CH 84.1

Shen Yuhuai’s birthday party was held in a high-end hotel in the city center. As the Shen family’s second son, Shen Yuhuai rarely appeared in the social circles of S City. This time, news of the Shen family hosting a banquet spread. People who were good friends with the Shen family went to the banquet one after another.

Vehicles gathered in the parking lot of a high-end hotel. Guests from all walks of life were guided into the venue by waiters. Chen Qizhao sat in the window position and his eyes swept over the train of vehicles coming and going. He listened to the discussion between Chen Jianhong and Chen Shiming in the car and learned that the Lin family was also on the invitation list of the Shen family.

The vehicle moved forward slowly and Chen Shiming’s eyes swept over Chen Qizhao by the window.

Soon, the waiter knocked on the driver’s window. The Chen family arrived at the banquet site at 6 o’clock in the evening and the driver followed the waiter to park the car.

Another waiter came to guide the way when the Chen family got out of the car.

There were no other vehicles parked at the entrance of the hotel and guides standing in front of the magnificent gate. As Chen Shiming and the others were signing their names, Chen Qizhao suddenly glimpsed a black car across the fountain and his gaze stopped instantly. He took a few steps back to see the model of the car more clearly and his eyes sank.

Chen Shiming finished signing and noticed that Chen Qizhao was still standing outside the hotel. He called out. “Qizhao.”

Chen Qizhao’s mind returned. He walked to the front to sign. After signing, he asked, “How many floors are booked for tonight?”

The waiter immediately replied, “Mr Shen booked floors 6-8 of the hotel. The banquet hall is on the 6th floor and the 7-8th floors are places where you can rest.”

Chen Qizhao handed him the pen. “Thank you.”

The banquet hall was on the 6th floor. Chen Qizhao followed the Chen family to the 6th floor and saw the layout of the entire banquet hall, including the people who came to the banquet. There were many people coming to Shen Yuhuai’s birthday banquet. Chen Qizhao knew who they were after scanning around. He glanced around and saw Lin Shizong and his son Lin Xuyan standing in the crowd with glasses of champagne, hypocritical smiles on their faces.

Chen Qizhao looked away and saw Shen Yuhuai talking to someone in the distance.

He didn’t go straight over and instead lowered his head to send a message.

Shen Yuhuai finished toasting with someone, spoke with Shen Xuelan and walked toward Chen Qizhao.

Chen Qizhao looked up after sending the message and saw Shen Yuhuai standing in front of him.

The man wore a black suit today. His hair was combed back and he had silver-framed glasses. He looked a bit more mature than usual.

Chen Qizhao’s eyes paused slightly. He looked at the person in front of him and couldn’t help seeing Shen Yuhuai’s figure from a few years later. In the future, Shen Yuhuai also wore such a combination but the current Shen Yuhuai had a slightly younger face.

“Who are you messaging with?” Shen Yuhuai looked at him.

“Xiao Zhou. I have something for him to do.” Chen Qizhao’s mind returned. “Happy birthday.”

The moment the two of them exchanged a few words, a waiter came to them and whispered something in Shen Yuhuai’s ear. Shen Yuhuai paused slightly and asked, “It happened just now?”

“Yes,” the waiter replied.

Seeing this, Chen Qizhao said, “If you are busy, you can go there first.”

Shen Yuhuai took a cup of orange juice from the waiter next to him and handed it to Chen Qizhao. “I’m a bit busy today and I might not be able to take care of you.”

Chen Qizhao took the orange juice while his eyes fell on the champagne glass in Shen Yuhuai’s hand. “It’s okay.”

Shen Yuhuai was the protagonist of this birthday banquet and it was inevitable to be a bit busy. Moreover, it was obvious that Uncle Shen was paving the way for Shen Yuhuai’s development in S City. Chen Qizhao’s eyes followed Shen Yuhuai and saw that the other person followed the water to the back door of the banquet hall, not going too far. The waiter seemed to be holding something in his hand and giving it to Shen Yuhuai. It looked like a gift from a distance.

Chen Shiming walked over and asked, “What are you looking at?”

