Chapter 2: Air Conditioning

Chapter 2: The Air Conditioner

The voice was shrill and piercing, with a tone that sounded like sobbing and wailing, seemingly coming from a distance but exceptionally clear.

Shen Qingye's fingers paused briefly, and then her eyes slowly blinked.

Yue Lingchuan, noticing her hesitation, turned to look at her: "What's wrong?"

Shen Qingye slowly raised her head, her lips moving: "Did you... hear anything just now?"

"What sound?" Yue Lingchuan glanced at the crowd gathered outside the door, then at the busy forensic and trace examiners, and asked, "What sound are you referring to?"

Shen Qingye felt her lips go dry, her throat tightening slightly, unable to tell if it was her hallucination or if it really happened.

She finally shook her head slowly: "...It's nothing." She licked her lips: "Maybe I just misheard."

Yue Lingchuan looked at her deeply: "If you're feeling uneasy, step outside for a bit. There's not much to do here now, I'll take you back later."

Shen Qingye took a deep breath: "Really, it's fine." She tightened her grip on the pen: "It's just that the noise outside might be a bit distracting; I must have misheard."

"It's good that it's nothing," Yue Lingchuan said. "Don't push yourself."

As he spoke, he glanced back at the door, frowning: "Kaiyang."

Luo Kaiyang hurried over: "Brother Chuan."

Yue Lingchuan gestured: "Tell those people outside to go home; what are they doing blocking the way? Is the crime scene really that interesting?"

"NO!!!" Before Shen Qingye could react, the sharp, almost piercing voice rang in her ears again:

"Li Dazhi is right outside; don't let him escape!"

Shen Qingye's face changed slightly, with no time to consider what was happening, her gaze quickly fell outside the door—

Each floor of the apartment had five small units, besides those like Zhou Meihua who lived alone, others chose to live together, plus the suites on the top two floors, the population was roughly a hundred. At this time, excluding those at work, there were still about a dozen people idly gathered outside, watching the commotion.

A crowd of people, men and women, young and old, but Shen Qingye's gaze oddly fell on one man.

He was about thirty, not tall, with thick eyebrows, and looked honest and simple.

He stood outside, pointing at the scene like everyone else, his demeanor appearing normal. But Shen Qingye keenly noticed the tension in his brow, and looking down, his rough fingers kept fidgeting with his pants, his feet were positioned one in front of the other, his body slightly leaning back—a typical stance for preparing to run.

He was nervous.

Shen Qingye's breath hitched, and before he noticed, she subtly averted her gaze.

What was he nervous about?

Li Dazhi...

Li Dazhi.

Luo Kaiyang walked over, and the crowd outside slowly dispersed. Shen Qingye noticed that the man looked into the room several times before leaving.

She took a deep breath.

Yue Lingchuan said: "Kaiyang, go to Longchang Garment Factory to inquire about the deceased's relationships, see if anyone knows who her boyfriend is, I'll investigate further here."

Luo Kaiyang responded and turned to leave. Shen Qingye watched his back, slowly calming her emotions.

She looked at the neighbor lady beside her and asked, "Auntie, you said earlier that every time you saw her boyfriend, he was always downstairs?"

The neighbor lady nodded, "Yes, he was always downstairs."

Shen Qingye asked, "Did he ever come upstairs?"

Yue Lingchuan glanced back at her, and the neighbor lady thought for a moment, then shook her head, "Not that I can recall."

Shen Qingye: "Did Zhou Meihua ever stay out overnight before?"

The neighbor lady said, "Hmm... she's quite shy and reserved. Even during holidays, she would come back by ten at the latest. Since she moved here, she's never stayed out overnight."

Upon hearing this, Shen Qingye pondered, "Her boyfriend never came upstairs, and she came back not too late every night... which suggests she's pretty conservative when it comes to relationships. Would a girl like this really give her house keys to someone else so casually?"

Yue Lingchuan's eyes shifted, and the neighbor lady pursed her lips, "Well, without the keys, Zhou Meihua couldn't have opened the door herself, could she? In the middle of the night..."

Yue Lingchuan slowly looked to the side, "There's another way."

"The balcony," Shen Qingye said suddenly.

"The balcony! It's the balcony, that guy came from the balcony!"

When the shrill voice spoke up again, Shen Qingye had already learned to ignore it. Yue Lingchuan was impressed by her quick thinking, gave her a look, and they both walked towards the balcony together.

This was a narrow balcony, about ten feet long and three feet wide, open-air, without any screens or windows, separated from the room by only two doors.

They leaned over the balcony railing and looked down. It was the back of the apartment, with a patch of grass below, no paved path.

Yue Lingchuan pointed, "The grass looks trampled."

He turned and left, "I'll check it out. Stay here."

Shen Qingye watched him leave, bit her lip, and recalled what the voice had just said.

Upstairs... Li Dazhi.

Shen Qingye leaned out, looked up, squinted her eyes, and asked the neighbor lady again, "Auntie, who lives upstairs?"

The neighbor lady: "Upstairs... I think it's Li Dazhi, why?"

Indeed!

Shen Qingye's pulse quickened, her expression remained calm. She leaned out of the window again, observing carefully, and suddenly noticed a problem:

"Auntie, what do people around here typically earn?"

