Chapter 68: Everyone Wants to Capture the Cicada

After making his statement, Du Qiu immediately regretted it.

He was well aware that Zhang Mingliu was now at Qin Yun’s home, where there was a bug installed.

Du Qiu had begun to suspect Chen Han Sheng, primarily because he discovered the bug shortly after arriving at Qin Yun’s residence today.

“Why on earth are you calling Han Sheng a jerk?” Zhang Mingliu’s voice suddenly rose after a few seconds.

Originally lounging on the sofa watching TV in Qin Yun’s living room, Zhang Mingliu had now sat up, her eyes shining with a glint of smugness.

“Let me tell you, Han Sheng is an American citizen of Chinese descent. His family owns quite a number of properties in the United States. He’s definitely the wealthy, handsome type.”

Zhang Mingliu deliberately emphasized the name “Han Sheng”, as if to highlight her special relationship with Chen Han Sheng.

“There’s a bug in the living room. Now do as I say, pretend to be angry, hang up the phone, and then quietly leave the room. We’ll talk again after you get downstairs,” Du Qiu instructed.

Not hearing the further denunciation she had expected from Du Qiu, Zhang Mingliu was originally surprised but then immediately reacted.

“You’re my ex-boyfriend, back off! Hanging up now!”

Finishing her shout, Zhang Mingliu hung up the phone.

“Liu Liu, why are you fighting with Xiao Du again?” Qin Yun, hearing the commotion, came out of the bedroom.

Zhang Mingliu gestured to her lips the universal sign for silence, then pointed towards the door.

“It’s nothing; I don’t see him having any role in my life anymore.”

Speaking, she leaned towards Qin Yun’s ear and whispered quietly, “Du Qiu required this. I’ll tell you when I get back.”

She then spoke louder, “Sister-in-law, I’m going out to take out the trash.”

She proceeded to the door, changed her shoes, opened the door, and walked out.

Qin Yun’s face showed a nervous expression. She looked around and then hurried back to her bedroom, closing the bedroom door tightly behind her.

Reaching downstairs, Zhang Mingliu redialed Du Qiu’s number.

“What’s going on?”

“There’s a bug in the living room, probably placed there recently,” Du Qiu replied.

“Do you suspect Chen Han Sheng placed it? Isn’t that a childish way to show jealousy?” Zhang Mingliu provocatively stated.

“Why would I be jealous? I sincerely wish you had a nice relationship with someone,” Du Qiu responded.

“What do you mean? Is it because you have your eyes on the person you met for a blind date and now you want to dump me quickly?” Zhang Mingliu instantly remembered the beautiful woman she had seen in the cafe the day before.

“Zhang Mingliu, what are you babbling about? You and I are no longer in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship. What’s this about dumping you quickly? Be reasonable, please.”

“I won’t be reasonable! It was clearly you and I who got together first, and we were meant to start again. Why do you have to go on blind dates?”

Du Qiu was exasperated. Zhang Mingliu was starting to be unreasonable.

“Zhang Mingliu, we’re incompatible, and we really can’t start over…”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Zhang Mingliu abruptly cut off Du Qiu.

Then, her voice softened significantly, “Xiao Qiu, please forgive me, can you?

I have a bad temper, but I can change. I hardly ever lose my temper anymore.

Don’t worry. If you focus on your research, I’ll fully support you without bothering you.

I’ll wash clothes and cook for you. I promise to take good care of you…”

While she spoke, tears began flowing, and her voice choked up.

Listening to this, Du Qiu felt uneasy; after all, the human heart is made of flesh, and they had their moments of love and joy, but he truly wasn’t in love anymore.

Since he didn’t love her, he shouldn’t drag it on; that would be too heartless.

Since the topic had come up tonight, might as well clarify things so Zhang Mingliu wouldn’t be stuck in this relationship.

“Don’t cry, Zhang Mingliu. You were never one to cry easily. We did love each other once, but we were too different; this is why we parted ways.

Even though we’ve been in touch, it’s just friendly interactions. They say a forced melon isn’t sweet; let’s not force ourselves together – we’d even lose the chance to be friends this way.”

Du Qiu spoke from the beginning to the end without interruption, but there was dead silence on the other end of the phone – as if Zhang Mingliu’s tearful plea had never happened.