“Nothing.” Chen Qizhao asked, “Are the staff in this venue prepared by the hotel?”

Chen Shiming looked at him. “No, there are still some people arranged by the Shen family. Are you worried about security?”

“I’m just asking.”

Chen Shiming explained, “Shen Xuelan told me that the people delivering the wine in the banquet hall are all people she arranged in advance and it has nothing to do with the hotel.”

Chen Qizhao was thoughtful.

On the other side, Shen Yuhuai followed the waiter to the door of the banquet hall. The waiter handed him a gift box.

This waiter was the person responsible for registering the guest’s gifts.

Shen Yuhuai looked at the gift box and asked the waiter, “What did the person who gave it say? What does he look like?”

“It was a middle-aged man wearing a hat. I couldn’t see his appearance clearly.” The waiter continued, “I asked him to register his name but the information he registered was strange and duplicated the information of one of our guests.”

Shen Yuhuai’s eyes were slightly heavy. The box in front of him wasn’t very large and it was also very light. It didn’t seem like dangerous goods were placed inside it.

The gift box was beautifully packaged and very light, so light that it seemed like there was nothing in it.

Shen Yuhuai tore open the ribbon on the box. After opening it, he found that there was only a bear stuffed toy the size of an adult’s palm.

He frowned slightly. Just as he picked up the bear, the bear’s head fell off.

The head of the bear was separated from the body.

Shen Yuhuai’s hand didn’t leave the range of the gift box. He put the body of the bear back inside. Seeing the bewildered waiter next to him, he closed the lid of the gift box and said, “Go and tell the person in charge of the hotel to adjust the surveillance video of the hotel venue. Pay attention to this matter and don’t make any noise about it.”

—

On the 16th floor of the hotel, Gu Shen stood by the French windows and looked out at the city. Soon, someone knocked on the door and came in. The middle-aged man took off his hat and mask and stood beside Gu Shen. “Sir, the gift has been delivered. Once the Shen family counts the gifts later, they should notice it.”

The hotel was hosting a birthday banquet downstairs but in the quiet room, Gu Shen’s eyes swept over the information on the table. He had people check Shen Yuhuai’s movements in B City. The trajectory of this person’s activities in B City for a few days was real. There was even a situation where he didn’t leave the ‘hotel’ for several days.

Shen Yuhuai’s affairs in B College had long been completed. It was self-evident what he was doing at other times.

Gu Shen thought of the Shen family’s involvement in the jade necklace and Gu Zhengxun’s use of the so-called loophole in the system to expose him. This caused him to have no patience with Shen Yuhuai at all.

The birthday banquet came quickly and he didn’t have time to arrange things in advance. Still, if he just wanted to surprise Shen Yuhuai and the Shen family then it could be done. Since it was Shen Yuhuai’s birthday banquet, it must be done beautifully to make the Shen family lose their face.

“The person I’ve arranged is also ready,” the middle-aged man said.

“Tell him to be careful and to not be discovered.”

The middle-aged man asked again, “Do you want to tell Chairman Lin about this?”

Gu Shen shook the glass of red wine. “No need.”

—

A waiter brought out a birthday cake and champagne tower and the banquet continued.

Everyone’s attention fell on the man in a suit and a tie.

Chen Qizhao’s eyes stayed on the banquet hall and he was only relieved when he saw Shen Yuhuai re-enter the banquet hall. Then his attention shifted to the other people in the venue. The people talking to the Shen family, the people talking to the Chen family… even the people who interacted with Lin Shizong.

Soon, he saw the two Yan brothers coming in from the entrance of the banquet hall.

Yan Kailin came directly to his side. “Brother Zhao!”

Chen Qizhao talked to Yan Kailin while continuing to observe the surroundings. “You came so late?”

“There was a traffic jam on the road. Hey, I’ve been suffocating to death these days.” Yan Kailin saw the drink in Chen Qizhao’s hand and asked suspiciously, “Brother, why are you drinking this?”

Chen Qizhao paused. “I’m changing my taste.”

“Oh, is the orange juice here delicious?” Yan Kailin also took a cup from the waiter next to him. “Did you give your gift?”

