Lady's Home

Chapter 36

“Uncle Lin, before you came, I looked through the entire building and found that most people didn’t lock their doors after moving out because they took the locks with them. There are unlocked empty apartments on the third and fourth floors, but with her strength, she can only move the body to the next room, not upstairs. So she’s waiting for the neighbors to move out.” Jian Dongping said with a smile, “It’s not difficult to do this when it’s late at night. She can just lift Zhou Jin by the arm and drag him over; it’ll be done in no time.”

"But the body was eventually discovered, and it was so close."

"So she didn't kill Zhou Jin with violence. Her method was to starve her to death by not feeding her. I checked, there were no food scraps left in the room, so she must have only given her very little food from the beginning, and hadn't fed her at all for the past few days. By doing this, she could render Zhou Jin unable to resist. On the other hand, if Zhou Jin had starved to death, lying naked or in tattered clothes in an empty house that was about to be demolished, she would likely have been treated by the police as a homeless person with nowhere to go. Did you notice that there was cotton cloth placed under the places where Zhou Jin's hands and feet were tied? This way, the marks of binding would be relatively blurred, at least that's what the murderer thought."

That's true, Lin Zhongjie thought. There are many people from other places who come to this city to make a living. However, due to not being able to find work or encountering other setbacks, they end up as beggars, and there are even cases of people who are desperate and die on the streets.

"This house is probably rented. What if the landlord has been in contact with the murderer...?"

“This house is rented by Zhou Jin.” Jian Dongping interrupted him without hesitation, and then added, “Su Zhiwen often comes here to meet Zhou Jin.”

Lin Zhongjie remembered Fang Xiaoxi saying that Su Zhiwen would go out every Tuesday afternoon. Could it be that he came here to meet Zhou Jin?

"How did you know?" Lin Zhongjie couldn't help but ask.

“Because if it weren’t for Zhou Jin renting it, I wouldn’t have been able to find this place based on Zhou Jin’s instructions.” Jian Dongping continued without giving Lin Zhongjie any time to think. “Do you remember Xiang Bing’s statement? He met Su Zhiwen on Xincheng Road. Su Zhiwen was holding a piece of paper and looked lost, not knowing which way to go.”

"What about turning left three times and turning right four times?" Lin Zhongjie still remembered this detail.

“This mnemonic was given to Su Zhiwen by Zhou Jin,” Jian Dongping said.

How did you know?

“I found the full text of this mnemonic in Zhou Jin’s autobiographical novel. The full text is ‘Turn left three times, turn right four times, a bottle of 7UP, two packs of Double Happiness.’ Many years ago, she told Su Zhiwen this mnemonic. At that time, Su Zhiwen asked her for directions near the middle school she attended, and that’s how they met.” Jian Dongping glanced at Lin Zhongjie, as if waiting for Lin Zhongjie to ask a question.

"Have they known each other for many years?"

“Yes, they met six years ago.” Jian Dongping seemed unwilling to dwell on this issue and quickly steered the conversation to what he wanted to say. “The last time I saw Zhou Jin was at No. 45 Xincheng Road, which is the same place where Xiang Bing met Su Zhiwen. Back then, Zhou Jin used this method to take Su Zhiwen from the gate of her middle school to the place he wanted to go on Tongqing Road. So I followed the route I found in Zhou Jin’s hometown and retraced my steps.”

So this kid's been to Zhou Jin's hometown! I never expected that! Jian Dongping didn't notice the surprised look on Lin Zhongjie's face. He continued, "The so-called 'three left turns' means turning left three times, and 'four right turns' means turning left and then right four times. The key to the mnemonic is the last two lines: 'One bottle of 7UP, two packs of Double Happiness.' The 'one bottle of 7UP' on that street in her hometown is actually a small umbrella shop. Because the owner's name is Wang Qixi, it's called 7UP Umbrella Shop. And the 'two packs of Double Happiness' doesn't refer to a tobacco shop, but a small shop that sells red envelopes. Don't red envelopes have two 'happiness' characters on them? I came from Lane 45, Xincheng Road, and I not only found the umbrella shop, but also the small shop that sells red envelopes. Look, two packs of Double Happiness, this is it!" Jian Dongping pointed to the side of the old building, and Lin Zhongjie found it was a small tobacco and sundry shop with many small red envelopes in the glass counter.

