cell phone
The chirping of birds outside the window woke Qu Shiyao from her sleep.
She opened her eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling, and vaguely felt as if she had just had a long nightmare.
[Host! You're awake!] The system was browsing the announcements released by the newly appointed administrator of the main space, and was secretly rejoicing that it was carrying out a mission with the host in the small world, thus avoiding that turmoil.
Upon sensing that Qu Shiyao had awakened, it immediately forgot about those messages.
Qu Shiyao didn't speak. She felt a foreign object on the back of her hand. When she looked up, she saw an IV needle stuck in the back of her hand. Looking up along the transparent IV tube, she saw a bag of nutrient solution hanging on the stand.
Her gaze shifted to the bedside table, where the purple safety rope lay quietly, silently reminding her that nothing was an illusion.
turn out to be……
It's all true...
Seeing that Qu Shiyao had fallen into a depressed mood again, the system anxiously paced around in the consciousness space.
It remembered a lesson from an elder: when people are grieving, they need good news to distract them and give them hope.
So it quickly relayed the information it had obtained while Qu Shiyao was unconscious: [Host! Good news! Yi Yu's phone has been found!!!]
Qu Shiyao looked at the system in silence. Normally, she would probably be speechless and complain that this was not good news, but now, she felt exhausted even making an expression.
"Cellphone..." she began hoarsely, her voice so dry that she even forgot she could communicate with the system in her mind.
Hearing the noise from the bedroom, the person outside the living room immediately pushed open the door and came in.
Qu Shiyao looked up and saw that besides Su Wanwan, Shen Qingyi and Gu Yanxi had also arrived.
Shen Qingyi and Gu Yanxi originally planned to leave next week and wanted to meet up with Qu Shiyao again, but they couldn't get in touch with her, so they had to go to her place to check on her. Unexpectedly, they learned about the tragedy that had happened from Su Wanwan.
"Shiyao! Are you alright?" Shen Qingyi saw that Qu Shiyao's face was pale, her cheeks were thin, and her eyes were empty. She felt sorry for her and gently hugged her.
"I...cough cough..." Qu Shiyao wanted to say something, but her throat was dry and itchy, and she coughed, making her voice even more hoarse.
Su Wanwan turned around, went out, poured a glass of warm water, and brought it to Qu Shiyao's lips.
Qu Shiyao instinctively reached out to take it, but Su Wanwan said helplessly, "You've been lying down for days and haven't eaten much, so you don't have any strength in your hands. Don't force yourself."
Qu Shiyao stopped insisting and took a few sips of water from Su Wanwan's hand, feeling her throat ease a little.
She raised her head, her gaze falling silently on Su Wanwan, without saying a word.
Su Wanwan felt a little uncomfortable. When had she, a young lady from a respectable family, ever taken care of someone like this?
When the other person woke up, they didn't even say thank you; they just stared at her like that.
But considering Qu Shiyao's current state, she suppressed her temper, turned around, took a phone from the cabinet, and handed it to her.
"It was found near the beach on the second day. I had it repaired urgently, and it can now be turned on normally. All the data inside is still there."
The phone had a purple men's pendant hanging from it, the string of which was broken, and it could be pieced together with the safety rope on the bedside table.
"Thank you..." Qu Shiyao's voice was still hoarse, but slightly clearer than before.
Su Wanwan awkwardly turned her head to one side.
Qu Shiyao took the phone, and the screen automatically unlocked after sensing her face.
Familiar wallpapers come into view.
That was a photo of the two of them taken when they gathered together for barbecue after everyone went scuba diving together, with her hand still in a cast.
The people and events inside seem like they happened just recently, but now they can never be seen again.
Her eyes were slightly red, but she held back her tears.
Open WeChat, and the pinned chat box is the conversation between Yi Yu and her.
Qu Shiyao opened the chat box, and a screen full of glaring red exclamation marks assaulted her vision.
Those were all messages that YiYu failed to send.
As she read the message, her expression gradually turned cold.
Su Wanwan and the others noticed that Qu Shiyao's expression was off, so they leaned closer to look at her phone screen. The first message they saw was Yi Yu's identification of the murderer:
! [Fish Falling into the Sea: Sister Shiyao, it's Sun Mei!]
[Fish Falling into the Sea: She has some information, I recorded it, she can't escape this time!]
[Fish Falling into the Ocean: Hopefully the phone won't malfunction by then!]
[Fish Falling into the Sea: But you should still be careful of her!]
[Fish Falling into the Ocean: Take Good Care of Yourself!]
! [Fish Falling into the Sea: Hearing Henxi Say I Still Have Hope]
! [Fish Falling into the Ocean: So, eat and drink well!]
! [Fish Falling into the Sea: I haven't cooked today's meal yet!]
! [Fish Fallen into the Sea: The arranged date hasn't even happened yet!]
! [Fish Falling into the Sea: I haven't told you about the funny things that happened to me at school recently!]
