Chapter 75 Red Spider Lily 14
Zhou Zitu's old house was in the north of the city, not too far from here. It only took about twenty minutes to get there via the elevated highway. Chi Li drove all the way to the north of the city.
At night, there were few cars on the road, and Chi Li drove steadily and quickly. He also heard some of the content of the phone call.
After hanging up the phone, Luo Siwei organized her words, thinking about how to explain the matter to Chi Li. She said, "Let me tell you two stories. Many of these are indirect deductions and contain my speculations, which may differ from reality. So, just listen to them as stories."
Chi Li nodded.
In the car, Luo Siwei's voice was calm and pleasant.
“It’s a story about two girls.”
"The first story is about a poor girl named Xie Chenyu. She grew up in a rural family that favored boys over girls. She had a younger brother four years her junior. Her parents went out to work, leaving her behind, and she was raised by her grandparents. Others saw her as an outlier in the village, even a lunatic. In the countryside, she ran every day, kept a diary, and learned how to put on makeup. No one understood her."
"After graduating from junior high school, the girl was admitted to high school. Her parents wouldn't let her continue, so she went to a nearby city to work. Because she didn't have a high level of education, she could only work as a waitress. She lived in an unfinished building and worked as a cement carrier at a construction site."
Chi Li nodded and continued to listen quietly.
Luo Siwei said, "More than a decade ago, the internet was just beginning to develop. Internet cafes and chat rooms were popular, and people began to try to make friends online. Some even found success in real life. Xie Chenyu met a man online who worked for a renovation company near where she lived."
"When the two met, Xie Chenyu quickly and boldly confessed her love. Like many young people who met online, they began a relationship. The man loved and cherished his girlfriend. Xie Chenyu was smart and beautiful. She was young and didn't want others to know she had a boyfriend so early. So the man cooperated with her and kept her existence a secret from his family and friends."
Chi Li listened to the story and made a judgment that the man should be the deceased Ding Zhaomo.
"Their relationship seemed like a clandestine affair, but young people can't hide their feelings for someone. They bought a lot of couple items and used a couple's phone number. They often talked on the phone late into the night, went out for photos together, and secretly went to hotels for dates. The man put a photo of him and Xie Chenyu on the back of his phone case, and when no one was around, he would open the case and look at her."
"They both came from poor families, neither of them had attended university, and suffered greatly from their lack of education. Later, Xie Chenyu encountered some problems at work and quit in anger. The man said his salary was enough to support her. So Xie Chenyu rented another house and studied hard on her own, hoping to take the adult education exam. The man covered her living expenses and rent. At that time, electronic transfers were not as convenient as they are today. As soon as he got his salary, the man would withdraw most of it and give it to Xie Chenyu when they met."
"Xie Chenyu was very talented and she taught herself a lot of courses. After two years of this life, the man supported her for two years and even considered marrying her. However, Xie Chenyu never mentioned marriage. Perhaps she was too young and hadn't decided whether she wanted to spend her life with this man."
"When Xie Chenyu was 21, she suddenly claimed a family matter and borrowed money from a man. She disappeared without a trace. The man went to her home looking for her, but discovered her family didn't know where she was. Later, Xie Chenyu's mother reported her to the police, but after searching extensively, they found her and listed her as a missing person."
Chi Li asked: "What happened next?"
Luo Siwei said, "From then on, Xie Chenyu seemed to have disappeared from the face of the earth. The man was depressed for a while and suspected that he had been deceived. Not many people knew about this."
At this point, she cleared her throat and said, "I'm going to tell you the second story now."
"This story is also about a quiet and introverted girl. Although her family wasn't wealthy, they had a house and a car, making them a typical middle-class family. She was admitted to a very good university and completed her studies. The year she graduated, her family was in trouble. She and her parents were driving when they were involved in a serious car accident."
"Both her parents died, and she was the only one who survived. She still has some scars on her face and body. A girl who had just graduated suddenly experienced the death of her closest relatives. After the funeral arrangements were completed, the girl was hospitalized for a long time, spending all the family's money. Seeing the family's decline, her relatives cut off contact with her."
"Having experienced the cruelty of the world and suffered disfigurement, the girl has become a recluse. She lives in an old house left by her parents and rarely interacts with others. In fact, apart from eating, sleeping, and occasionally surfing the internet, she does little else every day."
"Over time, the girl felt that her life was very lonely. She didn't even have anyone to talk to. What she hated most was going out to buy groceries. She was afraid that others would stare at the scars on her face, so she had to wrap herself up tightly every time she went out."
"There was a spare room in the girl's house, and she came up with the idea of finding a roommate to live with her and help her go out to buy groceries."
