Chapter 21: Curiosity
He Jueyun took advantage of the opportunity to retrieve files in the background and went to the Sanyao Forum to take a look. Not surprisingly, many people are discussing the dungeon that just ended.
This dungeon was actually quite difficult because it contained too much confusing information and all the information it spread was untrue. Once you fall into misunderstandings, you may fall into the trap of those behind the scenes. Fortunately, Qiong Cang found another way to search for physical evidence, allowing them to avoid detours many times.
"I recorded the scene of the boss grading homework. With her studying with me in the future, it will no longer be a dream for me to reach the pinnacle of life. [Don't wake me up]"
"I really haven't seen many people who can analyze murder cases and create happy endings."
"This boss feels different from the other 90-point players. Can we expect her to create miracles?"
"Is she a newcomer? I think 92 points is definitely not her limit. [Analysis] Comparison of the common methods used by several big guys to solve cases."
"[Dry information] Dehydrated version of the full video, with its own BGM, follow me if you like it."
He Jueyun smiled and read a page. At this time, the background information had been loaded, and he easily pulled up the prototype of the case in this dungeon and quickly scrolled through the past.
The prisoner, the deceased, and then the witnesses...
Xiang Qingxi, prototype, Qi.
He Jueyun was about to slide this page over, but stopped when he saw the word "Qi".
There were very few people with the surname "Qi", but the bigger reason was that the girl in the photo was too eye-catching.
A total of three photos of her are stored in the archive.
The first photo was taken when she was in high school. Her hair was a little yellow due to malnutrition, which made her skin fairer. She looked at the camera with a smile.
The second photo is her wedding photo. She leaned against a man, completely losing her childishness. Her smile was a bit reserved, but her joy could be seen from her brows and eyes.
She didn't seem to take many photos after that. The third picture was a screenshot of surveillance. In the photo, she looks haggard and lifeless. Taken from… the day before she committed suicide.
Beyond that, there was no information about her in the archives. It was not known why she committed suicide, and even her real name had not been provided. Because it had nothing to do with this case.
Maybe beautiful people have similarities, but she and Qiong Cang really have some similarities, making it difficult not to doubt the relationship between the two of them.
He Jueyun looked at the photo for a long time, called up Qiong Cang's information from the background, and put the two together for comparison. He found that it was indeed not his illusion.
This information from Qiong Cang did not trace the detailed experiences of her childhood because Sanyao did not want to use it as an evaluation criterion.
However, Sanyao's database was extremely large, especially [Crime Analysis], which was a project in cooperation with the authorities. If he needs it, he can directly view the important records left by Qiong Cang on the Internet with the highest level of authority.
For example, her guardian, the reason why she changed her name, her hospital records, etc., were network traces that can portray her like a mirror.
For a moment, He Jueyun did have a flash of hesitation, his finger stayed on the screen for a long time, and finally chose to close it. He archived the file together with the live broadcast data and then removed it from the dungeon library.
In the future, this dungeon would no longer accept challenges from other players.
He Jueyun leaned on the chair, turned around along the boss's chair, and blocked the light above with his arms.
Many times, being too interested in someone was not a good thing.
Moreover, why did he keep thinking about Qiong Cang? This didn’t make sense at all.
He Jueyun realized this, his face turned foul, he slapped the armrest hard and stood up, grabbed his coat and walked out.
·
Three days later, Sanyao headquarters still did not receive any request from Qiong Cang.
Generally speaking, the early stage of passing the newcomer test was the most exciting moment for players. After the application was passed, many people would take a short break for a day and directly play the second game. In this way, they could retain the audience at the first show and made a lot of money.
There was no Qiong Cang, nor were there any messages from her. Not even the free buffet attracted her.
He Jueyun sat in the office, took a deep breath, and then exhaled in frustration. The other person's evil smile filled his mind.
There's no way she just participated in [Crime Analysis] on a sudden whim.
...Good, she was deliberately getting my attention.
His mood severely affected the rest of the team.
These energetic guys get together every day and whisper in his ears.
"Is the boss crazy?", "The boss sighed again today.", "Is the boss lost in love?", "Then can we finally determine the boss's sexual orientation?"
He Jueyun: "..." The boss just gave you freedom and went too far.
He Jueyun finally dug out the information from the bottom of the box and called the number on it.
"Hello?" There was a coldness in his tone, "Sanyao is making a routine return visit. Are you at home?"
