I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 157: Chapter 155: A New Case on the Road

The weather grew even hotter as June began.

It was time for Cheng Jue’s college entrance exams.

After finding out the test location, Su Miaoyi immediately tried to book a nearby hotel, but they were all completely booked.

In the end, she had to ask Shen Yanzhou for help just to book a suite.

Ge Yu came along to stay, sharing a room with Su Miaoyi.

Cheng Jue got his own room.

Cheng Yong waited for news at home.

The exams lasted for three days, and Su Miaoyi and Ge Yu were there with him for all three.

After the exams were over, they went straight back to the old district.

Su Miaoyi stayed in the old district for a few days, bickering with Cheng Jue every day.

During the day, she helped out at the vegetable stall, and the two of them bickered nonstop.

When things were a bit slow, Cheng Yong would sit beside Su Miaoyi and fan her.

”Uncle, I’m not hot,” Su Miaoyi said.

”Your face is covered in sweat. How could you not be hot?” Cheng Yong said. ”You insisted on coming, and now you’re tired and hot.”

”Dad, I’m hot too,” Cheng Jue said.

”You’re a big guy, and all you do is complain about being hot,” Cheng Yong said. ”Just deal with it.”

Cheng Jue: ”...”

He said nothing, just moved his stool to sit next to Su Miaoyi.

’No one’s fanning me, but I can still catch some of the breeze.’

Though Cheng Yong complained, he fanned Cheng Jue as well.

”You’ve been home for a few days now. How about I sign you up for driving school?” Su Miaoyi plucked a slightly yellowed celery leaf and tossed it at him.

Cheng Jue looked at her, plucked a cilantro leaf, and tossed it back. ”I want to wait until winter break. It’s too hot to learn now.”

Su Miaoyi nodded. ”That’s fine. Then go have some fun. It’s on me.”

”Don’t always give him money. He’ll just waste it,” Ge Yu said.

”Don’t give him any. It’s not like he spends it,” Cheng Yong said. ”I peeked the other day, and the balance in his WeChat account is way bigger than mine—it’s got two more digits.”

Su Miaoyi laughed.

”Dad, I have plans for my money,” Cheng Jue said.

Cheng Yong snorted.

”I’m not going out to have fun. I found a job,” Cheng Jue said. ”I start next week.”

At his words, all three of them turned to look at him.

Cheng Jue said, ”It’s for a variety show, one of those horror-mystery types. I’m going to be an NPC in it.”

”Is it legit?” Ge Yu came over. ”Don’t get scammed. I just saw a short video a few days ago about a guy who was almost tricked into joining a fraud ring.”

”It’s legit. My art school entrance exam teacher recommended it,” Cheng Jue said. ”He said it’s a chance for me to get some exposure.”

”Are you sure an NPC will get any screen time?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”I think so,” Cheng Jue said.

Ge Yu and Cheng Yong both looked to Su Miaoyi.

Su Miaoyi looked at the two of them, then asked Cheng Jue, ”Do you want to go?”

”I do,” Cheng Jue nodded.

”How long will it be?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”Right now, it’s for three weeks, about two days a week,” Cheng Jue said. ”It’s right here in Jinghai, so I won’t be going out of town.”

Su Miaoyi nodded. ”Alright, it’s your decision. Just don’t leave Jinghai. But I’ll say this one more time: don’t be in a rush to work. You should relax during your vacation. There’ll be plenty of time for work later.”

”It’s only two days a week. I’ll just treat it as having fun,” Cheng Jue said.

Su Miaoyi nodded.

Seeing that Su Miaoyi thought it was fine, Ge Yu and Cheng Yong didn’t say anything more.

Su Miaoyi plucked another celery leaf and tossed it at him.

Cheng Jue looked at her and reached for a cilantro leaf.

Su Miaoyi quelled him with a look.

Cheng Jue lowered his hand.

Su Miaoyi nodded in satisfaction.

...

After a few more days in the old district, it was time for Cheng Jue to film the variety show. Su Miaoyi took him there and took the opportunity to check out the situation.

She stayed with him for the entire day of filming.

That evening, she booked a hotel for Cheng Jue to stay in nearby before preparing to head back to Weiyang Palace.

She originally planned to get a taxi, but then she saw there were over fifty people ahead of her in the queue.

She got the same result on several different apps.

