Monster - Chapter 15
Chapter 15: The Kind Lin Sandie
Every Saturday, Yan Ting would thoughtfully carve out time to spend with Lin Sandie. However, to prevent anyone from discovering the unspeakable secret between the renowned entrepreneur and her female employee, their dates usually took place at Lin Sandie's home.
As a cover, Yan Ting had even bought an apartment near Lin Sandie's. Before coming over today, she had gone for a morning run for a few kilometers along the nearby riverfront promenade, only knocking on Lin Sandie's door when she was covered in a sheen of sweat.
Lin Sandie was tending to the potted plants on her balcony. When she opened the door for Yan Ting, she was wearing a gray-white shirt and a plaid apron, her long hair tied up, with a pair of gold-rimmed glasses perched on her nose.
"I bought you breakfast," Yan Ting said as she entered, giving Lin Sandie a peck on the cheek.
"Go take a shower. Your hair is all damp," Lin Sandie said with a smile, taking the breakfast and closing the door.
"Want to join me?" Yan Ting kicked off her running shoes, as naturally as if she were in her own home. She placed her phone on the coffee table and headed for the bathroom.
"No, I still need to trim the overgrown branches," Lin Sandie replied. She put the breakfast on the dining table and hurried back to her room to find a change of clothes for Yan Ting from the wardrobe.
"Your hobby is a lot like my dad's."
Yan Ting didn't seem to mind. She went into the bathroom, and soon Lin Sandie knocked, handing her the clean clothes Yan Ting kept at her place. Leaning against the doorframe, she said, "There are clean towels in the cabinet inside. I put a cover on your toothbrush. Use the red cup."
"You're so fussy~"
"I put the moisturizer in the leftmost cabinet above the sink, and your dedicated toothpaste…"
"Go away!" Yan Ting's voice, laced with laughter, came from the bathroom.
"Alright, I'll go back to my pruning. Call me if you need anything." Lin Sandie tapped the bathroom door twice with the back of her knuckles.
"Go on, you obsessive-compulsive!"
Lin Sandie stood silently at the bathroom door for another moment, confirming that Yan Ting was showering, before walking back to the living room. With her back to the camera installed in her home, she pretended to search for pruning tools under the coffee table while secretly setting Yan Ting's red phone to silent. Then, she unlocked it with the password and began scrolling through it for any useful information.
Having been by Yan Ting's side for so long, there were some things the latter couldn't hide from a careful observer like Lin Sandie—her phone password, for instance.
Soon, in Yan Ting's recent contacts, Lin Sandie saw that she had sent two videos to a man named Cheng Fan. The videos appeared to be recorded by a roadside camera, and the footage was not very clear. One was shot from an angle in front and to the side, from a considerable distance. Lin Sandie saw the timestamp in the bottom right corner; it was from a few days ago, early in the morning. The video showed Feng Li, who hadn't been seen for days, getting into a black car with a woman who was drinking bubble tea.
A misty rain was falling when the video was shot. Coupled with the fact that the woman was drinking bubble tea, the cup obscured the lower half of her face, making it impossible to see her features clearly. All that was visible was her loose, yellow sweater.
The second video still featured the black car driven by Feng Li, but this time it was filmed from an angle behind and to the side. The car, which had been driving normally, suddenly went berserk and slammed violently into a pile of trash on the roadside. A moment later, the woman in the yellow sweater pushed open the back door and ran out. By then, the rain was pouring down, and the woman's face remained a blur, though she appeared to be quite young. She seemed to be shouting for help before quickly disappearing from the frame.
The videos were short, the images flashing by, but Lin Sandie still felt a shiver run down her spine. She rewound the second video and played it again. She noticed that the young woman in the yellow sweater, while supposedly shouting for help, seemed to glance at the camera right as she got out of the car.
She knew she was being filmed, but she wasn't flustered. Instead, she was calmly putting on a performance after committing murder.
A tremor went through Lin Sandie, and she immediately closed the video.
Below the two videos, she saw a cold, hard command Yan Ting had sent to the recipient: Find her, kill her.
Frowning, Lin Sandie scrolled through the phone a bit more and saw that Yan Ting had recently started having people tail Xing Meilu.
Evidently, Xing Meilu's frequent visits had ignited Yan Ting's insane jealousy.
Restoring the phone to how it was when she first opened it and turning the volume back up, Lin Sandie picked up the pruning shears she had "finally found" under the coffee table and walked toward the balcony.
To monitor her, Yan Ting had also installed a camera in her living room. It captured everything, making Lin Sandie feel like a true caged canary.
"Failed! How could it have failed?!"
As Lin Sandie was tending to her potted plants on the balcony, she vaguely heard Yan Ting's furious, icy voice from the living room. She must have just finished her shower and received a call.
Was Feng Li really dead? Was she killed by that woman with the bubble tea? And then Yan Ting sent someone to kill that woman, but they failed?
Yan Ting's subordinates had probably all mutated into monsters. For them to fail, that woman must be a monster too, right?
Lin Sandie silently pieced together her own theories, pretending to be unfazed as she trimmed the overly lush greenery.
Although she was intimate with Yan Ting, their relationship had been forced underground after Yan Ting got married. Yan Ting never told Lin Sandie anything about the Upper House.
It was only from occasionally overhearing her phone calls that Lin Sandie guessed Yan Ting was trying to work her way into the parliament. As for how far she had gotten, or how many unscrupulous things she had done to get there, Lin Sandie knew nothing at all.
