“Generally speaking, these kinds of prostitution establishments rent space from hotels—they’re not run by the hotels themselves. Although this line of work has high profits, the risks are also great. If the owner is caught, they could face sentencing, so generally big hotel owners won’t personally open such establishments. However, the hotel definitely knows about it. The rent for such establishments is much higher than ordinary rates, so of course they pretend not to know. As for investigating who the actual owner behind the spa center is, that’s difficult. Sometimes even the madam doesn’t know who the real owner is.”

In a small private room in the tea lounge on the second floor of the Maple Forest Evening Grand Hotel, Zhang Yi’ang poured tea for Li Qian and Song Xing sitting beside him while introducing Li Qian, who was new to the world, to the basic situation of red-light establishments. They were all wearing casual clothes. Zhang Yi’ang wore a jacket, Song Xing was in a casual suit looking somewhat constrained, and Li Qian, at Zhang Yi’ang’s suggestion, had put on heavy makeup. After all, this might be the suspect’s territory—going in and out of entertainment venues required looking the part of entertainment venues.

“So is the madam a prostitute?” Li Qian asked naively.

Zhang Yi’ang couldn’t help but laugh, thinking to himself, is your uncle a police officer? Of course, he didn’t dare say such a life-threatening analogy. He explained vaguely in one sentence, “Every profession has to start from the grassroots.”

Before long, the door to the small private room opened. Wang Ruijun, wearing a tight shirt, walked in, followed by a beautiful woman about thirty years old. Her face full of hyaluronic acid had molded her into a composite of multiple female celebrities. Her clothing and makeup were gaudy—clearly a character from entertainment venues.

The woman cautiously followed closely behind Wang Ruijun, step by step. Coming before the group, she put on a face full of smiles, her gaze not daring to look directly at them. She lowered her eyes and nodded to each person, warmly saying “Hello, leaders” three times.

Li Qian looked at her curiously and asked, “Are you Madam Zhou?”

“Uh, I’m Manager Zhou.” The other party was startled and laughed dryly. “Zhou Qi. Leaders can just call me Little Qi.” She raised her head to look at the female officer who called her “Madam Zhou” and discovered she was actually a wet-behind-the-ears young woman, and quite pretty at that. She thought to herself, why would someone so good-looking become a police officer? Working at my place would be much better—guaranteed to earn ten times more than a police officer’s income.

Wang Ruijun vigilantly closed the door, walked to Zhou Qi’s side, glanced at Zhang Yi’ang’s expression, and said to her, “Sit down. Our leader has questions for you.”

Zhou Qi obediently nodded her head and somewhat nervously moved her bottom onto an empty seat.

Zhang Yi’ang nodded at Song Xing, who immediately adopted the stern expression of interrogating a criminal and asked, “Besides us, who else knows we’re looking for you today?”

Zhou Qi hurriedly said, “Nobody knows. I just told the assistant upstairs that I was going out to handle some business.”

“Good. Let me tell you again—what we’re looking for you about today, what we’re about to ask you—either forget it or keep it buried in your stomach. If you let it out, not only will we raid the establishment, but you’ll have to come in too. Usually, the ones managing you are the police station and the public security team. We’re from the Criminal Investigation Team. I can clearly tell you that our methods are completely different from theirs!”

Zhou Qi was so frightened that even the hyaluronic acid in her face changed color. After several seconds, she finally calmed down and put on her professional smile again, saying, “I will definitely keep one hundred percent confidentiality. I understand this principle. Whatever the leaders ask, I will definitely tell the truth. Brother Jun has already made it very clear to me. I will absolutely complete the mission!”

“Brother Jun?” Zhang Yi’ang couldn’t help but frown. He sized up Wang Ruijun and Zhou Qi and asked, “You two know each other?”

Zhou Qi quickly waved her hands. “Don’t know each other, not at all.”

“If you don’t know each other, how do you know his name?”

“Right, how do you know my name!” Wang Ruijun immediately flew into a rage and slapped the table.

“Right, I… how would I know your name… know your name…” Zhou Qi’s voice became smaller and smaller, her eyes evasive, not knowing how to answer.

Wang Ruijun decided to give her a hint: “Did you see and remember it when I just showed you my credentials?”

“Right, right, right. You did show me your credentials just now, and I saw it and remembered it.”

Wang Ruijun turned to explain to Zhang Yi’ang, “See? People in this line of work greet and send off guests every day. Generally, they have good memories. This is hardly surprising, hardly surprising.”

