Soul Patch

Chapter 22 Strange Dream

Wenjie entered the residential area and went to the supermarket downstairs.

As soon as I entered Bianlifeng, I smelled the aroma of pork ribs. Tonight's boxed meal set includes braised pork ribs.

He loves pork ribs the most, and seeing the pork ribs, green beans, corn, and potatoes stewed until they were tender and flavorful, he chose this dish without hesitation.

I also ordered a stir-fried lotus root dish and a serving of rice.

Back home, Wenjie placed the lunchbox on the dining table. He first checked each room, a lingering effect of the lost computer from last time.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his laptop safely on the table in the bedroom.

He went to the kitchen to wash his hands, then sat down at the table and started eating. He immediately picked up a piece of pork rib and put it in his mouth. The aroma of the rib and the other ingredients mingled together, and the tender meat melted in his mouth.

He devoured the ribs one after another, and in no time all that was left were the side dishes. He wiped the grease from his mouth and let out a contented burp.

It's absolutely true that good food can bring satisfaction and happiness. Wenjie felt much better right now.

However, I always felt that the pork ribs at night didn't taste quite the same as the ones Yang Shanshan brought over at noon.

Yang Shanshan...

He curled the corners of his lips into a gentle smile.

Wenjie got up, made himself some instant Blue Mountain coffee, and placed it on the coffee table in the living room.

Once the coffee had cooled down, he picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp.

He got up, went to his bedroom, turned on his computer, and searched for information about the three drowning girls in his browser.

However, apart from the name, age, time of drowning, and location of drowning, there was no other information.

The identities of these three girls, why they drowned, and the circumstances surrounding their drowning were not mentioned in the report at all.

Wenjie wrote down the existing information line by line on the paper:

16-year-old Guan Xiaonan drowned;

15-year-old girl Xu Mo drowned;

14-year-old Lin Yufei drowned.

Qin Fen's daughter is 14 years old and her son is 10 years old.

That is to say, Lin Yufei and Qin Fen's daughter are the same age.

Uh... that's not right. Lin Yufei drowned in 2017 when she was 14 years old. If she had survived, she would have been 16.

16 years old? Guan Xiaonan is 16 years old!

Guan Xiaonan drowned in 2019. She was 14 years old in 2017.

Xu Mo drowned in 2018 when he was 15 years old, and he was also 14 years old in 2017.

Oh! Wenjie suddenly slapped his forehead.

How come we didn't notice this before?

On the surface, the year of drowning and the age of drowning seem to have no pattern.

However, back in 2017, all the girls were 14 years old.

What is their connection?

Do these three girls know each other?

They all drowned in the artificial lake in this canal wetland park. Did they all live nearby? Were they neighbors?

No, no!

Age is the key factor.

If they're the same age, could they be classmates?

Classmate!

Wenjie continued browsing the webpage, hoping to discover more.

He scrolled down a few pages and saw a post on Tianya Forum discussing the matter, but when he clicked on it, it showed that the post had been deleted by the administrator.

This is strange. Could there be another hidden story?

Wenjie stared at the deleted post, vaguely feeling that the forces behind this matter might be quite powerful!

Qin Fen is a high-ranking leader in the Ministry of Education, and these people have done crisis public relations, leaving no valuable information online.

The Ministry of Education? Could something have happened at the school? Otherwise, how could the Ministry of Education be involved?

The Eastern District Police Department should have records of drowning cases.

I wonder if Officer Cao will help investigate.

With a "let's give it a try" attitude, Wenjie sent a message to Officer Cao.

The message emphasized that the three girls who drowned were the same age in 2017 and died one after another. Could there be a possibility of murder?

I turned around, went to the bathroom to wash up, took a shower, went back to the bedroom, turned off the computer, and prepared to go to sleep.

He lay down on the bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep. After about ten minutes, the sound of even breathing came from the bedroom.

In the dark room, his laptop turned on automatically.

The computer's blue screen lit up automatically. I moved the mouse over the extra video file on the desktop, double-clicked to open it, and the video started playing.

Soothing background music played in the video, its gentle sound and beautiful melody filling the room.

The computer automatically shut down after the video finished playing.

Wenjie slept soundly, and if his alarm hadn't woken him up the next morning, he probably would have been late again.

He sat on the bed, rubbing his eyes. Still half-asleep, he thought that he must have been too tired lately to have slept so well.

He scrambled to his feet, quickly got ready, and rushed to work.

He bought breakfast downstairs and saw the female clerk smile slightly at him when he scanned the QR code to pay.

He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have dreamed of such a smile last night.

As I passed by the park, I saw people doing their morning exercises, running around the lush green grass.

Grassland! Yes, lawn!

Wenjie remembered; he had dreamt of that seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl in her school uniform, now on the school lawn.

That video on the computer!

But why would I dream about that schoolgirl in the video?

When Wenjie was almost at his workplace, Officer Cao called.

Over the phone, Officer Cao asked Wenjie to come to the police station so they could meet and talk.

Wenjie hesitated for a moment. He knew that some things couldn't be explained over the phone and were better discussed in person. But what about Director Wang...?

He shuddered at the mere thought of Director Wang's gloomy face.

After hesitating for a long time and thinking of various excuses, I still didn't dare to dial Director Wang's number.

Around him, commuters hurried past. He alone stood in the middle of the road, an eyesore.

When Wenjie heard Director Wang's slow, confident "Hello" on the phone, he wondered how he had even dialed the number.

After hearing that Wenjie wanted to ask for leave, Director Wang didn't say whether he agreed or disagreed for a long time.

Wenjie's hand holding the phone receiver was trembling slightly.

"Wenjie, you said you have some personal matters to attend to and need to ask for leave. At least tell us what it is. You know the bureau is very busy right now."

"Here's the thing, Officer Cao from the East District called me to ask about the drowning incident from the day before yesterday."

After Wenjie finished speaking, he pricked up his ears to listen carefully to what was happening on the phone.

He personally witnessed Qin Fen having dinner with Director Wang at their workplace cafeteria two days before the incident.

Oh, and there was another time when Wenjie helped Director Wang get water. Before entering the room, he overheard Director Wang mentioning the leaders of the Education Bureau on the phone.

Could the leader he keeps referring to be Qin Fen?

Also... the day after Qin Fen drowned, Director Wang did not come to the office.

Individually, none of the events seem suspicious. But when they are put together, Director Wang does appear somewhat suspicious.

(End of this chapter)