It had been so long since they’d seen each other that their breathing seemed to prick each other’s nerves, pulsing rhythmically.
“I don’t have much time. I need to leave tonight. Shall we get straight to the point?” he said, turning her face toward him while kissing her intensely and speaking in a low voice.
Moonlight tilted in, blocked by the curtains. The room was dim and hazy as if someone had stoked a small fireball inside, igniting the atmosphere. The two young, passionate bodies pressed tightly together became the source of temptation. Ye Meng genuinely wanted to reach back and slap him—this dog, jumping straight to business the moment they met? But at that moment, she truly felt Li Jin Yu’s excitement stirring for the first time. His breathing grew heavier with each moment, almost unprecedentedly urgent, as he pressed against her with an unprecedented quiver.
Ye Meng couldn’t bear to say anything more. She was already backed up against the TV cabinet, exchanging small kisses with him, all thoughts thrown aside, murmuring, “Really?”
As if afraid she wouldn’t believe him, he gave her a deep kiss, eyes open, entangling with hers. Those cold, gloomy eyes now seemed as out of control as a burning city gate. “Mmm.”
…
Still in the bathroom, Li Jin Yu carried her directly to the shower, then turned on the water. He didn’t remove his own clothes but stripped her completely with record speed. Ye Meng felt like a wet spring onion, peeled, then cut into two pieces, meant to accompany drinks and satisfy cravings.
As they spoke, Ye Meng also felt like she was in a stage play that had suffered a performance mishap—half R-rated scene, half action sequence.
They nearly got into a fight, or rather, Li Jin Yu was on the receiving end of a one-sided beating because this little rascal would occasionally whisper smugly in her ear: “Sister, it hurts.”
“Then get out.”
With one hand braced against the wall and the other on her waist, he buried his face in the crook of her neck and chuckled. “No. Turn around.”
Ye Meng slapped him again. Li Jin Yu took it silently, enduring it. Yet the next moment, she found herself wanting to cling to him like a vine.
“Sister, I ran into your ex-boyfriend at the police station a few days ago,” he mentioned casually.
“Where? How do you know who my ex-boyfriend is?” Ye Meng asked hazily.
“Why are you so nervous? Hmm?” He turned her face and kissed her hard. “I’m in so much pain. Loosen up a bit.”
Ye Meng had never experienced anything like this before. She felt like a butterfly about to break free from its cocoon but unable to burst through. She could only say, “There’s nothing. Go on, tell me more.”
It was Tai Ming Xiao who told him. At the time, Liang Yun An was verifying the details of Wang Xing Sheng’s cooperation with their company from Tai Ming Xiao. Li Jin Yu hadn’t properly slept for days and was resting on the sofa with his eyes closed while listening to their conversation. Suddenly, a commotion erupted downstairs, creating an uproar.
When Liang Yun An inquired, he learned that several young men in their mid-twenties had gotten into a bar fight. After the fight, they discovered that this “person” was no ordinary individual. His name was Zhu Yi Kun, and he ran in the same circles as Tai Ming Xiao and those wealthy young heirs. Li Jin Yu knew him too, though they didn’t interact much as they weren’t the same type of people. Zhu Yi Kun was a typical spoiled rich kid, known within their circle as the “Father’s Nightmare.”
When Zhu Yi Kun saw the two of them there, he couldn’t let it go, having been beaten black and blue and losing face. Li Jin Yu and Tai Ming Xiao couldn’t be bothered with this mess, but Tai Ming Xiao recognized one familiar face among the young men and casually mentioned it to Li Jin Yu. That was Ye Meng’s ex-boyfriend, who had dated her during university. Even after Ye Meng began working at the company, this guy hadn’t let go and had come to harass her for a while, creating quite an ugly scene.
Li Jin Yu couldn’t help but look at him more closely. He appeared quite refined and polite.
“Why did they fight?” Ye Meng asked.
