Chapter 64: The Case from That Year
The policewoman at the station kept comforting the sobbing, breathless Bai Cha.
Bai Cha held the hot water the policewoman had given her and recounted the events of the day.
After hearing that she had also called the police last night, the policewoman contacted the officers from the previous night.
Soon, the female police officer from yesterday walked over.
She was somewhat surprised to learn that Bai Cha had encountered trouble again.
“We were planning to go and find you anyway. When we called you today, the call suddenly hung up.”
Bai Cha pursed her lips.
She suddenly grabbed the policewoman’s hand, on the verge of a breakdown.
“I suspect that what’s following me isn’t human at all.”
The policewoman, upon hearing this, naturally didn’t believe it.
“Don’t be afraid. We’ve already asked someone to check the surveillance footage, and we’ve also looked at the surveillance from your community. But unfortunately, your community is too old, and most of the surveillance cameras are broken.”
“We’ve already had your neighbor taken back by his family. His family also assured us that this won’t happen again. That Chen Yan does have mental health issues, and they have had a certificate from a mental hospital for many years.”
“As for the raincoat man you mentioned, and the person you didn’t see clearly today, we will investigate further.”
A hint of despair flickered in Bai Cha’s eyes. She wanted to say something, but knowing that her guess was very absurd and no one would believe her, she finally lowered her head, her expression dazed.
Seeing this, the policewoman patted her shoulder again.
“Don’t overthink things, don’t scare yourself. Besides, people are much more terrifying than ghosts.”
Bai Cha forced a slight movement of her lips, but ultimately couldn’t manage a smile.
However, a thought suddenly struck her, and she looked up at the policewoman.
“The building you mentioned on the phone today, I didn’t hear it clearly at the time. Could you please tell me again?”
The policewoman nodded.
“We had someone investigate that building. The owner of your phone number passed away a year ago. That number is a dead number. The owner’s surname was indeed Qi, and his name was Qi Lianyue.”
Bai Cha’s brow furrowed slightly.
She hadn’t seen this name in Gu Baixue’s contacts. There was only one person with the surname Qi, and she had checked; it was a classmate with whom Gu Baixue had a relatively ordinary relationship and had never chatted.
Besides WeChat, she had also checked QQ. Gu Baixue hadn’t used QQ much in the past few years, barely logged in, and there was no relevant information there either.
“What I was going to tell you at the time was about this Qi Lianyue. He passed away a year ago, and he died in that building.”
This matter, if discussed, would be another unsolved mystery that remained unresolved, although it was said to be closed to the public.
A murder case occurred a year ago, on December 12th.
The victim was a girl, a girl who worked in that building. Coincidentally, or perhaps not, she was also in the e-commerce industry.
She was also living alone and had been stalked.
After realizing she was being stalked, the girl originally planned to call the police the next day, because she thought she was safe in her own home.
Nothing did happen that night.
She had intended to ask for leave, but the company was having an event, and she couldn’t take leave that day.
She had to decide to go to the company first and then go to the police station at noon to report the situation. After all, she only had a feeling and no evidence to prove she was being stalked.
However, she disappeared when she arrived at the building.
The company reported it to the police because the employee was absent, the boss was angry and couldn’t contact her, so they simply called the police.
After investigation, the police found that the girl had entered the building. But she was gone. Later, her body was found in the building’s underground parking lot.
She had been brutally murdered, her arms severed.
This naturally attracted immediate attention.
The girl’s experiences before her death were only known after questioning her friends.
At the time, the girl had also revealed that she suspected a colleague from the same company, Qi Lianyue, was stalking her. But Qi Lianyue also disappeared that day.
When the police found Qi Lianyue, his body was found in his home’s bathroom.
It seemed he had accidentally slipped on water stains on the floor, his head hitting the steps behind him, and he died on the spot.
However, the murder weapon was not found at Qi Lianyue’s residence, so it couldn’t be completely determined that he had killed the girl. But all the available evidence pointed to him.
“So we can’t rule out the possibility that someone is using his phone to play a prank and deliberately scare you.”
Bai Cha looked even more uneasy. The policewoman was also a bit helpless and could only continue to comfort her.
“Don’t worry, we will continue to follow up on this case. How about this, I’ll give you my contact information. You can set it as an emergency contact. Can your family come over now? It’s too unsafe for you to live alone. Have your family stay with you for a while. And then try to find another place to live, don’t stay there anymore. That community is too old, many facilities are outdated.”
Bai Cha lowered her head and opened her phone, scrolling to the contact labeled “Dad.”
The chat history had only a few messages, spanning a full four years.
Dad: Are you about to start your internship? Do you have enough money?
gbx: It’s none of your business.
Dad: Chinese New Year is coming soon. Are you coming back this year?
gbx: No. Dad: Then do you have enough money? Let me transfer some to you.
gbx: Now you know to give money, where were you before? What were you doing when my mom died?
gbx: I don’t need your money! Dad: You have a holiday for National Day, right? Are you coming home? Do you have enough money?
gbx: Are you annoying or what? Dad: I saw your Moments. How did you end up owing so much money? Give me your bank card number.
gbx: I’ll pay it all back when I get my salary. I don’t owe that much. Dad: I know you hate me, blame me for not coming home all these years and missing your mother’s treatment. Dad doesn’t want to explain either. But Dad really didn’t intentionally stay away from home for so many years.
Dad: I’ll transfer the money to you. You can’t owe so much, and definitely don’t take out any loans. Dad: [Transfer 2000]
Dad: [Transfer 2000]
gbx: You’re so annoying! I told you I don’t need it!
gbx: Don’t transfer anymore, I won’t accept it. I swore I wouldn’t spend a single penny of yours. You just keep your money and live your life out there!
Dad: How are you doing recently? It’s been especially cold this year, remember to keep warm. That was it.
That was all the chat history there was. It wasn’t hard to see from the chat history that Gu Baixue’s relationship with her family wasn’t good, perhaps even very bad.
Maybe Gu Baixue’s father hadn’t returned home for many years for some reason, causing Gu Baixue’s mother to die from a serious illness without seeing him.
Gu Baixue rarely talked about her family to others, only in very few instances in her Moments were there a couple of posts that coincided with the times her father contacted her. One of them was last year on January 31st.
gbx: So annoying, someone is still contacting me. I really don’t know where they get the nerve. They left for so many years back then without a word, speechless.
She had set the post to be invisible to some friends, and that invisible friend was naturally her father. Her friends’ comments on this Moment only assumed it was because of a romantic relationship, and they even asked when she had gotten a boyfriend.
She didn’t reply to any of them. Living alone, with a bad relationship with her family, and in debt. She was an easy target. Bai Cha hesitated for a long time on the chat interface, then closed her phone and shook her head. “My family is all gone, it’s okay… I’ll go back and get the knife for self-defense.”
