3 Investigation

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Qiao Yuyan lay in the bathtub, warm water enveloping her body, her long black hair floating on the surface like a corpse slowly sinking. The oxygen in her lungs gradually depleted, and the suffocating sensation sharpened her mind, making her thoughts more active.

PUA...

Auri had just sent her information about PUA.

Originally, PUA referred to pick-up artists, but it had now evolved into a form of psychological manipulation.

Scenes from the airport, where she met her sister, flashed through her mind: her sister’s hidden attempts to please Huo Lingchen; the Huo family servants ignoring her sister, the lady of the house, and asking only Huo Lingchen about everything, big or small.

There was also the eerie silence during the Huo family dinners and the moment her sister visibly relaxed when Huo Lingchen left.

That was the posture of someone long under pressure, unconsciously revealing relief once freed.

The novels had described that before the appearance of the female rival, the male and female leads were deeply in love. Before returning to Xia Country, she had thought it was the rival’s scheming that caused their relationship to break down, but from what she observed, Huo Lingchen was definitely no good.

Suddenly, Qiao Yuyan broke the surface, gasping for fresh air. Her body soon calmed.

She wiped the water from her face and looked down as droplets fell from above, rippling the water’s surface.

She climbed out of the tub, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around herself, and hurried to the adjoining room.

Picking up the headset on the table, she said, “Shiyue, do you take private jobs? I need all the information on my sister and Huo Lingchen over the years.”

Jiang Yunxi had been married to Huo Lingchen for four years; including the time he courted her, that was nearly five years—a substantial amount of work. Whether professionally or personally, Qiao Yuyan would not let Lin Shiyue help for free.

“Sure,” came the crisp, cool female voice.

Qiao Yuyan added, “If necessary, hack into Huo Lingchen’s private communication devices and the Huo family’s surveillance.”

“Got it.”

“What about me? Boss, what can I do to help?” The crisp voice of a young boy interrupted after Qiao Yuyan finished her instructions.

“What business do you have with this?” Auri sneered. “Want to shoot that dog of a man?”

“Don’t underestimate me!” The boy protested loudly. “And don’t insult the dog.”

“The dog-man isn’t a dog.”

Qiao Yuyan ignored their bickering, her expression calm. “Rest early and prepare for tomorrow’s mission.”

This time in Xia Country, she brought three people: Lin Shiyue, responsible for cyber infiltration—commonly known as hacking; Auri, in charge of medical support, their logistical backbone; and young An Chen, an excellent mechanic from the base. With modern technological advances, their key equipment depended entirely on him.

Since she couldn’t immediately investigate her sister’s situation, the urgent priority was to complete the mission smoothly, then fully focus on her sister’s affairs.

The next morning.

Qiao Yuyan descended the stairs feeling refreshed. The servant in the dining room immediately approached, “Miss Qiao, madam and sir left early. Madam said you are free to do as you please.”

Qiao Yuyan nodded—just right. No need to find excuses to explain to her sister.

After finishing breakfast alone, a message flashed on her phone—it was from Lin Shiyue.

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Qiao Yuyan opened her phone to find a location pinned.

She sent a message to Jiang Yunxi to report her whereabouts, then quickly went upstairs to change into a light blue tracksuit, carrying a backpack she had prepared earlier.

Before leaving, worried her sister might not check her phone, she turned to the servant, “When my sister returns, tell her I went out for a walk and not to worry.”

...

The location Lin Shiyue sent was a derelict factory about three kilometers from the Gu Corporation.

Qiao Yuyan recalled that area used to be an industrial hub with many factories.

Now, with Chenxing City expanding outward, factories had been relocated to surrounding towns. The vacated sites were bought by various enterprises, yet many spots remained empty.

The abandoned factory zone was desolate, overgrown with weeds nearly knee-high. The once-tall factory buildings were now ruins—collapsed roofs, peeling walls, rusted steel beams exposed.

Despite the height of summer, the place still felt cool and gloomy.

Following Lin Shiyue’s directions, Qiao Yuyan entered one of the factory buildings.

Inside, it was empty and silent. Thick dust covered the floor, showing no sign of recent visitors.

Having seen her location, Lin Shiyue sent two words: “Roof.”

Qiao Yuyan scanned the surroundings. There was no staircase leading to the roof inside the factory. After a moment’s thought, she cleaned the traces she left upon entering, then stepped outside.

Old pipes clung to the outer walls, worn and corroded by time. She gently squeezed one; the brittle pipe wall crumbled to dust.

Carefully searching beneath the aged pipes, she found hidden iron nails.