·
The address written on Qiong Cang's information was in a residential area near University A. At 8:50 in the morning, He Jueyun drove to the parking lot smoothly. He waited in the car for ten minutes, waiting for the time to officially skip nine o'clock, before pulling on his collar and walking up the stairs.
The door opened, revealing Qiong Cang's somewhat pale face.
"Hello." He Jueyun extended his hand to her again, smiled politely, and said, "Return visit."
Qiong Cang said lazily: "Yeah."
She took a step back and let He Jueyun in.
It was broad daylight, but her house had heavy curtains drawn. The curtains are all made of dark multi-layered fabric to ensure complete isolation from outside sight.
Then turn on the headlights.
This strange arrangement gave He Jueyun the urge to turn around and leave.
Qiong Cang said: "Come in quickly."
He Jueyun walked into the house, put on his slippers at the door, and asked, "Why are you doing this?"
"No one likes to be watched." Qiong Cang shrugged and said, "Since Fan Huai escaped from pursuit, the police have been sending people to monitor me downstairs, thinking that he would come to my place. Oh, Fan Huai is my student, Xie Qimeng should have told you."
He Jueyun nodded and looked around naturally.
Apart from the act of drawing the curtains, the furnishings in her room were actually very ordinary. The color of the furniture is white and the style is quite satisfactory. The living room is relatively empty, with various papers neatly laid out on the sofa. It can be seen that she usually likes to work here.
Qiong Cang piled the documents on the sofa into the corner and motioned for He Jueyun to sit wherever he wanted.
Qiong Cang said: "Let me make you a cup of tea."
He Jueyun: "Thank you."
Qiong Cang directly brought the kettle over, placed it on the coffee table, and pressed the switch.
The behavior was very informal.
There was only one photo in the house, which is placed next to the TV cabinet in a very conspicuous position.
He Jueyun couldn't resist the temptation and walked over to take a look.
The photo was faded by the sun due to its age and became quite blurry. Qiong Cang puts it here, maybe it can only be a thought.
Inside are two people leaning on each other, their identities ready to be revealed.
Qiong Cang saw him observing and said, "Yes, this is my mother. The prototype of Xiang Qingxi."
She didn't mean to hide it at all, and waited for He Jueyun's reply with great interest.
He Jueyun strives for innocence: "I saw it by accident."
Qiongchang didn't care, and just said behind him: "She is very beautiful, much more beautiful than in the game."
He Jueyun thought of the photos he had seen before and had to admit that she was right.
"But she was such a beautiful person, but she ended up marrying a man who couldn't appreciate her beauty." Qiong Cang turned away and said, "My father is blind."
He Jueyun was really surprised this time. He only remembered that the man in the wedding photo was handsome and his eyes were staring at the ground, but he didn't expect that he was really blind.
"Perhaps this makes her feel more secure. She is not such a lucky person." Qiong Cang said, "From her description, my dad is a somewhat holy father* figure. She should be in great need of the kindness of others, so she deeply fell in love with my father. It’s a pity that good people don’t live long, and a Holy Father’s life is even shorter.”
*male version of a holy mother, someone who is selflessly kind to others
He Jueyun was silent.
Qiong Cang asked: "Is it a very cold joke?"
He Jueyun was shocked: "This is actually a joke?!"
Qiong Cang asked: "Otherwise? Should I cry?"
He Jueyun thought for a long time and then whispered: "Everyone can be sad but unable to cry. It's no big deal, there is no need to force a smile."
Qiong Cang glanced at him one more time, then stepped forward, pointed at the two people in the photo and said, "Actually, I don't know either of them. I've never seen him. I've never seen her like this either. I can completely regard Xiang Qingxi and her as two different people."
He Jueyun asked vaguely: "So, how do you feel?"
Qiong Cang turned around and walked towards the sofa, as if she hadn't heard anything, and sat down slumped down, remaining silent.
About five or six minutes later, when He Jueyun was watching the pot of water boiling and making a bubbling sound, a sentence suddenly came out of Qiong Cang.
"It's amazing," she said. "That's why I don't like watching criminal cases."
He Jueyun: "Then why did you come to [Crime Analysis]?"
"Curiosity." Qiong Cang's eyes were unfocused, as if she was thinking, "Because I suddenly discovered that escaping can't solve anything. Only when you solve your own curiosity will you feel that it is not interesting at all."
He Jueyun nodded thoughtfully.
He did not force himself to understand the meaning of Qiong Cang. Because his own experiences are different, his thoughts would be different.
Maybe she didn’t even understand it herself.
He Jueyun took out his tablet from his bag and asked her a few questions as usual. After two hours passed, there was nothing more work-related to say.