“But even if Su Zhiwen knows the meaning of the incantation, he can only find this shop at most. How can he find his way upstairs?” Lin Zhongjie felt that the incantation would not be able to help Su Zhiwen find the room on the second floor.

“I suspect Su Zhiwen had no way of finding it at all. He must have called Zhou Jin to pick him up later,” Jian Dongping said with a smile. “Zhou Jin certainly didn’t expect him to find the real address by the mnemonic. She did this just to awaken Su Zhiwen’s memory, since they haven’t seen each other for many years. I’ll show you Zhou Jin’s novel later, and then you’ll understand what their relationship really is.”

Lin Zhongjie had no interest in reading novels, so he didn't respond and waited for Jian Dongping to continue sharing his insights.

Sure enough, seeing that he didn't speak, Jian Dongping continued talking non-stop.

"So, it's obvious that Zhou Jin rented the house, and the murderer was invited by Zhou Jin. You might ask why the landlord knew nothing about these things. (Lin Zhongjie thought, I didn't intend to ask that question.) Renting a house is never a short-term arrangement; usually, several months' rent is paid upfront. If Zhou Jin had overpaid beforehand, the landlord naturally wouldn't have come knocking. If the lease expired and the murderer, representing Zhou Jin, requested a one-month extension, the landlord wouldn't seem to have any reason to refuse. Besides, they could renew the lease without meeting in person; the murderer just needed to transfer the money to the other party's account. Anyway..." "For the murderer, whether or not they get a receipt is irrelevant." Jian Dongping paused, and seeing that Lin Zhongjie didn't object, continued, "After disposing of the body, the murderer will simply move it away naturally. There are few people here to begin with. If she deliberately dragged the body to the inner room, it wouldn't be discovered quickly. By the time the body is finally discovered, it might be many days later, and by then, no one will suspect her. Because she wasn't the only one who moved out of this building." Jian Dongping sighed deeply at this point, "I'm so glad I found Zhou Jin in time."

"So you're saying she comes here every day?"

“Not every day, but at least frequently. She must have been seen by someone, but like the Yuhuashi Apartments in ‘Twilight Butterfly,’ people living in the same building don’t necessarily care who their neighbors are, nor do they necessarily remember what they look like. Besides…” Jian Dongping took a newspaper out of his pocket and handed it to Lin Zhongjie, “I found this in the toilet. There’s an article in it about how the police found a body in an empty house slated for demolition, and it was later confirmed that the deceased was a homeless person who had starved to death. The murderer must have been inspired by this report.”

Lin Zhongjie took the newspaper, glared at Jian Dongping, and cursed inwardly, "You brat, you were hiding evidence in your pocket, why didn't you say so earlier?" Jian Dongping seemed to see through his thoughts and smiled sheepishly.

After glancing at the short article, Lin Zhongjie stuffed the newspaper into his pocket.

"Have you read 'Lady's House' in Zhou Jin's luggage?" Jian Dongping asked when he saw that he didn't speak.

"I saw it."

"Zhou Jin left many marks in the book. You must have noticed them too, what are your thoughts?"

"To be honest, I haven't had time to think about this yet." Lin Zhongjie patted Jian Dongping on the shoulder and said earnestly, "Dongping, the police should be looking for the most direct evidence, not guessing riddles. You have to understand, once we catch someone with solid evidence, the criminal will naturally tell the whole story honestly. Isn't that much easier than looking for evidence in books? Besides, I don't think she's a very determined person."

“I understand.” Jian Dongping nodded, then suddenly looked up and stared into his eyes. “Uncle Lin, do you already know who the murderer is?”

“I’m still waiting for a crucial piece of evidence.” As Lin Zhongjie said this, his phone suddenly rang in his pocket, and he quickly answered the call.

