Chapter 73: Jinda Grand Hotel

A brand new red BMW drove aimlessly around the streets of Guishe City, near some building material markets. It moved very slowly, which made the drivers of the vehicles behind it quite unhappy.

The girl driving the red BMW ignored the displeasure of the vehicles behind her. At that moment, she was inspecting, one by one, the migrant workers sitting by the roadside looking for jobs, through the half-open car window.

She was looking for a person, a man, the one who had saved her from kidnappers and then carried her on his back, walking through the jungle of Donkey Head Mountain for an entire night.

Her father, Liu Jianhao, told her that although the man had a low status, he had a heart of gold. Her father also said that unwavering love is not spoken with words but demonstrated through actions. The more difficult and trying the circumstances, the more one’s true nature is revealed.

If you love him, go find him. Don’t let yourself regret it.

But where was he?

She heard him say on the mountain that he also lived in Guishe City. He had only gone to Lutou Town to take care of some business and would return to Guishe City soon. She didn’t know if he had returned today.

She didn’t know why, but ever since parting with him at Donkey Tail Town, especially after talking with her father Liu Jianhao, his voice and smile, and every word he said, kept appearing before her eyes over the past two days, lingering and unshakable.

It felt like she had lost something extremely precious that couldn’t be found again, and it made her heart ache terribly.

She just wanted to see him again. As for what she wanted to say to him after meeting him, she didn’t know. This thought made her unable to focus on her studies at school. In the end, she skipped class again, drove out to relax, and tried to distract herself. Unexpectedly, she found herself starting to search for him everywhere.

Of course, there was a tail following her. Her mother, Li Tingting, afraid she might get into trouble again, had sent her most capable bodyguards to monitor her in three shifts.

…

“Hey beautiful, need an electrician?”

“Miss, doing home renovation?”

After the BMW stopped and the pretty young lady stepped out of the car, a group of migrant workers sitting by the roadside rushed over to chat her up. Whether they got any work or not didn’t matter; just having a few words with this beauty was a pleasant experience.

“Excuse me… do any of you know someone named Lü Yang?” Surrounded by so many people, Liu Hui felt somewhat embarrassed, but she still asked them.

“I don’t know any Lü Yang, but I know someone named Lü Bu. Miss, is your surname Diao?” one migrant worker replied to Liu Hui with a cheeky grin.

“I… my surname isn’t Diao…”

“I know someone named Lü Yang. He lives right in there. Want me to take you over?” Another migrant worker pointed towards the depths of the alley with ill intentions.

“The Lü Yang you know, how tall is he? Is he fat or thin? Does he have short hair or long hair?” Liu Hui seemed to sense that this migrant worker had ulterior motives.

“So, do you want to find him or not? If not, forget it!” The migrant worker pretended to be impatient, and the workers around him burst into laughter.

“How do I know if the Lü Yang you’re talking about is the one I’m looking for?” Although Liu Hui strongly doubted the truth of this migrant worker’s words, she was also afraid of missing the chance to find Lü Yang.

“Wouldn’t you know once you went to see him?” The migrant worker still wore a very impatient expression. The other migrant workers erupted in another round of laughter.

Liu Hui hesitated for a long while. She glanced back into the distance, and in the end, followed the migrant worker deep into the alley.

In the distance, a very burly man got out of a car. He was bald, dressed in black, and wearing sunglasses, looking every bit like either a gangster or a rich family’s bodyguard. Seeing Liu Hui follow the migrant workers into the alley, this man looked very displeased, but he still followed from afar.

…

Two days later.

Guishe City, Jinda Grand Hotel.

A young man with a northeastern accent was checking in, carrying a large luggage bag. His name was Zhang Haoran. While checking in, he also asked the front desk to book him a plane ticket back to the northeast in advance, for the fifth, at seven in the morning.

A young woman in professional attire, who looked very capable, parked her car outside the hotel’s main entrance. After handing the car keys to the valet, she walked into the hotel lobby holding a stack of document folders.

A young security guard standing by the door eyed the woman, taking in her pretty face and graceful figure. He began to fantasize about the lovely curves hidden beneath that professional suit… but unexpectedly, the woman noticed and glared at him fiercely. The young security guard was startled, his face turning red.

The woman suppressed a smile, feeling somewhat pleased with herself, and continued walking towards the elevators at the far end of the lobby.

“My flight ticket for the fifth at seven in the morning must be booked, or it will ruin important matters!” The northeastern man, Zhang Haoran, emphasized again to the front desk staff. When he turned around, his eyes met those of the approaching young woman.

Finding this northeastern man quite handsome, the young woman felt a bit flustered. She quickly averted her gaze and hurried into the hotel elevator.

There were already two young girls inside the elevator. All the way up, they kept whispering to each other. The professional woman could tell they were fans of the internet celebrity Han Cheng. They knew Han Cheng was staying at the Jinda Grand Hotel, so they sneaked in hoping to get lucky, to see if they could ‘accidentally’ meet their idol and spark a Cinderella-like romance like in those soap operas. This brought a faint trace of disdain to the professional woman’s lips.

After the elevator door opened on the fifteenth floor, the professional woman quickly walked to room 1518, took out a key card, and opened the door.

Inside room 1518, a man in his thirties sat on the sofa, frowning deeply. He took a heavy puff from a cigar he was holding. Just then, the door was opened.

“Director Liu, I’ve checked. Recently, there have been no cases of missing young girls in Guishe City and the surrounding areas.” After closing the door securely, the professional woman walked over to the man, carrying a stack of documents.

“I emphasized to you, it’s not just young girls! Broaden the scope to include all women aged fifteen to twenty-five!” The middle-aged man glared at the young woman angrily.

“I checked everything! Recently, in Guishe City and the surrounding areas, not even an auntie has gone missing!” The professional young woman became a bit upset. She threw the stack of document folders she was holding onto the coffee table in front of the man, then plopped down heavily onto the sofa opposite him.

The middle-aged man, addressed as Director Liu, glared at the young woman but didn’t get angry. He put down his cigar but didn’t look at the documents. Instead, he raised both hands and rubbed his temples hard.

“Director Liu, you’ve been working too hard these days. You should get some sleep. If your health breaks down, how will you catch the suspect?” The professional woman stood up, came over, and sat down beside the man, speaking to him in a slightly chiding tone.

The man’s surname was Liu, named Liu Yin, currently the Director of the 19th Bureau of the Ministry of State Security of China. The woman’s surname was Zhou, named Zhou Ling, a Special Investigator of the 19th Bureau of the Ministry of State Security of China.

“You probably don’t just want to tell me this news, do you?” Liu Yin, without looking up, asked Zhou Ling softly.

“I found a rather bizarre case at the Snake West District Public Security Bureau. It’s a murder case disguised as a traffic accident from two years ago. I want to focus on investigating it, to see if it might be related to the Death Killer case.” Zhou Ling picked up the stack of documents she had just thrown in front of Liu Yin, opened it, and placed it before him.