Chapter 26: Intimidation

Qiong Cang sat in the room for a long time, spending half her time zoning out and the other half playing on her phone.

However, her expressionless face seemed so unfathomable that no one could read her thoughts, leading the audience to believe she was still diligently searching for clues.

When the in-game time passed nine o’clock, Qiong Cang went to make a cup of instant noodles that Wu Ming had stored in the kitchen. After finishing her late-night snack, feeling physically and mentally refreshed, she slowly got up and headed downstairs.

She hesitated for a moment but ultimately decided not to tell He Jueyun about this clue yet, lest it ruin her grand image in his mind.

As long as she acted like nothing had happened, she would still be that overbearing CEO.

As Qiong Cang walked out of the first-floor entrance, the motion-sensor lights in the lobby went out, plunging everything around her into the pitch-black night. The love poem Wu Ming had written to himself unexpectedly popped into her mind:

“Bathed in the brilliant light of the Pole Star, you walk through the dark night.”

Well… that was classic him.

Qiong Cang entered the villa’s address into her phone’s navigation app. Following the planned route, she slowly walked out of the residential area, planning to hail a cab once she reached a more convenient spot.

She didn’t know if today’s schedule would allow her to run into the person stalking Wu Ming. To give them as much opportunity as possible to tail her, she shortened both her pickup and drop-off locations by about a kilometer, hoping the stalker would put in some effort.

Because a group of elderly residents was square dancing¹ near her designated pickup point, the area was still bustling with people even late at night. Qiong Cang didn’t notice anyone following her.

It was only after she got into a taxi and the car drove onto a deserted main road that Qiong Cang noticed a small white van trailing them from a steady distance.

Following Qiong Cang’s instructions, the driver dropped her off near a bus stop sign. The small white van also pulled over by the side of the road.

Qiong Cang waited around for a bit after getting out of the car. Seeing that the other party wasn’t coming out, she had no choice but to start walking forward.

Once she reached a quiet, deserted area, Qiong Cang turned around again. However, the street behind her was empty, with no one in sight. Only the roadside shrubbery swayed continuously under the streetlights.

Qiong Cang said, “Come out.”

There was no response.

“I’m not bluffing,” Qiong Cang raised her voice. Combined with Wu Ming’s deep voice, it sounded somewhat provocative. She said, “There’s a breeze, but it’s not strong enough to bend the plants that noticeably. I’m talking to the person hiding about six meters away, directly in front of me. Either you come out now and have a proper chat with me, or I’m going straight home.”

Seeing that he had been exposed, the figure in the darkness finally stepped out from behind the bushes.

It was a middle-aged man. He was very thin, and because of his naturally small frame and a pair of tight jeans, his legs looked like bamboo sticks, making him resemble a monkey. A camera hung around his neck, and a baseball cap covered half his face. Although his features were obscured, his gait was highly distinctive.

Qiong Cang said, “You’ve been tailing and photographing me.”

The man hunched his back slightly, one hand clutching his camera and the other stuffed in his pocket. He didn’t answer.

“What did you photograph?” Qiong Cang asked. “How much longer do you plan on following me?”

The man suddenly said, “Two million.”

Qiong Cang remained silent. After a moment, she lowered her head and began typing on her phone.

The man opposite her grew a bit anxious, craning his neck to peer in her direction. Suddenly, Qiong Cang broke the silence with a scoff. “The number for the psychiatric hospital is XXX-XXX, and it’s down the road, take a left. Since you have a car, I won’t bother giving you a ride.”

“I got the photos!” the middle-aged man said hurriedly, then slowed his tone. “You don’t want others to know you’re a deviant², do you?”

Qiong Cang lowered her head and laughed silently. Instead of getting angry, she took a step closer to him.

“Conceptually speaking, ‘deviant’ simply means differing from the norm. I don’t know if you’re using it in a derogatory sense, or if you’re just saying I’m unique.”