Ling Ge swaggered up the stairs in her new sandals, feeling particularly at ease today. She could finally confidently enter each room to search for evidence without fear of being discovered. Grandma Shen fully supported her, giving her keys to each room and sending everyone else away – much safer than sneaking into other people's rooms at night.

As she walked, she couldn't help but glance down at her new sandals. They were so pretty; they made her feet look even prettier. If Jian Dongping hadn't thrown her old sandals in the trash, she wouldn't have worn them so soon. She thought that if someone stepped on her feet on the bus, she might lose control and yell at them, "You can step on my feet, but you can't step on my shoes!" 1580 yuan shoes! So extravagant, so extravagant! However, from this incident, she at least realized one thing: he definitely cared about her. Otherwise, why would he spend so much money on shoes for her? Her ex-boyfriend would even grumble about buying her a cream bread, and she'd end up paying for it herself. So, he definitely cared about her; it was just that the idea of them becoming a couple was outrageous! How could he even think of that!

Lost in thought, she reached Yushan's door. She took out her key, inserted it into the lock, and entered. The room was quiet. She quickly went to Yushan's bedside table, opened the drawer, and found the umbrella still there—a very ordinary folding umbrella. She picked it up and left Yushan's room.

Just as she returned to the hallway and locked Yushan's door, she faintly heard a small sound. It was so faint she couldn't tell what it was, but her heart skipped a beat. She stopped what she was doing, standing still and listening intently. What was that sound? Had someone returned? No, everyone was out today.

She stood there for a while, but didn't hear the sound again. Still worried, she tiptoed to the stairs and looked down. It was quiet downstairs, and there wasn't a soul in sight. Only then did she pat her chest, feeling a little unsure, and tell herself, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, everything is normal. That little sound must have been my imagination, or maybe the wind blew something down."

She tried to comfort herself as she walked to the person's door, her mind still preoccupied with that little voice she had just heard. What exactly was that voice? She inserted the key into the lock, and with a click, it opened.

This was her first time entering this person's room, and her first impression was that it wasn't tidy and had too many things. Where would she keep her umbrella? In a drawer? She walked to the dressing table, opened the drawer, and found cosmetics, a TV guide, nail clippers, and small odds and ends, but no umbrella…

That's strange, what exactly was that sound?

It seems kind of familiar...

"She actually copied a set of keys?" This time it was Jian Dongping's turn to be surprised. He hadn't expected that Fang Qi's book had been put back into the storage room by the murderer. Thinking about it, it made sense. The murderer was the last person to access the storage room key, and given her personality, she would definitely have copied a set of keys.

“People are very greedy. Given the opportunity to obtain the key, she certainly wouldn’t let it go. We cast a wide net throughout the city and finally found the person who copied the key. We showed her the photo, and it turned out to be her,” Lin Zhongjie said with a hint of pride.

Jian Dongping had to admit that this was indeed the most direct evidence.

"But since she went back to the storage room, why didn't she take the rolling pin with her?" Jian Dongping asked.

“Because if she took it, it wouldn’t look like murder anymore. She deliberately made the scene look like a theft to frame Zeng Yushan. Besides, Zeng Yushan was at the Shen family’s house on the afternoon of May 6th, so she also had the opportunity to steal the rolling pin. In fact, Fang Qi also had the opportunity to get that rolling pin. Almost everyone in this family had the opportunity, even Shen Biyun was no exception, so it didn’t matter whether she took it or not.”

That's true.

"When are you planning to arrest her?" Jian Dongping asked.

"I just sent someone to look for her, but she's not here. It seems she went home. I'm going to the Shen family to meet up with our people now. Give me a ride, kid!" Lin Zhongjie seemed to be in a good mood.

But his words sent a chill down Jian Dongping's spine.

"What did you say?! She went home?" he asked loudly.

"Yes, I'm home."

bite……

Jian Dongping felt as if his heart had suddenly turned into a blaring alarm clock, the piercing and annoying sound instantly reverberating throughout his body, endlessly repeating itself. He could almost hear the alarm clock talking: "Rouyuan! Rouyuan! Rouyuan! You better not let her run into you!"

He rushed to the car, opened the door, and jumped in.

