009 said righteously, "Host, let me tell you, picking locks is against the law."
Ning Yue felt a wave of awkwardness, as if a flock of imaginary crows were flying past her head, going CAW CAW CAW...
If she couldn't open the lock, it would all be for naught. Was she really going to fail at the very first hurdle?
"Are you stupid? The high-floor stairwell doors are locked, but the first and second floors definitely aren't. At worst, Host, you can just climb the stairs again."
What else could Ning Yue do? She had no choice but to take the elevator down to the first floor and start climbing the stairs all over again.
She was thankful she had arrived early. Otherwise, just climbing these twenty-plus floors would have exhausted her to death.
Meanwhile, in the CEO's office on the 27th floor, Li Zhengmin was still working overtime. He had even ordered takeout and made do with eating dinner at his desk.
Climbing a full twenty-seven floors, Ning Yue felt like her thighs had shrunk a whole size by the time she reached the top. After finally making it to the rooftop, she nearly collapsed onto the ground. She regretted not bringing a bottle of water; climbing all those stairs had left her completely parched.
It took quite a while for her to catch her breath and let her heart rate settle. Finding a spot sheltered from the wind, she waited silently.
The clock finally struck nine. Footsteps echoed from below, and gradually, Ning Yue heard the sound of someone talking.
"Since when did you become so poetic, wanting to look at the same moon with me? The moon isn't even full tonight."
A brief silence followed as he listened to the person on the other end.
"Alright, alright, whatever you say. It's true that I've been too busy these past few days to spend time with you. I'll be able to look at the moon with you in just a moment."
TAP TAP TAP. The footsteps drew closer to the rooftop, and Ning Yue slightly narrowed her eyes.
When the person stepped onto the rooftop, the glow of the rooftop billboard illuminated him clearly. It was indeed Li Zhengmin.
A man speaking on the phone in such a relaxed tone didn't seem like someone about to commit suicide. That meant there was definitely something fishy about Li Zhengmin's suicide in her previous life!
Busy video-calling the other party, Li Zhengmin failed to notice that there was already someone else on the rooftop. The call lasted for nearly ten minutes before the two finally seemed to be wrapping up.
Since he had to look at the screen during the video call, Li Zhengmin had put his phone on speaker. This allowed Ning Yue to recognize the caller as Li Zhengmin's wife, Mrs. Li.
"Alright, you've rested for about ten minutes now. Hurry up and take a picture of the moon for me. I'm still waiting to see it."
Li Zhengmin had no choice but to agree. Without hanging up the video call, he opened his camera app, pointed his phone at the sky, and started snapping pictures. Mrs. Li's voice drifted from the phone, "Oh, honey, the angle isn't good. Move a little bit."
Shifting left and right, Li Zhengmin moved closer to the edge of the rooftop. Perhaps because she was too focused on her own thoughts, Ning Yue didn't notice the two figures appearing on the rooftop until they were already there. They each held an iron rod, stealthily approaching Li Zhengmin as he busied himself with taking photos. Ning Yue finally knew the real cause of Li Zhengmin's death!
She quickly jumped up, shouting, "Watch out!" as she lunged at the two dark figures.
Startled by the sudden yell, Li Zhengmin shuddered and dropped his phone. When he turned around, he saw two burly men armed with iron rods heading in his direction. Meanwhile, another person—clearly the one who had just shouted the warning—was diving toward one of the men. She kicked the iron rod out of his hand and, catching him off guard, knocked him to the ground with an elbow strike.
Immediately after, she threw a punch at the second man. However, he was already on high alert, and her strike failed to connect. The young girl wasn't discouraged; her moves only grew more aggressive. Although she seemed to lack physical strength, she used clever leverage to finally bring the second man down.
The man let out a miserable howl and tried to flee. The girl ruthlessly stomped on his knee.
SNAP! The man stopped moving.
Ning Yue nearly collapsed onto the floor. She was so freaking exhausted!
She hadn't been in this world long enough to properly condition her body. Although she had the Fighting Skill her uncle had taught her memorized in her head, executing the moves felt rather clumsy. Fortunately, these two men were merely a bit stronger and bulkier than average. They knew a few moves but were far from experts. Otherwise, she probably would have lost her life right here alongside President Li today.
Alas, shortcuts were never easy to take; risks were everywhere!
"Who are you?"
Ning Yue was so tired she didn't want to say a single word. But she knew that if she didn't provide a reasonable explanation, Li Zhengmin might mistake her for an accomplice of the two men on the ground and send her straight to the Police Station.
"Mr. Li, your call probably hasn't disconnected yet. If you want to hear what I have to say, please turn off your phone first."
Li Zhengmin's eyes flickered slightly. A moment later, he picked up his phone and glanced at the screen. It showed that the video call had just ended. He couldn't help but purse his lips.
"You can speak now."
"Would you believe me if I said I saw this in a dream?" Ning Yue asked.
Li Zhengmin stared piercingly into the young girl's eyes, but all he could see was a crystal-clear sincerity.
"I know you don't believe me; I wouldn't either," she continued. "But I truly dreamt that you, Mr. Li, leaped off the rooftop of the Lihua Building.
"The dream was so incredibly realistic that I couldn't help but wonder if it might actually happen.
"Out of curiosity, I searched for information on the Li Company and saw your photos. I remembered seeing you once at a banquet hosted by the Yan family."
Li Zhengmin thought for a moment and finally realized who the young girl in front of him was. "You're the adopted daughter of the Yan family, the one who was switched at birth."
Ning Yue nodded expressionlessly.
She then went on, "If the person in my dream had been a stranger, I definitely wouldn't have cared. But since it was someone I recognized, I was afraid you really might be in danger. I figured I should come take a look. If nothing happened, that would be for the best—it would mean the dream was fake. If you actually came up to the rooftop, I could at least try to talk you out of doing anything foolish.
"But I never expected you to come up here on the phone. You clearly had no intention of committing suicide. Just as I was feeling confused, those two men showed up with iron rods...
"If I had known you were going to be murdered rather than commit suicide, I would have brought a weapon up here no matter what."
As a shrewd old fox who had navigated the business world for years, Li Zhengmin was not someone who could be easily fooled by a few words from a young girl. Yet, the girl was so composed as she spoke—so calm that it was impossible to suspect she was lying.
Then, he noticed the backpack she had set aside. It was obvious that after she got to the rooftop, she had found a sheltered spot to sit and wait. That was also why he hadn't noticed her when he first came up.
If she had approached him with ulterior motives, she could have easily come up with a much more plausible excuse. Furthermore, the timing of his wife's phone call today was too suspicious for him to ignore, which made it impossible for him to associate this girl with his attackers.
If she hadn't shown up today, his fate would have been getting clubbed over the head, thrown off the building, and ultimately ruled a suicide!
If that really happened, who would stand to gain the most?