Li Jin Yu explained with varying emphasis, “Your ex-boyfriend said Zhu Yi Kun tried to drug a girl at the bar and take her away. The girl refused, so they stepped in to stop him. Neither side probably controlled their strength well, and men love to show off their prowess. One thing led to another, and it turned into a group brawl. Zhu Yi Kun got beaten up, needed eight stitches on his head, and demanded 880,000 yuan in compensation.”
She had seen Zhu Yi Kun once or twice. He wasn’t a good person to begin with—lecherous and disrespectful toward women.
“Why are you telling me this?” Ye Meng asked.
“I thought you might beg me to help your ex-boyfriend,” he said.
“It’s none of my business. Stay away from Zhu Yi Kun; he’s no good,” was all Ye Meng said in the end.
“Okay,” he obediently replied. Li Jin Yu was still uncomfortable, both in pain and distress. Finally, with reddened eyes, he rested his forehead on Ye Meng’s shoulder, looking down with a pitiful tone: “Sister, were your previous boyfriends this long?”
Men’s competitive nature! No matter in what aspect, they always want to measure themselves against former lovers. But Ye Meng finally understood why he had cried in pain the first time, yet was already researching all sorts of techniques by the second time.
She had never experienced that before!
The bedroom curtains were drawn, letting in no light. Only a bedside lamp was lit, casting a weak, warm glow. Ignoring the surroundings and furniture, the tranquil environment was somewhat reminiscent of those nights in Ning Sui. A cat quietly perched on the wall, calling out in the heat, waiting night after night for the curtain to rise.
Li Chang Jin also had a cat, a hairless Canadian breed, with only two gleaming big eyes left on its entire face, resembling ET. Ye Meng found it creepy just looking at it, and she had always kept her distance from hairless things. The cat somehow ran in from outside and leaped onto their bed. Ye Meng had just emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a towel and was so startled that she immediately retreated inside.
Li Jin Yu was wringing out his wet shirt to throw it in the laundry basket. “What’s wrong?”
“Your grandfather’s cat is on my bed.”
“You’re afraid of cats?”
“I’m afraid of hairless things.”
Li Jin Yu, wearing only pants, walked out to find the cat curled up motionless in the center of the bed. He knocked on the wall with his fingers in his usual manner: “Chris, get down. I’m not sleeping here tonight.”
“Whoosh—” The cat, looking somewhat dejected, darted out through the door at lightning speed.
When Li Jin Yu went back inside, Ye Meng was leaning against the sink, reaching out for him to carry her. Li Jin Yu embraced her, pressing her against the sink, lowering his head to suck gently on her lips, coaxing in a low voice: “Should I change the bedding for you later?”
Ye Meng hugged his waist, burying her head in his shoulder. The passion had dissipated, and his body was merely warm, his heartbeat steady, yet it felt comfortable—like calm, tranquil warm water slowly flowing into her bloodstream, washing away all her emotions, relaxing all her pulses. “No need. It’s too late. I’ll just sleep closer to the edge. When do you have to leave?”
He looked down at her. “After you fall asleep.”
They eventually got into bed, each leaning against their side of the headboard, quietly smoking, chatting intermittently.
“Does your grandfather want you to stay in Beijing?”
“Mm,” he confirmed with a sound while smoking.
“What do you think about it?”
Li Jin Yu’s upper body was bare, his pants hanging loosely at the waist, his belt draped over the chair beside the bed. Leaning against the headboard with one leg bent, he tapped off some ash and asked her meaningfully: “What do you think I might be thinking?”
Ye Meng put out her cigarette and climbed on top of him. Li Jin Yu raised the hand holding the cigarette, while his other hand supported her waist, pulling her closer. Then Ye Meng lowered her head, exploring his face inch by inch, declaring solemnly: “Husband, you truly are a precious treasure in this world.”
He smiled, sliding down slightly, resting his neck against the headboard, lazily exhaling smoke: “Cut it out.”
