Chapter 266: Secret Lovers

Chapter 266: Secret Lovers

The lounge was dimly lit. Most lounge bars were decorated this way. It was not that they had no windows; even where windows existed, they were sealed off. Partly that blocked the noise of the street. Partly it built a hushed, shadowed atmosphere.

Glowing decorations covered the surrounding walls, and the light overall had a warm, dim yellow cast.

It was not yet dark outside, but from within the lounge no daylight from the street could be seen. It gave the impression that night had already fallen, that this was a place to listen to music, relax, and enjoy yourself.

Because of the hour there were not many customers yet.

The space was very large, rows of booths dividing it into distinct areas.

The man and woman sat in the booth beside Wu Chen’s. An aisle separated the two, but they were not far apart. Wu Chen’s phone stood only a little over two meters from them.

A phone recording video picks up sound from a considerable distance.

Neither of them noticed anything unusual on Wu Chen’s table.

Between the dim light and the candle-shaped lamps, the silent dice cups, the ashtrays and the rest that sat on every table, anything untouched was clustered together. At a glance it was simply a group of objects. Nothing drew the eye as significant.

Most of Wu Chen’s phone was hidden behind the decorative lamp besides.

Of course, anyone looking carefully would have seen a phone standing against that lamp. But no one had any reason to study every object on a neighboring table. It was hard to notice in passing.

The man and woman had barely glanced at Wu Chen, let alone at his table.

He was only some young man who had come in for a drink. Nothing special.

Wu Chen knew they would not notice.

Once they had settled facing each other, the man took off his baseball cap and tossed it onto the table. He was a short-haired middle-aged man in his forties, reasonably good-looking.

The woman removed her mask as well. She looked about forty, and she had a certain amount of looks, heavily made up. She was far prettier than the average middle-aged woman, and there was a polish to her.

Both looked wealthy. The man wore a watch worth several hundred thousand yuan, and his suit appeared custom-made. The woman was decked in jewelry, a diamond ring flashing on her hand.

“What do you want to drink?” the man asked.

“You order,” she said.

They did not even have to call anyone over. A server came on his own.

They ordered drinks and a fruit platter, then began to talk in easy, offhand voices.

“Going home tonight?” the man asked.

“I have to. Old Hu’s been coming home these past few days. If I don’t go back he’ll get suspicious. He asked me about it last time.”

“Asked you what?”

“Why I got home so late. I told him I’d gone out with Fang Lin and the others.”

“Does he suspect you?”

“Not really. He only asked in passing. He’s busy to death every day. Where would he find the time to keep tabs on me?”

They had not been talking long when the server brought the drinks and the fruit platter. Once he had gone they picked the conversation back up.

“What about your wife? Is she still checking up on you?” the woman asked.

“Checking my ass. She made a scene with me last time, so I slapped her. She’s behaving herself now.”

“She hasn’t started suspecting me, has she?”

“No. How could she? Relax.”

As he spoke he took a strawberry from the fruit platter and reached across the table, feeding it directly toward her mouth.

She took it with her lips and ate it.

Every part of the gesture was natural.

Married couples of that age rarely did such things. Feeding each other was far more the habit of young lovers.

Naturally the two of them were not husband and wife.

They were secret lovers.

“Oh, right. That order from the North Plant last time…” the man began.

The two of them started talking business.

What they talked about did not matter.

Not to Wu Chen, at least.

What mattered was that they were secret lovers. When two people in that kind of relationship slipped out for a clandestine date and easy conversation, whatever the subject, they would naturally make the gestures only lovers made, say the things only lovers said, and mention their respective families and other private matters without thinking twice.

Both of them were cheating on their spouses.

Wu Chen was filming them to record the proof of it.

On the previous “July 20,” after leaving matters with Wu Yurong, Wu Chen had gone to a great many places and looked into a great many things. For certain reasons he had dug into a few extra matters as well.

Wu Chen knew these two would come here for a date because they had told him themselves.

Under duress.

Because Wu Chen had kidnapped them and tortured the information out of them.

As for the exact time they would arrive, Wu Chen had confirmed that through surveillance footage.

The footage from this very lounge.

On the previous “July 20,” Wu Chen had come here after eight in the evening. From the recordings he knew exactly when the two had arrived and exactly when they had left, down to the second.

But the booth backs were so high that the lounge’s cameras had captured nothing of what the two of them did once they sat down.

More than ten minutes later.

“When are you going to bring up divorce with your husband?” the man asked.

“How am I supposed to bring it up? If I suddenly ask for a divorce, won’t he get suspicious? I need to pick a fight with him first,” the woman said.

At that moment Wu Chen glanced at his watch, then reached over and tapped the screen of his phone a few times.

Stop recording. Save.

That was enough.

Those twenty minutes were more than enough to prove the two had been lovers for a long time.

He stood.

And left.

Outside the lounge Wu Chen returned to his car, but he did not drive off at once. He waited a while.

A few minutes later.

A black Mercedes pulled up behind the Lamborghini. A stunningly beautiful young woman in a figure-hugging short skirt stepped out, her makeup exquisite, her high heels clicking rapidly as she hurried several steps forward.

She went straight to the blue Lamborghini, opened the passenger door, and got in.

Zhuang Xiaodie.

The black Mercedes belonged to Li Ruobing’s bodyguards. One of them had driven her here.

Before leaving Liu’an Apartments to come over, Wu Chen had called and told her to set out in ten minutes.

Zhuang Xiaodie pulled the door shut, turned to Wu Chen with a sweet smile, and greeted him.

“Mr. Wu.”

Only then did she fasten her seat belt.

Wu Chen turned his head and looked her over with a smile.

Zhuang Xiaodie really was obedient. He had told her at noon that he would take her out. Although she had no idea what he meant to do with her, she had still prepared with care. From her makeup to the coordination of her clothes and jewelry, everything about her looked polished and alluring.

They set off.

Wu Chen started the Lamborghini and pulled back onto the road.

Roughly half an hour later.

Shangfeng Road, Central District.

Zhizhen Manor, a gated villa community.

A bodyguard in a black suit with an earpiece stood outside the main gate, watching the traffic along the street. He had been out there some time already, waiting.

The blue Lamborghini appeared down the street and soon reached the gate.

The bodyguard bent slightly to look into the car. When he saw Wu Chen he took a remote from his pocket and raised the barrier.

Wu Chen drove straight into the heavily secured community.

The bodyguard watched the car go in, pressed his earpiece, and said, “Boss, Mr. Wu is here.”

Zhizhen Manor was enormous.

For a first-time visitor, finding a particular villa inside was no easy thing. You really could get lost.

Wu Chen would not.

Though this was his first time here since his new life began, he had come too many times during the loop.

Soon.

The Lamborghini stopped at the curb outside Villa No. 7.

It was an enormous detached villa ringed by lawn. Several black-clad bodyguards could be seen patrolling the grounds. One had a large dog on a leash, walking it while scanning the surroundings.

In modern society a scene like that gave an unmistakable impression of tight security.

And the security here really was extremely tight.

Wu Chen and Zhuang Xiaodie got out.

She came to his side and slipped her arm through his, and together they walked toward the entrance of Villa No. 7.

A black-clad bodyguard came over at once. Drawing near, he said with great courtesy, “Mr. Wu, this way, please.”

He moved ahead, gesturing as he led them in.