Overly Intense [Criminal Investigation] 122

Chapter 122: It’s Dirty

Qin Luo’s lips were warm, her breath soft. Perhaps it was because she had had a drink tonight that her movements were particularly unrestrained and gentle, not as forceful as when she was angry. The tip of her tongue explored between her lips and teeth. The tiny bubbles in her mouth burst at a light touch.

Shen Yiyi was like a pressurized bottle of sparkling water.

Qin Luo lowered her head and kissed the side of her neck. The hand on her waist also began to run wild. The metal watchband rubbed against the intersection of her skin and the fabric, like a soft scratch, not urgent, not clumsy, quietly overturning the private trajectory, until the T-shirt was completely pushed over her upper waistline, gathering at her ribs, and stacking into a circle of soft ripples.

“It’s so dirty.”

Shen Yiyi couldn’t stand the un-disinfected metal watchband on her ribs. She stopped the next move. “You smell strongly of smoke and alcohol, you haven’t washed your hands, and you’re still wearing a watch.”

She had come from a thousand miles away. Qin Luo didn’t want the kissing experience to be so bad, so she obediently extinguished the fire, took off her coat, took off her watch, and quickly walked into the restroom to do a thorough hand cleaning.

Shen Yiyi also went to wash her hands.

The suite’s restroom was spacious enough, with one sink for each person, far apart. They could only observe each other through the mirror.

Seeing Shen Yiyi’s furrowed brow, as if she had something on her mind, Qin Luo thought of being concerned. “Did you come by plane? Have you eaten?”

“High-speed rail,” Shen Yiyi said bluntly. “I’m not hungry.”

Qin Luo couldn’t bear to blame her. After all, Shen Yiyi had come to Beijing for her. But this person had just had her appendix removed and was not taking care of her body, which was worrying.

After she had washed her hands, she called the executive lounge. It just so happened that the hotel had also prepared a warm soup service. Qin Luo ordered a bowl of yam and pork rib soup and also chose a few non-greasy dishes from the late-night snack menu.

By the time she had finished her call, Shen Yiyi had also washed her hands and had slowly walked out.

Qin Luo patted the sofa and asked her to sit down, thinking that if the journey was too tiring, she shouldn’t bother her. They should go to bed early. In the future, when they lived together, they could be passionate every day. It wouldn’t make a difference.

“The sofa is too dirty.”

Shen Yiyi would rather stand than sit on the sofa. Who knew how many people had sprayed water and picked their feet on this sofa?

Qin Luo was forced to have no choice. She called the executive lounge again and asked if she could get a mysophobia set. She was afraid that Shen Yiyi would still think it was dirty and specially had the hotel staff send a set of bed covers with a UV disinfection logo.

Twenty minutes later.

The late-night snack and the mysophobia set were delivered together.

The executive lounge always had to receive perverted customers and was already used to it. They had thoughtfully provided alcohol pads, as well as medical masks and gloves, outside the sealed packaging of the bed covers. They had even provided a bedding spray.

“We hope you two have a pleasant sleeping experience.”

The room service left, and Qin Luo was almost sober. She accompanied Shen Yiyi to change the bedsheets and pillowcases. After changing the duvet cover, she watched her take out a disposable mat from her bulging backpack and spread it on the sofa.

She looked at her watch. It was already the middle of the night.

Hmm…
She really couldn’t do any hating tonight. Qin Luo was already exhausted.

“Have some hot soup first.”

Qin Luo ladled a small bowl for Shen Yiyi and picked up a small piece of pork rib. “It’s too late. You can just have one piece.”

Shen Yiyi hadn’t figured out how to talk to Qin Luo yet and chose to eat and talk at the same time.

She had two sips before she asked, “Who has been to your house?”

“My house?” Qin Luo smiled. “You have. You’ve been there.”

“And before that?” Putting down her spoon, Shen Yiyi said seriously, “Who else?”

“…”

Qin Luo’s smile froze. She looked down and put a piece of stir-fried yam on Shen Yiyi’s plate. “Have some yam. It’s good for your stomach.”

“Liu Jia has been there, You Ning has been there, the housekeeper has been there. Who else do you think has been there?”

Qin Luo looked up. Seeing that Shen Yiyi’s expression was not harsh, she was relieved.

“No one else.”

Shen Yiyi remembered the girl with her back to them in the hotel lobby. “What about your assistant?”

“Wang Xi?” Qin Luo shook her head. “She only comes to pick me up when I have a schedule. She usually just stays in the underground garage and doesn’t come into the house.”

Not coming into the house but going into the underground garage, she could still get through the security of Cloud Top.

“Why haven’t I seen her before?” Shen Yiyi’s guard was up, and she crossed her arms. “What about your former male assistant?”

