51st oil painting

Chapter 34

It's strange that there was no footage of An Ruohong entering the building, only that she left. When did she arrive?

"Why don't we take a look at yesterday's?" Director Chen suggested.

The video footage from August 15th indeed showed An Ruohong; she entered the building after 10 PM. It seems An Ruohong spent the night in the building.

"She couldn't possibly have spent the night at Zoe and Hong Bentao's house, could she?" Nono asked.

Yes, she wouldn't just lie in the hallway all night like a fly, waiting until noon the next day to "fly" into Zoe's house and carry out the murder. Where would An Ruohong be that night?

"Do you all still remember General Manager Wang?" Du Yaofeng suddenly reminded everyone.

Despite carrying out the "public nudity" policy to the letter, Mr. Wang still met with misfortune and was crushed to death by ice. From this perspective, Zoe broke her promise. Why did she break her promise?

Du Yaofeng had always harbored this question, but at the time, Zoe was seen as a terrifying vengeful spirit, so he didn't think much of it. Now, however, they knew Zoe even better than they knew themselves, making Zoe's broken promise all the more significant.

"Does Mr. Wang's death represent some kind of implication?" Director Chen asked.

Through Xiao Lan, Wang's former secretary, Du Yaofeng found Angela, who witnessed the entire "striptease" in the elevator that day. Angela's company was on the 30th floor of the office building. When the elevator reached the 30th floor, Wang's underwear just hit the ground, the elevator door opened, and the people in the elevator rushed out.

Mr. Wang started undressing while the elevator was moving, but the moment he actually "publicly displayed his nudity" was 30 floors above the ground. Could Zoe's "breaking her promise" be related to the 30th floor?

"Zoe's home is on the 31st floor, just one floor away from the 30th floor where Mr. Wang took off his clothes. Of course, they are not in the same building," said Director Chen.

31……30……

There must be some mystery behind it.

Everyone had a strong premonition that they were getting closer and closer to the answer. They were navigating through the maze, searching for the exit, which was now within reach, but unfortunately, their view was blocked by a wall.

Suddenly, Ah Hu's eyebrows twitched, and he blurted out these words.

This sentence was later regarded as a classic by Nono.

"There shouldn't be much difference between falling from the 31st floor and falling from the 30th floor, right?"

There are four households on the 30th floor of Building 6. The doors to apartments 3001 and 3004 were closed, and no one answered, presumably the owners were at work. Apartment 3003 is occupied by an elderly couple and their Danish dog; they were among the first owners to move in, and the apartment was purchased by their son. Apartment 3002 is occupied by an American man, a foreign English teacher hired by a middle school. He rents the apartment for $750 a month and moved in in September.

Room 3002 is separated from Room 3102, where Zoe lives, by only one floor.

Nono communicates with Americans in English and frequently interacts with foreign customers at Starbucks. In addition to being fluent in English, she can also speak a few words of French.

According to the phone number provided by the American, we contacted the landlady of room 3002. She lived in the adjacent Luban Apartments and was very optimistic about the property. Luwan City Garden was still under construction, and when the property was pre-sold, she reserved two units at once, one on the 30th floor and one on the 9th floor. She planned to renovate them and rent them out to offset the bank mortgage with the rental income. This shows how shrewd Shanghainese are.

"That's her," the landlady said, pointing to the photo. "She saw the listing online and came to me to rent the house. The lease was for six months, but after only two months, in July and August, she wanted to terminate the lease. I didn't hold back and deducted her deposit, which was equivalent to one month's rent, but she didn't care."

Her surname is Ma, I called her Miss Ma. I didn't see her ID card. If she were from out of town, I would have asked to see her ID card, but she's from Shanghai, so I let it slide. She seemed very honest. To be honest, when it comes to renting a place, it's all about the money. As long as she's not a murderer or arsonist, it's fine.

This "Miss Ma" is An Ruohong.

"She's completely insane, she actually wants me to break up with Zoe."

