Chapter 49 "The Deliveryman" Boss Zhong: "You've never chopped ribs before?..."
"ah--"
Xiangxiang shouted.
She could tell that his deathly pale smile showed him no fear of her, his victim. Whether out of a senseless motive for murder or a whim of following her, he could tell she was home alone.
"I have an STD—" "There really is someone in my family—" "Go, go quickly—" The girl uttered countless cries for help as her life hung in the balance.
Just then, a life-saving light came on from the front of the store.
That person had a very strong mentality and didn't leave.
After a commotion, Zhong Yinghuai and Jian Dieda worked together to pull open the roller shutter door.
The man immediately turned and ran.
"Something seems wrong, go in and take a look!" Upon hearing the crying, Zhong Yinghuai lifted Jian Dieda by the waist with one hand and carried him into the house, while using his left hand to brace the entire door against his shoulder.
"Sister Xiangxiang!" Jian Dieda crawled out from under Zhong Yinghuai's arms. As soon as he ran in, he saw the waitress kneeling by the toilet, vomiting violently.
When she saw it was them, Xiangxiang was still crying with her head in her hands. She was so frightened that she couldn't get up and could only sit on the ground pointing out the window.
"Ninth Brother! When we were little... a pervert... he... he wanted to... come in—he... was laughing—"
Jane Dieda: "There's something hanging by the window."
"Ah!!" Xiangxiang collapsed into tears in front of Jian Dieda.
Amidst the chaos, Zhong Yinghuai took a few steps to the window of his shop.
On the window was a section of thin white stocking that had been ripped off a person's head and discarded. The hole cut into it with a knife looked like an ugly black eyeball, with only two lines of the gray-white night visible through the crease of the eyelid.
With a stern expression, Zhong Yinghuai opened the window with both hands. There were no signs of any crime outside; the pervert had already run away.
"Damn it." Jane Dieda could tell someone was angry.
The fact that the female employee was almost harmed must have been worse for him than if his money had been stolen.
Jane Dieda marked the stockings when no one was looking.
He soon realized, to his astonishment, that these were not normal stockings, but girls' stockings, and the pink strawberry pattern on them gave them an even more awkward look.
A system notification immediately sounded:
["Congratulations on triggering the testimony about 'stockings.' For the voyeur outside the window tonight, their true identity is perhaps their most feared secret. However, this pair of stockings, left unattended, is one of the major breakthroughs in the case. Please continue your investigation using this as a clue."]
Upon hearing this, Jian Dieda silently packed away his things: "..."
Half an hour later, the three of them sat down to talk.
With her makeup ruined and her hair disheveled, she looked like a female ghost. Her whole story shocked everyone present.
Considering Zhong Yinghuai's recent bad luck, the person who maliciously reported the food delivery has not yet been caught, and now a peeping tom has come late at night. Is Fu'an Community really having a run of bad luck with him?
Moreover, Xiangxiang's hometown is not here, and his rush to give his female employee leave to return to her rented room will only worsen her psychological trauma.
Zhong Yinghuai began smoking one of his cigarettes, which smelled of gardenias, one by one.
Zhong Yinghuai: "I'm sorry, Xiangxiang, I should have come back sooner. Even if I hadn't come back, I would have brought Sun Dali and Lao Ji back."
Xiangxiang shook her head with tears in her eyes, "Ninth Brother...it's not your fault...you were the ones who saved me in time..."
"No, I was..."
Zhong Yinghuai paused.
His expression suddenly turned puzzled.
He remembered that the reason he rushed over was because of a message Jian Xiaoshi sent on QQ.
The kid said, "Brother Jiu, I want to go back to the shop now. Will you come with me?"
Zhong Yinghuai was with his drinking buddies, and he was quite annoyed. "It's already past midnight, and you're at home all fine."
Jian kept saying, "I must come back to be with Xiangxiang because it's not safe for a girl to be alone. If you don't come, I'll come back alone."
Thinking back now, Zhong Yinghuai felt a lingering fear, horror, and nausea stuck in his stomach, unable to go down.
If he really let Jian Xiaoshi come, would the person by the window let the lone Jian Xiaoshi go so easily?
Knowing he had neglected his duties excessively, Zhong Yinghuai fell silent.
Xiangxiang looked like she couldn't even drink a few sips of her beverage, and she was terrified of being killed.
Even Jian Dieda felt like kneeling down and vomiting at the strange smell filling the room.
The three of them were still tense and couldn't relax for a while.
But Xiangxiang still needs to rest.
The attempt to catch the spy failed and had to be put to an end.