Chen Qizhao’s gift hadn’t been delivered yet. During his conversation with Yan Kailin, his attention shifted to the waiters in the venue. All of them were employees arranged by the hotel. In fact, there were only a few waiters coming and going from the banquet hall.

During this period of observation, Chen Qizhao saw his phone ringing. He handed the orange juice in his hand to Yan Kailin. “Help me watch Brother Huai. If he leaves then call me.”

Yan Kailin took the orange juice blankly. “Huh? Brother, where are you going?”

“The bathroom.”

Chen Qizhao left the banquet hall and picked up the call. “Is the car still there?”

“Yes.”

Xiao Zhou stood breathlessly at the entrance of the hotel. He looked at the black car in front of the hotel from a distance, took down the license plate according to the boss’ instructions and reported the license plate number again.

Chen Qizhao listened to the license plate number reported by Xiao Zhou and his heart sank.

He had seen this license plate number before. It was the number of the suspected black car in Old Lin’s photo. This meant that Gu Shen was in this hotel. The Shen family only booked three floors of the hotel and the other rooms in the hotel were inhabited by guests. He could check the people in the banquet hall but not the rest of the hotel.

Xiao Zhou didn’t know why the boss called him here at night. He had rushed over as soon as he received the call and followed the instructions when he arrived. “What should I do after taking down this license plate?”

“Do you have your identity card with you?” Chen Qizhao asked.

“I brought it.” Xiao Zhou suddenly became nervous. “What do you need me to do?”

Chen Qizhao said, “Go to the front desk to open a room.”

Xiao Zhou: “?”

After explaining it to Xiao Zhou, Chen Qizhao returned to the banquet hall. Yan Kailin was still holding two glasses of orange juice with a confused face. He saw Chen Qizhao and wanted to hand over the orange juice in his hand. Then he suddenly noticed that his brother’s gaze was looking elsewhere.

“What’s wrong, Brother?” Yan Kailin said. “Brother Huai is over there.”

Chen Qizhao’s eyes stopped on an unfamiliar waiter who came in through the front door. “Did that person just come?”

“I didn’t pay attention. Maybe?” Yan Kailin looked over there. “What’s up?”

Chen Shiming had said that all the waiters coming in and out of the banquet hall were arranged by Shen Xuelan. In other words, the people in this banquet hall were actually fixed. After Chen Qizhao came in, he had basically looked at all the people but he had never seen this person before. This showed that this person wasn’t on the list of personnel originally arranged by Shen Xuelan.

This person only served a glass of wine.

Chen Qizhao put down the orange juice and took a glass of champagne from the waiter next to him. “Wait for me here.”

The waiter delivering the champagne stood in the banquet hall, his eyes on Shen Yuhuai’s body in the distance. His hand holding the tray tightened a bit. He was about to pass by the others and walk in the direction of Shen Yuhuai when he was suddenly knocked down by a force from the side. He could barely stabilize the champagne on the tray and only spilled a bit on the tray. However, there were complaints from the side.

“What are you doing?” The young man had a blank face. The champagne in his hand had spilled a bit and happened to pour on his shoes.

The waiter suddenly became nervous. “Sorry!”

Chen Qizhao looked at him, tone a bit casual. “Why are you stunned? Do you have no tissues?”

It was difficult while holding the tray. The waiter had to put it down and take out tissues from his pocket.

Chen Qizhao took the tissue. “Why are you so slow? Clean the ground.”

Seeing that the person was bending down to wipe the champagne stains on the ground, Chen Qizhao put down the champagne in his hand and quickly replaced the one on the tray. He didn’t forget to add, “I have to deal with this. Where is the bathroom?”

“Turn right after you leave.” The waiter quickly finished wiping the floor and stood up.

Chen Qizhao ignored him. He took the glass of champagne and walked out. His eyes swept over the waiter and he saw the other person picking up the tray again and walking toward the Shen family.

At this time, he suddenly heard Lin Xuyan’s voice a few steps away. He was beckoning for a waiter to bring him wine.

Chen Qizhao raised an eyebrow slightly and shook the wine glass in his hand.