There was no need to order a pizza beforehand for this conversation. They simply found a teahouse, ordered three cups of tea, and smoked here, unlike Starbucks where smoking is prohibited. Hong Bentao smoked a cigarette and poured out his last bit of privacy.

An Ruohong was indeed overestimating herself, failing to realize that her attraction to Hong Bentao was merely physical, or rather, just a fleeting infatuation. In many ways, she couldn't compare to Zoe—no, in every way. Having been abandoned by men before, An Ruohong should have a keen understanding of men's true nature, but she was clearly blinded by her long-awaited sexual climax, making outrageous demands that Hong Bentao leave Zoe and date her openly. In her mind, the worst that could happen was that she would leave the clinic, and Hong Bentao would leave Zoe.

Hong Bentao didn't even bother with a refusal, his enthusiasm quickly fading. When An Ruohong called his cell phone, Hong Bentao ignored her call as soon as he saw the caller ID; An Ruohong went to Xinzha Road station to look for him, but rarely saw him again; the two never went to the Jinjiang Inn Holiday Hotel again. Hong Bentao's attitude was clear: enough, that's enough, it's over.

Hong Bentao was a bit careless, thinking that this would really end things. But he forgot that women have similarities and differences, especially for An Ruohong.

One evening, after dinner, Zoe was taking a shower while Hong Bentao was washing dishes in the kitchen. His phone rang, and he took off his gloves to pick it up. There was a text message: "Come downstairs to room 3002, immediately."

Hong Bentao was a little confused, thinking someone had sent the wrong message. But upon closer inspection, he saw the phone number belonged to An Ruohong. He had a bad feeling. He didn't even wash the dishes, went downstairs, and went to the 30th floor. It was his first time on this floor. The security door to apartment 3002 was ajar. He hesitated for a moment, then opened it and went inside. It was also a two-bedroom apartment, with the exact same layout as upstairs, only the decor was different. He walked to the bedroom door, peeked in, and froze. An Ruohong was sitting on the bed, cross-legged in a yoga pose, wearing a two-piece workout outfit with her belly exposed, staring intently at him.

"I've rented this apartment, so we're neighbors from now on. Your bedroom is right above my head. When you and her are making love at night, please don't make too much noise. My ears are very sharp; I can tell your positions by the rhythm, who's on top, who's on the bottom..."

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 87: She "flew" out of the balcony

Faced with such a crazy woman, Hong Bentao only had two choices: either be even crazier than her and simply strangle her to end it all; or obediently submit and surrender.

What happened next was something Hong Bentao didn't even dare to imagine. The outer door wasn't closed, and the two of them were having sex on the bed, while Zoe was just one floor away from them.

Twenty minutes later, Hong Bentao returned home exhausted. Zoe was in the kitchen, putting the washed dishes into the sterilizer. She asked him where he had been, and Hong Bentao said he had gone downstairs to throw out the trash bags and chatted with the patrolling security guard for a bit. He mentioned that there had been several burglaries in the neighborhood recently, all in the middle of the night. Zoe was clearly interested in this topic and didn't even think to check the trash can, which was still overflowing with garbage bags.

And so, the rendezvous location was moved from the Jinjiang Inn Holiday Hotel to room 3002 downstairs. After days of frenzied activity and physical exhaustion, Hong Bentao increasingly felt that this woman was like a tangled mess wrapped around his body, and it was impossible to shake her off anymore.

Every night, lying on his bed in his bedroom, Hong Bentao felt a chill run down his spine at the thought that just below him, separated by only one floor, lay An Ruohong's bedroom. Sometimes, Zoe would touch him, hinting that she wanted to be intimate, but Hong Bentao really had no interest in it. He couldn't bring himself to say an excuse like "I'm on my period." It was a dilemma—doing it was awkward, and not doing it was awkward too. He just hoped that the six months would pass quickly so that An Ruohong could move out soon.

What's even more ridiculous is that on several occasions, when he and Zoe returned from shopping at Nonggongshang Supermarket and entered the elevator, he casually pressed the button for the 30th floor. Zoe looked at him strangely and asked, "How come you forgot which floor you live on?" Hong Bentao just gave an awkward, bitter smile and said that he had misread 30 as 31.