“Wang Xi has always been my assistant. She resigned before to be in a relationship. I just said that women can’t be too love-struck, but everyone has to hit a wall before they turn back…” As Qin Luo spoke, she felt that something was wrong and laughed twice. “But I also think now that you really have to hit a wall. Maybe you’ll hit the jackpot.”

Shen Yiyi wiped her mouth and looked at her.

Qin Luo guiltily poured a glass of water for Shen Yiyi in a paper cup and changed the subject. “Why are you asking these things?”

Shen Yiyi looked down and felt that it was better to be direct. Otherwise, with Qin Luo’s playful smile, she would be anxious.

“Someone has installed a surveillance camera in your entryway.”

…
…

“Huh?!”

Qin Luo was stunned for a few seconds and didn’t react. “What surveillance? The surveillance I installed myself has been monitored?”

Shen Yiyi shook her head.

“In the sensor light on the side of the shoe cabinet, a small pinhole camera. I found it when I was cleaning this morning.” Shen Yiyi looked at Qin Luo, her eyes calm and composed, her tone frank. She didn’t want to make Qin Luo anxious at this time. “I’ve had Lu Shimao check it. There’s nothing inside your house.”

Qin Luo was stunned, her face stiff and cold.

“This is a good thing.” Shen Yiyi was already full, but seeing that Qin Luo was too nervous, she picked up her bowl and comforted her in reverse. “At least we’ve found it now and have eliminated a hidden danger in advance.”

A hidden danger…

The eyes that were staring at her became more concrete. Just by the shoe cabinet at her door, she was being monitored every day as she went in and out, just like she had been watching Shen Yiyi clean in the lobby this morning. How would the person behind the screen look at her? She was being treated as a target with no personality, being scrutinized, being peeked at.

A sense of humiliation welled up. The anxious and fearful feeling from a few days ago rushed back, and it was even worse. Qin Luo’s mind was racing, replaying all the scenes that had happened in the entryway:

Her and You Ning, her and Liu Jia, her and Shen Yiyi, including the night the reading group had ended, when she had been crying in the entryway.

—Who would be watching these scenes, and with what kind of gaze, frame by frame?

“How do we eliminate it?”

Qin Luo even felt that this hotel was not safe. A chill ran down her back. She even suspected that her phone was also being monitored, or that her itinerary tonight, at this very moment, was being monitored.

“Who could it be?”

The most terrifying thing was that Qin Luo couldn’t even guess who this person was.

Could it really be You Ning?

“You Ning has only been here once. I was the one who helped her into the house that night.” Everyone had had a lot to drink that night. You Ning couldn’t even walk. It was she who had dragged her into the elevator. She had gotten the slippers herself, and she had closed the door herself. “She took a shower and went to sleep in the guest room. I couldn’t sleep that night and was writing in the study all the time.”

She had written until six in the morning. She had gone to the kitchen to make porridge for You Ning, and had even taken her to the elevator in the morning.

Qin Luo smiled wryly. “Could it be Liu Jia?”

She couldn’t suspect Liu Jia. If it were really Liu Jia who had monitored her, then the scene of her standing at the door with the password would have been filmed. Liu Jia wouldn’t have had to wait in the lobby for half an hour.

Besides, compared to installing a camera, Liu Jia could directly monitor all her itineraries, and could even open the door to her house.

Qin Luo said with certainty, “It’s not Liu Jia…” After thinking for a long time, she guessed again, “Maybe it’s the housekeeper.”

Qin Luo didn’t dare to imagine any further, especially when her fear became real. Once a guess was verified, it was like opening Pandora’s box. She didn’t dare to guess who had installed the surveillance, nor did she want to lean toward the fourth victim in the script.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Seeing Qin Luo’s anxiety, Shen Yiyi put down her bowl, wiped her hands, and gently patted her leg. “It’s a good thing to be monitored. As long as the other dares to monitor, we’ll always have a way to catch her.”

Qin Luo shook her head. She said in a deep voice, “You should go and stay at the police station when you go back.”

No matter what the killer was going to do, the ones who would die were all related to Qin Luo. Even if it was a far-fetched connection with the script, she didn’t want to take the risk. Even if there was a one percent chance that the killer was imitating her kill, then it was safest for Shen Yiyi to stay at the police station. She didn’t believe that the killer could directly break into the public security building.

Shen Yiyi could not have any mishaps.

“It’s not that serious…” Shen Yiyi rarely smiled. She felt that the way Qin Luo was scared was so silly, exactly the same as the Qin Luo she had imagined.

“No.”

Shen Yiyi knew what it meant to be flexible. Her purpose was to make Qin Luo vigilant, not to make her anxious and panicked. If she talked about the case again, it would probably make Qin Luo very anxious. She didn’t want Qin Luo to have insomnia or to be woken up from a nightmare.

She knew what it was like to be woken up.

The twisted body in her dream was pulling at her heart. It was a cliff-like pain that would make a person want to cry, and would make a person not realize who they were.

