Chapter 904: A Change of Plans

Tao Yueyue timidly answered, “I just thought… it might be nice to rest here.”

Zhou Xiao grunted noncommittally. At that moment, a red convertible BMW appeared on the surveillance screen. It was too flashy to be a police car. A young couple emerged from it, kissing and cuddling, taking their time to open the gate.

Zhou Xiao gestured for Tao Yueyue to follow him upstairs. They hid in a bedroom closet, with Zhou Xiao keeping an eye on the laptop.

The couple entered, turning on all the lights in the living room. The woman appeared to be in her twenties, likely not the fat man’s wife, and the man was about the same age. He fetched two glasses, dropping ice cubes into them one by one before pouring brandy.

Their conversation floated up from downstairs—

“Brother Wang, is this your place?”

“It’s my boss’s house. Well, it’s practically mine now. She even gave me that car.”

“Wow, your boss spoils you.”

“We both get what we need. She’s almost fifty, old and ugly. If she weren’t rich, who would want to keep her company? She even said she’s going to promote me soon!”

“Oh, I’m so jealous. Your face is like a credit card.”

“Right? Thanks to my parents for giving me a good one.”

The couple’s cheesy banter and frequent kissing would have made Tao Yueyue blush if seen on TV, but on the black-and-white surveillance screen, it seemed comical.

The man appeared to be the rich woman’s toy boy. Zhou Xiao commented, “I won’t kill him now; it would alert the real target, the rich woman, unless…”

“Unless what?” Tao Yueyue asked.

“Unless these two are unlucky enough to find us,” Zhou Xiao grinned.

Tao Yueyue prayed silently, hoping they wouldn’t be discovered.

On the screen, the couple leaned against the table, making out. The sound of their smooching was audible even through the floorboards. Watching this with Zhou Xiao was incredibly awkward. Tao Yueyue’s legs were starting to go numb from crouching in the closet.

“They probably won’t come upstairs,” she whispered.

Zhou Xiao nodded, pushing the closet door open, finally able to stretch a bit.

The couple continued their intimate session. Tao Yueyue found herself wishing they would hurry up and do whatever they planned to do. She felt embarrassed by her own impatience.

Zhou Xiao sat on a single chair by the door, placing the laptop on a side table. He yawned and rubbed his face, visibly struggling with his craving for a cigarette.

After what felt like ages, the couple finally moved to a bedroom on the first floor, continuing their activities. Tao Yueyue couldn’t believe she had spent an hour and a half watching two adults kiss in various positions, understanding a bit of the tedium police endure when reviewing surveillance footage.

They started undressing each other but didn’t rush into sex. The man pulled handcuffs from a drawer and cuffed the woman to the bed, playing with ice cubes on her stomach, making her squirm and laugh.

Tao Yueyue’s eyes widened, not out of interest in their “game,” but at the sight of the handcuffs.

If she could get her hands on those…

Zhou Xiao, reaching his limit, sighed, “I might as well go down and kill them.”

Tao Yueyue quickly said, “Uh, they seem to be getting into it…”

Outside, the couple’s conversation continued. The woman asked, “Brother Wang, are you ready?”

“Almost,” the man replied.

Zhou Xiao was on the verge of breaking. It turned out the man had erectile dysfunction, which explained the prolonged foreplay.

Their conversation continued, with the woman calling him “Little Wang,” which finally seemed to help. Zhou Xiao was biting his lip, hitting his thigh in frustration.

Thankfully, the action downstairs quickly escalated. A minute later, the woman praised him, “Brother Wang, you’re amazing!”

“Haha, normal performance, normal performance… Wait!”

The man suddenly jumped off the bed, searching the room. “Where’s the laptop that was on the desk? Did someone break in?”

“It must be your boss,” the woman suggested.

“Impossible. That laptop is connected to the surveillance. Why would she take it? She must have caught us!”

“She didn’t say anything. Why would she give you the keys?”

The man, deep in thought, couldn’t figure it out and decided to fetch a bottle of expensive wine from the living room, figuring he might as well enjoy it while he could.

Tao Yueyue was surprised by his thought process. Instead of searching the house, he chose to drink more of the rich woman’s wine.

The couple soon became drunk, mumbling incoherently before passing out. The handcuffs lay within sight.

The ordeal was over. Zhou Xiao stood up, his legs trembling slightly. “Let’s go. If I don’t get a smoke soon, I’ll die.”

Tao Yueyue suggested, “I’ll sneak the laptop back into the bedroom. I’ll hide it behind the cabinet so it looks like it fell.”

Zhou Xiao nodded, “I’ll wait in the yard.”

Tao Yueyue tiptoed back to the bedroom. The couple lay naked on the bed. She quickly averted her eyes, embarrassed at the sight of the man’s genitals. After placing the laptop back, she reached for the handcuffs but realized they were too flimsy to be of any use.

Disappointed, she was about to leave when she saw Zhou Xiao crouched outside the window, knife in hand. He gestured for her to join him.

A well-dressed middle-aged woman had arrived in another car and was angrily entering the house.

Zhou Xiao smiled, “She just walked into the trap.”

Tao Yueyue felt a dry lump in her throat. “We were supposed to wait until tomorrow.”

“The employer said they’d be here tomorrow. Since they’re here now, why wait?”

“But there’s another person.”

“Let the police figure out this love triangle,” Zhou Xiao smirked.

Tao Yueyue frowned, not wanting more bloodshed. Zhou Xiao pulled her along to hide under the stairs.

The rich woman stormed into the living room, saw the scene in the bedroom, and screamed, “You slut!”

She angrily dialed a number, yelling, “Hey, it’s me… Get some muscle over here… I’m going to deal with these bastards!”

Focused on her call, she didn’t notice Zhou Xiao creeping up behind her like a jungle predator.

Tao Yueyue’s heart raced. She had to stop him.

With a resolve born of desperation, she pulled out the syringe and leapt onto Zhou Xiao’s back, jabbing the needle into his neck and injecting the contents into his bloodstream…