The lady was a bit puzzled, "For factory workers like us, it's about seven or eight hundred a month. If you're better off, like a small leader, you might make a thousand or so."

Shen Qingye asked, "Was Zhou Meihua extravagant with her spending?"

The neighbor lady waved her hand, "Not at all, she was really tight with her money. Girls her age, who doesn't like to eat well and dress up? But she mostly wore her work clothes, hardly any bright clothes. She was even more reluctant to spend on food, I hardly ever saw her buying snacks. I heard she sends part of her monthly earnings back home!"

Shen Qingye's expression darkened, "Then where did she get the money to install an air conditioner?"

The neighbor lady paused, "--What?"

Although air conditioners were becoming more common, for ordinary families, they were still a luxury item, with cheaper ones costing around two to three thousand, and the expensive ones up to ten thousand. If Zhou Meihua was as frugal as she said, how could she afford to spend several months' salary on an air conditioner?

The neighbor lady was also stunned for a moment, she slowly recalled, "I really hadn't thought about this... she installed the air conditioner about half a year after she moved in, and it was Li Dazhi who installed it for her. We were all talking about it at the time..."

"Hold on!" Shen Qingye cut her off. "You said Li Dazhi installed her air conditioner? Li Dazhi knows how to install air conditioners?"

"Yeah," the neighbor lady said. "That's his line of work. Besides air conditioners, he can also fix small appliances. We usually call him when we have issues with stuff like lights or flashlights. He's a good kid and doesn't charge us a dime."

Upstairs... air conditioner...

Shen Qingye's mind raced, as if she'd just had an idea, and she hurried toward the door.

As she reached the stairwell, she ran into Yue Lingchuan, who was coming back from outside:

"I just checked the grass down there—"

Before he could finish, Shen Qingye cut in: "I'm going upstairs to check."

Yue Lingchuan watched her slender figure hurrying upstairs, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

Since she joined, every time he'd seen her, she'd been calm and composed—unusual for someone her age. It was rare to see her so worked up.

After a moment's thought, Yue Lingchuan told the officer on duty and hurried after her.

Shen Qingye went up to the third floor, hesitated, and instead of knocking on Li Dazhi's door, went to his neighbor's.

A middle-aged woman answered the door, looking surprised and nervous when she saw Shen Qingye. "Officer, is something wrong?"

"Don't worry, I just have a few questions. Mind if I come in?" Shen Qingye asked.

The woman quickly stepped aside: "Oh, of course, come in, come in."

Shen Qingye glanced around the room. The layout was similar to Zhou Meihua's, but there was more stuff, making it look a bit cluttered.

The host offered tea, but Shen Qingye waved it off and said, "Mind if I take a look at your balcony?"

"Balcony?" The woman looked puzzled but said, "Sure, go ahead. It might be a bit messy, though."

"No problem." Shen Qingye stepped over a pile of clutter and stood by the balcony, looking down.

This apartment was to the upper left of Zhou Meihua's, and from here, the outdoor unit of her air conditioner was clearly visible.

Shen Qingye's gaze froze.

"See anything?" A familiar voice sounded behind her. Shen Qingye turned to see Yue Lingchuan had followed her.

"There." She stepped aside, pointed, and whispered, "On the air conditioner's outdoor unit—there's a shoe print."

Yue Lingchuan looked intently, his eyes slowly narrowing.

The outdoor unit was mounted on the outer wall, exposed to the elements year-round, usually covered in a thick layer of dust. Most people wouldn't bother cleaning it.

But now, there was a clear shoe print on the outdoor unit.

"Looks like a size 41, male, probably around 5'8" to 5'10"," Yue Lingchuan said.

Shen Qingye recalled the characteristics of Li Dazhi she had just seen, nodded silently, and said, "If someone came down from upstairs, using this outdoor unit as a foothold, and then onto Zhou Meihua's balcony, it wouldn't be difficult, right?"

Yue Lingchuan glanced at her, then looked at the distance between the two balconies, and said, "Indeed, not difficult."

He asked, "You think it's the guy upstairs?"

Shen Qingye looked at him and shot back, "Don't you?"

Yue Lingchuan met her dark eyes and gave a short laugh.

Shen Qingye said, "Zhou Meihua is naturally frugal, but she had an air conditioner installed just six months after moving in. The person who installed it for her was Li Dazhi from upstairs."

She added seriously, "I just checked. Li Dazhi isn't very tall, about 1.75 meters, which fits your theory."

Yue Lingchuan glanced at her briefly, then suddenly strode out of the room. Shen Qingye hesitated for a moment but quickly followed.

They left the room and headed straight for the next door. Yue Lingchuan and Shen Qingye exchanged a look, then he knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" came a muffled voice from inside.

Shen Qingye thought, perhaps mistakenly, that the person sounded nervous. She cleared her throat and said firmly, "Police."

The person inside stammered, "Wh-what do the police want with me?"

"We have some questions for you," Shen Qingye replied.

"Oh, oh, what is it?"

Shen Qingye replied, "Open the door first. We can't talk like this."

"Coming, coming, I'll be right there, right there."

There was some rustling inside, then silence. Shen Qingye glanced at Yue Lingchuan, sensing trouble, and dashed to the next room.

When she reached the balcony, she saw a black figure standing on the air conditioner's outdoor unit, about to jump down.

She quickly shouted, "Captain Yue!"