Chapter 65: Do You Like the Gift?

Her breath was warm and soft, the final notes of her words drawing out in a lingering caress.

It dampened the sensitive skin at Zhou Hui’s earlobe, sending a sudden tremor through her heartstrings.

The question that had slipped from her lips lost all meaning in an instant, drowned in an ocean of sweet, lingering affection.

Zhou Hui drew in a deep breath, lowering her gaze as her cool fingertips tentatively brushed the cheek of the person resting against her chest.

A ambiguous murmur sounded by her ear. Yu Bai drew even closer following her movement, her fingers slowly climbing onto Zhou Hui’s shoulder.

From a distance of less than half an inch, she asked softly, “Do you like the gift?”

Zhou Hui froze for a moment, thinking of the Peppa Pig already placed on the bedside table in the bedroom. She nodded instinctively.

The motion fell perfectly into Yu Bai’s slightly raised eyes, and a gentle smile immediately surfaced in her gaze. The curve of her body pressed close to Zhou Hui’s slowly shifted upward, gradually closing the space between them. “I’m glad you like it.”

Outside the window, the rain pattered steadily. Yu Bai’s low, husky voice blended into the sound, suddenly weaving an atmosphere of a different kind. A subtle fragrance lingered in the air, drawing people unwittingly into its spell.

Zhou Hui’s throat tightened. She closed her eyes instinctively and leaned down toward the angle at which Yu Bai was climbing, catching the faint woody scent on her body in her nostrils. It wasn’t sharp or overpowering—just comfortably perfect.

“I should head back.”

Suddenly, that woody scent vanished from her nostrils, and the warmth against her chest withdrew as well.

The emotions that had lifted Zhou Hui to the clouds plummeted into emptiness in an instant, as if all the earlier intimacy had been an illusion. The warm atmosphere in the space dropped several degrees. She blinked in slight surprise. “Head back? To Datang Foot Spa?”

Yu Bai’s breath grew heavier. She gently pushed Zhou Hui away, her clear black-and-white eyes meeting hers as she said softly, “You’ve been out for so long. The others are still waiting! We can’t keep your colleagues and Qin Hua, Uncle Jiu, and the rest hanging around forever—they’re not going to offer them tea, you know.”

“I do need to go back and properly interrogate those two. But…” Zhou Hui furrowed her brow and let out a half-sigh, her voice rising slightly at the end. “You’ve been beaten up like this—do you really have to go back?”

The corner of Yu Bai’s eye lifted slightly as she nodded.

Zhou Hui reined in her emotions, her brow creasing faintly. She leaned back a little, narrowing her eyes and asking impassively, “Do you have to go back?”

Yu Bai paused, then lowered her gaze with a sly smile. “You’re trying to pry it out of me.” She paused in her tone, licked her lips, and corrected, “It’s not that I have to, but I’ve been staying there lately.”

Zhou Hui took a deep breath and decided to lay it out plainly. “So Qin Hua’s got you under house arrest too? Is he threatening you?”

Yu Bai let out a helpless chuckle. “No one’s threatening me! I told you, it’s voluntary!”

Zhou Hui: “…”

She was about to say something when Yu Bai’s voice continued, “That said, we are looking into Miao Deng’s case as well.”

Zhou Hui recalled the man from the hall earlier, his face covered in blood, and her brow furrowed imperceptibly. “Any suspects?”

“If Officer Zhou is asking like that…” Yu Bai paused slightly in her tone. She reached out to wipe the fog from the car window. The rain poured down outside without any sign of letting up, the streetlamp-illuminated branches swaying wildly in the wind, as if they might snap at any moment.

Through the curtain of rain, she pointed at the street ahead and turned to Zhou Hui. “Everyone on Foot Spa City street is a suspect. Too many business rivals in this line of work—anyone who sees a profit wants a piece. Speaking of which, you must have plenty of enemies as a cop too!”

Zhou Hui raised an eyebrow. “Any of them at the level of chopping people into pieces?”

“Oh, not that bad.” Yu Bai turned her body back toward her, leaning in once more with a soft laugh in her eyes. “So, we’ll have to trouble Officer Zhou to look into it. Otherwise, I wouldn’t feel right just leaving Foot Spa City like this.”

Her breath deepened, the gentle light still shining in her eyes. “Now, can we go back?”

A tangle of indescribable emotions surged and ebbed in Zhou Hui’s chest. She glanced at Yu Bai again, drew a deep breath, and turned to open the car door.

When the two returned to Datang Foot Spa, Uncle Jiu was deep in conversation with a foot spa girl, arms around her and showing no restraint even in front of all the police.

“Come on! Give us a kiss.” Uncle Jiu leaned in, puckering up toward the foot spa girl’s face.

The watching officers’ faces darkened on the spot.

A little policewoman couldn’t stand it anymore. She rushed forward and yanked Uncle Jiu away from the foot spa girl.

