“Do you want to die?” Xu Xingchun asked again through gritted teeth. His expression revealed little, but there was a subtle, menacing aura about him. He was also completely soaked, his shirt clinging tightly to his muscles.
Fu Xueli was shaking all over, her mind unclear, trembling and tear-stained, looking utterly disheveled. Slurring her words, she replied, “Yeah… I do want to die. Let go of me now, and I’ll go die. It’d be better if I died, then I wouldn’t have to see you again.” The remaining effects of alcohol were at work. But nothing can truly make a person completely drunk; at most, it numbs the senses and exposes one’s true nature. Her grief and resentment were completely unrestrained.
The continuous pain from her shoulder felt like it was piercing her heart. She felt like he was about to crush her, but suddenly she wasn’t afraid at all. In fact, Fu Xueli suddenly wanted to laugh. A whore’s act is always more alluring than a lady’s truth. Xu Xingchun never understood. After all these years, he hadn’t improved at all. He’d been lacking love since childhood. A casual word from her could make him suffer immensely, pushing him to the edge of losing control.
Her shoulder-length black hair was wet and disheveled, clinging to her fair, delicate skin in strands. Her eyes were dark and moist. Her waist was as soft as if it were about to bloom peach blossoms.
“Don’t touch me,” Fu Xueli forcefully pried Xu Xingchun’s hands off, pushed him away, and staggered forward.
She had barely taken two steps when she fell to the ground. Her knees hit the wet, slippery tile floor directly, causing excruciating pain. It really hurt so much. The kind of pain that shoots from the spine to the scalp.
After a second or two, Fu Xueli knew the person behind her was watching. She gritted her teeth, held onto the nearby sink, and prepared to stand up despite the pain. Suddenly, an arm yanked her forcefully, and she was lifted into a princess carry.
Kitchen.
The moment she was roughly thrown to the ground, Fu Xueli was stunned. Why did this person change so suddenly? Not showing any tenderness at all? Her leg still hurt.
Xu Xingchun crouched down, his eyes cold as ice, and looked directly at her. “Fu Xueli, you want to die, right?”
“……”
Fu Xueli struggled to move backward, tears coming again.
“There’s a knife behind you,” Xu Xingchun gently stroked her neck, then with an extremely gentle touch, gripped her chin and turned her face. “Go ahead and die. I’ll watch.”
A few seconds of silence.
Fu Xueli bit her pale lips hard. She didn’t dare make any movement, cold sweat seeping from her back.
He leaned in, resting his chin on her shoulder, his breath hot on her ear, “If you don’t dare to die, then don’t say such things in front of me again.”
She got goosebumps all over, as if a bucket of cold water had been suddenly poured over her.
“Wuwuwu, Xu Xingchun, you’re just a psycho, aren’t you?” Fu Xueli’s mind exploded, and she cried even louder, almost hyperventilating. “You bastard, if you dare to die, then you die. I won’t die.”
Meeting room at the Shanghai Public Security Bureau.
“Clonazepam1?”
“Yes, it was detected in the deceased’s body,” Lin Jin flipped through the case files and documents. “I feel like this case isn’t as simple as it seems. When Ming Heqi was found, she was lying in the bathtub, wearing a red dress and soaked in water. Due to excessive blood loss, her skin had turned purplish-blue, but strangely, her face was heavily made up.”
Liu Jingbo frowned deeply, “Are you saying she was drugged?”
“What kind of drug is this? I’ve never even heard of it. Can we get a professional explanation?” Young Wang, being inexperienced, was quite confused listening to all this.
“This stuff is colorless and odorless. Generally, it takes about 20 minutes to take effect after ingestion, lasting for at least four hours. After taking it, a person is basically in a state of unconsciousness,” Lin Jin explained directly.
Liu Jingbo became increasingly puzzled, “Yes, there’s something very strange about this. I mean, if it’s suicide, fine, but to put on makeup before slitting her wrists, and then take some weird drug? It’s creepy just thinking about it.”
Lin Jin shook his head, “We can’t rule out the possibility that the deceased had a low survival instinct and was afraid of changing her mind, so she took the drug to ease the pain before slitting her wrists.”
But what was the makeup for? To look presentable even in death?
This case was giving them a headache. After the assistant discovered Ming Heqi’s suicide, they first called 120 (emergency services), and only called the police after the doctors arrived. Ming Heqi was pronounced dead at the scene after failed resuscitation attempts.
Then, somehow, the news spread too quickly, and reporters and onlookers crowded in to see what was happening. The initial crime scene was completely compromised, leaving very few details for their investigation.
A celebrity’s death in a hotel attracted attention very quickly, and all media outlets were waiting for news from the police.
Lin Jin stood up, rubbing his temples, and leaned against the conference table. His voice was heavy, “According to the preliminary findings from Captain Xu and Old Qin’s team, the estimated time of death was around 11 AM. However, based on the concentration of clonazepam in her blood, under normal circumstances, the drug should have been taken one to two hours before death. This means the deceased slit her wrists after the drug had taken effect.”
“But isn’t that contradictory…” Young Wang looked through the photos from the crime scene. “I don’t know if it was because the scene was too chaotic, but when we went there and checked several times, we couldn’t find the tool Ming Heqi used to slit her wrists.”
The way Ming Heqi slit her wrists was along the artery. In such cases, only someone with a firm resolve to die would do it this way.
There were no obvious signs of struggle on her body. Her wrists were cut by a sharp object, penetrating 8mm to 1.5cm deep into the subcutaneous tissue. The bleeding was rapid. She had died before being discovered.
Lin Jin continued to ponder, “According to the hotel records, three people appeared at Ming Heqi’s room door on the day of her death.”
