When he arrived at the detective agency, Lin Xiaosu caught a whiff of fragrance the moment he stepped inside.
The scent was elegant—definitely something high-end.
The beautiful middle-aged woman sitting across from Miao Ruolan was clearly well-endowed. At the very least, her features were excellent; in her younger days, she must have eclipsed every other beauty around her.
More importantly, she carried herself with dignity and refinement, utterly unlike a nouveau riche such as Sister Song.
"You must be Detective Lin?" the beautiful woman asked.
"That's right! May I ask your surname, ma'am?"
"Zhuang. Zhuang Mengdie."
"What an elegant name!" Lin Xiaosu said. "Tell me what happened..."
Zhuang Mengdie explained...
Her circumstances were much the same as those of most wealthy wives.
The similarity was that she lived in luxury while her husband ran a business.
The difference was that, unlike other women who chased mistresses everywhere and racked their brains fighting them, she had seen through it all. There was plenty of money at home. If her husband liked giving it to other women, then let him. If he liked venting himself on others, all the better—she was happy to have some peace and quiet.
Why bother?
A human life was but a fleeting season. Wasn't it foolish to waste limited time on such things?
Yet though the tree wished for calm, the wind would not cease.
She had no interest in dealing with mistresses, but one mistress wanted to deal with her!
There were signs that one of them wanted her dead.
Because that mistress believed Zhuang Mengdie, the legal wife, was standing in her way. If she killed her, she might have a chance to take her place.
So, she had come to the detective agency for only one reason: to find the mistress harboring such wicked intentions, make an example of her, and let everyone in Phoenix City understand one bottom line—touch her money if they wanted, but touch her person and they were finished!
Once the case was laid out, Miao Ruolan was dumbfounded...
Was she really that clear-headed?
Lin Xiaosu smiled. "If Sister Zhuang wanted to find every mistress, that would be difficult. But if she only wanted to find one, she probably wouldn't need to hire a detective, would she?"
Zhuang Mengdie gently shook her head. "It isn't as easy as you think. If I wanted to find mistresses, I could catch a whole bunch without difficulty. But how would I know which one among them had those wicked intentions?"
Lin Xiaosu's eyes flickered. "Then perhaps Sister Zhuang could tell me how you determined that one mistress wanted to kill you. Did she take any concrete action?"
"This is difficult to speak of, but to save my life, I have no choice..."
Last night, after her husband came home, they had slept together.
She had not thought much of it at the time. But this morning, she felt something wrong down there—numbness and itching. She called the family doctor, and after an examination, she was shocked. It was an extremely contagious gene toxin. Its means of transmission was simple and direct: contact. Once infected, it caused the genitals to ulcerate. It was exceptionally stubborn and difficult to treat, and in severe cases, it could be fatal.
"A gene toxin?" Lin Xiaosu was startled.
These days, anything related to genes was a sensitive subject—gene people, Gene Modification, gene toxins. Others might not know about gene toxins, but he did.
"Yes. This gene toxin was developed in South Mo State. Its most unusual feature is that it infects only women, not men!"
"It combines with women's XX chromosomes and causes genetic mutations..."
"Detective Lin, you know about this toxin?" Zhuang Mengdie's eyes lit up.
"I do! If this toxin really was deployed by one particular mistress, then the plan was certainly ingenious and unprecedented." Lin Xiaosu said, "Her target probably isn't just you."
Zhuang Mengdie was shocked. "Right! Her targets are every mistress other than herself, plus me, the legal wife!"
She knew her husband well. He was the kind of man who never wore protection.
After all, in his dictionary, he had plenty of money. What did a few extra sons matter?
Whenever he encountered a mistress and got the urge, he would get to work anytime, anywhere—offices, chairs, cars, the wilderness.
So long as he contracted this gene toxin, whether it was his mistresses or his legal wife, anyone who entered his field of vision would probably be doomed.
That way, all his mistresses and his legal wife would be wiped out in one sweep.
The only one left would be the person who had poisoned him!
She could have this billionaire all to herself.
Other people fought mistresses by publicly confronting them in the streets. But she fought mistresses by using the man as a weapon, having him personally reduce the number of women in that group.
Tell me, wasn't that impressive?
Though Miao Ruolan had blushed and her heart had pounded throughout, her mind was clear. "Sister, this case doesn't look simple."
"That's right! I can pay a high price!" Zhuang Mengdie said. "Someone told me your cases start at thirty thousand. I'll pay one hundred thousand. Find that bitch, and I'll make her pay!"
One hundred thousand!
Miao Ruolan's heartbeat quickened...
Lin Xiaosu slowly raised his gaze. "Take it. Give me some time."
After the contract was signed and a thirty-thousand deposit paid, Sister Zhuang left the agency. A small red car silently pulled away and merged into the flow of people in Phoenix City.
The red car was a limited edition, with a market price above one million.
"Do you know who her husband is?" Lin Xiaosu slowly raised his gaze.
"Wang Changfa! That name sounds familiar..." Miao Ruolan said.
"The name sounds familiar because he occasionally appears on television and in newspapers." Lin Xiaosu said, "He's the owner of Hongxing Pharmaceutical."
"Hongxing Pharmaceutical?" Miao Ruolan picked up her phone and searched.
Sure enough, a local news item appeared...
On March 17, Hongxing Pharmaceutical and Dell Company, the largest pharmaceutical company in the area, held talks and reached a preliminary consensus. Both parties were committed to advancing pharmaceutical cooperation and better serving the people throughout the region.
Lin Xiaosu glanced at it. "What do you see?"
Miao Ruolan said, "It says it clearly. It's simple: the two largest local pharmaceutical companies are preparing to cooperate."
Lin Xiaosu smiled faintly. "You've read piles of detective novels and filled your head with professional knowledge. It's time to learn about other things too."
"Such as?"
"Such as understanding the news."
Miao Ruolan's eyes widened. "I didn't understand this news? That can't be right, can it? It's just a few sentences. Even a ten-year-old would understand..."
"You understood the literal meaning, but you didn't understand the news itself!" Lin Xiaosu said. "This is a press release, and press releases are meant for the public. But as detectives, we need to learn to see through appearances to the essence! For example, you saw two major pharmaceutical companies pursuing cooperation, while I saw two major pharmaceutical companies with deep conflicts."
"Conflicts? Where did you see that?" Miao Ruolan truly did not understand.
Lin Xiaosu said, "When two major pharmaceutical companies hold talks, there must be topics for discussion, right? If even the smallest item on the agenda had reached a consensus, it would have been mentioned in the press release. But was it? There's no substantive content at all, just empty official phrasing. What does that mean? It means that despite all the fanfare around these talks, the two companies actually failed to reach even the slightest consensus. Besides, don't overlook the fact that this was news from a government platform..."
Miao Ruolan remained confused. "What's special about a government platform?"
"It means these talks were being pushed by government departments! If companies want to keep operating locally, they generally won't refuse to give the government face. Yet these two still refused to play along. That is enough to show that their conflicts and differences are irreconcilable."
"I'm convinced!" Miao Ruolan said. "After hearing you explain it, I really think it makes a lot of sense."
"It made sense in the first place!" Lin Xiaosu stood up...
Before you continue