On the first day of work this week, Ji Mingrui, along with Su Xiaolan and Jiang Yu, was called into the office by Wu Zhibin.
Wu Zhibin was uncharacteristically silent. He had just received the files transferred from another team. After a long moment, he slowly said, “Around 4 AM last night, a homicide occurred in the Yangyuan residential complex.”
Hearing the word “homicide,” Ji Mingrui’s ears immediately perked up, and his body involuntarily stood up straight. The same went for Su Xiaolan and Jiang Yu.
They were still just rookies at present. The assignments they received basically had absolutely nothing to do with “homicides.” Even if they encountered related tasks, once they were determined to be criminal cases, they had to be handed over to other teams. So, they truly hadn’t expected Wu Zhibin to call them over to say this.
“The deceased was a 23-year-old female, full name Yang Zhenzhen. She had just come to Huanan City a while ago for her boyfriend and had been living in Yangyuan for a month,” Wu Zhibin said. “The landlord knocked on her door this morning, and after getting no response for a long time, opened the door to find her lying on the bed, already dead.”
As Wu Zhibin spoke, he turned his computer monitor toward them.
On the screen was a crime scene photo. It was a very simple small rental apartment with one bedroom and one living room. The girl had clearly put thought into decorating it after renting the place: a newly purchased vanity table, a plush rug, and even the curtains were newly changed white lace screens tied with tassel ribbons. It was just that right now, the screens were splattered with blood. There was even a terrifying bloody handprint on them—she had struggled fiercely before she died.
The scene on the bed was so gruesome that one couldn’t bear a second glance. The beige bedsheets were covered in massive bloodstains. The girl was completely naked, her face tightly covered with a pillow so her features couldn’t be seen. Only her seaweed-like hair was scattered all over the bed.
A girl, living alone, had someone break into her home and murder her.
Ji Mingrui meticulously reviewed the various decorations, furniture, and details in the photo, summarizing the characteristics of the case. Finally, his eyes landed on a certain spot, and his pupils suddenly dilated violently.
He saw the girl’s slender wrist hanging over the edge of the bed. On that wrist was a familiar bracelet, with a star pendant resting on the back of her hand.
Jiang Yu: “How could it be her?”
Su Xiaolan had clearly noticed that bracelet as well. Her entire body froze: “Yesterday… yesterday I escorted her to the bottom of her building…”
“The autopsy results aren’t out yet, but there are obvious signs of sexual assault on the body. There are fatal wounds on the victim’s head and abdomen. Preliminary estimates place the time of death at no more than six hours ago. We are currently investigating the victim’s interpersonal relationships and whether she had conflicts with anyone before she died.”
“You guys can probably guess why I called the few of you over. According to the investigation, you saw her at the bar last night.”
Su Xiaolan was in a trance, forgetting to answer Wu Zhibin’s words for a moment.
It was close to 2 AM at the time. She had given the girl a hug, and before leaving, the girl had smiled and said, ‘Thank you guys. If you hadn’t been here today, I probably would have lost even more face. You’re right, how hard could it be to find a two-legged man?’ Su Xiaolan had watched her push open the unit door and walk in, and then the elevator doors slowly closed.
Who could have imagined that a mere two hours after taking her home, she would be brutally murdered, dying in the room she had so carefully decorated?
Only two hours apart.
Su Xiaolan knew thinking this way was pointless, but she still couldn’t help but think: If I had waited a bit longer last night, left a little later, or even gone upstairs to keep her company for a bit, would the outcome have been different?
Chi Qing stayed at home. Even though the apartment was clearly empty, it remained packed with voices.
Of the voices he had heard all day today, half of them were talking about “that murdered girl in the neighboring residential complex.”
[So they say, a girl living alone outside is really not safe.]
There were also people whose mouths said, ‘How pitiful, a perfectly fine young girl gone just like that. I saw her last time, she was very lively,’ yet in some dark corner of their hearts, they secretly thought: [That girl, huh. Good thing we didn’t agree on the price and I didn’t rent the apartment to her. Who knows if she offended someone… If a murder happened, I could forget about ever renting this place out again.]
[…]
Not only that, but disputes were also breaking out in the home of the model couple in his building.
Chi Qing was in the kitchen pouring hot water. He had just picked up the glass, and before the water could be poured in, an all-pervasive distorted voice suddenly said:
[He drank too much yesterday, and the moment he came back he said, ‘Don’t you think Tongtong doesn’t look like me?’ What did he mean by that? Did he find out something? If he wants to take Tongtong for a paternity test, what should I do?]
The apartment Chi Qing currently lived in had four units per floor sharing one elevator. The combined voices from upstairs and downstairs were no less than a small wet market.
And this was only the first day.
Chi Qing didn’t know how long he could hold out in this kind of environment.
The psychological doctor: “Are you canceling this week’s consultation?”
“Yes.”
Listening to the voice on the other end of the phone, the psychological doctor felt something wasn’t quite right. Although Chi Qing usually spoke coldly, he seemed exceptionally devoid of warmth today, so he probed, “May I take the liberty to ask the reason?”
“Something came up,” Chi Qing pressed his ear, but it was of no use. “…It’s inconvenient to go out.”
The psychological doctor didn’t know exactly what this “something” was. Even with the consultations having progressed to this point, he still didn’t understand this client surnamed Chi very well.
The doctor asked: “Then what about next week?”
“Not sure.”