“One was a food delivery person who didn’t enter the room. We can rule this one out for now.”
“Another was a young man wearing a mask and a black baseball cap, who after investigation appears to be He Lu. However, according to his statement, he was just visiting his girlfriend before leaving for Wu River to record a show, and he said Ming Heqi’s mood was relatively stable at the time.”
“The third was Ming Heqi’s assistant who was responsible for taking care of her daily life. At the time of the incident, she had just gone out to buy something for the deceased.”
“The statements from these three people are basically consistent and match the hotel’s surveillance footage.”
Young Wang scratched his head, “So, are you saying Ming Heqi committed suicide?”
Lin Jin shook his head, “It’s not that simple.”
“……”
They discussed for the entire morning without making much substantial progress. It wasn’t possible to draw quick conclusions before unraveling a series of mysteries.
But solving this case was urgent and couldn’t be delayed for too long.
As lunchtime approached, Young Wang packed up a large pile of case files and stood up, rubbing his sore shoulders.
People were passing by one by one. Young Wang quickly followed behind Liu Jingbo and asked in a mysterious, low voice, “Captain Liu, can I ask you something?”
Liu Jingbo glanced at him, “What is it?”
“Well, you know, recently I’ve been online, and there’s a lot of unfounded rumors going around. It makes me anxious just looking at it. It’s about Fu Xueli, that celebrity, you know? She’s being criticized terribly. And then I suddenly remembered, she seems to be an old acquaintance of Captain Xu.”
Liu Jingbo listened impatiently and interrupted, “What exactly do you want to say?”
Young Wang grinned, “I heard there have been several cases of group drug use at the bathhouses and entertainment centers on Han Street. Captain Xu must be very busy lately, right? How does he have time to specifically handle this case?”
Although Xu Xingchun was a forensic expert in the public security system, his primary role was that of a narcotics officer. He had performed exceptionally well in the past two years, solving over a hundred drug cases during his years of grassroots work. He was transferred to Shanghai last year, reportedly on orders from above. They weren’t too clear about the details, but they knew Xu Xingchun was usually extremely busy, rarely seen around. In addition to his forensic work, he often had to take on police work related to drug enforcement.
“So?” Liu Jingbo asked.
Young Wang had a gossip-filled, dreamy expression, “So I wanted to ask you! Captain Xu and that Fu Xueli, do they really have some kind of unspoken relationship? You know what I saw last time? I saw Fu Xueli in Captain Xu’s temporary rest room! I was shocked at the time, doubting if my eyes were playing tricks on me. So I’ve been thinking these past few days… Is it possible that Captain Xu is actually a secret boyfriend of a big celebrity? What do you think?!”
“……”
“It’s a bit embarrassing, but I have a favorite idol, have for many years. I was wondering if I could ask Captain Xu to help me get an autograph or something, hehe.”
Liu Jingbo looked at him as if he were looking at an idiot and suddenly smacked him on the head, “Wang, I’m telling you, you can’t solve many serious cases all year round because you’ve put all your energy into this?”
“Ouch, ouch, don’t hit me! We can talk this out!” Young Wang clutched his head and muttered, “I’m just concerned about Captain Xu, that’s all.”
Fu Xueli had a dream.
In her dream, she went out to eat with a group of friends. The others went upstairs first, leaving her alone to take the elevator. When she entered, the control panel was full of years.
Before she could withdraw her hand, she pressed “10 years ago.” The elevator doors opened, and she walked out into a classroom where a lesson was in progress.
Amidst the sound of recitation, Xu Xingchun, wearing a clean school uniform, stood at the podium copying notes on the blackboard.
Everyone turned to stare at her.
Fu Xueli was suddenly very panicked. She wanted to go back into the elevator, but when she turned around, she realized there was no elevator in the teaching building. The place where it had been was now a corridor.
She woke up frightened.
She opened her eyes in confusion, staring at the ceiling and gasping for air.
It took her a good while to realize it was just a dream.
It took a few more minutes to gradually regain her thoughts. Just now, she was in the bathroom…
In the bathroom, Xu Xingchun had picked her up.
And then… And then… And then she was carried to the kitchen, and Xu Xingchun told her to die.
She couldn’t remember anything after that.
Fu Xueli’s eyelids were heavy. She struggled to prop herself up, lifted the blanket covering her, and got out of bed. Barefoot, she opened the bedroom door.
Suddenly, she smelled a faint aroma in the air, something like food.
She walked over and saw a bowl of porridge on the dining table. It was no longer steaming; she didn’t know how long it had been there.
She didn’t need to look to know who had made it.
Fu Xueli pulled out a chair and sat down, putting a spoonful into her mouth, then slowly swallowing it.
One spoonful after another, although it didn’t taste good, she finished it all.
And her heart was filled with mixed emotions.
She found her phone on the sofa and turned it on. After pondering for a while, she decided to dial Xu Xingchun’s number.
“Ring… Ring… Ring…”
Suddenly, she heard a faint ringtone, not too far or too close, unable to pinpoint its exact location, but it seemed to be coming from the balcony direction.
Xu Xingchun hadn’t left?
Fu Xueli felt relieved deep down. She followed the sound, hesitantly opening the balcony door.
Under her gaze, Xu Xingchun pressed his phone, ending the call. He was wearing a thin shirt, and the wind on the balcony was strong.
Fu Xueli stopped in her tracks.
For the first time in a long while, she felt both guilty and nervous.
“Um…” she hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
“The porridge from last time… you made that too, right?”
- Calming drug for anxiety, seizures, psychosis, OCD etc. ↩︎
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