The first thing Xu Qian did after getting in the car was to take out a pack of cigarettes from her bag. In order to protect her voice after she started working as a streamer, she was determined to give up her smoking habit. However, she had no idea why she still bought a pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the vending machine downstairs before leaving her apartment that afternoon. Perhaps Xu Qian had a foreboding of what would happen next.
She knew that E-Goat liked her a lot, yet none of them had talked about it before. For E-Goat, once he confessed to Xu Qian, he would have to bear the risk of losing her and staying by her side. As for Xu Qian, she could continue to enjoy letting E-Goat work for her without feeling any guilt.
But this tacit understanding finally disappeared after E-Goat confessed to her. Since then, Xu Qian appeared to have become a little absent-minded. She did not even listen to the conversation between Zhang Heng and E-Goat. When the two talked halfway, Xu Qian looked for an excuse to go back to the car.
Xu Qian lit the cigarette in her hand. Since she had not smoked for quite some time, she choked on the first puff. And about a quarter of an hour later, Zhang Heng also left that small restaurant. He then opened the car door and got into the driver’s seat.
Xu Qian then took a quick look at E-Goat in the small restaurant through the car window. The latter was sitting in a chair alone, and she did not know what he was thinking.
Xu Qian also handed Zhang Heng a cigarette, but the latter refused.
“About you being stalked and discovering that your home was invaded, can you provide me with more details?”
“What do you mean by details?” Xu Qian put away the cigarette and frowned, “I thought this matter is over. Haven’t we already found the person who stalked me?”
“E-Goat was the one who followed you in the mall, but as far as I know, that was his first stalking experience. In other words, there is another person who spied on you and invaded your house. In fact, now I have reason to believe that E-Goat was just someone who took the blame for the real stalker. After you left, I chatted with him for a while and found out that after he chatted with someone named Walk The Moon, he decided to stalk you.”
“This… Maybe it’s just a coincidence?”
“I don’t think so,” Zhang Heng said. “Did you tell anyone else about going to the mall?”
“No.” Xu Qian shook her head, but after a thought crossed her mind, she hesitated a little before adding, “I mentioned it to my boyfriend. Why? Are you going to suspect my boyfriend now?
Zhang Heng did not answer her question. Instead, he said, “I asked E-Goat, and he told me that Walk The Moon seems to know you well, including some of your small habits and hobbies. This is why he decided to follow his advice. Other than that, Walk The Moon was the one that told him that you went to the mall…”
“You don’t know my boyfriend,” Xu Qian interrupted Zhang Heng. “I can be certain that he has nothing to do with this incident. My God, how could you say that?! You have never seen him, and neither do you even know what he looks like.”
“Yes. That is why I asked,” Zhang Heng said lightly.
“I have nothing to say about my boyfriend. He went to the earth a long time ago, and he is no longer in New Shanghai 0297. He has no reason to ask E-Goat to follow me,” Xu Qian replied, taking in two drags. “Your witchcraft is useless. Can’t you see that E-Goat is lying to you? He is a networking expert. He must have figured out a way to locate me. He just doesn’t want to admit it.”
“Then why did he admit that he followed you at the mall a few days ago?”
“I don’t know. I think he got too nervous when we approached him just now. It could be why he simply made up a lie that didn’t make sense. Or, maybe I was just hallucinating. Perhaps no one followed me all this while except for that one time at the mall. And perhaps no one broke into my apartment as well,” Xu Qian said.
“Do you really believe yourself there?” Zhang Heng asked rhetorically.
“Then what do you want me to believe in?” Xu Qian finally broke down. She threw away the cigarette in her hand and said anxiously, “Isn’t it a fact that E-Goat was the one that stalked me? He admitted it just now. And you told me that he wasn’t lying. So shouldn’t we stop here? I’m just a small-time streamer, and I don’t go out very often. It doesn’t make sense that so many people actually stalk me.”
“I’m trying to figure out the whole thing now.”
“But you can’t even save yourself.” Xu Qian blurted out. But she regretted it almost immediately. After a moment’s silence, she added, “Sorry, I didn’t mean that. You have helped me identify the stalker. It’s time for you to deal with your problems so that no one will suspect me when I report you to the authority eight days later.”
Zhang Heng listened to her with raised eyebrows. In the end, he decided not to say a word about it.
The two of them returned to their residence after that. As soon as Xu Qian returned to her apartment, she locked herself in the studio and began to prepare for the night’s livestream. Meanwhile, Zhang Heng sent an email to Miss F, asking her if she was available.
Miss F’s replied him in less than half a minute. Instead of answering his question, she sent him an address.
Zhang Heng looked at the location and found out that the place was not far from the movie theater where the two first met. Including the time when Zhang Heng asked Miss F to send him the photos, this was the second time he had to bother her. Hence, before leaving, he went to the mall and bought a gift for Miss F.
After that, Zhang Heng took a taxi to the Central Shuttle Station. While waiting for the shuttle, he searched for Xu Qian’s boyfriend on the internet.
Although Xu Qian had made it clear that she wanted Zhang Heng to investigate no further, Zhang Heng had no intention to give up. After meeting E-Goat, his interest in this matter had only become even greater.
The person with the name Walk The Moon acted very differently from E-Goat. Clearly, he was better at it than him. Not only did he stalk and monitored Xu Qian, but he also made use of E-Goat to distract Zhang Heng when he realized that he was being investigated. This was not something an enthusiastic fan would do.
As Xu Qian said, she was just a small-time streamer. Except for extreme fans like E-Goat, who had liked her for a long time, it stood to reason that no one would do such a thing to her. It only made Zhang Heng even more curious about Walk The Moon’s true identity.
