Chapter 271: Luo Ding’s Notebook

2022-05-20

Wang Ang and Li Xiaojuan didn’t have any new leads to share with us. Zhao Mingkun and I didn’t dare stay in one place for too long either. We left them with Gu Chen’s QQ number. Even if Xiao Liu tracked us down, he’d probably only find Gu Chen, but with no evidence, there’s not much Xiao Liu could really do to him.

Honestly, having Gu Chen as our normal contact with the outside world isn’t so bad. Still, we definitely need to set up a secure password system. In case something unusual happens, it’s way too easy for things to get exposed otherwise.

With that in mind, I quickly called Gu Chen. During the call, we agreed on a code. I also told him to hurry and check up on Lü Xiangyang’s whereabouts. We needed to know if Lü Xiangyang had gone to that southern city two weeks ago.

At the same time, Gu Chen told me there was finally some headway on the Guan Zengbin lead, though nothing concrete yet—it’d take more time. After Guan Zengbin left, someone had gone to a home in Xingdong Village and bought a few pieces of secondhand clothes for a few hundred yuan. The old woman at the time had thought it was odd; who’d want to pay so much for used clothes?

Back when we went underground, the weather was still pretty chilly. All of Guan Zengbin’s clothes—his jacket, long johns, whatever—had been neatly folded and set aside in a corner. So if someone paid a few hundred to buy someone’s old clothes and they weren’t from Xingdong Village, there were only a few possibilities: Li Ai with her dissociative personalities, Wu Zui’s group, or our own people.

And since Li Ai was still under our watch at the time—the only possible buyers left were Wu Zui and her crew. But then how did they manage to get Guan Zengbin out of Xingdong Village without anyone noticing, especially with all the roadblocks and security? And once they left, where did they go?

Looking at things now, since Wu Zui still hasn’t revealed her plan, it suggests Guan Zengbin is still safe—for now. But we’d have to move fast. Once Wu Zui acts, you can bet she’s got every angle covered. If we can’t figure out what she’s planning before she does it, there’s almost no chance we’ll be able to stop her.

After a few more words with Gu Chen, I hung up.

Zhao Mingkun broke the silence. “Did you notice? The killer moves fast. Seems like they strike whenever they get a chance. In just one day, the killer has already taken two lives. At this rate, the thirteen won’t last a week.”

I nodded. “That’s the thing—now we all know the killer’s going to strike again, and we even know it’ll be among these thirteen. But what can we do? If any of them are smart, they’ll leave Dongxing City and start over somewhere else.”

Suddenly, Zhao Mingkun looked at me, her gaze deep and thoughtful. I could see all kinds of things reflected in those eyes.

For a while, she said nothing. Then, out of nowhere, she smiled. “Remember back at the Royal Garden Hotel, when those thirteen were all suspecting each other of being the killer?”

“Of course. Who could forget?” I nodded.

She grinned at me. “All of these people have steady jobs in Dongxing City. Some became rich, but they’re all salaried execs, not business owners. Whether they’re chasing money or power, they’re not leaving. Dongxing City’s the only game in town for them.”

I kept quiet.

She went on, “The city looks glamorous on the surface, but inside, it’s rotten. People swarm in like locusts, but soon enough, they realize all that luxury up top comes from those at the bottom bleeding for it, drop by drop.”

“That’s why,” she said, “I actually kind of like it here. Those thirteen—it’s the same story. They could never start from scratch in a new city. In Dongxing, as long as you’re ruthless enough, you can always claw your way up.”

I shrugged, not quite agreeing with her.

“So,” she pressed, “who do we go after next?”

“Let’s try Wang Xianduo.” I thought for a moment, then said, “Back at the Royal Garden Hotel, her whole getup practically screamed she was on the lookout for a man. Judging by the way she talked, she’s clearly gotten nowhere in Dongxing City. I mean, just renting a place here costs at least three thousand a month.”

“Exactly,” Zhao Mingkun agreed. “She’s an alum from Dongxing University, but she’s had the roughest go. She’s basically unemployed these days. I bet she was desperate for cash—that’s the only reason she’d show up dressed like that at the hotel. Otherwise, no woman would.”

I didn’t get it. So I quickly asked, “Why do you say that?”

