Chapter 198: [Gold Medal Salesperson] Who Is in the Kitchen?
“Yes—at a specific angle, the eyes on an advertisement on the building across from her place would reflect onto her wall. It wasn’t particularly obvious, but when she took photos, it made it look like a pair of eyes was lurking there.”
Hearing this, Bai Cha seemed to relax significantly.
“That’s a relief. But… is the pair under my bed a reflection too?”
The female officer hesitated; that was indeed difficult to imagine.
“Don’t worry, we’ll head over to your place with you in a bit to take a look. Rest easy.”
Bai Cha forced another faint smile.
Before long, the officer who had gone to conduct the interrogation returned.
“He claims he only developed criminal intent a few days ago, intending solely to sneak into your place at night. He has never stayed inside your house prior to this.”
These details had actually been clarified yesterday.
Bai Cha clutched the plastic bag in her hands once more, keeping her head lowered.
“There’s no need to be afraid. We’ll head back with you now to check the situation.”
Bai Cha nodded.
Soon after, the officers accompanied Bai Cha back to Li Yun’s home.
It happened to be lunchtime.
Overcast clouds had blotted out the sunlight outside at some point, rendering the lighting inside the house rather dim.
Three officers had accompanied Bai Cha—two men and one woman.
Once everyone stepped inside, the modest apartment felt somewhat crowded.
The interior was deathly quiet—quiet beyond reason.
Though a breeze blew outside and the leaves ought to have rustled, the apartment remained as silent as if soundproofing insulation had been installed.
Before the officers could speak, a faint noise reached their ears first.
The sound emanated from the direction of the kitchen.
It was the sound of someone chewing food.
Perhaps due to poor teeth, the person ate with a smacking, squelching sound that carried a somewhat heavy volume.
Bai Cha hesitated briefly, saying, “I’ll go check the kitchen. It might be my mom.”
The officers cast extremely peculiar looks at her in an instant.
Given what they had learned this morning—that this girl constantly acted as though her mother hadn’t passed away—their understanding of her statement wasn’t entirely incomprehensible. Yet they weren’t out of their minds either.
They knew with absolute clarity that Li Yun’s mother was already dead.
Under such circumstances, who could possibly be inside the house eating food?
Exchanging glances with one another, the three reached for the weapons at their waists, refraining from calling out to Bai Cha lightheartedly to avoid startling whoever was inside.
Bai Cha walked to the doorway and knocked on the door.
“Mom?”
Zero response came from inside, and the sound of chewing ground to a sudden halt.
Bai Cha turned the doorknob.
Pushing the door inward, the room proved completely empty.
Only a few unfinished dishes rested on the kitchen stove—prepared by Bai Cha this morning, consisting of stir-fried pork, rice, and stir-fried potatoes for lunch, which needed reheating.
Bai Cha felt the dishes; they were cold, chilled through to the core.
Indicating that whoever was eating hadn’t bothered to heat them up.
The officers stepped inside as well, sweeping their eyes across the small kitchen.
The kitchen wasn’t large, packed with clutter, and having been used for a long time, the tiles bore grease stains that could no longer be scrubbed clean.
Traces that resisted cleaning lingered over the floor as well, with several tiles cracked. Flattened cardboard boxes rested near the stove, even displaying the print of a certain yogurt brand.
Beneath the stove lay an old-fashioned setup—constructed layer upon layer with stacked bricks, lacking doors unlike modern kitchen cabinets, and packed with items inside.
It was entirely impossible for a person to hide in any of these spots.
Yet the noise from moments ago couldn’t possibly be a hallucination.
The apartment fell into a deathly silence once more, filled solely with the sounds of their footsteps, fabric rustling, breathing, and even the thumping of their heartbeats.
An inexplicable sense of unease settled over them.
The female officer let out a light cough, saying, “There was noise just a second ago, but it’s gone now. Could it have been an outside sound?”
Even though she didn’t believe those words herself.
Yet… she felt it was unnaturally eerie.
The other two remained silent, continuing to inspect the kitchen in a sweep, examining the items stored underneath.
“Let’s step outside and check.”
There was indeed nothing here.
Meanwhile, Bai Cha kept her gaze locked onto the spot where vegetables were stored in the corner.
Potatoes, onions, carrots, a small handful of scallions, and a few sprigs of cilantro rested there.
The quantity was correct; she had checked it specifically after cooking dinner last night to confirm whether she needed to buy fresh groceries.
If new produce was needed, she would have to wake up earlier in the morning to hit the market before returning home to cook.
Yet on the open patch of floor directly before the vegetables lay a patch of black stain that hadn’t been there this morning.
She was absolutely certain—it was the produce storage spot, after all.
The stain strongly resembled liquid left behind by rotting vegetables.
Noticing that Bai Cha wasn’t moving, an officer asked, “Is there anything strange?”
He followed Bai Cha’s gaze over as well.
Bai Cha retracted her gaze without a trace.
“Nothing. I counted the food items, and the quantity hasn’t changed.”
The officer nodded thoughtfully, looking toward the food on the table again.
“These are…”
“Lunch I prepared for my mom. Her health is poor and she can’t cook, so since I have to work, I prepare it in the morning for her to eat during the day.”
The officer fell silent.
Bai Cha always used such a natural tone to claim her mother was still around, giving them an illusory impression that her mother was truly still alive as well.
Furthermore, they felt the apartment was turning noticeably colder.
“Let’s head into your mother’s bedroom to check first then.”
Bai Cha nodded.
The officers exited the kitchen first.
Bai Cha walked behind them, casually pulling the kitchen door shut.
Then, the loud smacking sound of chewing echoed once more.
The three officers instinctively whipped their heads back.
Bai Cha turned around as well.
The kitchen door in old apartments like this was a wooden door, featuring a louvered, slatted design at the bottom for ventilation purposes.
The group lowered their heads together, looking through the gaps.
An elderly woman, holding food in her mouth, was bent at the waist, staring through the door gap just as they were while chewing.
Crucially, the elderly woman’s waist was bent practically in half. Her legs stood relatively straight—bearing the normal curvature of an elderly person’s legs—unlike the group outside, who squatted slightly and supported their knees with their hands when bending over.
The elderly woman had folded straight down, yet her head curved upward to form an opposing angle with her body, her face pointing directly toward the door gap.
The people outside were angled sideways.
Because a normal human being couldn’t possibly achieve an angle like that.
Her murky eyes glinted with an eerie quality as she chewed her food, locking gazes with them across the door.
Following a heavy silence, the officers straightened up with lightning speed.
They exchanged looks of startled uncertainty.
Bai Cha didn’t get up.
She spoke up.
“Mom?”
Zero response came from inside the room; the elderly woman continued eating while maintaining that bizarre posture.
Bai Cha stood up, pushing the door open once more.
The interior was completely empty.
Yet this time, the sound of chewing did not vanish.
The complexions of the three officers behind Bai Cha turned thoroughly unsightly.
They opened their mouths, yet struggled to utter a word.
What could they even say?
We encountered a ghost?
Fuck, that would be far too insane!
Bai Cha looked thoughtfully at the fresh, black stains that had materialized out of nowhere on the floor, before pulling the door shut once more.
“Let’s go check my mom’s room.”
Having said that, she opened the door to the secondary bedroom with an utterly composed expression.
The three officers: “…”
Suddenly, they understood why that man last night had been scared out of his mind to such a degree.
Exchanging glances, they bit the bullet and stepped inside.
The location of those eyes in the photo was beneath the bed. The three hesitated briefly, looked at one another, and the older officer gritted his teeth, using his stun baton to lift the bedsheet, peering under the bed.