Jian Dieda went outside the store for a walk and ran into Zhong Yinghuai, who was also out smoking.
At first, Jane didn't turn around, but he could directly call out the person behind him.
He said to the murder mystery NPC suspected of murder and concealing the body:
"Ninth Brother."
"Jian Xiaoshi, how did you know it was me? Do you have a surveillance system in your head?" Zhong Yinghuai was puzzled.
He continued to place his hand, which made him feel safe, on the side of Jane's face.
The man approached silently, stroking the boy's short, spiky black hair.
Jian Dieda's face was hot. He mustered up his courage and said, "Your clothes, hair and cigarettes smell very nice. The first time I saw you, I felt that you smelled nice all over. Compared to Sister Xiangxiang, you should be called Zhong Xiangxiang."
Zhong Yinghuai's sharp eyes widened in surprise. He released his grip and said, "You little brat, you're turning around and making fun of me?"
Jane shook her head: "I don't dare. I still need you to protect me. I'm afraid of ghosts and bad people."
The deep-set eyes and profile made him look even more worried, and Zhong Yinghuai's tone softened immediately: "Have you ever seen a ghost? What are you afraid of? Let me ask you, was the last time you secretly rummaged through the freezer in the kitchen also something you did because of your wild imagination?"
Jian Dieda wasn't stunned by the sentence, but he realized what Zhong Yinghuai meant.
The man thought he was afraid of ghosts after watching the movie, which is why he went to rummage through the freezer. It seems that having a young persona has its advantages; you can explain away all the crazy things you do by your age.
Knowing that remaining silent would only lead to deeper misunderstandings from the men, Jian Dieda simply asked, "If someone dies and is dismembered, will everyone notice?"
Zhong Yinghuai laughed in exasperation, "Have you never chopped ribs before?"
"without."
Mr. Zhong, who is a very good cook, told Jane Dieda.
"Human bones are too hard, which would be extremely difficult to cut. Cutting through muscle tissue and fascia also requires skill. Most importantly, the head and a lot of blood would be very difficult to handle. Dismembering a human body and hiding it in a refrigerator? Do you think this is a movie?"
"With the shoddy soundproofing in this neighborhood, let alone someone staying up all night chopping up a corpse, even a couple fighting at home would be all over the place the next day."
Zhong Yinghuai followed up, saying, "Alright, the previous things have been explained. Now, why did you cry? Tell me all about it today. When you went home tonight, were your stepfather and mother treating you badly?"
The crying incident was even harder to explain, but unexpectedly, Zhong Yinghuai was very good at making connections, and he guessed Jian Dieda's family background very accurately.
Jian Dieda was startled, realizing that Zhong Yinghuai had been trying to comfort him all along.
He answered truthfully: "It was because of you that I cried the first time you spoke to me that night."
Also, Zhong Xiangxiang, I've found that I really get sad whenever you really dislike me, and I don't know why—this is also the truth, but he felt it was ambiguous and didn't say it aloud.
Zhong Yinghuai thought about their relationship for a moment and said, "Then don't cry, okay? I won't be mean next time."
"Really? You're not kidding me."
Jian Dieda wasn't acting when he spoke like that.
He just felt that Zhong Yinghuai was like the sun.
He was like a small leaf in the grass in early winter, having achieved his own photosynthesis, so he habitually trusted Zhong Yinghuai.
"real."
Zhong Yinghuai answered.
They started talking it out.
They took the opportunity to feed the black cat at the shop entrance for a while.
With his head down, Jian Dieda said, "Ninth Brother, I don't actually want to drop out of school. I want to be able to catch bad guys in the future."
Zhong Yinghuai leaned closer: "Police?"
"yes."
Why did you have this idea?
Deliberately glancing at the store, Jian Dieda said, "Perhaps it was because of what happened today, or perhaps it was predestined in my past life. I always feel that what kind of person I should become is a stroke written in the Book of Life and Death in my previous life."
Zhong Yinghuai was a little confused. He was moved by Jian Dieda's words. He felt a faint impulse in his palm as he clenched his fist several times. He really wanted to touch the face that was so close to him, but in the end they didn't talk about this unrelated topic.
...
Night falls.
The mini-system is finally online after a long time.
It's said that it went to serve another player, but the guy won't reveal who that player is.
However, since entering the Overnight System, apart from each murder case role-playing and investigation, many questions still remain in Jian Dieda's mind.
For example, right now, a bookshelf appears in Jian Dieda's mind.
The three rulebooks were laid out in a row.
