Chapter 149: New Year’s Eve

In the blink of an eye, a month had passed, yet the cold still lingered. No one new had been sent from above, so it seemed I’d be stuck here until Team Leader Shao was called back to Dongxing City. My days drifted by, carefree, until suddenly New Year’s Eve arrived.

This was my first time spending the new year away from home. It felt fresh and a little strange—I couldn’t help but miss my family. I wondered how my adoptive father was doing now. If I knew him, he was probably making a speech, either rambling about his glorious past or dreaming about the future.

Normally, this holiday would be filled with joy. Every household pasted up spring couplets, hung lanterns, and crowded around the dinner table eating dumplings while watching the Spring Festival Gala. But we weren’t in a festive mood tonight. A phone call came in—a body had been found on the frozen surface of the Yumu River.

We drove straight to the location, a stretch of river near the Rainbow Bridge. The bridge itself was strung with colored lights, shining like a ribbon of rainbow hanging from the sky. From the bridge, we could see the residential areas in the distance, ablaze with lanterns and a festive glow.

But under the bridge, it was all darkness—cold and desolate.

We parked by the riverbank. Climbing over the railing, we found the person who’d discovered the body—a sanitation worker. On this night made for family and reunion, they still had to hold their posts out in the cold. It was hard not to feel sorry for them.

The worker was a fifty-something woman, standing by the water. She pointed out a body lying far out on the ice.

In the glow from the Rainbow Bridge lights, we could make out a figure sprawled on the frozen river. Judging by the long hair, it was probably a woman, though I wasn’t certain. She wore a bright red down jacket, eye-catching even from far away. It was impossible to tell yet if she was alive or dead, or if there was blood on her.

I tested the ice with my foot. It felt solid enough, unlikely to give way.

I turned to Gu Chen. “Come with me and check things out. Guan Zengbin, you stay here.”

But Guan Zengbin shook his head. “I’m coming too.”

“The ice is dangerous,” I warned.

He waved me off. “Don’t be such a worrywart. It’s frozen stiff—no way we’re falling in. And, I’m a forensic doctor. If there’s any trace evidence at the scene, I’m way more qualified to handle it than you guys.”

It was no use arguing, so the three of us moved out onto the ice together.

The cleaning lady called after us. “I’ve been calling out for a long time, but that girl hasn’t responded. I think… she might already be dead.”

As we drew closer, we finally saw the woman clearly. She was lying face down on the ice—a corpse, no doubt. A fan-shaped splash of blood had spread out across the surface near her head. The cracks spiderwebbing out from that spot looked chilling under the lights. I’d seen many corpses before, but this one was truly horrifying.

Judging by her build, she was probably young and barely over five feet tall. Because she was facedown, we could only see part of her face. Still, even that half-hidden side pressed against the ice was enough to paint a picture of just how brutal her end had been.

After a moment, Guan Zengbin spoke. “The body’s condition fits a high-impact fall. All the fractures are aligned the same way, and the pressure on her head was so great it forced her eyes from their sockets. Look at her neck—her vertebrae are broken, some sticking right through the skin. The blood in front of her head spreads out like rays—the farthest drops are over ten meters away.”

He looked up at the bridge. “She probably jumped from the Rainbow Bridge.”

I followed his gaze. The drop from the Rainbow Bridge to the ice was at least twenty meters.

Guan Zengbin continued, “From the state of the body, she landed headfirst. Judging by the amount of blood, it was a classic case of death from a fall.”

“What does that mean?” Gu Chen asked him.

“It means she was conscious during the fall—a classic high drop death. You can tell by the signs of life and the bruises on her wrists. In that instant before impact, she instinctively reached out with her hands. It’s human nature. That’s one way to tell if someone fell while still alive.”

He paused, then added, “Now, why she fell from the bridge—whether someone pushed her, she jumped, or it was accidental—remains a mystery.”

I stared up at the Rainbow Bridge, thinking it over.

Both sides of the bridge had railings about one and a half meters high. Considering the woman’s height wasn’t much over that, probably about a middle schooler, there was no way she could’ve fallen by accident. She either jumped, or someone pushed her.

But which was it? That, we still couldn’t say.

Guan Zengbin said, “We should take the body back. With her bundled up like this, there’s no way I can examine her here.”

“Back to the freezing autopsy room,” Gu Chen commented, casting a look at Guan Zengbin.

Guan Zengbin just shrugged. “Good thing Wu Meng put in heating as soon as she got back. Otherwise, we’d all be freezing again.”

He went to fetch a body bag. Gu Chen and I lifted the corpse together. Holding the girl’s arm, it felt like lifting a marionette by its strings—all the bones inside snapped from the impact. From my angle, I got a clear look at her face.

One glance, and I was hit by a wave of nausea.

We zipped the girl into the body bag, and Gu Chen and I each took an end, carrying her back.

The cleaning lady was still there, watching us.

We loaded the body into the car. I turned to her. “Ma’am, when did you find the body? Did you see anyone else nearby?”

She shook her head. “I called the police as soon as I saw her. Nobody else was around—this stretch is all my responsibility. Think about it—today’s New Year’s Eve. Who would be out and about except for us workers? I saw you bagging the body… so, is she really dead?”

I waved a hand. “Jumped into the river.”

It felt a bit off, so I corrected myself. “Fell on the ice.”

The lady didn’t seem frightened—only sad. “Unless she had some huge grievance, if she could’ve gone on living, who’d choose to die on New Year’s Eve? I can’t make sense of it. No matter how bad things get, can it be worse than dying?”

Muttering to herself, she wandered off.

“Let’s head back,” I said, shaking my head.

We took the bridge again on the way back. Gu Chen drove while I sat in the back seat—the body bag resting quietly at my feet. I stared out at the Rainbow Bridge’s railings; the gaps were tiny, even a child couldn’t slip through. Given her height, it would’ve been almost impossible to fall accidentally.

Hardly any cars passed by. Not surprising—on a night like this, most people were at home with their families.

This woman—no, this girl—how did she get here? Did she walk or catch a ride? Why had she come? Did she take her own life, or did someone take it from her?

Somewhere inside, I found myself agreeing with what the old woman said. To choose suicide on a night when the whole world celebrates—that’s desperation. But for someone to choose murder on this night… that’s a kind of cruelty of its own.

Suddenly, fireworks exploded all around, sharp and loud, jarring me out of my thoughts. I glanced at my watch. It was midnight.

A new year had begun.

Hundreds of fireworks burst along both sides of the Rainbow Bridge, dazzling and bright.

“Happy New Year,” I said to Gu Chen and Guan Zengbin.

They spoke in unison. “Happy New Year.”

But for us, it would be hard to find any happiness tonight. While everyone else enjoyed fireworks and feasts, we hurried through the night with a corpse in the car—and that corpse belonged to a girl, barely eighteen.

That’s how this world works—joy and sorrow stay in balance. When one person feels happiness, someone else out there is grieving. When one life begins, another ends. On this holiday, that contrast between life and death feels especially sharp.

We grew another year older, but that girl would never get any older than she was tonight.

The car rolled quietly over the Rainbow Bridge. Firecrackers rang out all around, but in the body bag at my feet, the girl lay in silent sleep.

We had to find out what really put her to sleep.