I decided to find Cui Fang’s boyfriend, who called himself Kate. He liked to dress himself up with extraordinary bearing. When I saw him, he was hitting on a girl in a coffee shop.
“Let’s chat!” I said, placing a caramel macchiato on his table. Kate glanced at me with annoyance. “Who are you?”
“Do you have the ‘Qing Yin Jian Gu Tu’ in your hand?”
Before I finished speaking, Kate bolted. I picked up my coffee and took a slow sip. As he reached the door, Old Tie, who was sitting by the entrance, struck him on the knee with his cane, sending him crashing to the ground.
People started looking in our direction. Old Tie chuckled, “Mr. Kate, how can you be so careless? Come, let’s have a chat.”
With that, Old Tie leaned on his cane and half-crouched down, whispering into Kate’s ear, “If you don’t want to die, come with us.”
…
We aren’t gangsters. We found a private room in a Japanese teahouse. Old Tie even poured Kate a cup of good tea.
“Brother, what should I call you?”
Old Tie offered the teacup and asked with a smile.
“Kate. My real name is Wang Qing. Judging by your accents, you can call me Qingzi.”
After speaking, Kate subtly glanced at Old Tie’s prosthetic leg, which looked like it belonged to a Blade Runner. I could tell Kate was wary of Old Tie, seeing him as some sort of powerful figure. Old Tie said with a half-smile, “You oily, pretty boy, don’t try to sweet-talk me. I’m asking you, Kate, did you steal the ‘Qing Yin Jian Gu Tu’?”
“Yes!”
“Where’s the painting?”
“Cui Fang took it. She taught me how to get into the national treasury. Afterward, she gave me two million and told me not to say a word.”
I genuinely looked down on this effeminate man. He was clearly betraying Cui Fang, yet he acted as if Cui Fang deserved it.
“You still said it even though she told you not to.”
“In Beijing, who doesn’t have a few friends who deal in antiques? I inquired. The ‘Qing Yin Jian Gu Tu’ is a national treasure. A legitimate auction would fetch over forty million. Selling it on the black market would still bring in ten million. Such a valuable treasure, and Cui Fang only gave me two million, which also included the breakup fee with her daughter.”
“Your breakup fee with her daughter? Cui Fang has a daughter?”
Old Tie’s information came from the internet, and he remembered Cui Fang having no daughter. He hadn’t expected the reality to be so different from what was online. Old Tie and I exchanged a look. I nodded, and Old Tie said, “Tell us what you know, and I’ll let you go.”
…
The girl Kate was talking about wasn’t Cui Fang’s daughter, but the one her ex-husband brought back. Cui Fang’s ex-husband’s bribery charges were exposed, and he committed suicide at home. The woman he brought back, who had expected a life of luxury, found her world suddenly collapsing. Unable to return to her former life, she also committed suicide. Cui Fang’s ex-husband’s daughter, due to the family upheaval, was dumped by her boyfriend and suffered a mental breakdown, living in a daze.
Old Tie had seen a story on Cui Fang’s blog about this girl. It was an inspiring tale. She took in her ex-husband’s daughter, despite everything, and brought her to Beijing to care for her.
…
“If that’s the case, how did you get involved with Cui Fang’s daughter? Aren’t you the man Cui Fang keeps?”
“I’m her kept man, my foot! She only saw me twice a month, and after all my efforts, she only gave me a few thousand yuan. What good is that?”
Kate’s words were laced with a sour resentment towards the older woman. After careful questioning, we learned that Cui Fang had entrusted her daughter to Kate herself.
Cui Fang was very adept at navigating human relationships. After her ex-husband’s family fell into ruin, she brought his daughter back to Beijing and said earnestly, “Child, I don’t need to be involved with you, but you should understand that your father and I lived together for twenty years. Even if it was fake, we had a harmonious life for half a century. Therefore, you can’t bear to see yourself living like a weed. From today onward, you are my daughter.”
And so, they began to live together. However, Cui Fang’s daughter, traumatized by the events, didn’t work, didn’t go out, and stayed at home all day, occasionally relying on antidepressants to improve her mood.
“This isn’t working. Why don’t you try to start a business?”
“I don’t know how.”
“Given your situation, starting a business might be difficult. How about I invest in something for you? You could open a sports center.”