"Come on up quickly, Uncle Lin!" he urged impatiently.

As soon as Lin Zhongjie got into the car, before the door could even be closed, he impatiently stepped on the gas, and the car shot off like an arrow.

"You brat! Are you looking for death?! Why are you driving so fast?!" Lin Zhongjie was quite frightened by him. After closing the car door, he asked angrily.

"Uncle Lin, I've asked Xiao Ge to look for evidence at the Shen family's house!" Jian Dongping said nervously.

"What did you say! This is ridiculous!" Lin Zhongjie yelled at him.

Just then, Jian Dongping's phone rang, and he quickly put the earphone into his ear canal.

"Jian Dongping!" It was Ling Ge's voice, and he was filled with excitement.

How are you?

"Found it, found it, that slipper! I found it! The chewing gum is still on it, stuck in the hole!" Ling Ge's voice sounded very excited.

"I'm almost there, you need to get out of there quickly!" Jian Dongping said urgently, he had no time to listen to her report.

"I..." Ling Ge's voice suddenly stopped, and Jian Dongping's heart clenched.

"Ling Ge! Ling Ge!" he called into the phone.

A moment later, Ling Ge's voice came through the phone again.

"I think I heard a noise outside. I just went out to check, but there's no one there..." Ling Ge said excitedly. "And guess what? I also found an umbrella. It was so hard to find! She put it... Ah..." Ling Ge suddenly screamed at the last sentence.

"Ling Ge! Ling Ge!" Jian Dongping sensed something was wrong and called out repeatedly, but there was no response from the other end of the phone.

"How is she?" Lin Zhongjie asked anxiously.

"I don't know..." Jian Dongping's voice trembled. His foot involuntarily pressed the accelerator again. He felt every cell in his body instantly surge into a 100-meter sprint; his heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. Ling Ge! Ling Ge! You absolutely can't be hurt! Absolutely not! He felt as if someone was violently plucking a nerve in his brain, *ding! ding! ding!* With each plucking, he felt a sharp pain, which traveled from his brain to his heels. Ling Ge! Ling Ge! You absolutely can't be hurt! You have to pull through! He heard a voice in his head repeating this phrase over and over again...

Ling Ge vaguely felt someone dragging her forward. A tearing pain spread from the back of her head, seeping into her nerves. "I must have been hit, I must have..." She tried to struggle, but she couldn't muster any strength. It felt like her arms were tied up, and the person was pulling her forward by the rope binding her hands.

Where is she taking me? Is she taking me to the storage room downstairs? Or to someone's room? Is she planning to kill me? ...My head hurts so much...My legs, my legs feel like they're tied up...I can't move. Where is she taking me? When did she appear? Think carefully...

Ah, right, that sound, the little sound she heard at the beginning. She had been trying to remember where she had heard it before; it was so close and so soft. What could it be? Now she suddenly remembered—it was the sound of the second-floor bathroom door being opened.

Could it be that this person was already on the second floor before I entered Yushan's room? She was just in the bathroom, and I didn't know? She peeked at me through the crack in the bathroom, and after I entered her room, she sneaked in and hid behind me. That's right! I heard a sound behind me then, but when I turned around, I saw nothing. I even ran to the hallway to check, but there was no one there. Actually, she was already hiding in the room then, it must be. So where could she be hiding? That's it! Behind the clothes rack. There are so many clothes on the rack; I couldn't see her hiding behind it unless… I looked down… If I looked down, I would see… a pair of feet. She hit me with something while I was on the phone…

Ling Ge's mind raced, and suddenly, she heard a piercing sound.

"Sizzle—sizzle—"

What is that?!

"Ah! Oh no! That's the sound of shoes rubbing against the floor!" She almost screamed. "My shoes! My 1580 yuan shoes! You bastard! You can drag my body! But you can't drag my shoes!" The thought of her sandals, worn for only one day, suffering such a fate made her dizzy with anger, but her mind instantly cleared. "No matter what, I won't let you torture my shoes!" She tried to scream, but found her mouth taped shut.