“Are you finished?” Zhang Mingliu’s voice seemed somewhat indifferent.

“Uh, yes, I’m done,” Du Qiu said, surprised.

“As a friend, do you have any suggestions about the bug in the living room of my sister-in-law’s place?”

Du Qiu felt uncomfortable with the dry tone of Zhang Mingliu but didn’t have much else to say.

“For now, both you and Sister Qin should pretend you don’t know about it – just avoid discussing anything important or private at home.”

“My phone isn’t bugged, is it?”

“Of course not, or else how could I talk to you on the phone like this?”

“Okay, thanks. I’m hanging up now.”

Hearing the beep of the phone hanging up, Du Qiu felt a complex mix of emotions. But then, it’s better to deal with pain quickly than to let it drag on. If they were not compatible, then there was no point in letting Zhang Mingliu cling to any false hopes.

However, with this commotion, he hadn’t had the chance to ask about Chen Han Sheng in detail – he would have to find another way.

Right, he could ask Ning Shuangshuang.

No sooner had he thought of it than Du Qiu dialed Ning Shuangshuang’s number, feeling inexplicably nervous.

“Du Qiu, calling this late, is there something going on?” Ning Shuangshuang’s clear voice came through the receiver.

“Yeah, I found out that Qin Yun’s place has been bugged, and I suspect it’s the doing of Chen Han Sheng, the man Zhang Mingliu met for a blind date at the café yesterday.”

“Why are you so sure it’s him?”

Du Qiu briefly explained the recent events, also reporting the situation where they had set a trap for Su Jianming.

“Oh, I’ll help you check on this Chen Han Sheng. Also, go ahead and pretend to hand over the crystal cube to Su Jianming tomorrow with peace of mind, I’ll have someone keep watch.”

“Great, having double assurance is best.”

After the phone call with Ning Shuangshuang, Du Qiu let the matter rest and drifted off to sleep, laying his head on a crystal pillow.

In a certain five-star hotel suite.

Chen Han Sheng listened to the recording he had acquired on his phone, his face turning quite unpleasant.

“Darn it, I just set everything up, ready for an impostor switch, and now you’re selling it?

No way. If the item is really sold off, I’d have to spend time finding a new target.

The issue is, this buyer intends to gift it to his father, a real estate magnate, which would make it far more difficult to obtain than getting it from Du Qiu.”

He poured himself a glass of red wine, but without the mood to savor it, he downed it in one gulp.

Suddenly, he launched a program on the laptop on the desk.

After checking the time and comparing it with the map around Du Qiu’s home on the program’s interface, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hmm, Du Qiu probably just considers me a rat for now, no real danger there.”

Muttering to himself, he marked the location of the Yue Ge Restaurant and began studying the route from Du Qiu’s house to the restaurant.

Feeling that wasn’t enough, he looked into the route from Du Qiu’s company to Yue Ge Restaurant as well.

Just in case Du Qiu went to his company first before heading to Yue Ge, he wanted to be prepared with corresponding measures.

“Right, if Du Qiu sees me as a rat, he should have called Zhang Mingliu to verify. Let’s see if there’s any information.”

Chen Han Sheng dialed another number on his phone, and soon he was listening to a conversation.

“Du Qiu, you escorted my sister-in-law home, why didn’t you come upstairs?”

“Go upstairs to see you being tricked by a jerk?”

“Why do you say Han Sheng is a jerk?”

…

It was precisely the initial exchange between Du Qiu and Zhang Mingliu.

“Hah, it seems this guy really thinks I’m a rat and that’s why he tailed me.”

“Well, if things go smoothly and there’s time, to fleece Zhang Mingliu once is not a bad idea.”

“That’s it! I’ll proceed this way tomorrow. I’m confident the plan to trap the cicada will be successful.”

Just then, the bedroom door inside the suite opened, and a woman peeked out, “Honey, haven’t you finished your work? I can hardly wait any longer…”

Chen Han Sheng looked up at the woman, smiling, “Haha, sorry to keep such a beauty waiting, that is indeed a sin. I’ll be right there.”

He quickly stowed away his laptop and phone, then rushed towards the inner room.