She just smirked, seeing the confusion on my face. “Let me guess, you’ve never even dated, have you?”

The jab hit home, and I frowned. “Aren’t we talking about Wang Xianduo? What’s my love life got to do with anything?”

“My point is, you don’t understand women. We were all classmates—hadn’t seen each other in five years, until the advisor arranged this reunion. For women, it’s always a contest—who has the nicer bag, whose husband is more impressive, whose kid’s smarter.”

“Isn’t that just normal?” I asked.

She shook her head. “But what did Wang Xianduo wear? If she were a young girl, maybe you could chalk it up to being naïve, but she’s in her thirties now, no matter how well she keeps herself up. Someone as sharp as her knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“You think she needs money bad?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yep. I looked at her file—she hasn’t worked in a long time. But everything in life costs money. She’s scraping by, but I’m betting she’s out of rent money. Just offer her some cash—forget asking about what happened seven years ago, call you ‘Dad’ and she might even agree!”

Her comment made my skin crawl with goosebumps. I quickly said, “Don’t be so sure. Remember—every one of those thirteen is a suspect. Back then, she invested money with Lü Zhiqiu, only to get swindled out of a fortune. She kept demanding Lü Zhiqiu pay her back, and when Lü Zhiqiu didn’t have the money, Wang Xianduo lost it and killed her in a fit of rage.”

Zhao Mingkun fell silent for a long time, then finally spoke. “After talking to those two elderly women, what do you think Lü Zhiqiu was really like? Both her advisor and Granny Huang said she was a kind girl. I think Lü Zhiqiu probably would have paid her back, just not that quickly.”

I hopped onto the motorbike and said, “That’s not guaranteed—you never really know someone. People act one way in one role, then completely differently in another. Like a kid who behaves for their teacher but turns wild at home. Whether Lü Zhiqiu had another side, or what the truth really is, we just don’t know yet.”

“Let’s go,” Zhao Mingkun said. “Let’s check on Wang Xianduo.”

I nodded, then let out a sigh. “They always say the truth is supposed to be simple, but it never is. The lies wrapped around it are simple—the truth itself? That’s the complicated, twisted part. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Zhao Mingkun didn’t answer me.

Shaking my head, I took out Luo Ding’s notebook. From last night straight through to noon, Zhao Mingkun and I had barely had a moment’s rest, so I never got a chance to look through Luo Ding’s notes. Finally, on the road, I had a little time to see what Luo Ding had written.

The deeper I read into Luo Ding’s notebook, the more I realized how complicated everything had become. Every last page was filled with notes about Lü Zhiqiu, starting from two weeks ago.

Two weeks back, Luo Ding started experiencing supernatural occurrences. He hardly had a doubt in his mind—he thought Lü Zhiqiu’s ghost had come back for revenge. One particular event in the notebook made Luo Ding think he’d actually seen the killer.

He recorded the situation in detail. Back in the hotel, Luo Ding had already decided one of their group was the killer—but he had no hard evidence, and he was afraid that if he spoke up, the killer might silence him for good.

Strangely, the person Luo Ding found most suspicious wasn’t the one he accused publicly—Xing Yafang—but someone else: Wang Yikai.

Luo Ding had indeed arranged to meet Lü Zhiqiu at the construction site, and she agreed, since Luo Ding wanted to return her clothes and hoped she’d forgive him. He also had a major secret to confess.

Lü Zhiqiu, seeing Luo Ding’s sincerity, forgave him. Just as Luo Ding was about to spill his secret, he saw someone approaching in the distance. It was Wang Yikai.

Luo Ding panicked—he never imagined Wang Yikai would show up. The secret Luo Ding wanted to tell Lü Zhiqiu was actually about Wang Yikai. The moment Wang Yikai appeared, Luo Ding thought it was all over and ran off.

That night, Lü Zhiqiu didn’t come back. The next day, her body was found.

So, naturally, Luo Ding believed Wang Yikai was the one who killed her.

He’s always known the truth, but too scared to reveal it. So for seven years, he’s lived with guilt and fear weighing him down.

Back then, the reason Luo Ding sneaked into the girls’ dorm to steal Lü Zhiqiu’s clothes was because Wang Yikai had offered him a thousand yuan to do it.