A man’s scent after a shower is so pleasant, clean, and crisp. Ye Meng greedily inhaled the scent from his neck. “Baby, you smell so good. What’s that fragrance?”
“Body wash. You smell the same.”
“Inside too,” he added.
“…”
The night grew quiet, but their eyes spoke volumes of tender affection. They gazed at each other silently. Li Jin Yu brushed her hair behind her ear and asked, “Why have you lost so much weight recently? Didn’t grandfather feed you?”
“Have I? Besides getting thinner, anything else?” Ye Meng wore his shirt and instinctively thrust out her chest.
Taking her hint, Li Jin Yu’s cold gaze moved downward. One hand rested on the headboard as he casually tapped off some ash: “Your stomach has grown quite a bit. Are you pregnant?”
Ye Meng wanted to curse, “Bullshit, are you blind?” But suddenly she remembered something and covered her mouth: “Did you use protection just now?”
“No,” he replied calmly.
Ye Meng lay down, hugging him with her head on his chest, her face pressed against him. “What if I get pregnant?”
“We’ll have the baby,” he looked down at her.
They were like two octopuses, desperately wanting to cling tightly to each other. She looked up at him, her gaze directly refusing: “No.”
Li Jin Yu’s hand paused while tapping ash. “Why not?”
“Do you know how troublesome having a child is? We haven’t even had our wedding yet. What if my figure never recovers? Plus, for at least three years after birth, I’d have no freedom. I haven’t had enough time just the two of us yet. I don’t want a child taking away your attention. I don’t want it, I don’t want it, I don’t want it.”
She repeated her refusal three times.
At this moment, Ye Meng was like a young girl. So she also had fears and worried about others taking away his attention. Li Jin Yu couldn’t stop smiling, his heart swelling with emotion. While stroking her hair, he asked knowingly: “Then what should we do?”
“Why didn’t you use protection? Don’t you want to spend time just the two of us?” she questioned accusingly.
He smiled, saying helplessly: “There’s no protection here. I couldn’t exactly ask grandfather, could I?”
“Why didn’t you buy some on the way back, knowing we would do this tonight?” she still grumbled, somewhat dissatisfied.
He truly hadn’t thought about it. He thought he had good self-control, but Li Jin Yu wasn’t one to make excuses. Being straightforward, he could only suggest: “Sister, maybe you should stand up for a while instead of lying down. Perhaps it might still flow out.”
“Flow your mother!” Ye Meng, buried in his embrace, gave him another hard slap on the arm without a second word. It was quite painful. Li Jin Yu let out a hiss but still coaxed her, saying, “How about I get a vasectomy? When you want to have a child, I can get it reversed.”
“Just wearing protection would kill you?” Ye Meng pinched him.
“Isn’t protection also unreliable? What if you still get pregnant? Won’t you cry again?” Li Jin Yu said casually while pinching her earlobe.
Ye Meng, lying on top of him, muttered, “I’ll go to the pharmacy tomorrow and get some emergency contraception.”
Li Jin Yu sighed: “Then I should just get a vasectomy. Making sister take contraceptive pills—I’m no better than a beast.”
Ye Meng propped herself up, sucked on his lips, and gazed deeply at him. “I’m willing, okay?”
Outside, Chris might have called out. In the quiet night, a faint cat’s cry mingled with the gentle breeze and rain, like lovers’ whispers in the tranquil night sky.
Li Jin Yu sucked back her lips, very persistently refusing to give in: “I’m not willing, okay?”
Ye Meng also sighed, “Then what do we do now? You won’t let me take pills, but if I get pregnant—” Just thinking about it made her sad. She lay on his chest, covering her face, pretending to cry: “We haven’t even had our wedding yet. I don’t want to walk around with a belly, ahhh—”
He leaned against the headboard, lazily putting out his cigarette, undoing her shirt buttons one by one: “A belly looks good too. I think people have a certain reverence for pregnant women.” Though he spoke like this, his actions were extraordinarily frivolous and casual.
