As Qian Luo stood there biting her lip, she suddenly heard a cold sneer followed by a sharp command: “What are you all doing standing around like idiots? A crisis has broken out and instead of handling the PR to fix it, you’re standing here preemptively assigning blame?”
The voice was familiar. Qian Luo looked over in confusion. The person delivering those martial, razor-sharp words was none other than Zhou Hailing. Her glamorous eyes were filled with a fierce intensity as she swept her gaze across the room. The onlookers instantly panicked, scurrying back to their seats like startled birds. Even the short-legged manager, who had been pale with rage just a moment ago, scrambled away as fast as his legs could carry him.
In just a few minutes, Qian Luo was the only one left standing stupidly in the center of the hall.
Qian Luo frowned slightly. Looking at this posture… does Zhou Hailing have a lot of prestige in the company?
Does she even have the brains for that?
Qian Luo couldn’t help but look up. She saw Yin Tong standing behind Zhou Hailing with a subtle smile. Zhou Hailing turned around and whispered a few anxious words to her; Yin Tong replied briefly, and Zhou Hailing instantly became radiantly confident again.
Qian Luo suddenly remembered Zhou Hailing’s profession: she was an actress.
An actress who can perfectly perform a drama according to a script and dialogue… if she has no brains of her own…
Then she could be both a dazzling, award-winning star and a breathtakingly beautiful, submissive puppet.
The one truly pulling the strings was the woman standing behind her, smiling—that gentle, warm, and ostensibly “loyal” servant.
“I exist for her.”
It turned out that wasn’t just a statement of loyalty. Behind those words lay a deeper layer of meaning:
“She depends on me to live.”
Between the puppeteer and the puppet, there is a transparent, invisible thread that binds them tightly, making them parasitic upon one another—exactly like Yin Tong and Zhou Hailing right now.
As Qian Luo stood there lost in these dazed thoughts, Zhou Hailing suddenly flashed a smile at her and said, “The employee who leaked the information—please come up here for a moment.”
Qian Luo froze.
That smile. It was gentle… warm…
It was essentially a younger, more beautiful version of Yin Tong.
As Qian Luo climbed the stairs, she heard her own internal voice: The puppeteer is projecting her own soul onto this doll.
Ever since Yin Tong arrived by her side when Zhou Hailing was ten years old.
…
2.
As it turned out, Zhou Hailing truly didn’t have much of a brain. This was evident as soon as she stood in the empty top-floor office, hands on her hips, shouting at Qian Luo without a shred of her public image: “Are you stupid?! Those two were clearly not from our company! Would a company as image-conscious as ours hire such ugly freaks? Are you an idiot?!”
Qian Luo’s only thought was: Are YOU an idiot? What’s the point of yelling at me now?
If you’re so smart, go hire someone else. Let’s see which other ghost-tamer has the guts to take a child suicide case. Heh.
Yin Tong had clearly realized Qian Luo’s uniqueness long ago. She smiled at Zhou Hailing. “Respect the ghost-tamer. That is the first rule.”
Zhou Hailing was nearly fuming. She spun around to avoid looking at Qian Luo, a classic case of “out of sight, out of mind.”
Qian Luo, defeated by Yin Tong’s eternal, unchanging smile, lowered her head and said guiltily, “I am so sorry.”
Yin Tong noticed the subtle shift in wording and let her smile linger. “Finally ‘sorry’ instead of just ‘regretful’?”
Qian Luo was stubborn by nature—the more people yelled at her, the more rebellious she became. But when Yin Tong smiled and refrained from blaming her, Qian Luo felt genuinely embarrassed by her mistake. She even felt a strong urge to make amends.
“Yes,” Qian Luo said. “This was all caused by me. I’m sorry.”
Zhou Hailing spun back around. “Useless! We shouldn’t have hired you! You haven’t helped; you’ve only added to the mess!”
Yin Tong repeated gently, “Respect—”
“Fine, I get it!” Zhou Hailing covered her ears in frustration and stomped her foot. “Respect the ghost-tamer!”
Yin Tong then turned to Qian Luo. “The matter is already irreversible; all we can do is try to fix it. Since this was caused by Miss Qian, I believe Miss Qian has a responsibility to find out the truth, right? Regarding the cause of Zhuo Zitong’s death.”