An Ruohong also gave him a key to room 3002, along with a heart-shaped leather keychain, which Hong Bentao put in his back pocket. The day before the incident, the key went missing.

An Ruohong lay on the bed in the bedroom, her eyes fixed on the ceiling. She knew that Zoe's bedroom was above the ceiling, and Hong Bentao was lying next to Zoe. She couldn't hear the sounds of them making love, but she could occasionally hear the sound of slippers walking, which must have been Zoe's.

Have I really fallen in love with this man?

She asked herself this question repeatedly, but she could never find a convincing answer.

Dating, marriage, childbirth, arguments, exhaustion, divorce, single life—at thirty-four, she's experienced enough. If someone were to ask her to summarize her past, she would only say five words: "Divorced, has one child." She has no other words to say.

From the day she met Zoe, An Ruohong envied her, even idolized her. Zoe was prettier than her, but if it were just about looks, An Ruohong would have been dismissive. However, Zoe possessed qualities rarely found in beautiful women: kindness, good interpersonal skills, strong communication abilities, diligence at work, and dedication to her career. In An Ruohong's eyes, apart from Zoe's boyfriend, Hong Bentao, who was considered "average," everything else was enviable, even Zoe's good fortune—General Manager Li's appreciation, Tu Bonian's resignation, and Zhu Chuan's sudden death—allowed Zoe to rise from a regular doctor to medical supervisor, and then to acting general manager, becoming the de facto head of the department in just one year.

Was it out of jealousy that I got together with Hong Bentao?

In other words, if Hong Bentao weren't Zoe's boyfriend, I wouldn't even glance at him as we passed each other on the street.

An Ruohong had always thought so, but the development of events was beyond her expectations. She originally thought that her relationship with Hong Bentao was just an adult game, but now, she couldn't live without him. No, she was madly in love with him. She couldn't even explain what it was about this plain-looking, dark-skinned, and thin man that attracted her.

Is it sex? No, is it loneliness? No, because of Zoe? She's just too perfect, God has been too kind to her. The suffering I've endured, the hardships I've gone through, she's never experienced. On the contrary, she enjoys things I could never enjoy. She should taste the bitterness of loss.

Maybe.

There's no definite answer, nor is an answer needed. That's just how it is. I rented a place downstairs, and I come every other day. You want to get rid of me? Try it, see if you can. I live right downstairs from you, can you stop thinking about me? You have my key, you can come anytime, and I know you'll come. You're addicted. Although she's better than me, more capable than me, in bed, I bet I can't lose to her. Your infatuation with my body is the best proof…

Let's make the following assumption:

Hong Bentao threw his pants into the washing machine but forgot to take the key out. As the washing machine spun repeatedly, the key fell out. The next day, Aunt Song found the key when she took the clothes out of the washing machine to hang them up and placed it on the table. Then, Zoe, who had returned home first, found the key. Based on its shape and size, it was a house key, not a drawer key, but definitely not her own house key. Anyone else would have confronted Hong Bentao about it, but Zoe didn't. Doctors are generally very meticulous; imagine the patience and care required to treat a root canal only two or three millimeters deep! She had been subtly noticing Hong Bentao's recent unusual behavior, and the appearance of this key seemed to open another door to her understanding:

Could there be some causal relationship between pressing the wrong 30th floor key and using a key that doesn't belong to the house?

Zoe pondered the situation at the clinic, growing increasingly uneasy. So she went home early. When she got into the elevator, she pressed 30 instead of 31. On the 30th floor, facing four different doors, she tried each key one by one and finally opened the security door of room 3002.

Filled with intense curiosity and unease, Zoe stepped through the door.

She went in, but when she came out, she "walked" across the balcony—or rather, she "flew" out from the balcony. Had she known that stepping through that door would have such serious consequences, she would have hesitated. She hadn't anticipated, and in fact, couldn't have anticipated, that someone would actually try to harm her—and that person was none other than her most admired head nurse, An Ruohong.

