I See Murders Before They Happen

Chapter 253: Chapter 251: What’s Wrong With Her?

The suspicious person in the hospital surveillance footage.

The sudden disappearance of Feng Ruihao and Yuan Man...

The deeper they dug, the more complicated the case became.

A palpable gloom seemed to settle over everyone, impossible to shake.

They worked past one in the morning and ended up eating instant noodles together again.

The group sat together, eating their noodles.

”Regarding the hospital,” Qi Feng asked, ”where did that suspicious person leave from? Why didn’t the surveillance footage capture it?”

Brother Zheng looked at them as well.

Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”The person left through the west entrance of the inpatient building and took the stairs to the third-floor lab area. All the cameras over there were broken that day, so nothing was recorded. We checked the surveillance at every exit, as well as the cameras covering all the routes leading from the lab area to the exits, but we never saw them again.”

”I suspect he climbed out a window,” Su Miaoyi said.

”That’s possible,” Zhuang Yanzheng said. ”I checked outside the window. Someone agile enough could climb down, then hop the fence to get out of the hospital grounds, all without being caught on camera.”

”In that case, Yuan Man’s disappearance is still the weirdest part,” Qi Feng said.

The way Yuan Man suddenly vanished on camera had deeply shaken Qi Feng.

It had scared him.

They ate their instant noodles while watching the footage of Yuan Man’s disappearance on the screen.

They couldn’t figure out what happened.

Everyone found it incredibly strange.

”I even went to check out the location myself,” Qi Feng said, ”but there wasn’t a single trace. I couldn’t find anything. It’s like she just vanished into thin air. It’s so weird, like the place is haunted.”

”Also... I never expected that while investigating a case, I’d witness a relationship fall apart with my own eyes,” Qi Feng said. ”Feng Ruihao’s wife... when I first arrived at her home, her face was full of happiness. By the time I left, she looked like she’d aged years.”

”His wife called him, and she was still smiling the moment the call connected. Then a woman’s voice came from the other end, and her smile just froze on her face,” Qi Feng said. ”I honestly... if I hadn’t been worried about missing a key clue, I almost couldn’t bear to watch. Their kid is only three months old... That guy is such a scumbag.”

”Had his wife really not noticed?” Su Miaoyi asked. ”Didn’t we ask property management? They said Feng Ruihao visited frequently—for over five years.”

”That’s right. Over five years, and his wife didn’t discover a thing,” Qi Feng said.

Su Miaoyi frowned.

Chu Xingrou said, ”I’ve read online that women are supposed to be really intuitive about this stuff. How could she have not realized for so long?”

”Not sure,” Qi Feng said. ”Maybe Feng Ruihao treated his wife so well that she never suspected a thing. After all, from what I heard over the phone, Feng Ruihao sounded very tense, and his first instinct after being found out was to console his wife. He came back right away, too. It seems he still prioritizes his wife.”

”Shameless,” Chu Xingrou cursed. ”He just wants to have his cake and eat it too. He knows he has it good at home but still wants to fool around on the side. What a bastard, cheating while putting on a ’devoted husband’ act. He deserves death by a thousand cuts.”

The others glanced at Chu Xingrou, but no one said a word.

As for Su Miaoyi, she had lowered her head and become unresponsive.

At first, everyone thought she was just lowering her head to eat her instant noodles, but after a moment, they realized she was completely still.

After noticing, Lu Zhishen, Yan Cheng, and Zhuang Yanzheng didn’t say anything and continued to eat their noodles in silence.

Zhuang Yanzheng wolfed down his noodles, drank the broth, then leaned back in his chair. His gaze was lowered, but his attention was entirely on Su Miaoyi.

Lu Zhishen and Yan Cheng ate more slowly. They seemed to be eating normally, but they were also watching her out of the corners of their eyes.

Chu Xingrou was next to Su Miaoyi and didn’t notice at first. She was still adding freshly opened fish tofu, fish balls, and fried chicken pieces to Su Miaoyi’s noodle cup.

