Fu Xueli woke from her dream, feeling disoriented for a moment. She had that nightmare again last night.

The oppressive, suffocating cycle made her head ache. She got out of bed and opened the window.

A faint cool breeze carrying the scent of morning dew blew in through the open window. There was calming incense in the corner of the hotel room.

It had been two months since that night when she and Xu Xingchun separated. Although she hadn’t moved out of his house, after reaching an agreement with Aunt Qi, Fu Xueli hadn’t gone looking for him again.

Yet she couldn’t help constantly recalling that night.

Xu Xingchun had pressed her beneath him, watching with indifference as she gasped for breath with difficulty, like a dying fish. When her tears were flowing most fiercely, she was forcefully pinned down on the sofa. He leaned down toward her, his appearance seeming both the same as before and yet different. In his hoarse voice, there was an uncontrollable desire to attack: “Fu Xueli, I’m giving you one last chance.”

One last chance?

What exactly was going on between the two of them? Fu Xueli rarely cared about others’ thoughts and didn’t like to think about things. Now she couldn’t figure it out, feeling both heartbroken and confused.

She didn’t know what Xu Xingchun truly wanted, yet she seemed to vaguely know. It was just that for the time being, she couldn’t bare her true self before him.

The golden morning sun slowly rose from the horizon, and the sea breeze from Victoria Harbor blew against her body. Fu Xueli propped up her chin, gazing into the distance lost in thought.

She had to return to Shencheng today.

LinFei had recently been negotiating equity financing with a listed food and entertainment company. This return to Shencheng was the last social obligation before the New Year holiday.

Fu Xueli had somewhat forgotten what she was supposed to do, until the person beside her reminded her and she snapped back to attention.

“What’s wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?” Tang Xin asked.

“I’m fine,” she said flatly.

Tang Xin pursed her lips. “Since yesterday afternoon, you’ve been distracted doing everything.”

Fu Xueli answered perfunctorily, “Maybe it’s because I can finally take a vacation soon, so I’m quite happy.”

Busy all year round, this was the only time to rest. Celebrities appeared glamorous on the surface, but it was actually far from easy.

“You’re going back home for New Year’s Eve this year, right?”

“Yes.” Fu Xueli played with the cigarette and lighter in her hand.

Tang Xin nodded. “You should go back and have a reunion with your family.”

As night fell in Shencheng, approaching seven o’clock, the major arterial roads began their stop-and-go traffic again. Under the black night curtain, this was the city’s prosperous, high-consumption golden triangle area, with flashing neon lights and bustling nightlife.

Heaven—a famous high-end entertainment venue in this golden triangle area. Beyond its magnificent splendor and luxury, one couldn’t think of more adjectives to describe it. It had several floors with a total of 48 private rooms.

After entering the lobby, a manager led the way. Tang Xin said in a low voice, “The real estate circle has been rather lifeless recently. The other day the leadership found me and said Director Fang plans to invest in several media companies. Many people from the industry should be here today, so you…”

“What do you mean? I’m not very familiar with that Director Fang.” Fu Xueli frowned.

Tang Xin sighed. “Miss, I’m not asking you to do anything much. Director Fang is celebrating his birthday today. When you go to toast him later, just say a few pleasant words and mention in passing that you’re here representing the company.”

People who came to Heaven were all either rich or noble, generally very worldly, all prominent figures with status. They wouldn’t engage in anything too vulgar, or at least wouldn’t play around there. Tonight, basically everyone who came was like Tang Xin and her colleagues, trying to build connections. It was just going through the motions; the real focus was still on discussing business.

At the same time.

“The major shareholder of ‘Heaven,’ the top entertainment venue in Shencheng’s entertainment industry, is called Fang Chen. He’s Fang Du’s younger brother.”

In the conference room, Lin Jin frowned. “This Fang fellow owns dozens of real estate companies in Shencheng and City B, and is also the big boss of the famous nightclub ‘Heaven.’ Since last month, we’ve received an enormous number of reports from the public.”

Xu Xingchun stared motionlessly out the window. The night was deep.

This was the last meeting temporarily organized before the operation. Xu Tao put on his clothes and opened his gun holster. “The two people we caught at the gas station last time have very tight lips, but according to our investigation, both of them are lackeys under Fang Du. Right now, one nightclub after another appears peaceful on the surface, but they’re actually places that harbor drug use, organize prostitution, and facilitate mass gambling.”

