Chapter 103 05

Chapter 103.05

In an instant, a piercing pain, as if an electric drill were boring into his skull, shot through He Lin's brain, jolting him abruptly from his dream.

He Lin's heart pounded wildly, nearly losing its rhythm. He gasped for air, his trembling hands instinctively clutching his chest.

The hotel room was quiet. Fang Jue slept soundly in the adjacent bed, emitting soft, steady snores, completely oblivious to He Lin's distress.

He Lin squeezed his eyes shut. After a few seconds, the intense pain gradually receded.

He slowly opened his eyes, his thoughts drifting uncontrollably back to the dream he had just experienced.

It was a hostage rescue mission from his special forces career—every scene identical to what had happened in reality.

But what He Lin couldn't comprehend or let go of was the final scene of the dream…

Why did Long Gu’s face in the dream look exactly like Li Shang’s?

He Lin’s brow furrowed slightly. Was it simply because he missed Li Shang too much?

They hadn’t seen each other for a week. Could this longing have manifested in such a peculiar way in his dream?

Yet, he had a faint feeling that things might not be so simple.

Whenever he tried to recall more details, a searing pain shot through his mind.

Cold sweat beaded on He Lin’s forehead, and he felt as though the intense pain had seized control of him, leaving him rooted to the spot, unable to take another step forward.

Then he suddenly remembered something: Zhu Xiaonian was the longest-serving member of their team. And right now, he was living in Ningcheng…

***

Early the next morning, when the alarm went off, Fang Jue woke up and stretched with a big yawn.

He turned to see He Lin already propped against the headboard, looking at his phone.

"Captain He, good morning!" Fang Jue said energetically, then noticed the dark circles under He Lin’s eyes.

Fang Jue paused. "Captain He, did my snoring keep you up?"

"Not your fault," He Lin said as he got up. "I have trouble sleeping in unfamiliar beds."

After washing up, the two went for breakfast, each ordering a local specialty: douhua (tofu pudding) noodles.

The silky smoothness of the tofu pudding and the chewy texture of the noodles created two entirely different sensations. Combined with a variety of rich toppings, the savory and fresh flavors were incredibly appetizing.

Fang Jue was enjoying his meal, but He Lin, sitting across from him, seemed to have little appetite. He appeared still lost in the dream from the previous night, his head throbbing, old injuries aching faintly. Even Fang Jue noticed that He Lin’s gaze seemed distant.

He asked, "Captain He, are you feeling unwell?"

He Lin shook his head. "Didn’t sleep well. I have a bit of a headache."

Fang Jue said, "We’re scheduled to meet this afternoon. Why don’t you try to get some more sleep this morning?"

He Lin shook his head again. "I’ll review the case a bit more."

After returning, He Lin handled some recent work online. The forensic department’s comparison results were expected to be available by Monday.

They had arranged to meet with Chen Xiao’s classmate at 3 p.m. that afternoon.

As the time approached, the two headed to the prearranged coffee shop.

He Lin bought an iced coconut latte, while Fang Jue ordered a glass of milk for himself.

Right on time, a petite woman entered the coffee shop and walked over to greet them.

Her name was Su Wanyin, and she had been Chen Xiao’s roommate. As soon as they met, Su Wanyin said, "If it weren’t for my teacher asking me to come, I wouldn’t be here. Chen Xiao and I weren’t that close, and we haven’t been in touch for years."

He Lin said, "Thank you for coming and being willing to provide us with information."

After speaking, he ordered a drink for Su Wanyin.

Being treated by a rather handsome policeman made Su Wanyin a bit shy.

She said, "Since I’m here, I’ll definitely cooperate with your work. What would you like to know?"

He Lin said, "First, tell us about Chen Xiao. What was she like in your memory, and what left the deepest impression on you about her?"

He didn’t want to set any boundaries for Su Wanyin and preferred to hear her perspective first.

Su Wanyin had a straightforward personality and quickly opened up to them. In her description, Chen Xiao was reclusive, quiet, and didn’t interact much with her classmates. She was also a hopeless romantic and had gotten involved with an older man just before graduation.

"At first, we were on good terms. When she was feeling down, I’d occasionally try to comfort her, but she never listened. That man was much older than her and was clearly just toying with her."

"What happened next? At first, I felt sorry for her. She was unknowingly the other woman. It wasn’t until she got pregnant that she found out the man already had a wife. All his promises to marry her were lies."

"That man had no intention of marrying her. He gave her money for an abortion, and I was the one who accompanied her to the hospital."

Su Wanyin’s words were filled with pity for Chen Xiao’s misfortune and frustration at her inability to break free.

"I finally managed to persuade her to cut ties with that scumbag for good. But later, she still kept seeing him. It seemed the man bought a cheap apartment for her to live in, and she went back to him. Yet, whenever she felt wronged, she’d come crying to me. It was so infuriating, happening over and over again. How could you stay friends with someone like that?"

He Lin asked, "When was the last time you contacted her?"

Su Wanyin thought for a moment. "Four years ago, on New Year’s Eve."

Another key point in time.

Fang Jue, recording this, jumped. "Did she jump into a river?"

"How did you know?" Su Wanyin asked in surprise. "Have you already looked into this?"

He Lin said, "Please give us the specifics."

