurt and a handful of freshly roasted nuts.
Zhuang Ningyu wasn’t too keen on accepting this grand sense of ceremony. He said, “I want to eat the staff meal.”
Yi Ke replied, “Okay, noted. I’ll make you the staff meal tomorrow.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “…Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
Yi Ke placed the plate in front of him and at the same time took out a piece of paper. “I just grabbed this from the kitchen. Tong Yishuai’s recent meal plan.”
It wasn’t uncommon for the boss and employees to eat separately, but Boss Tong’s meal plan was clearly a bit too healthy. All red meat, processed foods, high-sugar, and high-oil items were off-limits. No gluten, no corn, no beans, chili peppers, onions, garlic, or dairy products. His precious life was sustained by vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish, turmeric powder, and olive oil. What was even more outrageous was that, as a bar owner, he didn’t touch a drop of alcohol. Zhuang Ningyu asked, “Is this guy trying to achieve immortality?”
“He cares a lot about his appearance, and his aesthetic standards have become increasingly harsh,” Yi Ke said. “I chatted with the chef for a bit. She said Tong Yishuai’s diet used to be relatively normal. Recently, probably due to the stress of the anniversary party and some unknown aesthetic stimulation, he suddenly resolved to reduce himself to a weightless male ghost, all to stun the world when he unmasks.”
Zhuang Ningyu imagined it: that grim mask, paired with a grim figure. Whether it would be stunning was hard to say, but it would definitely be a shock.
He asked, “Didn’t anyone try to talk some sense into Tong Yishuai?”
“No.” Yi Ke opened a new bag of coffee beans. “You’ve probably noticed too. Tong Yishuai is confident, conceited, and stubborn. So no one would cross him on this. Besides, he has a huge following. Every social media post is flooded with praise or confessions of love. His echo chamber is practically impenetrable.”
Sunlight streamed through the window frame, scattering fine, warm gold dust on the table. Yi Ke bent down to continue studying how to use the coffee machine. Accompanied by a “buzzing” sound, the rich aroma of cocoa and nuts gradually filled the room. Zhuang Ningyu actually knew nothing about coffee bean varieties, but in all fairness, he thought Yi Ke’s skills were pretty good. At least he wasn’t stingy with the milk and sugar, much better than the master-level hand-drip coffee, which was more bitter than herbal medicine, that had been sent to the office before.
The sandwich was also toasted just right. The bread was crispy, the crab cake fresh, and the lettuce stems mixed with mayonnaise crunched when bitten. There was still half an hour until ten o’clock. Yi Ke casually picked up a book and leaned back on the beanbag chair to pass the time. He did possess a quality that others lacked—an independent, undisturbed air. At least, before this, Zhuang Ningyu had never imagined that someone could actually live every day in a rule zone as if it were a normal day.
But this view was actually a bit one-sided. He thought Yi Ke was lazy because Yi Ke was only lazy around him. If he were to ask other colleagues, for example, the Jiangcheng Second Operations Division that had just borrowed Yi Ke a few days ago, they would know what an unapproachable demon the young master was without Captain Zhuang around.
After finishing the last spoonful of yogurt, Zhuang Ningyu put down the empty bowl. As he looked up, his clean gaze met Yi Ke’s from across the room. The sunlight now filled the entire room, the window gauze fluttering slightly. Everything was warm and cozy. Yi Ke curved his lips at him, looking surprisingly a bit cute and well-behaved. Zhuang Ningyu felt that in this quiet, friendly, and harmonious atmosphere, he should probably return a polite smile, but he was afraid of smiling with an unintended ambiguity. This caused him to get stuck, resulting in a strange expression that was somewhere between a smile and a non-smile, or simply put, a grin that didn’t reach his eyes. Yi Ke couldn’t hold it in and let out a “pfft” of laughter. He then leaned back on the sofa, covering his face with the book in his hand, laughing so hard his shoulders shook.
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
Speechlessness is my native tongue.
Fortunately, the timely meeting notification interrupted this little comedy session. Zhuang Ningyu kicked Yi Ke’s leg, signaling him to get it together and get serious. The connection was successful. On the other side of the screen sat a man in his thirties, his hair neatly combed, his clothes stylish, and his office behind him lavishly decorated—dazzling, sparkling, bearing a subtle resemblance to Yin Bar’s environment.
“Captain Zhuang, hello,” the man said. “Captain Qin from the investigation team said you wanted to talk to me.”
He was You Hong’s son and the current person in charge of Jincheng Star Beauty, You Tu.
Zhuang Ningyu got straight to the point: “Regarding this rule incident at Yin Bar, various clues indicate that the case from back then may be related to your mother. So, there are some details I’d like to confirm with you again.”
You Tu expressed his understanding. In fact, ever since this rule zone appeared, he knew the investigation team would eventually come looking for him.