The doctor said helplessly: “…Alright. Then let me know when you have time, and we’ll schedule it then. If you experience any major emotional fluctuations during this period, you can also contact me. My advice to you is still to try and interact with people more.”
Right now, the very last thing Chi Qing wanted to interact with was people.
After canceling all social interactions that required going out, he started looking at apartments on an app.
There were two reasons: first, there were too many residents here, making it very noisy; and second, the lease on his current apartment was also expiring soon.
There were many listings on the currently popular rental app “Anjia,” but very few met Chi Qing’s requirements. After picking through them for a while, Chi Qing got annoyed and simply clicked the consultation button next to the rental app. An employee from the Anjia company directly connected with him as a client.
– Hello, how may I help you?
The agent’s profile picture showed a man in a blue shirt with regular facial features, slightly upturned corners of his mouth, and a moderately sized mole near his lips, making him look very dependable. Beside it displayed his employee ID and name: Anjia 11963085, Zhou Zhiyi.
Chi Qing was concise and to the point.
– Looking for an apartment.
– May I ask what your requirements are? Such as area, layout size, etc.
Chi Qing’s requirements were clearly different from everyone else’s.
– Just need one with few people.
– …Huh?
Chi Qing explained again:
– Few residents.
The other side quickly realized: You prefer a quieter residential complex environment, right? I have a few apartments here with two elevators for one household, shall I recommend them for you to take a look? Currently, there are very few listings for one elevator per household, and the layouts are all too big… If you need it, I can help you keep looking.
The other side: Where is the residential complex you are currently living in? If you are more familiar with the environment around your current complex, we can first look nearby to see if there are any suitable listings.
Chi Qing: Nearby?
The other side: Places like Haimao, Tianrui, Yangyuan.
The other side: However, you probably won’t be able to view Yangyuan today. A homicide occurred, and the police are locking down the complex.
After agreeing on a time and place to view the apartments with the agent, Chi Qing endured the noise and left the house, only to run into Ji Mingrui at the entrance of the agreed-upon residential complex.
Only a narrow street separated the Tianrui residential complex and Yangyuan. Both sides of the street were lined with storefronts on the ground floors of their respective complexes. The afternoon sun was blazing; the long period of rainy weather a while ago seemed to have exhausted all the rain, as it had been sunny all these past few days.
The sun warmed the cold temperature in the air. When Chi Qing left the house, he only wore a thin jacket over his clothes.
Ji Mingrui’s car was parked at the entrance of Yangyuan’s south gate. Because their rookie team had been in close contact with the deceased last night, they were specially dispatched to Yangyuan to assist with the investigation. The complex was locked down, and the entry and exit of personnel had to be strictly recorded: “Have you seen this person? Around 4 AM last night, did he appear near the complex?”
In Ji Mingrui’s hand was a photo, and the person in the photo was remarkably the bartender who had a conflict with the girl last night.
The security guard looked closely at the photo and shook his head: “Can’t remember clearly. At 4 AM, probably not.”
Ji Mingrui put away the photo, stuffing it back into his chest pocket. Looking up, he saw Chi Qing standing at the entrance of the complex opposite them.
Ji Mingrui crossed the street in two or three strides, looking up at the name of the complex: “Tianrui Complex? Don’t you live next door, why are you here?”
Chi Qing regretted it the moment he stepped out the door. The voices in his ears were so numerous they were about to explode: police sirens, the sounds of canvas inquiries filling his ears, crowds constantly coming and going at the complex entrance, countless people speaking simultaneously, and distorted voices stacking together, making it impossible to hear clearly.
Noticing that Chi Qing didn’t seem to hear him, Ji Mingrui waved a hand in front of his face and shouted, “What are you spacing out for?”
Chi Qing: “I can hear you, no need to shout so loudly.”
Ji Mingrui: “I’m asking why you’re here.”
Chi Qing: “Looking at apartments.”
Having been busy all day, Ji Mingrui stood side by side with Chi Qing. His gaze crossed the street in front of them, landing on the words “Yangyuan” at the entrance of the complex opposite them. He sighed: “Did you know something happened at Yangyuan? You know the deceased, we even saw her at the bar last night.”
Chi Qing lifted his eyes, his gaze finally showing some slight fluctuation.
Ji Mingrui said, “It’s that girl who went through a breakup at the bar last night. Her name is Yang Zhenzhen.”
“This case is a bit special. There are no signs of forced entry, and the doors and windows haven’t been pried. She must have opened the door for the killer herself. Preliminary suspicions are that it’s someone close to her and known to her. She just came to Huanan City for her boyfriend and doesn’t know many people… Of course, there are also service personnel, like delivery drivers and couriers, who are a demographic that easily gains residents’ trust.”
Chi Qing recalled the sentence in the girl’s heart last night: [Fuck him, I’m going to find someone way better than him in the future.]
When he heard that sentence at the time, he never thought she wouldn’t have a “future” anymore. A mere few hours later, she closed her eyes forever.
Ji Mingrui could only say this much; it was inconvenient to reveal more detailed specifics. After catching his breath briefly, he dove back into canvassing.
Chi Qing stood in place for a while. He didn’t wait for the agent, but he did wait for a few WeChat messages from Xie Lin.
– Heard from Officer Ji that you’re looking for an apartment.
– I have a vacant one. The rent is negotiable, and there’s free private car pick-up and drop-off for apartment viewing.
– Care to consider it?
