Chapter 72: The Seed of Love (Part 2)

“Let’s go find Xu Wei’s mother first.” Chen Jiu stood up and began gathering the things she would need.

Chen Wu was somewhat hesitant, pinching her own fingers, and asked awkwardly: “Are we going right now? But it’s already so late. It’s quite safe here at your place. Why don’t we go tomorrow?”

How could Chen Jiu not know what was on her mind? Nothing more than that going out to handle matters at night was too frightening, and she dared not.

“You’re still afraid even when I’m going with you?” Chen Jiu was helpless: “Senior Sister, dragging this out is not a solution either. Xu Wei keeps coming to you in dreams, which means she did not die in peace. But with her current energy, she can only appear in your dreams and cannot provide any effective clues.”

“Yes…” Chen Wu said with difficulty: “Her death must have hidden circumstances. She is still waiting for us to seek justice for her.”

Chen Jiu gave a soft hum.

By all logic, Su Xiaoyu should have been sent home by Chen Jiu at this hour. But today Su Xiaoyu had stayed specifically to hear the gossip. Chen Jiu had originally planned to go out to find Xu Wei’s mother and drop her junior sister off along the way. But Su Xiaoyu actively raised her hand and stood before the two of them, eyes shining: “I’ll go too! Senior Sister, take me with you! Fifth Senior Sister, don’t be afraid. We have three people now, plus one child. There is strength in numbers!”

Chen Jiu reached out and gave her a forehead flick: “You are not allowed to go. At this hour, children who are still growing need to sleep. You’re already so thin and small. If you don’t grow tall later, who will you blame? Aren’t you listening to Grandma anymore?”

Su Xiaoyu’s enthusiasm instantly wilted. She said grievously: “Fine, fine.”

Chen Wu saw that even the youngest junior sister was more proactive than herself, and felt somewhat apologetic in her heart. She could only say: “Yes, Xiaoyu, go back and sleep obediently. Your senior sisters can handle this well.”

Su Xiaoyu had no choice but to put on her small backpack and let out a long sigh.

Chen Jiu let out a surprised sound: “You really are a small child with big ideas.”

A dozen or so minutes later, Chen Jiu smoothly handed Su Xiaoyu over to the waiting grandmother, then set out with Chen Wu toward the place Xu Wei’s mother rented.

Chen Wu sat in the passenger seat, opened the information note, and said intermittently: “Xu Wei was from a single parent family… yes, children raised in single parent families have a higher probability of psychological problems. Because the lack of paternal love is severe, she developed very deep attachment to Zheng Kai. This emotion should be somewhat pathological, even reaching a certain degree where it could directly become psychological manipulation, mental manipulation.”

Chen Jiu glanced at the navigation position, and interjected: “So could it be possible that Zheng Kai used some kind of suggestion in his words during their conversation? For example, something like, go die, Xu Wei understood this suggestion, and after receiving it, directly went to jump off the building. Subsequently, due to some kind of human intervention, that section of chat record containing the psychological suggestion was deleted, thereby comprehensively eliminating all suspicion from Zheng Kai, this paragon of a good boyfriend.”

“I think what you said makes a lot of sense.” Chen Wu worked hard to think, frowning: “I already feel that Zheng Kai is the murderer.”

Chen Jiu said: “What I said is not necessarily correct. It’s all speculation. This deduction is too crude and simple. Look, Xu Wei specifically left such a video in her album beforehand. Did she discover her boyfriend’s intent to kill her long ago? But why didn’t she run? There are no clues showing she was restricted in her personal freedom during that period before her death. Or did she also have schizophrenia alongside her depression? When lucid she tried hard to save herself, but when confused she couldn’t escape the emotional whirlpool, and actively walked onto the path of death?”

Chen Wu thought for a while, then said: “What you just said is also very possible, and makes sense.”

“Or she simultaneously suffered from severe persecutory delusions, and the one who recorded the video was her evil personality. She wanted to drag her boyfriend down with her.” Chen Jiu talked on and on: “Zheng Kai erased the chat records because he just happened to have police connections, so he used them. Simply to avoid suspicion, to prevent complications, to protect his own record and future life?”

Chen Wu: “…Slow down, wait, why do I feel like all three possibilities you said make sense.”

She had said three possibilities in one breath, almost dizzying her, but she barely understood.

Chen Jiu laughed: “So you see, what if the truth is a fourth possibility? Let’s try not to preconceive.”

“My brain is overworked, my head hurts.” Chen Wu supported her temple, her head tilting to one side.

About twenty minutes later, the two smoothly arrived at the place Xu Wei’s mother rented.

This place was not unfamiliar to Chen Jiu. It was actually only one street away from where Wang Xiulan lived. The old style residential buildings in the same area were all more or less the same. So she very easily led Chen Wu upstairs.

“303…” Chen Jiu murmured softly.

