C51 (1/2)
In the afternoon, Zhang Nan was seated leisurely in a café. While sipping his coffee, he observed the bustling crowd of people outside the glass wall, and stared blankly.
Ever since the incident with the Demon Man, Zhang Nan had been idling away, shuttling back and forth on the crowded streets like a ghost.
Suddenly, someone knocked on the table in front of him and said to Zhang Nan: ”Hey, hey, hey, you intentionally called me out to drink coffee with you, and in the end, you fucking stayed silent for an hour and played with me, right?”
The person who shouted was Wang Zili. Like Zhang Nan, he had also been in Shanghai for the past few days.
”Oh, I was so lost in thought that I forgot you were sitting across from me. And you spit in my coffee. ” Zhang Nan slowly said.
”You really are a talent!” Wang Zili laughed bitterly.
”Mr.Jia, give me another cup of coffee.” Zhang Nan greeted a 60 + year old man at the counter. At the same time, he moved the half-empty cup of coffee to the side.
Zhang Nan looked at Wang Zili's empty cup, and added: ”Give him another.”
The owner of the coffee shop called Mr.Jia personally brought over two cups of fragrant mocha, smiling at Wang Zili as he nodded his head.
”This coffee tastes good. How much for a cup?” Wang Zili casually asked.
”It's fine. Drink as much as you want. I don't want money.” The Mr.Jia laughed.
”No money?” Wang Zili was startled.
You are Nan's friend, how can I ask you for money? Without waiting for Wang Zili's response, Mr.Jia turned and left.
Wang Zili asked Zhang Nan: ”I thought you came here many times before to get to know the boss. You knew each other a long time ago?”
Wang Zili understood Zhang Nan very well. If he was just an ordinary friend, it would be impossible for him to know Zhang Nan's name.
”Right.” Zhang Nan continued to look casually at the street, ”Mr.Jia was a gangster before, I helped him once, he was very grateful to me. Then he opened the café and it was my idea. He wanted to open the bar. ”
”Why did you ask him to open a café?”
”Because I like coffee.”
Wang Zili shook his head, he was speechless for a moment.
He then glanced at the Mr.Jia, and realised that the Mr.Jia seemed to be the same as Zhang Nan, silent and quiet. He did not intend to ask Zhang Nan how he had helped Mr.Jia, and he reckoned that even if he asked, Zhang Nan would not tell him either.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Nan's phone rang.
”Hello, is this teacher?” A crisp female voice entered Zhang Nan's ears.
”Go ahead.” Just from the voice, Zhang Nan knew who the other party was.
”I have a favor to ask. And your friend the police officer.”
”He's with me.”
”Okay, here's the thing …”
Zhang Nan remained calm and collected as he listened to the girl on the phone finish. He replied her simply: ”En, see you later.”
After hanging up the phone, Zhang Nan stood up and said to Wang Zili: ”Let's go.”
”Where to?”
”Hi there.”
”Bar?”
”Did you drive here?”
”Yes, why are we going to that bar?”
”I'll tell you on the way.”
Wang Zili's car was a grey SUV. When the two got in, Zhang Nan told Wang Zili the address of the bar and then drove there. Wang Zili repeatedly asked why he was going to the bar in the middle of the day before Zhang Nan explained to him. The woman who had just called him was called Cheng Siqi, and was also his acquaintance.
”What's the big deal?” Why don't you just f * * king explain it clearly! ” Wang Zili frowned and asked.
”I didn't ask. She said she'll tell us in person later.”
”Oh …” ”So it's like that …” Wang Zili's tone softened. He knew that he had misunderstood Zhang Nan this time, ”Oh right, who is she? Who are you? Why is it that with just a phone call, you've been lured away like a dog? ”
Zhang Nan had always been immune to Wang Zili's obscenities, so he calmly replied: ”It's one of my students.”
”Students?” Wang Zili felt that this phrase was new.
”Have you forgotten? I was an amateur psychological counselor for two years, when Cheng Siqi was still in college, she became depressed and came to find me. After I treated him for a while, she had already called me teacher.”
