Chapter 51 After the day's stall business ended, and Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao returned home, she didn't...
After the day's stall business ended and Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao returned home, she didn't rest immediately. Instead, she had He Zhao take his medicine and rest before plunging into her study to start working.
This was far more serious than she had imagined. The facial features of the sutured water ghost were inconsistent, and considering the nature of the sutured water ghost itself, the suspect had killed at least six people. Qiao Yanyu sent the photos to the information processing department, coordinating with the police to compare and reconstruct the facial features.
As it turned out, they actually found the suspected murderer, and the information about the missing resident of 501 also came out. Unlike the "stitched-up water ghost," the missing resident of 501 looked like an ordinary girl with a smiling and lively expression.
She wasn't very old, probably in her early twenties, younger than both Qiao Yanyu and He Zhao. Her face wasn't pretty; it was really ordinary, the kind you'd easily blend into a crowd. But compared to that beautifully stitched-together face, Qiao Yanyu still thought her natural appearance was prettier.
Looking at the photo alone, it's impossible to tell whether this girl is the "stitched-line water ghost" or not. However, Qiao Yanyu is an investigator at the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, and she often relies on intuition. She just felt that this girl was the "stitched-line water ghost."
After reading about her experience, Qiao Yanyu became even more certain.
This girl comes from a remote mountain area. Growing up, her family favored boys over girls, subjecting her to constant beatings and verbal abuse. After growing up, she managed to escape the mountains under the pretext of finding work. Once in the city, she lost contact with her family. However, her life in the city hasn't been easy either.
With low education and no skills, she could only do assembly line work in factories. Finally, through a friend's introduction from someone in the same factory, she found a job as a restaurant server, escaping the three-shift, puppet-like life.
She rented a single room in a shared apartment in room 501, and her life is getting better.
This is the kind of girl who, in her memory, only knows that instant noodles are the most delicious food. She has never eaten anything good. When she was a child, any good food at home would be given to her younger brother. She was not favored and never got to eat anything good. After growing up, she didn't have money to buy anything nice to eat. Although she knew how to cook, her three-shift work schedule left her with no time to cook for herself, let alone spare money to eat out.
On a cold winter day, returning to her rented room, perhaps a packet of instant noodles would make her feel warmer and give her more hope for the future.
But her future came to a standstill two months ago; from the moment she disappeared, her life had probably already ended.
Qiao Yanyu looked at these past events, but felt no emotion. She had seen too much—all sorts of tragic and moving things. She had seen far too much to empathize with others; she was only focused on completing her mission.
At that moment, He Zhao's image suddenly appeared in her mind. She remembered how He Zhao had argued with her so emotionally not long ago. Qiao Yanyu couldn't help but think: If He Zhao knew what this girl had gone through, he would be very sad.
Just then, the internal chat software rang. After a busy night, the information investigation department had made some progress. By comparing the facial features of the sutured water ghost, they found a girl who resembled the victim.
Looking at the photos alone, none of them are particularly attractive, but upon closer inspection, one of their features is indeed quite striking. More importantly, their backgrounds share a lot in common with the girl Qiao Yanyu first saw.
They were all runaways from their families, arriving alone in an unfamiliar city, afraid their parents would come looking for them, so they cut off all contact with their families. Furthermore, living alone in a rented room in a mixed and chaotic environment, even if they disappeared for a while, no one would know.
No one will report it to the police.
If it weren't for the excellent information census work being done now, it would be very difficult to even find out their identities.
Because so little time has passed, only two suspected victims have been found; the others have not yet been located. Qiao Yanyu took a deep breath. There are now at least six victims, which means at least six bodies. In today's society, no matter how carefully the perpetrator disposes of the bodies, they will eventually be found; it's just a matter of time.
"Have you found any trace of the criminal?"
In response to Qiao Yanyu's question, her colleagues in the information processing department quickly replied: "[The person in the sketch you provided has been identified, but there's something we feel we need to let you know.]" This was followed by a screenshot from a surveillance camera, along with the location and time.
Upon seeing the details of the photo, Qiao Yanyu's brows furrowed involuntarily. Because... at 10 PM last night, the person who had been secretly watching He Zhao appeared near the park, which was also near where He Zhao had set up his stall.
Qiao Yanyu realized something: this guy must have been observing He Zhao for a long time and had made He Zhao his next target.
He's courting death.
Such a thought flashed through Qiao Yanyu's mind. She suppressed the violent urges within her and sighed deeply. Actually, looking at it from another perspective, the suspect coming to He Zhao was a good thing for her. That guy was a veteran; he carefully chose the locations to dispose of the bodies, and the fact that he hadn't been found yet showed his strong counter-surveillance capabilities.
If such a guy becomes alert and hides secretly, he won't be so easy to find.
