Inquire
“He knew from the beginning,” Qiqi nodded, pawing at Yunjin with her paw. “Alright, I’ve finished talking about my business. Let’s talk about the big trouble you’re facing.”
The crow flapped its wings and flew to Qiqi's back, patting Qiqi's head with its wing.
"Silly dog, you're so strong!"
With a single swipe of its paw, Qiqi swatted it to the other side of the room.
Upon seeing this, Yun Jin and the others couldn't help but laugh.
Shen Yi'an cleared his throat and said, "My idea is that, given the current situation, we need to figure out the exact relationship between Zhang Shuo and Qin Yi as soon as possible."
"Is this connection really that important?" Yun Chen asked, arms crossed.
“It’s very important,” Yun Jin continued, speaking firmly. “Shen Yi’an can investigate the movements of Xingyao Entertainment and Yasu Group through people in the industry, but we have no idea how Zhang Shuo and Qin Yi came to be involved, or to what extent their cooperation has reached.”
They looked at each other, and although they understood each other to some extent, they were still confused.
“So,” Yun Jin took a deep breath and looked around at everyone, “I actually have a bold idea.”
All eyes immediately turned to her.
“I was thinking… could we find a way to observe them up close?” Yun Jin explained. “Otherwise, we’ll just be guessing and never come to a conclusion. We can find a breakthrough by observing them in person.”
After Yun Jin finished speaking, everyone fell into thought, and then nodded in agreement.
"But sis, what if she recognizes you if you go? Wouldn't that be too dangerous?" Yun Chen frowned and said worriedly, "I'll go instead."
"It's alright," Yun Jin patted her sister's shoulder, a confident smile on her face. "Sending too many people would only make us more vulnerable. Don't worry, I've regained my ability to change forms. Besides..."
She pointed to Qiqi and Crow, who were playing around nearby, and said, "It's not like I'm going alone. Qiqi and Crow are with me. Ground reconnaissance and aerial surveillance are enough."
"Caw! I never agreed to let you do such a sneaky thing," the crow protested, flapping its wings.
Seeing this, Qiqi bit the crow.
"Ah—, why this trick again?" The crow struggled in Qiqi's dog beak.
"You've done this kind of thing plenty of times, so why are you pretending to be a law-abiding crow now?" Yun Jin freed the wet crow from the dog's mouth.
"Alright, alright," the crow said with disgust, looking at its feathers covered in Qiqi's drool.
"Yun Jin, I'm so sorry I couldn't help you," Shen Yi'an said apologetically, sitting on the bed.
"Shen Yi'an, don't say such things. How could we force a patient?" Yun Jin walked to the bed and patted his back hard, causing Shen Yi'an to cough for a while and his face to turn red.
She stood up and, like a squad leader, assigned tasks to Yun Chen and Shen Yi'an.
"As for Yun Chen and Shen Yi'an, your tasks are also very important. You need to pay close attention to the trends on the hot search list and communicate with the lawyers. We'll leave the rear to you."
"We guarantee to complete the mission!" Yun Chen and Shen Yi'an said in unison.
"Set off!"
——
Yun Jin, who was initially full of confidence, quickly ran out of energy after running with Qi Qi for a while. She was so tired that she was panting heavily and felt like her lungs were about to explode.
"Qiqi... slow down, I... I really... can't run anymore." As soon as she finished speaking, Yun Jin's foot slipped, and she collapsed on the roadside, looking like a cat pancake with no will to live.
"Caw... I can't fly anymore." The crow folded its wings not far from the ground and fell straight down like a stone, landing with a "thud" on the grass.
Looking at the exhausted cat and bird, Qiqi revealed a disappointed expression and sighed deeply as if resigned to her fate.
He walked up to Yun Jin, flipped her over with one paw, and then picked her up in his mouth.
"Ugh!" The sudden bite on the back of her neck jolted Yun Jin awake, instantly making her more alert. She looked up and saw the crow climbing onto Qi Qi's back on all fours.
And so, Qiqi, without complaint, set off with one in her mouth and one on her back.
We walked quite a distance, and although it was bumpy, it felt great not having to exert any effort myself.
A wave of gratitude welled up in Yun Jin's heart: "Thank you, Qi Qi, your dog is so good."
Qi Qi made some muffled sounds from her throat, saying, "It's...nothing, I'm not like...you guys..."
However, before he could finish speaking, Yun Jin fell solidly from the air, becoming a bewildered "cat pancake" once again.
"Caw, we've arrived." The crow, fully revived, flapped its wings.
Yun Jin looked closely and saw a small villa in front of her, surrounded by a low fence. Even before she got close, she could smell a pungent gasoline odor, indicating that it was still under renovation.
A black sedan was parked next to the courtyard. Yun Jin had seen Xie Xinrou ride in this car before.
They tiptoed over the seemingly non-existent fence, sneaking in by using various weeds as cover, and finally hid silently under the windowsill, eavesdropping on the people inside, while crows circled overhead to keep watch for them.
Yun Jin cautiously peeked out, peering into the room through the gap in the slightly ajar curtains. The room was quite empty, with only a lone sofa, no coffee table, and hardly any other decent furniture. It looked like the room had only been occupied for a short time.
There were several large, unopened cardboard boxes piled up next to them, with unassembled simple furniture scattered on the protective foam paper.
