22: Chapter 22: Setting up surveillance? To catch a mistress?
The system's phrase "Help Zhou Yurou get a divorce" was like a thorn, pricking Zhang Fan so that he didn't sleep well all night.
Tossing and turning until late at night, he sighed and groaned at the ceiling, and finally, simply thinking of Zhou Yurou's appearance, he manually relieved himself before drifting into a hazy sleep.
At six in the morning, his phone vibrated wildly under his pillow, and Gu Jingshen's loud voice blasted through the receiver: "Fan Zi! I've landed! Hurry up and come to the airport to pick me up!"
"Damn you!" Zhang Fan rubbed his throbbing temples. "I don't have a car. Taking a taxi to the airport and then taking a taxi back with you, isn't that just purely being a sucker?"
"Cut the crap!" Gu Jingshen laughed and scolded. "I brought you some specialties from Hainan. If you don't come, I'll feed them all to the dogs!"
Zhang Fan had no choice; after all, this was his best buddy who grew up wearing the same pair of pants.
He pulled on his jeans, grabbed a gray hoodie, wrapped a down jacket over it, and rushed out with the trash he had packed last night.
When he opened his door, the door opposite also opened a crack. Zhou Yurou was standing at the doorway holding a trash bag. She was wearing a beige loungewear set with a pink vest over it, and her hair was tied into a neat ponytail.
"Sister Zhou, good morning." Zhang Fan's face felt inexplicably hot; after all, he had fantasized about her last night, so it was awkward to see her again today.
Zhou Yurou raised her eyes and smiled. The fine lines at the corners of her eyes were very soft in the morning light. "Morning. Is your waist feeling better?"
"Much better!" He nodded hurriedly. His lower back was indeed not hurting anymore; the medicinal wine was even more effective than Yunnan Baiyao. "After applying the medicine you gave me yesterday, it's completely fine today. I'm just about to return the medicine to you..."
"No rush." She waved her hand. "Apply it a few more times. Wait until it's completely healed before you return it."
Zhang Fan scratched his head, his cheeks feeling a bit warm. "That's embarrassing... Sister Zhou, are you taking out the trash? Shall I take it down for you?"
"No need, no need." Zhou Yurou dodged to the side and shook the trash bag in her hand. "I happen to be going to the supermarket downstairs to buy some groceries, so I'll just throw it away on the way." She lowered her head and looked at Zhang Fan's waist. "Is it not fully healed yet? Go slowly downstairs."
"It's much better, really." Zhang Fan quickly straightened his back, fearing she would worry. "Then... shall I go downstairs with you? I happen to need to go out too."
Zhou Yurou walked toward the elevator with the bag. "You are...?"
"Oh, going to the airport to pick up a friend."
In the elevator, Zhang Fan made small talk and found out that Zhou Yurou had been married for over seven years, and her daughter was six years old and attending kindergarten nearby; her husband, Yang Lei, was a department supervisor at a financial investment company, which sounded quite respectable.
"That's great, having a stable family and a husband with a steady job." Zhang Fan said with a smile, but the system's phrase "Help get a divorce" flashed through his mind, and he felt a bit uncomfortable.
Zhou Yurou's smile faded a little, and she didn't respond, just watching the elevator numbers jump downwards.
Arriving at the airport, Gu Jingshen rushed over dragging a huge suitcase, and his bear hug almost choked the life out of Zhang Fan.
"Did you miss me?" His face was two shades darker from the sun, and a string of cheap seashell necklaces hung around his neck.
"Miss you my ass." Zhang Fan helped him carry the heaviest bag. "Hurry and find a place to unload your junk. I'm exhausted."
Gu Jingshen didn't return to the Gu family mansion; he was still renting a place outside, just two streets away from Zhang Fan's apartment complex.
The two threw the luggage into his rental and dove straight into the barbecue restaurant downstairs.
"Let me tell you, the girls in Hainan are really enthusiastic..." Gu Jingshen spoke with spittle flying as he recounted his romantic encounters, the beer bottles clinking with "bang bang" sounds. "By the way, about that business with my stepmother, I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have scolded you without knowing the facts."
