Chapter 70: Chengnan Bookstore 17
The car was silent.
After a moment, Yi Ke asked uncertainly, “Did Grandpa misunderstand something?”
Never mind whether Grandpa misunderstood or not. Zhuang Ningyu closed the car window. “Who are you taking me to see?”
“A female colleague of Ni Ruiling’s from when she worked at the Baihuagu Club, named Maris,” Yi Ke said. “The two of them didn’t get along back then.”
In office politics, an old colleague, especially one you didn’t get along with, could definitely be called a walking, talking human encyclopedia. Zhuang Ningyu rewarded him with a bite of his rice ball. “How did you find her?”
“Social media circles.” When it came to digging up gossip, especially about the rich, social media circles were sometimes indeed more useful than the investigation team and the police. Yi Ke continued, “Maris was once a star employee at Baihuagu, with a very high status, but Ni Ruiling’s arrival broke this ecological balance. Maris also left because she was dissatisfied with being suppressed by her at every turn.”
After leaving her job, Maris didn’t have a very good life, at least far from as good as Ni Ruiling’s. She worked as a real estate agent for a while, but the company got involved in fraud, and she was almost implicated. Later, she had to pay a large sum of money out of her own pocket. She was currently a marketing director at a small company.
“A friend of a friend of a sister of a sister of mine knows a bakery owner named Sister Hua, and this small company has worked with the bakery. Anyway, the process of finding Maris was a bit convoluted, but don’t worry, Sister Hua is very reliable and has a strong sense of logic. She will definitely cooperate with us to get information.”
Zhuang Ningyu nodded. “Okay, I trust you.”
Sister Hua and Maris were meeting at a coffee shop near the investigation team. Yi Ke nudged the car forward about thirty meters and had just parallel parked on the street when he saw a sapphire blue BMW also stop in front of the coffee shop. Two people got out of the car. Yi Ke turned his head and gestured with his chin. “The one in the professional suit is Maris.”
Having to work on a weekend, the fatigue on Maris’s face was obvious. Although her features were pretty, she already looked like she was from a different age group compared to the meticulously maintained Ni Ruiling. The two sat at a window booth. Sister Hua asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to eat something?”
“No need, I have no appetite.” Maris ordered a cup of sugar-free hot lemon tea for herself, then lit a cigarette, holding it between her fingers and taking a deep drag. She asked, puzzled, “Sister, why did you come looking for me because of Ni Ruiling?”
“Don’t mention it. A friend of mine seems to be interested in her.” Sister Hua clearly knew how to broach this kind of topic. She raised a hand and rubbed her temples in frustration. “He’s ignoring his good wife and kids at home. What are these men thinking all day?”
Yi Ke and Zhuang Ningyu, each with an earphone in, listened with rapt attention.
“I was thinking, since you two were colleagues before,” Sister Hua stirred her coffee, probing, “I heard that when she was at the club, she often flirted with rich clients?”
“She has very high standards,” Maris said. “If your friend doesn’t have the strength of an A10, then you don’t have to worry. She wouldn’t be interested.”
That was true. From Ni Ruiling’s performance in the rule zone, it was clear she had a high opinion of herself. The man she was currently dating, Hou Junye, was also an industry tycoon. Yi Ke turned around and fumbled in the back seat for a long time, finally pulling out a bag of caramel popcorn. Zhuang Ningyu looked at him with a slightly speechless expression. Yi Ke opened the package without changing his expression and silently offered it to him. Want some?
The milky fragrance mixed with the unique bittersweet aroma of caramel filled the air. Zhuang Ningyu ultimately couldn’t resist the temptation. Yes.
The two of them together: Crunch, crunch.
Maris continued with a sarcastic tone, “But she had her failures too. While working, she carefully selected a so-called rich second-generation heir. That pretty boy was so handsome and generous in the beginning. Ni Ruiling was convinced she was going to be a rich man’s wife, but it turned out the guy was a swindler. He claimed he was dating her with the intention of marriage, but in reality, he was cheating her out of her money and body. He got about four million yuan from her in total. After he squeezed her dry, he disappeared without a trace. His supposed business in Jiangzhou was also a shell company. Although this matter didn’t become a huge scandal within the company, it wasn’t well-hidden either. A few people vaguely knew about it. Because of this, she resigned not long after.”
Zhuang Ningyu stopped eating his popcorn, a look of confusion on his face. Within six months of leaving her job, Ni Ruiling had transformed into the manager of a medium-sized beauty salon. But if what Maris said was true, and she had been cheated out of everything, where did the several million in initial investment for the beauty salon come from?
