Chapter 73: Chengnan Bookstore 20
The next morning, Zhuang Ningyu appeared in the office, yawning endlessly. He Mo asked, puzzled, “Don’t you only need two hours of sleep a day? How can you be so tired?”
“It’s a long story,” Zhuang Ningyu fumbled in his drawer for a super-strong mint lozenge, forcing himself to power on. “I think Yi Ke’s physical fitness is too good to be just A-level. After he finished his mission yesterday, he was still in a high-energy state. He worked out at home until the early hours of the morning and only fell asleep, burning hot all over, as dawn was breaking.”
As a result, Zhuang Ningyu, held tightly in his arms, dreamed of everything from the massive eruption of Mauna Loa in Hawaii to extreme global heatwaves. His brain was severely overloaded. This morning, even drinking two large glasses of ice water failed to wake him up properly, and he was even caught and scolded by Yi Ke. It was simply outrageous.
He Mo’s focus went astray. “Is the ‘workout’ you’re talking about the kind of workout I’m thinking of?”
Zhuang Ningyu pressed his hand on his shoulder. “Do you have any understanding of what Plato is?”
I do, but there’s no need for that. He Mo also took a mint and popped it into his mouth. “Come on, I’ll take you to see that EL09 machine Ni Ruiling brought.”
The data stored inside the machine was being decoded at high speed. A researcher said, “It contains not only the Shiliu Mountain rule zone, but also the original version and all replicated versions of the Zeus Grand Hotel.”
The spot where Yi Ke intercepted the car was less than a five-minute drive from the location of the Shiliu Mountain rule zone that the driver had confessed to. The specific content was still unknown, but according to the data, it was clear that this was a “mature rule zone” that had been replicated at least twenty times. Hou Junye, lying in the hospital, said, “In the past year, from what I know, she went to Shiliu Mountain at least three times.”
“You weren’t suspicious?” the investigator asked.
“No, I’m not familiar with Jincheng. Her explanation was that she was going to the mountains to find a yoga master for self-cultivation,” Hou Junye replied. He himself found it difficult to accept the fact that he had been “played like a monkey by his lover.” At this point, not an ounce of love was left, so he was cooperating with the government departments with unprecedented willingness, telling them everything he knew. He even proactively suggested going to the Evolver Research Institute to check if Ni Ruiling had some kind of “mind control” ability.
“No mind control, but she is indeed a master of manipulating people’s hearts,” the investigator said. “From what we’ve found so far, the number of victims might be more than you can count on one hand. When Ni Ruiling was dating you, did she ever mention anything related to the Zeus Grand Hotel? Especially before she was drawn into this bombing case rule zone, did she ever mention it?”
“She didn’t, but there’s a video,” Hou Junye said, taking out his phone and scrolling through his photo album. “I took it.” The video showed Ni Ruiling in sexy pajamas, sitting in a resort hotel suite working. The early morning sunlight shone on her, making her silhouette look exceptionally beautiful. So Hou Junye, lying in bed, was captivated by her beauty and secretly recorded a short clip to savor later.
There was nothing wrong with the video itself. What was wrong was the fleeting image of Ni Ruiling’s laptop desktop background—a charred black scene. Although it had been filtered, it still had no connection to “beauty.” On the contrary, it was a bit creepy. Hou Junye said, “It’s not very clear, but I saw it with my own eyes. It should be a picture of something like a fire scene.”
A normal person’s computer screen is either not specially set, uses wallpaper software, or is a carefully selected favorite image. But no matter which, it’s definitely for a refreshing and festive purpose. No one would use a tragic event as their startup screen for work unless the tragedy was not a tragedy to her, but a “potion” that brought great satisfaction.
Zhong Pinghe said, “During the search, pay special attention to this aspect.”
Qin Yin personally led the team and indeed found a hundred-yuan bill in Ni Ruiling’s home, hidden in the interlayer of a decorative painting hanging directly in front of the massage sofa. And in the beauty salon, there was a decorative wall with a dozen or so glass bottles neatly arranged on it, containing minerals and gravel of different compositions. In the very center was a bottle of charred black charcoal. Mixed in with crystals and essential oils, it wasn’t out of place. Customers often thought it represented bamboo charcoal or some other related therapy.
“If we analyze the composition of the charcoal, it should match the Zeus Grand Hotel from back then,” Zhong Pinghe said. “Ni Ruiling enjoys the feeling of absolute dominance. If she indeed orchestrated the Zeus Grand Hotel kidnapping case back then, then the charcoal, the ransom money, or the photos of the crime scene are all sources of excitement for her. She needs to see them constantly to stimulate the surge of adrenaline, to show contempt for the police, and to emphasize her ‘specialness’ that transcends rules and laws.”
