Unable to breathe

Chapter 31

As Wang Liguo walked along the road, he was still thinking, "Maybe this guy changed the date and time, a surprise attack? Is he even in his room? If so, things will get complicated!"

Wang Liguo and Xiao Li quickly drove to the 37th floor of Gujingli.

The detectives reported that they were staking out the alley entrance. An elderly woman from the neighborhood committee recognized them; she had just run over to tell them that something seemed to have happened in apartment 612 of building 4. The woman heard crying and screams for help coming from inside. There were other people inside. She knocked on the door, asking the woman in apartment 612 to open it, but the woman inside was screaming that she couldn't move or open the door. The two detectives went upstairs and, sure enough, there was a woman crying inside. They didn't dare call out rashly, unsure if the culprit was inside.

Wang Liguo entered Unit 4, coughed softly, and the lights in the first-floor corridor turned on. He walked up to the sixth floor, where all the lights were on. When he reached 612, he waved for people to be quiet, pressed his ear to the door, and listened carefully for a while. He heard a woman crying loudly, and there were many men and women talking.

He went down to the fifth floor and asked the elderly woman who reported the incident, "Is this a single person living here? Do you usually live alone?"

The woman said she lives alone at home; her husband has gone south to do business. Just a few days ago, she mentioned that she's quite scared being alone at night in the dark and wants someone to keep her company. Where can she find someone? Women are too afraid to come, and men can't come.

Wang Liguo asked her if she had a television at home.

The auntie said yes, yes! How could a man doing business in the south not have a big color TV at home!

Wang Liguo said it seemed like nothing serious. The corridor lights were all on; if that guy were inside, wouldn't he have turned on the light bulbs when he came upstairs? Besides, even if he were inside, he wouldn't have let her scream for so long. Either he ran away, or he killed her. There were no sounds of arguing or fighting in the room; the voices were from the TV, so it was definitely nothing serious. He told them to quickly find a locksmith from their district and have him come and help.

Wang Liguo told the older woman to hide in the corner, with two criminal police officers providing cover behind her. He then drew his pistol, just in case. After the locksmith finished unlocking the door, Wang Liguo told him to leave. He then flung the door open and found a young woman lying naked on the living room floor, crying and screaming.

The men quickly turned around and asked the older woman to go in and help her get dressed. After coaxing her for a while, Wang Liguo and the others went in. They looked around and found that the TV was indeed on, and there was no sign of anyone coming in.

Seeing that the young woman had calmed down, Wang Liguo said, "Look, we police officers are standing guard downstairs for you. What are you afraid of? Just go about your business and don't be afraid!"

Hao Yan nodded repeatedly, her eyes brimming with tears.

Seeing that she was in much better spirits, Wang Liguo asked her if she had a nightmare or heard noises in the corridor or on the balcony. How could she have been so frightened?

After hesitating for a while, Hao Yan finally whispered to the old lady what had happened.

The woman laughed after hearing this. "What's there to be embarrassed about? The police officers aren't strangers. They're here every day to ensure our safety, sometimes spending most of the night squatting on the street!"

Wang Liguo said, "If it's inconvenient, let's call a policewoman over."

The older woman said no need, she'd speak for me. This child has been so scared these past few days that she can't sleep well, always afraid a psychopathic killer will come into the house. Every time she goes to sleep, she looks around everywhere. Today, after dinner, she had nothing to do and went to bed early. She doesn't know how long she slept, but in her dream, she heard someone calling her name. When she woke up, she still heard someone calling her, realizing it wasn't a dream. She went to the balcony to look, but it was pitch black downstairs, and there was no one there. She thought maybe she was just still half asleep, so she went back inside to lie down. She had just fallen asleep when she heard someone calling her again. She was too lazy to get up, but the person downstairs kept calling her, so she had to get up. She looked downstairs, but it was still pitch black, and there was no one there. Besides, what single woman would dare go out in the dark? Who would be so heartless as to play this kind of joke on her? Annoyed, she couldn't sleep anymore, so she went to the bathroom to pee. While she was urinating, she suddenly heard several people arguing in the living room. Startled, she went limp and slid to the floor, screaming at the top of her lungs.

Wang Liguo said that someone in the hall was arguing. Was it someone talking on TV?

Hao Yan said the TV was off when I went to sleep! Then I realized it was the sound of the TV, and I got even more scared. I clearly turned the TV off, so who turned it on? Someone must have come in!

Wang Liguo asked you why you went to sleep right after dinner tonight?

I can't watch TV, so I have nothing to do.

Why can't I watch TV?

There's no power.

Wang Liguo laughed and said, "Go to sleep! Everything will be alright! You're too nervous. Think about it again and you'll understand why the TV turned on by itself."

After Wang Liguo and the others left, Hao Yan asked the old lady, "What the policeman said just now, the more I listen, the more confused I get."

The older woman couldn't help but laugh. "Silly girl! The police officer didn't tell you because he was afraid you'd be embarrassed! When you were watching TV, our building had a power outage, but the power came back on just as you went to the bathroom, and that's when the TV started playing."

