My Dongguan Love Story

"Hire a private investigator?"

Zhang Xiaoqian looked at the text message with suspicion, thought for a moment, and asked Song Qian, "Is it reliable?"

These days, there are quite a few private investigators in Dongguan. There are hundreds, even thousands, of them, big and small, making it a chaotic place.

Their main business includes collecting evidence of extramarital affairs, investigating mistresses, stalking, tracking, locating people, and debt collection.

Due to their large number and chaotic market, coupled with the explicit ban on private detective agencies in 93, these private detectives are essentially operating illegally.

There are two problems with contacting them: first, you don't know which ones are reliable; second, if you get scammed, there's nowhere to seek redress.

Therefore, Zhang Xiaoqian had doubts about hiring a private investigator and was not very optimistic about Song Qian's idea.

Song Qian, of course, knew Zhang Xiaoqian was worried, and assured her, "I know a private investigator, he's very reliable, you can rest assured. It's just that his fees are a bit expensive."

"Besides, there's no other way to investigate Dazhuang except by hiring a private investigator. Even if they don't find anything negative about him, it will give you a comprehensive understanding of him, which might help you get closer to him."

Song Qian's last sentence caught Zhang Xiaoqian's attention.

If they can find negative information about Dazhuang, they can break him up with his mother. If they can't find any negative information, they can still learn more about Dazhuang. Overall, there's no downside.

Furthermore, Song Qian knows private investigators, which makes her more reliable; at least she doesn't need to worry about being scammed. As for the high fees? That's not a problem, as long as they can truly uncover Da Zhuang's secrets.

Thinking of Zhang Xiaoqian, she edited a text message: "Okay, send me his information."

"Um, I'm not sure about the address, but the phone number is 138........"

The address is unclear? Is it reliable? Never mind, I'll contact them tomorrow.

Zhang Xiaoqian put down her phone, lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, the sound of the iron bed shaking still echoing in her ears. She was tired of banging on the wall and didn't bother to get angry anymore. She pulled the blanket over her head, hid under it, and fell asleep after a while.

The next day, the sun shone brightly through the French windows. Lost in thought, she sat by the window and picked up the phone to dial. After a few rings, a middle-aged man's voice came through:

"Feed?"

"Hello, I was introduced by Victoria Song. I'd like to ask you to investigate someone."

"Okay, two thousand a day, prepayment, any questions?"

The other party didn't ask who they were investigating or what they were investigating; they went straight to money. This made Zhang Xiaoqian hesitate. Could this person be a scammer? But then she remembered that he was introduced by Song Qian, so he probably wasn't a con artist. Besides, a few thousand or tens of thousands of yuan wasn't a big deal for her; the most important thing was that she could find out about Dazhuang.

Thinking of this, she nodded. "No problem."

Upon hearing Zhang Xiaoqian's agreement, the other party's previously indifferent voice softened slightly, and their tone became a little gentler: "Alright, come to Chengji Tea Restaurant on Huangjiang Back Street and bring the information of the person being investigated."

"Okay, but I don't have much information about him." Zhang Xiaoqian said, somewhat embarrassed.

"It's okay, bring as much as you have."

After hanging up the phone, Zhang Xiaoqian grabbed a set of clothes from the closet and put them on. Too lazy to even rinse her mouth or wash her face, she hurriedly walked out the door, got into her Volkswagen, and sped off towards Huangjiang Back Street.

Although they have a professional driver, it's not appropriate for more people to know that they've hired a private investigator.

On Huangjiang Back Street, old, mottled walls, utility poles, and public toilet walls are covered with densely packed, small "GG" characters. Information about STD treatments, document processing, missing persons searches, and debt collection is layered upon layered on top of each other.

Cheng Kee Tea Restaurant was packed with people. Most of them were elderly men, sitting there with a pot of tea and reading newspapers.

Zhang Xiaoqian glanced around but couldn't spot anyone who looked like a private investigator. She picked up her phone and made a call, and immediately heard the phone ringing nearby.

She looked up and saw a bald old man holding a ringing cell phone, looking up at her.

Zhang Xiaoqian's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately backed out. She hadn't expected the detective Song Qian had introduced to be a balding old man. His head was sparse with only a few strands of hair left, his forehead shiny. His eyes and brows revealed a slick, cunning nature. His hunched posture made him look completely lifeless, a far cry from the clean-cut and efficient appearance she had imagined.

Zhang Xiaoqian felt uneasy and secretly observed the man, her confidence growing. Private detectives were known for their skill and stealth. But this bald old man looked disheveled and exuded an air of utter confusion; he didn't seem like someone capable of getting things done.

At that moment, Zhang Xiaoqian really wanted to turn around and leave, but then she thought that since she was already here, and she was a little hungry, she hesitated for a moment, and finally sighed and decided to sit down and eat something first.

The old man clearly noticed Zhang Xiaoqian's disappointed expression. He gestured for her to sit down and smiled at her, saying, "What's wrong? You seem a little disappointed seeing me? You don't seem like a professional?"

Seeing that he had seen through her thoughts, Zhang Xiaoqian didn't hide anything: "Yes."

She's always been a straightforward person and wouldn't lie to appease someone else. Besides, she was genuinely disappointed and had even given up on asking the other party to investigate Dazhuang.

However, the other person smiled at Zhang Xiaoqian, picked up a newspaper, and blocked the view of the person on the left. Just as Zhang Xiaoqian looked puzzled, she saw him reach his right hand to his forehead, gently tap his scalp, and lift a corner of his scalp. His half-bald head also stood up in mid-air.

"This..." Zhang Xiaoqian was startled. After looking closely, she discovered that his half-bald head was actually fake, pasted onto his smooth bald head.

Seeing Zhang Xiaoqian's surprise, the other person laughed smugly: "Have you ever heard of disguise techniques?"

"Easy, disguise?" Zhang Xiaoqian looked at the other person in surprise. To be honest, when she first saw this person, she felt that he was similar to the old men around him. Even if she knew he was here, it would be extremely difficult to find him in the crowd.

Hearing him mention the art of disguise, he immediately understood. He secretly marveled at how he could completely conceal himself in the marketplace. Such a skillful technique would indeed make it difficult to detect if someone were following him.

As Zhang Xiaoqian pondered, something felt off. She suddenly looked up at the other person and murmured, "You...your voice?"

The voice on the phone clearly belonged to a middle-aged man. But when he was talking to me about the art of disguise, the voice belonged to a teenager.

"Did you notice?" The man smiled at Zhang Xiaoqian. His voice was that of a middle-aged woman, deep and resonant. He smiled and extended his hand to Zhang Xiaoqian: "Xiaoqian, nice to meet you. You can call me Chu Xiuyan."