The massage chair represented physical comfort, while the ransom note opposite the massage chair represented mental comfort.
The technical department cracked Ni Ruiling’s computer. Zhuang Ningyu asked, “Guess what they found?”
Yi Ke untied his apron and placed a bowl of soup on the dining table. “Did they find her chat records with Dou Dekai from back then?”
Zhuang Ningyu put a small chili in his bowl as a reward. “The anniversary that Dou Dekai couldn’t forget, the one he wanted to engrave on the engagement ring, was the day he first met Ni Ruiling on the dark web.”
On that day, Dou Dekai had suffered a major blow. Cursing furiously in the subway pick-up artist group wasn’t enough, so he wanted to find some excitement on the dark web. According to the chat records, Dou Dekai must have first posted some extreme opinions on “how to punish gold-digging women,” which then caught Ni Ruiling’s attention, and she took the initiative to contact him.
At that time, Dou Dekai didn’t know he was chatting with the very person he was criticizing. He thought he had hit the jackpot and met the girl of his dreams. He was completely captivated within a few sentences. Zhuang Ningyu said, “Ni Ruiling sent him a fake photo, designed completely to Dou Dekai’s liking, and he fell for it even harder.”
Yi Ke asked, “Why would Ni Ruiling do that? Just because Dou Dekai cursed gold-digging women?”
“She probably wasn’t that bored,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “I’ve seen their chat records. She was probably using him as an experiment, or a toy to pass the time.”
After all, for a person with a strong desire for control, completely manipulating a stranger over the internet could bring great pleasure. And Dou Dekai was indeed very easy to manipulate. Even after being beaten black and blue, he still went to the company the next day with his wobbly teeth, head held high and voice booming, successfully completing Ni Ruiling’s compliance test.
“From that day on, Ni Ruiling chatted with him almost every day,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “Her experiment was very successful. In the later stages, Dou Dekai had almost completely become her puppet. He fell madly in love with the considerate and gentle ‘good girl’ on the other side of the internet, convinced that he was about to have a double harvest in career and love, and step into the peak of his life.”
Yi Ke was also impressed. “What’s the difference between this and believing those small ads on telephone poles about rich women offering a fortune for a son?”
“The difference is that the rich woman wants money, while Ni Ruiling wanted the pleasure of domination, at least in the early stages of their chat.” The turning point came after Ni Ruiling’s financial situation took a hit. Zhuang Ningyu said, “She was preoccupied with her own problems at the time, so she briefly disappeared from the dark web. For Dou Dekai, it was as if he had first lost his lover, and then immediately after, learned that the off-plan apartment he had bought was a completely failed project.”
Such a Dou Dekai could not have been mentally stable. So he began to frequently and massively message Ni Ruiling, his wording sometimes normal, sometimes frantic, sometimes confessing his love, sometimes hurling insults. He even threatened to post her nude photos online if his girlfriend didn’t reappear—photos the other party had proactively sent him when their ‘love was strong’.
“Although the photos were fake, Ni Ruiling probably already had other plans for Dou Dekai at the time. So even though she was in her plastic surgery recovery period, she still went online on time every day to chat with him patiently and gently. Dou Dekai’s view of love was already distorted, and with Ni Ruiling’s continuous and deliberate guidance, he lost even more control, clinging to her like a drowning madman.”
Then, in this dazed state, he was unknowingly guided by her step by step onto the path of kidnapping Bao Mingming. Zhuang Ningyu continued, “After Ni Ruiling’s plastic surgery recovery, the patron she found should have been Bao Yuzhou, because only then could she both ‘know all of Bao Mingming’s movements’ and ‘have the opportunity to replace the three million ransom with counterfeit money’.”
Just as Zhuang Ningyu had previously guessed, Dou Dekai, until the moment of his death, did not know he was going to die. Because according to his “girlfriend’s” plan, after he got the three million ransom, he would be able to leave without a trace, and then use this “betrothal gift” to exchange for his father-in-law’s “dowry” worth tens of times more.
“Ni Ruiling is very smart,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “She used Dou Dekai’s identity as a homebuyer and that fake suicide note to successfully focus the case on the abandoned building, while the real focus, the three million ransom, became an insignificant supporting role that was burned away. Even the police were deceived. After all, among all the people involved in the kidnapping case, the ones in the open, apart from Dou Dekai, the rest, whether it was Bao Yuzhou or Bao Yuzhou’s creditors and enemies, were basically all tycoons. No one would make such a big fuss over a mere three million.”
Dou Dekai gave his life for love, yet he had never even seen Ni Ruiling’s real face, professing his love to a fake person the entire time. Yi Ke asked, “If he had known Ni Ruiling was his ‘bride,’ would he still have chosen Xiao Yao a second time in the rule zone?”
