Inside the café, in the corner of the first floor, three people sat facing each other.
Shen Yi looked at Zhou Huaixia with anticipation.
“What do you need me to do?”
Zhou Huaixia reminded him in advance.
“I’m not sure what will happen.
It could be dangerous, or it could just be a boring misjudgment.”
She hoped nothing would happen, just a case of sensory misalignment.
“You seem to have misunderstood me.”
Shen Yi shrugged.
“I don’t care if the outcome is dangerous or boring.
If I can help, great.
If not, it’s just a way to pass the time.”
Besides, he found the process of working with them interesting.
Lü Jin adjusted his glasses and looked at him skeptically.
“Are you sure you’re not just looking for a thrill?”
Rich second-generation kids, spiritually empty, always looking for excitement.
Shen Yi shook his dazzling platinum hair and squinted.
“Lü Jin, are you secretly discriminating against me?”
“Not secretly.”
Lü Jin was surprised.
“I’m doing it openly.”
Shen Yi: “…”
Zhou Huaixia interrupted their banter.
“Help me investigate someone.”
The two immediately became serious.
Shen Yi said, “Go ahead.”
“Start with a cake shop.
It has ‘house’ in its name.”
Zhou Huaixia picked up a napkin from the table and motioned for Lü Jin to lend her a pen.
She quickly sketched a rough layout.
“The store’s layout is roughly like this.
The employees wear brown uniforms.”
She had seen the cake shop through binoculars but didn’t know the street view outside.
She had only vaguely caught a single character on the store uniform.
Searching for the character “house” had brought up numerous cake shops, and brown uniforms were even more common.
Looking through store photos on maps didn’t help, and going through review platforms one by one would take too much time, with no guarantee of success.
She could only turn to Shen Yi.
Shen Yi glanced at the napkin sketch.
“Wait a moment.”
He gathered and sorted all the available online photos of cake shops in the city, using their IP addresses.
Half an hour later, he had filtered out all the cake shop photos that matched the napkin sketch.
“See if it’s one of these.”
Seven stores matched the layout, with four of them in the Western District.
Zhou Huaixia looked through the photos one by one.
The view from the binoculars was too limited, but she managed to rule out two stores.
The remaining ones were all branches of the same chain, called “Shiduo Sugar House,” and the employees indeed wore brown uniforms.
“You…” She cleared her throat.
“Can you hack into the surveillance cameras of these Shiduo Sugar House stores?”
Another step closer to crossing the legal line, Zhou Huaixia was gradually getting used to it and feeling numb.
Shen Yi turned to his computer.
“What are we looking for in the footage?”
Zhou Huaixia: “Between 1:40 and 1:50 this afternoon, a woman in her early forties picked up a cake.
She was wearing a rose-red windbreaker and black pants, had black hair tied in a low ponytail without bangs, and looked very energetic.”
Her description was extremely precise.
Shen Yi glanced up at her, hesitated to speak, but eventually kept silent and focused on retrieving the footage.
With a specific time frame and clear characteristics, it didn’t take long for him to find the right store.
“This one.”
Shen Yi turned the laptop screen towards them.
“Shiduo Sugar House on Tianhe Road, Western District. 1:42 PM. Is this her?”
Zhou Huaixia looked at the frozen surveillance frame.
It showed the woman receiving a cake from the store clerk.
It was identical to what she had seen through her binoculars.
“Yes.”
Zhou Huaixia turned to Shen Yi.
“I want to know who she is.”
She didn’t know the identity of the person she had sensed only that they had been watching or stalking this woman.
Zhou Huaixia also had no idea what would happen next.
The only thing she could do now was start investigating this woman.
“Easy.”
Shen Yi resumed typing, but moments later, he paused.
“Uh… too easy.”
Zhou Huaixia and Lü Jin immediately looked at him.
“I captured her face from the surveillance footage, ran a search, and it instantly brought up a Wikipedia page.”
Shen Yi looked at the screen filled with golden accolades.
“She’s a big name in the industry.”
Zhou Huaixia took the laptop.
Lü Jin leaned in, adjusted his glasses, and read aloud.
“Zhan Ying.
PhD in Optical Engineering from MIT. PhD in Computational Optics from ETH Zurich.
Specializes in precision optical positioning technology.
Leads development in optimization algorithms and simulation control of complex optical systems.
Holds multiple patents…”
The list of patents and international awards was overwhelming, even to a layperson.
Shen Yi scrolled down to her latest work experience.
“Since 2025, she has been leading a precision mechanical team at Tianhe Technology Park, formed in collaboration with five universities.”
“Tianhe Technology Park?” Lü Jin, being a local, was familiar with it.
“That place is full of top engineering talents.
They say PhDs are everywhere, and everyone holds several patents.”
Zhou Huaixia stared at Zhan Ying’s profile picture for a long time before making a decision.
“I need to infiltrate Tianhe Technology Park.”
Maybe she could find out who was watching Zhan Ying and what their intentions were.
“I’m in.”
Shen Yi raised his hand.
“I’ll bring resources.”
Lü Jin scratched his head.
“Today is Saturday, perfect timing.”
And so, the three of them got into a newly modified domestic car.
“You modified this car?” Lü Jin noticed something different.
“Soundproofing?”
“Why not?” Shen Yi, sitting in the passenger seat, smirked.
“If we’re modifying, we might as well get the best.”
Lü Jin rolled his eyes, stepped on the gas, and said, “Alright, let’s go.”
At the entrance of Tianhe Technology Park, Lü Jin tapped the brakes.
“There’s a barrier and security guards.”
Shen Yi casually replied, “No need to stop.
I’ve already added our license plate to the system’s whitelist.
As long as the security guard doesn’t intervene, we can drive right in.”
Sure enough, as the car approached the gate, the barrier automatically lifted.
The security guard only glanced at them without getting up.
Lü Jin gripped the steering wheel, his palms slightly sweaty.
“Zhan Ying’s team is on the seventh floor of the R&D center.
She clocked in at 2 PM and, based on her usual habits, will probably work until after 10 PM.”
Shen Yi glanced at his laptop.
“Zhou Huaixia, how do you plan to monitor her?”
Zhou Huaixia looked down at her phone. “Can you make an access card?”
“I can do the main gate now,” Shen Yi replied. “
The buildings inside are trickier.
Different labs have different security systems, some quite complex.”
Tianhe Technology Park handled core research data, with encrypted systems and real-time monitoring. Hacking in would take time.
“Just the main gate for now.”
Zhou Huaixia decided.
“I’ll need to step out later to pick up a delivery.”
Outside the park gates was a long row of delivery lockers.
Food couriers probably weren’t allowed inside.
Lü Jin asked, “Are you hungry?”
“No.”
Zhou Huaixia replied calmly.
“I bought three binoculars.”
“Hand me your phones.”
Shen Yi extended his hand.
“I’ll set up the access cards.”
Twenty minutes later, the three of them stood outside the R&D center, binoculars in hand, observing from a distance.
“This angle works?”
“Yeah, I can see their windows.”
“Zhou Huaixia, these binoculars are garbage.”
“If you’re so great, buy better ones yourself.”
They huddled behind a tree, whispering.
Whenever someone passed by, they quickly hid their binoculars and scattered.
As the sky darkened, they struggled to see anything clearly.
Suddenly, the door to the stairwell opened.
The dim laptop light illuminated a stranger’s face.
Caught off guard, they locked eyes with him.