radicalducati Chapter 18 Another Test
Chapter 18 Another Test
They tried again, even asking if I could take a nap.
Yu Xingge sighed inwardly, "I don't know. The orphanage says I was abducted." She added, "Maybe one day someone will come to my door and insist they're my relative. I'll get a blood test then."
"Really?" Gu Lezhi changed the subject: "Let's rest for a while."
Yu Xingge was more than happy to do so. He originally wanted to close his eyes and pretend to be asleep, but perhaps due to the effects of the alcohol, he actually fell asleep.
As dusk settled, the flow of people on Chengjian Avenue continued unabated. Drivers struggled to keep up with the car in front, when Huawei's exclusive ringtone sounded, displaying the number 520. Gu Lezhi glanced at the sleeping girl in the back seat and put the Bluetooth earphone into her ear.
"Are you back?" His wife asked playfully, her tone slightly reproachful. "It's nine o'clock, and you're still drinking with Yu Yuan."
Yu Yuan, a college classmate, had been the deputy director of the Data Management Department of the Dongjiang Urban and Rural Construction Bureau for many years. He had a chance for promotion after the sudden death of the head of the department. However, a highly talented student who had returned from studying in Japan was parachuted in. For some reason, this young man, despite being half a decade younger than Yu Yuan, was appointed director. Yu Yuan was filled with resentment, unable to complain to his family who had elderly parents and young children, nor could he show any dissatisfaction at work. Gu Lezhi, who had previously helped him with several cases, invited him over for drinks to relieve his frustration because of their familiarity and trust.
Pity……
Gu Lezhi thought to himself, "It seems this investment in favors can be stopped."
"We're finishing early, there'll be some traffic. We'll head back in a bit."
"Okay, you haven't been drinking, have you?"
"No, no."
Mingqing's tone became even gentler: "No rush, come back soon. Drive carefully~"
"Um."
After hanging up the phone, Yu Xingge was still asleep. Neon lights flashed past the car window, casting flickering shadows on her profile. Her black hair cascaded down like a silken waterfall, a few strands rising and falling gently with her breath as they touched her lips. The silhouette of her delicate nose flickered in the rearview mirror; her snow-white skin glowed softly in the night, as if someone had crushed the moon and embedded it into her bone structure. A flash of light from the overpass swept across her for a fleeting moment, her eyelashes casting butterfly-shaped shadows beneath her eyes, reminiscent of the broken-armed Greek jade sculpture in a museum.
Gu Lezhi prided himself on his amazing memory, yet he had never encountered anyone with a face so exquisitely crafted that he could not match it.
The car stopped, and Yu Xingge woke up, yawning sleepily while covering her mouth.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Gu." She thanked him politely and waved goodbye through the car window. Hongqi sped away, and Yu Xingge turned and went upstairs.
If she hadn't favored this corner, by the time she stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, the car below was long gone. She recalled the ever-present, almost imperceptible, probing gaze from inside the car. In the black-and-white photograph of Gu Lezhi, clutched in her hand, his face still beaming with triumphant joy.
Everyone says she looks like her mother.
"But he doesn't even remember you..." Yu Xingge murmured. As the air conditioner blew by, the cool cedar scent, infused with the car's air freshener, drifted down from her hair. Yu Xingge felt nauseous and turned to go into the bathroom.
Yu Xingge's head ached from the bizarre and fantastical dream. She finally managed to wake up as dawn broke, almost half an hour after she usually left home. She pedaled her electric scooter furiously, pushing the pedals to 20 degrees Celsius to reach her building, only to find the elevator under maintenance. Ignoring her frustration, she took the middle-floor elevator to the 22nd floor, then switched to the fire escape elevator from the side.
Director Shen has strict clocking-in times, so she didn't care about the high heels she was wearing today. She took off her shoes, held them in her hand, and climbed up to the 33rd floor in her stockings.
Thanks to her years of physical training, by the time she reached the 31st floor, there were only light sweat stains on her chest. Just as she was preparing to press on with all her might...
"...What amount should I fill in for the fee?" An annoying, deep voice came from above her head as she slept, and Yu Xingge unconsciously slowed her pace.
"The contract amount on the surface cannot exceed one million."
The cool touch of the wall behind her gave her a moment of calm. Yu Xingge held her breath, hearing her heart pounding like thunder in her chest.
"I've already spoken to the finance department." The slightly mechanical, aged voice on the phone coughed twice. "How's the embezzlement case? Have you made the necessary arrangements?"
Her heart was pounding so fast that her right fingernails dug deep into her palm. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and turned on the recording function.
"Are you familiar with the sentencing standards?"
