Lin Wu arrived at the Imperial Jia Di Yuan in the city center.
Although the Lin Family despised her, her grandfather had always been kind to her, so Lin Wu couldn't just ignore him.
Therefore, even if Lin Qian hadn't caused trouble, Lin Wu would have returned to Beicheng to visit her hospitalized grandfather.
She would never go back to the Lin Family, so she had bought a villa in Imperial Jia Di Yuan in advance to live in.
Taxis weren't allowed inside Imperial Jia Di Yuan, so Lin Wu got off at the entrance, showed the security guard her residence credentials, and went in.
By that time the moon was high in the sky, the night dotted with sparse stars.
Lin Wu looked up at the desolate night sky, then redirected her gaze and continued walking.
Before long, Lin Wu's pace slowed as she heard another set of steady, unhurried footsteps behind her.
Clearly, it was someone skilled.
She quickened her steps, but the footsteps behind her persisted.
Finally, as she was about to reach Villa No. 31 in Imperial Jia Di Yuan, Lin Wu's patience ran out and she turned around, "How much longer do you intend to follow me—"
But her voice abruptly ceased.
Lin Wu stared intently at the tall, handsome man two meters away, her eyes slightly narrowed.
It was the man she had seen on the train!
If she had encountered him on the train during the day, Lin Wu might have still believed it was a coincidence, but seeing him now, she couldn't.
The man had actually followed her here.
Who sent him?
Lin Wu swiftly sifted through potential adversaries she might have made recently in her mind, when she noticed the man move his hand that was in the pocket of his long black coat.
Lin Wu was on guard.
But he simply lifted his hand slightly, pointing to Villa No. 32, not far ahead.
His handsome brows were slightly raised, and it seemed like there was a mix of surprise and amusement in his eyes as he looked at her, his deep voice slightly hoarse, "Look carefully, it's not me following you, I live right there."
Lin Wu was momentarily taken aback.
The man continued leisurely, "As for you, I've been living here in Imperial Jia Di Yuan for a year, and yet I've never seen you before. So, who's following whom?"
Lin Wu: "..."
She had checked when she bought this villa, and indeed Villa No. 32, next to No. 31, already had an owner.
It was this man?
She didn't speak, still looking at him with suspicion.
Seeing this, the man didn't say much else, just walked past her at a measured pace, casting her a meaningful glance as he did.
Lin Wu watched him turn around and saw him stop in front of No. 32, entering a few digits into the smart lock at the door, the click sounding especially clear in the quiet night.
The man turned his head to look at her from a distance, his narrow phoenix eyes slightly narrowed as if he had guessed something, and chuckled lowly, "Didn't expect to have a neighbor. If you need anything, feel free to ask me... consider it repaying a favor."
With that, he went inside.
Lin Wu stood in place for a while, muttering to herself a low curse.
This luck, she really had to hand it to herself.
No help for it, Lin Wu entered Villa No. 31.
As soon as she closed the door, her phone rang, from an unfamiliar number.
Lin Wu answered, "Hello?"
"Big brother! Where are you at? How's your night going? Satisfied?"
A familiar male voice came through, brimming with an irksome confidence.
Lin Wu walked straight to the kitchen, opened the fridge to grab a can of ice-cold beer, sat down at the dining table, and placed the phone on the table, switching to speaker mode.
She said, "Satisfied. So satisfied that I'm not planning to give you my next batch of business."
"???"
"!!!"
The man was shocked, "Why? Did my people not take good care of you?"
Lin Wu spoke indifferently, "Your Manager Song knows how to take very good care of the Lin Family."
"Then what are you angry about?" the man asked, perplexed.
Lin Wu's tone grew slightly impatient, "If you called just for this, hang up, and don't bother me!"
"Don't, don't, don't, I have something important, really important!" the man on the other end pleaded, "Big brother, I'm returning to Beicheng next week. It's been a while since we saw each other, let's meet up then."
Among all of Lin Wu's friends, he was the only one who had seen her real face.
Four years ago, when Lin Wu came to Beijing for business, she ran into him.
He was a local of Beijing, surnamed Lu, the young master Lu Guichi of the Lu Family, one of the five great wealthy clans in Beijing, with an astonishingly talented elder brother in business, Lu Guiyan.
Because Lu Guiyan was indeed outstanding and a very satisfactory heir to the Lu Family, they weren't as demanding of Lu Guichi and allowed him to do as he pleased.
In the end, Lu Guichi was raised with a devil-may-care attitude, and despite the Lu Family's wishes, he got involved in Beijing's Black Market and made quite a name for himself.
One of the items he handled in the Black Market was a special kind of fragrance material that was greatly beneficial to the human body. He had monopolized all channels for the fragrance material, forcing the Fragrance Makers to personally negotiate with him.
Lin Wu was a Fragrance Maker.
At that time, her power was shallow compared to the Lu Family in Beijing. But she refused to suffer in silence and found a way to get back at Lu Guichi, leading to a direct confrontation.
Unexpectedly, a third party took advantage of them, nearly costing her and Lu Guichi their lives.
Lin Wu, skilled as she was, managed to save Lu Guichi and dealt with the opportunist severely.
Since then, she and Lu Guichi had been on speaking terms after their tussle, and he became the only person who had seen her true face; he had always wanted to recruit her to his side.
Lin Wu finished her icy beer and said, "If you don't get to the point, I'll block you."
She knew that Lu Guichi had been overseeing a project abroad recently and didn't believe he suddenly came back just to see her.
Sure enough, Lu Guichi chuckled guiltily, "Alright, alright, I'll speak honestly. Here's the thing, I met someone over here who is also very interested in your fragrance materials and would like to meet you."
"I'm not interested."
"Come on, do it for my sake!"
Lu Guichi wheedled, an approach that made Lin Wu feel queasy, "If you don't talk properly, I'll sew your mouth shut."
Lu Guichi became serious in an instant, "He's very important to my project, I swear, he'll be of use to you too. Meeting him won't do you any harm."
Lin Wu hung up the phone, but Lu Guichi tenaciously called back.
Just as Lin Wu was about to block him, Lu Guichi sent her a message.
[He's got some connection to the issue you've been investigating.]
Lin Wu's expression shifted slightly.
After a long silence, she replied, [Fine.]
As she sent the message, a new one popped up on the screen.
"Boss, the doctor in charge of the old master at the hospital said his condition has worsened. They might be out of options," said Zheng Qi.
Lin Wu's expression grew taut as she replied, "Tell the doctor to find a way, any medicine, regardless of the cost." She then added, "I'll go see Grandpa at the hospital myself tomorrow."
Zheng Qi responded instantly, "Yes, Boss, I'll arrange everything in advance."
After ending the call, Lin Wu got up and headed upstairs. She planned to pull an all-nighter to complete her latest research on a new fragrance, which might benefit her grandfather's condition.
However, as she walked to the living room, Lin Wu inexplicably stopped and turned towards the balcony.
Next door was number 32.
After mulling it over, Lin Wu directly called Zheng Qi, "Have our people check out the resident next door to my place."
The two encounters had given Lin Wu an intuition that something was amiss.