She struggled to tilt her head back slightly and suddenly saw that the usually gentle and kind, yet sickly, thin face was now moving above her head. This face, which she had once thought was weak and mediocre, now appeared unusually fierce and cold. Although she already knew it was this person, seeing his true face still made her heart tremble and her whole body go cold with fear.

I wonder if this person even noticed she was awake. She didn't look down, just stared ahead, her eyes vacant, her mind unfocused, as if in a meditative state. Yet her feet didn't stop moving. Judging from her path, Ling Ge thought she was heading downstairs. Was she planning to drag me to the garden and bury me alive? Or to the storage room? Put me in some box, lock it with a rolling pin, just like she killed Su Zhiwen? ...

Ling Ge was filled with trepidation as he realized they had already reached the stairs.

No! She suddenly realized that if this person wanted to kill her, they wouldn't need to go to so much trouble; they could just push her off the building! That way, the injury to the back of her head could probably be counted as a fall. Yes, that's definitely what that person wanted to do! No, she couldn't let them succeed! Ling Ge began to struggle desperately, but the rope was tied too tightly, and no matter how she twisted, she couldn't break free. The murderer didn't seem to care about her resistance and even chuckled, a laugh that sent chills down Ling Ge's spine.

"Oh no, oh no... She's really going to do this!" Ling Ge saw her body being rearranged headfirst. Now, if that person pushed her, she would fall headfirst to the ground! A silent scream of terror escaped Ling Ge's throat. "I don't want to die! I'm still young! Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!" She struggled again, and then that terrifying face suddenly came close to hers. She smelled a warm breath.

"Go to hell!" the murderer said softly yet viciously.

Then, Ling Ge helplessly watched as her body was suddenly pushed down. In an instant, she felt dizzy. She didn't feel pain, but rather that her body felt like a fragile stone as she fell, crashing down quickly and heavily. It was over, it was over, she was about to be shattered to pieces. She closed her eyes, and Jian Dongping's face flashed through her mind. She thought she was done for...

Just then, a loud bang exploded in her ears. What was that sound?! Before she could figure out where it came from, she felt her body slam into something soft with a thud, and at the same time, a pair of hands gripped her shoulders tightly. Someone's come to save me! She looked down and saw the strangely shaped shoes. She immediately knew who it was.

"Ling Ge! Ling Ge! How are you?" Jian Dongping pulled her downstairs, untying the ropes for her as he asked breathlessly.

"She...she wanted to kill me," she said hastily as the tape over her mouth was pulled off.

Hearing her speak, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. He fell down in front of her and hugged her tightly without saying a word. She smelled a scent that made her feel intoxicated. She loved this scent, and her body went limp. She felt her forehead against his neck, and his skin was so hot.

"Ling Ge, you're a good cop, you're very brave," he whispered in her ear. She felt his teeth almost biting her ear. She didn't answer, nor did she want to pull away. Being bitten by him was a hundred times better than being beaten by the murderer, she told herself. But where had that person gone? Was she still there...?

At that moment, she heard countless footsteps and voices around her, and then she heard someone shout something.

"Fang Rouzhi! You've been arrested!" That was Xiao Zheng's voice.

Our people have finally arrived. She breathed a sigh of relief and fainted.

17. The truth comes out

Zhang Yufen cautiously pushed open the living room door. It was unusually lively today. Although it wasn't a weekend or a major holiday, almost everyone in the family had gathered: Shen Biyun, Fang Qi, Zeng Yushan, Fang Xiaoxi, and Lawyer Jian and his son Jian Dongping. What important matter were they discussing? Madam had actually invited me too. Whatever! I wasn't going to join in the fun. She stood awkwardly at the door for a minute, about to return to the kitchen, when Shen Biyun called her back.

"Yu Fen, why don't you come and listen too?" Shen Biyun sat in the head seat, holding a lace handkerchief in her hand and beckoning to her.

"Aunt Yufen, please sit here with me," Fang Qi said, pointing to an empty seat next to her.

Helpless, she had no choice but to sit down next to Fang Qi.

"Everyone's here. Now you can speak, Dongping, right?" Shen Biyun asked Jian Dongping kindly.