”Is she beautiful?”
”Not bad.”
”Heh …” Have you developed a relationship with his in depth? ” Wang Zili revealed an evil smile as he spoke.
”I was in no mood. Later on, I went out to study fortune-telling.”
”Sigh …” I say, you are really something. You have already been single for so many years, shouldn't you consider it? Otherwise, we'd be together a lot, as if we were gay. ”
”What do you say, and what about yourself? Weren't they chasing a young teacher a while ago? No more results? ”
”There's no helping it, they don't like me.”
”A policeman at your level actually dares to look down on him?”
What level am I at?” Although our national felony squad has a large background, we are actually part of a special operations team managed by a special agency. Generally, we cannot reveal our identity to the public, and we don't even have a proper certificate for the job. ”In the eyes of ordinary people, we are no different from the jobless.
While chatting, Wang Zili's car turned into an alley. Inside the alley was a street of bars, and the first house at the intersection was a restaurant.
As soon as they got out of the car, they saw two women in their twenties sitting on chairs in front of the bar. The door to the bar was locked, and it was dark inside. It was obviously not open yet.
Seeing Zhang Nan, one of the more cultured looking women quickly went to greet him. Zhang Nan introduced her to Wang Zili, saying that she was Cheng Siqi.
Wang Zili took the chance to size Cheng Siqi up, and realised that she was wearing a beige jacket, matching jeans, and a pair of glasses. She looked calm and fresh, and her beauty was indeed not bad.
Wang Zili put on the airs of a leader, and greeted Cheng Siqi coldly. Unexpectedly, Cheng Siqi still responded enthusiastically: ”Hello, Officer Wang, Teacher often talks about you.”
”Is that so?” Wang Zili looked at Zhang Nan, guessing how Zhang Nan would describe him.
After talking for a while, Cheng Siqi pointed to another girl who was still seated on a chair and said: ”She is my cousin, her name is Cheng Qiuna, she is the singer from this bar.”
Zhang Nan and Wang Zili looked over at the same time, and realized that compared to Cheng Siqi, Cheng Qiuna seemed to be a person from another world. She had long fashionable curly hair and wore earrings. She wore black leather pants and leopard-print high heels. Underneath her leather jacket was a flowery low-cut blouse that revealed her belly, which had tattoos on it and her chest. Other than that, from the moment Wang Zili and Zhang Nan got off the car, Cheng Qiuna had been talking on the phone the entire time, she did not even look at the two of them.
It was somewhat similar to Cheng Siqi; even though Cheng Qiuna had a fresh and beautiful temperament, what gave others a different feeling was that …
Furthermore, Wang Zili and Zhang Nan could tell at a glance that Cheng Qiuna's face had been cut before, at least her nose and eyes.
”Your sister is very busy.” When Cheng Siqi introduced them, she simply waved her hands and continued to make calls.
”I'm sorry, she's just like that.” Cheng Siqi said apologetically.
”It's alright, what do you want us to help you with?” Zhang Nan didn't care.
”Mm …” Sit down and we'll talk. ” Cheng Siqi pointed to a chair.
The three of them sat down in a circle.
”It happened in the bar where my sister sang.” Cheng Siqi looked at the door and said, ”Officer Wang, you are a police officer, you should have heard about the murder case a while ago, right?”
”No. I don't usually have to deal with murder cases. ” Wang Zili replied.
”The murder had something to do with your sister?” Zhang Nan was suspicious, thinking that if Cheng Qiuna had provoked this murder case, how could she sit here?
No, it's a waitress at the bar. She's a colleague of my sister's. She's a quiet little girl and has a good relationship with my sister.” ”It's like this. Around the middle of last month, two men suddenly died in a hotel near a bar …
”A hotel near a bar? What's that got to do with the bar? ” Wang Zili interrupted.
”Because at that time, these two men first drank in this bar, then took a girl from the bar to get a room, and only then did the murder happen. The girl who was brought out was the little girl at the counter, her name was Xu Juan.
”How did you get them out?” Wang Zili asked.