Chen Wu grabbed her backpack strap, vigilantly guarding against the pitch black in all directions: “Little Nine, why do you seem quite familiar? Have you been here? During the time she commissioned me, I never even came to her home.”

“No, I’ve been to similar old buildings.” Chen Jiu said, stopping her steps: “We’re here.”

The two exchanged a glance.

Chen Jiu turned on her phone flashlight. She lifted her chin, indicating for Chen Wu to step forward. Chen Wu obeyed and drew closer, knocking on the door.

She knocked several times in succession, but no one answered.

Instead, the door next door suddenly opened from below. A somewhat plump middle-aged woman said impatiently: “The neighbor hasn’t been home these past few days. Go look somewhere else.”

“Do you know where she went?” Chen Jiu asked.

The woman: “How would I know! Stop knocking!”

Saying this, she slammed the door shut again with a bang, with the air of someone ready to fight if they knocked again.

Chen Wu: “…”

“If we can’t go through the door, we’ll go through the window.” Chen Jiu said, then circled around to the balcony side and began observing a climbable path.

The height of the third floor terrified Chen Wu out of her wits: “No, no! I don’t dare! Little Nine, you shouldn’t go either! I’m scared! What if you fall and get hurt?!”

Her tears came as soon as she spoke, flowing down with a splash.

Chen Jiu was also out of options. She felt around her pockets and actually pulled out a packet of tissues: “Don’t cry. This height is truly nothing to me.”

This scene suddenly made her recall when she was still at Qinghua Mountain. She climbed trees every few days, shaking fruits down to eat. She shook in the trees while Chen Wu picked them up from the ground. One time the fruit was too hard and hit Chen Wu on the head, raising a big bump. She cried loudly while eating.

“Senior Sister, you really haven’t changed one bit.” Chen Jiu felt both pity for her and an urge to laugh, holding it in with great difficulty.

Chen Wu wiped her tears and said: “Can’t we use another method?”

“No.” Chen Jiu glanced at the corridor and lowered her voice: “Calling a locksmith, we have no credentials, they won’t open it. Forcibly breaking the door, the noise is too great and will cause trouble. So entering from the balcony is the most direct and efficient method.”

Chen Wu: “…Fine.”

“Just wait here for me. A matter of a few minutes.” Chen Jiu instructed her to stand properly in place: “I’ll open the door for you. Don’t run around.”

Chen Wu nodded. As soon as Chen Jiu flipped out of the safe zone, she quickly covered her eyes, not daring to look anymore.

She did not know how long passed in the darkness. Finally the door lock clicked, and Chen Jiu’s voice came from inside: “Come in.”

Chen Wu slowly lowered her hand. Seeing that Chen Jiu was not missing any arms or legs, she let out a long breath.

Before closing the door, Chen Jiu observed the corridor once more. Finding no extra gazes, she then retreated inside and closed the door.

Chen Wu held her phone for light and said softly: “She really hasn’t returned?”

“Yes.” Chen Jiu and she each took one side, examining the room’s furnishings: “Since she’s not here, we mainly need to look for her bank cards, ID card, passbook, and such.”

There were no signs of messy ransacking in the room. This meant that at the very least, Xu Wei’s mother left of her own choice and had not suffered overly violent coercion.

The two then entered the cramped bedroom. The bedroom looked like Xu Wei’s mother had lived alone for years long, containing only one person’s daily necessities. The closet door was open a crack, and the bottom drawer could not close properly due to age and disrepair.

Chen Jiu squatted down and pulled the drawer open further. Inside were pressed many old magazines, photo albums, and an antique wooden box.

“This should be what the older generation used to store passbooks, marriage certificates, and such.” Chen Wu said: “I think I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

Chen Jiu gave a soft hum, then casually shook the old lock a couple times. Unexpectedly, the lock actually opened just like that.

She lifted the lid and looked. Passbooks, bank cards, property deeds, and ID cards were all neatly stacked inside. Xu Wei’s mother had not taken them when she left.

Chen Wu opened that old photo album. Inside were photos of mother and daughter together, from Xu Wei’s birth to her university graduation. At every important stage of life, her mother had never been absent.

The two exchanged another glance.

Chen Jiu asked: “What kind of person do you think Xu Wei’s mother is?”

“Huh?” Chen Wu was startled, not knowing why her junior sister suddenly asked this question. After thinking for a while, she said woodenly: “Should be someone who loved her daughter very much? Honestly, when she contacted me she was somewhat deranged and very stubborn. I don’t know what she was like before.”

“This room is clean and tidy, which shows that after her daughter’s death, she at least had normal self-care ability and clear consciousness.” Chen Jiu pondered for a moment, then continued: “For her to be alive now, she probably has only one purpose, which is to seek justice for her daughter. But if she were making any plans to overturn the case for her daughter, she should at minimum carry her ID card with her for convenience.”

“What you mean is…” Chen Wu stared at her with wide eyes.

Chen Jiu: “Something very sudden must have happened. She felt she must leave this place immediately, without even time to pack anything.”