Friday night, the hotel was livelier than usual.
Wearing a black mask, Ruan Xingmian followed behind Gu Xing, queuing up to check in.
Most of the people around them were young couples in twos and threes.
The hotel was directly opposite the Maternal and Child Health Hospital, near University Town—Ruan Xingmian’s school was also in this area.
Thinking about it, this was her first time entering a hotel with a man.
The last time didn’t count.
Last time, she had descended from the sky, her whole body floating, without any sense of reality.
After it was over, she fled in panic.
The young couples around them were intimate, their bodies pressed together as if glued.
In contrast, the two of them seemed more like a couple experiencing the seven-year itch.
After getting the room key, they walked one behind the other, each on their own.
Swiping the card to enter the room, when the lights turned on, Ruan Xingmian glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief.
Great, there were two beds.
Gu Xing stood at the door, gesturing for her to come in.
Ruan Xingmian let out a breath. Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. She was already carrying a child—what was there to fear?
With a soft thud, Gu Xing closed the door.
The sound wasn’t loud, but Ruan Xingmian turned around abruptly, startled.
In this enclosed, unfamiliar space—and such an ambiguous place at that—it was just her and Gu Xing.
“Going to shower?” Gu Xing suddenly spoke.
Ruan Xingmian felt a flicker of amusement. This dialogue sounded like something out of a third-rate film.
But looking at Gu Xing’s serious expression, she realized her imagination was running wild. As an avid novel reader, sometimes finding a good novel was harder than finding a film, and she often ended up watching movies out of necessity.
Pulling her thoughts back, she glanced at the bathroom and froze—frosted glass.
She shook her head inwardly.
“No, I already showered at home.”
“Then freshen up and rest early.”
“Mm.”
Ruan Xingmian had no objections; she was indeed tired.
She opened her large bag, searching for her toiletries.
As soon as she stepped into the bathroom, Gu Xing turned off the room lights.
He opened his phone, tapping on some software.
He aimed it at the smoke alarm, television, lights, sockets, and decorations, taking pictures of each.
Ruan Xingmian, brushing her teeth, poked her head out and asked, “What are you doing?”
“Testing the camera detection software on my new phone.”
Only then did Ruan Xingmian notice that Gu Xing seemed to have changed his phone.
“Is it useful?” she asked, toothbrush in her mouth.
Gu Xing suddenly curled the corner of his lips.
He stepped into the narrow bathroom, half-embracing Ruan Xingmian from behind.
With a click, he turned off the light.
In the darkness, they were too close. Ruan Xingmian could clearly feel the vibration of his chest.
Gu Xing’s breath, warm and tinged with heat, brushed against her earlobe.
Ruan Xingmian’s breathing softened, her entire body stiffening. This position felt a bit unfair.
The phone screen lit up with an eerie blue glow in the dark. He tapped the screen with a bent finger, his cool fingertips grazing her wrist, his voice low and husky: “Look here…”
On the phone screen, a small red dot appeared behind the bathroom mirror.
“There are four small dots like this in this room.”
“That many?!”
In her shock, Ruan Xingmian subtly shifted a step away, leaving the circle of Gu Xing’s embrace.
She quickly rinsed her mouth and turned on the bathroom light.
“So, what do we do next?”
She was genuinely bewildered, having never thought to check for hidden cameras in a hotel before.
What if the hotel refused to cooperate?
Gu Xing took the lead, opening his phone and dialing three digits.
Ruan Xingmian murmured, “Shouldn’t we talk to the hotel first? Just call the police directly?”
“Mm, this is illegal.”
He was thoroughly familiar with the Public Security Administration Punishment Law: “Installing pinhole cameras in hotels may result in detention of up to five days or a fine of up to five hundred yuan.”
Ruan Xingmian opened her mouth slightly.
What about individuals?
What would happen if an individual installed a pinhole camera?
At the time, she had run away too quickly. The camera that Lu Tian had asked the original owner to install in the bedside table at Jifeng Hotel—she hadn’t removed it.
Could it still be there?
The call connected, and Gu Xing succinctly explained the reason for reporting to the police and the incident address.
His train of thought was clear, the information precise, and his logic rigorous.
He also provided several methods to verify whether the camera belonged to the hotel or an individual.
For a moment, Ruan Xingmian forgot her inner tension, her gaze fixed tightly on the side of Gu Xing’s face pressed against the phone.
He was simply breathtakingly handsome.
After hanging up, he pursed his lips: “This might take a while.”
Ruan Xingmian instinctively shook her head. It was fine.
If she were alone, she might have chosen to let it go.
Not fighting back against the hotel would be utterly cowardly.
But now, with Gu Xing, a professional, taking the lead, no matter what, she had to vent this anger.