“She’s my girlfriend.” Uncle Jiu blinked in surprise, then shamelessly bellowed at the top of his lungs. He pulled the foot spa girl back into his arms and planted another kiss on her, glowering darkly at the little policewoman as he snarled, “What’s the problem? We’re just dating—does that bother you cops? If you can’t stand it, then get lost!”

The little policewoman fumed. “You… don’t push it!”

Qin Hua paused with the cigarette pinched between his fingers. A hint of amusement flickered in his eyes behind the lenses of his glasses. He lifted his chin toward the little policewoman and said, “Little miss, you haven’t been in love before, have you? How old are you this year? Want me to introduce you to a boyfriend?” He took a leisurely drag from his cigarette, narrowed his eyes, and gave her an appraising once-over before smiling. “With your qualities, plenty of our customers would be into you.”

Officer Zhou strode forward, pulling the little policewoman to her side. She fixed Qin Hua with a cold stare and said, “Mr. Qin, I’d advise you and your people to tone it down. If you don’t want to keep this foot spa in business, just come out and say it. The City Bureau’s Anti-Vice Squad happens to be cracking down on the nightclubs nearby right now—they won’t mind tacking on one more foot spa.”

“Officer Zhou, you’re back already? I can’t afford this kind of special attention from you. My place is one hundred percent above board. Hey, your bosses all know it—I’ve paid every penny in taxes, hit every target. No need to trouble the police brothers with a personal visit.” Qin Hua’s words carried a mix of courtesy and veiled threat, but he betrayed no nervousness. He turned his head and said offhandedly to Uncle Jiu, “Uncle Jiu, that’s enough. Give Officer Zhou face and knock it off.”

Uncle Jiu pushed the foot spa girl away with evident disinterest. He sprawled back on the sofa, let out a yawn, patted his thigh, and stood up. “Alright then, Third Brother. I’m heading upstairs to crash.”

With that, he sauntered into the elevator under the seething glares of the assembled police officers.

Officer Zhou drew a steadying breath and composed herself. Her gaze settled back on Qin Hua, and she spoke in a rote, procedural tone. “Mr. Qin, let’s discuss Miao Deng’s case. If you don’t want officers dropping by every day, then cooperate with us and help wrap this up quickly.”

Qin Hua blinked, adjusted his glasses, and nodded with a smile. “Of course. We’ll fully cooperate with Officer Zhou’s investigation. Is there anything specific you need from me?”

Officer Zhou tilted her chin up. “Miao Deng was staying here before he was killed, right? I want to inspect his room.”

“No problem at all. Right this way, Officer Zhou.” Qin Hua shrugged and led the officers to the basement room where Miao Deng had lived.

The space was generous—around four hundred square feet—an unfinished shell without a lick of paint. The ceiling loomed high overhead, with a single tiny window positioned at the very top, sealed shut from the outside.

A single low-wattage bulb dangled from the ceiling more than ten feet up, casting only feeble illumination.

Officer Zhou paused in the doorway, her eyes sweeping over the lone wooden pallet bed and the modest folding table shoved into the corner.

Her immediate thought: Someone had scrubbed this place clean.

With experience from countless crime scenes and every imaginable victim living situation under her belt, Officer Zhou knew that human habitation always left its mark. No matter how brief the stay or meticulous the occupant, it was impossible to wipe away every trace of life.

Yet this room—supposedly Miao Deng’s home for five days—showed rumpled bedding strewn across the pallet, a couple of grimy T-shirts discarded at the foot of the bed, a tangle of charging cables and earbuds piled beside the pillow. A pair of slippers lay haphazardly under the bed, flanked by empty mineral water bottles. Half a bowl of unfinished takeout sat on the folding table.

On the surface, it all looked plausible, the natural clutter of a short-term resident.

But the thick layer of undisturbed dust on the table, the scuff marks on the floor from dragging heavy objects, the flakes of paint gouged from the corner where bulky cabinets had once stood, and the contrived aura of everyday living all gave the game away.

This wasn’t Miao Deng’s room. It was a hasty facsimile, stocked with a few of his personal effects to sell the illusion.

Officer Zhou betrayed no reaction on the surface. With gloved hands, she methodically examined the sparse items, unwilling to tip her hand while the evidence remained inconclusive.

She lifted one of the yellowed T-shirts from the bed’s edge and turned to Qin Hua with a flat expression. “Mr. Qin, we’re taking Miao Deng’s personal belongings back to the police bureau. You don’t have a problem with that?”

Qin Hua leaned against the doorframe. He paused at her words, then smiled easily. “Not at all. Help yourself, Officer Zhou.”

Officer Zhou bagged the T-shirt and gestured for the other officers to collect and pack the remaining evidence.

Evidence bags in hand, she stepped toward the door and fixed Qin Hua with a level look. “You’re certain these account for all of Miao Deng’s personal items in the room?”

