Qiqi nodded and teased, "What can I do? Tell me, in this world, besides you, who else has a perfect hourglass figure like yours?"
Zhuang Ruotong nodded. "Oh, that's true!"
She really wasn't modest.
Qiqi was speechless. "What are you up to? Why are you acting like a thief? What goodies are you hiding in your bag, sneaking around like that?"
Zhuang Ruotong made a "shh" gesture, wrapped an arm around Qiqi's slender waist, and slipped into a corner of the stairwell. "Hey, you hit the nail on the head! Today, I'm here to play 007!"
"007? What are you on about?"
Zhuang Ruotong gave a mysterious smile and pulled a small black box from her bag—it turned out to be a mini camera!
Qiqi gasped. "Since when did you switch careers to paparazzi?"
Zhuang Ruotong rolled her eyes. "Paparazzi? I'm a detective, Miss 007, got it?"
She turned on the camera and flipped through it casually. "Too bad, I haven't caught anything substantial yet..."
"What are you trying to film?" Qiqi asked, curious.
Zhuang Ruotong blinked. "There's a government land auction here today, you know that, right?"
Qiqi nodded. "Yeah, the suburban land auction! I heard all the rich real estate developers are here. What, are you hunting for a sugar daddy?"
Zhuang Ruotong pouted. "Pfft, a sugar daddy? I wouldn't even look twice at that level of sugar daddy! I'm a golden catch myself—if I'm hunting, it'd be for someone like Lu Wei or Zhou Yi..."
"Come on, get serious!" Qiqi cut off her daydreaming.
Zhuang Ruotong dropped the flirtatious act and said, "My dad's company recently wanted to do a public welfare development project and had its eye on this land to build a school. He sent a representative to today's auction!"
Qiqi was astonished. "Isn't your dad in the jewelry business? Since when did he get into real estate?"
Zhuang Ruotong replied, "Oh, my dad suddenly had a change of heart! He's not building the school to make money—just to give kids who can't afford school a fair chance!"
"Oh, that's a good thing!" Qiqi nodded—in this materialistic, profit-driven society, Zhuang's dad doing this showed he was a businessman with a conscience and a sense of responsibility.
Zhuang Ruotong pouted. "My dad has a rare moment of kindness once in a blue moon! But then that Xia Group had to compete with us, wanting to buy the land for a resort! My dad told me their boss, a woman named Xia Liu, has already colluded with city officials, so this auction is just for show—the winner was decided long ago! So, my dad has decided to give up on this project!"
"Ah? No way?" Qiqi felt disappointed.
Zhuang Ruotong nodded. "But I'm not going to let that happen! So I'm helping my dad get this project!"
Qiqi asked, "How are you planning to help?"
Zhuang Ruotong raised the camera in her hand. "I heard Xia Liu is here today. If this land is really rigged like my dad said, she'll win the bid today. After that, she'll naturally treat the officials to a banquet. With all that eating and drinking, some info is bound to leak... So, I've decided to secretly follow them and film their dealings. Then I'll post it online and see if they still dare to take bribes!"