”It was those two men that cheated, drugging Xu Juan's wine!” A voice came from the side, it turned out to be Cheng Qiuna who had just finished her call.
Cheng Qiuna moved a chair over and sat beside Zhang Nan. She then realised that Zhang Nan was wearing a black suit and pants, with black socks and Dark Skin shoes. He was also wearing black sunglasses, from head to toe.
”Aiyo, scared me.” Cheng Qiuna said softly.
Wang Zili found it funny, but Zhang Nan remained expressionless.
”What did you just say, drugged?” Wang Zili turned to Cheng Qiuna.
Yeah, why would Xu Juan go with them, Xu Juan is very obedient. Cheng Qiuna said.
That night, the two men sat at the bar counter. However, they were very generous and ordered a few bottles of wine for Xu Juan to drink. Xu Juan seemed to not have a lot of alcohol in him, and very quickly she got drunk. She never thought that one of the cups of wine was secretly drugged by two men, making him even more dazed after drinking it, and thus went to get a room with them. ” Cheng Siqi added.
”Those two men are frequent customers in bars, I have seen them many times, they definitely had their eyes on Xu Juan long ago.” Cheng Qiuna said again.
”When Xu Juan was brought out by them, no one noticed him?” Wang Zili asked.
”Oh my, our bar is in a mess. It was a weekend, and there were so many people that no one noticed her.” Cheng Qiuna said.
”Tell me what happened afterwards. How did the two men die?” Zhang Nan said.
”I don't know, the police haven't come to a conclusion, but they were definitely not killed by Xu Juan.” Cheng Qiuna replied.
Zhang Nan looked at Cheng Siqi, and Cheng Siqi hurriedly explained: ”Oh, what happened was rather strange. That night, after they brought Xu Juan out of the pub, they went straight to the guesthouse near the pub. Two men took a bartender and got a room. Needless to say, they knew what they were up to. And then, in that room, they suddenly died! The next morning, their bodies were found. ”
”According to the general conjecture, Xu Juan is definitely the most suspicious one.” Wang Zili said.
”But Xu Juan was unconscious all the way until the next morning! Then the police concluded that the two men had died in the middle of the night. ” Cheng Qiuna's tone was very anxious.
”Who can prove that the girl has been unconscious all this time?” Wang Zili asked.
”Police, they said that they inspected the sedative inside Xu Juan's body and it proved that she couldn't kill anyone. Furthermore, a little girl who took sedatives, how could she have the strength to kill two men?” Cheng Qiuna said.
”In that case, the young lady has been found innocent?” Wang Zili asked.
”That's right! However, she hasn't been working recently, so she's been hiding in the dorm. ”
”Then what did you call us here for?” Wang Zili felt that it was strange. He thought that Xu Juan had gotten into trouble, hence Cheng Qiuna got her sister to ask for Zhang Nan's help to clear the accusation on his behalf and so on.
”It's not me, I don't care. It's because my sister said that this matter is very strange, so she thought of you all. ” Cheng Qiuna pointed to Cheng Siqi.
”No matter how strange it is, it has to be handed over to the police officer in charge of handling the case.” Wang Zili said.
”I know, but the whole thing is really weird. The hotel where the accident happened is also near the bar. If I don't solve it by hook or by crook …” Cheng Siqi wanted to say something but hesitated.
Zhang Nan could tell that Cheng Siqi was still mainly worried about her sister's safety. After all, her sister was a resident singer in the bar, and the murder case was happening near the bar.
”Have a casual chat. How did the two men die? What was the cause of death?” Zhang Nan asked.
”Let me tell you, the two men didn't have any injuries. They were scared to death!”
”Scared to death?” Cheng Qiuna's words piqued Zhang Nan's interest, ”How do you scare me to death?”
”I don't know, neither does Xu Juan. She said that she never woke up, and when she woke up, she saw two men's corpses lying on the bed. Their eyes were wide open, looking as if they had seen a ghost. Cause of death... Right, it's sudden death! ”
”Yes, the forensic expert said that both men died of acute cardiac insufficiency.” Cheng Siqi added.
