Che Quan did not turn around immediately.
The person behind him spoke first, sounding a little surprised. "Little brother, what are you doing here?"
Only then did Che Quan turn around.
It was Zha Jia.
Zha Jia was dressed like a party girl-dramatically winged eyeliner that practically soared into the sky, red lips, incredibly heavy makeup, a camisole, and a miniskirt.
A cigarette rested loosely between her fingers.
When their eyes met, Zha Jia smiled faintly, though the smile did not reach her eyes.
With an air of casual indifference, she asked again, "Little brother, what are you doing here?"
Che Quan looked at her expressionlessly.
Was this woman calling him little brother at every turn because he looked pale, sickly, and somewhat young in this instance?
He was actually a vampire over a hundred years old.
Still, Che Quan could not be bothered to waste time correcting her.
Instead of answering, he asked, "What are you here for?"
Zha Jia shrugged. "The owner's dead, but I still need my cigarettes. See? I'm just here to grab a pack."
"Oh," Che Quan said.
At his response, Zha Jia joked with a slightly sinister edge, "You're not going to make me pay, are you? He should count himself lucky I'm not stealing the money. Besides, I don't have any spirit money to pay him with."
Che Quan remained expressionless, his face showing nothing but disinterest in what Zha Jia had to say.
Having failed to get a reaction, Zha Jia pursed her lips and went straight behind the counter. She grabbed a stack of the most expensive cigarettes, stuffing whatever she could not carry into the front of her tight camisole.
She paid no heed whatsoever to Che Quan's presence.
Che Quan spoke then. "Do you remember Kang He in room 302?"
"Who's that?"
"The woman who jumped off the building yesterday."
Zha Jia thought for a moment, then recognition dawned on her. "Oh, her. Didn't she jump because she had depression? What about her? What would I know about her?"
Che Quan watched her. "How did you two get along?"
Zha Jia did not answer immediately. She glanced down to make sure she had stuffed in enough cigarettes before straightening up. "How else? We couldn't stand each other."
"Why?" Che Quan was a little surprised.
Zha Jia looked at him and smiled. "You ask so many questions, little brother. If you weren't so good-looking, I'd have left ages ago."
Then, after a moment's thought, Zha Jia began explaining from the beginning, as though venting. "That old hag had a son in high school. A total creep, covered in acne, and his grades were crap. He even had a tutor, though I doubt anything could fix that brain of his. But she spoiled him like he was some treasure. And what happened? That bastard raped a girl in the building.
"The girl has moved away now, but it caused a huge uproar at the time. And because that bastard wasn't eighteen yet, they let him out without a thing happening to him."
"What does that have to do with you?" Che Quan hated listening to this rambling neighborhood gossip, and impatience was already showing on his face.
"Don't rush me, little brother."
Zha Jia was about to light a cigarette, but when she looked up and saw the pale, sickly boy before her looking distinctly gloomy, she put it down again.
She continued complaining, "Before that bastard raped that girl, he kept trying to grope me. But I don't put up with assholes like that, so I had someone beat him up. His mom was heartbroken when she found out and blocked my door to scream abuse at me. That's why we couldn't stand each other.
"What's this? Are you worried about me, little brother? I never would've guessed..."
Che Quan's brows drew tightly together.
Watching the woman chatter on as though she could no longer stop, he began to regret asking.
Was she here to dump information about this stupid instance on me?
After that, Che Quan stopped talking to Zha Jia.
He walked straight around her and left the convenience store.
Outside, the sky had already darkened again.
Time seemed to be passing even faster than it had yesterday.
Che Quan walked back to the apartment building and happened to see the two familiar police officers, Yuan Rong and Wu Yi, approaching.
Yuan Rong stopped and looked at him. "Kid, this apartment building is dangerous. Don't go out at night, understand?"
Instead of answering, Che Quan asked, "Officer Yuan, did the son of that woman in our building who jumped-the one who died in a car accident-have a criminal case?"
Yuan Rong paused. "...I think he did."
"Could you tell me the details?" Che Quan asked.
Beside him, Wu Yi looked puzzled. "Haven't you been living here all along? How come you don't know?"
Che Quan said nothing and simply looked at him.
Wu Yi checked Yuan Rong's expression again. After receiving permission, he launched into an explanation too. "Here's what happened. Her son raped a girl who tutored him at their home. Everyone around here knew about it. But I guess karma caught up with him, because he died in a car accident afterward."
Che Quan asked quietly, "Was the car accident accidental or deliberate?"
"Of course it was an accident. That little bastard ignored the red pedestrian light, and the driver happened to be driving fatigued and couldn't brake in time. He was going full speed, too... Tsk, you have no idea how badly the kid was crushed. Couldn't bear to look."
Wu Yi described it vividly, earning another sharp glare from Yuan Rong.
Yuan Rong scowled. "You don't have to go into so much detail every time. Keep it brief. Can you manage that?"
Wu Yi immediately shut up and gave an awkward smile. "I'll remember next time. Next time."
Che Quan asked them one final question. "Did the girl who was assaulted live in room 102 before?"
Yuan Rong pondered it. "I think she lived... where was it again?"
Seeing Yuan Rong struggle to remember, Wu Yi could not help answering, "It was 102! Across from a really friendly older lady. I remember Kang He blocking the first floor every day, calling the girl a slut and saying she'd seduced her son. When we went to stop her, that lady helped us talk her down."
Yuan Rong rolled his eyes at him. "Of course you know that too, don't you?"
Then the two officers left.
As Che Quan unlocked the door to room 201, he reflected that everyone in this instance really was lying.
Yesterday, Xuan Shuhui had told him he could find her in room 302.
Today, Zha Jia had concealed the fact that she herself was the girl who had been raped and told him that version of the story.
Everyone in this apartment building seemed to harbor some secret, sinister agenda.
Who would die tonight?
Unconcerned, Che Quan entered room 201 and shut the door, then started toward the kitchen.
Suddenly, he spotted an all-too-familiar figure.
"Jiang. Cong?"
The name came out one syllable at a time, practically forced through his teeth. Che Quan's previously calm expression abruptly turned displeased.
His eyes held no warmth as he stared coldly at the silver-haired young man lounging comfortably on the sofa.
Dressed in loungewear, the young man watched television with composed elegance, looking perfectly at home, as though the place belonged to him.
At that moment, the live comments-
[???! Wait, am I seeing things? Why do I see an apparition of the big shot in the little beauty's "home"? Somebody punch me in the face and check whether I've gone ship-crazy.]
[You're not alone up there. I seriously never saw this coming. The big shot catches me off guard every time he shows up.]
[Yay! Close enough-they're living together now!]
[Get a grip, commenter above.]
Before you continue