Yu He wanted to go to the hospital with them. As she chased them to the main gate, Qin Beiting suddenly grabbed her.
A bullet flew rapidly from the rooftop of the opposite building and hit Qin Meimei squarely in the forehead.
A headshot. Brain matter splattered everywhere.
"Ah!" The person reporting the crime in the hall screamed, recoiling and scrambling, plunging the scene into chaos.
Qin Beiting raised his hand to shield Yu He's eyes, not wanting her to witness such a gruesome sight. His gaze, however, was fixed on the direction the bullet had come from.
Yu He pulled his hand away and looked up in the same direction.
A dark silhouette flashed across the rooftop of the building opposite, then quickly disappeared.
The Public Security Bureau immediately dispatched officers to seal off the building and search for the culprit.
Guns were prohibited in the country. The fact that the assailant dared to use one domestically, and so openly at the entrance of the Public Security Bureau, was a brazen challenge to the law.
Qin Meimei was laid flat in the hall, motionless. Her eyes were wide open, her pupils dilated, giving her a look of dying with unresolved grievances.
Yu He stepped forward and checked the artery in her neck. There was no pulse.
If Qin Beiting hadn't pulled Yu He back just now, that bullet would likely have struck her.
Was someone trying to murder her? Or was the original intention to silence Qin Meimei?
Just as the killer’s name was about to be revealed, the person died. This felt more like the mastermind behind the scenes was preventing her from investigating further.
Yu He clenched her fist, her gaze cold.
A flash of malice flickered beneath Qin Beiting's eyes. He gave Chen Dong a look, and Chen Dong, understanding immediately, turned and went to make a call.
"Let's go back first and wait for the police's findings." Qin Beiting took Yu He's hand and used a wet wipe to clean the hand that had just touched Qin Meimei.
The Public Security Bureau was in utter disarray. Yu He nodded and left with him.
As they exited the bureau, reporters immediately thrust their cameras towards them, snapping photos with a "click-click." Yu He frowned, displeased.
"Chen Dong," Qin Beiting called out. Chen Dong, who had just hung up, immediately stepped forward and forcibly demanded that the reporters delete the photos, warning them not to report anything about Qin Beiting and Yu He.
This was also why the Ye family's annual meeting and the Gu family's affairs made the news, but no media outlets reported on Qin Beiting and Yu He's presence there. Many netizens assumed it was the Ye family retaliating against the Gu family.
Tian Yu.
Yu He hadn't returned here for some time. The little piggy, "oink oink," rubbed against her feet.
Yu He sat on the sofa, holding it on her lap, stroking it with one hand while looking at her phone with the other.
One Pig: [ /image, Is this enough for the trending search volume? ]
The image showed the top ten trending searches, eight of which were about the Gu family. This was thanks to Shi Ban enlisting the actor Nan Ou to use some entertainment media accounts to fan the flames, spreading the news of the Beishi Gu family's complete downfall far and wide.
Crow: [ Not bad, thanks. ]
One Pig: [ You're welcome, the cost will be deducted from the task order /grin. ]
Crow: [ … ]
Crow: [ How are the surveillance feeds from the Twin Towers coming along? ]
The Twin Towers were the building opposite the Public Security Bureau. On the way back, with Qin Beiting beside her, Yu He couldn't conveniently access the surveillance feeds, so she had asked Shi Ban to do it.
One Pig: [ Checked. However, from noon onwards, the surveillance in the Twin Towers was shut down, with claims of system maintenance. It only resumed at four o'clock. No anomalies were detected. ]
Yu He's peach blossom eyes narrowed. Such a coincidence?
One Pig: [ However, when I was just infiltrating their surveillance system, I encountered someone from Xing Que, "Aries."]
Aries was ranked in the top 20 on China's hacker network and belonged to Xing Que. It was rumored that Xing Que had an organization composed of individuals using the twelve zodiac signs as codenames, each with unique talents, who worked exclusively for Xing Que.
Yu He stared at the words "Xing Que." Was this matter also related to Xing Que?
She recalled the website she had tried to infiltrate last time was at Sheng Da Venture Capital, a subsidiary of the Qin Corporation... She needed to find a time to uncover the true identity of the master of Xing Que!
One Pig: [ He was also infiltrating the Twin Towers' surveillance system, but he escaped before I could trace his movements. ]
Crow: [ Are you sure it's not just your skills lacking, and you couldn't track him? ]
One Pig: [ You're stabbing me in the heart! ]
Meanwhile, in the kitchen.
Qin Beiting was preparing to pan-fry steak when his phone rang. It was Bei Ming.
He answered the call, his voice low, and uttered a single word, "Speak."
"Brother Ting, the Twin Towers' surveillance has been shut down for system maintenance since noon. No suspicious individuals were found," Bei Ming reported.
"However, when Aries was infiltrating the Twin Towers' system, he encountered 'One Pig.' It seems 'One Pig' was verifying the Twin Towers' surveillance video."
It was common knowledge in the hacker community that One Pig was Crow's assistant, and all tasks undertaken by Crow passed through him.
Crow's personal real information was kept extremely secret, to the extent that when Qin Beiting had previously tried to investigate him, he found nothing.
"I understand. Continue tracking Crow's location," Qin Beiting instructed.
The last time Yu He had encountered trouble, Crow had appeared. This time, his assistant had shown up. This was certainly no coincidence.
Bei Ming: "Yes."
Qin Beiting hung up and continued pan-frying the steak.
Five minutes later.
He went out to the living room and saw Yu He absentmindedly playing with the little piggy on the sofa. "Baby, I've pan-fried a steak for you. Come and eat."
Yu He responded, got up, went to the kitchen to wash her hands, and then sat at the dining table. Despite the steak looking and smelling delicious, she had no appetite, her mind still preoccupied with the events at the Public Security Bureau.
Seeing that she wasn't eating, Qin Beiting asked, "Still thinking about the Public Security Bureau incident?"
"Mm."
"Don't worry, they'll notify us immediately once there are any results," Qin Beiting comforted her.
"Mm."
Seeing her distracted, Qin Beiting added, "Shall I feed you?"
"Mm."
After absentmindedly agreeing, Yu He suddenly snapped back to reality. Wait, what had he just said?
Qin Beiting's lips curved upwards in a helpless smile. He cut a piece of steak and brought it to her lips. "Here, ah."
Yu He: "..."
The next day.
Early in the morning, Yu He received the latest search results from the police.
They had only found traces of a sniper rifle mounted on the wall on the rooftop, along with ash. The bullet casings and cigarette butts had been cleaned up. The police had searched everyone in the entire building but found no suspicious individuals.
The sniper's appearance was too coincidental, clearly indicating the other party was well-prepared.
The objective was to silence Qin Meimei.
The enemy was hidden, while they were exposed. Every time they reached a critical juncture, the information was cut off, fueling Yu He's suppressed anger.
However, looking on the bright side, the mastermind sending someone to silence Qin Meimei meant she had pushed them to their limit.
At this moment, she needed to remain calm.
As for Gu Tianlei's interrogation, when questioned about Qin Meimei and Luo Xiaoyao's family of three, he adamantly claimed to know nothing.