A small black booklet with the words "The corpse is speaking" was prominently displayed in the section for escape room rules. Strangely, Jane couldn't open the first two completed scenarios.
Jane Dieda asked for the first time, "Is my 'reincarnation' save file still there?"
The small system's cold, mechanical voice spoke clearly: "Sorry, I'm in charge of 'reincarnation.' Please consult my colleague for details."
Jian Dieda complained: "Compared to your overworked colleagues, can't you even be a human being?"
The bald man said calmly, "Master, I'm a human by day and a ghost by night."
Jian Dieda: "Pah!"
This matter was simply forgotten for the time being.
Xiangxiang is off today, but the spying continues.
After the other two employees from the second store came to work, Zhong Yinghuai talked to them about how to handle the matter the next morning.
Sun Dali, bewildered and furious, yelled, "Damn it! How could the surveillance cameras have broken down for no reason last night! If I catch that bastard, I'll break his legs!"
“A noodle shop is a business, and you’ll always encounter some strange people and things throughout the year,” Lao Ji said. “It’s good that no one is hurt. Xiangxiang is an indispensable person in the shop.”
Jane nodded in agreement with the old chef.
But the moment he picked up the grocery receipt that Lao Ji had brought today, his eyes suddenly flickered.
The goods have arrived?
Why do the three characters on the invoice look so familiar?
Although the words "goods have arrived" on the paper seemed like ordinary, common words, Jian Dieda swore that he had definitely seen similar handwriting somewhere recently. After all, this was a secret manhunt, and his mind, eyes, and ears were only focused on evidence.
Jian Dieda glanced at Lao Ji again, this time focusing on the scar on the other's face. Could this be the face of someone who needs to wear stockings?
To figure out the problem, we need to probe more, but if we alert him too quickly, his search for another corpse might be exposed.
With that in mind, Jian Dieda shifted some of his focus from finding the body and the stockings to Lao Ji. He kept an eye on Lao Ji while waiting for 107 to order food again that day.
After hanging up the landline, Zhong Yinghuai said, "Sun Dali, I'm going to cook noodles, you deliver them."
Jian Dieda volunteered, "Ninth Brother, I'll go deliver it."
Zhong Yinghuai lowered his hand from beside the curtain and glanced at him. "If you're going, then I'll go into the community with you."
Jian Dieda recalled what the man had said to him last night, and he took the initiative to assure him: "No need, I will definitely be careful. Ninth Brother, I'm an adult now."
The man then nodded.
After leaving mission location two, he started a new order to find a body as a deliveryman. The brown paper map refreshed, showing that Nanping Police Station, Fu'an Community and Brother Jiu's Noodle Shop were all in their original locations.
We arrived at 107.
The door, which forbids pressing buttons, is closed, and the rusty gold lock makes it impossible to imagine what kind of strange business is going on inside.
Jane couldn't help but wonder how many years she would be sentenced to under criminal law if she were caught sneaking into this house to check for anything resembling stockings.
Narrator: "Hello, the law governing your current crime is the Juvenile Law."
Oh right, he's still a minor, so climbing onto the balcony seems like a possibility.
After he did what he said he would do, he climbed through the stairwell window to try and get a clear look at the balcony of room 107.
On the balcony, there is a round metal clothes rack with a ring of underwear and socks clipped to it.
Jane jumped down to check. He didn't leave any footprints on the ground. Just as he stopped, he caught a glimpse of the colors of the clothes out of the corner of his eye.
It was all lace, bows, and lots of pink.
For a moment, Jian Dieda felt completely stunned by this cross-dressing scene. To make matters worse, the sound of a lock being opened came from outside.
Jian Dieduton remained in place.
He heard the door lock cylinder rattling intermittently.
Is someone coming to the door?
...Should we hide? Or should we quickly climb to the outside of the balcony?
As Jane made her decision, time seemed to slow down, and in the end, Jane still ran away.
He flipped it over immediately.
His heartbeat and blood circulation suddenly became disordered, and his consciousness went blank.
His hands, which were secretly clenched into fists, were unconsciously guarding his back. His heart was pounding, but this decision allowed him to once again spy on the 107 resident from the stairwell.
This time, he saw a middle-aged woman dressed strangely. She was wearing an awkward and ill-fitting maternity dress, and her hat and shoes were pink. The long stockings on her feet also gave people an indescribable sense of incongruity.
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2023-11-02 14:58:14 and 2023-11-07 19:00:32!
Thank you to the lovely angels who threw landmines: Tea Xiaobai and Yongye (1 each);
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 20 bottles of milk tea with extra ice; 10 bottles of original flavor potato chips;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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