Qiong Cang had grown up hearing that word. If it were worth two million, she would have been rich long ago.

“I took photos of you in women’s clothing. Lots of them. You go to that residential area every day, change into women’s clothes, and pretend to be a woman. You refuse to go home, and you won’t have kids. I even have photos of you changing.” A hint of amusement crept into the man’s voice as he raised his camera. “Your wife suspects you’re keeping a woman on the side, but she has no idea you aren’t even a man. You didn’t trick her into marriage, did you? Do you like men?”

Qiong Cang scoffed. “Setting everything else aside, let me correct you on one point. Transvestism, homosexuality, and gender dysphoria are three entirely different things. This is the first time I’ve seen someone confuse three distinct concepts in a single sentence. Don’t you private detectives need to read a book once in a while?”

“Do you want the photos or not? If you don’t, I’ll sell them to someone else.” The middle-aged man ignored her completely, asking with a smirk, “For companies like yours, the price-to-book ratio… it’s the price-to-book ratio, right? The P/B ratio is very high, isn’t it? If any negative news breaks, your stock price will plummet. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

“No,” Qiong Cang refused flatly. She turned around, completely uninterested. “If you dare follow me again, I’ll call the police.”

The man froze. At first, he stood his ground with a look of disdain, but when he saw she was actually leaving, he panicked. He chased after her, shouting, “Are you crazy, Wu Ming? You actually dare to call the police?”

Qiong Cang stopped again and countered, “Why wouldn’t I dare? You’re the one extorting me, and I have clear evidence. The one who should be afraid is you.”

She held up her phone, indicating that she had just recorded their conversation. “Do you know how many years you can get for extortion? For an exceptionally large amount, it starts at ten years, plus a fine. Three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand is already considered exceptionally large. The two million you just demanded is far beyond that. I can hire any lawyer to make sure you rot in prison. Do the math yourself.”

The middle-aged man yelled, “Then everyone will know you’re a transvestite!”

Qiong Cang shrugged indifferently. “What’s wrong with liking women’s clothes? You like taking creepshots. No matter how you look at it, you’re the sleazy one.”

“If you really weren’t afraid, you wouldn’t have gone out of your way to buy such a secluded house to do these things.” The middle-aged man grew confident again, saying smugly, “Do you think you can scare me? Look at the image you project in magazines. Do you dare let everyone know you’re a pervert?”

A tall shadow paced under the night sky, leather shoes making a dull thudding sound against the concrete.

“I hate being threatened the most, especially over such trivial nonsense.”

Qiong Cang stopped in front of the middle-aged man, closing the distance between them. Her clear eyes locked onto his face, one eyebrow raised high as she looked down on him with a haughty air.

Wu Ming might have been terrified. Although he worked in a rising industry and knew how to manipulate public opinion and trending topics, he had been born in a poor mountainous area. Influenced by his family and upbringing, he still held conservative moral values deep down.

He couldn’t accept his own cross-dressing, possessing a fierce, even sensitive, pride. Perhaps in his own heart, he also considered such behavior abnormal, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to keep it hidden. He was incredibly cautious even when expressing his own preferences.

But what did Qiong Cang care? She had too many problems of her own to worry about; how could she have the leisure to care about what others liked? While cross-dressing was certainly a niche habit that didn’t need to be promoted, was it some unforgivable crime? Wu Ming had tried so hard to hide it, so what was so clever about dragging it out from his most private space?

Qiong Cang said open-heartedly, “I should be the one saying those words. Do you really think you can scare me? Have you forgotten what industry I’m in? I manage influencers. My team’s entire job is to market famous influencers and generate traffic. Do you know how many influencers nowadays make a living by cross-dressing? They get views, they’re popular, and it’s all in the name of entertainment. No one thinks they’re perverts. If you expose this, I can easily claim it’s our company’s next marketing campaign. Is that really so unusual? In fact, I should thank you for driving traffic to us. If our stock price goes up because of this, I might even send your boss a letter of thanks. By the way, which company did you say you work for?”

