Chapter 9
Her lips parted slightly.
Every shred of reason in Luo Jingyao’s mind was screaming that Lin Jiafan was definitely up to something and that she should refuse him immediately.
Yet the curiosity rising from somewhere deep inside her was impossible to suppress.
She lowered her gaze and looked away from him. In the quiet interrogation room, she heard her own voice answer calmly.
“Okay.”
Lin Jiafan wasn’t surprised by her agreement. He merely nodded.
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, Coach Luo. We still have other work to follow up on tonight. I’ll have someone drive you home later.”
“No need.” Luo Jingyao slung her backpack over one shoulder. “The last subway hasn’t stopped running yet. I won’t trouble Officer Lin.”
Before either of the two men could respond, she turned and strode out of the room.
Lin Jiafan frowned slightly as he watched her leave. He was just about to say something when his eyes landed on her bulging backpack, and the thought immediately died.
The image of Luo Jingyao breaking someone’s bone with her bare hands earlier that day flashed through his mind.
On second thought, worrying about her was probably unnecessary.
Turning back, he called out to Pang Guang, who was still standing by the table looking dazed. They had plenty more work ahead of them.
The next morning, just before nine o’clock.
It was the tail end of rush hour. Luo Jingyao struggled through the sea of commuters flowing through the subway station. By the time she finally fought her way out of the exit, she felt as though she’d just emerged into daylight after being trapped underground for years.
Following the route on her phone for several more minutes, she finally spotted a three-story building with a pointed roof. The four large characters mounted above the entrance read:
Daehan Songgol.
The moment she saw them, she couldn’t stop herself from rolling her eyes.
To explain why, it all started with a phone call she’d received earlier that morning.
The caller was a staff member from the Jin City Public Security Bureau.
The woman informed her that, per leadership’s instructions, she was to give the members of the Special Cases Investigation Unit a make-up physical training session that day.
The catch was that the class wouldn’t be held at the bureau.
Still half asleep at the time, Luo Jingyao had barely managed to remember the address before hanging up.
24 Qingsong Road, Binhai New District.
Standing in front of the standalone building now, she cautiously checked the address in her phone one more time.
The moment it matched, the last trace of hope in her heart quietly died.
Just as she was debating whether to call the bureau and ask what exactly was going on, a ridiculous whistle sounded behind her.
She turned around.
Lin Jiafan and Pang Guang had just stepped out of a jeep. The whistle had obviously come from the younger man—his lips were still puckered.
“Morning, Coach Luo!” Pang Guang waved enthusiastically.
Unfortunately, the exhaustion of an all-night shift couldn’t be hidden. The sparkle that usually filled his small eyes had long since vanished.
As he spoke, he and Lin Jiafan walked over.
“Daehan Songgol? For physical training?” Luo Jingyao forced a smile. “Officer Lin, your imagination is truly impressive.”
Lin Jiafan didn’t look guilty in the slightest.
Faced with what was essentially an accusation, he merely curved his lips into a faint smile.
“If you think about it, we’re practically colleagues now, Coach Luo. Today you’ll get paid for the class and have a chance to relax. No need to thank me.”
Luo Jingyao resisted the urge to clench her fists.
“So you’ve been planning to investigate Wang Guifen’s workplace all along. Then why drag a fitness coach into this?”
“We can’t rule out the possibility that Wang Guifen recognizes us. She’s been causing trouble at the bureau often enough.”
His explanation was utterly matter-of-fact.
“…”
Luo Jingyao found herself speechless for what felt like the hundredth time in two days.
“Then you’ve picked the wrong person. I literally pinned Wang Guifen to the ground yesterday. I doubt she has a favorable impression of me either.”
“We’re not asking you to interrogate a suspect.” Lin Jiafan raised an eyebrow. “Why are you so nervous, Coach Luo?”
Perhaps worried that lingering outside too long would attract attention from the staff, he glanced toward Pang Guang and motioned for him to head inside first.
The establishment operated as a bathhouse and massage spa. Customers had to receive electronic wristbands before entering the service areas.
Pang Guang immediately headed for the reception desk.
Once they were alone, Lin Jiafan looked back at Luo Jingyao.
“Wang Guifen works in the women’s bathing section. If you don’t want to interact with her directly, then don’t. Just observe her while she’s working.”
Then he added casually:
“A large-scale, real-world, live-action detective game. I thought you’d be interested.”
When he finished speaking, he didn’t try to persuade her any further. Instead, he stepped forward and pulled open the glass door, one hand extended in invitation.
Luo Jingyao hated that look of absolute confidence on his face.
She wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave.
But the severed finger she’d seen inside that mysterious freezer kept resurfacing in her mind.
Back then, she hadn’t known what she’d stumbled into.
Now she did.
And if she knowingly chose to do nothing…
She was afraid she’d never be able to live with herself.
Taking a deep breath, she lifted her chin and walked straight past Lin Jiafan without sparing him a glance.