Zhang Yi’ang yawned widely, opening one eye and closing the other as he looked at Wang Ruijun, who quickly lowered his head. Zhang Yi’ang smiled imperceptibly and turned to instruct Song Xing, “Continue questioning.”

Song Xing kept a straight face. “Do you know Ye Jian?”

Zhou Qi thought for a while and shook her head. “Just hearing the name, I don’t know. But if there’s a photo, I should be able to recognize him.”

Song Xing pulled out his phone, found the saved photos of Ye Jian, and handed it over. “Swipe left and right to look. The next few photos are all of the same person.”

Zhou Qi respectfully received the phone with both hands. Inside were several professional photos of Ye Jian, as well as candid shots taken during unit group activities. She swiped left and right looking for a long time, then finally raised her head, revealing a helpless expression. “This person has never come to the company.”

Song Xing asked coldly, “Are you certain?”

Zhou Qi hesitated uneasily, recalled again, and only then said with certainty, “At least I haven’t seen him. However, perhaps he came when I wasn’t there. When I’m not there, the assistant receives guests.”

Zhang Yi’ang observed her expression. After a while, feeling she didn’t seem to be lying, he nodded at Song Xing to let him continue questioning.

“How many assistants receive guests in total?”

“Two. Both are here today.”

“Call both of them down.”

Zhou Qi hastily agreed, pulled out her phone to call the two assistants, asking them to come down to the tea house downstairs. Within a few minutes, the two came downstairs. Zhang Yi’ang had them not come in—Wang Ruijun just needed to go to the door with Zhou Qi to confirm. This matter absolutely had to be kept tightly sealed.

Before long, the two returned to the private room. Wang Ruijun told the others, “Ye Jian indeed never came.”

Zhang Yi’ang nodded, indicating to ask about other things.

Song Xing pulled up the spa center VIP card from his phone and asked her, “You know this card, right?”

“This card!” When Zhou Qi saw this card, a trace of surprise also appeared on her face. “Where did you get this card?”

Song Xing glared at her. “Am I asking you, or are you asking me?”

“Ah, sorry, sorry.” Zhou Qi came to her senses and hurriedly explained, “Very few customers have this card. If a customer presents this card, all consumption is free.”

“All consumption is free!” Several people all revealed surprised expressions. They had originally only thought this VIP card was a discount card for spa center consumption. Nowadays, with various entertainment venues competing fiercely, VIP activities offering bonuses for topping up accounts were very common, and establishments involving prostitution would naturally keep pace with the times. But free consumption was truly unprecedented. If this card fell into the hands of an ordinary man in society, within three days he would likely become gaunt and emaciated, withered in appearance—the consequences would be unthinkable!

“This card has a number. Your computer must have consumption records for this card, right?”

Zhou Qi shook her head. “The boss said not to record it, just enter it normally. The consumption amount can be reimbursed directly by him personally.”

Song Xing hurriedly pursued the question. “Who is your boss?”

“It’s… it’s…” Zhou Qi hesitated. “I don’t know who the boss is either.”

“Bullshit! How did you just mention your boss?”

Zhou Qi thought anxiously, “The boss… the boss contacts me by phone. I… I’ve never seen the boss.”

Song Xing slapped the table and shouted, “Don’t play tricks with me! Which phone does your boss call, when did he call, what’s the number—we can investigate all of it. If you wait until we investigate everything before confessing, you’ll suffer the consequences! Speak! Who is the boss!”

Zhou Qi trembled with fear. “It’s… it’s General Manager Lu.”

“Lu Yibo?”

Zhou Qi timidly nodded. “Right.”

“The VIP card was given out by Lu Yibo?”

“I’m not clear about that.”

Song Xing had basically finished asking what needed to be asked and turned to look at Zhang Yi’ang.

Zhang Yi’ang smiled and comforted Zhou Qi, “Don’t be nervous. The case we’re investigating has nothing to do with your establishment. You just need to answer honestly. Let me ask you, has anything strange happened at the establishment recently?”

From the earlier conversation between Zhou Qi and the others, she had already discerned that the man now speaking was the head of these police officers. Facing questions from the big leader, she appeared even more uneasy. “What… what counts as a strange thing?”

“For example, some strange customers, or some unusual events.”

