The Camera Opposite

Shen Xing's expression shifted abruptly, his face etched with shock.

This scene caused Feifei, who had already reached the bedroom door, to freeze in her tracks, wondering if she had said something wrong.

Shen Xing picked up his phone, walked quickly to Feifei's side, and asked, "You just said you saw Auntie Ye Ting looking toward the camera lens in the video?"

Feifei blinked, then nodded. "Yeah, she definitely realized someone was filming her. Uncle Shen, it really wasn't you?"

Shen Xing shook his head.

He remembered that the last time he saw Ye Ting turn her head toward the lens in the video, he had asked Officer Ma Jinlong about it. At the time, the officer said he hadn't seen anything, and later, when he checked with others on the missing persons team, they all claimed they hadn't seen this bizarre behavior from Ye Ting either.

Even though the others hadn't seen it, Shen Xing remembered it clearly; he had definitely seen it, and there was no way his eyes had deceived him.

Later, he had even sat Hong Bin and his son Hong Anjie down at the dinner table to watch the video, but neither of them had noticed anything unusual either.

Now, unexpectedly, after Feifei watched the video, the very same scene he had witnessed once before appeared right before the little girl's eyes.

Shen Xing didn't elaborate, instead opening the video on his phone again and pulling Feifei over to sit on the sofa.

He prepared to watch the video with Feifei once more, as he hadn't seen that specific moment again since the first time he noticed Ye Ting staring into the lens.

Perhaps it required a certain probability to catch it, or maybe it only triggered under specific conditions.

Shen Xing didn't know the reason, but since Feifei said she saw it, he had to try again.

In the video, Ye Ting's familiar figure stood by the bathroom window, speaking to the empty air, accompanied by various gestures.

This scene was identical to the one Shen Xing had watched repeatedly; there was no difference.

However, as the video neared its end, Shen Xing, who had been watching intently, suddenly felt the footage stutter slightly.

The pause was incredibly brief, like a momentary glitch during playback, and the stutter was so fleeting that it would have been impossible to notice without careful observation.

Shen Xing couldn't recall if that subtle stutter had occurred the first time he watched the video.

But right after the glitch, Ye Ting in the footage suddenly stopped talking to the air and slowly turned her head to look toward the camera lens. Although the image was somewhat blurry, one could sense her gaze was intense, staring at the lens without blinking.

Feifei pointed at the phone screen and said, "Look, Auntie Ye realized someone was filming her! She might... know the person who took the video."

Hearing Feifei's words, Shen Xing's heart skipped a beat, and an inexplicable, strange feeling rose within him.

"Know them?" he repeated under his breath.

Shen Xing knew perfectly well that the video came from the surveillance of a building diagonally across the street, not from someone filming intentionally, so the possibility of Ye Ting knowing the "cameraman" didn't exist.

But was the eerie behavior Ye Ting displayed in the footage truly intentional, or was it some kind of hint?

Or perhaps... had she noticed something worth noting in the direction of the camera?

Initially, Shen Xing had thought Ye Ting was looking at him when she turned toward the lens, but that might have just been his own wishful thinking.

Perhaps Ye Ting wasn't looking at him at all, but was truly looking at the lens.

"Know... the person who filmed the video?"

Shen Xing muttered the words again.

By now, the video had finished playing, and this time, both he and Feifei had witnessed Ye Ting's bizarre behavior.

But Feifei was unaware of the context, assuming that Ye Ting in the video was always like this, looking toward the lens every time it played.

She had no idea that her casual remark seemed to have sparked or hinted at something for Shen Xing.

Leaving the sofa, Shen Xing walked to the bathroom and stood by the window facing the trash-filled alley.

Although he was on the third floor now, the position was almost identical to his rental unit upstairs, with only slight differences in height and angle.

Looking up and across, he searched his memory and quickly found the building diagonally opposite, then continued to scan its various floors.

After about a minute, based on his estimation of the orientation, Shen Xing fixed his gaze on the seventh and eighth floors of that building.

It seemed likely that the video had been filmed from that direction.

Of course, there were no cameras there anymore; the old equipment had long since been dismantled.

Returning to the rental unit upstairs with Feifei, the third-floor room remained with all its windows open. Aside from the television, there was nothing of value, so they left the windows open to let the room air out.

At dinnertime, Auntie Shen, who lived on the fifth floor, came down and warmly invited Shen Xing and Feifei to eat at her place, saying she had made dumplings.

Although Auntie Shen had invited Shen Xing to eat before, she had never come down specifically to call him like this; the reason was clearly Feifei.

Shen Xing didn't stand on ceremony. After thanking her, he took Feifei to Auntie Shen's home. The family consisted of three people: Auntie Shen, who was a homemaker; her husband, who worked at a pharmaceutical company; and a daughter in high school.

The family was very welcoming, fussing over Feifei with concern, clearly moved by pity for the girl who had so unfortunately become an orphan.

Feifei wasn't shy; she chatted animatedly with Auntie Shen's daughter, telling them about her experiences at the orphanage.

After eating the dumplings, Shen Xing looked at the sky outside the window; it wasn't completely dark yet. The thought that had been lingering in his mind resurfaced, and he decided to go check out the building across the street.

Since Feifei was being looked after, he didn't worry about leaving for a while.

He told Feifei and Auntie Shen that he was going out to buy some things and that Feifei should wait there; no one thought anything of it.

He quickly left the building, exited the residential complex, and walked toward the alleyway. Crossing the street, he reached the building diagonally opposite.

The building had some history in the old district. At first glance, it didn't look dilapidated, but it couldn't hide the mottled traces of time on its exterior walls, where nearly a third of the ceramic tiles had fallen away.

This building was originally an office block called Jincheng Building, but after the new district developed, most of the businesses relocated, and the space was partitioned into many rooms for sale or rent.

Consequently, it has essentially become a residential building now.

Shen Xing arrived downstairs; because quite a few people lived inside, there were people coming and going through the entrance at all hours.

He followed a man and a woman into the elevator and pressed the button for the 7th floor.

The pair was heading to the 11th floor, so when the elevator stopped at the 7th, Shen Xing stepped out first.

After exiting, he glanced back inadvertently and noticed the woman in the elevator scanning the space around her with a strange look in her eyes, though she wasn't looking at him. Meanwhile, the man immediately hit the door-close button, giving off a sense of urgency.