Yang Ruiming: “The deceased’s parents can’t take any more emotional shocks. It seems we can only start investigating from the company.”
Qi Qi: “Where did she work?”
“Xingyao Technology.”
Qi Qi’s hand, which was spinning a pen, paused.
Xingyao Technology—
It sounded like an ordinary commercial company, but in reality, it was the only arms conglomerate that dared to operate openly and above board. Anyone in the country who knew the ropes was well aware of this. And Xingyao operated so brazenly, without the slightest attempt at concealment.
Well, what could you do? They were a legitimate arms company approved by the state.
At other companies, the security guards were just security guards.
But Xingyao was different—
Even the people manning the front gate were undercover special forces operators.
A large portion of Xingyao’s staff came from Jinggang Institute of Technology. And that was no ordinary school—it was THE institute. The kind of prestige that carried was off the charts.
Apparently, a few years ago, a graduate from that institute came home for the first time in five years. Once home, his family started asking about his job and pressuring him to get married. Well, when the higher-ups caught wind of this, a few police cars showed up at the door with a warning. The parents were so terrified they immediately dropped any idea of setting their daughter up on blind dates. After that story got around, the institute shot straight to the top of the mysterious university rankings.
No joke—every single graduate from there was someone dedicated to serving the country.
(Note: The above content is not real—don’t take it seriously.)
What surprised Qi Qi, though, was that Xingyao belonged to the Jian family. And that was precisely why the Jian family was called the number one aristocratic clan. However, every member of the Jian family was extremely mysterious. Even when covered by official news outlets, they only dared to write the two characters “Jian family” in small print—not a single photo or piece of personal information about them was ever released.
“Given Xingyao’s status, it’s still unknown whether we can even get in,” Yang Ruiming said, looking troubled.
It was an arms company, after all. Every step you took, you’d see an undercover military officer with a gun holstered at his waist. Word had it that Xingyao had who-knows-how-many artillery pieces stored inside. If they accidentally offended someone there…
“I should be able to get in,” Meng Juan spoke up at that moment.
Yang Ruiming looked at her with hope in his eyes.
Meng Juan basked in his gaze. “I’m friends with the Jian family’s younger cousin.”
As she said this, she deliberately shot a smug glance at Qi Qi.
Qi Qi remained composed: “Then we’ll leave tomorrow’s task at the company to Forensic Doctor Meng.”
Meng Juan: “Me knowing the Jian family’s young miss is my own business—what does that have to do with Forensic Doctor Qi? This case is something we took on together. You’re not thinking of just sitting back and doing nothing, are you, Forensic Doctor Qi?”
Wang Meng rolled her eyes inwardly.
She just wanted her Brother Qi to come watch her gloat in triumph—and she dressed it up in such high-sounding words.
If she was that good at talking, why not go into stand-up comedy?
Seeing that the battle was about to start again, Yang Ruiming quickly interjected: “Tomorrow we’ll all go together, alright? It’s settled. Let’s all just… well, we might as well rough it here for a few hours.”
There were still three hours until dawn. He simply pulled two chairs together and promptly fell into a deep sleep.
…
The next morning.
“As befits the number one family—this building goes straight up into the clouds. Working here, you’d get your legs worn down to toothpicks just from running around.” Yang Ruiming craned his neck, marveling.
Wang Meng: “So, are we going in?”
The moment she finished speaking, all three of them snapped their heads toward Meng Juan.
“…”
Meng Juan’s hand, holding her phone, froze mid-call. She lowered the phone, then raised her chin without changing her expression: “Follow me.”
As they approached the gate, the other party still wasn’t answering. Meng Juan began to panic.
However, since she had already said it, she had to go through with it—especially since that woman Qi Qi was still there.
Seeing that the four of them weren’t wearing badges, the “security personnel” on both sides reached out to block them.
“Who are you people?”
A single look from the two men was enough to make Meng Juan freeze speechless for a moment, though her mental fortitude was fairly strong.
“We’d like to see the head of your company.”
Having already anticipated her unreliability, Qi Qi stepped forward and directly presented her credentials.
“Jinggang Criminal Investigation Bureau. We’d like to meet with the head of your company.”
After scrutinizing her credentials, the two men still seemed uncertain—until Yang Ruiming and the others also verified their identities, and only then were they allowed inside.
They had arrived early; the company’s head hadn’t come to work yet.
Helpless, the four of them could only sit in the lobby waiting area.
To be fair, it was indeed a tech company—the style of the place was practically dripping with futuristic vibes.
If they had nothing else to do, they could sit here and admire it all day without getting bored.
The four waited for nearly half an hour.
Then came the roar of a sports car engine, followed by the screech of tires against the ground.
Staff members coming and going in the lobby looked outside.
The four followed their gaze.
At the entrance, the two security personnel stood at attention with respect.
A car key was tossed over by a slender hand.
The security guard on the left caught it, nodded, and went to park the car.
Before seeing the man, they heard his voice.
“This is the city, not your racetrack abroad. Don’t think I don’t know you’re always sneaking off to race in America. If I ever see you being that reckless again, I’ll have Grandpa confiscate all your cars.” The voice was cold and authoritative, yet tinged with a hint of helplessness.
Hearing the staff respectfully address the man in front as “President,” the four knew.
This imposing man, radiating immense presence, was the eldest son of the Jian family—Jian Ze.
And the one behind him…
One hand in his pocket, steps languid, eyelids slightly drooping, face full of sleepy drowsiness—that was the second son of the Jian family, and also the youngest young master, Jian Yubai.
“President, there are people waiting over there.”
Hearing this, Jian Ze looked toward the waiting area.
Jian Yubai cast a bored glance, but when he spotted someone, his brow lifted slightly, and he strolled over.
“Where are you going?” Jian Ze pinched his brow and followed.
Jian Yubai usually lived in England and had only just returned a couple of days ago. Outsiders didn’t really know him, let alone Meng Juan.
However, Meng Juan’s target wasn’t him anyway.
She smoothed her hair and stood up, walking toward Jian Ze.
“Hello, President Jian.”
Jian Ze gave a perfunctory nod.
“President Jian, I’m Meng Juan, a friend of Xiao Yue’s. We met at the banquet a year ago.”
The “Xiao Yue” she mentioned was Jian Yue.
However, the Jian family had many members, and Jian Ze couldn’t recall at the moment—his attention was entirely on his younger brother.
Unfortunately, his brother wasn’t paying him any mind, just staring at the girl.
“Little Chick?”
He hadn’t fully woken up, his voice lazy and languid—an absolute treat for the ears.
Everyone else: “……”
Qi Qi: →＿→
Qi Qi forced a polite smile. “Second Young Master Jian, my name is Qi Qi. Qi as in 1234567’s seven.”
Jian Yubai gave a faint “oh.” “What are you here for? Looking for your brother?”
Jian Ze: “A Yu, you two know each other?”
Qi Qi stood up, but before she could introduce herself, Jian Yubai had already blown her cover.
“Yeah, we’ve met. Gu Cheng’s sister.”
Gu Cheng’s sister?
Everyone knew who the young master of the Gu family was.
His sister—wasn’t she…
After a moment of thought, Wang Meng and Yang Ruiming whipped their heads around to stare at Qi Qi: !!
Meng Juan also froze in place, her eyes filled with utter disbelief.
Jian Ze smiled and said, “So you’re the little sister Xiao Cheng always talks about. Finally, I get to meet you in person today.”