“This…” Zhou Qi thought and recalled, then said, “Nothing major, just recently there was a customer who gave two girls gold necklaces as tips. They went outside to have them verified—the necklaces were real. He also said he had a lot of jewelry and could sell it to us cheaply. I was tempted for a moment and bought a diamond necklace from him for twenty thousand yuan. Later I went outside to have it verified—they said the item was genuine but only worth a few thousand. I asked him to refund the money, but he refused, saying his goods were all genuine, even Boss Zhou, the richest man in San Jiang Kou, bought from him. As long as the item is genuine, there can be no refund.”

Song Xing snorted coldly. “You’re bringing up this kind of personal grievance hoping we’ll stand up for you—using a borrowed knife to kill, huh?”

Zhou Qi hurriedly explained, “No, no, no. The leader asked me if anything strange happened—this is the only thing I could think of.”

“Wait,” Zhang Yi’ang held up his hand. “You just said Boss Zhou, the richest man in San Jiang Kou, bought from him?”

“That’s what he said.”

“What’s this person’s name?”

“I don’t know his name. I heard people call him Brother Zheng.”

Zhang Yi’ang nodded and had Song Xing record the person’s basic information with her.

After asking more questions, there was no other progress. Finally, Zhang Yi’ang stood up, came to her side, pulled out his phone, opened a photo, leaned it in front of her, and said, “One last question for today. Look carefully—have you seen this person?”

Zhou Qi examined it for quite a while, then nodded emphatically. “I’ve seen him, I’ve seen him. He doesn’t come many times. Each time he first books a room upstairs, then calls me and requests what kind of girl to bring up. Because he’s a VIP customer, each time I personally bring the girl up.”

Zhang Yi’ang put away his phone, very satisfied with this answer, and confirmed once more. “Are you certain he’s a VIP?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Zhang Yi’ang pondered for a few seconds, nodded, and smiled mysteriously. “Today let me be frank with you. We’ve already grasped a lot of evidence. The spa center upstairs is suspected of organized prostitution. You don’t need to deny it—I wouldn’t speak carelessly without evidence. I believe you also know that if the girls are caught, it’s only administrative detention for two weeks, but if the organizer is caught, they face sentencing—at least several years before getting out.”

The hyaluronic acid in Zhou Qi’s face was twitching.

“However, I can give you a promise. As long as the establishment upstairs remains open, I won’t arrest you, and you don’t need to worry about what will happen in the future. But all of this depends on whether you have the determination to perform meritorious service.”

“Determination to perform meritorious service…” Zhou Qi murmured for a few seconds, then nodded. “Yes, yes, I do! It’s just that we’ve always dealt with the police station before. We haven’t had contact with someone at your level. Could you disclose something about the general rates so I can apply to the boss?” Her attitude was very resolute, but her tightly furrowed brows showed her economic burden was extremely heavy.

“What are you thinking? You think I came today to collect protection money?”

“Of course not, of course not. This isn’t protection money—how could this be protection money? This is a consultation fee.” Zhou Qi smiled very understandingly.

Zhang Yi’ang pursed his lips and could only explain clearly, “I don’t want money. I only want you to promise one thing—if the person in the photo comes again next time, don’t tell anyone and notify your Brother Jun immediately. I won’t say anything more to you. You know in your heart about today’s matter. If you leak half a word, you’ll bear the consequences yourself!”

“I… I will definitely do as told!” Zhou Qi, as if granted a great pardon, repeatedly agreed and, with Zhang Yi’ang’s permission, withdrew from the private room.

The remaining people all curiously asked him, “Director, who was the person you just asked her to notify Team Wang about immediately?”

Zhang Yi’ang smiled. He didn’t need to keep secrets from these trusted subordinates. If even they couldn’t be relied upon, then there was no point investigating the case. He brought out the photo on his phone.

After several seconds of silence, the three cried out in unison, “Mayor Luo!”

Unexpected, truly unexpected. This time, even Song Xing, this usually self-assured veteran detective, was completely convinced of Director Zhang’s abilities.

The clue Ye Jian left pointed to the spa establishment. Song Xing’s mind could only think of raiding the establishment in an anti-prostitution sweep and bringing people back for interrogation. Who would have thought the leader could operate this way—leaving the spa establishment alone to fish out the mayor, and perhaps even fish out other people. In ancient times, there was the military strategy of besieging a point to strike at reinforcements. Today there was Director Zhang besieging the establishment to strike at the mayor. This wasn’t just a criminal investigation expert—this was simply a criminal investigation artist!

Next, they would just watch the movements at the spa establishment. But whether it was the owner Lu Yibo or the manager Zhou Qi, both were slippery old foxes. Would they obediently listen? Would there be other turns in Ye Jian’s case? What other important figures had yet to appear on the stage?