amaotonovel Chapter 1134 Hiring a Private Investigator
Chapter 1134 Hiring a Private Investigator
After breakfast, Gui'er changed into a simple cheongsam and asked Acheng to take her to the Xingmin Daily News office first.
Gui'er hadn't been to the newspaper office for a while since her last meeting with Zhou Hong. She told Acheng to wait downstairs and went upstairs herself.
The room was a mess, but as busy as ever. Staff members were hunched over their desks writing, and cigarette butts and scraps of paper were scattered on the floor. A new, unfamiliar editor looked up at her and asked, "Who are you looking for, miss?"
"Oh, no need to trouble you. I'll go find Deputy Editor-in-Chief Zhou." Gui'er thought about it and decided it would be better to ask Zhou Hong for an introduction.
The young man was quite helpful; he pointed and said, "She's in the proofreading room with that Liu Shaolin right now."
Gui'er's heart skipped a beat. She remembered that Liu Shaolin was a photojournalist, and he should be the best at this. However, she didn't know him very well, so she could ask Zhou Hong to help introduce them.
She thanked him and followed the direction he pointed to to the proofreading room.
"Ugh, how annoying, hehe."
"My darling, there's no one else here. Let me give you a kiss, what's wrong with that?"
Just as Gui'er was about to step into the room, she suddenly heard flirtatious voices coming from inside. She was stunned; she had never known that Zhou Hong and Liu Shaolin had this kind of relationship.
Going in now would definitely be inappropriate, so she decided to wait.
"Hey, it seems like our newspapers haven't been reporting on the Japanese army lately. Is it because the time is almost up?"
"Do you have to bring up these unpleasant things at this time? If the Japanese army really occupies Hong Kong, our newspaper will definitely be finished. You didn't spend all the money that Boss Liu gave you last time, did you? That's our livelihood."
"Don't worry, I've deposited them all in foreign banks, so it's fine."
Gui'er stood outside the door, unable to find a chance to go in and say hello. The intimate sounds inside, mixed with conversations about the Japanese army and money, stung her ears like a thorn.
She glanced at the clock on the wall; there was only fifteen minutes left before class. If she lingered any longer, she would be late. But she was reluctant to leave now. Just as she was in a dilemma, she suddenly heard voices coming from the office diagonally opposite the proofreading room.
"Editor Wang, this is the article I just finished. Boss Zhang from the west of the city's new love interest is actually his cousin's wife. All the photos are taken. Isn't that explosive?"
"Put it here. The title is 'Cousin-in-law becomes the new lover, scandalous affair of a wealthy family exposed.' I guarantee it will sell well. You're doing a good job as a private investigator. Here, this is your money."
Gui'er's heart skipped a beat—a private investigator? Wouldn't that be perfect? She quietly took two steps back, and as the office door opened, a man wearing a baseball cap walked out, hurrying towards the stairwell. Gui'er gritted her teeth, quickly followed, and softly called out at the corner of the stairs, "Sir, please wait!"
The man turned around, his eyes wary: "Miss, is there something you need?" He was about thirty years old, wearing a worn-out suit, his face showing signs of hardship, but his eyes were bright, indicating that he was someone who dealt with all sorts of people year-round.
"I just overheard the gentleman in the office say that you are a private investigator?" Gui'er tried to keep her tone calm. "I was just looking for someone to help me investigate something."
The man raised an eyebrow and sized her up, his gaze lingering on her simple cheongsam and the jade bracelet on her wrist: "What does Miss want to investigate? According to the rules, state your reason first, then we'll discuss the price."
“I want to investigate someone,” Gui’er said in a low voice. “A man with a scar on his left eyebrow, about thirty years old, burly, and possibly a tiger tattoo on his forearm. I want to know his background, and also… he’s been in close contact with a wealthy young lady named Liu Lanfang lately, and I want to know about their relationship, preferably with photographic evidence.”
The man stroked his chin, then looked Gui'er over and pondered, "May I ask what your relationship is with this young lady and that man? Do you have any more detailed information about that man?"
Gui'er's heart tightened: "I don't know his name, I only know these characteristics. I was in a car accident a couple of days ago. I suspect it's related to these two people. This woman is my classmate, and she was trying to win over my fiancé..."
"So that's what happened." Upon hearing this, the private investigator immediately judged it to be a case of jealousy between women. These kinds of scandalous affairs are actually quite easy to investigate; just hide somewhere, gather some information, and take some photos. "Okay, I'll look into it," the man readily agreed. "The fee is 50 yuan, but you need to pay 20 yuan as a deposit first. Leave your contact information, and tell me the woman's home address and your school. I'll contact you after I've found out."
Gui'er hadn't expected it to be so expensive. After hesitating for a moment, she took out her wallet from her handbag, counted out ten dollars, added the ten dollars she had prepared beforehand, and handed it over: "Then I'll trouble you. I need the exact amount so as not to alert them. Also, let's agree on an address. It's inconvenient at my home, but there's a Xin Xin Bookstore near the main gate of HKU. If you find it, sit by the window when school lets out. I'll see you when I come out of school, and I'll come find you there."
"Miss, you investigated without your family's knowledge, right? Don't worry, I'm a professional." The man took the money and put it in his pocket, then pulled out a small notebook from his pocket. "I'll leave your name here so I can find you later."
“My surname is Sha.” Gui’er didn’t say her full name, but she gave the private investigator Liu Lanfang’s home address and their car’s license plate number.
The man noted everything down, then gestured with his chin at her: "See you at the bookstore at 3 PM three days from now." With that, he turned and strode downstairs, quickly disappearing around the corner.
Gui'er breathed a sigh of relief. She quickly went downstairs and got into A-Cheng's car, but her mind was no longer as chaotic as before.
Acheng asked curiously, "Miss, did you not get a job this time?"
Gui'er paused for a moment, then shook her head with a wry smile, remembering what had just happened between Zhou Hong and Liu Shaolin.
After that, Gui'er quietly went back to school for class.
Although the two agreed to meet in three days, she would subconsciously glance at the window of the Xin Xin Bookstore every day after school.
Wu Mingqiang stopped taking Gui'er to school, and after he stopped, the rumors in the class actually subsided.
Gui'er thought to herself, "If I had known it would be like this, I would have been better off not letting him deliver it in the first place."
However, Wu Mingqiang now goes home very early, bringing back different snacks and treats every day to make Gui'er happy.
Gui'er noticed that she was gaining weight after eating snacks in addition to regular meals, so she said, "I can't eat anymore, I feel like I've gotten fat lately."
Wu Mingqiang laughed and said, "You're so thin, it would be better if you gained some weight. Now the Japanese are gradually blocking the transportation around Hong Kong, and the flow of goods between Hong Kong and the mainland is being hindered. There are shortages of goods in the market and people are becoming uneasy. If the situation gets any worse, we might not be able to eat these snacks anymore. Now, eat as much as you like."