"The end of the movie isn’t great, but the story as a whole is pretty good," Tang Li said, tightening her grip on the cellphone.
The killer’s neighbor is a 12-year-old girl, their intricate yet distant relationship threaded throughout the film, but she didn’t speak a word about the plot during the call.
Here, she admitted to a bit of trickery on her part.
She feared that if she said too much, Song Baiyan might not watch the film.
Tang Li added, "The film’s leading actress, Natalie Portman, has won the Golden Globe for Best Actress and is also an Oscar winner. As for the leading actor, he is a well-known French artist. I really movie and have seen it several times."
Hearing Tang Li’s words, Song Baiyan had just sat down on the living room sofa.
He had unfastened another button at the collar of his shirt with his right hand, while his left still held the cellphone, the early end of his dinner meetings allowing him to return to his residence not too late.
He was already on his way back to the villa when Tang Li sent her text.
On the phone, Tang Li’s light and ghostly voice came through, "You must be busy with work recently, so I won’t bother you anymore. Get some rest early."
After hanging up, thinking about her mindset of running away quickly after pulling a deception, which seemed rather childish, Song Baiyan found it amusing but didn’t take it seriously.
He picked up the remote from the coffee table and turned on the television.
He entered "Léon: The Professional" in the search bar, and immediately, a French film made in 1994 appeared on the LCD screen.
Bai Yiqian pushed the door open and entered; the lights were off, with only the TV screen glowing a bright white.
As he approached, he found Song Baiyan sitting there watching the movie.
"It’s been so many years since I’ve seen you watch a movie," Bai Yiqian said, plopping down next to him. "What brings about this leisurely mood tonight?"
While speaking, he glanced at the large screen, just in time to see a scene with a girl with ear-length hair, looking earnestly at the grown man sitting opposite her. A tear slowly slid down her cheek as she continued to say, "I want to love or death."
—I want to love or die.
If you can’t give me love, I’d rather choose death.
This intense emotional plea, enough to send shivers to one’s chest, seemed to only come forth so candidly from adolescent girls, and only they could see love as the most important thing in life.
Bai Yiqian withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Song Baiyan, "This is an old film, haven’t you seen it years ago?"
Back then, they did not delve into this film as a romance.
Maintaining his original posture, Song Baiyan picked up the remote and turned off the television, the light-controlled crystal lamp turned on, and the living room instantly brightened as if it were broad daylight.
Seeing this, Bai Yiqian also started to get down to business: "Hu Haisheng gave me a call."
"Xia Zhengguo has loosened his lips?"
Bai Yiqian shook his head, "He couldn’t really deny it even if he wanted to. His secretary was well-prepared, Hu Haisheng said it’s almost a certainty. Even if Xia Zhengguo wanted to refute it, those people wouldn’t believe him."
"Furthermore—" Bai Yiqian paused before continuing, "Xia Zhengguo has been found having affairs with several women and has a 7-year-old son with Li Fangting from the Bureau of Statistics. Before I came here, Xia Zhengguo’s wife had already learned about this, and even for her own and her child’s sake, she will no longer protect Xia Zhengguo."
Song Baiyan asked, "How’s the investigation on Xia Zhengguo’s secretary’s background and identity going?"