“What aspect would Captain Zhuang like to know about?”
“Everything,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “For example, Ms. You Hong’s relationship with Tong Yishuai, and Star Beauty’s relationship with Yin Bar. We have reviewed all the case-related materials. Does You Zong still believe that your mother was deliberately caught in an emotional trap set by Tong Yishuai back then?”
“Yes.” You Tu nodded without any hesitation, his tone rising slightly. “I already made it very clear to the police back then. There’s definitely something wrong with that bar. My mom is in her fifties. She was extremely self-disciplined when she was young, didn’t touch a drop of alcohol, and even had a slight alcohol allergy. Then in her later years, she suddenly fell in love with dolling herself up to go clubbing. Captain Zhuang, you tell me, does that sound reasonable?”
“It’s not reasonable, which is why we need to investigate. You Zong, please don’t get agitated just yet.” Zhuang Ningyu briefly placated him. “But is there a possibility that your mother simply treated Yin Bar as a new investment project? She did invest money, but she also did make money.”
“My mother has always been very cautious with her investments. Even for a small shop, she would often spend a long time investigating. But investing in that bar was a spur-of-the-moment decision. I couldn’t stop her at the time. Making money only proves she was lucky; it doesn’t at all prove that Tong Yishuai wasn’t manipulating her emotions.” You Tu said with conviction. “Captain Zhuang, you must believe me. That guy Tong is a complete and utter love scammer. Our family was truly ruined by him.”
“Ruined by whom? Be clear. Tong Yishuai, or the handsome guys under him?”
“…” You Tu’s intense emotion was interrupted, and he stuttered slightly. “Is-is there a difference?”
Zhuang Ningyu nodded: “There is.”
You Tu waved his hand: “I don’t know. I can’t be bothered to ask about their bar’s affairs.”
“No, you know.” Zhuang Ningyu met his gaze through the screen. “Not only do you know, but you’re also practically begging me to keep asking, playing hard to get, it’s written all over your face.”
You Tu still denied it: “Captain Zhuang, you’re overthinking it.”
Zhuang Ningyu picked up a stack of documents from the table and flipped through them casually: “According to your description, the reason Ms. You Hong turned down the bar’s VIP night and chose to attend the doll party instead was because the VIP event conflicted with an important industry summit. We checked. The only conference that matches the time is the ‘Southern New Ting Medical Anti-Aging Conference.’ The organizer is Star Beauty’s competitor. May I ask why You Zong would travel a thousand miles to attend this insignificant conference?”
You Tu was momentarily speechless. After a long while, he let out an awkward, dry laugh and explained as if admitting defeat: “You saw through it. It’s like this… when the police asked me back then, I found it too embarrassing, so I insisted I didn’t know. It didn’t affect their investigation whether I said it or not. But now that you’re trapped in the rule zone… I thought, I might as well confess everything. But I can’t be too proactive about it. If the police find out, they might think I’m selectively targeting them. That’s why I planned for you to interrogate me a bit more, to make it look like I was really under pressure.”
Zhuang Ningyu didn’t comment on this pile of excuses, just gave a polite smile: “It’s fine, You Zong, please continue.”
“Indeed, it had nothing to do with the summit. That stupid summit sends out random invitations every year, and I just… happened to use it. Actually, my mother was planning to attend both anniversary parties. She wasn’t a guest, but an organizer. Those male models under Tong Yishuai, although they’re good at deceiving female customers, my mom has seen a thing or two and isn’t easy to deal with. Plus, Tong Yishuai was hoping to get a large sum from her, so he got involved personally.”
“You mean, your mother and Tong Yishuai were in a romantic relationship?”
You Tu’s eyelid twitched, as if he couldn’t stand the words “romantic relationship.” He grimaced for a long time before finally admitting it. He said: “My mom, at least, took it seriously, investing money and spending a lot. In the beginning, the two of them knew how to be restrained, but later it got more and more out of hand. She even brought that Tong guy home, a lone man and woman in the same room. Of course, I didn’t agree. She even asked me why I was so conventional. I mean, my dad passed away early, and I fully support her finding a second love, but she can’t find someone my age, can she? And is Tong Yishuai a normal person? I’ve known him for so long and I’ve never seen him take off his mask once. A big, shiny silver head, a body as thin as a rail, his whole person swaying in those loose robes, like a cult leader from a movie. Of course, he didn’t wear the mask when he was alone with my mom. And wow, that moved my mom so much, she burst into tears on the spot. Anyone who didn’t know would have thought she had seen some breathtakingly beautiful god. It was embarrassing, Captain Zhuang, so embarrassing. I don’t even know how to begin telling you.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “I understand. I understand everything. Please calm down first. Another question. Since Tong Yishuai and your mother were so close, and he was extremely particular about his appearance, then by common sense, he should have also been a customer at your Star Beauty, right? Why didn’t the police find any related information back then?”
