Memory Lost (美人为馅): Chapter 59

Chapter 59: His True Face Part 1

Darkness fills the sky.

Sitting in the bar street near CBD makes them feel as if they also have a dab of aloofness and temperament of the rich.  The neon lights on each side of the street don’t sting their eyes too much, and the music isn’t too loud.  The tree canopies cast shadows around them, making everything seem like a prosperous illusion.

Chatterbox, Cold Face, Xiao Zhuan, and Han Chen are sitting in the car, keeping watch of “Crystal Private Clubhouse,” the tallest building that’s not far away.  Compared to the bars around, the square shaped clubhouse seems quieter and low-profile.  Only the lights on the main entrance shine brilliantly.  There are cars continuously stopping at the front, and most of them who get out of the cars are well-dressed men and sometimes women.

Chatterbox has his eyes fixed on the parking lot by the entrance as he says clicking his tongue, “These fellows.  All these prestigious cars: Cayenne, BMW, Chryslers……Even the lowest of them all is at least a Passat.  This sure is leading a life of a whore yet claiming chastity (idiom. doing something bad but wanting good reputation).”

After finding out that the three suspects are members of this clubhouse this morning, the police started investigating the place immediately, detaining the person in charge.

What’s funny is that after searching the place, the police found that the clubhouse’s operation model was actually legal.  There are no escorts and no obscene erotic activities.  This is really an high-end classy place just for drinking, dancing, and chatting.  However, the minimum standards for a membership are very high.  Male members must have at least 3 million dollars worth of property; female members must have high education, a decent job, and pretty.

As for what the male and female members do after leaving the clubhouse……

“How could we butt into our customer’s private lives?” the owner of the clubhouse says.

Therefore, there are some things in this society where if you say it’s false, then it’s false; if you say it’s true, then it’s true.  And the higher your status is, the more high-sounding these muddled feelings become, and the stronger they get.

To avoid alerting the suspects, the police has been investigating secretly.  Therefore, the clubhouse will operate as usual tonight.  It’ll even carry out its usual monthly event.  According to the clubhouse’s booking, Jin Lan Heng, Jiang Zi Yi, and Situ Yi will all be coming.

The few of them wait for another while.  Xiao Zhuan murmurs, “How come Xiao Bai is still not here?”

Chatterbox snickers, “Doesn’t she have to dress up and change into a dress or something?  If she goes inside in her usual clothes, people will be able to tell that she’s a tough and masculine woman.”

The others laugh as well.  Han Chen also smiles slightly.  He rests his arm on the door frame and looks out the window.

Suddenly, his gaze is captivated by a woman walking on the street.

The woman has just gotten out of a cab.  She’s wearing a knee-high royal blue dress and a short white jacket.  She’s wearing high heels, accenting her well-proportioned calves.  Her slightly wavy hair is spread across her shoulders, and she’s wearing a pair of sunglasses.

Han Chen taps his hand on the door frame as he watches her come near.

Chatterbox is sitting in the backseat by the window and also notices the woman.  He can’t help but sigh, “Just look at this woman.  She’s dressed like a superstar.  So pretty.”

Cold Face and Xiao Zhuan also look over.  Cold Face nods and Xiao Zhuan expresses agreement, “Such great demeanor!”

The corners of Han Chen’s mouth curve up.

And then all four of them stare at the woman walking gracefully towards their car.  She walks to the passenger side, opens the door, throws her delicate purse inside, and hutches her back to get in.  She takes off her sunglasses and turns around to look at them squinting her eyes, “Yo, don’t tell me you guys didn’t recognize me.”

Chatterbox, Cold Face, and Xiao Zhuan are speechless, “……”

Jin Xi turns her head back to look at Han Chen, “Did you recognize that it was me?”

Han Chen shifts his eyes to glance at her.

“How could I not have recognized you?” he says casually.

Jin Xi presses her lips together and doesn’t show any expression on her face.

The three people at the back all pretend that they didn’t hear anything.  Chatterbox especially feels that he has the responsibility to help these two keep a secret, so he changes the subject immediately, “Xiao Bai, where did you borrow these great clothes?  We’ve never seen you wear them before.”

Jin Xi lets out a “cheh” and says, “Borrow?  Chatterbox, you sure look down on others.  As a woman, I have at least a few formal wardrobes to serve different occasions like going to my classmates’ weddings and important events.”

The others all burst laughing hearing this.

