I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 37: Chapter 35: Blacked Out Again...

Cai Qinglian’s chest heaved with rage. Her face was even greener than the smashed cucumber salad on the table.

”Su Miaoyi, you dare!”

”Why wouldn’t I dare? What’s there to be afraid of? You gave birth to me, abandoned me, and went around telling everyone I was dead. If I say a few things about you, wouldn’t that just make us even?” Su Miaoyi stared at her.

Cai Qinglian was speechless.

”Either state your business or get out,” Su Miaoyi said.

Cai Qinglian hesitated for a moment. She glanced at Cheng Yong and Ge Yu, then finally asked, ”This thing with Cai Xi... was it your doing?”

”What thing?” Su Miaoyi asked, confused.

”He was perfectly fine! But after seeing you once at the pet hospital, he was taken away by the police! They said he killed someone, and now he’s stuck in a detention center and can’t get out!” Cai Qinglian yelled. ”This has something to do with you, doesn’t it?”

Hearing this, Su Miaoyi was momentarily stunned into silence.

’Does she have air for brains?’

”Your nephew killed someone. Shouldn’t he be taken away? What, are the Cais above the law? Do murderers not have to pay for their crimes?” Su Miaoyi found the whole thing baffling.

Cheng Yong and Ge Yu exchanged a look.

”It’s all your fault! You’re a jinx! Nothing good ever happens when you’re around!” Cai Qinglian said.

”Then why did you come see me?” Su Miaoyi said, trying to scare her. ”You’d better be careful.”

A frightened Cai Qinglian took a step back.

Su Miaoyi scoffed.

Cai Qinglian collected herself. ”Everything was fine! How could Cai Xi be arrested right after seeing you? It was you! It had to be you!”

Su Miaoyi’s eyes filled with impatience. ”If I had that kind of power, the first people I’d have locked up would be the Ji Family.”

”You...!” Cai Qinglian was at a loss for words.

”Let me guess,” Su Miaoyi cut her off. ”You think murder shouldn’t be a crime. You can’t cause trouble at the police station, you can’t bother Ji Sheng, and with the Cais no longer backing you up, you’ve come here to raise hell instead. You have all this anger with nowhere to vent it, so you’re taking it out on me. Because I wasn’t born a son, you’ve believed from the moment I was born that I’m the cause of all your misfortunes. That’s why you get so worked up every time you see me.”

”It is you!” Cai Qinglian insisted.

Su Miaoyi scoffed. ”So you went to all this trouble just to find me, yell at me, and maybe even hit me. Is that it? Do you really think your misfortunes will only end when I’m dead?”

”Yes,” Cai Qinglian spat out the single, venomous word.

Standing beside them, Cheng Yong and Ge Yu couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

They moved to stand next to Su Miaoyi.

Hoping to give her some strength, some comfort.

”Well, I refuse to grant your wish. I’m going to live a good, long life, just so I can watch you get what’s coming to you.” Su Miaoyi stood up. ”Now go. If you ever dare to come here again, my threat to expose you won’t be just for show. The Cais are already in this state. If you want the Ji Family to remain peaceful, you’d better keep quiet.”

”And since you think I’m a jinx, stay far, far away from me from now on.”

Cai Qinglian glared at her.

”Go,” Su Miaoyi said coldly.

Cai Qinglian spun around and stormed out.

Su Miaoyi watched her go, then closed the door.

Ge Yu rushed forward and took her hand. ”Miaomiao, don’t be scared. Don’t be sad. You still have your uncle and me.”

Su Miaoyi smiled. ”I know. And I’m not sad.”

Ge Yu and Cheng Yong both looked at her with concern.

”I’m really not sad,” Su Miaoyi said. ”She’s not important to me. I don’t care.”

Ge Yu squeezed her hand tightly.

”Let’s get back to dinner,” Su Miaoyi said, pulling her back to the table.

...

「Later that night.」

Ge Yu tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

Cai Qinglian’s words kept replaying in her mind.

After a long time, she finally managed to drift off.

But then she heard a noise.

She nudged Cheng Yong with her foot, murmuring drowsily, ”What was that? Is someone opening the door?”

”You must have misheard. Who’d be opening the door this late?” Cheng Yong mumbled, his words slurred with sleep. He rolled over. ”It’s probably just Miaomiao going to the bathroom, or the cat.”

Ge Yu listened for another moment. Hearing nothing else, she fell back asleep.

Meanwhile, out on the stairwell,

Su Miaoyi emerged from the apartment in her pajamas. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead, her face completely blank as she descended the stairs.

She walked out of the apartment building and then out of the residential complex entirely.

In the pre-dawn hours, the streets were deserted. There wasn’t a soul in sight.

The only sign of life was a breakfast stall on the side of the road, where someone was already busy at work.

In a daze, Su Miaoyi followed the road toward the outskirts of the old district.

When she reached the outskirts, she began walking through the overgrown weeds.

Su Miaoyi walked onward, completely unaware of her surroundings.

She tripped on a vine and fell to the ground, but as if feeling no pain, she simply stood up and kept walking.

A short while later, she walked right into a tree shrouded in darkness.

She still felt no pain.

Merely sensing an obstacle in her path, she skirted around it.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, she stopped at the edge of a river outside the old district.

She stood by the bank for a moment, then began to walk into the water.

The water rose past her ankles, but she didn’t stop.

Just then, two middle-aged men suddenly ran over.

They ran up to her, each grabbing one of her arms.

They started pulling her back toward the shore.

Su Miaoyi struggled slightly, reaching a hand forward as if grasping for something.

The two men pulled her toward the bank with greater force.

”Miss, don’t do anything rash! You’re so young.”

”Hurry and get out of there! The water’s freezing.”

”Listen to me, kid. There’s no problem in this world that can’t be solved. As long as you’re alive, you can fix anything. Nothing is that big of a deal.”

”Come on, get out.”

The two men pulled Su Miaoyi onto the bank.

Her foot caught on something.

Su Miaoyi suddenly staggered.

The two men quickly steadied her, preventing her from falling.

Su Miaoyi stared at the unfamiliar surroundings.

Then she looked at the two men holding her up.

A sharp pain shot through her forehead. She couldn’t pinpoint where on her body hurt, but it felt like she ached all over.

She violently broke free and stumbled back a few steps, eyeing them warily. ”What are you doing?!”

”Wh-what’s wrong?”

”We’re saving you!”

Su Miaoyi was confused.

”You were about to walk right into the river. We pulled you out,” one of the men explained.

Su Miaoyi frowned and glanced around again.

”It’s true. Miss, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell? What are you doing out here in the middle of the night?”

Su Miaoyi looked at them again. ”What are *you* doing here?”

”Night fishing.”

”We were just fishing when we saw you walking into the river. Where do you live? I can call your family to come get you.”

Su Miaoyi studied the two men again.

’They really didn’t seem to have any ill intent.’

’I blacked out again.’

’But why did I come here?’

’The river?’

’Is there something in the river?’

Su Miaoyi looked toward the river.

A moment later, she took a couple of steps forward.

The two men immediately blocked her path. ”Whoa! Miss! Don’t go any further. It’s too dangerous. You’ll get stuck in the mud, and that’ll be a real problem.”

”No, it’s just... I feel like there’s something over there.”

Su Miaoyi pointed toward the riverbank...