1
This was a face Qin Guan recognized.
He immediately recalled - at the Lakeside Villa Hotel, this woman had politely told him: "Sir, our water tank had issues, so I moved your suitcase. Don't worry, I didn't open it. Hotel rules forbid touching guests' belongings."
Zeng Demei.
The middle-aged cleaning lady from that lakeside villa hotel.
Qin Guan's suspicions were confirmed - she must have witnessed the incident, opened the bag, and seen Qi Min's clothes.
She obviously knew about the Hanke suitcase pushed into the lake too.
How audacious.
A mere hotel cleaner and some backwater thug with broken Mandarin dared extort him!
Qin Guan clenched his teeth, gripping both captives fiercely. "Where are the items? Where's it hidden? Talk!"
Those crucial stockings must be hidden by this woman!
Zeng Demei yelped as Qin Guan twisted her hair: "Let go! You're tearing my scalp!"
2
"Tearing?" Qin Guan sneered, tightening his grip. "If you don't hand it over today, I'll fucking scalp you!"
The young man squirmed in Qin Guan's left grip, scratching bloody marks on his arm.
"Bastard!" Qin Guan released Zeng Demei and slapped the youth hard, following with a brutal kick. Though younger, the boy couldn't match Qin Guan's strength.
His wails drew neighbors peeking through doors.
"Tell him! He'll kill me!" the youth screamed at Zeng Demei.
"I...I know nothing!" The boy sobbed snot and tears. "I was working at the factory...she called offering 10,000 yuan...gave me 5,000 upfront...bought new clothes and phone..."
"Liar!" Another slap landed.
"No lies! She's my dad's new girlfriend! Dad told me to obey her! Check my phone...spent all the money..."
Just a pawn.
Qin Guan glared at Zeng Demei: "Keep silent and your lover boy dies parentless!"
3
Zeng Demei remained calmer.
Smoothing disheveled hair, she shooed away nosy neighbors and bolted the doors. Her rustic face hardened with calculation: "Killing him won't help. The items aren't here."
Qin Guan refused to believe.
Dragging the whimpering youth, he ransacked the cramped house.
The outer room served as the boy's bedroom - new clothes piled messily on bed, fresh white sneakers below. Clearly the 5,000 yuan funded this wardrobe.
Zeng Demei's inner room stayed tidy.
Qin Guan shook out blankets, emptied her suitcase - no stockings.
Kicking through every corner, kitchen, bathroom - nothing.
No stockings. No trace of his 300,000 yuan either.
4
"Gone. All hidden," Zeng Demei stated calmly. "No money, no evidence. Just two lives here."
"Please...I'm innocent..." the youth kept pleading.
"You think I fear murder?" Qin Guan stared at Zeng Demei. Her laugh lines now etched with ruthlessness.
He needed greater cruelty.
"Know what I do? Crushing you like ants! Ever heard of self-defense? I'll legally kill you both today!"
"I know you're powerful. A star lawyer winning any case. Know you'll find loopholes."
Zeng Demei remained unflinching. "But I've mailed evidence to police. Harm us, and you'll join our funeral procession down Yellow Springs road."
Her composure suggested truth.
5
"You dare threaten me now?"
Qin Guan sneered, "Fine, I won't hit you."
He truly released the young man.
"But listen well, Zeng Demei. Do you know the penalties for extortion and blackmail? Your current actions..."
"Don't lecture me!" Zeng Demei cut him off. "Which carries heavier sentences - extortion or murder? Even illiterates know this."
"Then go ahead," Qin Guan pretended to leave, seeing her unyielding. "Report me to the police. Hand over the evidence. Let's see who crushes whom!"
"You won't risk it." Before he could turn around, Zeng Demei sneered coldly.
"We country folk have nothing. Even jailed for 300,000 yuan, we lose nothing. But you - famous Lawyer Qin, handsome, capable, wealthy elite - prison would strip everything."
"Your wife would divorce you. Your firm would fire you. Your entire life ruined."
6
Chills crawled down Qin Guan's spine - this supposedly uneducated woman struck every nerve.
"So stop schemes, Lawyer Qin. Your wife owns multiple properties. Selling one brings three million. For you, just losing a house. You'll earn it back in years."
"Why fight us? We poor folks want cash. Get your money, we return the stockings. Retrieve that sunken suitcase. You stay safe, we get rich. Everyone wins."
"Rest assured, money received, we vanish forever. Without evidence or corpse, police can't touch you."
Zeng Demei spoke succinctly. Her understanding surpassed Qin Guan's expectations. She'd calculated every move - Qin Guan held no winning cards.
The silver-tongued lawyer found himself speechless.
Cold logic confirmed her right - they wanted money, he wanted safety.
Couldn't lose big for small gains.
Crucially, Qin Guan had no choice.
He surrendered.
7
They agreed: Three days later, Zeng Demei would send a meetup location. Cash for evidence.
"I won't stay here. We'll change spots." Her planning proved thorough.
"Don't fear evidence tampering. Three million exceeds lifetimes of earnings for me. Cheat you, lose money, you'd hunt me down."
Her pragmatism rang true.
Three days. Qin Guan's mind churned - where find three million cash so fast? Yet delaying risked complications.
First, return home. Only Xu Ruyi could access such funds - her parents' inheritance.
"Stay quiet these three days," Qin Guan jabbed fingers at them before leaving. "If you dare harass my family again, consequences will follow!"
He stormed out.
"Harass? Deliver packages?" Zeng Demei and the youth exchanged baffled looks at the doorway. "Who'd bother? Madman!"
Yet Qin Guan struggled to believe - since when did cleaners devise such meticulous schemes?