Ye Meng thought he was truly perverse, but before she could ponder further, she could only cover her chest. “What are you doing?”
Li Jin Yu flipped over, pinning her beneath him, lowering his head, “Planting something.”
They tussled for quite a while until the sky began to show the faint white of dawn. Li Jin Yu glanced outside, preparing to leave. He leaned against the headboard, grabbing his belt from beside him and putting it on while telling her, “If you get bored recently, think about where you’d like to travel. After this matter is settled, should we go on a trip?”
Ye Meng didn’t want him to leave. Like a koala, she clung to him, continuously kissing him from his forehead to the tip of his nose. Dense, reluctant kisses fell on his face, finally reaching his lips, sucking and lingering, never enough: “I don’t want to go anywhere, just want to lie in bed with you.”
“You’re so lazy,” Li Jin Yu laughed, his shirt still on her body. “I’m leaving. Take it off.”
Ye Meng reluctantly undid the buttons. Li Jin Yu leaned against the headboard, half-smiling as he watched her, his gaze following her hands as they undid the buttons, gradually moving downward. One hand slipped around her waist, pulling her toward himself, and he commented unexpectedly: “They’ve grown so much?”
“Mm.”
Li Jin Yu tilted his head back, somewhat uncontrollably slowly capturing her lips, suppressing his eager heartbeat. It was as if vines were winding around them, binding them tightly together. The breaking dawn before daylight carried the ambiguity of twilight. From the dark soil emerged fresh green sprouts, and growing wildly was the love in their hearts. He leaned against the headboard, finished fastening his belt, and with his upper body bare, he kissed her heavily, devouring each other. Even their Adam’s apples moved with unusual passion and emotion. He said hoarsely in her ear: “Sister, you’re amazing.”
The fluffy rain fell without warning. The sky was overcast, like the calm before a storm. Zhuanshan Police Station was brightly lit, after pulling who knows how many all-nighters. Several police officers were sprawled asleep in the office, books covering their faces, feet propped on desks, with two empty instant noodle boxes beside them that had been slurped clean.
Liang Yun An, with a phone wedged at his neck, was cleaning up the noodle boxes while talking to Li Jin Yu: “Could Wang Xing Sheng have seen Quan Si Yun on the 17th? In the surveillance footage you found that day, if I’m not mistaken, Wang Xing Sheng did seem to get into Li Ling Bai’s car. But Li Ling Bai confirmed she was abroad on the 17th, and we couldn’t find surveillance evidence at that time, so we had to let her go.”
But the surveillance footage this time left everyone stunned. Li Ling Bai’s car was parked in a blind spot. Not only was it out of frame, but even if it had been captured, given the traffic flow on that street, the technical team might not have spotted it. Li Jin Yu noticed the car because of its shadow—
At 9:10, the sunlight cast the car’s shadow into the surveillance frame. Based on Wang Xing Sheng’s appearances in several surveillance videos later, he was wearing a peaked cap at the time. The surveillance angle could only capture half the cap top, hardly confirming it was a person. Without this preliminary information to assist, Li Jin Yu wouldn’t have quickly associated that person with Wang Xing Sheng, and that car with Li Ling Bai’s.
Later, Li Jin Yu had the technical team pull up all surveillance from that location, piecing together, calculating, and modeling every angle. They reconstructed the car model, confirming it was indeed the same model as Li Ling Bai’s chauffeured car.
The technicians also found footage from another street surveillance entrance showing Li Ling Bai’s car had indeed appeared nearby. After that, Wang Xing Sheng frequently appeared in related surveillance footage, though only in brief glimpses. But because the locations were so varied and crowded, these appearances were almost overlooked. Some officers had noticed his footprints at the time, but then he would disappear again as if he could teleport. Moreover, his appearance locations were very inconsistent.