But Hao Yan said, "That's even more strange! Who was calling me downstairs? They called me twice! I checked when I turned on the TV; the buildings in front and behind me had power. How come our building suddenly lost power for no reason? And then it came back on its own? Has anyone fixed it? Isn't that strange?"

The woman was stunned by what she heard and could no longer laugh. Thinking about it, she muttered to herself, "When the power went out, my eldest son checked the meter and said he couldn't find anything wrong. This is really strange, so very strange! I live on the first floor; I'd know who fixed it, but nobody has. This is really odd..."

He Fangmei was watching TV at home when the phone rang. It was Tingting, the daughter of Sister Chen across the street, asking if she had seen her mother these past few days. She had called her mother's house yesterday and today, but no one answered, and her phone was switched off.

He Fangmei said, "I got back around 6 or 7 pm last night and didn't see Sister Chen. I'll go check on her for you now."

I knocked on the door for ages, but there was no response. I called out "Sister Chen" a few times, but still no answer. I had no choice but to go back and tell Tingting, and then say that if I saw your mother, I would definitely tell her to call you.

After hanging up the phone, I was still worried. Had I seen Sister Chen yesterday? I went to Sister Li's house early this morning, but Sister Li said, "We're all family, why bother with all the formalities at a restaurant? It's so much more convenient to chat at home, without any disturbance." It was Sister Li who wanted me to come over early so the two of us could prepare the hot pot ingredients, lamb, vegetables, and beer together.

Around noon, Sister Li's husband returned with a tall policeman and said to Sister Li, "You're the one who arranged this, so you can introduce it!"

Sister Li said to He Fangmei, "See Old Ma, this big guy? He's a natural-born child, not grown with chemical fertilizers or pesticides, and not artificially synthesized. Don't let his dark complexion fool you, it's not from birth, it's from standing on the street as a traffic policeman. Haven't you noticed how fair-skinned all our kids are?" (He Fangmei quickly covered her mouth, not daring to laugh out loud in front of strangers—how could he be their child?) "Just call him Brother Ma. Old Ma, let me tell you, Little He isn't just our unit's top beauty, she's also our top writer! The leaders' speeches aren't actually spoken by the leaders, they're all read from Little He. What summaries, what experiences—without Little He, our leaders wouldn't be able to say anything. Sister Li doesn't associate with anyone of bad character! So many men pursue Little He, but they just don't click. Your Brother Ma is a generous and righteous man; if he hadn't gotten into trouble, he would have spoken up long ago!"

Li Jie's husband immediately raised his right palm and placed it against his left palm, making a gesture like a basketball referee stopping the game.

Instead, Sister Li burst into laughter. After laughing enough, she said, "If you stop now, what will Xiao He think? What trouble did Lao Ma cause? Was it the trouble caused by his romantic escapades?" Her husband spat out his entire beer.

Sister Li, do you know about the BMW that hit someone last year?

He Fangmei said, "I was wondering why this Brother Ma looked so familiar." Sister Li's comment brought it up, and I remembered—Brother Ma was on TV! Brother Ma, you hit someone! I read the newspapers from those days. That man in the BMW hit several people, got out of the car and started hitting them, breaking the young traffic cop's nose, making it bleed profusely, and saying, 'What's hitting a few people? Who dares stop me, you stinking traffic cops?' You know, I was going to risk it all, and the cop wouldn't stand for it, punching him in the face. Everyone there applauded. I heard that if it weren't for the crowd pleading on your behalf, you would have been skinned alive."

Brother Ma smiled and said that thanks to everyone's pleas, he was given a major demerit.

Everyone enjoyed the meal and had a great time chatting.

Around four o'clock, Sister Li asked if we still needed to go to the toilet. "Then you, Lao Ma, take Xiao He home right now. Today is a terrible Saturday, a Saturday of accidents. You have to get my little sister back home and thoroughly check the balcony, bathroom, and kitchen! You have to guarantee my little sister's safety. If anything happens to her, I'll hold you responsible, Lao Ma!"

Sister Li's husband said there's so much to do! Old Ma can't handle it all by himself, so I'll go help out too!

"Go away! You stay home and help me clean up the leftovers and wash the dishes!" Sister Li said.

It was almost six o'clock when Brother Ma brought her back. She didn't go out again after getting home, so she didn't see Sister Chen. Besides, she was so happy when she got home that she didn't even think to go see Sister Chen.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps came from the stairs. As you listened, the footsteps came running up from downstairs and were already standing in front of your door.

He Fangmei shuddered and jumped up involuntarily, not knowing what to do.

The footsteps stood still in front of the door. After a while, there was a knock on the door. He Fangmei listened dumbfounded and dared not speak.

Is Aunt He home?

Suddenly, a shout came from outside the door. It was a little girl's voice. He Fangmei breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly looked through the peephole on the door. There was no light outside. It took her a long time to see that it was a child.

Open the door immediately, pull in Sister Chen's daughter Tingting and say, "What time is it? Why are you running out all by yourself?"