Modern criminal investigation techniques are indeed advanced, but true criminal geniuses do find ways to escape when things go wrong. After all, most surveillance still relies on human monitoring, and humans are prone to oversights.
If AI develops further and can achieve comprehensive, autonomous screening, that might be the truly flawless moment. However, for now, uncovering the truth still requires a significant amount of human resources.
Qiao Yanyu continued checking the messages and discovered that this guy was indeed very well hidden. The information about the suspect sent by the information processing department made him seem like a very simple and unassuming ordinary citizen. His surname was Lin, and his given name was Gao, which suited his tall and thin appearance quite well.
Born in a remote mountain village, with a high school education, he currently works in an assembly line factory. He looks ordinary, but Qiao Yanyu knows that this guy is so good at hiding himself, this information is probably also carefully disguised.
For example, this Lin Gao might not actually be him, but someone he killed and then impersonated. Many people from remote mountain villages come to the city to work, and may not return for three to five years. When information is updated, this person could easily impersonate Lin Gao.
This situation is not uncommon, and the possibility of problems arising in grassroots work is not nonexistent.
Qiao Yanyu thought for a while. She felt her mouth was a little dry, so she rubbed her temples, put down the materials in front of her, and went out of the room to get a drink of water. To Qiao Yanyu's surprise, He Zhao was standing in the kitchen in his pajamas, as if he was preparing to cook something.
Qiao Yanyu was stunned for a moment. She walked over and saw the dishes that He Zhao had bought on the kitchen counter.
Qiao Yanyu immediately recognized what He Zhao was planning to make from these ingredients: instant noodles, vegetables, ham sausage, eggs, hot pot base, and milk—all the ingredients the "stitched-up water ghost" had mentioned for making instant noodles. Seeing this, Qiao Yanyu couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you going to sleep? Are you going to cook instant noodles now?"
He Zhao turned around and smiled at Qiao Yanyu: "I'm hungry, and I'm also quite curious whether the way she described it is actually delicious. Besides, I've been sleeping for a while now. But you, Sister Qiao, haven't you rested?"
Qiao Yanyu felt a little guilty, but she was too embarrassed to lie, so she could only say, "I'll go rest in a while."
"Oh, you haven't rested yet!"
He Zhao seemed to have caught Qiao Yanyu red-handed and spoke directly, making Qiao Yanyu even more embarrassed. He Zhao nudged Qiao Yanyu, gesturing for her to sit at the table: "Sister Qiao, don't you really like spicy food? I'll try to recreate it for you, it's sure to be delicious!"
Qiao Yanyu, however, was somewhat distrustful, and she asked directly, "Can you cook?"
It wasn't that Qiao Yanyu looked down on He Zhao; it was that He Zhao had already revealed all her past experiences shortly after they met. Qiao Yanyu and the bureau chief knew everything about her situation in her original world. She was a rich girl who had been pampered since childhood by a wealthy family. Although her parents later died in an accident, she still had a part-time housekeeper to take care of her three meals a day. The only hardship she had ever suffered in her life was being kidnapped by the system to this world—and then cooking rice.
Qiao Yanyu knew that He Zhao's white rice and chili powder were very well made, but that was because of his systematic training. She really didn't think He Zhao could cook anything else. She even considered doing it herself so that He Zhao could rest for a while.
Despite being looked down upon by Qiao Yanyu, He Zhao wasn't angry. Instead, he calmly said, "I can still cook instant noodles. After all, Auntie needs to go home to reunite with her family during the Lunar New Year. At this time, it's impossible to order food outside. Restaurants are all booked for New Year's Eve dinners, so there's nothing to eat. At this time, I can only cook instant noodles, so don't worry, I'm very good at cooking instant noodles!"
Hearing He Zhao talk about her own situation, especially something so sad, Qiao Yanyu was momentarily speechless. After a while, she said, "I'm sorry."
"Sister Qiao didn't do anything wrong, why apologize? Sit down, you haven't slept for a day and a night, and you've been up all night again. I'm a little worried that you'll collapse in the kitchen if I ask you to come here."
Qiao Yanyu was pushed out of the kitchen, and He Zhao closed the glass sliding door in the middle. Qiao Yanyu had no choice but to sit obediently at the dining table.
Qiao Yanyu's kitchen was spotless, showing virtually no signs of use. Even the apron looked brand new. He Zhao found the apron, tied it on, turned on the range hood, and then started cooking instant noodles.
According to the suture-lined water ghost, the hot pot base should be added first.
Turn on the heat, and once the pot is hot, add the hot pot base. This stuff is quite hard, but it melts quickly upon contact with the hot pot. It's oily, so there's no need to worry about it sticking to the pot. However, the moment it's slicing open, white smoke rises, releasing the spicy and numbing aroma directly.
The range hood was very effective, sucking away almost all the smells. However, He Zhao had absolutely no resistance to spiciness; even a tiny bit of it made him cough.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com