The Gu family was wealthy and influential, well-known throughout Jinggang. However, Qi Qi had a cold and aloof temperament and rarely showed herself in front of outsiders. Apart from Qiu Sheng and the others, no one knew she was also the Gu family’s adopted daughter.
This was the first time Gu Cheng had driven her to work.
As the car came to a stop, Wang Meng, who had been waiting at the entrance, saw her get out and quickly waved.
“Qi-ge!”
Qi Qi’s foot, which she had just extended, froze mid-step.
Gu Cheng was also taken aback, then turned his head and looked at her with a meaningful raise of his brow. “Seems like you’re doing pretty well for yourself here—you’ve even earned the title of ‘ge.'”
Qi Qi: “…”
“Call me when you’re done, and I’ll come pick you up.”
“No need. Let Mom and Dad know I won’t be coming home tonight.”
The car door closed, and the interior fell silent.
Click.
The crisp sound of a lighter striking, followed by a wisp of smoke curling into the air.
Gu Cheng rested his fingers on the steering wheel, his gaze passing through the window and the darkness of the night, fixed on the girl’s retreating figure. The look in his eyes was like the ember at his fingertips—flickering, fading, impossible to read.
He watched for a long while.
Only when Qi Qi had gotten into Wang Meng’s car did he casually withdraw his gaze and drive away.
…
“Qi-ge, you haven’t had a proper rest in over a month. Why don’t you close your eyes for a bit?”
Inside the car, Wang Meng noticed her lips were pale and, thinking she was tired, spoke with concern.
“Did they head to the crime scene?” Qi Qi asked, looking somewhat weary.
“Yeah. Teacher Tang said your place was far and it might take you a while to get here, so he had me wait for you. They went on ahead.”
The car drove for twenty minutes before coming to a stop.
Qi Qi opened her eyes. After that brief rest, the fatigue was no longer visible in them.
The two quickly made their way toward the abandoned factory, which was already cordoned off with police tape.
“Forensic Qi, the captain and the others are on the second floor.”
They had been working together for years, and most of the criminal investigation team knew Qi Qi well.
Qi Qi had left in a hurry, wearing only a shirt and thin trousers. Her short boots crunched against the worn ground as she walked. Dressed all in black, her figure looked slender from behind.
The two climbed to the second floor.
Judging by the looks of it, the others had only just arrived as well. To avoid disturbing the scene, the body hanging from the beam had not yet been taken down.
The victim was a woman, her clothes tattered and her body covered in wounds. A thick rope was looped around her neck, extending all the way up to the rafters. Her eyes were wide open in terror, as if she had experienced immense fear before her death.
It was a chilling sight in the darkness of the night.
Qi Qi walked over with an expressionless face. “Teacher.”
“You’re here.”
Tang Deyuan was past sixty, with hair half gray, but he looked hale and hearty.
The police carefully examined the scene.
The musty smell of the factory mingled with the stench of blood in the air. The blood on the ground was half-wet, half-dry, mixed with dirt into a dark crimson.
At that moment, Yang Ruiming, the captain of the criminal investigation team, spoke up.
“According to the eyewitnesses, when they found her, the body was already hanging from the beam.”
Qi Qi crouched down and touched the blood on the ground that hadn’t fully dried, then swept her gaze toward the pitch-black outside.
Yang Ruiming walked over.
Qi Qi stood up and said, “The victim must have died no more than an hour ago.”
The temperature and humidity of the environment determined how quickly blood dried. Although the weather in Jinggang had turned cooler, the temperature inside the factory was higher than outside. The bloodstain on the ground wasn’t large. In such a dry environment, combined with the strong wind outside, under normal circumstances, the blood would take about two hours to completely dry.
Now, the bloodstains were in a half-dry, half-wet state, which meant the victim had died only about an hour ago.
Yang Ruiming nodded. “That falls right within the time frame when the eyewitness discovered the body. They were pretty lucky to have escaped unharmed.”
“There are no other unusual traces around. Let’s take the body away.”
Qi Qi hurried forward to help Elder Tang up.
Another female forensic examiner saw this and sneered inwardly.
Her name was Meng Juan. Like Qi Qi, she had been mentored by Tang Deyuan ever since joining the Criminal Investigation Bureau.
Elder Tang was the chief forensic examiner, but since he was approaching retirement age, he intended to choose one of the two to take over his position.
Because of this, Meng Juan began comparing herself to Qi Qi in everything, and over time, the two became bitter rivals.
Clearly, she interpreted Qi Qi’s actions as trying to curry favor.
The crime scene was fully sealed off, and the body was taken to the morgue’s dissection room at the funeral home.
They didn’t perform the autopsy immediately—they had to notify the family first.
The family rushed over in a panic, and upon seeing their daughter’s body, they cried so hard that the mother was hospitalized.
A perfectly good daughter—they had spent so much money to put her through college, she had finally gotten into a major company, and before her internship even ended, she had become a corpse.
According to the victim’s mother, before leaving for work that morning, the victim had wanted to take the family out for a nice meal to celebrate her upcoming permanent position.
Who would have thought that before the day was even over, she would be separated from her daughter by life and death?
What parent could bear that?
After confirming that the victim’s parents were stable, they worked late into the night before returning from the hospital.
Tang Deyuan: “The victim’s parents are both unconscious. We won’t be able to get any leads from them for now.”
“Teacher, you’re not in good health. You should have someone take you home first. We can assist Captain Yang with the investigation on this case.” Qi Qi, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke up.
Seeing that Qi Qi had beaten her to it again, Meng Juan refused to be outdone.
“Teacher, you should go back and rest. Officer Yang and I have things covered here.”
Clearly, she deliberately left Qi Qi out.
Yang Ruiming found himself once again dragged into the middle of their rivalry and felt quite helpless.
Elder Tang was advanced in age, and after staying up half the night, he really couldn’t hold on much longer. Knowing that staying would be of no use, he nodded.
Qi Qi ignored Meng Juan. Only after seeing the old man off did she ask, “What about the eyewitness?”
“It was too late. They said they had to work tomorrow, so they gave their statements and went home.”
Wang Meng smiled. “Now that’s a true office worker—no matter what, they never forget they have to brave the morning rush hour tomorrow.”
Everyone turned to look at her.
Wang Meng froze in embarrassment, lowered her head, and said nothing.
Yang Ruiming: “What a coincidence—the eyewitness works at the same company as the victim.”
Qi Qi: “Then you let him go?”
“This really has nothing to do with him. To prove his innocence, he actually called the family and the supervisor over, crying so hard he dragged them out of bed. The supervisor was still cursing up a storm when he arrived.”
Wang Meng muttered, “But when they make you work overtime on a proposal late at night, they don’t curse then.”
Qi Qi’s brow twitched. She casually picked up a piece of bread and stuffed it into Wang Meng’s mouth.
“Eat. Stop talking.”
“Oh.” Wang Meng took a bite, then suddenly remembered something. “Qi-ge, did you wash your hands?”
Qi Qi glanced at her fingers, which had just touched the corpse, and said nothing.
Yang Ruiming suppressed a laugh and reassured her, “It’s fine. The night before last, when we were eating braised pork in front of a table full of body parts, you seemed to enjoy it well enough.”
“…………..”