Chapter 5: The Cold Beauty's Smile

  Actually, if a man looks at a woman, no matter how stealthy he is, no matter how he pretends to be unintentional, no matter how he uses his peripheral vision to scan her, the woman always has this incredible sixth sense: she can quickly judge from his line of sight whether he is holding himself back and which part of her body he is looking at. To put it bluntly, this is a biological instinct - females can always distinguish among many gazes which male has a good impression of them, has desires for them, and then decide whether to reproduce with him.

  Especially this beautiful mature woman who is used to seeing the beauty of the world, is even more of an old hand in this regard. Her eyes swept over and unconsciously sank down a bit, I knew she had already realized that I was stealing glances at her accidentally exposed spring scenery. However, she seemed to be completely unbothered, still maintaining this posture, with a demeanor that seemed to say "help yourself".

  I quickly collected my thoughts and secretly warned myself not to be misled by appearances, only saying: "These two toilets together are 160 yuan, is that...?"

  She seemed not to have heard my words, and she looked me up and down by herself, slowly getting up from the sofa, and walking slowly in front of me. Her hand lifted, pinched my mask. Probably being smoked by the smell of white vinegar on the mask, she slightly frowned, but her hand had gradually fallen, and my mask also slipped off with it. My entire face was exposed to her eyes.

  I couldn't help but feel a sharp pain, and she saw my true face, which wasn't a good thing.

  And with such ambiguous actions, although I only took off my mask, I always feel that this moment is like being stripped naked, just like standing in front of her stark naked. Suddenly, she slightly opened her lips, exhaled gently, and said: "How much did you say...?" This voice was like a dreamy sigh, with a hint of coquettishness, and the last few words were almost moaned.

  "1... 160 yuan..." I didn't dare move, not even daring to breathe heavily.

  She leaned forward, turned around, and her arm touched a certain part of my body, making me shudder as if I had been electrocuted. She suddenly burst out laughing with a "pfft" sound, seemingly very satisfied with my physical reaction, but walked away, took out 200 yuan from her bag, came over and stuffed it into my hand.

  I didn't dare stay any longer, so I hastily thanked him and walked towards the door. At this time, a loud engine sound came from outside the door.

  Could it be that Chen Ziqi has returned?

  I hastily adjusted my mask to cover my face - although Chen Ziqi had never seen me, this kind of goods was tied to the cases of Xiao Luqi, Su Chujun and the warehouse's secret room female corpse, so it was better to maintain a sense of mystery.

  I can finally meet this mysterious big shot, and a smile appears on my face.

  Suddenly, the collar tightened, and the beautiful mature woman behind me grabbed my collar. I broke out in a cold sweat. Had I fallen into a trap? Had she already recognized my identity?

  "Hurry up and hide in that doorway!"

  I didn't understand what was going on, but I didn't dare not follow her, and crawled into a small room next door. She closed the door, and at this time, a clear male voice came from outside: "Yuxin, what are you doing?"

  The beautiful mature woman said: "Nothing to do, want to take a nap." This coquettish voice sounded like she was inviting the man to sleep with her.

  The man's voice, but it must be Chen Ziqi - according to the nanny, there are usually three men in this house: Chen Ziqi, his son, and the bodyguard. If this beautiful woman is the mistress of the villa, then Chen Ziqi's son should call her "mom", and the bodyguard should use a respectful title. This man's voice, calling her name "Yuxin" directly, must be Chen Ziqi. What surprises me is that this man's voice sounds clear and clean, seemingly around 35 or 36 years old, even younger than that. This is quite different from the Chen Ziqi I imagined, who should be around 45 or 46 years old. Of course, people's voices are unpredictable, maybe Chen Ziqi's successful business has something to do with his good-sounding voice. Just like in the past, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation wanted to destroy Martin Luther King's vocal cords, they thought that Martin Luther King's deep and magnetic voice was an important reason for his large number of fans.

  I'm hiding in this small room with a guilty conscience. I feel like an adulterer who's been caught by his wife at the door. What the hell did I do? I'm the victim, I'm the innocent boy who was seduced!

  As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I found that this room seemed to be a storage room without windows, very dark. In the depths, there was a vague box-like thing, a classic one. This kind of box I saw when I was young, my grandmother's dowry box was like this: made of three layers of cowhide, very durable and breathable, she was born in 1915, made such a box in 1930, and it is still very sturdy now, things put inside are rarely moldy. I walked over gently, moved it slightly, but found that this box seemed to have taken root on the ground, unable to move at all. Generally speaking, in this situation, either the things inside are extremely heavy, or this box is fixed to the ground. I pushed it with all my might, but it still didn't move, no matter what was inside, this box wasn't very big, how could it be so heavy? It seems that this box must have been fixed to the ground.

  I remembered that architectural blueprint, this room didn't exist on the blueprint, in other words, there was a wall which was also built after the house was completed.

