The young driver's beautiful boss

Tang Bei wanted to know the true cause of Qi Tian's death, so he took the initiative to go to Gu Yifei.

She definitely knows!

Gu Yifei lived on the top floor of an apartment building in the east of the city. It was a duplex with a large floor-to-ceiling window in the living room, offering a view of half of Ancheng's nightscape. Tang Bei rang the doorbell and waited for almost a minute before the door opened. Gu Yifei was wearing a gray loungewear set, her hair loosely tied up. Her expression wasn't exactly cold, but it wasn't warm either.

"What are you doing here?"

"Qi Tian is dead." Tang Bei stood at the door, not going inside. "He was hacked to death, with dozens of knife wounds on his body."

Gu Yifei's fingers lightly clenched the doorknob. She paused for two seconds, then stepped aside to move out of the doorway.

Tang Bei walked in and sat down on the sofa. Gu Yifei went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of water. She placed one glass in front of him, then took the other glass and sat down on the single sofa opposite him, curling her legs up in the chair.

"Who did it?"

"I don't know. But Qi Jing was there, and he brought a Taoist priest with him." Tang Bei picked up his water glass and took a sip. "That Taoist priest isn't an ordinary person; he can sense ghostly energy. Qi Tian asked Qi Jing for help to deal with one of my friends."

Gu Yifei looked at him with a hint of inquiry in her eyes, but did not ask who that "friend" was. She just looked down at the water sloshing in her glass and spoke after a while: "After my sister died, Qi Tian came to me."

Tang Bei paused for a moment: "Looking for you?"

"He asked me to transfer some of the remaining channels of Qiushui Group to him in exchange for helping me investigate my sister's death." Gu Yifei raised her head. "I didn't agree. But he said something that I didn't pay attention to at the time, but now that I think about it, something seems off."

"What did you say?"

"He said, 'Your sister didn't jump by herself, believe it or not is up to you.'" Gu Yifei's voice was very soft. "I checked later, but I didn't find anything. The police closed the case quickly; the surveillance footage, the suicide note, and the bank's collection records all matched."

Tang Bei leaned back on the sofa, staring at the ceiling in thought. Gu Qiushui didn't commit suicide? Then how did she die? Who did it? What inside story did Qi Tian know back then, and why is he dead now too?

"Qi Tian's death might be related to your sister," Tang Bei said. "I always feel that the two things are connected."

Just as Gu Yifei was about to reply, her phone suddenly rang. A name popped up on the screen—Gu Qiushui.

Both of them saw the name simultaneously. Gu Yifei's hand froze in mid-air, her face turning deathly pale. Tang Bei stared at the flashing caller ID on the screen, his mind racing—Gu Qiushui wasn't dead, so what was that "jumping off the building" all about? Where was she? Why was she calling now?

"Okay," Tang Bei said.

Gu Yifei pressed the answer button and turned on speakerphone. Gu Qiushui's voice came from the other end of the line, hoarse and weak, but it was definitely her voice: "Yifei."

"Sister?" Gu Yifei's voice trembled. "You're not dead? Where are you?"

"I'm in the north of the city." Gu Qiushui's voice was very low. "I'm injured and can't say much. Yifei, can you come alone? Don't tell anyone."

Gu Yifei glanced at Tang Bei. Tang Bei nodded.

"Okay, give me the address."

After the call ended, a text message quickly popped up with the address of an old residential area in the north of the city. Gu Yifei stood up to leave, but Tang Bei grabbed her arm: "I'll go with you."

My sister said to leave me alone.

"I won't show my face," Tang Bei said. "I'll follow in my car. If your sister is just injured and needs your help, I don't need to show up. But if she has any problems, I can get there anytime."

Gu Yifei hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.

The two went downstairs. Gu Yifei drove her white sedan, while Tang Bei followed behind on his electric scooter, maintaining a comfortable distance. A night breeze swept through their collars, carrying the chill of late autumn. Qi Yue floated behind him, her voice soft: "Master, I smell that Taoist priest's scent."

"How far?"

"Not far. It's near that car up ahead."

Tang Bei frowned, but didn't stop the car. He continued to follow Gu Yifei's car towards the north of the city.

Gu Yifei's car was parked at the entrance of an old residential complex. After she got out, Tang Bei parked his electric scooter in a dark spot across the street and watched her walk into the complex. He didn't follow her in immediately; he waited about half a minute before locking his scooter and walking into the complex.

The streetlights in the residential area were sparse, and the alleyways between the buildings were narrow and dark. Gu Yifei's figure flashed briefly at the corner of the building ahead, and Tang Bei quickened his pace to follow. He saw her push open the iron gate of an apartment building and go inside. Tang Bei pressed himself against the door and saw through the crack that the stairwell light was on, and footsteps were heard going uphill, stopping on the third floor.

He waited a few seconds, then pushed open the door and tiptoed up to the third floor.

Only one door was open in the third-floor corridor, with light shining from inside. Tang Bei walked over to the door, hugging the wall.

Inside the room, Gu Yifei stood in the middle of the living room, with Gu Qiushui in front of her.

Gu Qiushui sat on an old sofa, wearing a large black coat. Her face was deathly pale, and her left arm was in a sling, indicating she was indeed injured. But three steps behind her stood another person.

A man as thin as a bamboo pole, with high cheekbones and deep-set eyes, around fifty years old, was twirling a folding knife in his hand.

Zhao Jiang.

"Yifei," Gu Qiushui said, her voice hoarse, "I'm sorry."

Gu Yifei looked at her, then glanced at Zhao Jiang behind Gu Qiushui, and took a step back: "Sister, who is this? What do you want to do?"

Zhao Jiang took a step forward, snapped his folding knife shut, and chuckled hoarsely, "Miss Gu, didn't your sister tell you? My surname is Zhao, Zhao Jiang. Your sister's biological father."

Gu Yifei's pupils contracted, and she turned to look at Gu Qiushui: "Sister?"

Gu Qiushui lowered her head and did not answer.

"Don't ask her." Zhao Jiang sat down on the sofa armrest, twirling a folding knife between his fingers. "She's my daughter. It's only natural for her to help me out. Miss Gu, don't blame her. Blame your Gu family. When they kicked your sister and her mother out of the family, nobody cared about them."

Gu Yifei's breathing quickened. She stared at Gu Qiushui, her voice trembling violently: "Sister, you called me here to hand me over to him?"

Gu Qiushui raised her head. Her eyes were red, and her lips moved, but in the end she only uttered three words: "I have no choice."

"You have no choice?" Something shattered in Gu Yifei's voice. "When you jumped off the building, I thought you were dead. I single-handedly held up Qiushui Group and shouldered everything. And now you're telling me you have no choice?"