Chapter 131: I’ll Give You a Surprise

2022-05-20

Regret crept into my heart after I encouraged Captain Zhou to make that call. After all, relationships are a matter for two people—us outsiders have no reason to meddle. Captain Zhou is already forty and still hasn’t married, surely he has his reasons. So why wedge ourselves into his business?

Once I switched off the lights, darkness swallowed the room. Only the coal stove glowed warmly in the center, lending our small space a bit of comfort.

In the quiet, Captain Zhou’s voice reached us, slow and thoughtful. “Sometimes I think, I’m over forty now. At this point, marriage just feels too late. I still remember back in our day—the big push was for late marriage and fewer, better babies. But now they’re encouraging people to have a second child.”

His tone softened with a hint of sadness. “I feel like the times just slipped right past me. I did consider marriage before… but you know, every family struggles in their own way. I grew up in the countryside, and honestly, my village was even poorer than this Tougouzi Village.”

Maybe because he’d hit a sore spot, Captain Zhou’s voice turned gentle. “Back when I left the village, I didn’t know anything. Now that I’ve made it here—who knows what I’ve been through? All these years, what really kept me going is my love for this job.”

“Do you ever get that feeling?” Captain Zhou asked us quietly.

In the darkness, I couldn’t see his face, but his words struck a chord. Some people truly love what they do—pouring their whole life into it. Regrettably, because of my own situation, I’m just a contractor, always at risk of getting kicked out.

Before I could answer, Captain Zhou continued. “I guess I got sidetracked. But I really do want to do this for a lifetime. My uncle died young and left behind a younger brother and sister—they’re still in high school now. All their education expenses are on me.”

We both stayed silent.

Captain Zhou sighed and turned over in bed. “Back then, my uncle gave me the money he’d saved for a new house, so I could go to school. That was his life’s savings. Thirty thousand yuan twenty years ago… that amount was astronomical to me. So my siblings are as close as blood can get.”

Talking about them, Captain Zhou’s mood visibly lightened. “Thankfully, they’re giving it their all—their grades are both good, probably enough to get into decent universities. And nowadays, getting married means the wife’s side expects a house, a car, a dowry… Look at me—over forty, and I don’t even own an apartment or a vehicle. No wonder I’m not married.”

His words were deliberate, heavy with years of hardship. Facing the realities of a middle-aged man, I realized as a clueless twenty-something, I couldn’t really understand. But there’s no denying Captain Zhou is loyal and responsible—the kind of man who’d make a fine husband.

Even if someone were willing to marry him, Captain Zhou probably wouldn’t let her suffer along with him. His siblings still need money for college, after all.

“Guess this is just what my life will be.” It sounded like a summary of his whole journey. After that, Captain Zhou fell silent. That phrase would stick with me for a long time.

Neither Gu Chen nor I said another word, as if staying quiet meant we hadn’t heard a thing. Maybe if we pretended, Captain Zhou would remain the cheerful, even goofy, person we knew—rather than a weary, lonely man lost in the silent night.

Nobody spoke after that.

Only the furious wind howled beyond the walls. Judging by the noise, tonight would be another night cold enough to freeze someone solid.

Early next morning, I flung open the curtains to find the world masked in white again—another heavy snowfall had covered every trace. It worried me—if the killer dumped the body last night, all footprints would’ve vanished by now. I also felt sorry for the tech guy coming to collect evidence—it’d probably take hours just to get here through the snow.

Suddenly I remembered Captain Zhou’s car—it was probably buried under all this snow, too.

Dragging myself out of the warm bed to get dressed really was winter’s cruelest punishment.

By then, Captain Zhou’s bed was already empty—no idea when he’d gotten up. But the red-hot coal in the heater showed he’d come by to refill it before us. Still, the warmth couldn’t compare with central heating.

Stepping outside, I spotted Captain Zhou at the door, shoveling snow. It must’ve snowed all night, nearly blocking the wooden entrance.

I yelled toward Guan Zengbin’s room, “Hey! Guan Zengbin, the sun’s already shining on your back—are you ever getting up? How will you ever get married if you keep this up? If you don’t get up, I’m stuffing a snowball in your blanket!”