“Because it couldn’t be considered consumption at all. He would come for regular maintenance, skin treatments, using all high-end products, but he never paid a single cent.” You Tu looked like he was about to start cursing again but managed to hold it in.
“Only skin treatments?”
“Pretty much. Tong Yishuai was extremely satisfied with his own appearance. My mom, even more so, wished she could make a mold of that head to use as a template. Almost everyone in the hospital had heard her praise it, something about how adding or subtracting even a millimeter from the skull would be a blasphemy against aesthetics. It was like a poetry reading. I just can’t.”
You Tu took a sip of water, calmed himself down a bit, and then tentatively asked: “What’s the situation in the rule zone now? My mom, she…”
“I’m sorry, I can’t disclose related information.” Zhuang Ningyu continued to ask, “Do you have any evidence for what you just said?”
“I guess so.” You Tu tapped his phone a few times and sent a link. “This is my mom’s bedroom. After she passed away, no one else has gone in. I’ve been doing the cleaning myself, and the things inside have been mostly kept as they were.”
Zhuang Ningyu clicked the link, and a real-time video of a bedroom appeared on the screen. According to You Tu, these security cameras were installed when the house was renovated. They were usually turned off and only turned on when no one was home. After his mother passed away, the camera in this bedroom had not been turned off.
The camera could rotate 360 degrees without any blind spots. Zhuang Ningyu slowly manipulated the direction keys. The bedroom was large and lavishly decorated. On the table at the foot of the bed were cosmetics and some photo frames. The frames held photos of You Hong and Tong Yishuai—unmasked version. To be fair, just looking at the photos, the age difference between the two didn’t seem that big. They fit the public’s aesthetic of a handsome man and a beautiful woman.
“Photoshopped.” Seeing Zhuang Ningyu staring at the photos, You Tu couldn’t help but interject. “It’s all thanks to beauty filters. Pure escapism from the reality that they are a generation apart.”
Zhuang Ningyu asked: “Can you send me these photos?”
“Of course,” You Tu agreed. “I have them on my hard drive. I’ll send them right away.”
“Okay, thank you.” Zhuang Ningyu continued to rotate the camera. In another corner of the bedroom was a floor-standing Y-shaped bookshelf and a comfortable-looking sofa with a blanket draped over the armrest. It should be You Hong’s leisure reading area. He took a screenshot of the book titles on the shelf, then returned to the meeting interface: “You Zong, thank you very much for your cooperation today. If other situations arise in the future, I may have to trouble you again.”
“No problem. You’re too kind, Captain Zhuang,” You Tu said. “Contact me anytime.”
Zhuang Ningyu pressed the exit button. Yi Ke, who had been sitting beside him taking notes, finally spoke: “You Hong invested nearly three million in the bar over the years. It’s not a small sum, but it’s not an earth-shattering amount either. We know that the later Tong Yishuai was a perfectionist with unique aesthetic tastes. He would revise an anniversary poster thirty or fifty times. Would such a man, who couldn’t tolerate the slightest imperfection, really personally seduce a ‘less than perfect’ female customer who probably didn’t fit his aesthetic, just for a mere three million?”
The mailbox popped up with a new message. Opening it, it was the photos from You Tu. Because they were photos of a phone screen, the resolution wasn’t very high, but it was still clear enough to see the intimate relationship between You Hong and Tong Yishuai.
“These photos don’t look like normal snapshots,” Zhuang Ningyu enlarged the details. “Both of them deliberately posed. It’s a bit stiff. Art photos?”
“This one.” Yi Ke pointed. In the photo, both were dressed in gorgeous formal wear. Tong Yishuai was leaning back on a sofa, and You Hong stood beside him, her left arm wrapped around his neck, her fingertips with bright red nail polish cupping his chin. Both of their eyes stared straight ahead, the corners of their mouths in a half-smile, looking strangely solemn.
Zhuang Ningyu asked: “What’s wrong with this one?”
“The composition and colors probably imitate Titian’s Renaissance painting ‘Salome with the Head of John the Baptist’,” Yi Ke explained. “The story is from Oscar Wilde’s play ‘Salome.’ You should be familiar with it. Salome, King Herod’s stepdaughter, falls in love with the saint John the Baptist. After being rejected multiple times, her love turns to hate, and she orders John’s head to be cut off. And she finally, before her own death, tremblingly kisses those bitter lips.”
Zhuang Ningyu was surprised: “You also have an interest in painting?”
Yi Ke reminded him: “My sister is in the art business.”
Zhuang Ningyu was indeed familiar with the story of Salome but still didn’t understand: “What’s there to imitate about this death pose?”