He Jueyun stood up and prepared to leave.
Qiong Cang touched her ears and said, "Well, you are already here..."
He Jueyun thought he should not have come even though he was here. Now he was scared when he heard these four words. How many tragedies started with this courage to die.
He knew that these people were trying to take advantage when they said this.
Sure enough, Qiong Cang's next words were: "Please treat me to a meal."
He Jueyun refused to give in: "Why should I invite you to a meal? Shouldn't it be you who invites me? I can be considered half a guest after all, right?"
"Because I am poor. We are all friends." Qiong Cang said every word clearly, "I went hungry just to talk with you."
Shameless!
He Jueyun looked indifferent: "You'd better wait for Sanyao’s settlement. No need to rush having a meal together. The income from live broadcast rewards is very high."
Qiong Cang said sincerely: "I have to repay the mortgage. I don't have any assets accumulated by my ancestors, so I have to start from scratch. Even though this building looked shabby, it’s in the city center and close to the university town. The total payment is more than 5 million. The loan is 2.5 million, in installments of thirty years, according to the current interest rate..."
He Jueyun quickly interrupted her miserable confession: "Okay."
Qiong Cang had another idea: "How about reselling it to you for five million? I don't want to live here anymore. If you sell it patiently, you should be able to get to six million. I won’t demand any higher."
He Jueyun found that this lady's thoughts were really beautiful.*
*wishful thinking
With her unique aura, the house she lived in was just short of having the word "dangerous" on the door. She still wanted to sell it at the original price? It's almost the same as flipping.
Him, and the He family, did not engage in loss-making business.
Qiong Cang saw the rejection on his face, sighed in disappointment, and suddenly said something very scary: "Actually, sometimes I think, with my IQ and observation skills, if I planned to kidnap Sanyao's boss—— If not the boss, the boss's son works too - I'm sure I won’t be discovered. I'm not greedy, I'll ask for their three days' worth of sales, and I'll start a saving after I get it, which will probably bring glory to my next nine generations."
He Jueyun didn't know why the topic went around to him, and shuddered all over.
Qiong Cang thought about it and asked again: "By the way, does Sanyao’s boss have a son? If not, does he have a daughter? I checked for a long time and couldn't find out. They do a good job of protecting privacy."
A ferocious expression flashed across He Jueyun's handsome face, but he quickly controlled it.
Was this really a threat?
He Jueyun said: "You will invest all your savings in the real estate market? This is not the best choice for investment. With your personality, shouldn't you leave some of it as an emergency fund?"
"I temporarily bought two graves and two coffins." Qiong Cang said, "I didn't expect cemeteries to be so expensive. Buying a serial number and finding someone to bury it costs 300,000 yuan. This was not part of my plan either."
He Jueyun was shocked: "Whose grave?"
Qiong Cang said vaguely: "An aunt who takes good care of me, and her daughter."
He Jueyun felt a little guilty because of the sadness on her face, and said softly: "I'll treat you to dinner."
"Why are you being so nice?" Qiong Cang's expression suddenly became flexible and she said gratefully, "Thank you. You are such a good person."
He Jueyun felt inexplicably deceived.
No, he's just a meat ticket.*
*a reference to the era of early 1960s to the 1990s, where China’s materials were scarce, and to control supply and sales, people were issued tickets. Those without tickets cannot buy said material.
Qiong Cang asked: "Why do you have this expression?"
He Jueyun: "Are you really concerned about me?"
Qiong Cang said implicitly: "No, just saying it as a token of appreciation. After all, I have to eat your food."
He Jueyun gave up struggling and waved his hand: "Forget it, let's go."
·
He Jueyun led Qiong Cang directly to the noodle shop downstairs for lunch.
He didn't dare to show that he was too rich in front of QIong Cang, for fear that this shameless person would say that he was seducing her.
Finally, Qiong Cang ordered a bowl of beef noodles and sat across from him to eat peacefully.
He Jueyun looked at her for a while, then stood up and said, "I'm leaving first. If you don't have food, you can go to Sanyao."
Qiong Cang put down her chopsticks and suddenly said: "I want to apply for the next game by the way."
He Jueyun stopped: "Which one? You can apply directly on the official website, as long as your permission permits."
Qiong Cang took out a folded leaflet from her pocket and handed it over.
When He Jueyun saw the list, his eyelids jumped. He doubted: "Is your... identity appropriate?"
"What is my identity?" Qiong Cang was even more surprised than him, "So I am also a person with an identity?"
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