Chapter 86
Chapter 86
He Qian looked around the café: “Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk.”
He Yuchuan looked troubled: “My place won’t work, Mom and Dad are home.”
He Qian: “Then let’s go to my place.”
He Yuchuan: “What if he runs into us?”
He Qian: “He won’t be back until evening.”
He Yuchuan: “What about your in-laws?”
He Qian: “They went back to the hometown to visit relatives, they won’t be back for another four or five days. Let’s go, stop asking.”
On the taxi ride home, He Qian asked He Yuchuan: “Are you planning to keep living with your parents forever?”
He Yuchuan: “Why not, it’s convenient.”
He Qian: “I think living alone is more comfortable now. Living with elders is really inconvenient. You could rent a place and live by yourself.”
He Yuchuan: “Renting costs money, doesn’t it? I can’t afford rent.”
He Qian laughed: “No way, after all those years away, where did you save your money? Rents here are so cheap, and you say you can’t afford it? Don’t joke.”
He Yuchuan said seriously: “I’m not joking. I really don’t even have money for rent right now.”
He Qian: “You… what happened?”
He Yuchuan answered lazily: “Spend whatever you earn, living paycheck to paycheck.”
At home, He Qian took fifty thousand yuan in cash from the safe, put it in a document envelope, and handed it to He Yuchuan.
He Yuchuan took it, surprised, and looked inside: “Sis, what’s this for?”
He Qian: “How can I look on while you’re broke? A young man like you shouldn’t be penniless. Take it.”
He Yuchuan, like a little child, happily grabbed He Qian’s hand and shook it.
He Qian patted his head: “Save up properly, stop throwing money around. One day when your parents need money for an emergency, a grown man like you can’t come up with a cent-that would be a joke!”
He Yuchuan chuckled: “It’s fine, I’ve still got my big sister.”
He Qian snorted, giving him a light push.
He Yuchuan: “Where should we talk?”
He Qian: “The living room. Sit down, I’ll go wash some fruit.”
He Yuchuan sat on the sofa and turned on the TV.
He Qian washed a bunch of fruit and put it in an elegant tray, then brewed two cups of tea and brought them to the living room.
He Yuchuan: “Now listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
He Qian: “Mm, should I take notes?”
He Yuchuan: “Better not, in case he finds them.”
He Qian laughed: “I was joking! Just hurry up and say it.”
He Yuchuan: “Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Step one: we need to understand your husband’s lover, and understand the relationship between them. That way we can anticipate their next moves.”
He Qian was a bit confused: “Next moves? Their relationship is just repeating the same sordid things day after day, isn’t it?”
He Yuchuan: “Tsk… you’re too naive. There are all kinds of relationships in the world: father and son, husband and wife, friends, lovers… every relationship has its own patterns of development.”
He Qian sneered: “What patterns can a pair of adulterers have? It’s just those things.”
He Yuchuan raised his eyebrows: “You think they’re just adulterers, but even adulterers have a way they relate to each other.”
He Qian: “What if they don’t have any so-called next move?”
He Yuchuan: “She might be after love, or after money. If she’s after money, that’s worse for us, because then they really would just keep repeating it day after day, as you said, until the woman gets old and loses her looks. If she’s after love, it’s much easier-she’s very likely to push for marriage.”
He Qian nodded: “I get it. First we observe to see which kind of relationship it is!”
He Yuchuan said, “Exactly. And besides that, we need to look into how long they’ve been together, what that woman is like, whether there are any major conflicts between them… There are too many things worth digging into.”
He Qian said, “This is starting to get interesting… But how are we supposed to dig into it?”
“I can arrange either a listening device or a camera. Which one do you want?”
He Qian thought she’d misheard him. “What did you just say?”
He Yuchuan repeated himself.
“Xiaoyu, what exactly have you been doing out there all these years…? You haven’t been breaking the law this whole time, have you? I’ve never even seen the stuff you’re talking about! Where would you even get it?”
He Yuchuan gave her a mysterious little smile. “Oh, relax. Don’t ask so many questions! Whatever you want, I’ve got channels to get it for you. I may not have made much money all these years, but you think I haven’t picked up a few shady connections?”
He Qian hesitated, then pointed at her ear. “Get me something to listen with. I really don’t want to see that kind of thing with my own eyes.”
He Yuchuan made an “OK” sign with his fingers.
He Qian asked again, “Then where do we put it once you get it? How many should we get?”
He Yuchuan said, “How many do you want?”
He Qian thought for a moment. “I want five! One in the hotel, one in his office, one in his car, one in-”
He Yuchuan hurriedly cut her off. “Sis, what do you think I am, a wholesaler? Five? This stuff isn’t that easy to get… How about this: I’ll get two. One for the hotel, one for his office. What do you think?”
He Qian nodded. “That works. But after we get them, where do we hide them? What if they’re exposed?”
“Hide them inside something that’s already there.”
He Qian frowned. “What?”
He Yuchuan pointed at his ear. “I can get you the listening equipment, but first you need to go check out the items in the hotel room and his office.”
“You mean… we don’t just place the thing somewhere on its own. We hide it inside something they already have… make it blend in?”
He Yuchuan nodded. “Blend in, or replace the item outright.”
He pointed at a miniature teddy bear ornament on the table. “Like this ornament. I could put the device inside the bear’s belly, or I could just replace it with a brand-new bear.”
He Qian said, “How could that possibly be done?”
He Yuchuan replied, “Not only can it be done, you can’t even buy this kind of stuff on the open market! But I’m different. I have channels to buy it, and I have channels to make it happen. All you need to do is observe the place and pick a carrier.”
He Qian stood up. “I’m going right now!”
“Where?”
“His office!”
With that, she walked into the kitchen, took out an instant fish maw chicken soup pack, tore it open, dumped it into a pot, added cold water, and started boiling it.
He Yuchuan followed her into the kitchen. “You’ve got some serious action-girl energy, Agent He… What are you doing now?”
He Qian said, “Making him soup. I need an excuse to go to his office.”
He Yuchuan poked He Qian in the back. “You’re so smart. When you get there, just tell him you noticed he didn’t eat much at lunch and were worried he’d get hungry in the afternoon. Haha!”
He Qian casually stirred the contents of the pot with a single chopstick.
He Yuchuan glanced at the pot. “Is this how you usually make soup for your family?”
He Qian gave a cold laugh. “This is the only kind of soup he deserves now.”
Two hours later, He Yuchuan received a WeChat message from He Qian.
“I found a suitable carrier.”
He Yuchuan replied, “What is it?”
He Qian answered, “An ashtray shaped like an iceberg.”