The Vanishing Lover

The meeting between Xu Ruyi and Qi Min at the Xinhe Hotel lasted exactly seventy minutes.

More than once, Xu Ruyi glanced at her watch. She had timed her return to the aquarium to appear before her daughter just as the mermaid show was ending.

Of course, whether leaving for the Xinhe Hotel or returning to the aquarium, she hadn't taken the main roads.

There was a small path from the aquarium's side door to the back entrance of the Xinhe Hotel, devoid of surveillance cameras. Xu Ruyi had received detailed route instructions two days before her departure.

"Under no circumstances can Qin Guan find out about meeting Qi Min!"

Though young, Xiao Zhi was remarkably thorough in his planning.

"You must avoid all road surveillance cameras! Regardless of what happens next, Qin Guan must not discover this right now. That man is clever, resourceful, and deep. As long as he knows nothing, we hold a temporary advantage. Once he finds out, we'll be completely on the back foot!"

Wear the most inconspicuous casual clothes when going out, walk with your head down looking at your phone, steer clear of cameras – this was Xiao Zhi's repeated advice.

The day she left, Xu Ruyi's bag contained a change of clothes.

She changed quickly and efficiently, then strode purposefully down that path straight to the Xinhe Hotel and knocked on Qi Min's door.

She didn't waste a minute of those sixty minutes of conversation.

"Qin Guan's found you, your blackmail plan fell apart, and 'Zeng Demei' has left, hasn't she?"

The moment the door closed, Xu Ruyi cut straight to the point, laying bare Qi Min's predicament.

The room bore the chaotic traces of a struggle.

Naturally, 'Zeng Demei', seeing the three-million-yuan blackmail fail, her plan ruined, and feeling she'd lost out after all her efforts, must have come to Qi Min's room to argue. The fight surely broke out when the two desperately grappled over the meager remaining funds.

In a fight, how could Qi Min possibly be a match for 'Zeng Demei'?

The plan had failed. Qi Min lost her money, lost her job, got beaten up, and was betrayed by Qin Guan. No wonder she was in such a foul mood.

Moreover, she didn't want to go back to Li Yang – to smoothly carry out the plan, she had placated Li Yang before her business trip, pretending she would marry him, even getting engaged. If she went back now, Li Yang would undoubtedly drag her to the registry office.

That fool had been ranting daily at the police station about wanting his wife back since the day she disappeared.

Sleeping with that worthless pretty boy was one thing, but marriage? Marrying a man like that meant signing up for a lifetime of being his beast of burden and maid, working herself to the bone only to wait and starve?

Qi Min wasn't that stupid.

If she wanted to return to Li Yang, she wouldn't have remained in hiding after the plan failed, changed her phone number, or even denied being Qi Min when the police called.

"You're not showing yourself, you're denying your identity… you're hiding from Li Yang,"

Xu Ruyi stared at Qi Min – she was hiding, hence living alone in this shabby, rundown Xinhe Hotel room, booked under 'Zeng Demei's' name.

She was living this wretched, stifling existence, yet she hadn't left –

"You're still waiting for Qin Guan,"

Xu Ruyi sat calmly on the chair opposite Qi Min, ruthlessly exposing the pitiful, laughable, pathetic hope buried deep in Qi Min's heart.

Qi Min's eyelids fluttered guiltily.

"The plan failed, the scheme was exposed, but Qin Guan hasn't reported you… so you're clinging to a fantasy,"

Xu Ruyi looked disdainfully at the woman who fancied herself clever. "You think he must have some lingering feelings for you. That he's letting you go, can't bear to act, that his delay in reporting you to the police is proof. So you wait. You wait for him to calm down, remember all your good qualities, come find you, and rekindle the old flame, restoring the warmth."

Qi Min didn't respond, merely shot Xu Ruyi a withering look. She opened a suitcase nearby and rummaged through it, pulling out a cardigan and putting it on.

Inside the suitcase were several new items of clothing, tags still attached.

Clearly, while holed up here, she was eating well and shopping freely. As for how to deal with Qin Guan next, this foolish woman hadn't given it a single thought.

"Why do you want to deal with Qin Guan?"

Before Xu Ruyi could continue, Qi Min fired the question first.

Utter incomprehension filled her eyes.

Of course she didn't understand. In her view, Xu Ruyi was the complete victor in this failed plot. Xu Ruyi had lost nothing – the man was still hers, the money was intact. A double win.

Since that man was willing to give her the address, he must have knelt at home, begging for forgiveness, swearing to treat his wife better than ever in the future – in that case, why would Xu Ruyi need to 'deal' with Qin Guan?

"Why do I want to deal with Qin Guan?"

Xu Ruyi stared at Qi Min's indifferent face. In that instant, the image of her father's chaotic will flashed through her mind – her father had discovered this woman's affair with Qin Guan long ago. Qin Guan had even had Qi Min accompany him during hospital visits. Her father must have tried to warn her then. Pity she had turned a deaf ear.

"It was my father…"

Xu Ruyi forced the half-sentence out, word by painful word, then abruptly cut herself off. She shifted gears sharply. "Since I'm here, I'm here to act, to deal with him. Don't ask pointless questions. Just give me a straight answer: are you still in, or are you out? If you're out now, fine. I'll go back and team up with Qin Guan. We'll report you for extortion. You go to prison, I go home."

"If you're still in, then do exactly as I say right now. When it's done, you take the money and disappear."

Qi Min naturally couldn't bear to give up now. Even less could she accept going to prison for extortion.

"I'm still in," she said flatly.

But the plans Xu Ruyi proposed, Qi Min shot down one by one.

"His secrets? I… I do have something… about him bribing witnesses to give false testimony. But that requires the witness to come forward and admit it. Might be difficult… Digging up dirt on his work? I have a little, but not much. The false testimony thing is probably the biggest. The most important false testimony? Related to a homicide? Yes, there were two cases the first year we were together. But back then… ah, back then I didn't guard against him, so I didn't keep any evidence…"

Qi Min's face was a picture of frustration.

"Shi Jie's case? That case was decided ages ago. Appeal? That's harder than climbing to heaven. You simply don't understand. Double jeopardy. Report it again? That requires ironclad evidence, and it has to be done by immediate family. We can't overturn it. It won't work. It's impossible…"

"Tell his superiors about his affair? Stir up a scandal? Useless. He's already planning to jump ship and go solo. As for the affair… I could have used it before. His biggest fear was you finding out. But now… you know. So what's he got to fear now…"

She slumped down onto the edge of the bed.

Xu Ruyi was furious – this woman who'd harbored such grand ambitions to swindle Qin Guan out of three million yuan turned out to have no real leverage at all. She'd just planned to use the 'faked death' to extort a sum and vanish. Once the 'faked death' scam was exposed, she was nothing.

A complete waste of Xu Ruyi's trip.

But just give up?

No. She couldn't accept that.

"I have an idea," Xu Ruyi said coldly, her gaze fixed on Qi Min. "But you have to cooperate. And there cannot be a single slip-up!"