"Later, the girl posted a message on a forum in the same city, hoping to find a female roommate. The requirements were that the person had to be hardworking, able to cook and take care of housework, and the rent could be reduced. With such favorable conditions, many people naturally came to her. Soon, the girl found a roommate. What's more, this girl who came to share the room looked very similar to her."
The story ends here, and Chi Li's car brakes.
They had reached the northern outskirts of the city, and in front of them stood a lonely old house.
It was an old two-story building with small windows and thick curtains drawn.
In the dark night, there was light everywhere else, but this corner was completely dark, feeling a little eerie. Luo Siwei looked out the car window.
It is so quiet here that you can only hear the faint chirping of insects in the grass.
Chi Li confirmed the mark on the map and looked at the house number of Rusty Banban nearby.
He said, "It's here."
The two men got out of the car, turned on their flashlights, and walked through the long weeds to the gate of the yard.
Luo Siwei shone a flashlight for Chi Li, and Chi Li took out some simple lock-picking tools and skillfully inserted them into the keyhole.
Luo Siwei stopped telling the story and asked curiously, "Captain Chi, how did you know this?"
Chi Li said: "Because every time we took action in the past, we had to wait for the locksmith to come, which really delayed the investigation. After a while, I started to watch it. I asked the locksmith for a set of tools to keep on hand."
As he said this, the door lock made a click. Chi Li pushed the door, and the old door creaked open.
They crossed the yard and opened the inner door in the same way.
Because it had been vacant for a long time, a strange smell wafted out of the house. Luo Siwei handed Chi Li a mask and gloves, and the two of them walked in one after another.
Luo Siwei found the light switch and pressed it a few times, but the light didn't come on. The power in this room must have been turned off a long time ago, or perhaps the bills were owed for a long time. They couldn't find the switch for a while, so Chi Li turned the flashlight to the brightest: "Let's illuminate it first."
They looked inside. It was an old-style structure house. All the furniture in the house was covered with sheets or white cloth, and there was a thick layer of dust on the floor.
The house is not particularly big, with the upstairs and downstairs area being less than 200 square meters. The first floor is the living room, kitchen and bathroom, and the second floor is two bedrooms. The entire house is made of wood, and the old wooden boards creak when you walk on them.
A unique feature is the long, narrow, curved staircase connecting the first and second floors. Looking down from the top, you can have a panoramic view of the rotunda below.
The two men went up to the second floor first. The place was quite clean, with beds, tables and chairs. It was obvious that no one had lived there for a long time. Then they returned to the first floor and searched carefully, not missing any suspicious corners.
"What happened after the two girls started living together?" Chi Li asked.
The hall of the old house was a little empty, and Luo Siwei's voice echoed slightly.
"The female tenant moved in quickly, and the two became roommates and good friends who could talk about anything."
"The landlady is young, and the tenant is also young. She claims to be a student preparing for an exam and wants a place to review. The two girls are of similar age, but their personalities are completely different. The landlady is withdrawn and doesn't like to socialize, while the tenant is lively and cheerful."
"The female tenant took on all the housework, going out every day to buy groceries, cook, and clean. Initially, the relationship between the two was harmonious, but later, due to different living habits and upbringings, some cracks appeared between them. Occasionally, neighbors would hear quarrels coming from the house."
"But because the landlady relies on the tenant's care and the tenant can't find a more suitable place to live, they still maintain this relationship."
The room was pitch black, with only the light of a flashlight piercing the darkness.
The room was very quiet and one could only hear the footsteps of the two of them and Luo Siwei's voice.
"Because the landlady rarely showed up. And they looked very similar. Later, even the new neighbors who moved in nearby thought that the female tenant was the owner of the old house."
Chi Li found a way to describe it: "The cuckoo has taken over the magpie's nest."
Luo Siwei hummed a sound. "Half a year after the female tenant moved in, the door was locked one day, and both the tenant and the landlady disappeared. Three months later, the landlady returned. Her hairstyle and accent were exactly the same as before. She said she had another surgery to treat her facial scars. The landlady became sunny and cheerful. She moved out of the old house, rented another house, and moved into the city. She found a new job at a company and even started a relationship with the company's boss..."
"From then on, she severed ties with her past and stopped interacting with relatives, friends, and former classmates. As for the female tenant, when someone asked about her, the landlady said her contract had expired and no one knew where she had gone."
"This female landlord is the real Zhou Zitu, right?" Chi Li guessed, "And the female tenant you mentioned might be the missing girl named Xie Chenyu?"
The two stories seem to be unrelated, but they are connected here.
"These two girls are actually a pair of twin sisters who have been separated for many years." Just as she said this, Luo Siwei felt that she had stepped on empty air, lost her balance and almost fell.
Chi Li shouted "be careful" and reached out to support her.
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