I Don't Want to Scare

Chapter 5: A New Beginning

"Here's the story," Su Hua said, shrugging her shoulders as she explained to Qin Mei why she was there.

Qin Mei smiled sheepishly, "So you're a friend of the boss and a future coworker. I'm really sorry for how I acted earlier."

"Actually, entertaining clients is usually handled by the boss," Qin Mei said, smoothing her hair. "I'm not used to this kind of work; I'm not very good with words."

Her downcast eyes and gentle demeanor made her seem like a soft-spoken girl again. Su Hua still remembered the barrage of questions Qin Mei had thrown at her: "Did your boyfriend cheat? Did your husband cheat? What about your grandfather or your father... did they cheat too?"

It was a relentless line of questioning, and now Qin Mei claiming to have poor eloquence was a bit too late.

A man with a buzz cut snickered, "Yeah, the least eloquent person in our studio is definitely Xiao Mei."

Qin Mei got up and glanced at the man, "Su Hua, you can wait here for a bit. I'll go get the boss."

"Thank you," Su Hua replied.

"No trouble at all, just call me Xiao Mei," Qin Mei said as she walked to another room and knocked on the door.

"Sis Ming Hua, Su Hua's here," she called out in a moderate tone.

The door opened in less than two seconds. Ming Hua, still looking groggy from her nap, brightened up upon seeing Su Hua.

"Su Hua Shan, welcome to the Spicy Flower Studio," she said, giving Su Hua a big hug.

After half a year, Ming Hua was still the same in Su Hua's memory—vibrant, cheerful, and carefree.

Ming Hua took Su Hua's hand and introduced her to the studio with enthusiasm, "Let me introduce our studio to you. There are four of us, and with you, that makes five," she said, pointing to the man with a buzz cut. "He's Da Bai, and the guy with glasses next to him is Xiao Jiu. One is our muscle, and the other handles logistics."

Da Bai and Xiao Jiu both closed their games and smiled at Su Hua when Ming Hua came out.

"The one who greeted you first is Xiao Mei, our tech expert," Ming Hua continued.

She also explained the other details about the studio. It turned out that the studio was doing quite well financially, and the employees were paid directly through business commissions. Ming Hua had a rule that the studio would only take one case at a time, and only after completing the task of catching a cheater would they take on the next one.

When Su Hua arrived, she saw her colleagues looking relaxed because Ming Hua had a tricky case on her hands. They had been working on it for half a month without finding any evidence of the cheater's misdeeds.

Ming Hua, fearing her subordinates were under too much pressure, had let them watch movies and play games to relieve stress for a day.

"With you here, I'm at ease. I'm sure we'll solve this case in no more than three days," Ming Hua said, patting Su Hua on the shoulder with high expectations. "Your desk is next to Xiao Mei's," she added, "Xiao Mei, make sure to brief Su Hua on this case."

Xiao Mei gave a thumbs-up, signaling she would get the job done.

...

Su Hua's desk was very clean, equipped with just a simple computer, paper, and a pen. Before she could even sit down properly, Qin Mei leaned over.

"Let me tell you about this case," she said.

Su Hua nodded and took out her notebook, ready to take notes diligently. Qin Mei spoke at a rapid pace, and Su Hua gave up writing after just a few words, truly shocked by her sudden eloquence.

"Here's the story," Qin Mei concluded.

It was a rather clichéd tale: a successful man named Gao Shun, married to a wealthy beauty named Zhang Xiaoshi, had grown tired of his aging wife after twenty years of marriage and started an affair. Despite his growing wealth and expanding company, Gao Shun still relied on Zhang Xiaoshi's family in some ways. Therefore, he was very careful to cover up his infidelity, leaving no trace.

Zhang Xiaoshi couldn't find any evidence against him and, in desperation, turned to the Spicy Flower Studio for help.

"Where does Gao Shun usually hang out?" Su Hua asked, tapping her pen on the paper.