Then she stepped inside.
Pang Guang had already collected the electronic wristbands.
When the two approached, he quickly handed them over.
After taking hers, Luo Jingyao couldn’t even be bothered to exchange greetings. Under a staff member’s guidance, she headed straight toward the women’s bathing area.
Watching her disappear beyond a marble wall, Pang Guang muttered worriedly,
“Boss, can she really handle this? Honestly, instead of taking this risk, wouldn’t it be better to just have Pan Chang do it?”
Pan Chang was the only woman currently assigned to the Special Cases Investigation Unit.
“Pan Chang handles media relations and public communications. Her face shows up in the news all the time.” Lin Jiafan’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “Sending her would be less practical than having you dress up as a woman.”
With that, he turned and headed toward the men’s section.
After entering the women’s area, Luo Jingyao was led by an attendant to a private bathing room.
Daehan Songgol had never been cheap.
Each customer was given their own room, which offered a reassuring degree of privacy.
The rooms were roughly ten square meters in size and contained a small locker, an oversized bathtub, a standard beauty-treatment bed, and a full assortment of bathing and skincare products.
But Luo Jingyao quickly ran into a problem.
The attendants were assigned by section.
The employee responsible for her room was a friendly woman in her early forties with tanned skin and an easy smile.
Looking down the corridor, rows of attendants stood against the walls in identical uniforms. Combined with the harsh spotlights overhead, they almost seemed to share the same face.
Left with no better option, Luo Jingyao entered the room and decided to wait for an opportunity.
She soaked comfortably in the bath first.
Throughout the entire process, Lin Jiafan never contacted her to hurry her along.
She had originally planned to head upstairs and meet up with the two men afterward.
However, just before leaving the room, her eyes landed on the service menu posted beside the door.
And suddenly, she changed her mind.
Pressing the service bell on the wall, she requested a full-body treatment.
Soon afterward, a young technician dressed in a pale pink uniform knocked and entered.
“Hello, ma’am. I’m Beauty Consultant No. 23 from Daehan Songgol. It’s my pleasure to serve you today.”
Amid the woman’s enthusiastic greeting, Luo Jingyao obediently lay down on the beauty bed.
The room was filled with warm steam and the rich fragrance of expensive essential oils.
At first, the beautician only made a few tentative attempts at small talk.
But once she realized Luo Jingyao wasn’t bothered by conversation, she completely opened the floodgates.
In less than ten minutes, the woman had somehow learned everything from Luo Jingyao’s extended family tree to the name of the dog back in her hometown.
Surprisingly, Luo Jingyao wasn’t offended in the slightest.
In fact, she was delighted.
So when the conversation finally reached a temporary lull, she casually rolled over and picked up the phone resting beside her.
A moment later, loud audio from a video began playing.
The beautician immediately glanced over.
The footage on-screen happened to cut directly to Wang Guifen’s face, twisted with emotion as she argued.
Right on cue, Luo Jingyao heard a very satisfying sound.
“Huh?”
A few seconds later, the beautician could no longer contain herself.
“Miss Luo, what’s that you’re watching?”
“Oh?” Luo Jingyao replied casually. “Just some random short video I came across. Looks like someone was causing trouble outside the Public Security Bureau yesterday.”
Acting thoroughly uninterested, she started to swipe the video away.
“Wait!”
The beautician blurted it out instinctively.
“Hm?” Luo Jingyao turned her head with a puzzled look, then glanced at her phone. Half-jokingly, she asked, “What is it, Sister Fang? Don’t tell me you know the person in the video.”
The beautician didn’t answer immediately.
After staring at the screen for a few more seconds, she nodded decisively.
Even though nobody else was in the room, she lowered her voice.
“That troublemaker is my coworker. She works right here!”
“No way! Seriously?” Luo Jingyao’s eyes widened dramatically.
The beautician was clearly pleased by her reaction.
“I’m certain it’s her. Honestly, she’s had a hard life. Her son committed a crime and died a couple of years ago. Now she’s all alone.”
“She doesn’t have any other family?”
“Her parents passed away years ago. She divorced her husband too. Then her son ended up like that…” The beautician shook her head sympathetically while massaging oil into Luo Jingyao’s back. “What a tragedy.”
Luo Jingyao nodded thoughtfully.
“From the way you’re describing it, her son has been gone for quite a while. Then why is she still going to the police station to make trouble? Was he wrongly accused or something?”
“Oh, that I don’t really know.”
The question had clearly wandered beyond the limits of the beautician’s gossip reserves.
She laughed awkwardly.
“But I remember that when the verdict came down, she never claimed he was innocent. After taking some time off, she came back to work like normal.”
Then suddenly her eyes lit up.
“Oh! I know!”
She slapped her thigh, excitement flashing across her face as her voice jumped several octaves.
Even though her heart nearly leaped into her throat, Luo Jingyao maintained her carefully crafted persona and looked up at her with innocent confusion.
“Huh?”