“It’s hard to say. After all, his so-called love for his girlfriend was essentially still love for his inflated self. When a better option appears, this type of person can often abandon the previous one without any pressure.” Zhuang Ningyu looked at him and frowned. “Are you still eating?”
Yi Ke’s hand, which was scooping rice, paused. He whined pitifully, “Can’t I eat?”
“You can,” Zhuang Ningyu said. “But you’ve already finished your third bowl, and you fill it to the brim every time.”
Yi Ke: “I’m not full.”
The last time Zhuang Ningyu had such a good appetite was in high school. He watched as he scooped a fourth bowl of rice, not caring that there were no more dishes on the table, and still wolfed it down with the black pepper beef and the little bit of leftover tomato and egg soup. Finally, he had to open the refrigerator with a look of wanting more, and pull out a cucumber to munch on.
Zhuang Ningyu said worriedly, “You should really go to the Evolver Center for a check-up tomorrow!”
Yi Ke didn’t want to go. He felt his condition was perfectly fine. But no matter how Zhuang Ningyu looked at it, he felt there was something wrong with him these past two days. That night, he sat with his computer, carefully researching. After a long time, he finally looked up and asked, “Is it possible you’re about to have a second evolution?”
“I know you want me to improve, but there should be no connection between a good appetite and a second evolution,” Yi Ke said, lying on the sofa playing with his phone.
How is there no connection? A second evolution is also a form of development. A good appetite during a developmental period… the more Zhuang Ningyu thought about it, the more reasonable his speculation seemed. And, he added, “You’re not sleepy either. It’s impossible for an A-level evolver not to need sleep.”
“I do need it,” Yi Ke tossed his phone aside and turned over to hug him. “I’ll sleep if you sleep with me.”
Zhuang Ningyu asked, “What if I don’t?”
Yi Ke replied, “Then I’ll sleep sadly.”
Zhuang Ningyu: “…”
To prove that he really had no evolutionary trend and needed sleep very much, Yi Ke picked him up horizontally and walked towards the bedroom. Zhuang Ningyu clung to his shoulders, not letting go, his whole body tense. “I haven’t showered yet!”
His fragrant wife couldn’t go to bed without a shower. Yi Ke understood completely, so he asked him, “Want me to wash you?”
Zhuang Ningyu remembered the very inappropriate thing he had seen that day and refused in a second. “I’ll wash myself!”
Yi Ke: “Are you sure you don’t—”
Zhuang Ningyu slammed the bathroom door shut with a “bang.”
Absolutely not.
Yi Ke was very obedient. He went to the guest bathroom to take a shower himself and, while his wife wasn’t looking, sneaked a bite of his lemon cupcake before brushing his teeth. When Zhuang Ningyu came out of the bathroom, Yi Ke was already sitting back on the edge of the bed, holding a hairdryer and patting the bed with a “thwack, thwack,” like an emoji. Zhuang Ningyu stopped in his tracks and asked again, suspiciously, “Are you really okay?”
Yi Ke was puzzled. “I’m going to dry your hair. What’s wrong?”
Nothing, but you seem a little overexcited again. Zhuang Ningyu looked at the wrinkles he had patted onto the bed and warily sat back on the foot of the bed. As expected, Yi Ke threw the hairdryer aside and pounced, hugging him from behind. “Wifey, you smell so good!”
Zhuang Ningyu was almost knocked onto the carpet. I knew it!
He had never used his S-level advantage against Yi Ke, but tonight he could. Seeing that the situation was not good, Yi Ke turned and ran. After fifteen minutes of this chase game, the property management staff came up and knocked on the door. Very politely and awkwardly, they said, “Mr. Yi, are you having a party in your home? We’ve received a complaint from your neighbor, who says they have a child who needs to go to school and needs quiet sleep. They hope you can keep the noise down, otherwise they will call the police.”
Yi Ke’s expression didn’t change. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful.”
The property management left, relieved. Zhuang Ningyu came downstairs, his clothes in disarray, and opened the refrigerator to look for a drink. His eyes scanned the contents and keenly noticed something unusual. “Did you eat cake again before bed?”
Yi Ke: “…Yeah.”
“Go to the Evolver Research Center tomorrow, immediately,” Zhuang Ningyu didn’t want to wait another second. He pointed at him. “I’ll take a day off and go with you.”
“But I don’t have any symptoms to describe,” Yi Ke walked over and helped him twist open the bottle cap.
How are there no symptoms? Isn’t your incredible appetite and staying up all night with so much energy a symptom? And you run faster than a dog! You’ve never had such results in previous physical tests! Zhuang Ningyu reminded him, “Remember to tell the doctor the truth tomorrow. Is there anything else?”
Yi Ke replied, “Yes, I really want to kiss you. Does this also need to be told to the doctor?”
