Chapter 255: Bastard, My Period Is on the Seventeenth
"So nosy!" Tang Qiqi lowered her head, walked to her suitcase, took out her bag, then pulled out her wallet, took out the ICBC card, and handed it to Zhang Yang.
"What are you doing?"
"I don't want to owe anyone favors." A trace of displeasure appeared on Tang Qiqi's face.
"You don't need to overthink it." Zhang Yang looked at her and pushed the card back. "Although I don't approve of your profession, what you're doing here—I'm not as good as you. So it's not a favor. Just consider it something I should have done anyway."
Tang Qiqi lowered her head and looked at the card in her hand. She said nothing. After a moment, she handed it back to Zhang Yang. "What's yours is yours. Whether your sincerity is real or fake, I don't care. But the money in this card—you still have to transfer it for me."
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Zhang Yang sighed, took the card, and nodded. "Alright."
"You can leave." She issued the eviction order again.
Zhang Yang frowned slightly and looked at her. Ignoring her words, he probed, "You joined Spade Eight to avenge Tang Duan?"
At these words, Tang Qiqi's cold eyes shot toward him. She glanced, then turned away. Her voice was icy. "Self-righteous."
Her tone was stiff and irritated, but Zhang Yang didn't mind. He continued, "Tang Duan was ambushed two and a half years ago, at Green Peach Hotpot City on Tianding Road, Dinghe District, Qing City. The one who ambushed him was called Brother Qiang…"
Zhang Yang paused, glanced at her—her brows slightly tightened, meaning she was indeed listening carefully—then continued, "Tang Duan's whereabouts were always secret. Few ever knew his true face, much less that he'd go eat at a hotpot restaurant. So how did that Brother Qiang know? Which means…"
"What are you trying to say?" Tang Qiqi finally looked up at him impatiently and sneered. "You think stirring things up here will get me to spill information about Spade Eight?"
"Wrong. I'm not trying to get information out of you, because I know far more than you do. After all, as Tang Duan's adopted daughter, those people would always guard against you. Even if you wanted to know something, you couldn't know much, right?" Zhang Yang said with a smiling squint.
"Even if your tongue drips honey, I won't be fooled." Tang Qiqi stared at him, emphasizing each word. "You think I'd believe you? Hmph, impossible. I won't fall for it."
Zhang Yang smiled at that. "You're flustered, because I'm telling the truth."
"I don't want to talk to you anymore. Get out." Tang Qiqi was clearly angry now.
"Alright, I'm going." Zhang Yang stood up. After thinking for a moment, he added, "If you need anything, just tell me."
Tang Qiqi exhaled deeply, closed her eyes, and after a long time, finally nodded slightly. "Got it."
Zhang Yang picked up the food box, walked out, handed it to Sister Wang, then went leisurely up to the fifth floor and pulled up the surveillance video of today's conversation with Tang Qiqi.
When Zhang Yang abruptly mentioned her reason for joining Spade Eight, the flash of surprise on Tang Qiqi's face was real—quickly replaced by coldness to cover it up. That meant her surprise wasn't fake. Zhang Yang had struck her secret. Which also proved that her purpose for entering Spade Eight was almost certainly to avenge Tang Duan.
When Zhang Yang described how Tang Duan was ambushed, Tang Qiqi's eyebrows clearly tightened. Her pupils focused and enlarged—proof she was paying close attention and was interested. If he had said something irrelevant, she'd never react that way.
When she insisted she didn't believe him, she deliberately repeated herself and strengthened her tone. This showed she lacked confidence in her own words—classic guilt. Meaning she actually did believe him.
By the end she became annoyed and embarrassed—clear proof that most of what Zhang Yang said had hit her where it hurt. Her motive for joining Spade Eight was already self-evident.
But overall, she was still guarded toward Zhang Yang. For now, it wasn't the best time to pry her open. But Zhang Yang wasn't anxious. He still had time.
Though progress wasn't huge, Tang Qiqi's attitude had changed slightly. She was willing to eat. She stopped searching for the remaining cameras. But she still went into the bathroom every time she changed clothes, and her attitude toward Zhang Yang remained cold. Zhang Yang had no doubt—if he relaxed even a little, she'd attack him. So every time he entered her room, he first checked whether the system issued any warnings, then entered.
