Chapter 309: Tianhe KTV

2022-05-20

“Did you find Xu Man?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Gu Chen replied. “She’s at Tianhe KTV, singing and drinking with customers. While Mary was looking into Jiang Xiaochun, she found out that the two had chatted on social media before. Xu Man speaks pretty bluntly but doesn’t seem to have any grudge toward Jiang Xiaochun. You know, Hu Xiaoxue is Xu Man’s daughter, but Xu Man never saw her, never even tried to contact Hu Pei afterwards.”

I frowned. “Then why did Jiang Xiaochun marry Hu Pei at all? And after all these years, there’s no kid between them either. Why is that?”

Gu Chen said, “I’ve got no clue. Maybe they had some kind of deal. What we do know—Jiang Xiaochun and Hu Xiaoxue aren’t related by blood. Looks like the couple never told Hu Xiaoxue about any of this. Maybe she’s too young, maybe they’re just waiting for the right time.”

I let out a helpless laugh and tugged at my hair. “Alright, keep digging into Jiang Xiaochun. There’s definitely more to uncover here.”

“You got it,” Gu Chen answered.

No wonder I never felt that Jiang Xiaochun was truly grieving. Turns out Hu Xiaoxue isn’t her biological daughter, and it seems like she and Hu Pei don’t really have deep feelings for each other either. Remember how Jiang Xiaochun is always taking off her ring? If she’s not around Hu Pei’s family she won’t even wear it.

So what exactly is this marriage between Hu Pei and Jiang Xiaochun? It never seemed like it was about love. My guess is Jiang Xiaochun has someone else she loves. But if that’s the case, why marry Hu Pei and become a stepmom in her twenties?

But right now, we’re out of leads. Now, we’ve got a new player—Xu Man.

We know now that the one who killed nearly twenty people is Deng Xuemei. But we’re still in the dark about who killed Lü Zhiqiu those years ago. Liang Mei said she found proof—she snapped a photo with Hu Pei in the shot and thinks he did it. But Hu Pei was the first to die, so there’s just no way to ask him now.

And we have no idea if Xu Man knows about any of this. Back then, she wanted to confront Lü Zhiqiu, but we don’t know if she ever did. At the time, Hu Pei was Lü Zhiqiu’s boyfriend, but even when Lü Zhiqiu disappeared for a whole night, he never went looking for her.

Looking back now, Hu Pei was probably busy dealing with something to do with Xu Man.

I checked the time. It was almost dark out. Grabbing some dinner before looking for Xu Man seemed just right. So we didn’t hang around much longer. I told the administrator someone would be by later to follow up, then we left.

During dinner, Zhao Mingkun and I barely touched our food. This case was getting way too tangled—too many people, too many secrets. At first, every single person seemed like a suspect. One by one, we chased down leads and eliminated them, but every time we looked into someone, another name would pop up.

And the craziest part? They all had motive. I’d never imagined before that someone’s death could be such a benefit for so many. When Lü Zhiqiu died someone got a scholarship, someone else landed the job they dreamed of.

All of it, just because Lü Zhiqiu died.

No wonder almost everyone took a tiny bit of pleasure in her death. Maybe, deep down, they’d been wishing for it all along. She stood in the way of too many people’s ambitions. It’s just sad, honestly.

If Lü Zhiqiu had lived, maybe she would have achieved something amazing by now.

We finished our quiet meal, and by then it was almost fully dark. Zhao Mingkun gave me a ride on her motorbike to Tianhe KTV. Neither of us spoke the whole way.

When we got there the place was already packed—clearly, this kind of entertainment is pretty popular. Students, office workers, you name it; they all seem to love spending time here.

Standing at the entrance, we stared at the golden glitz of the KTV. Two pretty girls stood by the door greeting guests. We followed the crowd inside. The prices were high—four hundred per hour. But that’s the dividing line, really—people who show up here aren’t just coming for karaoke.

Zhao Mingkun barely batted an eye at the prices, not that I had any idea how much cash she was carrying. The two of us booked a small room, ordered some beers and a fruit plate. Zhao Mingkun acted like she was ready to drop some serious money, which drew plenty of attention from the girls working there.

I handed five hundred yuan to one of them and asked her to find a girl named Xu Man for me.

The woman flashed me a flirty smile. “Wow, you don’t look like a regular here, but you even know Mandy’s real name? Don’t worry, I’ll bring her right over.”

I shrugged. In places like this, having a stage name just makes more sense.

Before long, Xu Man stepped into our private room. She looked to be in her thirties, with a great figure and heavy makeup. In the dim light, she was still attractive. But for someone doing this line of work, she was getting a bit old. I wondered what kept her here.

Spotting us, Xu Man put on a bright smile. “Why aren’t you singing? The mood in here is way too stiff!”

I grinned and motioned to her. “Have a seat.”

Xu Man seemed to sense something was off. No customer acts so cold, but for money, she couldn’t just leave.

Still, she sat down.

I said, “Xu Man, if we’re here and we know your name, it means we know a lot about you. We have some questions. Please answer honestly.”

Xu Man looked confused. “You two don’t look like you’re here to have fun. Who are you, really?”

“That doesn’t matter,” I told her. “Seven years ago, did you have Hu Pei’s child?”

The moment I finished, Xu Man stood up to leave without even a hint of courtesy.

I reached out to stop her. “Listen, Xu Man, we just want to talk with you…”

But Xu Man clearly hated hearing Hu Pei’s name. She yanked her hand free and headed for the door, calling out, “Brother Feng! Brother Feng!”

Her voice was so loud it rang out into the KTV’s hallway. I groaned to myself. Do I really look so much like a bad guy?

“We’re—”

Before I could finish, a few guys in short sleeves burst in. A burly man led the way and demanded, “What’s going on here?”

“These two seem like troublemakers,” Xu Man said quickly.

I let go of Xu Man’s arm. “We’re not here to cause trouble. We just need some information.”

The big man laughed. “I don’t care who you are. You’re reporters, right? Well, let me tell you, this place is under my protection. You won’t find anything you’re looking for here, so don’t even bother trying to find out what kind of guy Brother Feng is.”

“Hey, there’s a woman too,” Brother Feng said, leering. “Guys, check the room for spy cameras, then rough them up and toss them out. As for the woman, I’ll handle her myself. You really had to walk into hell with your eyes open, huh?”

I couldn’t help but smile. Seems like they get a lot of snooping reporters around here.

I was just about to show my ID when the guys crowded into the tiny room, making it feel even smaller. At this point, whatever I pulled out, these people clearly weren’t going to be intimidated.

Brother Feng sneered. “Don’t make a scene. We know what kind of boss we’ve got here, and who do you think you are? Worst case, beat you up and you’ll be back on your feet in a month. If you don’t hand over your camera, don’t blame me for being rough. Now tell me, did you get any footage?”

I just shrugged and sat down on the couch.

Brother Feng looked like he wasn’t about to let us off that easy.

He marched right up to Zhao Mingkun. “Why would a girl get mixed up in something like this? Fine, I’ll start checking you first.”

Then he pointed at me. “You’d better not move. If you so much as twitch, I’ll break your leg. Got it?”

I waved him off. “I’m not going anywhere…”