“If we can confirm Li Ling Bai was abroad on the 17th, then the person in the car should be Quan Si Yun.”
Liang Yun An threw all the instant noodles into the trash bin, puzzled: “Why would Quan Si Yun be able to use Li Ling Bai’s chauffeured car? Could Li Ling Bai also be a cult member? Doesn’t your mother have a copy of ‘The Door’ at home?”
Li Jin Yu was changing clothes at Fenghui Garden, with an earpiece on, buttoning up his shirt cuffs while saying: “I can only say I’ve never seen it. After all, my relationship with her isn’t good. I’ve rarely been in her room.”
Outside, a fine drizzle was falling, floating down like lamp-lit fluff. The sky hung low, limiting visibility.
At that moment in the station, someone muttered a couple of words in their sleep. Looking at these exhausted sleeping faces, Liang Yun An felt the desire to solve the case surging in his chest. “Perhaps we’re overthinking things? Maybe it’s just a pyramid scheme case? I really can’t believe that Quan Si Yun, who seems so fragile, could establish such a large cult.”
Due to the atmosphere of the bar, with its dim lighting and ambiguous-looking men and women neck to neck, or even more intensely, seemingly wanting to dive into each other’s bodies right there—those darkest scenes were refracted in the colorful lights of the alcohol. Even if it were poisoned, these people would probably still drink it gladly.
When Ma Hou was getting up from between two pure college girls to go throw up for the third time, someone grabbed him by the neck and dragged him into the bathroom. “Click, click”—two crisp door-locking sounds that sounded especially familiar. Before he could look up, he already saw those shiny and familiar pointed young master leather shoes.
He just slowly looked up along the wide suit pants, unsure if it was because he was drunk or if the young master’s legs were that long. It felt like it took forever to finally see the face.
But Li Jin Yu had already crouched down, and Ma Hou immediately began to tremble from the depths of his soul, involuntarily blurting out his catchphrase: “Fuck.” Caught by this guy again.
“I won’t hit you. Just asking you two things.”
Li Jin Yu skillfully picked up the small iron hammer from the door. Crouching, he rested one hand on his leg and held the hammer with the other, planting it on the ground. Even his smile was cold. Ma Hou thought this person was truly divine—how could he look so otherworldly? Rich people probably bathe in milk, he thought. So tender and fresh.
Then why are you holding a hammer?
“Ask…” Ma Hou trembled in response.
“Why did Wang Xing Sheng suddenly want to leave ‘Master Yin Zhen’? Had anyone successfully left before? Or did everyone who tried to leave end up dead? Also, why did you initially impersonate ‘Master Yin Zhen’?”
Ma Hou said: “Wang Xing Sheng didn’t want to leave ‘Master Yin Zhen’; he joined ‘Master Yin Zhen’ in the first place to seek justice for Chen Qing Mei. You know Chen Qing Mei, right? The woman who committed suicide by driving off Jiumen Ridge eight years ago. Wang Xing Sheng was having an affair with her. The night she committed suicide, Wang Xing Sheng had seen her. They even slept together. Later, Wang Xing Sheng told me he wanted to divorce his wife, but who would have thought, after sleeping together, that woman committed suicide. At that time, Wang Xing Sheng heard that woman rambling about something like ‘The Door’ and stuff, so he remembered seeing that book at your mother’s house, so the next day he went to your mother’s place and asked for that book.”
Ma Hou glanced at him after finishing, somewhat testing. Of course, Ma Hou knew he was Li Ling Bai’s son. Li Jin Yu didn’t hide it, even asking with a somewhat expressionless, unsurprised tone: “The whole country knows our relationship isn’t great. You don’t have to look at me like that. So, my mother is also part of your religion, is that right?”
Ma Hou immediately said, “I don’t know if your mother is or not. We don’t have gatherings or worship services. The only channel is through psychological therapists.”
“So you’re just a fraud group?”