Zhuang Ningyu called his grandfather and asked the investigation team to check Ni Ruiling’s financial transactions during that period.
Although Zhong Pinghe agreed, he still asked warily, “Are you and Xiao Yi investigating Ni Ruiling?”
“It’s a long story, I’ll tell you later,” Zhuang Ningyu said evasively. “According to the current clues, in her last year working at Baihuagu, she seems to have encountered a pig-butchering scam. Please check that as well. This person is very alert and has a complex network of relationships. Be sure not to alert her.”
Zhong Pinghe chuckled. “You’re talking like a pro, even teaching me what to do.”
“Of course, I’m also an old comrade with rich work experience,” Zhuang Ningyu continued to crunch on his popcorn.
The conversation in the coffee shop continued. Sister Hua’s method of extracting information was quite skilled. As their conversation deepened, the image of Ni Ruiling during her time at Baihuagu gradually became fuller. During this period, apart from the last fake rich second-generation swindler, she had no other public relationships, but she had many ambiguous contacts. Maris said disdainfully, “Where else do you think she got that four million from? She doesn’t say, but she really thinks others don’t know.”
Following Yi Ke’s instructions, Sister Hua asked, “Who were her contacts? Do you know?”
“That I don’t know. She was very good at keeping secrets,” Maris said. “An ordinary person might just settle for being a canary, but she’s arrogant and looks down on everyone. She wouldn’t put anyone in her eyes. Sleeping with old men doesn’t fit her noble persona. She would definitely have to hide it.”
“Her partners would surely come to play golf again, right? It’s impossible for them to have no contact. You couldn’t see any ambiguity at all?”
“Not a trace.”
Maris was probably telling the truth, because Ni Ruiling’s relationship with Hou Junye was the same. If it weren’t for Yi Ke’s magical network, even the investigation team hadn’t found any clues in the early stages. But, Zhuang Ningyu frowned and said, “Why would rich men listen to Ni Ruiling?”
In a “canary” relationship, unless the patron has special preferences, the kept woman is often in an absolutely subordinate position. Take Bao Yuzhou’s lover, for example, who relied entirely on her son and years of enduring grievances to exchange for corresponding resources. But among Ni Ruiling’s partners, apart from the fake rich second-generation who was mistaken for being “handsome, rich, and presentable,” the other “tycoons” were hidden one deeper than the next. Why?
If the tycoon’s family already had a formidable wife, or if there were other reasons to want to keep it a secret, that would be one thing. But someone like Hou Junye, who frequently appeared in flashy entertainment venues with various beautiful women, why would he keep it a secret specifically for Ni Ruiling? Why would he even choose to drive, which leaves no transportation records, instead of taking a plane, just to meet her in private?
Yi Ke guessed, “Because she’s related to Rotating Curve, and she’s not Hou Junye’s lover, but his ‘colleague’?”
After all, Fu Han’s appearance in the Zeus Grand Hotel rule zone was also believed to be intentional on Fu Dong’s part. That meant Fu Dong definitely knew that a rule zone would appear at Chengnan Bookstore, and Fu Dong’s wife often went to Ni Ruiling’s salon for beauty treatments.
“Could it be that she had already joined Rotating Curve, or some other similar organization, right after graduating from university?” Zhuang Ningyu unconsciously twirled a piece of popcorn in his hand, thoughtfully saying, “Joining the Baihuagu Club was just a convenient way for her to act as a ‘socialite’ to rope in the rich men who came to play golf, brainwashing them to join the organization.”
Yi Ke nodded. “It’s possible.”
So the first thing to do now was to pull up a list of “tycoons” from Ni Ruiling’s financial transactions during the corresponding period to see if these people were problematic, and also to check if Hou Junye had already become a promoter of rule zones.
Maris and Sister Hua chatted for nearly two hours before leaving together by car.
After the BMW had driven far away, Yi Ke asked, “Should we go to the investigation team or go home?”
Zhuang Ningyu carefully folded the empty snack bag and put it in a trash bag along with the empty water bottle. “The most reasonable arrangement is for me to go to the investigation team, and you go home.”
Yi Ke’s defenses were broken again upon hearing this. “Why?”
“Because you’ve been very tired from training recently and haven’t rested for the past two days of the weekend, whereas I will definitely be working overtime at the investigation team tonight,” Zhuang Ningyu patted his face. “Their dorms are limited. You shouldn’t come over and fight for a bed.”
Yi Ke glanced at the time and compromised. “Then what time should I pick you up?”