  Another locked room. I lifted the lid of the trunk, it was locked.

  That's right, the house, the land area is slightly larger than the building and garden on the ground, I've long suspected that there might be an underground secret room. Could it be that the entrance is in this box?

  From the location of this room on the blueprint and the size of this box that can hold a person, it is very likely.

  I couldn't help but wonder, would the underground secret room also have a freezer and a female corpse like that warehouse hideout? Chen Ziqi already had a beautiful and mature wife, wasn't that enough, did he still want to secretly build a hidden chamber for hiding corpses, and then go to play with it in the dead of night?

  However, I didn't have the leisure to go and investigate again. I lay on the door and listened, Chen Ziqi and his wife's conversation had gradually faded away, and the sound of footsteps going up the stairs rang out. Not long after, two light knocks sounded on this door.

  I hesitated for a moment and then opened the door to go out.

  Two red lips came up fiercely and stuck a solid kiss on my face.

  I was so scared that I didn't dare move, such a clichéd and cheesy plot of an affair, what's wrong with this woman?

  Her lips and face quickly parted. She turned around and walked away, without leaving a word like "Meet me in the small garden at three tonight".

  I saw Chen Ziqi had gone upstairs, and thought that if he found out I had stolen the painting, there would definitely be trouble. The best of the thirty-six strategies is to retreat, so I quickly ran out of the gate.

  I walked out of Xigong and took a deep breath. I pulled out my phone and called Mingying, saying: "Hua is with me, where are you?"

  Mingying didn't say a word for nearly half a minute, and I thought the phone had hung up when she said softly: "The old place last night. 7 o'clock tonight."

  I'm thinking, am I going to die of hunger today? We're meeting at a coffee shop again after lunchtime, how pathetic and miserable can I be? Am I going to get ripped off for another cup of coffee by her?

  Suddenly, Mingying said: "Lin You, you are a man who is beyond expectation."

  The corners of my mouth couldn't help but reveal a hint of a smile. I hailed a car and didn't let up until it was already very far away, figuring that even if Chen Ziqi discovered what had happened, he wouldn't be able to catch up. Just now, when I found this painting in a certain room on the second floor of the villa, I directly cut it down along the edges of the two wooden rods used for mounting, and put the two rods back in the box. As for the painting, I didn't care whether it would be damaged or not, and simply folded it up and stuffed it into my bag.

  The taxi was heading south on Cao Yang Road, and I heard a loud roar of an engine coming from behind. When I turned around, a red Ferrari F430 was speeding towards us. As expected, Chen Ziqi discovered that the painting had been stolen and immediately got into his sports car to chase after it. I sneered: "This silly guy, even if you were flying a plane, in this vast sea of people, how would you know who to look for?"

  That Ferrari flashed past me, and I couldn't see what the person inside looked like at all. The speed was absolutely over 50% above the limit, if it were under today's traffic rules, 12 points would be deducted in an instant, and a trip to driving school would be necessary. Of course, for someone with energy like Chen Ziqi, this doesn't count as anything. If this society is a game of poker, as long as you play the unbeatable cards of personal relationships and money, you can always stand on unshakeable ground.

  As a miserable loser like me, I can only rely on some small tricks and some crude methods, shabby tools, to sneak around in the dark and terrifying mortuary, the cold and smelly broken warehouse. Fortunately, my methods are rough, but they still work so far. It's worthy of being called invincible, unstoppable. Just now, it even gave Mingying a good surprise.

  Mingying walked into the coffee shop, unexpectedly not rushing towards me, but first buying a cup of mocha and a cup of vanilla star ice cream at the counter. I watched her carry two drinks, almost popping my eyes out: Is the sun rising from the west today?

  She handed me the popsicle and still said coldly: "Where's the painting?"

  I pulled it out of my bag and handed it over to her.

  She lifted a corner, took a look, nodded in satisfaction, and the frost on her face seemed to have melted a bit. She put away the painting, rummaged through her bag, and handed me a card.

  I took it over, and it was a completely black card, with no words on either side. It felt somewhat sticky in my hand, but I didn't know what material it was made of. So I asked doubtfully: "What is this?"

  "Card."

  "What nonsense, what card?"

  "There's a little money inside. Not much, consider it your pay. By the way, these two cups were bought with this card."

  What? I can hardly believe my ears, isn't this just fencing stolen goods? I stole a painting worth 500,000 yuan and exchanged it with a woman for a bank card that looks weird. This way, haven't I become someone like the Phantom Thief Kid?

  She forced out a rather strange-looking smile and said, "Old Yin said you passed the test. Since you're working for the organization, you can't be like some poor devil. This money is not only your pay, but also an advance on expenses."

  I remembered that beautiful mature woman named Yu Xin gave me 160 yuan and smiled, saying: "It's nothing, the cost of stealing paintings, I've already made it back from the owner of the painting."

  Mingying finally couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.