"Forgot about it long ago." Zhang Fan gulped down some beer. "Besides, your mother already explained it to you."
"That's for sure! My mom said you were her lifesaver and even invested one million in your startup?" Gu Jingshen's eyes widened. "Not bad, Fan Zi. Are you about to take off?"
The two drank from noon until evening. Zhang Fan stumbled his way home and fell fast asleep on the sofa.
Waking up thirsty in the middle of the night, he went to the kitchen in the dark to get water and discovered that the daily intelligence had been released.
However, today's was still a red alert.
[daily intelligence system]
[Level: LV1]
[You can obtain 1 basic intelligence for free daily. Paid intelligence requires consuming intelligence points (Current balance: 18)]
[Today's intelligence: Yuan Mubai will break into the Yang family today with a forged pregnancy report, intentionally fall, and frame Zhou Yurou for assault.]
Below was a small note: [Zhou Yurou's husband, Yang Lei, cheated with his college sweetheart, Yuan Mubai. After having relations, Yuan Mubai became 3 months pregnant, but the fetus stopped developing two weeks ago. Yuan Mubai plans to bring the fake report to their home, provoke Zhou Yurou, and then intentionally fall to frame her for causing a miscarriage.]
"Shit!" Zhang Fan almost spat out his water, his drunkenness instantly mostly gone.
So vicious? To climb up the social ladder, she would even use an unborn child (even if it was a dead fetus) to make a scene?
He recalled the way Zhou Yurou carried the vegetable basket in the morning and the faint red mark on her wrist, and suddenly felt a blockage in his chest—that woman who looked so gentle and quiet, was she facing such terrible things every day?
No, he couldn't let Zhou Yurou be framed.
Zhang Fan opened the map, searched for the nearest technology market, and set an alarm for 7:00 AM.
Early the next morning, he stuffed the 40,000 cash left from the prize money into his pocket and rode his e-bike into the technology market.
"Boss, I need high-definition cameras. The night vision must be good, the storage capacity large, and it's best if they can be viewed in real-time on a phone." He tapped the counter. "Also, give me a few disguised as power outlets, the more hidden the better."
The boss sized him up. "Setting up surveillance? Catching a mistress?"
Zhang Fan didn't speak, which was taken as a silent confirmation.
When he returned to the complex with four cameras and two large-capacity memory cards, it was only past eight.
Taking advantage of the empty hallway, he worked nimbly—he installed a micro-camera next to the door peephole, facing the elevator directly;
He hid a power-outlet-style one at the corner of the stairs that could capture the entrance door; the elevator surveillance was installed by the property management, he tested it, and the angle was just right to capture people.
For the last camera, he hesitated for a long time before sticking it on the outside of his own balcony, with the lens facing the entrance of 2001 opposite.
"Sister Zhou, I'm sorry. This is also to help you." He muttered to the camera, feeling a bit guilty, but thinking of Yuan Mubai's plot, he hardened his heart.
After setting everything up, he sat in front of the computer and clicked on the surveillance APP. Four clear images appeared on the screen.
He made himself a cup of coffee and stared at the screen without blinking—the system said "today" but didn't specify a time, so he had to keep watch.
Zhou Yurou went out to take out the trash once, wearing a beige trench coat, holding a cake box in her hand, probably bought for her daughter. Her steps were light, completely unaware that a storm was approaching.
"Sigh." He sighed, fished out the bread left over from last night from the fridge, and chewed it tastelessly. He repeatedly went over his contingency plan in his mind: if Yuan Mubai really dared to make a move, he would rush out to record; if Zhou Yurou was entangled, he would pretend to pass by to help defuse the situation; if all else failed, there was still the option of calling the police.
The image on the phone suddenly moved. A woman in a red dress appeared at the elevator entrance, with a perm, clutching a document bag tightly, with a kind of strange excitement on her face.
Zhang Fan's heart instantly jumped to his throat—this woman must be Yuan Mubai.