Chapter 2

The girl’s messages were still sitting in the chat.

I picked up my phone and replied: [Qi Sinian can’t come. Take it easy. Don’t go so far you get yourself killed.]

Then I blocked her and deleted the contact.

Next, I called Qi Sinian.

“Hello, Ah Yan—”

“I’ve locked up that assistant of yours.”

Dead silence fell on the other end.

Five seconds later, Qi Sinian roared.

“What have you done to her? Ning Yan, what did you do?”

I idly played with the fruit knife in my hand.

“Don’t worry. She can still scream. Want to hear?”

“Oh, there’s no signal down there. If I go down, you won’t hear anything.”

“I’ll repeat it for you instead. She says you won’t let me get away with this. That you’ll kill me when you find out.”

Something in those words set Qi Sinian off.

He growled again.

“Ning Yan.”

I laughed with delight.

“Actually, there’s something I’ve been wanting to ask you too.”

“Qi Sinian, if I killed her, would you turn me in, or help me bury the body?”

“Ning Yan. Ah Yan. I was wrong!” His voice shook, but he kept forcing himself to speak more slowly, holding his emotions down. “I’m already on my way home. Wait for me. Don’t do anything stupid. Ah Yan, it’s all my fault. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay home for your birthday. I’ll make you longevity noodles—”

“You haven’t answered my question, Qi Sinian. Tell me. Are you going to turn me in, or be my accomplice?”

My voice was soft, low, and unhurried.

Qi Sinian’s heavy breathing gradually steadied.

He took a deep breath. Slowly, almost in a murmur, he said, “I’m your accomplice.”

Qi Sinian raced home in less than half an hour.

Breathless, he rushed straight to the darkroom without looking at me once.

The instant the door opened, the woman burst into tears and lunged for him.

Qi Sinian stepped aside without hesitation, letting her fall to the floor.

“Mr. Qi, she—”

“Shut up!” His gaze was vicious, his teeth clenched. “You will keep what happened today to yourself. If you breathe a word of it, I won’t let you off.”

She couldn’t believe it.

“Mr. Qi, what are you saying? She locked me up for no reason! I don’t care. I’m calling the police. I’ll have her arrested—”

She tried to charge out as though she’d gone mad. Qi Sinian caught and restrained her, his face grim.

I clicked my tongue, folded my arms, and leaned against the wall.

“Why don’t we just kill her? I’ll do it. You dig the hole. We can bury her in the backyard. That tree’s barely growing. It needs feeding.”

I spoke lightly, as if there were nothing unusual about it.

Qi Sinian said nothing.

At last, she seemed to understand. She began to tremble, whimpers escaping her throat, terror plain in her eyes.

Qi Sinian drew a deep breath, his gaze icy.

“I’ll give you some money to leave. You should understand that even if you call the police, you have no evidence of what happened today.”

Qi Sinian took her out.

She’d arrived strutting like a peacock. Now she could barely keep her feet under her.

Smiling, I returned to my seat and went on arranging my flowers.