Chapter 100: Discovery

Ever since seeing the victim’s body, Chen Ru had fallen into a dazed, almost trance-like state. She sat on a chair to the side, shaking her head, her face streaked with tears, murmuring over and over, “No… it can’t be… it’s not Xiaoxuan… it’s not her… it can’t be…”

Meng Li handed her a pack of tissues and said, “Miss Chen, we know how hard this is for you. No one wants something like this to happen. But right now, the most important thing is for you to stay strong and help us solve this case as quickly as possible, so we can get justice for Miss Zhong.”

Chen Ru broke down in sobs. As much as she didn’t want to believe it, the truth was right in front of her. The body lying there, cold and lifeless, was Zhong Xiaoxuan. She couldn’t imagine who could be so cruel, so twisted, to slash Xiaoxuan’s face like that. Xiaoxuan had always cared so much about her looks.

Meng Li sat beside her, gently patting her back from time to time. Once Chen Ru had calmed down a little, the two of them went to the interview room. This time, it was Meng Li and Song Changfeng who would be taking her statement.

During the questioning, Song Changfeng focused mainly on the victim’s personality and social connections. Based on Chen Ru’s responses, they quickly pieced together a basic profile.

Zhong Xiaoxuan was twenty-six years old. She had graduated from a second-tier comprehensive university¹ in Guang City. After graduation, she didn’t stay in Guang City but moved to Anyang City with Chen Ru. She found a job as a sales rep and had been working there ever since. Over the past two years, she had rarely gone home. Her parents divorced when she was very young. Not long after, her father remarried, and so did her mother. Neither of the new families welcomed her, so she ended up living with her grandparents in her hometown. After they passed away, she never went back. Her parents barely reached out to her.

Because of her unhappy childhood, Zhong Xiaoxuan had little faith in marriage. Over the years, she’d dated several men, but whenever marriage came up, she would break things off. She was beautiful and came across as cheerful and outgoing. Her boyfriends had all liked her a lot. After each breakup, someone would always try to win her back, but none had succeeded.

At the time of the incident, Zhong Xiaoxuan was between relationships. She had broken up with her last boyfriend just a month ago.

Song Changfeng nodded and continued asking about her work.

Chen Ru said, “She didn’t talk much about what went on at work, but I know she wasn’t very happy there. Since she was in sales, she had to go to a lot of client dinners. She often didn’t get home until after ten at night, completely drunk. But even then, sometimes she still couldn’t close a deal. She’d cry in my arms, and then the next day, she’d pull herself together and head back to work full of energy… Officer, do you know when exactly Xiaoxuan was killed?”

Song Changfeng replied, “She was killed between two and three o’clock yesterday afternoon. Do you know where she went yesterday?”

Chen Ru shook her head. “I only know she went to work. I don’t know anything beyond that. She didn’t mention anything on her social media either.” She opened her phone and pulled up Zhong Xiaoxuan’s social feed². The last update was from 9 a.m. yesterday. The most recent post was a photo of an iced Americano with the caption: “Another energetic day ahead.” Song Changfeng took her phone and scrolled through the rest of the posts but didn’t find anything useful.

Suddenly, Chen Ru seemed to remember something. Her expression turned urgent. “Xiaoxuan was very organized. Every night, she’d write down what she needed to do the next day on a sticky note and put it somewhere obvious. There must be a clue in her room!”

The team split up again. One group went to Zhong Xiaoxuan’s company to pull surveillance footage and question the manager and her coworkers. The other group went to the apartment she shared with Chen Ru to investigate.

To gather more clues, Song Changfeng brought along Aofeng. After returning from the landfill that morning, Aofeng had taken a two-hour nap and was finally feeling refreshed. He sat in the back seat of the police car, occasionally glancing at Chen Ru beside him.

Sensing his gaze, Chen Ru turned her head and forced a small smile at the well-behaved police dog. Aofeng grinned back at her, which took Chen Ru by surprise.

The apartment Chen Ru and Zhong Xiaoxuan rented was on an old street in Anyang City. The building’s stairwell was dim and narrow. Even during the day, a weak yellow bulb was needed to light the way. The hallways were cluttered with household items and junk, leaving just enough space for one person to squeeze through. It was a mystery how the place had ever passed a fire inspection.

Leading the way, Chen Ru said a little awkwardly, “The environment here isn’t great, but the rent is really cheap.” The two of them paid only sixteen hundred yuan a month. Split between them, it was just eight hundred each, far below the market average. At first, they chose the place because they had just started working and didn’t have much money. Later, they stayed because it was such a good deal.