She kept dropping them into her noodle cup.

She was still wondering why Su Miaoyi was so still, with her head lowered.

She even wondered for a moment if Su Miaoyi didn’t like the snacks.

Then it suddenly hit her: this was exactly like the time she had stood motionless outside the office.

Chu Xingrou’s face twisted in shock, and she instinctively looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

After Zhuang Yanzheng shot her a look, she pressed her lips together, lowered her head, and quickly went back to eating her own instant noodles.

Qi Feng still had his head down, eating his braised beef noodles, when Brother Zheng suddenly called out, ”Su Miaoyi?”

At his shout, everyone looked up.

Chu Xingrou looked nervously at Zhuang Yanzheng.

’She remembered Su Miaoyi telling her that Qi Feng and Brother Zheng didn’t know.’

Lu Zhishen and Yan Cheng both looked at Brother Zheng.

Qi Feng, with instant noodles still dangling from his mouth, also looked at Su Miaoyi.

”Su Miaoyi? What’s wrong with her?” Brother Zheng asked as he stood up. ”Is she dizzy from staying up all night? What is it? Why isn’t she responding? Is she not feeling well?”

He started walking towards Su Miaoyi as he spoke.

Zhuang Yanzheng stopped him. ”It’s nothing, she’s just zoning out.”

”What kind of zoning out makes you completely unresponsive?” Brother Zheng was getting anxious. ”She’s definitely not well. Health is no small matter.”

Qi Feng bit off his noodles. ”I’ll call 911.”

He took out his phone.

Yan Cheng stopped him. ”No need. She’ll be fine in a moment.”

”What are you all doing?” Brother Zheng frowned. ”First it’s ’nothing,’ then it’s ’no need.’ She’s like this, and you say it’s nothing and no help is needed. What are you hiding from me? What’s going on? Why are you all being so cryptic? Are you hiding something from me? You all know, and you’re hiding it from me, is that it?”

”I don’t know,” Qi Feng said. ”I don’t know anything.”

”Just sit down,” Zhuang Yanzheng told him.

Brother Zheng sat down and looked at him, expecting an explanation.

Instead, Zhuang Yanzheng said, ”Brother Zheng, you’re almost forty, right?”

Brother Zheng was stunned for a moment, then unleashed a tirade that would need to be bleeped out.

Zhuang Yanzheng wiped the spittle that had landed on his face. ”Have some water.”

”You’re forty! Your whole family’s forty! I’m forty and I have a wife and a kid! Do you?! Do you?!” Brother Zheng fired back.

Yan Cheng and Lu Zhishen both looked at Zhuang Yanzheng.

Brother Zheng’s wife was seven years younger than him, and she often teased him for being old, making age a sore spot for him.

Zhuang Yanzheng opened his mouth. ”I... I’m not forty yet.”

Brother Zheng turned away and ignored him.

Everyone waited quietly for Su Miaoyi.

After a while, Brother Zheng looked at Su Miaoyi again. ”Is she really okay?”

”She’s fine.”

Seeing that he wouldn’t say more, Brother Zheng didn’t ask again.

After a long wait, Su Miaoyi stirred. As she raised a hand to touch her neck, she knocked over the instant noodles on the table.

Chu Xingrou quickly pulled her away.

Su Miaoyi bent over, coughing.

Chu Xingrou supported her, patting her on the back to help her catch her breath.

She could feel that Su Miaoyi was having trouble breathing.

Zhuang Yanzheng and the others walked over to her side.

”Sister Miaomiao,” Chu Xingrou called out to her.

Su Miaoyi grabbed her arm, rubbing her wrist to signal that she was okay.

She coughed for a while, then stood up straight and let out a breath. But a wave of dizziness and pain made her lean her head against Chu Xingrou’s shoulder.

To support her, Chu Xingrou had no choice but to wrap her arms around her waist.

She wore a look of fierce protectiveness, her expression unusually firm...