Qian Luo replied hurriedly, “Definitely. I will do my absolute best to investigate.”
Yin Tong looked at her with an appreciative gaze. “Then, as for the fee for investigating this case, I will transfer it to your account later—”
Qian Luo waved her hands frantically. “No need! No need! I’ve caused you so much trouble; it’s all my fault. I’ve caused such a huge loss; I absolutely cannot accept money for this.”
Yin Tong seemed indifferent to her protests. After listening patiently, she said, “No matter what Miss Qian says, I will still transfer the money. I am merely a subordinate following orders. Whether Miss Qian accepts it is Miss Qian’s business; whether I transfer it is my responsibility.”
Qian Luo was helpless. Even knowing this woman was a formidable player, she was being completely subdued.
Sigh… the gap between us.
Qian Luo stood by the large floor-to-ceiling window for a long time, staring out at the cityscape before asking Yin Tong, “She fell to her death from the building under construction? What is the scene like?”
Yin Tong replied, “The ‘scene’ is the building behind this one that’s currently being renovated. Work has stopped because of this incident, and the site is sealed. If you want to go, I can open the gate for you, but you must protect the scene.”
Qian Luo nodded. “Okay. I’ll go take a look now.”
Yin Tong glanced at the sky as twilight approached. “But it’s getting late. The building is only half-finished and has no electricity. It might be inconvenient to go so late.”
Qian Luo let out a small laugh. “Do you really think a ghost-tamer is afraid of ghosts? Actually, those little guys… they’re quite cute when they’re being stupid.”
Yin Tong paused. “That’s true. It’s almost time for us to get off work. Strange things have been happening in the company lately, so no one is allowed to stay after dark. Go and return quickly, Miss Qian; we might not be here when you get out.”
“Understood,” Qian Luo said.
Yin Tong then walked over to the sulking Zhou Hailing and patted her shoulder. “Wait for me a moment, Miss. I’ll drop Miss Qian off at the site and then take you home.”
Zhou Hailing didn’t look back. “Hmph. Whatever.”
Yin Tong acted as if she hadn’t heard the cold attitude. She gestured toward the door for Qian Luo. “Please follow me, Miss Qian.”
Qian Luo followed, giving Zhou Hailing a heavy “Hmph!”… in her head. Quietly.
…
3.
At the same time, as twilight fell and the city lights began to flicker on, a young woman sat in a villa with a black cat in her lap.
The woman wore a gentle smile, her slender fingers stroking the cat’s back. “Xiao Ye, have you and Qian Luo been fighting lately?”
Ye gently nudged her hand with its nose and licked her palm with a pink tongue, refusing to answer.
The woman laughed. “So, you did fight?”
Ye turned its head away, lying still in her arms.
The woman chuckled, using a fair finger to tease the cat’s nose. “Based on that reaction, it was Qian Luo’s fault?”
Finally, the black cat nodded.
The woman’s eyes crinkled into beautiful crescents. “Why?”
Ye lay there for a long time before finally speaking: “She left me at home and went out to investigate the case by herself.”
The woman looked slightly exaggerated. “Ah, is Xiao Ye jealous?”
Ye immediately sat up, staring at the woman’s gentle face with angry emerald eyes. “No!”
The woman continued to smile warmly, stroking Ye’s nose. “Xiao Ye is so good to everyone else; why are you only so fierce to Qian Luo?”
The black cat’s gaze flickered away.
The woman smiled. “Does Xiao Ye hate Qian Luo?”
Ye said nothing.
The smile in the woman’s eyes grew even brighter, like a flower in full bloom. “If you hate her, why do you insist on following her everywhere? Given your status, there are many in the ghost-tamer clan who would love to provide for you…”
At this, the cat suddenly leaped from her lap and walked away with a dignified stride.
The woman smiled to herself.
These young children…
They clearly like each other so much, yet they always insist on pretending they don’t care.
Acting like that makes it very easy to lose things, doesn’t it?
Even though they try so hard to cherish it, even though it’s tucked so carefully in their hearts—that unspoken emotion. In the end, will it be like a flower blooming in the dark of night, blooming in silence where no one can see, and withering in silence just the same?