Their room was on the fifth floor. Chen Ru opened the door and invited them in. The moment they stepped inside, everyone was taken aback. Given how rundown the exterior looked, they had assumed the inside wouldn’t be much better. But to their surprise, the room was clean, tidy, and cozy, a refreshing contrast that caught them off guard.

Accepting their compliments, Chen Ru said, “Xiaoxuan designed the place, and we renovated it together. It took us more than half a month to get it like this. During that time, we had to sleep together in the living room.” She smiled faintly at the memory, but her expression quickly dimmed again, and her swollen eyes welled up with tears.

“She knows design?” Song Changfeng changed the subject.

Chen Ru nodded. “Yeah, even though she worked as a sales rep, she really loved interior design. It’s just a shame she didn’t study it professionally. No matter how beautiful her designs were, no one would hire her for that kind of job. She once told me that when she’d saved up enough money, she was going to open her own interior design studio. This room here was hers.”

Chen Ru opened the door to the room in front of them. Compared to the warm and homey feel of the living room, Zhong Xiaoxuan’s room had a much bolder, more avant-garde design. The paintings on the walls were all works by abstract artists.

To Song Changfeng, Zhong Xiaoxuan seemed like a woman full of contradictions. On the surface, she appeared gentle and tender, but inside, she burned with a fierce passion. Maybe it was this very contradiction that made her so unforgettable.

Just as Chen Ru had said, Zhong Xiaoxuan had a habit of writing her plans on sticky notes and placing them in prominent spots. As soon as they entered, they saw the small bookshelf on her desk covered in sticky notes. The handwriting varied in age, filled with tasks she had planned for the next day.

“That annoying bald client likes green tea. Bring some from the office tomorrow and give it to him.”

“The client I’m taking over likes to show off. Remember to look up his company info and flatter him just the right amount.”

“Tomorrow’s Xiaoru’s birthday. Don’t forget to buy her a cake and a gift.”

“All the snacks are gone. Remember to stop by the supermarket after work to restock.”

The notes covered both work and personal matters. Each one was dated. Song Changfeng scanned them one by one and soon found the ones she had written the day before the incident.

There were three notes in total. The first read, “So annoying, why meet at a place like that? I definitely need Li Yun to come with me tomorrow.” The second said, “After work tomorrow, remember to bring chicken wings with rice. Xiaoru’s been craving them for ages.” The third read, “He contacted me again. I have to make things clear with him tomorrow.”

When Chen Ru saw the second note, tears immediately spilled from her eyes. Even a casual comment from her, Xiaoxuan would take to heart. If only she had called her back earlier yesterday… would none of this have happened?

“Miss Chen, do you know who this Li Yun is? And what kind of place was she referring to? Also, this one here, ‘He contacted me again’ – who was she talking about?” Song Changfeng pointed to the other two notes. His instincts told him there was something important hidden in them.

“Li Yun is her coworker, a year older than her. They joined the company at the same time. Xiaoxuan brought her over once. As for that place, I don’t know where she meant. And ‘he contacted me again’… that should be her ex-boyfriend, Wang Hao. He really liked Xiaoxuan, but he was in a rush to get married. Xiaoxuan didn’t want that, so she broke up with him.”

“Do you have a photo of Wang Hao?”

“I think so,” Chen Ru fumbled to unlock her phone. “Let me check, Xiaoxuan must’ve posted one.”

She quickly scrolled through Zhong Xiaoxuan’s social media feed and soon found a photo from five months ago. In it, Zhong Xiaoxuan leaned against a handsome man in a white shirt, flashing a peace sign at the camera with a bright smile. The man looked down at her, his eyes full of tenderness.

“Did she ever introduce you to her boyfriend?”

Chen Ru pressed her lips together. “I met the first one. The other two, no. Xiaoxuan said she didn’t want to get married, so even when she dated, she never really gave her whole heart.”

“Do you have Wang Hao’s contact info?”

“I’ve never even met him. How would I have his contact info? But… I think I remember Xiaoxuan saying his company wasn’t far from theirs. I think it was called Chenxing Trading or something…”

While they were talking, the others had already searched the room for clues. Aofeng had also walked around the apartment twice, but unfortunately, found nothing unusual.

Once the questioning wrapped up, the group left Zhong Xiaoxuan’s apartment. Song Changfeng told the others to head back to the station first. He had just made a call and learned that the manager of Zhong Xiaoxuan’s company, along with her department colleagues, had already been brought in for questioning. That included Li Yun.

“You two head back first and focus on questioning Li Yun. I’ll go to Wang Hao’s company and see if I can find anything there.”

Translator’s Notes