But now Tang Qiqi didn't like talking to him much anymore—she seemed to know his words had a purpose. But that didn't trouble Zhang Yang. All he needed was to talk. The system would analyze her facial expressions and tell him whether his questions were on the mark.
"If I gave you a chance to choose one weapon to kill me, what would you choose?"
As usual, Zhang Yang sat beside her, watching her quietly eat small bites, and began his usual monologue, whispering beside her ear.
After the past seven or eight days, whenever Tang Qiqi heard him, she could only feel speechless irritation. She knew he was trying to trick answers out of her. But even if she didn't answer, Zhang Yang still found clues. It was infuriating—this man felt like he could read minds, stripping her of all secrets like a person stripped naked before a crowd.
And his questions were extremely annoying—messy and numerous, making her want to bite him to death sometimes.
For example, he would ask:
"What size are your boobs?"
She would remain silent, responding with cold eyes. But then he would continue, "32A?"
"32B?"
"32C?"
… One by one. Every time he asked, he paused, observing her expression. She knew he was using her body language to judge the answer, so she tried to mask her expressions and give false signals.
But just when she thought she fooled him, he would suddenly insert a completely different question.
"When does your period come?"
"The 1st? The 2nd?"—throwing her thoughts into chaos. And when she managed to adjust, he immediately returned to the original topic.
"It's 34C, right?"
Tang Qiqi finally exploded. "You bought me bras—why ask such stupid questions?"
"Then what day does your period come?"
"The seventeenth, bastard!"
"See? Saying it early would've solved it. Which brand of pads do you use?"
Tang Qiqi angrily turned her head away and ignored him.
"An Er Le… Sofy…"
"You're a grown man…" Tang Qiqi was going crazy. "Just pick one! Damn it!"
It had to be said—Zhang Yang's annoying, rambling interrogation completely shattered her mental defenses. Once she was provoked and her disguise slipped, Zhang Yang would slip in questions he actually cared about—with excellent results. But he still didn't trust the answers fully, so he would bring them up again days later, intentionally or unintentionally.
Tang Qiqi felt like everything she knew had almost been dug out of her. At this point, the only thing she hadn't told him was the contact methods and personnel of Spade Eight.
"…If I gave you a chance to choose a weapon to kill me, what would you choose." Zhang Yang repeated his nonsensical question again, sitting about sixty centimeters away—just outside elbow range.
"A gun?"
"A sharp machete?"
"Your signature throwing knives?"
Tang Qiqi looked at him, almost driven insane.
"I would use a knife to chop you up into meat paste…"
"That's false. When you said that, your pupils shifted left by 17%, you blinked three times, and glanced downward slightly—meaning you were thinking of something else." Zhang Yang said this with a grin, listening to the analysis Xu Danying was feeding him through the Bluetooth.
"You're insane."
"If I give you throwing knives to kill me, would you like that?"
"You're sick."
"Mm, you actually want to. When I mentioned throwing knives, your pupils dilated slightly. You tried to hide it, but you were still drawn in. Also, your eye movement froze for 0.13 seconds. But when I mentioned killing me…"
Zhang Yang paused and looked at her.
Tang Qiqi simply closed her eyes.
"Closing your eyes means you don't want me to read your thoughts. That's visual shielding—meaning you don't want your inner thoughts exposed. If you truly wanted to kill me, you wouldn't care. So…"
"Bastard, give me knives and see what happens!" Tang Qiqi clenched her pink fists and snapped her eyes open.
"Alright, I'll stop." Zhang Yang saw her angry expression—which made her look even more beautiful—and his heart stirred, but he knew not to push her too far.
"The New Year is coming." Zhang Yang stood. "In a few days, I'll head to Tujia Village and Wu Village. I'll take care of everything you told me to do."
Tang Qiqi glanced at him, exhaled slowly, and said lightly, "I won't thank you. You owe me this."
"I know. So—how about coming with me?"
"Really?" Tang Qiqi looked at him, then quickly turned her head away so he wouldn't see her eyes.
"What do you think?" Zhang Yang smiled.