Ma Hou: “Don’t say it like that, okay? I’m also a victim. I’m not the one responsible for collecting money. It’s just that the ‘psychological therapists’ here are very good at brainwashing. I don’t know anything else.”
“So Wang Xing Sheng worked undercover in such a place for six or seven years, only to end with such a depressing suicide?” Li Jin Yu couldn’t imagine how stupid this man must have been.
“Not everyone has a brain like yours, okay?” Ma Hou said. “Wang Xing Sheng wasn’t a smart person to begin with, but his feelings for Chen Qing Mei were genuine. The police quickly closed the case. At that time, Chen Qing Mei already had a family, so he couldn’t come forward to say anything. That’s why he decided to find the so-called ‘psychological therapist’ himself.”
Li Jin Yu looked at him quietly, his gaze curious. “I have a question I’m very curious about. Someone like you still needs a ‘psychological therapist’?”
Ma Hou scratched his head. “I was close to Wang Xing Sheng at that time and was worried he might get into trouble, so I went with him. Do you think our Guangdong Dual Heroes eat vegan? Later, when I had a bit more respectability and wanted to leave, I was almost killed. How could I dare? So I just kept hanging around. Later, when Wang Xing Sheng wanted to leave, I advised him not to go against them. See, he still ended up this way in the end.”
Ma Hou was just a pile of mud—no matter where you placed him, he could always mold himself into shape. Compared to a stubborn person like Wang Xing Sheng, although Ma Hou seemed lowly and common, his survival instinct was ultimately tenacious.
June. The trees were lush, rain fell like needles, and the sky never cleared.
The police station at Jiaozuo was like a tangled mess. In the sparrow-sized office, the old bureau chief Fang Zheng Fan, with his stern face, wearing his police uniform, was also pacing back and forth somewhat anxiously. Liang Yun An, several elusive experts from the specialist team, the head of the criminal investigation unit, and even the son of a suspected criminal—the air pressure felt a bit low no matter how you looked at it.
The young female officer brought in documents, took one look at the situation, and wordlessly closed the door quietly for them. They had reached the most difficult part. The police officers on duty outside were also trying to find out what was happening inside, and when they gestured to her, she shushed them.
“The bureau chief is under a lot of pressure. The rest aren’t talking. The atmosphere in there can be described as storm clouds overhead.”
“Li Jin Yu hasn’t left yet?”
The female officer smiled meaningfully, nudging her with her elbow: “No, interested?”
Her colleague blushed. “No, he’s so cold. What could I possibly think?”
The female officer said suggestively: “Actually, he’s very gentle. Sometimes when he talks to Officer Liang, I think he’s like a little puppy. Kind of cold but sweet.”
Her colleague laughed so hard she almost choked. What a strange description.
…
Tomorrow would be Wednesday. Once Quan Si Yun left the country, finding her would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
But they had no evidence against Quan. All their current logic was based on Li Jin Yu’s deductions. If Li Jin Yu hadn’t happened to see Quan Si Yun coming out of the so-called “psychological therapist’s” residential area that day, they would never have investigated in Quan Si Yun’s direction. Moreover, Quan Si Yun lived a simple life and had a good reputation.
“I don’t care, detain her first!” Fang Zheng Fan took off his hat and slammed it on the table, making a decisive decision. “Arrest her! If we’re wrong, I’ll resign! At worst, I’ll exchange my position as police chief for a cult leader!”
“Comrade Yu Hua once said, life is that realistic—on one side is glamour and luxury, on the other is ruins and debris. I’ll take the ruins and debris, leaving the glamour and luxury to you all. Arrest her!”
“Go ahead, scratch,” Ye Meng extended her arm to the Canadian hairless cat, saying, “If you scratch me, I’ll have to get a rabies shot. Then I can secretly go see my baby. I’ve been missing him like crazy.”
Chris, who had initially looked ferocious, as if afraid she would frame him, suddenly quietly retreated two steps, then vanished in a flash.
What a weirdo!