The car passed through the city center and headed out along the ring road. Beyond that, Qingmu no longer recognized the route, though the road signs suggested they were in some town on the outskirts. After countless turns, they reached a quiet asphalt road lined on both sides with neat rows of towering green cypresses.
Qingmu noticed one detail: there was a streetlight roughly every five or six trees, more closely spaced than on ordinary city roads, and every pole had a camera mounted on it. Beyond the road lay interconnected fishponds, their edges fenced with wire. He had no idea whether it was electrified. The fences looked as though they protected the ponds against fish thieves, but they were clearly meant to protect the road instead.
This obviously was not a government project. No township government would spend so much money on such a dense security surveillance system out in the countryside.
At the end of the asphalt road, a broad expanse of clear green water appeared before them in the shape of a half-moon. High embankments had been built along its shores; it was clearly an artificial reservoir.
The car continued along a bluestone road beside the reservoir. As they rounded the small hill at the tip of its crescent, a sprawling estate gradually came into view.
The extravagance of the rich really was beyond an ordinary person's imagination!
As far as Qingmu knew, the most expensive villa development in Wuzhong lay halfway up a mountain in the Riverside Repulse Bay District. Not only did it offer sweeping views of the river, but there were wetlands behind the mountain, giving it an exceptionally favorable setting. Most of Wuzhong's wealthy residents were concentrated there, and quite a few rich people from Shenzhou had bought homes there too.
But no villa development, however luxurious or opulent, could compare with this place. This single estate possessed its own reservoir, surrounded by mountains on three sides. In sheer grandeur, perhaps only the gardens of antiquity could surpass it.
While Qingmu was still marveling, the car entered the estate. After driving around a broad, level lawn, Li Wei parked and led him into the front hall.
Once Qingmu was seated, Li Wei walked straight off. Only a servant came over to pour him tea, impeccably polite but unable to answer any of his questions.
The hall was decorated with the utmost luxury. An oil painting hung above the fireplace by the wall, and something about it looked familiar. After studying it for a while, Qingmu remembered seeing an online record of the astronomical prices fetched at Sotheby's autumn auction the previous year. This painting seemed to have been among them.
As he was examining it closely, a side door opened. Servants stood in attendance on either side as a young woman in white emerged, her arm linked with that of a beautiful woman in a purple dress.
Li Wei followed closely behind them, maintaining a distance of two body lengths throughout. Qingmu knew this was the ideal distance for a bodyguard: close enough to respond to emergencies without interfering with his employer's movements. Even if someone fired a gun, a well-trained professional bodyguard who anticipated it could still leap forward to block the bullet in time.
They approached Qingmu, and the woman in white stopped in front of him, smiling at him.
Qingmu froze for a moment. He gaped speechlessly for some time before finally exclaiming, "Officer Hu?!"
Hu Xing wore her long hair loose over her shoulders and a flowing white dress. With a light touch of makeup, she exuded elegance and looked like an entirely different person from the spirited, dashing figure she cut in uniform.
"What? Don't recognize me?" Hu Xing giggled.
"Ah-now I get it!" Qingmu scratched his disheveled hair as realization dawned. If she were not a rich family's daughter, where would a policewoman who had only recently joined the criminal investigation team get the money to casually give him an S.T. Dupont lighter?
The beautiful woman in purple looked Qingmu over, a barely perceptible trace of surprise in her eyes. She probably disliked his clothes and manner of speaking. Then she glanced at Hu Xing and frowned slightly.
"Is this Professor Mei's distinguished pupil?" The woman had a full figure and fair skin, and her refined bearing retained a graceful charm. Her voice carried a measure of authority.
"Aunt Xia, his name is Qingmu," Hu Xing said. "He's Professor Mei's friend, not his student!"
"Oh?" The beautiful woman looked slightly surprised. "Since you are Professor Mei's friend and come with his recommendation, you must have some exceptional abilities. Where do you work, Mr. Qingmu? What field do you specialize in?"
"Uh..." The question of his employment left Qingmu a little embarrassed. "Well, I run a studio of my own. As for my specialty, mostly interpreting dreams, divining fortunes from characters, choosing names, that sort of thing."
Before the beautiful woman could react, Hu Xing burst out laughing. "There you go with that jianghu jargon again. Who's supposed to understand you? Look, you've left Aunt Xia completely mind-fucked... ah..." Suddenly realizing that she probably should not have used such vulgar language, she hastily covered her mouth.
The woman's expression darkened. "I told you not to become a police officer, but you insisted! Just look at what you've picked up out there. You don't watch your language at all. This is ridiculous! If you keep this up, I'll call Director Xu at the provincial department and have him transfer you."
"I'm sorry, Aunt Xia! I was wrong! I only became a police officer to fulfill Dad's last wish!" Hu Xing wheedled, rocking the woman's arm, then stuck her tongue out at Qingmu.
Working on the criminal investigation team, she dealt with criminals every day and had picked up heaps of jianghu jargon, though she ordinarily never dared let any of it slip at home. For some reason, seeing Qingmu made her particularly inclined to laugh, and her everyday bad habits had slipped out before she knew it.
"Aunt Xia, let me tell you, he's really amazing! He helped our team solve several major cases!" Hu Xing spoke up for Qingmu as she helped the woman over to sit on the sofa.
The woman nodded. "All right. Even if I don't trust you, I have to trust Professor Mei! Both of you, sit down." Once they were seated, she asked Qingmu, "Before you came, did Professor Mei tell you what this was about?"
Qingmu shook his head. "No. He only said you'd pay me a great deal of money."
Hu Xing snorted with laughter.
The woman could not help laughing either. "You certainly are honest! It's rare enough for a young person to speak the truth." Then she added, "Professor Mei shuns worldly pursuits and enjoys an exalted reputation. His learning spans East and West, and he probes the mysteries of heaven and humanity. Compared with him, all we have worth offering is a little of that vulgar lucre."
Qingmu did not understand why these rich people spoke in such a literary fashion, while a great scholar and scientist like Mei Yiqiu spoke far more plainly. He coughed softly twice and said, "Ahem... well... perhaps we can discuss the vulgar lucre later. Could you first tell me what you want me to do?"
"Oh, my maternal grandfather..." Hu Xing had barely begun when a glare from the woman silenced her. She secretly pulled a face at Qingmu.
The woman said, "I have a grandnephew who used to be bright and quick-witted, but lately his behavior has become somewhat abnormal. He's seen many doctors without any improvement, so we'd like you to take a look at him."
Qingmu saw Hu Xing repeatedly winking and making faces at him. Taking that together with her unfinished remark, he guessed this was not the main reason for his visit, but probably just a test of his abilities.
Dealing with the very rich really was a nuisance!