Chapter 010: I Am the Betrayal Catcher

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The sky had been overcast all day, and by nightfall, torrential rain came crashing down amid rolling thunder.

Fortunately, it did not stop us from eating hot pot, nor did it delay seeing Wen Liang off at the train station.

Over the past two years, Sister Yan and I had tried every possible way to bring in more business. Assignments involving travel were actually quite ordinary.

The only difference was that I used to handle all the running around myself. Now, at last, someone else was helping shoulder the burden.

When I returned to the shop, I hurriedly took a shower and climbed into bed, curling myself beneath the blankets.

Sister Yan knocked on the door from outside. When I told her to come in, she pushed open the door and sat down beside my bed.

“Stone, sit up and drink some hot water. Don’t be afraid. Your sister is here.”

I threw off the blanket and sat up, taking the cup she held out to me.

Looking at me with concern, Sister Yan said, “Just look at you. Your face is so pale, and your eyes are starting to turn bloodshot again. It’s been ten years. You still can’t forget, can you?”

I drained the warm water in one gulp, then looked up at her with a bitter smile.

“Sis, have you forgotten?”

Sister Yan froze, then let out a heavy sigh.

Ten years ago, on a stormy night just like this one, my mother had died before Sister Yan and me.

So many years had passed, yet whenever a night like this came around, I would still see my mother’s terrifying appearance in her final moments—her face blue and livid, white foam spilling from her mouth.

Whenever that happened, I would pull the blankets over my head, curl up on the bed, and remain motionless all night.

Only when Sister Yan was beside me could I feel safe enough to fall asleep.

She gently rubbed my head with both hands, and I drifted into a dazed sleep.

I had no idea how long I had been asleep when Sister Yan knocked on the door again.

“Stone, Little Monkey just sent a message!”

I immediately sat up and picked up the phone from the bedside table. It was 12:38.

After getting dressed, I stepped outside. Sister Yan showed me her phone. The message read: Tiger Hotel, 1512 North Road.

Since wearing sunglasses at night would make it impossible to see the road, and going out like that might frighten people, I put on an eye patch that covered only one eye. It made me look like a pirate captain.

Sister Yan drove while I placed my tool bag beside me and sent a message from my phone:

“Little Monkey, Sister Yan and I are already on our way. You’re closer, so go ahead first and wait for us at the hotel entrance!”

Little Monkey replied almost immediately:

“Brother Hei wouldn’t let me come along. He went by himself.”

After ending the call, I rubbed my brow, feeling a headache coming on.

Whether they were disciples of Third Master or children he had adopted, many of them worked away from home.

Brother Hei worked at a place called Heavenly Martial Arts Fitness Club, where he was a combat-sports instructor.

The club had grown from an obscure little gym into one of Haizhou’s ten leading fitness centers, and Brother Hei deserved no small share of the credit.

After all, he had already won three consecutive national middleweight combat-sports championships.

Brother Hei was an honest man. As the club grew larger and everyone else’s pay rose accordingly, his salary barely increased at all.

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Every month, after paying the customary offering to Third Master, he spent every penny he had left on his girlfriend.

He had even borrowed money from all over the place and built up quite a mountain of debt.

If he really witnessed his girlfriend’s betrayal, I had no idea how devastating the blow would be.

But I couldn’t bear to let him remain deceived indefinitely.

When we arrived at the Tiger Hotel, I could see someone standing beneath the steps in the distance. He was not holding an umbrella, simply standing rigidly in the rain.

My heart gave a jolt. As soon as the car stopped, I slung my tool bag over my shoulder, grabbed an umbrella, and got out.

A white sedan beside us screeched to a halt, brushing past me. Its wheel came within a hair’s breadth of rolling over my foot.

The window rolled down, revealing the face of a short-haired woman.

“Are you fucking blind?” she yelled. “Don’t you look where you’re going when you get out of a car?”

When she saw my face, she paused, then snorted.

“So you really are half-blind. No wonder you’re so careless!”

