Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The woman came into my shop at 7 p.m.

Her phone screen had shattered, and she asked me to replace it.

It took me an hour to fix her phone.

I had installed the screen-monitoring app while the woman wasn’t paying attention.

I even went out of my way to hide the desktop icon.

After her phone was repaired, the woman paid me, thanked me, and left.

The moment she stepped out of the shop, I eagerly pulled out my own phone.

Then I opened the screen-monitoring terminal.

The live image from the woman’s phone immediately came through in sharp detail.

It was now 8:02 p.m.

I watched as the woman used a ride-hailing app to call a car.

The pickup location was automatically set to the entrance of my shop.

The destination was listed as Juyuan Community.

I lifted my head and looked out the door.

Sure enough, I could see the woman standing by the roadside, waiting for her ride.

A slender figure with graceful lines.

The hem of her dress was lifted by the night breeze.

Under the streetlight, the delicate line of her shoulders swayed like a pale arc.

I rubbed my thumb over the phone screen, a faint smile curling at the corners of my mouth.

Juyuan Community, huh? I knew that place well.

It wasn’t far from here at all. Looks like I’d have plenty of fun ahead.

A beautiful woman like her, living alone.

Who knew how many secrets her phone might be hiding?

8:04 p.m.

The woman exited the ride-hailing app on her phone.

She switched to WeChat.

Then she opened the pinned chat.

The woman had saved the other person under the name “Ah Zhe.”

She quickly typed a line into the input box:

[My phone broke earlier, but it’s just been repaired.]

The moment the message was sent, the other side replied almost instantly:

[I was wondering why you never answered my messages.]

[I thought something had happened to you!]

The woman sent back a cute hugging emoji.

Then she added:

[I’m heading home now and waiting for a car. Have you gotten off work yet?]

Ah Zhe’s reply popped up very quickly:

[I’m still working overtime. I might not be able to get over to your place until later.]

[Be careful on the way home, and text me when you get back.]

The woman replied with a simple “Okay,” then exited WeChat.

The ride-hailing app popped back up, and the top of the screen showed:

[1.4 km away from you, estimated arrival in 5 minutes.]

…

Seeing this, I clicked my tongue, a trace of annoyance flashing through me.

Ah Zhe?

That sounded like a man’s name. So she wasn’t single.

That dampened my mood a little.

But it didn’t matter. They didn’t seem to be living together.

And besides, conversations between couples were even more interesting.

Who knew? I might just get to see some flirty, intimate banter.