Stealth Walker Episode 9 Recap
> Stealth Walker Recap
After being covered by a colleague who claimed she was with a customer, Lin Qiang discovered Shengde also working at the Haoting Hotel as a staff member. She quickly pulled him aside, urging him to leave. However, Shengde demanded the money he believed Lin Qiang had taken after knocking him out during a previous operation. Lin Qiang, unable to fully explain at that moment, insisted he leave. Just then, Chu Jiaojiao arrived, asking if the two knew each other.
Taking a cue from Lin Qiang's expression, Shengde quickly claimed he was a new employee familiarizing himself with the senior staff. He also picked up on Chu Jiaojiao referring to Lin Qiang as "Qian," and adopted that name as well, successfully maintaining Lin Qiang's cover. After Shengde departed, Chu Jiaojiao, visibly distressed, confessed to Lin Qiang that her mother needed 100,000 yuan for surgery, and Qiu Hu had refused to help.
She pleaded with Lin Qiang for assistance, who promised to find a way. Lin Qiang later found Shengde again and told him she needed his help with a new task, promising to share the profits. Shengde was initially wary, accusing Lin Qiang of trying to trick him once more. Lin Qiang then explained that their previous gains had been intercepted by Qiu Hu, the hotel owner.
She reasoned that a direct confrontation with Qiu Hu was impossible, given his large number of men. Instead, they needed to identify vulnerabilities and seize a discreet opportunity to reclaim their money. She also revealed that her presence at the hotel was strategic, as it offered access to many wealthy individuals, providing avenues for additional income. Convinced by her reasoning, Shengde agreed to cooperate and pledged to keep her true identity, particularly her current alias Wang Qian, a secret.
With Shengde on board, Lin Qiang approached Zhang Xianhe. She directly asked if he was searching for the individual Qiu Hu had concealed in the wine crate, playfully mirroring his previous flirtatious advances. Zhang Xianhe, in turn, threw her onto the bed, demanding to know the person's location. Lin Qiang offered to find the person quickly if he paid her 100,000 yuan and collaborated on a specific task.
Zhang Xianhe agreed but warned her against flirting with every man she met. Later, while drinking at the Haoting Hotel, Zhang Xianhe deliberately detained Dingding, a waitress who regularly delivered food to Fang Lin. He pretended to be enamored with her and insisted she drink with him. The supervisor promptly summoned Lei Jie. Lei Jie initially resisted Zhang Xianhe’s advances, citing hotel rules.
However, Zhang Xianhe offered her a significant sum of money, insisting Dingding be sent to his room the next day. Tempted by the money, Lei Jie compelled a reluctant Dingding to comply, dismissing Dingding's pleas not to be sent to a client's room and her concern about delivering food to Fang Lin. Dingding, under duress from Lei Jie, went to Zhang Xianhe's room and began to undress.
However, Zhang Xianhe merely covered her with his coat and instructed her not to speak about the night, giving her hush money before allowing her to leave. Simultaneously, Lin Qiang, in disguise, delivered food to Fang Lin. While he ate, she discreetly photographed him and received a paper crane containing a chemical equation. Upon her return, Lin Qiang presented Zhang Xianhe with Fang Lin's photo and the paper crane.
Although Zhang Xianhe initially questioned the blurry image, Lin Qiang confidently affirmed it was the target. Zhang Xianhe made the agreed-upon payment, stating the remainder would be disbursed once Fang Lin was successfully located. Lin Qiang, seizing the opportunity, demanded an additional payment, subtly using Fang Lin's name. Zhang Xianhe questioned her choice to involve Lei Jie to stall Dingding, suggesting simpler methods.
Lin Qiang clarified that Dingding's timid nature meant she wouldn't skip her delivery without Lei Jie's direct command, and any direct interference would risk exposing their plan. She then sarcastically expressed guilt for sending Dingding "to a wolf," to which Zhang Xianhe jokingly accused her of jealousy. Lin Qiang subsequently presented her extraction plan to Cheng Jingsong.
She proposed using a sanitation truck to abduct Fang Lin, as it was the most discreet method to evade any of Qiu Hu's potential lookouts. After the abduction, Li Yan, disguised as a traffic police officer, would intercept the truck to verify Fang Lin's identity. Lin Qiang explained that this approach would prevent Zhang Xianhe from becoming suspicious, allowing them to continue gathering intelligence on Ma Hongtao through him.
She confirmed that Shengde was procuring the truck and would follow a predetermined route for Li Yan’s intervention. Cheng Jingsong expressed reservations about involving Shengde, citing his untrustworthiness. However, Lin Qiang vouched for Shengde, affirming their strong bond and loyalty. She assured Cheng Jingsong that Shengde was aware of her cover and would not reveal her background, emphasizing his potential as a valuable asset.
The night before the operation, Zhang Xianhe delivered a lunchbox to Lin Qiang, offering a cryptic warning to "be careful tomorrow in the operation." Lin Qiang ate the meal and fell into a deep, drugged sleep. She awoke the next morning to Chu Jiaojiao's urgent knocking, inquiring about her mother's surgery funds. Lin Qiang immediately realized she had been tricked and missed the scheduled operation.
She found a note from Zhang Xianhe containing the address and passcode for a safe, instructing her to take the money and leave Lingnan. Enraged at being outmaneuvered, Lin Qiang found a stranger to make an anonymous phone call to Qiu Hu, informing him to immediately go to Dongling Road, or the "goods would be gone." Lin Qiang later confessed her mistake to Cheng Jingsong, explaining how Zhang Xianhe had drugged her food, causing her to miss the operation.
She expressed her disbelief at her own lapse in judgment and regret for having trusted him. She informed Cheng Jingsong about Zhang Xianhe's note and the money she found, but admitted she didn't understand why he wanted her to leave Lingnan. She still held onto hope that Fang Lin was with Qiu Hu, providing an opportunity to locate him, but worried about Zhang Xianhe's fate if Qiu Hu had indeed intercepted him.
Meanwhile, Qiu Hu confronted Zhang Xianhe, recognizing him as Ma Hongtao's infamous, low-profile foster son who managed the syndicate's finances abroad. An enraged Qiu Hu threatened to kill him. Zhang Xianhe retaliated by warning Qiu Hu that if he were to die, all of the company's financial records and distribution channels, currently in Zhang Xianhe's possession, would be perceived as having fallen into Qiu Hu's hands.
He stated that countless individuals within Ma Hongtao's organization would then seek to eliminate Qiu Hu, urging him to reconsider his actions. Zhang Xianhe clarified that he was not acting on Ma Hongtao's orders but was attempting to establish his own business by rescuing Fang Lin.