Zhuang Ningyu replied airtightly, “You don’t need to pick me up at any time. Get a good night’s sleep and go straight to work tomorrow morning.”
Wouldn’t that mean being separated for nearly twenty hours? What’s the difference between that and a long-distance relationship?
Yi Ke tried to win his wife back. “But you’re not part of the investigation team.”
Zhuang Ningyu pushed his head away. “Then you can drop me off at the research group. The research group is also working overtime today.”
Ever since the damned Zeus Grand Hotel incident, every branch of the Order Maintenance Department, plus the police, hadn’t had a moment’s peace. But you could say that overtime is divided into effective overtime and ineffective overtime. Sitting in the office acting for the leaders and being busy for the future of all humanity were two very different mindsets. Anyway, as soon as everyone thought that this might be the first step in destroying the ecological chain of the rules, they wished they could chain themselves to their posts and work themselves to death with glorious dedication!
And Comrade Xiao Yi, because he loved his wife too much, gloriously became the one holding all of humanity back.
He grumbled unwillingly, “Go on, go on. I’ll pick you up after work tomorrow.”
The car door unlocked with a “click,” and Zhuang Ningyu also unfastened his seatbelt. Yi Ke turned his head to watch him leave, but Zhuang Ningyu ducked over. An S-class evolver, as agile as a feline. Before Yi Ke could react, he had a fragrant person in his arms.
Zhuang Ningyu sat astride his lap, cupped his face with both hands, and leaned in to kiss him.
What kind of heavenly blessing was this? Yi Ke’s Adam’s apple bobbed. The color of his ears reacted before his brain did. It wasn’t until he felt the other’s cool tongue, moist from drinking water just now, glide between his own lips that he snapped out of his dream and hugged the man tightly, tilting his head up to kiss him back with even greater intensity.
The clear sound of moisture echoed in the narrow space of the car. Yi Ke panted as he held onto those soft lips, his hand also sliding under his sweater. Zhuang Ningyu’s waist went limp from the touch. He had only wanted to tease him since it was still early, and planned to run off after the tease. He didn’t expect to be held so firmly. He could only pull out a hand to pat him. “I have to go.”
Yi Ke buried his face in his chest and said pitifully, “But I’m hard.”
You really don’t need to tell me that! Zhuang Ningyu couldn’t bear to hear it. He quickly straightened his sweater in a few moves. “Can’t you go back and take care of it yourself?”
Yi Ke grabbed his hand. Zhuang Ningyu immediately shook it off as if electrocuted. Yi Ke’s head buzzed. “Don’t move, just let me hold you for a bit. Holding you for a bit is fine, right?”
Zhuang Ningyu glanced at the time. “I can only give you five minutes to calm down. Or should I recite some morally uplifting poetry for you?”
Yi Ke refused the poetry. So Zhuang Ningyu reached into the passenger seat, expertly pulled something out of his bag, and then, slap—
Yi Ke instantly felt like his head had been smashed with a block of ice.
Zhuang Ningyu pressed the super-strength cooling patch against his forehead. “Are you okay now?”
Yi Ke had a look on his face like he was about to die. What the hell is this thing?
Zhuang Ningyu patted his cheek and was about to climb back into the passenger seat when the back door was suddenly pulled open—
“Phone number ending in 8896, thank you, driver.” He Mo, who had just finished his business at the investigation team, plopped into the seat, straightened his clothes, looked up, and found himself staring wide-eyed at Zhuang Ningyu, who was趴 in the driver’s seat.
A moment later—
“Ahhhh!”
“Stop screaming!”
He Mo was horrified, repeatedly saying “I’m sorry,” and quickly turned his head away. He covered his eyes with one hand and fumbled to open the car door with the other, scrambling out of the car in a panic.
Zhuang Ningyu: “Come back!”
He Mo ran faster than a dog. There was no way he was going back!
A ride-share car was parked in the spot behind them, its hazard lights flashing. In the flickering light, the driver could be seen anxiously making a call, then shaking his head and driving away with a bewildered look on his face. What’s with passengers these days? Calling for a car and then not taking it.
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
The car Yi Ke had borrowed had a green license plate, was white, and was a well-known ride-share brand. Even the model was identical.
Parked on the side of the road with its hazard lights flashing, it was a veritable trap for people hailing a ride. Eight out of ten would pull open the door and recite their phone number. And to add to it, the hazard lights were accidentally turned on by Zhuang Ningyu’s palm when he climbed over just now.
In a word.
He had brought it all upon himself.