The message ended abruptly there, with an unsent message remaining in the last input box: "I haven't officially told you I like you yet."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavy, and everyone looked at Qu Shiyao with concern, fearing that she would have an emotional breakdown.
However, Qu Shiyao only paused for a few minutes, took a deep breath, and then opened the video file, without revealing any further emotions throughout.
The video appears to have been taken from a hidden angle; judging from the perspective, it's highly likely that Yi Yu placed the phone in a hidden pocket of his clothing.
In the footage, Sun Mei's face was only clearly revealed during a shoving action; her usually timid face was twisted and ferocious at that moment.
Sun Mei—a woman who was even less noticeable than Wang Qian and always seemed timid.
After Qu Shiyao was transferred to the 66th floor, she vaguely sensed that something was wrong with her. After several tests, she basically confirmed that she was not as simple as she seemed.
Qu Shiyao also confirmed one thing: in the original work, Sun Mei was the mastermind behind the bullying and abuse of the original owner, and she always remained hidden in the shadows.
In this world, simply because she noticed Si Cheng's special attention to Qu Shiyao, she secretly sent Su Wanwan some cryptic photos after being fired, trying to stir up trouble.
In the video, Sun Mei kept trying to sow discord between her and Yi Yu, but Yi Yu always managed to find a reason to refute her, creating a tense atmosphere.
Sun Mei took out those photos, and Yi Yu's attention was completely focused on them.
Just as Yi Yu got hold of the photos, Sun Mei took advantage of his momentary lapse in attention and suddenly rushed forward, pushing him toward the edge of the cliff.
Yi Yu lost his balance and staggered backward. Just as he was trying to regain his footing, Sun Mei pushed him hard again!
The video then rippled violently as Yi Yu fell, eventually leaving only Sun Mei's maniacal and triumphant laughter.
Qu Shiyao took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and tried to calm the turbulent emotions in her heart.
Finally, she picked up her phone and dialed the police without hesitation, personally recounting the case to the officers.
Throughout the entire process, Su Wanwan and Gu Yanxi remained silent and did not disturb her.
Qu Shiyao noticed Shen Qingyi's hesitant expression and looked at her with a calm but questioning gaze.
“Sun Mei…she was my college classmate.” Shen Qingyi hesitated before speaking.
"She was in the same major as Si Cheng, and during her freshman year, she was often bullied by some people. It seems that Si Cheng helped her once, and ever since then, she has followed him around wanting to repay him..."
When she first heard Sun Mei's name, she wasn't sure. It wasn't until she saw her face in the video that she was shocked and couldn't believe that the once timid girl would do something so extreme.
Qu Shiyao looked at Shen Qingyi and recalled some gossip she had received from the parties involved on the 66th floor.
She remembered that Shen Qingyi and Si Cheng did become a couple in their sophomore year of college after a bullying incident.
Based on her understanding of Sun Mei's psychology, and considering that Si Cheng was pursuing Shen Qingyi fervently at the time, she couldn't help but suspect whether Sun Mei had also participated in that bullying incident.
"System, check if Sun Mei was involved in the bullying that Shen Qingyi experienced during her university years?" Qu Shiyao instructed in her mind.
【Okay! I'll check right now!】The system responded happily, seeing that Qu Shiyao seemed to have regained her composure.
“Sun Mei, after she noticed that Si Cheng was paying special attention to me, she started doing some underhanded things behind my back. I remember once, she even tried to ruin my relationship with Wanwan.” Qu Shiyao looked at Su Wanwan.
Su Wanwan nodded in confirmation, "She sent me some false information last time, but I sent someone to warn her."
"So, Qingyi." Qu Shiyao turned her gaze back to Shen Qingyi, her tone calm yet carrying an undeniable certainty:
"Were you sure you sent everyone involved in the bullying incidents to jail? Are there any who might have slipped through the net?"
Shen Qingyi fell into deep thought, carefully recalling the details of that incident from back then, trying to find any possible anomalies.
[Host! I found it!] The system quickly brought back the results.
Sun Mei wasn't directly involved in that incident, but she 'unintentionally' leaked some information about Shen Qingyi's whereabouts. Furthermore, she used Si Cheng's pursuit of Shen Qingyi to reveal this information to the girls who secretly admired Si Cheng…
Qu Shiyao understood.
Sun Mei did not directly take action, but she indirectly propelled the development of the event, which explains why Shen Qingyi did not notice her at the time.
Shen Qingyi also seemed to realize something, and her expression changed slightly: "I only told a few close friends that I was going to collect samples that afternoon, and Sun Mei was getting very close to one of those friends at the time..."
She didn't finish her sentence, but everyone present understood the connection.
Gu Yanxi frowned, feeling both heartache for Shen Qingyi's past experiences and utter disgust for Sun Mei's underhanded tactics.
Silence fell over the room. Qu Shiyao closed her eyes and leaned against the headboard to rest.
No one knows what she's thinking, or if she's still reeling from Yi Yu's death.
The heavy silence was broken only by the approaching sirens of police cars.
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