Wearing gloves from her backpack, she used the nails as footholds and easily climbed onto the rooftop.

The roof was uneven and pockmarked. Not far away was a small broken hole.

As she moved toward it, a head with brown hair popped out. “Boss, this way.”

Qiao Yuyan followed, crouching to enter the hole.

Inside was a winding passage. Auri, nearly two meters tall and broad-shouldered, had to bend to get through. After several turns, they arrived at a small room.

The space was less than ten square meters, but the walls were covered with every kind of monitor, old and new, densely packed.

Screens flickered softly, displaying scenes inside a company office: white-collar workers in sharp suits, busily hurrying about.

Black-haired Lin Shiyue sat before the monitors, fingers flying silently over the keyboard.

Blond youth An Chen was dismantling monitors with a screwdriver. Beside him lay several battered, worn casings, evidently scavenged from recycling centers.

Only Auri was idle, pulling out his phone to watch Huo family surveillance footage that Lin Shiyue had casually accessed during breaks.

“How’s it looking?” Qiao Yuyan approached Lin Shiyue, glancing at the screens and asking softly.

“Gu Corporation’s security is tight. I only managed to insert a program to connect to their surveillance,” Lin Shiyue replied cautiously. She had abandoned attempts to breach the company’s core firewall, instead patiently connecting node by node.

Qiao Yuyan was unsurprised—Gu Corporation’s reputation was well known, and their network security was top priority.

Even the information department’s elite at the base couldn’t crack Gu Corporation’s network. If it were easy, the three organizations wouldn’t have failed repeatedly.

She didn’t disturb Lin Shiyue further but crouched beside An Chen, picking up an old monitor. “How many more do we need?”

Without looking up, An Chen kept working. “Shiyue said at least thirty. We still need six.”

Qiao Yuyan nodded and grabbed a screwdriver to help disassemble monitors.

When carrying out missions in different countries, they had to adapt to local conditions.

In Xia Country, entry restrictions were strict; they couldn’t bring many high-tech weapons or equipment. They had to buy and scavenge old items and modify them themselves.

Fortunately, An Chen was used to these harsh, frugal conditions. As long as he had parts, he could assemble what they needed.

With Qiao Yuyan’s help, the six missing monitors were quickly put together.

After all equipment was tested, Lin Shiyue reported back: connection failed.

“Boss, floor 50 is inaccessible.” Her usually calm face showed some discouragement.

The 50th floor of Gu Corporation’s building was the CEO’s office, equipped with an independent surveillance system whose security was nearly impregnable.

“It’s okay,” Qiao Yuyan gently patted her shoulder. They were used to setbacks. “Stick to the original plan.”

“Okay.” Lin Shiyue perked up and pulled up the prepared data.

Their plan was for Qiao Yuyan to disguise herself as a Gu Corporation employee and conduct an on-site survey.

A photo of a young woman appeared on Lin Shiyue’s computer, with a live feed of the same girl on the monitor above.

Her name was Jiang Feifei, employed less than a month, working as an office clerk. Quiet and introverted, she handled all the office chores.

Qiao Yuyan stared at the young woman wearing black-rimmed glasses, working diligently. The base’s investigation had found Jiang Feifei wore similar white short-sleeve T-shirts every day, paired with black sweatpants and classic white canvas shoes, as if copied and pasted.

Most importantly, their builds were similar: Jiang Feifei was about 1.67 meters tall; Qiao Yuyan was just one centimeter taller. Such a slight difference was nearly imperceptible to the naked eye.

Qiao Yuyan smiled approvingly at Jiang Feifei’s outfit today. “Looks like the clothes we prepared earlier will come in handy.”

Lin Shiyue pulled up Gu Corporation’s working hours. “Lunch break is from twelve to one-thirty.”

It was now 10:10 a.m., so they had an hour and fifty minutes to prepare.

After a moment’s thought, Qiao Yuyan ordered, “Shiyue, closely monitor Jiang Feifei’s movements. Today, no one can keep her in the office building. An Chen and Auri, go distract her.”

“Understood.”

The three sprang into action.

Qiao Yuyan moved to a corner of the room, opened Auri’s suitcase, and took out makeup and silicone prosthetics. Using Jiang Feifei’s photo as a model, she carefully reshaped her face.

The silicone was applied piece by piece to key facial areas. Then, she applied foundation evenly to cover her natural skin tone.

Time passed slowly. After an hour, Qiao Yuyan disappeared from the loft, replaced by the quiet, unassuming Jiang Feifei standing silently in her place.