"Yun Jin, she's out. Be careful," Qi Qi whispered, her ears perked up.
Yun Jin immediately shrank her body to the side.
Before long, Qin Yi and Zhang Shuo came to the living room from the room one after the other.
Zhang Shuo sat casually on the only sofa in the living room, legs crossed, intently looking at his phone screen with a smug smile on his face.
"Hmph, Shen Yi'an must be feeling incredibly miserable right now, but I can make him feel even worse." Zhang Shuo suddenly burst into laughter, "Serves him right for trying to steal my resources!"
“I never expected that we could kill two birds with one stone so quickly,” Qin Yi said ingratiatingly, squatting by the sofa and looking up at Zhang Shuo. “It’s just that… Yun Jin died too quickly. I want to torment her a little more.”
"That thing called Yun Jin... is it really a cat demon?" Zhang Shuo adjusted his posture and asked casually.
“Yes, absolutely,” Qin Yi said hastily, as if she had been assured of confirmation. “I saw it with my own eyes when I was a child. It was disgusting! My ears are damaged because of her. I’ve had such a hard time all these years… until I met you…”
"Stop, stop, stop!" Zhang Shuo interrupted her impatiently, looking disgusted. "I don't want to hear your boring stories. I'm not interested in whether she's a cat or a dog. All I need to know is to mess with her and disgust Shen Yi'an. That's enough."
Qin Yi choked for a moment, a hint of embarrassment flashing across her face, but she quickly put on a smile and changed the subject naturally: "Zhang Shuo... I've been looking at houses lately. Everyone says that the land in the south of the city is nice, with a good environment and good development prospects..."
"Isn't it good for you to live here now?" Zhang Shuo glanced at her contemptuously, interrupting her. "This place is much better than your old, dilapidated house. Aren't you satisfied?"
Qin Yi felt a surge of nervousness under his gaze. She paused, her fingers gripping the hem of her clothes. While observing Zhang Shuo's expression, she said, "I...I'm just thinking about our future. What if...we have children in the future..."
Upon hearing the word "child," Zhang Shuo's expression instantly turned extremely displeased.
Qin Yi panicked and quickly corrected herself, "No, no, no! I mean, if you want to keep a pet, you need a relatively large space."
"..."
Zhang Shuo abruptly sat up straight on the sofa. He grabbed Qin Yi by the collar and lifted her off the floor, his tone extremely impatient: "If you want my money, you should at least be nicer to me! Don't keep making me angry like this! Do you understand?"
Then, he released Qin Yi and deliberately whispered in her left ear, "You little bitch, don't you even know what you look like?"
"What are you saying?" Qin Yi suddenly became anxious and uneasy. "I can't hear, I need a hearing aid, could you please say it again?"
"It's nothing, I'm leaving."
Zhang Shuo strode out the door, followed by the sound of a car starting up.
Yun Jin and Qi Qi exchanged a glance.
——
“So, based on your observations,” Yun Chen wrote on the paper, outlining the relationship diagram, “Qin Yi and Zhang Shuo’s relationship is not good; it’s more about exploitation. Qin Yi is even controlled by Zhang Shuo on her own.”
Shen Yi'an sat to the side, his hands crossed and his chin resting on his hands, looking deep in thought.
“Yes, Qiqi and I both saw it. Their relationship is very bad,” Yun Jin said with certainty. “I’m thinking that maybe we can start with their weak point and deal with Qin Yi first. Once we get rid of her, we can eliminate her direct threat to us, and then it will be easier to deal with Zhang Shuo.”
“A very reasonable approach.” Yun Chen agreed, then glanced at Shen Yi’an, and after seeing him nod in acknowledgment, he turned to Yun Jin, his tone becoming more formal: “By the way, sis, let me tell you about the results of our consultation with the lawyer.”
She opened her notebook: "Here's the thing, we consulted several lawyers who are very famous in both commercial and criminal law, and their advice was pretty much the same."
“As for Zhang Shuo,” Yun Jin pointed to the name on the paper with her pen, “there is a relatively clear path to deal with him through legal means. We have recordings and videos provided by Xiao Hua, which can preliminarily prove that she is suspected of illegal business operations and gray transactions. If we want to be more secure, it would be best to also have relevant evidence of his transfer of benefits within the program team.”
“But for Qin Yi, legal means are not very effective…” Yun Chen changed the subject, a somewhat troubled expression on his face.
Shen Yi'an picked up the thread, his voice very low: "Qin Yi's problem is that, firstly, it is very difficult to find conclusive evidence that she poisoned the animals, and even if it is found, because the victims are animals, the punishment will not be very severe under current laws."
He paused, his tone turning serious: "Secondly, and this is what we're most worried about, is that Qin Yi knows your secret. If we push her too far, and she decides to go all out and expose your and Yun Chen's identities to the public, that's something we can't handle..."
As Yun Jin listened to their analysis, her expression grew increasingly grave. She had only thought about sending Qin Yi to prison before, but she hadn't expected it to be this difficult. She didn't know what to say, and a feeling of helplessness welled up inside her.
Qiqi said loudly, "If you ask me, let's not care about whether she's human or not. Let me give her a bite. That'll be more effective."
"I think it's unfair. Why can't animals hurt humans, but humans can hurt animals?" the crow chimed in from the side.
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