"Buzz, buzz, buzz."
"Who's there!" The stairwell fluorescent light crackled with electricity for a moment. At the same time, her phone vibrated again in her hand. Yu Xingge suddenly realized the true meaning of those words. Looking down, the birthday wishes sent by the administrative team in the group chat on her phone screen instantly became her death knell.
She immediately felt the urge to turn and run, but when she looked up, she noticed the flashing security camera in the stairwell. Yu Xingge lowered her head, pretending to support her knee, but her right fingernail peeled off, and a bead of blood immediately trickled down her leg.
"Lezhi?" an aged voice came from the phone's speakerphone. "What's wrong?"
The sounds from the steps grew closer, and someone hastily smeared blood on their leg. Yu Xingge, panting, pretended to be in excruciating pain as she climbed upwards. Suddenly, a piece of gossip she had overheard in the break room popped into her mind: last month, a client of her law firm, a leading company in China, was involved in a financial embezzlement case, with nearly a million yuan disappearing from its name.
"Dad, talk to you later." Gu Lezhi had already seen the rather disheveled figure, and his first thought was, "How did you get so disheveled?" Gu Lezhi checked his watch first; it was 8:31. He stood on the steps scrutinizing the woman, who was again dressed in a white suit: a pair of black high heels were being carried in her hand, and the flesh-colored stockings on her feet were no longer recognizable. Blood was dripping from the tip of her right ring finger, and a patch of bright red had stained the stockings at her knee.
Yu Xingge looked like she was about to cry: "Thank you, Senior Brother Gu! Could you please plead with Sister Wei Ling for me and not record my attendance today?" He walked down the steps and took Yu Xingge's arm: "Your leg is injured? Can you still walk?"
"My leg is fine," Yu Xingge quickly waved her hand. "It's just that it was my first time climbing stairs, and I wasn't used to it, plus I was in a rush." How could she be in such a sorry state if her leg wasn't injured? Gu Lezhi was puzzled. "Although attendance is important, it doesn't have to come to this. You're the first person I've ever seen in the law firm climb stairs to work. Why didn't you take the elevator?"
Yu Xingge lowered her head shyly: "Being on time is a basic rule, and I can't leave everyone with a bad impression of being late." She said with a sigh, "I just didn't expect our private elevator to be under maintenance. Luckily, I'm smart, and climbing up from the 22nd floor was still quite easy." Pushing open the fire door on the 33rd floor, Yu Xingge consciously pulled her arm out: "Thank you, Senior Brother Gu. I can just sign in and go to the restroom to tidy up."
Gu Lezhi frowned: "Your finger is alright? I don't need to tell you?"
Yu Xingge waved his hands repeatedly: "No need, I wouldn't be so desperate as to try anything. Even if you and Sister Wei Ling are close, what kind of favor would it be to plead for me!"
Gu Lezhi nodded, that's true. But just to be on the safe side, he still called the property management. After receiving confirmation that the law firm's elevator had suddenly malfunctioned and was undergoing emergency repairs at 8:20 that morning, he didn't dwell on it. When he went to lunch, he overheard Chen Zhao, the team's assistant, whispering to others, "The real estate team is really strict. The new guy, Yu Xingge, was a little late today, and I heard he won't get his internship salary for this month."
"That's outrageous! Director Shen isn't short of money."
"Is this about money? This is about breaking the rules. Those top-tier real estate locations are still so difficult to get into. Forget about being late, I've never seen them leave work before midnight."
Ye Yuanyuan from the criminal investigation team looked up at Gu Lezhi's expression and whispered, "But this morning, when the elevator was under maintenance, I saw Yu Xingge climbing the stairs. Because she wasn't familiar with the area, she got injured; her knees and fingers were scraped and bruised, it looked terrible."
"I know," senior lawyer Duan Chun joined in the gossip. "I was there when the young girl went to the bathroom to wash up, and the entire nail of her right ring finger was ripped off. It gave me goosebumps, and the girl even came to comfort me. She's about the same age as my daughter; her parents would be heartbroken if they knew."
Gu Lezhi suddenly stood up.
Zhou Yuxuan quickly swallowed the noodles in her mouth: "Director Gu, aren't you going to eat?"
"I have something to take care of, I'll head back first. You guys enjoy your meal."
"I'll go with you." Zhou Yuxuan stood up.
"No need." Gu Lezhi glanced at him, and Zhou Yuxuan sat down again without saying a word.
Seeing Gu Lezhi leave, Ye Yuanyuan spoke mysteriously, "Did you know? Director Gu was the first witness to what happened to Yu Xingge this morning. Do you think he went to plead for her?"