After a pause, an indignant shout replied, “Shut it! It’s only seven! How is it any of your business if I get up? It’s not like I’m marrying you! And if you shove that snowball in here, I’ll chop you up and make dumplings out of you! Get lost!”

Hearing Guan Zengbin sounding just like her usual self put my mind at ease.

But as soon as I stepped outside, the sight before me made me freeze.

Someone had scrawled large, dark-red characters across the wall facing us—it read: I’ll give you a surprise.

Captain Zhou grinned, “Wu Meng, you’re up early, huh? I was hoping you and Xiao Guan could sleep in a bit. Go ahead and tease her, but one of these days you’ll get clobbered.”

Judging by his casual attitude, you’d think he hadn’t even noticed the creepy red writing on the wall. But I was sure it hadn’t been there yesterday, when we came in.

I nudged Captain Zhou. “Look behind you.”

He turned, following my gaze. He just stood there in silence.

About then Gu Chen, freshly dressed, walked out, glanced at us, and followed our eyes to the wall. He read the words slowly: “I’ll give you a surprise.”

Captain Zhou asked, “Who do you suppose did this?”

A sense of dread gnawed at me. I shouted back into the house, “Guan Zengbin, hurry out here! There’s something you need to see!”

She called back, “What’s your rush?”

She pushed aside the thick curtain, walking out while grumbling, “What is it? What do you want to show me?”

I looked at her—her hair was a wild mess. Girls are different, I guess. Unlike Gu Chen and me, it takes effort for them to get moving in the morning.

“Check the wall,” I told her.

“I’ll give you a surprise?” Guan Zengbin had clearly seen the words too.

There weren’t any footprints on the ground, which meant the words had been written sometime last night. The wind howled so fiercely, it would’ve easily masked the sound of someone sneaking in. If someone pushed open the door, we might never have heard a thing.

Plus, with that blizzard, who else would be wandering around outside? If that’s so, the killer must be a villager. No doubt about it.

We hurried over to the wall for a closer look. Judging from the width of the brushstrokes, whoever painted them must’ve used a brush. The handwriting was jagged, as if done intentionally with the left hand. A few snowflakes clung to the letters, making the dark-red streaks look slick and wet.

“Hang on!” Guan Zengbin said. She dashed back inside and pulled on her gloves.

She gently dabbed at the wall, studying the substance before bringing her fingers to her nose. Her expression tightened. “Smell closely—a faint trace of blood. Considering what we’re dealing with, it’s probably human blood. If I’m right, it could be from the same victim as before.”

My stomach knotted. Was the killer this deranged now? Did he realize we were investigating and decided to provoke us? But if this is a provocation, it doesn’t fit what we got from the profiling. What are the killer—or killers—really after?

Gu Chen spat, “The killer isn’t afraid of us at all. He knew we were staying here and still dared write that in human blood.”

Captain Zhou studied the scrawls, frowning. “But what’s the point of leaving these words? What kind of ‘surprise’ is the killer planning?”

I shook my head. “This case only gets more confusing. I can’t figure out what the killer is really trying to do. If he isn’t dismembering bodies for his own gratification, could there be another reason?”

“Another reason?” the others asked.

Tugging at my hair, I said, “Yeah. I think there’s another angle here, but I’m not sure yet. Let’s wait until I’m positive before we talk about it.”

Seeing the dark red stains splashed over those faded gray walls, it was impossible not to feel stifled. Ominous clouds filled the sky, barely letting through a trace of sunlight. Everything looked dreary and gray, dragging my spirits down with it.

I couldn’t help but mutter, “This season—it’s nothing but white, gray, and black. Living every day in a world of extremes like this really gets to you.”

“Is that so?” Captain Zhou glanced around, replying absently.

“Now what? Where to next?” Gu Chen asked.

I shrugged. “Let’s go find the Village Chief and gather everyone up. Maybe someone’s seen something.”

No sooner had I spoken than Li Danan’s voice rang out from the gate. “Village Chief sent me to wake you up. The villagers are already starting to gather—come out and have a look! Village Chief asked me to…”