"Golf course, working late at the company, going home," Qin Mei replied, "Oh, and he also goes to a resort. But that resort has very strict confidentiality measures. Lady Zhang once suspected that he hid his mistress there and conducted a surprise inspection, but found no clues."

Qin Mei laughed awkwardly, "I once accidentally accessed the surveillance of this resort and didn't find anything strange. That room was only entered and exited by Gao Shun; no one else came out of that room."

Su Hua frowned, "Is it possible that the two rooms are connected?"

The mistress could be hiding next door, making their trysts much more convenient.

"We've considered that, but after observation, all the men living next to room 204," Qin Mei said, then whispered in surprise, "Oh, what if..."

What?! Su Hua blinked, not quite understanding Qin Mei's implication.

Su Hua: What are you thinking?

Qin Mei: It's just what you said.

Su Hua was bewildered: ...Did I say that? I don't remember.

"Really, you have to be on guard against everything, it's hard to guard against a male mistress," Qin Mei said, shaking her head. "In this day and age, if you run a professional cheater-catching studio, you also need a rich imagination."

No wonder they couldn't find evidence of Gao Shun's infidelity; they were looking in the wrong direction from the start.

Qin Mei silently gave herself a thumbs-up for her cleverness.

Su Hua carefully observed Qin Mei's expression and saw that she was serious.

Su Hua spoke up quietly, "Xiao Mei, actually, according to what you said, Gao Shun doesn't need to go to the resort. He could use business talks as an excuse and discuss business in the office, at a hotel, or even go to a sauna together..."

There are so many places men can go together without arousing suspicion.

Qin Mei: "How do you know they didn't go to those places?"

Su Hua: ...

Qin Mei made a very good point, and Su Hua was left speechless.

Qin Mei, as Ming Hua had said, was a decisive person. After leaving the message, "I'll check the men living next to his room," she started typing on the computer, her fingers moving quickly, without looking at Su Hua again.

Su Hua leaned over to take a look and saw complex code; she didn't understand any of it.

...

An hour passed, and Qin Mei looked dejected, seemingly with an unfavorable result.

Xiao Mei "bang" smashed a mouse, and the poor mouse immediately split in two.

Su Hua was startled to see that everyone around her remained calm, going about their business as usual.

Xiao Jiu silently took out a mouse from the cabinet and quietly replaced it for Qin Mei, without a word, as if he was used to Xiao Mei's habit of smashing mice.

The cabinet was left open, and Su Hua casually glanced inside to see a multitude of mice.

Xiao Jiu noticed her confusion and smiled innocently at Su Hua, "When Xiao Mei can't find what she wants, she smashes mice. You'll get used to it."

"Oh!"

Xiao Jiu paused for a moment, then said with pride, "I always buy the cheapest mice in bulk, I don't feel bad about it at all."

Hey, is that the point?

She asked, "Aren't you worried that Ming Hua will be upset about this?"

Qin Mei lay on the table, listlessly saying, "Sis Ming smashes even more," she raised her hand and pointed to another wooden cabinet, "There's a cabinet full of mice in there, all her doing."

"This is our unique corporate culture." Xiao Jiu still had a proud expression.

What a unique corporate culture. Su Hua suddenly felt an itch in her right hand, as if she couldn't control her mighty arm.

It itched, she really wanted to smash one to try.

Su Hua quickly chatted with Qin Mei, trying to distract herself.

"Xiao Mei, what did you find out?"

"I, well," Qin Mei continued to sigh, "I checked the guest records of the two rooms next door and found that in the past three months, eight people checked in on the same day as Gao Shun. Two were old men, three were black men here for business talks, and there was also an old lady," she paused for a moment, then continued, "Ah, yes, and a couple."

No permanent guests; even if Gao Shun wanted to do something with someone, he would have to be able to stomach it.

"Su Hua, since you're also a reinforcement invited by Sis Ming, do you have any ideas?" Xiao Mei asked with twinkling eyes, pinning her hopes on