I apologized with an ingratiating smile, then ran around the front of the car.

“Brother Hei!”

I reached the man’s side and raised the umbrella over his head.

“It’s pouring. Why didn’t you go into the lobby and wait for me?”

Brother Hei muttered, “Didn’t you say to wait at the entrance?”

I was speechless.

Fine. My fault.

Sister Yan came over from behind. To my surprise, the short-haired woman was walking beside her, sharing her umbrella.

I said to Brother Hei, “Come on, let’s go inside. Promise me that you’ll do exactly as Sister Yan and I tell you.”

Brother Hei nodded.

The short-haired woman looked at the three of us, her expression growing strange. In a low voice, she asked Sister Yan, “You’re not here to get a room? What are you here for?”

Before either Sister Yan or I could answer, Brother Hei turned his head and said, “We’re here to catch someone cheating.”

I hurriedly covered his mouth.

Was that something to be proud of? Did he really have to announce it at the top of his voice?

If he wasn’t embarrassed, I was embarrassed for him!

The short-haired woman’s expression became even stranger. She looked at the three of us, then suddenly hardened her face.

“Then catch them. Better yet, let him make everything clear.”

Sister Yan and I exchanged baffled looks.

Once we entered the lobby, the short-haired woman went to the front desk and returned with a room card.

Sister Yan whispered to me, “Brother Hei and I will follow that lady upstairs. You explain things to the front desk.”

“Got it.”

I nodded.

We had handled cheating investigations more than once. It was common for clients to lose control and create serious trouble.

So I always informed the front-desk clerk in advance: if a complaint came in, we would handle it ourselves. There was no need to call the police right away.

Only after explaining everything did I enter the elevator.

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Without a room card, the elevator could not operate. But that little obstacle was nothing to me.

I entered a string of numbers into the panel. It was a special command code for the elevator.

When the panel lit up green, I pressed the button for the fifteenth floor.

The codes differed from elevator to elevator, but that was no problem. I had memorized more than thirty sets of commonly used codes. Elevators in Haizhou could hardly ever trap me.

With a cheerful ding, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. I was just about to step out when someone suddenly rushed inside and knocked me off balance.

The fellow was wrapped in nothing but a white bath towel. The impact caused the towel to come loose, exposing a pair of smooth, pale buttocks.

What an assault on the eyes!

I wished I could gouge out the only eye I had left that still worked.

With one hand clutching the towel and the other rapidly pressing a floor button, the young man flashed me a row of brilliantly white teeth.

“Sorry, one-eyed brother! Emergency situation! I’ll buy you a drink sometime!”

You’re the one who’s one-eyed!

I wanted to curse him, but the elevator doors had already closed and carried him away.

I proceeded forward warily for a few steps. After turning the corner in the corridor, I saw Sister Yan and Brother Hei standing there quietly, and I finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The door beside them opened, and the short-haired woman emerged with her phone in hand. She glanced at the three of us, then began shouting into the phone.

“Chen Yinan, you bastard! So you know how to call me through the front desk after all? I only said someone might be coming to catch someone cheating. I never said they were coming to catch us! And you ran off with your ass bare? Are you even a man? I’m not afraid, so what are you afraid of? If she really comes with people, just confront her and tell her everything…”

I walked over to Brother Hei and asked, “Brother Hei, do you want to go in?”

He pressed his lips together, then nodded firmly.

Behind us, the short-haired woman continued talking on the phone.

“You’re really not coming up, are you? Then get lost! Don’t keep me from watching the show! They’re about to kick the door in. There’s no way it’ll stay quiet at this hour. Something entertaining is bound to happen. You just stay downstairs and play the coward!”

Sister Yan heard her and frowned. She was just about to turn around and walk over when I said, “Sis, let’s finish what we came here to do first.”

We couldn’t afford any complications right now.

Sister Yan nodded and said, “Go ahead.”

I took off my tool bag and glanced at the door. Then I pulled out a thin steel ruler, slid it into the gap between the door and the frame, and drew it gently downward.

The door swung open.