Qin Hua nodded, smoothly reciting his rehearsed line. “Positive. Miao Deng hadn’t been in Pingling City long—he didn’t have much to his name. Of course, I wouldn’t know what he was carrying the day he vanished.” He added with feigned curiosity, “When the body turned up, what did he have on him? Passport? Phone? Anything else?”

“Case details aren’t for public disclosure,” Officer Zhou replied evenly. She shot him a sidelong glance, finding the question pointlessly probing—as if he were desperate to extract some scrap of information from the police.

When the police discovered Miao Deng’s body, they found nothing on him that could prove his identity—no passport, wallet, or phone.

Of course, Officer Zhou wasn’t about to say any of that. She deftly sidestepped the topic and lobbed a new question across to them. “Do you remember what time Miao Deng went missing?”

Qin Hua paused, his eyebrows arching slightly as he drew in a sharp breath. “Well… Officer Zhou, you’ve stumped me there. The day Miao Deng disappeared, I was out of town on business. I only learned about it last night when I got back. I know he left the day before yesterday, but the exact time… Let me have someone check. A-Zuo!”

“A-Zuo isn’t here—he’s upstairs settling in the foot spa girls!” Yu Bai had come downstairs at some point unknown, leaning against the handrail on the stairs leading from the basement to the first floor. A cigarette dangled between her fingers as she exhaled a thin wisp of smoke. “I’ll fill Officer Zhou in!”

Qin Hua merely shrugged, offering no objection.

A smile tugged at the corners of Yu Bai’s lips. From across the room, she arched an eyebrow at Officer Zhou before sauntering over from the stairwell in her high heels. One arm crossed over her chest while the other lifted the cigarette to her mouth. She took a deep drag before speaking languidly. “Miao Deng went missing at exactly ten-thirty the night before last. A Liang—you know, the one who tripped in the lobby and cracked his head open—he and Yellow Hair were the first to notice Miao Deng was gone.”

Officer Zhou was at a bit of a loss for words. “And who’s Yellow Hair? Where is he?”

“Er, he’s the security guard at the foot spa. This guy…” Yu Bai seemed to hesitate, her fingers drifting to her forehead as she chose her words carefully. “He’s laid up in the hospital right now. Last night, while he was out looking for people, he didn’t watch his step and took a tumble—broke his leg.”

Officer Zhou: “…”

Yu Bai managed a strained smile and pressed on. “Around nine o’clock the night before last, Yellow Hair and A Liang were chatting by the basement door. They’d had a few drinks. After A Liang left, Yellow Hair passed out. He didn’t wake up until ten-thirty, and by then, Miao Deng was nowhere to be found.”

“So no one knows exactly when Miao Deng went missing.”

“That’s about the size of it.” Yu Bai frowned and waved away the smoke hovering in front of her face, then added, “But we can narrow it down to between nine-forty and ten-thirty the night before last. Hopefully that helps with your investigation.”

Officer Zhou raised an eyebrow, her gaze flicking up to the surveillance camera mounted diagonally overhead. She called out, “The cameras weren’t running that night?”

Yu Bai blinked in mild surprise, her eyes following to the camera. She shot it a quick glance before shrugging back at Officer Zhou. “This one’s busted.” She paused, then gestured toward the stairwell entrance. “There’s a working one at the main door, but the rain was pouring that night—power was unstable—and the footage from the window when Miao Deng went missing was nothing but black screen.”

Officer Zhou’s eyebrows knitted together slightly, her sharp eyes locking onto Yu Bai. “So the entire foot spa only has one surveillance camera, at the main door?”

Officer Zhou wasn’t about to swallow such an obvious brush-off meant for rookies. But even putting it so bluntly, they weren’t likely to hand over the footage without a fight.

Sure enough, just as she’d anticipated.

Yu Bai’s eyes drooped at the corners, the fingers pinching her cigarette pressing against the bridge of her nose in a gesture of mild apology. “There are a few cameras upstairs, but business has been dead lately on account of the lousy weather, so they weren’t turned on. Besides, even if they had been, it wouldn’t have done much good—Miao Deng stuck to the basement and first floor, so they couldn’t have pinned down the exact time for Officer Zhou.”

With that, Yu Bai adopted a faintly regretful expression. She fished out another cigarette, lit it with her head bowed, then looked up at Officer Zhou and blew a smoke ring directly toward her ear—the cool tendrils curling against her earlobe. “Any more questions, Officer Zhou?”

Officer Zhou shuddered involuntarily, her throat working as she swallowed.

Yu Bai took in every nuance of Officer Zhou’s reaction, her eyes lowering into a subtle smile. She exhaled a drifting plume of smoke as she turned away, leaving the other woman with an alluring, unfinished silhouette. “If that’s all, I’ll head upstairs!”

Officer Zhou drew in a steadying breath amid the charged atmosphere. “Pack it up! We’re done here!”