Chapter 116: Go Home Early After Work These Days

Chapter 116: Chapter 116: Go Home Early After Work These Days

Yun Zhen went to work at Sister-in-law Liu’s vegetable stall.

"Yun Zhen, you’re here so early today." Li Mei hurried over right behind her. "Did you go to the entrance of Jiuzhou Mall to sell your wooden crafts and crochet dolls? How was business?"

Yun Zhen smiled and said, "Business was pretty good. All the wooden hairpins and fridge magnets I made were sold, and the crochet dolls sold out too."

Li Mei gave her a thumbs up. "That’s amazing."

The two sat idly and chatted. As they spoke, Sister-in-law Liu walked over. Since it wasn’t the weekend, adults were at work and children were at school, so there weren’t many people buying groceries at this hour. This gave Sister-in-law Liu some free time, though she usually spent this hour calculating the previous day’s accounts.

She pulled up a stool and sat down, glancing around as if on guard against something. "Yun Zhen, is your residential complex close to the farmers’ market and the flea market?"

Seeing her unnatural expression, Li Mei teased, "Sister-in-law Liu, why do you look like a thief?"

Her sneaky demeanor made Li Mei chuckle.

Sister-in-law Liu waved a hand, her voice hushed and quiet. "Shoo, shoo! I have something serious to tell you!"

Yun Zhen and Li Mei exchanged glances, wondering what Sister-in-law Liu had up her sleeve.

"Sister-in-law Liu, the place I live is only a dozen steps away from the farmers’ market and the flea market," Yun Zhen answered.

Sister-in-law Liu nodded and lowered her voice. "Listen to me, you need to go straight home after work these days. Don’t wander around outside."

"What happened?" Li Mei caught on quickly; Sister-in-law Liu’s tone clearly meant there was juicy gossip to be heard.

Sister-in-law Liu took a deep breath before telling the two, "Last night around eight o’clock, an adult man died in an alley separating the farmers’ market and the flea market. Word is the killer is a psychiatric patient with Supermale Syndrome. He was originally locked up in a mental hospital, but somehow the medical staff failed to keep an eye on him, and he sneaked out. The police and the hospital are searching everywhere for him."

"He still hasn’t been caught?" Li Mei felt a chill run down her spine.

When a psychopath killed, it was impossible to defend against. Since Sister-in-law Liu said he was killing randomly, it was terrifying. Would they just be walking down the street one day and get stabbed by a madman?

Sister-in-law Liu shook her head. "Not yet."

"The alley between the farmers’ market and the flea market has walls on both sides and no security cameras," Li Mei said. "Who knows where he ran off to."

"Someone saw him at the entrance of the alley this morning. He’s been wandering around that area, which is why I told Yun Zhen to go home early after work." Thinking about the news she had scrolled past that morning, Sister-in-law Liu still felt a lingering fear.

Yun Zhen understood. Whenever she bought too many things to carry, she would leave them in the alley between the farmers’ market and the flea market. It was remote, flanked by high walls, and people rarely went there. That was exactly why she used that alley as a shortcut back to her village.

She never expected a murder to happen there.

Sister-in-law Liu continued, "The alley has already been cordoned off by the police, but the killer is still at large. I heard the victim was a real estate boss, only forty-nine this year. Still so young. It’s such a pity he’s gone just like that. His family has offered an eight-hundred-thousand yuan reward for information on the killer’s whereabouts, and the police have put up a hundred-thousand yuan bounty as well.

"Unfortunately, the killer is elusive. Even when people provide valid clues, the police always come up empty-handed."

Li Mei urged, "Yun Zhen, you should listen to Sister-in-law Liu. Go straight back to your residential complex after work. There are military veterans working as security guards at the gates, so the killer definitely wouldn’t dare go inside."

Yun Zhen nodded, feeling scared herself. However...

"What does ’Supermale’ mean?" Did it mean a super malicious serial killer?

"It refers to people who are born with a mental illness. They might act perfectly pleasant normally, but the moment you let your guard down, they’ll stab you. If you ever run into someone like that, you must stay far away!" Li Mei explained with a solemn expression.

Yun Zhen took a deep breath.

"A madman!"

