The last day of August.
Half an hour before September began.
Su Miaoyi updated her novel and used a leave slip.
She used a leave slip to cover the missed update from the day she spent at the police station.
And she swore.
That in September, she absolutely, positively would not miss another update.
With work done.
Su Miaoyi opened her phone and scrolled through short videos for a while.
Then she looked around her room.
And then… in the middle of the night, she suddenly started tidying up.
A place of about fifty square meters, one bedroom, one living room.
She didn’t have many things.
After quickly organizing everything, she wiped down every surface.
She mopped the floor too.
She changed the sheets and pillowcases and threw them into the washing machine.
Then she dumped all her clothes onto the bed.
In the end, she only folded a few pieces before she fell asleep right there in the pile of clothes.
In the middle of the night, the building lost power.
Although it came back quickly, the air conditioner had turned off and didn’t restart.
Su Miaoyi slept in the pile of clothes, and before long, she was drenched in sweat.
She woke up from the heat.
And in the instant she opened her eyes, just as she saw the light, the scene before her suddenly changed.
A dim, cramped room, with only a little light coming through the window.
She was lying on the bed, her gaze sweeping past the window.
Then came a sharp pain at her ankle.
A tremendous force gripped her ankle and dragged her whole body downward.
She suddenly screamed and struggled.
“Get off! Get off! Help! Help! Get off!”
In the darkness, she couldn’t make out the man’s face in front of her, only the sound of his heavy breathing: “Shut up! Stop screaming! Stop screaming!”
She still thrashed about wildly.
Her pushing hands were grabbed and pinned to the bed, and she kicked her leg hard.
She didn’t know where she kicked the man, but he suddenly yelled and let go of her.
She immediately curled into the corner, and two seconds later, got up and ran for the door.
But just as she touched the doorknob, the man grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back.
She fell to the ground, the back of her head hitting the wall.
She heard a dull thud, and then dizziness washed over her.
The man came over and slapped her across the face.
Her body tilted and she collapsed to the floor, then lost consciousness…
…
The scene before her changed.
A flood of light replaced the darkness.
Su Miaoyi shot up and stood beside the bed.
She gasped for breath, sweat dripping down her cheeks and the sides of her neck.
She stepped back twice, steadying herself against the cabinet beside her. After a moment, she found her pajamas in the pile of clothes on the bed and went into the bathroom.
Outside, the sky had already brightened.
Su Miaoyi came out of the shower without drying her hair and sat directly in front of her computer.
She took a notebook and pen from the bookshelf, lowering her gaze to look at her two wrists, which she had rubbed raw.
What she had seen this time was truly limited.
The room was too dark.
Only one window let in light.
But the light was too weak.
Through that window, the sky outside seemed dim.
Like the sky before sunrise.
There were bars on the window, and the window was high up and very small—not like it was in a building.
She hadn’t seen the man’s face at all, not even what he was wearing.
Only the layout of the room.
She had roughly seen that.
Su Miaoyi sketched an approximate drawing in her notebook.
After confirming she hadn’t missed anything from what she’d seen, she tore the page from her notebook, changed her clothes, and hurried out the door.
She took a cab to the Municipal Bureau.
Getting out of the car, she walked straight in.
“Hey! Su Miaoyi!” Zhuang Yanzheng called out to her.
Su Miaoyi turned around and saw Zhuang Yanzheng’s car parked at the entrance.
She immediately walked over.
“Coming in for work?” Zhuang Yanzheng said as he handed her bag after bag—steamed buns, soy milk, youtiao, tofu pudding, jianbing, and more.
Su Miaoyi stood outside the car and took them one by one.
For some reason, a sudden sense of familiarity rose in her heart.
“See something again?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.
“I’m here for work.” Su Miaoyi said.
Zhuang Yanzheng let out a scoffing laugh: “Go on in, I just happen to need someone to carry my food.”
Su Miaoyi: “…”
“Step back two paces, I’m going to park.” Zhuang Yanzheng said.
Su Miaoyi stepped back two paces: “Then hurry up.”
“Got it.” Zhuang Yanzheng drove off.
Su Miaoyi carried the breakfast into the Municipal Bureau.
She stood outside the office area, only recognizing Qi Feng.
“What’s this?” Qi Feng walked toward her.
“Breakfast, let’s split it.” Zhuang Yanzheng’s voice sounded behind her. “Eat quickly, we have something to do in a bit.”
Qi Feng took the breakfast from Su Miaoyi’s hands and set aside a portion for Zhuang Yanzheng: “Thanks, Captain Zhuang.”
Su Miaoyi looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.
“To my office.”
Su Miaoyi followed Zhuang Yanzheng to his office.
Zhuang Yanzheng sat down.
Su Miaoyi sat in the chair across from him.
Zhuang Yanzheng set the breakfast aside—the case came first: “What did you see?”
“I saw a girl being attacked in a room.” Su Miaoyi said.
Zhuang Yanzheng looked up at her.
Su Miaoyi told him everything she had seen, then pulled out her drawing: “This is the layout of the room.”
Zhuang Yanzheng took it and looked.
Whoa!
Couldn’t make heads or tails of it.
“What is this?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.
“A window.” Su Miaoyi said.
Zhuang Yanzheng frowned at it, squinting as he tried to make it out: “A window shaped like instant noodles?”
“Those are bars.” Su Miaoyi said. “There’s a security grille outside the window.”
Zhuang Yanzheng: “…”
“The room is very small, the furniture inside and the posters on the walls are all pretty old, and the window is very high up and very small.” Su Miaoyi said. “It doesn’t look like it’s in an apartment building.”
Zhuang Yanzheng stared at her drawing with a troubled look.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t understand what she’d drawn. Even if her drawing perfectly recreated the room.
It was still just a room.
No clear location.
Even if they could tell it wasn’t an apartment building.
But as far as Jinghai went, between the surrounding areas and the old buildings in the city center, there was no telling how many there were.
They couldn’t even be sure it was in Jinghai at all.
This was completely like fishing for a needle in a haystack.
And they didn’t even know which ocean the needle had fallen into.
“You didn’t see the man’s face at all?” Zhuang Yanzheng asked.
Su Miaoyi shook her head.
Her hair had already air-dried naturally on the way over.
The moment she shook her head, loose strands fell into her eyes.
She raised a hand and brushed them aside.
Zhuang Yanzheng followed her movement and glanced at her: “What happened to your wrist?”
Su Miaoyi looked at her own wrist.
She was wearing a sun-protection jacket, and her wrist had been covered, but when she raised her hand it was exposed.
She tugged the sleeve down: “It’s nothing.”
While showering, replaying those images in her mind.
Su Miaoyi had accidentally used too much force, scrubbing her wrists and ankles raw.
Zhuang Yanzheng watched a flicker of disgust pass across her otherwise calm expression.
Combined with the images she’d described seeing, he could guess a bit, so he didn’t press further.
“Let’s have a sketch artist recreate what you saw first.” Zhuang Yanzheng said.
Her drawing really was a bit hard to look at.
He stood up after speaking, but noticed Su Miaoyi wasn’t reacting.
“Su Miaoyi?” Zhuang Yanzheng called out to her.
Su Miaoyi stared blankly straight ahead, eyes unblinking, all expression gone from them.
Zhuang Yanzheng narrowed his eyes. This state… she was seeing something again.