Animal Detective

Chapter 246 - 229: You Messed With My Little Brother

It was almost four in the afternoon at Spring Wind Health.

A customer in his thirties, wearing a cheap suit, was lying on a massage chair.

Mao Yanru sat in front of him, massaging his calves.

"Where are you from? Judging by your accent, it sounds like we might be from the same place."

The customer shifted his position, and as he did, his free right foot "accidentally" brushed against Mao Yanru’s chest.

Mao Yanru smiled sweetly. "And where might you be from, sir? The holidays just ended. Are you here on a business trip?"

The moment she looked down, she quickly rolled her eyes.

"What can you do? A man’s got to provide for his family."

The customer stretched, sliding down in the chair as his foot reached for her lap.

Mao Yanru didn’t dodge. With a flirtatious smile, her hand slid gently over the man’s calf as she said softly, "Sir, I can tell you’re a little tense. I know a friend who’s especially good at this. Should I introduce you?"

The customer chuckled. "But you’re doing a great job yourself."

As he spoke, one of his feet started to get restless again.

Mao Yanru didn’t move away. Just as she was about to speak again, the glass door was thrust open with a WHOOSH.

Liu Jie entered first, followed by Shen Xin and the others. The whole group swarmed into the narrow shop.

The smile on the customer’s face froze instantly.

"What... what are you doing here?"

Mao Yanru was equally stunned.

Liu Jie sat down, unfazed. "Mao Yanru, go on with your work. We need to ask you a few things when you’re finished."

Mao Yanru said, "Captain Liu, if you have something to ask, just ask."

"No rush."

Liu Jie shook his head with a smile.

With so many people watching, the customer started to feel awkward. "You know what, let’s just forget it. I’ll come back another day."

Mao Yanru nodded, stood up, and asked, "Will you be paying by phone or with cash? That’ll be one ninety-eight."

The customer froze, then said quickly, "You haven’t even finished the full session. You’re charging me the full price?"

Mao Yanru said, "Well, I did wash your feet. You’re the one who doesn’t want to continue."

The customer started to pull out his phone, but then stopped. "No way. Two hundred for just a foot wash is too expensive."

Mao Yanru silently rolled her eyes and asked him how much he was willing to pay.

The customer hesitated, held up a hand, and said fifty at most.

"No way."

Mao Yanru shook her head firmly. "The price is the price. I can’t take a penny less. I’m running a small business here, and it’s not easy to earn money."

The customer cursed under his breath. "Fine, then finish the massage. And tell them to get out."

He pointed at Liu Jie and his men.

Mao Yanru didn’t move. "They’re police. I can’t make them do anything."

"Police?"

The customer’s eyes went wide. He shot a guilty glance at Liu Jie and the others, then hastily pulled out his phone. "I’ll pay, I’ll pay, okay?"

After quickly scanning the payment code, he put on his shoes and went out. One look at the several police cars parked outside and he broke out in a cold sweat, quickly averting his face as he left.

Completely unfazed, Mao Yanru cleaned up the foot basin and asked Liu Jie what he wanted.

"How’s business?" Liu Jie asked, making small talk.

Mao Yanru pursed her lips. "It is what it is."

Out of "politeness," Liu Jie added, "Stick to massages. Don’t offer anything extra."

Mao Yanru nodded nonchalantly and asked if there was any progress in Han Xiaolong’s case.

Liu Jie didn’t get straight to the point. He asked which men from the village she had been close to—and had relations with—after she divorced and returned.

Mao Yanru’s expression changed slightly. She mumbled, "Is that police business now?"

"We don’t care about that, but if it’s related to the case, we have to investigate," Liu Jie said with a small smile.

After some hesitation, Mao Yanru said, a little awkwardly, "There weren’t that many, really."

Liu Jie pressed, "And how many is ’not that many’?"

Seeing that Liu Jie was determined to get an answer, Mao Yanru’s feisty side came out. She shot back, "So what, you want me to give you a breakdown? How many I slept with versus how many I didn’t?"

Liu Jie nodded. "That works. Just tell us about all of them."

Mao Yanru gave him a huge eye-roll, then thought for a moment. "Wang Chenghui was one. We slept together a few times, but he was a cheapskate and wouldn’t spend any money on me, so we broke it off."

"Then there was Li Xinming. I’d heard he was really something special in bed, so I gave him a try. He was nothing to write home about."

"There was also Guo Wei. We got drunk and slept together once. He tried to see me again after that, but I ignored him."

She rattled off three names in one go.

Shen Xin shook his head to himself. ’She really gets around. But no mention of Zhou Hui. So does he fall into the ’didn’t sleep with’ category?’

"As for the ones I didn’t sleep with, there are too many to count. To be blunt, a lot of them wanted to but didn’t have the guts," Mao Yanru said with a dismissive purse of her lips.

Liu Jie nodded.

The last two names hadn’t come up during the original investigation.

After a moment’s thought, Liu Jie suddenly asked, "What about Zhou Hui?"

"Who?"

Mao Yanru froze for a second, then said immediately, "I have nothing to do with him."

Liu Jie smiled.

’If you’d just admitted it openly, that would have been the end of it.’

’Denying it... now *that’s* interesting.’

Liu Jie said, "Mao Yanru, we’re asking you for a reason. Just tell us what you know. There’s no need to hide anything."

A flustered look appeared in Mao Yanru’s eyes, but she still denied it.

Liu Jie decided to lay his cards on the table. "September 13th, 2015. Right here in your shop, Zhou Hui got into a conflict with one of your customers. It even got physical. The police station’s mediation report has your signature on it. Don’t tell me that wasn’t you."

Mao Yanru’s expression wavered.

Liu Jie continued, "You know Li Quanhong, right? She used to work here. We talked to her. She said Zhou Hui didn’t just come to your shop more than once; he picked you up in his car several times. I don’t think I need to spell out what you two were doing, do I?"

Muttering, "You already knew, so why ask?" Mao Yanru finally said, "Fine, he’s one of them. I slept with him. But he’s a coward and didn’t want his wife to find out. Besides, his wife sent people to warn me off, so we stopped seeing each other."