Today’s mission is to infiltrate the clubhouse as VIP members.  They need to investigate to see if there’s anything fishy about the clubhouse.  At the same time, they want to observe the three suspects in close proximity.  Since the clubhouse is separated into male guests’ and female guests’ sections, they need one of each to participate.

The female guest is obviously Bai Jin Xi.  As for the male guest……

Han Chen, as the team leader, shouldn’t be participating, but borrowing Jin Xi’s words: you can tell that Cold Face is a loyal and courageous man who turns people away.  He’s just missing the label “Bao Qian Tian” on his forehead (fictional nickname for Bao Zheng, renowned for his honesty).  On the other hand, Chatterbox is too refined looking just like a college student.

“There’s no need to think about Xiao Zhuan……the moment he starts talking, he’ll forget what he’s doing and become stupid.  He’ll most likely be kicked outside,” Jin Xi sighs.

Her words make Xiao Zhuan feel upset and angry, but he can’t find words to talk back.

Therefore, in the end, the best candidate is Han Chen.

“It’s almost time,” Chatterbox says.

Jin Xi nods.  She checks the camera on her pin that’s under the collar, as well as the audio recorder and then looks at Han Chen.  Han Chen takes off his jacket.  He also has the same devices on him.  He pushes open the door, “Let’s go.”

Jin Xi walks over to him and gives him a once-over.  This is really……She spent all day dressing up and yet after he takes off his jacket, he’s just wearing his usual dark colored shirt and casual pants.  His hands are in his pockets, looking ordinary and simple.  But no matter how you look at him, he’s just like a rich young master.

Oh, he is a rich young master.

They enter the clubhouse separately via the male guests’ and female guests’ passageways.

Jin Xi is dazzled the instant she walks into the female guests’ room.  The atmosphere is very good; the carvings and paintings in the corridors, and the plants and fountain.  They make one feel as if he/she has walked into a courtyard from a historical time.  Continuing along the white relief sculptures, she soon reaches the resting area.  There aren’t a lot of people; there are about twenty or so young women.  They’re all stylishly dressed sitting at small squared tables, drinking red tea and chatting.  Seeing Jin Xi come in, they only lift their gaze slightly and give her a once-over.  There are many open closets and shoe racks around, hanging all brand names.  All the female guests are allowed to pick and choose any items to match with their wardrobes before going out to “meet other guests.”

Jin Xi is speechless seeing this.

This clubhouse’s owner sure is a talented pimp when he can dress up this place to make it so high-end.

And the three victims were also members of this clubhouse.  These well dressed “quality women” probably don’t know that they have now become targets of a psychopathic killer.

Very soon, it’s 9pm.  Music starts to play outside.  The women smile and chit chat as they walk out.  Jin Xi follows the crowd.

Once they go outside, it’s a big hall.

In the splendid lighting, four to five pairs of men and women are dancing on the floor.  In the sitting area around it, many people scatter themselves to find a seat.  It seems just like any normal bar.  It’s just that the chandeliers, the European court style seats, the white velvet carpet……and the wine at each table, not a single spot is not prestigious or intricate.

Since there are a lot of people and the lights are twinkling, Jin Xi hasn’t spotted where Han Chen is, so she finds a seat at the central bar.  She orders a drink and sits down.

After a while, she spots Han Chen.

He’s sitting in a corner, but there is another woman sitting just two seats beside him.

Jin Xi bites on her straw and watches them.  She sees the woman looking at Han Chen, smiling gently and talking to him.  And Han Chen has one arm resting on the armrest.  He looks exceptionally cool and absolutely gorgeous.  It’s no wonder he has already been approached by a woman in such a short amount of time.

He lifts his eyes to look at the woman and says something to her.  That woman smiles, gets up and leaves.

As if he could sense something, he raises his head and looks towards her.

Jin Xi smiles slightly.  It seems like he is very used to turning down other women, isn’t he?

He looks down and takes out his phone.

Jin Xi receives a text message.  It has two words only: “Come over.”

Their mission today is to observe and don’t need to “mingle” with other men or women who are on a hunt for each other.  Jin Xi obviously doesn’t mind sitting with him.  Just as she picks up her glass to stand up, she hears a familiar voice say behind her, “I don’t think I’ve seen you before.  Care for a drink?”

Jin Xi almost chokes on her saliva.  She lets out a few coughs, wipes her mouth and turns around helplessly.

The person is full of smiles.  His elbow is on the table as he looks at her.  The gold watch is shining brightly on his wrist.

He’s the first suspect, Jin Lan Heng.