“Should we check out of the hotel? Find another one?”
“No need.” Gu Xing walked out of the room first and turned on the television.
“Lie down and rest for now. When the police arrive, I’ll handle the conversation.”
“Okay.”
Ruan Xingmian lay down fully clothed, and Gu Xing placed the remote control in her hand.
She fiddled with it for a while, randomly found a drama to play. With sound and visuals, the room felt less empty.
Yes, empty.
Gu Xing sat in a chair, fiddling with his phone, not looking up for a long time.
Ruan Xingmian watched the TV for a while, then stole a glance at Gu Xing.
She repeated this several times without getting caught.
About half an hour later, the police arrived.
The sound of sirens startled everyone in the hotel.
A prostitution bust?
The hotel manager woke up from his doze in fright.
When informed that someone had reported the hotel for installing cameras, the manager’s expression changed, and he cried out in grievance.
The police didn’t give him time to put on a show, heading straight for the elevator to go upstairs.
When the knocking started, Gu Xing stood up and glanced at Ruan Xingmian, signaling her to stay lying down.
As the door opened, other rooms on the floor cracked open as well.
Seeing that no one was paying attention and no one had died, they grew bolder, opening their doors and leaning out to watch the commotion.
Once again, Gu Xing demonstrated the academic god’s extensive knowledge and expertise in computer-related fields.
Faced with the manager’s baseless lies,
He calmly pointed out that the camera’s wiring was hidden within the walls and ceiling, consistent with the hotel’s overall wiring layout, which undoubtedly indicated that the hotel had installed it during renovations.
The hotel manager flatly denied it, so Gu Xing directly asked him to provide the room’s renovation blueprints and maintenance records.
Defeated, the manager tried to argue that it might have been installed privately by hotel staff, promising to provide an explanation the next day.
“No need for tomorrow.” Gu Xing handed his phone to the police officer. “I’ve already contacted an electronic equipment appraisal agency to conduct a technical appraisal of the camera. By analyzing the camera’s brand, model, production date, and installation method, we can determine whether it matches the hotel’s overall security system and whether it complies with the hotel’s installation norms and standards.”
The bold onlookers pricked up their ears: “Damn! Could there be cameras in our rooms too?”
A young man in bright red shorts, a social butterfly, stepped past the police and asked Gu Xing, “Bro, what detector are you using? Can I borrow it?”
Gu Xing really handed over his new phone, “Just scan it directly with the black app.”
The manager broke into a cold sweat: “No need to scan, we… accept the penalty!”
He hung his head low, not daring to look up or speak loudly, afraid of attracting more guests who would demand proof.
An hour later, Gu Xing returned from the nearby police station.
It was already past eleven.
Ruan Xingmian was curled up in bed, drowsy.
But she didn’t dare actually fall asleep.
Even though all the cameras in the room had been removed, she still felt as if a pair of eyes were watching her from somewhere.
She felt unsafe.
And there was more.
She didn’t know who had the pinhole camera the original owner had placed that night.
She hadn’t fully absorbed the original owner’s memories. The sudden transmigration had been too overwhelming, and she hadn’t immediately remembered the camera.
Lu Tian?
A hotel guest?
A hotel employee?
Whoever it was, it would be a devastating blow to her.
She had to go back and check once more—maybe it hadn’t been discovered yet.
A knock sounded at the door, startling Ruan Xingmian.
Gu Xing was back.
He was carrying a bag of fruit.
There were grapes and blueberries.
“The room across the hall sent it.”
Ruan Xingmian nodded and yawned.
The hotel had promised to refund the day’s room fee and compensate them with ten thousand yuan for emotional distress.
The guest in the opposite room would also receive a refund and five thousand yuan in compensation for emotional distress.
Ruan Xingmian blinked, “That much?”
Gu Xing clearly uttered three words: “Hush money.”
Oh.
Right.
To keep them from making a fuss, otherwise the hotel would have spent the entire night negotiating compensation.
“This place is a repeat offender, right? What do they do with the videos they secretly film?”
“The profits from pornographic websites far exceed hotel revenue.”
Gu Xing explained seriously, reaching out for his bag.
Before going to the police station, he had stuffed his entire bag into Ruan Xingmian’s hands.
He told her to guard it, and he’d be back soon.
He rummaged through the bag, pulling out a towel and then a familiar-looking black plastic bag.
Ruan Xingmian’s eyebrows twitched.
She reflexively caught it.
A familiar smell, a familiar weight.
A familiar scene.
She looked up.
Gu Xing took off his shirt right in front of her…
Ruan Xingmian instantly found it hard to breathe, unsure whether to look at the pink cash or the cool, pale abs.
Before heading into the bathroom, he said, “Tomorrow’s prenatal checkup fee.”