Chapter Eighty-Nine: The Blisters on One’s Feet Are Earned by One’s Own Walking

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White Ice’s driving skills were beyond reproach; one look at her deft handling of the wheel made it obvious she was an old hand. Then again, in her line of work, who didn’t know how to drive well?

It was easy to see that she still had not recovered from her shock—or perhaps her delight. Even now, seated in the luxury car she had dreamed of, there was not the slightest trace of excitement on her face. Instead, her brows were knit, as if she were turning something over in her mind. She had probably never imagined that the car she had nagged Wang Zheng about for days without result would fall into her hands on the very day she stopped asking for it.

After all, White Ice was a woman of standing. What kind of car had she not seen before? And yet now she seemed almost unhinged.

In truth, Wang Zheng himself was also somewhat surprised by the appearance of this Maserati Quattroporte. He had only sent the email that morning, instructing that foreigner to handle it, and yet in less than a day the car had already appeared outside Yong'an Tower. He had heard the man was in Dubai building artificial islands for those oil-soaked tycoons. Could the fellow split himself in two?

After following for less than twenty minutes, the car slowly came to a halt. Wang Zheng looked out the window and saw Lin Xiaolei step out of a taxi and enter a nightclub ablaze with colored lights.

Wang Zheng got out of the car and looked at White Ice, who was still sitting there in a daze. Strange—given the state she was in, how had she not gotten into an accident on the way?

He rapped on the window.

"How long do you plan to sit there?"

"Hm?" White Ice blinked. Only when she saw Wang Zheng already standing outside did she hurriedly climb out.

All at once, White Ice had turned mute, obediently following behind him. That, in turn, made Wang Zheng feel rather unaccustomed.

As they entered the nightclub, Wang Zheng saw Lin Xiaolei being led upstairs by an attendant. He turned to the server who had come over to receive them and asked, "Which private room did that young lady just enter?"

"Sir, we have regulations here. We cannot disclose our guests' information."

Without a word, Wang Zheng reached into the pocket of the still-distracted White Ice, pulled out her wallet, took several hundred-yuan notes, and tucked them into the female attendant's cleavage.

"Cover up your sense of responsibility and take me to the room next door."

"Certainly, sir. Please follow me."

Money could make even ghosts turn millstones, let alone people. A nightclub was exactly the kind of place where cash did the talking. Wang Zheng watched the waitress leading the way ahead of them. The coquettish smile on her face seemed ready to devour him whole, and her full hips swayed from side to side as she climbed the stairs, making one wonder whether she was truly a server or something else entirely.

They had only just reached the fourth floor when they saw Lin Xiaolei enter a private room. Under the attendant’s guidance, Wang Zheng was taken to the room beside it. As they passed Lin Xiaolei’s room, Wang Zheng flicked his gaze inside. Huang Wei and Liu Jin were both there, though Huang Wei already had a woman sitting beside him. With her gaudy makeup and overripe allure, she was clearly no innocent sort.

Once inside, Wang Zheng suddenly thought of something. As they had walked down the corridor, it had been strangely quiet—no howling, no shrill laughter, nothing. He could not help knocking on the wall.

Soundproof?

Damn it. Then what the hell was there to hear?

"Sir, is there anything else you need?" the waitress asked.

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"Do you offer any special services?" Wang Zheng asked.

The waitress glanced at White Ice beside him, then nodded and answered naturally, "Yes."

"Oh? Then take me to the surveillance room. I’d like to see what’s happening next door."

The waitress froze. Then she stammered, "We... we don’t provide that kind of special service here...!"

"Didn’t you just say you did? How come now you don’t? Lying to customers, are you? Call your boss over!"

The waitress was speechless. Those who came with ill intent never came for peace. Looking at Wang Zheng’s righteous expression, she seemed to realize something. If he knew the woman next door, then perhaps he was here to catch a cheating lover. If he did not know her... then was he here to wreck the place?

"Sir..."

"A place that doesn’t even offer this kind of special service is filthy enough as it is," Wang Zheng said coolly. He pulled the bills he had tucked into her cleavage back out and returned them to the wallet, then opened the door and walked out of the private room, declaring with perfect confidence as he went, "Since you don’t offer that kind of service, we’ll leave. Pretend we were never here."

The waitress stood there, stunned. There were odd people every year, but this year there seemed to be more than usual. Was this man insane? And her tip...!

After they left the nightclub, White Ice asked in confusion, "What are you doing? Aren’t we spying on them anymore?"

"How exactly are we supposed to spy?" Wang Zheng said as he looked at her and opened the car door. "The walls are soundproof, and they won’t let us into the surveillance room. What, did you think you’d suddenly grown ears that could hear through anything?"

