The Mystery of K Newspaper

Chapter 6

Zheng Qi stood up wearily and picked up the phone.

The call was from my senior, Mo Han.

"So far, I haven't found anything, except for a stunningly beautiful woman named Luo Min who seems rather suspicious, nothing else!"

As Zheng Qi said this, for some reason, the image of Director Wang's gloomy and indifferent face flashed through his mind.

"A stunning beauty? Hehe! Not bad! What's suspicious about her?"

Mo Han gave a few dry laughs, sounding teasing.

Zheng Qi ignored his dry laugh and briefly recounted the overly fearful reactions of the people at the newspaper towards Luo Min over the past few days, as well as Luo Min's strange behavior.

"So what's your own perspective on this?"

Mo Han realized the seriousness of the situation and immediately became serious.

"Me? I can't understand why everyone at the newspaper has this inexplicable fear of her, even that weird, sarcastic director. But I still can't find out who she is! It's so damn frustrating!"

In his desperation, Zheng Qi swore.

Mo Han remained silent for a long while before slowly saying:

"Do you suspect that she is involved in the death of your master's friend's son?"

"I'm still not sure, but if his death wasn't caused by a sudden shock from a natural accident, then I think it must be closely related to this woman named Luo Min."

So what are your plans for the next step?

"I originally planned to ask my colleagues at the newspaper about her situation tonight, and then take further steps. But they were all evasive and wouldn't say anything about her. As a result, I didn't find out anything, and now I don't know what to do next!"

At this point, Zheng Qi sighed deeply, his tone inevitably carrying a sense of frustration and dejection.

Mo Han, on the other end of the phone, was also at a loss. After a long pause, she slowly uttered two words.

"spiritualism!"

"Summoning the spirit? You mean..."

Zheng Qi hesitated for a moment.

"Well, I think this is the only way. Time is of the essence!"

Mo Han said decisively.

"Alright then! I'll give it a try!"

After a long pause, Zheng Qi frowned and agreed, then hung up the phone.

A cold sliver of moonlight, like water, streamed in through the window.

The next day at work, Zheng Qigang stepped into the office and found the entire office ransacked.

"What's going on? Is there a robbery here, or are they filming a TV series?"

Completely bewildered, Zheng Qi turned to Chen Qing, who was standing leisurely to the side, and asked.

Chen Qing smiled at him with her cute baby face, but before she could open her mouth to answer, Zheng Qi's ears were drawn to the noise coming from the director's office.

Zheng Qi listened intently. It seemed that Old Dong, Sister Zheng, and Meng Ping were all in the director's office, arguing with the director about something. It was a noisy scene, and he couldn't hear clearly.

Zheng Qi was startled and asked doubtfully, "Could it be that another murder has occurred so soon?"

Thinking of this, he quickly turned around and asked Chen Qing, who was standing next to him, what had happened.

"The office was burgled last night. Sister Zheng and the others were arguing about calling the police, but the director said that since nothing valuable was stolen, it was best to let it go and not call the police! And now they're arguing about it!"

Chen Qing finished speaking slowly, glanced at Zheng Qi, and then continued:

"Go quickly and see if you've lost anything."

Zheng Qi was taken aback, then shook his head and laughed, "I just arrived, I don't have anything to lose!"

"That's good. It seems that apart from Sister Zheng losing a few euros, no one else has lost anything!"

After Chen Qing finished speaking, a look of relief appeared on his face. Zheng Qi glanced at him but remained silent.

A short while later, Sister Zheng and the others came out. It seemed that they had finally adopted the director's opinion, because Meng Ping walked in aggressively while muttering curses, looking contemptuous and unconvinced.

When Chen Qing saw them come out, he hurried over to greet them and asked Sister Zheng how things had been resolved.

Sister Zheng, her face grim, said, "He won't know what to do until someone dies here!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she saw Zheng Qi standing to the side and gave him an awkward smile. Then everyone went to their own tables and started tidying up the mess they had made. After a while, they finished tidying up and everyone silently began to work.

Luo Min didn't come to work that day. But the office didn't become more relaxed and lively because of her absence; instead, it felt more dull and oppressive than usual.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, Grandpa Li, who worked at the gatehouse, brought over a stack of newly arrived newspapers.

Seeing that it was almost time to leave work, everyone put down their work, chatted for a few minutes, and then picked up a newspaper to read.

"Wow, today's front page headlines are going to be interesting!"

Meng Ping suddenly shouted, and everyone immediately put down their other newspapers and surrounded him.

"What breaking news?" Old Dong asked, adjusting his reading glasses.

"Two people died!" Meng Ping stuck out his tongue.

"Tch, what's the big deal? People have died in this building before, several times already! What's the big deal?"

"Several people have died?" Upon hearing this, Zheng Qi quickly turned his gaze to Sister Zheng. Sister Zheng sensed Zheng Qi's curious and questioning gaze, smiled awkwardly, looked away, and stopped talking.

"The trash can at the entrance of Lion Lane, isn't that..."

Meng Ping read slowly.

"Wait, something's not right. Why is it the same trash can area at the entrance of Lion Alley again? The same ones as before..."

Chen Qing slowly shifted her gaze from the newspaper, suddenly stopped speaking, and then looked out the window with a puzzled expression. Zheng Qi, upon hearing Chen Qing's words, felt a stirring in his heart.

"Who died? How did they die?"

Sister Zheng asked Meng Ping.

"They were estimated to be two migrant workers from out of town. Police suspect they were two thieves because several euros were found in their pockets. The cause of death was sudden shock from an unexpected event!"

"Oh, right, Sister Zheng, didn't you lose a few euros? Did they steal them?"

Meng Ping suddenly raised his head, a surprisingly deep smile appearing on his lips, and teased Sister Zheng.

Sister Zheng's face turned pale.

"Stop talking nonsense. Their deaths have nothing to do with us. Besides, the people who died this time weren't from our area."

As soon as Sister Zheng finished speaking, everyone present, except for Zheng Qi, suddenly wore expressions of fear. Zheng Qi looked up at everyone and suddenly realized that their gazes were all fixed on his seat—no, to be precise, on the seat opposite him: Luo Min's seat.