Yi Ke said: “Don’t you think this kind of twisted, yandere obsession hidden in an exquisite scene actually fits Tong Yishuai’s decadent aesthetic taste? It also fits You Hong’s taste. She looks like, as You Tu said, she really loves that head.”
Zhuang Ningyu’s gaze fell back on the photo. Salome, an ultimate entanglement of beauty, desire, destruction, and death. Connecting it to their later fates, it did indeed seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Noticing his lips were a bit dry, Yi Ke stood up, opened a box of Pu’er tea bags at the dining counter, and pressed the switch on the kettle.
“So the two of them… true love?” After a while, Zhuang Ningyu looked at Yi Ke. “After all, according to your theory, these photos have risen to the level of soul resonance.”
“Even if it’s not true love, they at least achieved a spiritual unity on some level.” Yi Ke brought over two cups of hot tea. “We both agree on one thing: You Hong is definitely not a love-addled fool who is easily deceived. If Tong Yishuai was only approaching her for money, she wouldn’t have placed photos of the two of them in such a private place as her bedroom.”
Zhuang Ningyu agreed with his view. From the room’s arrangement, one could tell that You Hong had a bit of a mental cleanliness obsession. If she had truly fallen for him, she probably wouldn’t allow the other party to have an unequal relationship of exploitation and deceit.
The books on the Y-shaped bookshelf in the bedroom were nothing unusual, all medical-related. Even after reaching the top of her industry, You Hong never forgot to constantly learn and improve. These things were often mentioned in her daily interviews. From the obvious signs of reading on the books, it wasn’t just an empty persona she was creating.
“You Tu thinks Tong Yishuai and You Hong are completely unrelated, but in fact, these two people have a significant commonality,” Yi Ke said. “They both have a pursuit of beauty that is so strict it’s almost paranoid.” Tong Yishuai goes without saying, and the industry You Hong was in was literally called the beauty industry. When Tong Yishuai, who adored beauty, met You Hong, who created beauty, it’s normal that they would resonate and give rise to an emotion that a mundane person like You Tu couldn’t understand.
Zhuang Ningyu nodded thoughtfully, then asked: “Then do you think You Hong would love Tong Yishuai more than her own career?”
“Probably not likely.” Yi Ke looked at the sharp, capable female CEO on the screen. “After all, a top-tier love-addled brain like mine is hard to find… Hiss.”
Zhuang Ningyu retracted his fist, ignored the other’s contorted expression, and continued to ask: “What was You Hong’s cause of death?”
“Cyanide poisoning followed by falling from a building.”
“Where was the cyanide mass-dosed by the culprit?”
“In the drinks.”
“Does You Hong drink alcohol?”
“…No.”
This was the suspicious point. Zhuang Ningyu had previously gone through all the interviews with You Hong sent by the investigation team. Many reports mentioned that she never drank, to prove the high self-discipline of this powerful woman. And You Tu had just said she was allergic to alcohol.
Yi Ke frowned slightly. Indeed, according to You Hong’s personality and status, it was possible and reasonable for her to come to the bar, spend a fortune, yet not drink a drop. So where did the cyanide she ingested on the day of the doll party come from?
And Tong Yishuai, who was also in a period of abstaining from alcohol, had a completely opposite autopsy result to You Hong’s. His cause of death had nothing to do with cyanide, but an extremely high concentration of alcohol was detected in his blood, indicating that he was in a state of deep intoxication when the bar caught fire.
Zhuang Ningyu continued: “And during the doll party, Tong Yishuai was still wearing a mask, so it wasn’t convenient to drink in public. If he wanted to drink, he would have to find a place with no one around, like his office. But for a bar owner, during a carnival party full of guests, to not socialize, not appreciate the beautiful world he single-handedly created, but to hide on the third floor and drink himself unconscious, that doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“What if he had already taken off his mask in front of the guests at that time?” Yi Ke guessed. “To officially take off the mask after the anniversary party was a promise Tong Yishuai had made long ago.”
Zhuang Ningyu shook his head: “No. First, him taking off his mask would be a major event. Guests would definitely take photos and post them on social media. Even if photos weren’t allowed, there would at least be sneak shots or written records, but now there’s no trace of it on the entire internet. Second, the doll night was only the first half of the party. The more important VIP night hadn’t even started. There was no need for him to unmask so early.”
So Tong Yishuai could only have been drinking on the third floor. And You Hong fell to her death from the third-floor terrace. The two of them were most likely together at that time.
Zhuang Ningyu pressed his fingers to his temples. After a moment, as if suddenly remembering something, he looked up at Yi Ke: “Speaking of which, those friends of yours, they should be exactly Yin Bar’s target demographic, right? Are they okay?”
Yi Ke’s mouth twitched: “Thanks for asking. They’re all still among the living.”
