The thought of going to talk to Bai Aiting was diluted. She turned around and replied to her agent: “I have something to discuss with you.”

……

Regarding the music video the agent had mentioned before, Long Qi agreed to shoot it, on the condition that the payment be made in advance. The agent said: “This matter isn’t something you can just shoot whenever you want anymore. When it could have been resolved internally, you refused to come. Now the news has been released, and major companies are all busy trying to get their young starlets in.”

Long Qi said: “No matter what, as long as you can help me get the shooting opportunity, you can name whatever commission split you want. I can even sign with you. Haven’t you always wanted to sign me, Lao Ping?”

“Weren’t you supposed to be studying?”

“I need money!”

With this sentence thrown out, the agent Lao Ping became pleased. He said: “Alright, come to my place tomorrow. I’ll take you to meet the band’s lead singer. Their agent is my buddy.”

……

Three days later, Long Qi transferred the amount Si Bolin had mentioned.

During those days, she didn’t go to school. Dong Xi also didn’t come to class. Supposedly, family members had come to the school several times. What exactly they discussed with the school leadership was unknown.

One evening a week later, Long Qi returned from the filming location. When passing by Langzhu Estate, she had Lao Ping let her out. Lao Ping said: “Oh, you live here?”

“I don’t live here.”

He looked at her meaningfully: “Your boyfriend lives here?”

“Annoying.” Long Qi replied to him, yanking open the nanny van door.

After entering the estate, she went directly to Dong Xi’s house. She didn’t visit, just stood quietly in front of the courtyard gate, hands in her pockets, looking up.

The wind was cold, the sky was dark, and Dong Xi’s room had its lights on.

Long Qi stood in the winter evening dusk, gazing at that patch of egg-yolk yellow light. The wind blew in gusts, blowing her long wavy curls to her cheeks, carrying the cold fragrance of various cosmetics mixed together. She just looked like this, looked and looked, not feeling cold at all.

Later, the first layer of curtains at the window swayed slightly, a figure passed by, and only then did she walk to an inconspicuous corner outside the courtyard.

Just then, her phone vibrated. Long Qi listened to the movements in that room while sliding open the screen lock, originally thinking the “file” matter had been settled, but a bank transfer notification popped up: XXX on December 20th at 16:45 transferred and deposited 20,000.00 yuan into your savings card account ending in XXXX, current balance……

After reading it, Long Qi frowned and dialed Si Bolin’s number.

“XXX” was the bank account Si Bolin had given her initially, which meant he had transferred this payment back. She didn’t understand this. After calling him three times without him answering, she began walking toward Si Bolin’s house. When irritably making the fourth call, the other party finally answered.

It was a girl.

But not Wuzi’s voice.

Long Qi was too lazy to care about these messy details at the moment and said directly: “Transfer to Si Bolin.”

“He’s eating dinner.”

The girl didn’t ask who she was either, seemingly having been told in advance about this call, responding smoothly: “He asked me to tell you he’s not selling the file anymore.”

“You let him personally talk to his grandmother me!” Long Qi declared.

The girl said: “Can’t, he’s drinking soup.”

“Tell him I’m at his residential complex right now, and I’ll kill my way over within ten minutes.”

The girl paused for a moment and said: “He says you should kill your way to number 68 next door instead.”

Number 68 was Jin Yiken’s house number.

Long Qi’s footsteps immediately slowed. She sucked in a breath, her entire being irritated beyond measure, and asked: “Jin Yiken took the file?”

“He says, yes.”

“I asked to buy it from him first!”

“He says, highest bidder wins.”

Jin Yiken was just like this. She knew he would be like this. Whenever matters were about to be settled, he especially loved to stick his hand in. Even though this suggestion was given by him, he still had to create some twists and turns! After Long Qi hung up the phone, she dialed that bastard, while turning direction to kill her way toward number 68.

When she reached the tree-lined path where his villa area was located, the call finally connected. Long Qi asked furiously: “What do you mean?”