She understood. A madman who killed people. It seemed she couldn’t go near the farmers’ market or the flea market anytime soon. She just hoped the government officers would step up and catch this lunatic quickly.

Always receptive to good advice, Yun Zhen said, "I’ll definitely go straight back to my dorm after work."

Seeing that Yun Zhen was now informed, Sister-in-law Liu went to the front to work on her accounts.

Li Mei pulled out her phone. "Let me look it up."

"It’s true, look." She showed the information she found to Yun Zhen. "The victim suffered so terribly."

Yun Zhen was initially shocked that someone could even look up something like this on a phone—it was truly omnipotent—before she turned her attention to the screen.

It was exactly the alley where she always left her things. The normally ordinary alley was packed tight with people, and government officers in identical uniforms had cordoned off the area with ropes.

Time of incident: 8:10 PM last night.

She had already been back in the village by then.

Location of incident: The entrance of the hotel opposite the farmers’ market.

Detailed process of the incident: A man, Shi, had just finished meeting his mistress. As soon as he stepped out of the hotel, he ran into the psychiatric patient, Wei. The two exchanged a few words and, for unknown reasons, started arguing. Shi, who was over 1.7 meters tall, was grabbed by the neck by the towering Wei, who was about 1.98 meters tall. Wei covered Shi’s mouth and nose and dragged him into the alley.

This was the course of events captured on security footage.

The actual murder of Shi was not caught on camera. The police stated that Shi’s body bore multiple fatal wounds, the most severe being a fractured skull and his tongue being ripped out. The victim had suffered significant abuse before his death.

Just reading the text and listening to the reporter’s broadcast was enough to send chills down one’s spine.

After reading it, Yun Zhen was even more afraid to go near the farmers’ market and the flea market. Her life was the most important thing.

Li Mei took a deep breath, deeply frightened. "The internet says the man’s wife is offering an eight-hundred-thousand yuan reward to track down the killer, and the police are offering a hundred thousand. Who do you think would be crazy enough to willingly approach a psychopath?"

Because there was a murderer wandering around her neighborhood, Yun Zhen didn’t go anywhere else after work. She obediently headed straight back to her residential complex.

On the way, she passed a bank. Seeing that the pattern on its signboard looked similar to the pattern on her bank card, she walked inside, planning to deposit all her red bills into her account.

She tallied up all the money she had on her.

Today’s earnings:

Collecting scrap: 72 yuan.

Working two jobs: 110 yuan.

Selling wooden crafts and crochet dolls: 16,440 yuan.

Previous savings: 119,050 yuan.

Total: 135,672 yuan.

She had deposited 33,000 yuan into her card that morning. She still had 86,050 yuan in cash on her person. She wanted to put 86,000 yuan into her card.

"Hello, please help me put all 86,000 yuan onto this card." Yun Zhen went to a teller window and handed her card and stacks of cash to the bank staff.

The staff member replied in a businesslike tone, "Alright. Please wait a moment, you’ll need to sign a form shortly."

Yun Zhen signed where the staff instructed. The money was finally deposited into her card.

BEEP—

Account ending in *** balance: +86,000 yuan.

Total: 119,000 yuan.

When the text message arrived, Yun Zhen saw it and felt reassured.

Her mobile payment app also held the 16,440 yuan from selling the wooden crafts and crochet dolls earlier, along with the 72 yuan from selling scrap and her 110 yuan wages—totaling 16,622 yuan. She transferred another 16,600 yuan to her card.

The balance on her card became 135,600 yuan. She had 22 yuan left in her mobile payment app, and 50 yuan in cash on her person.

After finishing her deposits, she grabbed her bag, hoisted her large sack of vegetable leaves onto her back, and hurried toward her dorm.

Until the government officers caught that murderous lunatic, she wasn’t going anywhere near the farmers’ market or the flea market.

Along the way, she overheard someone whispering to their companion, "Did you hear? A murder happened in the alley between the farmers’ market and the flea market. The victim was a big boss, killed by a psychiatric patient with Supermale Syndrome. His death was gruesome—even his tongue was ripped out."

"A lunatic killing someone has no logic to it. You’d think it was for money, but it all started just over a brief argument."