That evening, Jiang Zhengkai and Jiao met at Uncle Cai"s noodle restaurant like usual. When Jiang Zhengkai first saw Jiao, it was as if he had stepped into a flashback of his past. It did not mean that he was fond of the way she looked, but rather that it was just too reminiscent of her style from back then. Similar to Cui Jing, Uncle Cai"s helper, Uncle Gao, also found Jiao"s new look hard to accept. However, Uncle Gao did not verbalize his thoughts and only showed it on his face.Jiang Zhengkai and Jiao left the restaurant after they were finished with their meals. As they held each other"s hands while walking side by side, Jiao asked Jiang Zhengkai, "Honey, what do you think? Doesn"t this remind you of the past?"
"Yes!" Jiang Zhengkai nodded, but immediately murmured, "I seem to prefer you as you usually are now."
"Really?" Jiao glanced at Jiang Zhengkai in a naughty manner. Then she wantonly extended her arms, skipped two steps ahead, turned her head to look behind her shoulder, and faced Jiang Zhengkai. "Actually, me too."
Jiang Zhengkai touched Jiao"s shoulder as they approached the alley. "Honey, be careful, stay safe!"
"Don"t worry! I"m clearly a bad girl!" Jiao answered him with a smile, then she asked, "Right, honey. Where are you going to do your makeup?"
"There is a car over there." Jiang Zhengkai grinned and pointed to the car parked in the hotel parking lot. "See if you can recognize me later."
"Okay!" Jiao quickly beamed.
"Go now!" Jiang Zhengkai gently kissed Jiao"s forehead, then said with loving concern, "Remember to be careful on your way over."
"Okay! I know! You always say the same thing every day," Jiao grumbled and waved her hand at him. "Okay! The I"ll get going first! You be careful as well. You"re not allowed to look for someone else!" Jiao then ran into the alley.
It wasn"t until Jiao had disappeared into the alley that Jiang Zhengkai felt rea.s.sured enough to head to the hotel"s parking lot. He knew that once Jiao entered the alley, she would no longer be in danger. After all, the entire alley was under police surveillance. Jiang Zhengkai walked to his car and got into the van next to his. "Well then! Zhang Ping, please help me with my makeup."
"Okay, Inspector Jiang." Mu Mingyuan"s colleague Zhang Ping smiled at Jiang Zhengkai. "What style would you prefer?"
“Style?” Jiang Zhengkai was shocked. “Whatever style! As long as it"s different from my usual style.”
"Ok! Then please sit here." Zhang Ping led Jiang Zhengkai to the back of the van, where she gave Jiang Zhengkai a full makeover.
Jiao walked into the alley and received surprising looks from the other ladies. Some of them thought that Jiao looked very familiar, while others just a.s.sumed she was new. After all, most of them who had been familiar with Jiao were already dead. The ones lucky enough to be alive had already fled the alley or even the city.
In the surveillance room, Zhang Nan and the policemen stood in front of the monitor and a.s.siduously watched the screen. They could see a woman entering the alley, but no one thought that she was Jiao. The woman slowly approached Zhang Nan"s chosen location. They had obviously been deceived by Jiao"s current appearance.
Jiao arrived at the spot that she had recently marked as her "station". She looked around, then casually stood there, waiting. This was the typical behavior of a prost.i.tute. Sometimes, they would go into the room to check the surroundings, but there were also times when they didn"t care. After all, this was the place they would go to every day.
After Zhang Ping finished transforming him, Jiang Zhengkai looked at himself in the mirror. His clear-cut short hair had turned into shoulder-length locks. His righteous eyes now had the glint of a treacherous villain. Even his nose and mouth looked slightly different.
"What do you think, Inspector Jiang?" Zhang Ping looked at Jiang Zhengkai in the mirror and asked, "Do you like your new look?"
"Not bad! Not bad." Jiang Zhengkai nodded with satisfaction. "If I had long hair, wouldn"t it have been difficult to change?"
"That"s ok! I would"ve braided your hair." Zhang Ping grinned.
"Braid? I am not from the Qing Dynasty!" After mocking himself briefly, Jiang Zhengkai thanked Zhang Ping, who had burst into laughter. Then he exited the van and headed to the alley.
From a distance, Jiang Zhengkai saw Jiao rejecting a man who had approached her. He smiled and lowered his head. He then walked to Jiao and flirtatiously smirked, "Babe, wanna play?"
Jiao found someone hitting on her yet again. She looked at Jiang Zhengkai in disgust, then looked him up and down before tersely rejecting him on the spot. "Not available!"
"Not available? What are you doing here then if you"re not available?" Jiang Zhengkai sneered and leaned over with his body. He had one hand against the wall, and swayed his leg in a suggestive manner. "Well? Are you here to waste your time?"
"Yeah! I like to waste my time." Jiao ferociously glared at Jiang Zhengkai and fiercely responded, "It"s better than you taking up my s.p.a.ce over here!"
Jiang Zhengkai could tell that Jiao wasn"t interested in him at all. He pursed his lips and held back his smile. He pointed behind him. "You"d better go and find out who I am! If you refuse to comply with my request, then I"ll have to use force."
"Oh? You think I"ll be afraid of you?" Jiao looked at Jiang Zhengkai icily, then said, "Fine! If you are so powerful, then come with me!"
"You..." Jiang Zhengkai was quite surprised. Did she recognize him? Or was she planning on handing him over to the police? No matter what, he could not continue to stand there stupidly since a woman on the street had already called on him to follow her. Jiang Zhengkai thought about it, then followed Jiao and walked towards Zhang Nan"s chosen location.
"What do you think? Tonight I will make you..." Before Jiang Zhengkai could finish his sentence, Jiao couldn"t help but cover his mouth. "Okay! Enough! Just because you"re dressed like a gangster doesn"t mean that you really are one! Did you really think that you could pretend to be anyone you wanted to?"
"Ah?" Jiang Zhengkai widened his mouth in shock. "You… you really recognized me?"
"Yeah!" Jiao nodded. She casually looked behind them and whispered, "Not at first, but when I saw your clothes and shoes, I figured it out. How could I not recognize the items I bought them for you?"
"Oh!" Jiang Zhengkai dejectedly followed Jiao to the apartment. Who would"ve thought that dressing up their significant others would actually turn out to be so useful? It turns out that women do not recognize people by paying attention to their height, posture, or facial characteristics like a man. Instead, one"s clothing and shoes were more accurate tools for women to use to identify a person.
Jiao opened the door and entered the apartment with Jiang Zhengkai. The two of them entered the south bedroom arm in arm. The policemen in the surveillance room were a little surprised to see them. One of the policemen turned around and asked Lu Xiaoqiang, "What? Did we replace the people in the room today?"
“No!” Lu Xiaoqiang glanced at Jiang Zhengkai and Jiao, who had just entered the room. He smiled and replied, “When they are finished, ask them for hotel fees.” Although Lu Xiaoqiang was very surprised to see them, he also recognized Jiang Zhengkai"s clothes. He was always with him, and thus was familiar with all his outfits.
Jiang Zhengkai and Jiao went to the bed and took off their clothes. Then Jiang Zhengkai pressed the b.u.t.ton at the head of the bed. The policemen in the surveillance room were surprised to see the signal ringing, but they still powered up the bedroom.
"Makeup can really change how a person looks," sighed a policeman in front of the monitor.
In the bedroom, Jiang Zhengkai and Jiao slowly got into their roles. After the two of them made love in bed, Jiao laid beneath Jiang Zhengkai and whispered softly, "Honey, our efforts were wasted again today."