A few months ago, when the new official took office, Shencheng conducted a relatively small-scale vice crackdown. Because they continued receiving too many reports, the higher-ups established a special task force. This was a joint operation involving multiple police units including public security, criminal investigation, patrol police, and special police, divided into several teams for surprise inspections.

The targets were four luxury nightclubs: Heaven, Famous Night, Huacheng International, and Diamond Spring.

11:00 PM.

The night grew darker. One police car after another sped silently along the roads. Lin Jin pressed the car window open slightly. The sound of wind roared in, pouring into his ears. He turned his head, glanced at the speedometer reading, and joked, “Chun’er, I admire you most. Every time you race, you can remain expressionless, not afraid of death at all.”

“……”

Lin Jin sighed. “Ah, you’re really hard to communicate with. Whatever I say to you kills the conversation. Today’s action is so interesting and not heavy. Relax a little.”

Compared to other homicide cases, this crackdown on vice and illegal activities indeed wasn’t considered a major operation.

Xu Xingchun rubbed his temples and said flatly, “Heaven, that nightclub is somewhat problematic.”

Lin Jin’s memory traced back. “From what I remember, didn’t Heaven close down once before?”

“Yes.” A police officer from behind picked up the conversation. “My predecessor bureau chief was transferred away from here in October of that year. Before that, Heaven had already been a key focus. The involvement in prostitution, drugs, and organized crime was very serious. The higher-ups gave instructions and conducted multiple crackdowns, but later for some reason it was suppressed.”

Lin Jin also had an impression. “I remember now. Anyway, once that period of scrutiny passed, this Heaven reopened with great fanfare, right? In other words, they opened for business as soon as the previous bureau chief left. It was also a kind of demonstration of power. Damn, they’re quite arrogant with this approach.”

The police officer nodded. “The clues we forced out of those people we arrested at the gas station last time, we followed them down the line, but they all went dead. Currently we only know that Heaven definitely has a stable source of drugs, but we’ve never been able to root it out.”

Wine, women, and song. Seductive and bewildering. The atmosphere of debauchery permeated everywhere. On the first floor of the private rooms, Fu Xueli held a glass of wine and leaned against the piano. A female singer was performing a Faye Wong song on stage. She didn’t know when, but she no longer enjoyed this kind of liveliness, gradually growing weary of such ostentatious social occasions.

Really boring, Fu Xueli thought to herself.

She heard the people around her laugh, so she laughed too. Only her expression was somewhat coldly indifferent.

In a corner not far away, on a dark red sofa, two people were kissing frantically. Without asking, one could tell they had definitely taken some kind of drug just now.

Fu Xueli looked away indifferently. The juice-flavored alcohol wasn’t very strong. But her head felt somewhat dizzy. She casually set down the glass, the ice cubes inside rattling.

Fu Xueli looked at her listless self in the mirror, scooped up some cool water, and sobered up. She pushed open the bathroom door to leave. Her phone buzzed with several WeChat messages.

She didn’t have time to look at them and walked to the corner of the staircase.

Suddenly, a man coming down from upstairs stumbled toward her, about to fall. Fu Xueli was startled, then watched as he stood up trying to continue down the stairs. But unable to stand steady, he had to crawl down on his hands, yet still couldn’t descend the stairs and fell down again.

Damn, another one high on drugs.

Fu Xueli froze for two seconds, walked around him with disgust, lifted her foot and continued forward. She picked up her phone and happened to see Tang Xin’s message.

【Where are you? Quickly find a way to slip away. I just received news that police are coming to raid tonight. Our private room probably won’t be disturbed, but there are many reporters outside, quite a few are paparazzi hired by rival companies. If we’re photographed, it’ll be big trouble.】

Reading these lines, Fu Xueli didn’t know what to say for a moment.

She began to doubt life itself. It was probably because her zodiac birth year was approaching.

A person who looked like a manager passed by hurriedly with a walkie-talkie. “Quickly notify everyone to clear out and evacuate.”

Finding a hidden position, she held onto the railing and looked down at the situation below.

Dozens of plainclothes officers rushed into the lobby. Heaven’s hotel security guards were stunned, seeing them flash their bright badges. “We’re from the Public Security Bureau, conducting a routine inspection. Please cooperate.”

In just a few dozen minutes, all the young ladies who had been singing and serving drinks in the private rooms were brought to Heaven’s lobby for concentrated investigation. For a time, it was packed with scantily dressed young women.