So she unlocked a shared bike, rode it to the subway station, took the subway to the stop nearest Weiyang Palace, and then... called a taxi from the subway station to get back to Weiyang Palace.

The subway station closest to Weiyang Palace was still a ten-minute drive away.

’Compared to this, Jinrong District is so much better. The subway station is right outside the neighborhood.’

While waiting for her car near the station entrance, a gust of wind brought a foul smell from a drainage ditch.

Su Miaoyi glanced at the drainage grate beneath her feet, raised a hand to cover her nose, and walked a little further away.

But another gust of wind brought another wave of the smell.

Su Miaoyi frowned, lowering the hand that was covering her nose.

’This smell isn’t right.’

She took a few steps in the direction the wind was coming from.

The night wind blew in intermittent gusts.

Su Miaoyi quickly confirmed it: mixed in with the unpleasant smell of the drainage ditch was the scent of a rotting corpse.

She followed the drainage ditch.

After about fifty meters, she pinpointed the location.

The smell was awful.

Su Miaoyi turned on her phone’s flashlight and aimed it into the ditch.

She spotted a black plastic bag down below.

The rotting smell was coming from it, but the plastic bag wasn’t very big—it didn’t seem large enough to hold a body.

’It could also be a dead animal.’

Just as she was thinking this, her eyes suddenly froze. Her expression went blank, and the light in her eyes vanished.

She stood there in a daze for a moment, then squatted down and began to pry at the drainage grate with her bare hands.

She gripped the grate, but on her first try, it only budged without opening.

Just as she was about to try again with more force, a figure suddenly dashed past her at high speed, yanking the bag from her shoulder.

The figure was fast and strong.

Su Miaoyi was pulled right off her feet and fell to the ground.

The bag strap dug violently into her shoulder.

A sharp pain shot through her shoulder, and the clarity returned to Su Miaoyi’s eyes.

She sucked in a breath, not yet understanding what had just happened.

Her shoulder just ached, and when she reached up to touch it, she realized her bag was gone.

She looked around.

And saw a thin figure sprinting away.

Su Miaoyi got up and gave chase.

After chasing for some distance, she took aim and threw her phone.

It hit the man squarely in the head.

The man up ahead was stunned by the impact and staggered forward a few steps, nearly falling flat on his face.

In that instant, Su Miaoyi caught up to him.

The man got up and tried to run a few more steps, but Su Miaoyi pinned him down. He tried to pull out a knife.

Su Miaoyi immediately twisted his wrist, dislocating it, and the knife clattered to the ground.

”You decided to rob me? You’ve really got a death wish, don’t you?” Su Miaoyi said, giving him a shove. She then took a pair of handcuffs from her bag and cuffed him.

The man immediately became compliant.

He never in his wildest dreams imagined that the bag he had just snatched would contain a pair of handcuffs.

After cuffing him, Su Miaoyi slung her bag over her shoulder, grabbed the man by the back of his collar, and walked back a few steps to pick up her phone.

The screen was shattered, and it wouldn’t turn on.

Su Miaoyi shoved the man beside her again. ”You’re a perfectly capable person. Why aren’t you working instead of learning to be a robber!”

The man beside her didn’t dare say a word.

Su Miaoyi glanced at his pocket and pulled out his phone. ”Is this yours?”

”It’s mine.”

”Did you snatch it or steal it?” Su Miaoyi asked.

”I bought it with money I got from stealing phones,” the man said in a small voice.

Su Miaoyi tutted. ”And you have the nerve to admit it! Unlock code.”

The man rattled off a string of numbers.

Su Miaoyi dialed 110.

’What’s in that drainage ditch must be a human corpse.’

’If not a complete body, then human remains.’

In the past, whenever she blacked out and found herself near a body, she would always faintly hear a voice crying for help.

She had heard it this time, too.

She remembered Zhuang Yanzheng’s phone number, but this location was far from both the municipal police bureau and the Zhuang Family residence. The local police station or precinct was much closer.

After reporting the crime, Su Miaoyi asked the man beside her, ”I was holding my phone in my hand. Why did you steal my bag?”

’It made my shoulder hurt like hell.’

”That piece of junk phone of yours wouldn’t have been worth anything,” the man muttered.

Su Miaoyi: ”...”

’What utter nonsense! He’s insulting my phone!’