Feng Yulan's heart skipped a beat. Manager Li had indeed docked her half a day's pay last week for breaking a bottle of wine, but she had never mentioned it to Zhang Shuo.
"How...how do you know?"
Zhang Shuo smiled, revealing his neat white teeth. "I know a lot more than you think, Yulan." He stroked her chin with his thumb. "Just like you know a little bit about me, right?"
Feng Yulan's blood ran cold instantly. He was testing her.
"I really didn't hear anything..." Her voice was filled with tears. "I swear..."
Zhang Shuo suddenly leaned in close, his lips almost touching her ear: "Remember, no matter what you hear or see, it's best to keep it to yourself, otherwise your parents back home..."
"I won't say anything..." Tears finally burst out, streaming down her cheeks hotly, "Please..."
Zhang Shuo patted her face with satisfaction: "Be good. Go to sleep."
He turned over and soon began to breathe evenly, as if the threat just now was just a nightmare.
But Feng Yulan knew that it was not a dream - the touch left by Zhang Shuo's fingers was still burning on her skin, and the threat about her parents was lingering in her heart like a poisonous snake.
She stayed awake until dawn, replaying fragments of the phone call in her mind: "Old Jin", "Jason", "sunk to Donggang"... These fragmented words pieced together a terrifying picture, and she dared not look directly at its meaning.
At five in the morning, Zhang Shuo's alarm clock rang. He got up and washed up as usual, even kissing Feng Yulan on the forehead, as if nothing had happened last night.
But when he turned around to put on his clothes, Feng Yulan noticed a strange bulge on his lower back - like... the shape of a knife.
"I have to work overtime today," Zhang Shuo said, wearing a tie. "You don't have to wait for me to eat."
Feng Yulan nodded, her eyes fixed on the corner of the quilt. Ten minutes after the door was closed, she dared to get up and rush to the bathroom—perhaps Zhang Shuo had left some clues.
The minty scent of shaving cream filled the bathroom, masking all other aromas. Feng Yulan carefully inspected every corner: only a few used tissues in the trash can, toiletries neatly arranged on the sink, and the mirror spotless...
Just as she was about to give up, a dark red stain caught her attention. It was on the edge of the toilet bowl, dried up, as if it had been hastily wiped but not thoroughly. Feng Yulan squatted down and gently wiped it with her finger—it was blood.
Her thoughts immediately returned to the phone call: "Is Jason's situation resolved?"
A wave of dizziness hit Feng Yulan, and she had to hold on to the wall to avoid falling. She trembled and tore off a piece of toilet paper, dipped it in water to wipe off the blood, and then flushed it into the toilet.
The evidence disappears, but the memory never does—Jang Shuo might have been involved in some violent crime, even...murder.
During breakfast, her mother-in-law, Zhang Shumin, noticed something was wrong with her: "You look so pale, are you sick?"
"I didn't...slept well..." Feng Yulan lowered her head to drink her porridge, avoiding her mother-in-law's inquiring gaze.
Zhang Shumin snorted, "You're so young and already suffering from insomnia. It's all because of playing on your phone."
Feng Yulan didn't argue. Her mother-in-law might be mean, but at least she wouldn't threaten her parents. In this family, Zhang Shumin's rolling pin was safer than Zhang Shuo's hidden knife.
On her way to work at the supermarket, Feng Yulan's mind kept flashing back to the phone call. In the employee locker room, when no one was looking, she pulled out a slip of paper from the compartment of her work ID and hurriedly wrote down the key words she had memorized:
"Lao Jin - Jason - Donggang - Shen - Purity 70% - Old place at 3pm tonight."
She hid the note back, her fingers shaking. This scrap of paper could be her lifeline in the future—if Zhang Shuo really did something, this would be the proof.
Feng Yulan was absent-minded all day: she broke two eggs, miscalculated the change three times, and was even complained by a customer about her cold attitude.
Manager Li warned her that if she continued like this, her salary would be deducted, but she no longer cared about that.
When she got home in the evening, Zhang Shumin was watching TV. When she saw her come in, she just raised her eyelids.
Feng Yulan mechanically prepared dinner, but her ears were perked up to listen to the movement outside the door - Zhang Shuo said he had to "work overtime" tonight, but who knew where he was going?
At 11 o'clock, Zhang Shumin went back to her room to sleep. Feng Yulan pretended to tidy up the refrigerator, but in fact she was secretly observing her mother-in-law's movements. As soon as Zhang Shumin's door was closed, she immediately took action.
She first checked the pockets of several coats Zhang Shuo often wore, but found only some change and supermarket receipts. Then she ventured into her mother-in-law's room—Zhang Shuo sometimes hid things with her mother, believing Feng Yulan would never dare to look through them.
Zhang Shumin's snoring was steady and loud. Feng Yulan tiptoed to the wardrobe and gently opened the bottom drawer. Beneath a pile of old sweaters, her hand touched something hard—a shoebox.
She carefully took out the shoe box and opened the lid. Inside were several ties and some small accessories neatly placed. On top was an exquisite leather tie box, the gold-stamped "Kiton" lettering gleaming faintly in the dim light.
Feng Yulan opened the tie box, which was empty, but there was a note on the bottom of the box with an address written on it: "Warehouse B7, East City Industrial Zone, Wednesday 3AM".
Today is Tuesday, and tomorrow is Wednesday...Does this address and time match what Zhang Shuo said on the phone, "the same place at three o'clock tonight"?
Feng Yulan's heart was pounding. She should put the note back and pretend she hadn't seen anything. But some strong intuition told her that this might be the key clue.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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