”Acute cardiac insufficiency …” Wang Zili recited it once and thought: If that's the case, then basically, he is excluded.
”Are their expressions that terrified?” Zhang Nan was more concerned about this.
”Right, that's why I came to trouble you, teacher. Say …” ”Could it be that kind of thing …”
”It's hard to say.” Although Zhang Nan was often in contact with mystical events, his rationality told him that he couldn't be prejudiced against any question that was on his mind.
”I was frightened before I died, the cause of death was sudden death, the time of death was in the middle of the night, little miss has been unconscious …” Wang Zili was still summing up his thoughts when he suddenly thought of another question, ”Wait, did the little girl suffer any violations?”
Zhang Nan also realized that this was a rather crucial point.
”No!” Absolutely not! ” Cheng Qiuna said.
”Do you think they didn't, or did the police find out after they examined them?” Wang Zili didn't want to hear Cheng Qiuna's own conclusion.
”Did the police appraise it? Xu Juan also said that she didn't have it.” Cheng Siqi answered for her sister.
”That's pretty much certain. As soon as the two men entered the room, something happened.” Wang Zili said.
Zhang Nan nodded his head, agreeing with Wang Zili's suggestion. According to common sense, the two men must have wanted to make a move when they dragged Xu Juan into the hotel. Since they didn't even succeed in making a move, it meant that they had just entered the hotel.
Zhang Nan was immediately confused. What was the situation that caused them to stop? What did they see before they died that made them so terrified?
”Aiyo, those two men were just taking drugs. I don't know what kind of drugs they took, but they were actually poisoned to death. They looked like they were scared to death!” Cheng Qiuna said casually.
”If he died from drugs, the autopsy will definitely find him out.” Zhang Nan replied calmly.
”Or do you drink too much and scare yourself to death?”
”That wouldn't have happened until both of them died.” Zhang Nan realized that Cheng Qiuna's words were getting more and more outrageous.
”Ai …” I think it's because Xu Juan's life is too evil, and she forced them to their deaths. ”
Cheng Qiuna fiddled with her nails and suddenly said something which surprised Zhang Nan and Wang Zili.
”Destiny is too evil? ”What do you mean?” Cheng Siqi also did not know the meaning behind Cheng Qiuna's words.
”Why are you guys looking at me? Xu Juan said it herself. ” It was rare for Cheng Qiuna to feel uncomfortable.
”What did she say?” Zhang Nan asked.
”She kept telling us at the bar that she was born with a life of evil and death. Not just her, but all the girls in their town would die without a chance of living past the age of twenty.”
”You actually believe this kind of nonsense?” How old is she this year? ” Wang Zili thought that it was really funny.
”Nineteen. But soon the twentieth birthday. According to her, she died on her birthday. ”
”Why is it a birthday, is it so accurate? Must he die on his twentieth birthday? ” Zhang Nan also asked.
”Yeah, she said it herself. So, recently she didn't go to work because of that incident. It's just that she felt that her death wasn't too far off, so it wasn't very interesting for her to go to work either. ”
”I think that little girl must have some mental issues, or else she was hurt by the superstitious thoughts of the countryside.” Wang Zili didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
”Not necessarily.” Cheng Qiuna said.
”What's not certain?” Cheng Siqi asked.
”Xu Juan was indeed born in the countryside, and has always lived in the suburbs.
”Then I have to ask you, you said that none of the girls in their place will live past twenty years, which means that all of the girls in their place that are twenty years old and above are men? Do you think that's possible? ” Wang Zili was already laughing out loud.
”I don't know about others …” ”In any case, Xu Juan's elder sister is Xu Wei, who brought Xu Juan out to the bar to work. Two years ago, she killed herself on the day of her birthday.”
Hearing this, Wang Zili instantly became silent, and sat up straighter.
”Xu Juan has a sister? She killed herself? Why didn't Old Du tell me about this? ” Cheng Siqi asked. Because Cheng Siqi often came to the bar to take a seat for Cheng Qiuna, she was very familiar with the people there.