Qiong Cang raised her hand, using her index finger to push his hat up, revealing his forehead.

“I’ve memorized your face,” Qiong Cang said in a sinister tone. “I’ll give you one last chance. Get lost!”

The middle-aged man shuddered, as if finally snapping out of it. Backing away, he muttered, “You’ll regret this. You chose this yourself.”

He scrambled back into his car, slammed the door, and sped away.

The viewers in the Live Stream Room watched the blurry figure in the night, letting out various wordless exclamations.

“Actually, I thought this guy was Fan Huai’s doing. 【Guilty】”

“The boss’s look just now terrified me, but she’s so cool! 【I’m down】 When will I ever be as decisive as her!”

“So the person tracking Wu Ming those two days was actually a private investigator hired by Li Yujia, not Fan Huai? This investigator has no professional ethics, trying to play both sides. How shameless.”

“Given Wu Ming’s personality, he definitely would have chosen to negotiate with them, right? But he ended up calling the police later. Did he anger them and get retaliated against?”

“I can’t understand how someone with Wu Ming’s profile ended up in a dead end. And I saw the media reports saying he died a horrible death. I’m still betting on Li Yujia.”

“It feels like a lot has happened, but less than a day has passed in game time. The guy in the neighboring Live Stream Room only did two things today: spring cleaning and a hospital checkup. 【Smile】”

·

When Qiong Cang returned to the villa, He Jueyun was still rummaging through things in the corner.

The cabinets in the living room had been turned upside down by him, with various small items scattered across the floor. Bottles of medicine, business cards, flyers, and medical receipts, almost all of which were proof of Li Yujia’s arduous efforts to get pregnant over the past few years.

Qiong Cang found a clean spot to stand and asked, “What are you doing?”

He Jueyun looked up. “Why are you back so late?”

“I ran into the person tracking Wu Ming.” Qiong Cang took off her coat and hung it over the back of a nearby chair. “It was a private investigator hired by Li Yujia.”

“Oh,” He Jueyun said, rummaging on the floor for a moment before pulling out a hiring contract. “This one, right?”

Qiong Cang said, “Probably. He’ll probably contact you to report later. Don’t give him any money. He actually tried to rip me off. How shameless.”

Hearing that she had been targeted, He Jueyun actually seemed a bit pleased. “Usually, they’ve already been paid a deposit. They won’t lose out even if we don’t pay the balance.”

Qiong Cang sat down on the edge of the sofa and asked, “Did you find anything? Need some help?”

“Nothing useful.” He Jueyun stuffed the items back into the cabinet roughly and stood up. “Even if there were clues… I couldn’t tell you.”

Qiong Cang smiled. “Fair enough. After all, you’re an outstanding man who hasn’t even been wean…”

He Jueyun barked, “Stop!”

Qiong Cang said regretfully, “Oh.”

Seeing that she was at least somewhat obedient, He Jueyun’s expression softened. “I’m heading to the bedroom. You’re on your own for the night.”

Qiong Cang: “Okay. I can tag along with you first to…”

“Stop right there!” He Jueyun shouted again, genuinely flustered this time, his face flushing slightly. “Do you know how many viewers are watching? Watch out, or your account will get banned!”

Qiong Cang: “…?” Was it really that dangerous? She had only wanted to say she would accompany him to the bedroom to look for clues.

While she was still dazed, He Jueyun was already pattering up the stairs in his slippers.

·

With no major plot events occurring, the night passed quickly. Qiong Cang had only tidied up half of the messy cabinet when the sky outside turned bright.

Suddenly, a brief knock at the door interrupted Qiong Cang’s movements. She glanced down at the time: 7:23 AM.

A voice called out from outside, “Son, open the door quickly! It’s Mom!”

Translator’s Notes