An Ruohong is less than 1.6 meters tall and weighs less than 50 kilograms. How could she "throw" Zoe, who is significantly taller and heavier than her, out of the way? This is real life, not a martial arts movie where a petite woman can kick a grown man across the street with a single kick.

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Chapter 88: In her next life, she will surely be a female painter.

When it comes to kung fu, neither Nuonuo, Du Yaofeng, nor Master Chen know anything about it. Only Ah Hu has ever been beaten up once, when Sanwen punched him into the fountain...

Nono thought of Sanwen's father, Zhao Sande, once again.

According to An Ruohong's bank card transaction records, she spent 580 yuan at the Zhabei District Gymnasium after the Spring Festival this year. It is quite astonishing that she spent more than 500 yuan in a single transaction at a relatively ordinary gymnasium.

Nuonuo and Ahu arrived at the Zhabei District Gymnasium immediately. Before they even entered, Ahu tugged at Nuonuo and pointed to the advertising board at the entrance. Inside, there was an old, peeling advertisement, but the words on it were still clearly visible:

Our center offers a women's judo class, with professional athletes as instructors. The class is held once a week for six months and costs 580 yuan.

They then went to the gymnasium's office to inquire about the women's judo class. The staff member dismissively replied that the class started in February, lasted six months, and it was already October, so it had long since ended. Besides judo, they also offered other classes like taekwondo, boxing, martial arts, and grappling. They taught almost anything except murder.

"Master, I'd like to ask if there's a student named An Ruohong in this judo class?"

Nono asked with a smile, trying her best to give the other person a cute impression.

The staff member shrugged: "How would I know? You should ask the coach. The coach is a professional athlete, retired. Who knows where he's currently racking up points?"

With a cost of 580 yuan, there's nowhere else but this judo class. From this perspective, they've achieved their goal. Ah Hu gestured to Nuonuo, "Let's go."

"Hey!" a staff member called out to them, pointing to the wall. "You can look for it yourselves."

A group photo hangs on the office wall: "Group photo of all students of the Women's Judo Class at Zhabei Gymnasium in 2003." The coach sits in the center, with a row of people sitting on the floor and another row standing behind them, totaling more than twenty people. The fourth person in the second row is a familiar face: An Ruohong. She is wearing a professional judo uniform, with her hands behind her back, barefoot, and grinning.

She learned judo perhaps out of boredom, or perhaps simply to learn some self-defense techniques to deal with potential perverts. She probably never imagined that she would end up dealing with her own best friend.

At the bookstore, Ahu found a book about judo with detailed analysis and illustrations of movements. Ahu looked at it for a long time but couldn't understand it because he didn't know what kind of situation Zoe and An Ruohong were in the room at the time: was it a fight? A beating? Or a surprise attack? But no matter what, 580 yuan was definitely worth it. An Ruohong put what she learned into practice and threw Zoe off the balcony railing, which was about 1.2 meters high.

Zeng Men created this oil painting: A man and a woman sit on a bed in a bedroom, leaning against the bed frame. The sheets are wrinkled. The man is smoking, looking up at the ceiling with a slightly uneasy expression. A heart-shaped leather keychain sits on the bedside table beside him. The woman's hair is disheveled, and she has a satisfied expression on her face. Her eyes are gazing out the window. There is no intimacy or tenderness after making love. The two seem to have completed a task, each lost in their own thoughts.

The painting is titled "Anna in Room 3002".

Anna is An Ruohong's English name.

Nono felt that the name "Anna" seemed familiar, embedded deep in her memory, but she couldn't quite place it, like a nail stuck in a roof beam. Searching slowly and carefully would probably take half a year. Ahu, on the other hand, remembered it vividly.

"Do you still remember the dream of Sanqing Mountain? You stood on the plank road, facing the surging sea of clouds, and yelled, 'Anna! Fuck You!'"

Nono suddenly realized that it was unbelievable. At that time, she had no relationship with Zoe at all, yet she had obtained the answer in her dream months in advance.

Ah Hu told Nuonuo a story, the truth of which was beyond doubt, because it was about Ah Hu's neighbor's niece.