Bad luck this year, truly unfortunate in everything. Screaming filled the air everywhere. Fu Xueli had a splitting headache. Right now with such chaos and so many police around, how could she leave? She pressed against the wall, trying to minimize her presence as much as possible, wanting to find a hidden fire escape to see if she could get out.

But she had barely taken a few steps.

“Wait, that woman in front, lift your head up. What are you doing here?” a policeman called out to her. Fu Xueli kept her head lowered, standing still with her back to him.

Xu Tao’s group stopped in their tracks, their gazes sweeping over the woman with her back to them.

Jet-black hair was held up by a glass hairpin, exposing her smooth, delicate nape. Thin and delicate, wearing a thin qipao, the light purple lotus-colored hem revealed faintly visible dark gold intricate patterns.

This appearance didn’t look like the party girls in Heaven, actually quite normal, just her behavior was somewhat furtive.

Fu Xueli’s blood rushed to the extreme, her back covered in fine cold sweat. Her brain was forced to spin rapidly. At this moment, she needed to find a plausible reason to leave quickly. But once recognized, it would truly be over.

“I…” She took a deep breath, swallowed, and almost wanted to just run for it regardless of everything.

The footsteps behind her drew closer and closer. Fu Xueli said nothing, her heart gradually sinking.

It’s over, it’s over, it’s over.

The next second.

Just before complete despair, someone suddenly grabbed her shoulder. Fu Xueli’s body was pulled by that person, uncontrollably turning around. She stumbled, her face crashing into a blue uniform shirt. Her form was completely blocked by that person.

Fu Xueli couldn’t believe it. Her heart jumped, goosebumps rising all over her body. But she didn’t resist. In an instant, in a daze, a familiar scent rushed into her nostrils. Her bones went numb, her feet weak and legs trembling.

Xu Tao looked at the bizarre scene before him in shock, nearly stuttering. “X-Xu… Captain Xu, what are you doing?!”

After a moment of silence, the handsome-looking policeman, in front of them, as coldly indifferent as always without any ripples, said, “Sorry, this is my girlfriend. I’ll take her out first.”

“Oh… oh, okay, no problem.” Xu Tao wanted to say more but could only hold it in at this moment. Internally he was wildly complaining.

What the hell is going on? We’re raiding a brothel and found a family member?!!

“I’ll be right back.”

The chest her face was pressed against vibrated slightly, his voice still calm. Fu Xueli, having narrowly escaped disaster, was still very tense. She had been saved, held in his arms, her head buried at his shoulder and neck, isolated from all sight.

She lifted her hand and slowly grasped the corner of Xu Xingchun’s clothes.

All six floors of Heaven’s exits were completely sealed off. Police guarded every elevator entrance and stairway. A sea of people—there were probably over a hundred police officers.

Outside the main entrance, twenty meters away, yellow cordon tape was pulled up, blocking passersby outside. Special police wearing helmets and holding guns formed a human wall. Buses for transporting people and police cars were parked there. This place… was already surrounded by a large police force.

Too naive.

How could she slip away secretly?

Too absurd.

With Xu Xingchun’s coat covering her head—she didn’t know where he got it from—Fu Xueli lifted a small opening and was frightened by the scene before her.

What was such a massive operation for?…

Xu Xingchun held her as they walked quickly outward, encountering no obstacles along the way. He greeted the others and soon passed outside the police cordon.

After walking a few more steps, in the pitch-black environment, the person in front stopped. There was a patch of parked police cars with their engines off, and not far away were scattered police officers smoking.

Fu Xueli felt uneasy.

She also stopped, removed the coat from her head, not knowing what to say, and hesitantly opened her mouth. “…Thank you.”

“Did you touch anything?” Xu Xingchun in his uniform looked coldly unapproachable.

Fu Xueli held her breath for a second and asked carefully, “What did you say?”

Her dark pupils were very bright, like they had just been fished out of water. Her crimson lips were like flower petals, half-open and half-closed. At this moment, because of her disheveled state, she had lost much of her alluring beauty and instead had a kind of obedient cuteness.

Being stared at by him like that, she suddenly realized what Xu Xingchun was asking.

“Did you touch any?” he asked coldly, his voice heavy and stagnant. Completely different from his usual refined and gentle appearance, Xu Xingchun wore a stern expression, roaring as he gripped her shoulders. “I’m asking you, did you touch any?!”

“No!” Fu Xueli blurted out. She worked up a sweat all over her body and answered with difficulty, “Xu Xingchun, you’ve misunderstood. I would never touch that kind of thing.”