"San San, something's come up. I have to go back," said Yan Ting, sliding open the glass door to the balcony, an apologetic look on her face.
"Is everything okay?" Lin Sandie stood up, her expression full of concern.
"It's fine. I'll handle it." A smile touched the corners of Yan Ting's lips as she wrapped an arm around Lin Sandie's waist, her every word and action treating Lin Sandie like a flower in a greenhouse.
Lin Sandie pushed her glasses up her nose, leaned down, and pecked Yan Ting's forehead, the muscles in her back tense.
"I'm going to the optical shop this afternoon. My glasses keep slipping, so I'm thinking of getting a new pair."
"Hmm… get the same style you're wearing now. I like you in gold-rimmed glasses," Yan Ting said after a moment of inspection, her tone brooking no argument.
"Okay," Lin Sandie nodded. Whatever Yan Ting liked, she would unconditionally follow her suggestion.
"Come home early. Don't stay out too late these days." Yan Ting affectionately stroked Lin Sandie's ear before saying her goodbyes and leaving.
Watching Yan Ting close the door behind her, Lin Sandie mentally thanked the person who had caused Yan Ting's plan to "fail." She put away her pruning tools, pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, and went into the bathroom. First, she turned on the exhaust fan, then began to frantically clean the bathroom Yan Ting had just used.
She tossed the used towel and dirty clothes into a bucket reserved for Yan Ting, poured in a large amount of disinfectant, threw away the toothbrush Yan Ting had used and replaced it with an identical one. As for the bottles of body wash, shampoo, and so on, Lin Sandie sprayed them all with rubbing alcohol and wiped them down meticulously.
After finishing the small items, Lin Sandie began to clean the entire washroom—the shower, the toilet, the sink—not missing a single corner. By the time she was done, her back ached. She then started washing Yan Ting's towel and dirty clothes, adding fabric softener at the end for Yan Ting's sake.
She couldn't help it. A monster had used these things, and Lin Sandie didn't want the scent of a monster in her home.
If Yan Ting had lain on the bed or sat on the sofa, Lin Sandie would have washed all the sheets, duvet covers, and sofa covers after she left.
Thank heavens Yan Ting was getting busier and busier; sometimes a whole week would pass without a single visit.
More than two hours later, Lin Sandie had finished cleaning everything. She took a shower herself, then threw away the now-cold breakfast Yan Ting had brought her. She took out some cereal and milk and finally sat down to enjoy her own breakfast.
Outside the window, the spring day was bright and beautiful. Lin Sandie watched the light filter through the balcony and spill onto the living room floor, a wave of concern for Xing Meilu's safety washing over her.
She hadn't spent much time with Xing Meilu and didn't know her personality very well, but Lin Sandie believed that the capable police officer was by no means a fool.
She must have sensed something. Over the past few years, so many people around Lin Sandie had died under mysterious circumstances. Anyone with half a brain who looked into it would realize that Yan Ting had to be involved.
If Xing Meilu knew Yan Ting was a possessive lunatic and still deliberately sought me out, was she trying to use me as bait?
Lin Sandie chewed on her cereal, examining Xing Meilu's behavior with a rational, calm gaze. But having prepared for the worst in all matters these past few years, she also knew that Yan Ting was not someone to be trifled with.
The current Yan Ting had already established an intricate network of relationships with people in the Upper House. This was not something Xing Meilu could dismantle. It was more likely that Yan Ting could have her killed without causing the slightest ripple.
Lin Sandie was all too aware of Yan Ting's power. The very fact that she had been steadily eliminating people from Lin Sandie's life for years was proof that she had powerful figures backing her.
So what could she do to make Xing Meilu stay away from her?
Lin Sandie couldn't help but sigh. The once-delicious breakfast now tasted bland. She propped her chin on her hand, thinking hard.
Should she secretly tell Xing Meilu that it's dangerous to be near her, that she should stay away?
"No…" Even if Lin Sandie didn't know Xing Meilu's personality, she was sure the officer would never obediently listen to her.
Divert her attention elsewhere?
Suddenly, an idea struck her. She remembered the woman with the bubble tea who might have killed Feng Li.
Perhaps she could secretly leak this information to Xing Meilu, get her to investigate something else and stop circling her. Later, once Xing Meilu fully understood how terrifying Yan Ting was, she could warn her to stay away.
Having decided on her next course of action, Lin Sandie quickly finished the cereal in her bowl. After cleaning up, she went back to her study and took out a red, vintage typewriter from a large drawer beneath her desk.
Lin Sandie had spent a month's salary on it at a second-hand market. It satisfied two of her requirements: first, it could type without leaving her handwriting; second, unlike a computer, it wouldn't leave a traceable digital footprint.
As she was setting up the typewriter, Lin Sandie heard a "tap, tap" sound from the study window. Curious, she pulled back the curtain and saw a sleek, glossy crow standing outside, pecking at the window frame with its beak.
Lin Sandie glanced at it but paid it no mind. She left the curtain open, letting the sunlight stream through the glass into the study. She sat back down at her desk and began to type.
The crow tilted its head, observing the focused Lin Sandie inside. It couldn't see what she was typing through the window, but it clearly didn't care. It simply watched her with its deep red eyes.
Author's Notes
A little tidbit: Lin Sandie's obsessive-compulsive tendencies developed only after she began seeing monsters.
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