She was probably around thirty years old and still unmarried. Once, she threw a birthday party, and many friends came. The birthday gifts piled up like a small mountain. While counting the gifts, she found a stainless steel clip. Not knowing what it was for, she asked around and was told it was for cutting cigars. She was both amused and exasperated; she never smoked and hated secondhand smoke, let alone men's cigars! One of her friends must have thought it was useless and wrapped it in gift paper, giving it to her. She didn't pay much attention and casually put it in a drawer. Six months later, she met a male client at work who was a cigar enthusiast. Without hesitation, she gave him the clip, much to his surprise. It turned out that the unassuming clip was actually a valuable designer item. On Valentine's Day, he proposed to her, and she later married him. They became a loving couple. Thinking back to that birthday party, she decided to find the person who gave her the clip and thank him properly. But her husband laughed and said, "Don't bother looking; he's a lucky charm."

After hearing the story, Nono blinked and remained silent.

This painting hangs in the bathroom on the second floor of Du Yaofeng's house. "Zoe on the Windowsill" hangs in its original place, and "Anna in Room 3002" hangs opposite it. Zoe looks at Anna, and Anna looks at Zoe. The bathtub in between seems to be a boundary between yin and yang.

After leaving the bathroom, Nono closed the door behind her, feeling a little uneasy. Would she be able to understand it?

Zeng Men saw through her thoughts and immediately said, "Don't worry, her skill in oil painting far surpasses that of ordinary people. If she were to be reincarnated, she would definitely be a female painter!"

At this point, Zeng Men suddenly sniffed and asked Nuonuo, "Do you smell something burning?"

Nono sniffed and sure enough, a burning smell was coming from the bathroom. She rushed back and saw a blue flame rising on the wall. The painting "Anna in Room 3002" was on fire!

"Mommy! Fire! Help! Help put out the fire!" Nono cried out in panic.

Du Yaofeng, who was cooking in the kitchen, rushed upstairs with a spatula in his hand, which was completely ineffective at extinguishing the fire. Ahu followed behind him, holding half a banana that he hadn't finished eating. Faced with the sudden fire, they were flustered and confused. Fortunately, Zeng Men remained calm and used a mouthwash cup to scoop two cups of water and splashed them onto the canvas. With a couple of quick splashes, the flames were extinguished.

Water dripped down the canvas, and the faces of the man and woman on the bed were charred. Two irregular holes appeared in the canvas, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt fabric.

Oil painting No. 51: 773 Horror Series 13

Section 89: This is what happens to sex addicts.

Zeng Men chuckled and said, "Don't panic, this must be anger."

They all turned around at the same time to look at the painting "Zoe on the Windowsill." It hung in the same old spot, in the same old way, the painting tilted to the right, the eyes behind the mask staring directly at the charred oil painting opposite, the gaze no longer cold, but wrapped in a murderous aura.

At Ah Hu's request, Little Fly once again hacked into KEY's personal computer and sent an email to Zoe's clinic mailbox in KEY's name. The email contained two photos: a digital photo of An Ruohong and Zoe together, and the original of the pornographic image.

KEY's real name was Xia Guoqiang, and he was somewhat well-known in the circle—the circle of computer enthusiasts. These people fall into several categories: some are skilled assemblers; give them a bunch of parts, and they can build a computer host with quality comparable to brand-name machines; some are hackers, specializing in the online world—Little Fly belongs to this category; some are gaming masters, capable of playing games non-stop for 48 hours, even eating and going to the bathroom while sitting in front of their computers, provided someone brings them food and a toilet. Strictly speaking, Xia Guoqiang belonged to none of these categories. His familiarity with pornographic websites surpassed that of anyone else. He had even devised a method for browsing and downloading various pornographic websites to the maximum extent possible with minimal internet costs. This method cannot be disclosed here, otherwise… otherwise, the reader should know. However, his email address can be disclosed; interested readers can send him an email to inquire, but unfortunately, he cannot give you any reply, because he is dead.

What exactly killed him? Even the police are baffled. If readers have any clues, please provide them to the police.