On the other end of the phone, she could vaguely hear some women’s voices talking. He reacted to her question for a second, then said: “Busy, talk later.”

“Talk now.”

“There’s nothing useful in the file. Helping you save money.” He replied instantly, with an attitude of “if you want to talk now, then talk now.”

Long Qi also replied instantly: “I really don’t need you to help me save money. If I bought it, then I bought it. Even if it’s empty, I accept it. Give it back to me.”

The women’s voices on the other end of the phone became more distant. She heard a car door opening, then wind sounds, followed by a car door closing. Jin Yiken countered: “There really isn’t much content.”

“You said so!” After Long Qi finished speaking, she hung up and immediately redialed Si Bolin.

The same girl answered. Before she could speak, Long Qi said: “Put it on speakerphone!”

The girl paused for a moment, seemingly asking Si Bolin’s opinion. Then the phone made rustling sounds. Long Qi knew the girl had complied. She played the recording of Jin Yiken’s remarks from earlier. Si Bolin immediately reacted, but he didn’t speak—she just heard a distant “hehe” laugh, quite meaningful. Long Qi immediately provoked him: “Si Bolin, you’re something, aren’t you? Spent twenty thousand asking you to get something and you ended up getting nothing, huh?”

But Si Bolin remained quite calm. After laughing, he still didn’t take the phone, having the girl relay: “This is now a matter between you two as a couple. After you’ve resolved it internally, come talk about this matter again.”

“I want to talk about this matter. What exactly is in the file—I want to know right now.”

The girl paused for a moment and hung up the phone.

Hung. Up. The. Phone!

Long Qi quickly redialed the second time.

The second call went unanswered, so she redialed a third, fourth, fifth time, with an attitude of wanting to blow up his phone. Finally, on the seventh call, the phone made the rustling sound of being answered. Long Qi waited. Before long, she finally heard Si Bolin’s own voice: “You insist on knowing?”

“I insist on knowing, even if you only tell me a headline.”

At this moment, Long Qi had already walked near Jin Yiken’s house. She could see the arhat pine in his courtyard, and also see several sedans parked in front of his house, hearing the Filipino maid Donna’s Chinese welcoming voice.

Si Bolin said: “Alright then, listen. Your stepfather Chu Yaozhi, associate professor in the Chinese department at Huaning University, registered permanent residence in this city, has two sons.”

At that moment, Long Qi was already standing in front of Jin Yiken’s courtyard gate, seeing Bai Aiting and her parents chatting and laughing in the courtyard. The Filipino maid Donna was carrying a tray of drinks following around them. Behind them, the villa was brightly lit with people coming and going, like a lively family gathering.

And Jin Yiken was positioned at the entrance. He was far from the voices, far from Bai Aiting, pacing in place in a quiet spot listening to his phone, the file envelope in his right hand occasionally tapping against the wall, looking mildly irritated.

Long Qi’s call kept getting interrupted by incoming calls, all from him.

“His dark secret is only one thing,” Si Bolin continued, “and that’s his wife.”

At the same time, Bai Aiting’s parents noticed her and asked Bai Aiting: “Is she one of your classmates?”

Bai Aiting looked over here. Jin Yiken, with his back to Long Qi, also immediately turned around at the sound, finally discovering her so close by. The file envelope in his hand stopped tapping the wall, and his phone slowly lowered from his ear, gazing at her in the cold wind.

“His wife is bisexual,” here, Si Bolin spoke his last sentence, “has a same-sex lover she’s lived with for at least five years. He and his wife have a marriage of convenience.”

……

……

Long Qi still stood in the wind.

As if struck by a blow to the head.

And also as if she had been taking a chronic poison for a long time.

The other end of the phone didn’t continue speaking. Si Bolin very cleverly chose to hang up proactively. And at this moment, the toxicity in her blood began to take effect. A breath exhaled from her mouth, mist swirling before her eyes, instantly frozen into frost by the sharp evening wind.