Zhang Dongya, a security guard at the Royal Hotel, is about to get married. His fiancée's family demands 180,000 yuan in bride price, but he can't come up with the money. So he installs cameras in the hotel's luxury suites, hoping to film the private lives of celebrities and tycoons and extort them.
But instead of steamy footage, he captures a murder and dismemberment.
The killer is his coworker, Wu Qing, a front desk clerk at the same hotel.
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Wu Qing, a front desk clerk at the Royal Hotel, is patient and friendly in his day-to-day life. In private, however, he's a contract killer.
He's already killed five people and made three million yuan. He's still two million short of his goal.
Then he takes on a big job. The client offers him two million, but insists that he livestream the target's death and carry out the killing in a specified, gruesome way.
It's obviously going to raise the risk of getting caught, but the money is just too tempting.
If he takes enough care, he won't be exposed. Besides, the client says they'll provide everything he needs to evade detection, including a dark web network and virtual addresses.
As long as he leaves no trace online, the police won't know where the victim died, let alone who the killer is.
Wu Qing agrees. This is the final job of his career as a killer. Once it's done, he'll leave that life behind.
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Zhong Xiaoyu, daughter of retired police officer Zhong Shengjun, is obsessed with being a livestream host and has joined an agency. She signed a crooked contract and can't even quit without paying a hefty penalty. Then the owner of another agency tries to poach her, offering to buy out her contract if she takes part in a secret livestream. Afterward, whether she joins the agency is up to her. With the debt deadline approaching, Zhong Xiaoyu agrees. The agency owner sends her an address: the Royal Hotel, Presidential Suite.
Overall, it's pretty good. I had read this author's "The Case of a Missing Girl" before, which I liked, so I bought this one directly. It's generally quite good, but there's one plot point that wasn't explained. The situation with the couple was left unresolved before the story ended. Maybe the author was in a hurry and forgot. 🤦🤦🤦
This is a very realistic book; the author's writing is excellent and makes it hard to put down. The detailed descriptions constantly reminded me of real-life cases, sending chills down my spine. Unfortunately, currently available insecticides in China are completely ineffective against cockroaches and bedbugs, even protecting the budding signs of antisocial personality disorder. I hope to live to see the day when bedbugs are eradicated.
After reading it, I was particularly interested in two points: how Zhang Dongya found the villa, and how his parents reacted to their son's crime. Unfortunately, I didn't see that in the epilogue. I think this character, who wasn't entirely good, still has a lot of potential for development.
I love this author so much! The content is very realistic. The description of working at the convenience store, including the paycheck arrival and the job itself, is very realistic. The description of Taolebao is also very relatable. I couldn't wait to give it a good review after just reading the convenience store part.
It looks pretty good so far. The four perspectives alternate and it stays close to current events. Many of the descriptions are quite vivid. If it were a short or medium-length story, it would be suitable for adaptation into a movie.
The author has made great progress, both in writing style and plot development. The portrayal of female characters is excellent. Keep it up!
To expose the evil in human nature, to inform the public of the truth, and to educate everyone to be more vigilant.
A wealthy cloth shoe tycoon? Haha?