Chapter 87
Chapter 87
He Yuchuan thought for a moment, then sent back a simple reply: “We’ll talk when you get home.”
Before long, He Qian returned home.
He Yuchuan asked, “Tell me what you saw. What’s in his office?”
He Qian sat down and took a sip of water, gesturing in the air with her hand. “There was hardly anything on his desk. Just an ordinary black pen holder with a few stationery items inside, a laptop, a small desk lamp, and an ashtray. That’s it!”
He Yuchuan asked, “What was the ashtray like? Did you bring it back?”
He Qian clicked her tongue. “Xiaoyu, how would I have had the chance to take it? Aside from the computer, there were only three things on his desk. If any one of them went missing, it would be way too obvious.”
He Qian took her phone from her pocket, tapped a few times, and set it in front of He Yuchuan. “But I did secretly take a few photos. Take a look. It’s this one… Pretty big, and thick enough too.”
He Yuchuan swiped through the photos and glanced at them. “It looks kind of distinctive, but not exactly fancy. It doesn’t look custom-made. More like something he bought online at random. I’ll search online later and see if I can find the same model.”
He Qian asked, “Are you hungry?”
He Yuchuan rubbed his stomach. “I’m practically starving.”
He Qian pulled He Yuchuan to his feet. “Come on. Let’s eat out. I’ll take you somewhere good.”
He Yuchuan laughed. “Sis, your mood swings are way too fast. This afternoon you looked like the world was ending, and now you seem full of energy.”
As He Qian changed her shoes, she replied, “These past few days have been too depressing. After talking with you all afternoon today, I feel so much better. I’ll treat you to Western food.”
He Yuchuan shook his head. “I want barbecue!”
The two of them picked a random barbecue stall at the night market and ordered a pile of grilled meat skewers and two big mugs of draft beer.
Sitting on a little plastic stool, He Yuchuan propped his chin in his hand and looked at He Qian. “Sis, you’re actually very smart, and you’re steady too. Making you a housewife is such a waste of talent.”
He Qian lowered her head and rinsed He Yuchuan’s tableware with hot water. “Don’t flatter me. That’s not true.”
He Yuchuan said, “The next step is going to that hotel he opened, to room 302, and finding another carrier. You know what to do, right?”
He Qian nodded. “Mm. I have the room card.”
He Yuchuan said, “The hardest part isn’t whether you have the room card. It’s how we make sure that woman happens to be gone when we go in.”
He Qian poured the water she had used to rinse the cup onto the ground. “Then one of us watches from inside, and the other keeps lookout outside.”
He Yuchuan nodded. “I’ll go in. You keep lookout.”
He Qian said, “No. I’ll go in. You keep lookout.”
He Yuchuan asked, “Why?”
He Qian said, “I’ve been there once before, so I’m somewhat familiar with the inside. And if something unexpected happens, the only place to hide in that room is under the bed. You’re too big. You won’t fit.”
He Yuchuan burst out laughing. “Well, well. Who would’ve thought? You’ve always been as skinny as a little chick, and it turns out that’s actually useful here!”
He Qian handed He Yuchuan a skewer. “Eat. Shut yourself up.”
He Yuchuan took it and said while eating, “Then tomorrow I’ll rent a car. When you go in, I’ll park at the entrance and wait in the car.”
He Qian thought for a moment. “No, that won’t work. What if they don’t use the main entrance and go through the underground garage instead? You should sit in the lobby and pretend you’re waiting for someone.”
He Yuchuan said, “I just praised you for being smart! If they take the underground garage, why would they pass through the lobby? They’d go straight up to the third floor!”
He Qian held her forehead. “Ugh, my brain short-circuited for a second… Then you go up to the third floor too! Sit on the sofa by the elevator and wait there.”
He Yuchuan asked, “Can you take the elevator in that hotel without swiping a card?”
He Qian said, “Yes. I went straight up last time without swiping.”
He Yuchuan nodded. “All right. I’ll wear a hat and a mask, since Qin Song has seen me before. Also, we should still rent a car. We can’t keep taking taxis back and forth, and driving your car won’t work either. He’d recognize it.”
He Qian said, “Then don’t rent anything too flashy. Get something under two hundred thousand, and it has to be black.”
He Yuchuan nodded.
A few days later, He Qian put on an ordinary set of casual clothes, wore a mask, and rode in He Yuchuan’s car to Tianfeng Hotel.
He Yuchuan had rented a black Volkswagen. He Qian thought the inside of the car smelled awful.
After parking, He Yuchuan entered the hotel first. He went up to the third floor and sat down on the sofa beside the elevator doors. Ten minutes later, He Qian also took the elevator up to the third floor.
The motion-sensor light outside the door was off. No one was in the room.
He Qian naturally took out the little white card and swiped the door open.
After opening the door, she did not insert the card into the slot to turn on the electricity. Instead, she slipped it straight back into her pocket.
The moment she stepped inside, she felt as if something was off.
The room’s decor and furnishings were exactly the same as the last time she had come. The oven, massage chair, aromatherapy machine… none of those things were missing.
But for some reason, the room seemed emptier than before.
She carefully looked around and was surprised to discover that all the everyday items that had originally been placed in the room were gone.
Even the dressing table, which had been covered with all sorts of things, was now empty. There wasn’t a single cosmetic product on it.
She yanked open the drawer. The hair clips, hair ties, and that stack of photos that had been inside before… were all gone.
She went into the bathroom next and found that the bottles and jars on the bathtub rack were still there, but the toothbrush and toothpaste that had originally been there were gone too.
She was utterly confused.
Could that girl, or Qin Song, have predicted her and He Yuchuan’s plan in advance?
She glanced at her phone. There was no message from He Yuchuan. The area was safe.
He Qian walked out of the bathroom and frowned in thought for a moment. Suddenly, she heard footsteps coming from the doorway.
She held her breath and listened carefully to the sounds outside.
“Beep, beep-” Someone had swiped a room card against the door to 302.