Su Wanyin recalled for a moment before speaking. "It was about half a year after graduation. That night, I was watching the New Year’s Eve concert with my parents when I suddenly received a message from Chen Xiao. It basically said something like, 'Thank you for taking care of me. I’ve decided to leave this world,' and so on. Can you believe it? Getting a message like that on New Year’s Eve is so unlucky. But back then, I was still naive and tried hard to persuade her to think positively and not do anything stupid. I was so scared I almost called the police."

Fang Jue listened intently, biting the end of his pen. Although he knew Chen Xiao had likely been rescued by Officer Zhou later, he still pressed, "Then what? Did you call the police?"

Su Wanyin snorted and rolled her eyes, talking a mile a minute. "After that, she stopped replying to my messages and didn’t answer my calls. I was terrified, thinking she’d actually jumped. I hesitated to call the police because she’d threatened suicide multiple times before. It was always 'the boy who cried wolf.' This time, I didn’t know if it was real or not."

"Besides, I didn’t know where she was or if she was really going to jump. I was just living my life, and then I got sucked into her mess. I was so conflicted. If she really jumped, calling the police might be too late. If it was a false alarm, wouldn’t I be making a false report? And I didn’t even know her ID number or other details. The whole thing kept me up all night, trying to find out where she was. On the morning of New Year’s Day, she sent me a message saying something like, 'After thinking it over all night, I still want to live.'"

"Can you believe it? What kind of person does that? At the time, I was so…" Su Wanyin gritted her teeth in frustration. "Later, I was so angry I deleted her number and blocked her on WeChat."

Even after all this time, mentioning the incident still filled her with indignation.

He Lin and Fang Jue exchanged glances, recalling what Zhou Chenlin had said. It was possible Chen Xiao had indeed jumped but survived. Su Wanyin’s account helped them piece together more of the story.

He Lin asked, "Do you still have the chat history?"

Su Wanyin shook her head. "It was four years ago, and I was using an old phone. I sold that phone a long time ago."

When she finished, she asked them, "Is there anything else you need me to do?"

He Lin took out his notebook and opened it. "Help us confirm the surveillance details."

Su Wanyin fixed her gaze on the woman on the screen, reviewing all the blurry surveillance footage one after another.

The woman who had been so talkative just moments ago now fell silent.

After a moment, she bowed her head in thought and then spoke.

"That’s not Chen Xiao..."

"What?" Fang Jue was startled by her words.

Even He Lin furrowed his brow.

Su Wanyin then continued to explain, listing some specific differences for the two officers: "Although the woman in the footage looks a bit like her, Chen Xiao wasn’t that tall—unless she grew in the past four years. Also, I remember Chen Xiao had fine hair, a bit curly at the forehead, so it was hard to style and not as full when loose. Her eyes were gentle and unassuming, but the woman in the footage looks a bit intense..."

Even though four years had passed, they were classmates for years and spent a lot of time together.

From just a short video, Su Wanyin had noted so many differences.

After seeing Su Wanyin off, He Lin sent the interrogation notes compiled by Fang Jue to the group chat: "The suspect might not be Chen Xiao. That woman was just using Chen Xiao’s ID. It’s very likely she was the last one to see Chen Xiao."

He then mentioned Zhou Chenlin’s rescue on New Year’s Eve.

Wu Yunsheng read through it and said, "The next day, she still used Chen Xiao’s phone to send a message. So... who is that woman who survived..."

He Lin pondered for a moment, pressing his temples as he organized his thoughts: "Maybe it was another suicide pact. Two girls planned to commit suicide together. The real Chen Xiao died at the time, and the other girl survived, then assumed Chen Xiao’s identity, using her ID and phone..."

The group fell silent for a while.

Wu Yunsheng said, "That inference makes sense."

He Lin replied, "For now, let’s try to find out this woman’s real identity. Also, check for any suicide cases involving bodies dredged from the Jinshui River in Ningcheng. In drowning cases like this, if the body isn’t found in time and decomposes completely, it could lead to misidentification."

A few years ago, DNA testing wasn’t widely implemented, so suicide cases often relied on recognition by relatives or identifying personal effects to confirm the victim’s identity.

Cheng Xiaoyi said, "Alright, I’ll go to the city bureau to work overtime tomorrow."

He Lin, understanding, comforted his subordinate: "Thanks for the hard work. I’ll log it as a comp day for you."

The investigation had stalled again.

Fang Jue finished his milk, stretched lazily, and said, "Well, Captain He, since Sister Cheng is busy now and we’ve been working overtime for most of the day, how about we go explore the tourist area? I’ve heard Ningcheng has lots of great food, and the night views are beautiful too."

"You go on your own. I have something important to take care of." He Lin patted Fang Jue reassuringly. "Go enjoy yourself."

After parting ways with Fang Jue, He Lin was still thinking about last night’s dream. He was eager to confirm something, and the quickest way was to talk to Zhu Xiaonian.

He Lin dialed Zhu Xiaonian’s number. The person on the other end seemed to have just woken up from a nap, perhaps still in bed, his voice full of sleepiness: "Brother Lin, what’s up? Didn’t we just see each other not long ago? Miss me already?"

He Lin said, "I’m in Ningcheng. There’s something I want to ask you. Are you free to grab dinner?"

"Wait, you’re in Ningcheng and didn’t give me a heads-up? What is it?" Zhu Xiaonian’s relaxed voice came through the phone.

He Lin replied, "It’s about Captain Rong."

At those words, the line went quiet. After a moment, Zhu Xiaonian’s voice returned, now sounding fully awake and unusually serious: "Then let’s meet at my family’s restaurant. I’ll send you the address."