Her head full of questions, White Ice got into the car, turned around, and looked at him.

"Where to now?"

"We wait here," Wang Zheng said.

But he did not sit idle. He switched on the in-car television, then pulled a small black object from his pocket and inserted it into a narrow slot beneath the screen. After pressing a few buttons, the black display sprang to life.

White Ice stared.

On the screen was Lin Xiaolei—and with her, Liu Jin, Huang Wei, and an unfamiliar woman. They were chatting and laughing together, while Liu Jin kept coming up with one excuse after another to coax Lin Xiaolei into drinking.

"How... how did you do that?" White Ice asked in astonishment.

She had followed behind Wang Zheng the entire time and had not left his side for a single moment. Judging by the angle, the camera had to be mounted facing inward from the front of the door. Yet she did not remember Wang Zheng ever entering that private room, nor had she seen him place any kind of surveillance device inside. It was too strange.

"It was simple," Wang Zheng said with an easy smile. "When we passed that room, before the waitress had time to close the door, I stuck the camera onto the inside handle. By the time they shut the door, I was already done."

"Just like that?" White Ice asked.

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"Just like that," Wang Zheng said. "The key is technique and speed. Same principle as a magic trick."

Technique and speed?

Too fast.

White Ice could not help marveling inwardly. Because of the car, her eyes had remained on Wang Zheng from beginning to end, and even so, she still had no idea how he had done it. Technique and speed? What kind of technique and speed was that?

For the first time, she felt that in front of Wang Zheng, she was nothing at all. Every time he did something, it was completed without her noticing a thing. Even standing right beside him, she sensed nothing. Was this what a gap between people looked like? But this gap was simply too vast.

Wang Zheng paid no attention to her change in mood. His eyes were fixed on the screen instead. This Maserati Quattroporte really was different from an ordinary car. Some of the small built-in devices—like this monitor capable of receiving surveillance footage—had clearly been modified. He had no idea what other secrets the car held, but the foreigner’s status in Wang Zheng’s mind was rising higher and higher... though, truth be told, it had always been high.

The atmosphere in the private room was lively. There was food, drink, and singing; they were enjoying themselves thoroughly. Meanwhile, Wang Zheng and White Ice sat in the car with empty stomachs, staring at the screen. When his stomach finally began to grumble, Wang Zheng had no choice but to leave the surveillance to White Ice while he went to a nearby restaurant, ordered several dishes, and brought them back to the car so they could have dinner together.

Perhaps because Lin Xiaolei had not eaten dinner, only a few glasses of alcohol were enough to bring a flush to her cheeks. Yet Liu Jin, Huang Wei, and that woman dressed like some painted old demon kept pressing drink after drink on her, while not a single word was said about work.

Drinking, perhaps, was the most direct road to deepening "friendship."

In less than an hour, White Ice’s prediction came true. Liu Jin had already drunk Lin Xiaolei into a dazed stupor. Her cheeks were red as tomatoes, and her tongue had grown so thick she could barely speak coherently.

A little later, Lin Xiaolei truly could not drink any more. Her half-lidded eyes drooped, her body limp as mud. Liu Jin shot a look at Huang Wei, and Huang Wei slipped out with the gaudy harridan on his arm. At last, a lecherous smile appeared on Liu Jin’s face. Under the pretense of urging her to drink, his hands began to wander.

At that sight, White Ice’s expression changed instantly. Her fists clenched tight, and she tore her gaze from the screen to Wang Zheng’s face, as though waiting for his command. But after quite some time, Wang Zheng still showed no reaction, while Liu Jin in the private room only grew bolder.

At this point Lin Xiaolei’s eyes were still open. The last shreds of awareness in her mind told her to avoid him, but her body had already ceased to obey her brain. Her heavy arm lifted with painful effort, wanting to push Liu Jin away, but now her movements had no strength in them at all.

With a sharp snap, White Ice flung open the car door.

"I’m going to deal with that bastard."

"Wait." Wang Zheng caught her by the arm, stopping her from getting out. "Don’t rush. The real show hasn’t even started."

"The real show?" White Ice froze, then shouted at him, "Wang Zheng, are you really that clever, or are you pretending to be stupid? Was watching dirty videos at work not enough for you? Do you plan to watch them after work too?"

"The blisters on your feet come from the road you walk yourself," Wang Zheng said irritably. "Lin Xiaolei brought herself to this point. What are you playing at, trying to act like some crusader for justice?"

"I... I just can’t stand it!"

"You really think you’re some champion of justice?"