With Cui Fang’s strong support, her daughter opened a badminton hall. Through exercise, her daughter improved somewhat, but she remained melancholic.
…
This wouldn’t do. Cui Fang thought of Kate. She knew he was a kept man, but precisely because of that identity, Kate was exceptionally good at pleasing women. Perhaps this way, her daughter could gradually recover.
…
I found it hard to believe. Cui Fang was portrayed online as a strong, inspirational businesswoman. It was understandable that she might keep a kept man out of loneliness. But what I couldn’t understand was why she would push this kept man onto Kate. Was she sending her stepdaughter into a fiery pit?
“What did Cui Fang say to you?” I questioned Kate.
“She told me to work at her daughter’s badminton hall and secretly protect her daughter. If I noticed her daughter showing signs of falling in love or being bullied, I was to inform her immediately. She would transfer ten thousand yuan to my account each month.”
I understood. Cui Fang genuinely wanted to protect this girl, but she had miscalculated. She underestimated Kate’s depravity. Cui Fang hadn’t considered that Kate would target her daughter. After all, Kate was her man, and there was an unspeakable ethical relationship involved. Moreover, Cui Fang firmly believed that Kate, at the very least, had some moral boundaries and wouldn’t harm a girl with a mental illness.
However, Kate was devoid of any morality, driven by greed. After joining the badminton club, he began to seduce Cui Fang’s daughter. He had already put effort into seducing women, and dealing with a girl who was depressed from losing a loved one was like a fish in water for him.
…
After succeeding, Kate called Cui Fang and brazenly said, “Give me a million, and I’ll leave your daughter. She’s in love with me.”
“Get lost immediately, or I’ll sue you.” Cui Fang was furious.
“What are you going to sue me for? Your daughter and I are both adults. Is falling in love illegal? It’s true that I slept with you, but what does that prove? Can it be punished by law?”
Cui Fang angrily hung up the phone.
However, two days later, Cui Fang called Kate again. Her tone sounded much softer: “I’ll give you two million. Help me do something, and leave my daughter immediately.”
…
When Kate was eighteen or nineteen, he was a habitual thief. He was familiar with stealing. Under Cui Fang’s arrangement, he successfully stole a painting from a government agency. Although Kate lacked the discernment to appreciate art, he could gather information. He even visited the Palace Museum, where he saw the painting he had stolen. It was called the ‘Qing Yin Jian Gu Tu’.
Kate then began to use his connections to inquire everywhere. Finally, he learned that the ‘Qing Yin Jian Gu Tu’ was a national treasure, worth at least forty million on the black market. Cui Fang had dismissed him with a mere two million, which greatly displeased him.
…
After hearing all this, I rubbed my face vigorously with my hands. I said with some helplessness, “We’ve truly underestimated Zhang Ying Ai. This is her plan to kill two birds with one stone.”
Old Tie didn’t understand. “What do you mean?”
“Old Tie, take this guy to Wu Sheng. Wu Sheng has already arrived and is staying in a five-star hotel, as I arranged. He knows martial arts; perhaps he can save this kid’s life.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m going to see Cui Fang right now. I have a rough idea of Cui Fang’s identity. She’s not a person of ‘integrity’…”
…
After leaving, I called Yu Xiao Luo. “Sister, are you at work yet?”
“No, I have a prenatal check-up today.”
“Then, how about this.”
“What is it?”
“I want to report someone related to the national treasure theft case. Her name is Cui Fang.”
“Do you have proof?”
“There’s a witness named Wang Qing, stage name Kate. He’s a kept man. He’s Cui Fang’s assistant, but I’m not sure if he’ll testify.”
“Alright. You keep that person steady for now. I’ll call Director Wang. After my prenatal check-up, I’ll come over immediately.”
“Sister, you don’t need to come. Take care of yourself. Just contact me if anything comes up.”
“Okay…” Yu Xiao Luo sounded a bit unwell and hung up after a brief response. She was experiencing severe morning sickness and would frequently hang up abruptly during her calls with Luo Bo.
…
As Kate recounted his story, I had a bad premonition, a feeling that Cui Fang’s daughter would die.
I was too late. When I arrived at Cui Fang’s house, there were two police cars. I inquired and learned that Cui Fang’s daughter had a relapse of her mental illness and had jumped to her death.
It was a suicide, but in essence, it was a murder meticulously planned by Cui Fang.