“Some things, whether you’re willing to face them or not, are already approaching.” Shen Yiyi took Qin Luo’s hand, not interlocking their fingers, but gently resting it on the back of her hand to comfort her. “It’s too late. Let’s go and take a shower and go to sleep.”

Even if she were sleeping in the same bed with a kitten, Qin Luo would not sleep well.

Qin Luo even let go of her embrace halfway through, turned over, and faced away from Shen Yiyi, staring at the curtains in the darkness.

She was desperately trying to think about which part had gone wrong. Was the person who had installed the camera at her house the same person who had killed Shang Yi? Why had Xin Wuzheng died? And why had he died on the set? On the surface, all these things had nothing to do with her, but it always gave her the illusion that it was aimed at her.

Qin Luo listened to the steady breathing behind her and picked up her phone. She turned the brightness down to the lowest and opened the surveillance app at her door, wanting to replay the saved records from the past few months.

She rarely looked at the surveillance. She was very at ease with the security of Cloud Top. The surveillance at her door had been a gift from a brand. Liu Jia had thought it was useful and had recommended that she install it just in case. The cloud storage of this surveillance was very large, and she could watch the records of the past month.

But just as she had entered the surveillance camera screen, a warmth came from behind her. Shen Yiyi’s hand was on her waist, and her head was resting against her back.

“Are you still not asleep?”

Shen Yiyi had been about to fall asleep and had been woken up by the light.

It was rare to be cuddled so proactively. Her empty heart was half-filled. Qin Luo threw her phone aside and turned to hold her.

It was getting cold in Beijing, but the person in her arms was very warm. Shen Yiyi liked to put her feet between Qin Luo’s legs. She had liked it in high school, and this habit had not changed. “Don’t you have to talk about things tomorrow? You should go to bed early.”

Qin Luo was very sorry. “Did I wake you up?”

“I’m a light sleeper.”

Shen Yiyi could feel that the hand holding her back was very stiff. So she rubbed her chin against the side of Qin Luo’s face. She didn’t know how to comfort Qin Luo’s anxiety and was a little at a loss.

“Are you still in a bad mood?”

Qin Luo said, “It’s not that I’m in a bad mood.”

A soft kiss landed on the side of her neck. It was Shen Yiyi’s show of affection, tinged with sleepiness. She thought that Qin Luo liked physical contact, so it would be good to exchange a kiss for a peaceful sleep.

But she was too sleepy, and it was too tiring to lift her head to kiss her on the lips. So she chose a place that wouldn’t ignite a fire and kissed the shallow dimple on her collarbone a few times. She even gently touched the side of Qin Luo’s neck.

The feeling of being lightly bitten was numbing. Qin Luo lifted her neck. “What are you doing?”

“Lulling you to sleep.”

“Is this how you lull someone to sleep?”

This kind of lulling was easy to start a fire.

Qin Luo was in a bad mood, but after being kissed a couple of times, it had turned from cloudy to sunny. She thought that at least Shen Yiyi could be by her side. She was not the one who had broken the law. Cutting off her empathy and taking care of the present was self-rescue.

Qin Luo looked down. The black and white surveillance screen on her phone was emitting a faint light. While the light was there, she kissed her beautiful nose, her eyes, and then found the corner of her mouth and kissed it.

“Then you can continue to lull me.”

The broken kiss had rekindled the fire. Qin Luo gently turned over and took her into her arms. As they were kissing, Shen Yiyi somehow interlocked her fingers with Qin Luo’s and held them above her head.

“Can you not take them off? I don’t like this bedsheet.”

“It’s been disinfected, UV standard.”

“It’s dirty.”

Qin Luo pulled open the drawstring of her pajama pants. Fortunately, the kitten had washed her own pajama pants so that they were loose. Her ears were all focused. Shen Yiyi’s intermittent muffled groans were very pleasant to hear. They climbed up her spine, one vertebra at a time, and burned all the way to the back of her neck. The light from the phone screen was enough for her to see her expression. Her eyelashes were trembling violently, and her teeth were gently clenched. She was trying her best to restrain herself but was about to lose control.

Her hand was on the soft fabric, slowly rubbing. The friction was not intense. The area under the fabric was gently tamed by her fingers.

Qin Luo was close to her ear and said gently, “This way it’s not dirty.”

Qin Luo had no time to look at the screen. If she had happened to tilt her head and take a look at this moment, she might have been able to make eye contact with the figure squatting on the floor.

The screen went dark.

The sounds of rubbing and muffled groans on the bed were also swallowed by the night. Only the temperature of their interlocked fingertips and clasped knuckles was rising.

Qin Luo was afraid that if the speed was too fast, or too intense, she would get her pants dirty. Her own suit pants from last time were a lesson.

She was afraid that Shen Yiyi would be unhappy. “Why don’t we go to the bathroom?”