Chapter 23

Finally, after venting their emotions in an indiscriminate attack style, Sun Xia and Dang Wenjian calmed down considerably and were able to cooperate with the investigation. However, since Dang Yueyue spent most of her time at school and was already an adult, the couple had limited knowledge about her recent mental state, daily life, and social circle. The useful information they could provide was minimal.

Afterward, Su Yan and the other three divided into two teams to question Dang Yueyue’s three roommates and her academic advisor. The accounts they received were largely consistent, suggesting no one was lying.

Upon leaving the girls’ dormitory, Jiang Li pondered briefly before deciding to send Cai Chengji and Xiang Yang to the Software Institute to further investigate Dang Yueyue’s hometown friend. Meanwhile, he would take Su Yan back to the station to review the surveillance footage copied from the dormitory.

On the ride back, Su Yan sat stiffly in the back seat, occasionally tugging at her skirt. Dressing like this today was far from her intention. When she had returned to school after her internship to prepare for graduation, Zheng Hui had practically nagged her daily, urging her not to pursue a career in law enforcement. Especially after she was injured during Pei Shasha’s arrest—when she returned home from the hospital that day, Zheng Hui had nearly cried the roof off their villa, doubling down on her resolve to keep her daughter from becoming a cop.

Unfortunately, Su Yan was stubborn by nature and had long made up her mind. Before graduation, she had applied for a position at the Nan City Public Security Bureau and, as expected, passed with ease. On the day she received the notice, Zheng Hui staged a dramatic meltdown at home—crying, protesting, and even threatening to jump off the stairs. But Su Yan merely stood coldly in the living room, watching her mother perched on the railing, and said, “Fine. If you won’t let me join the police, I’ll enlist in the military instead.”

Zheng Hui froze, her eyes and nose red, momentarily stunned. A few seconds later, she hastily climbed down from the railing, not daring to say another word. She probably thought that being a cop at least kept Su Yan within Nan City—but joining the military would truly mean handing her over to the nation!

Holding onto the hopeful delusion that she could somehow maneuver Su Yan into a desk job after the six-month training period, Zheng Hui stopped openly opposing her career choice. Instead, she happily busied herself preparing for Su Yan’s graduation ceremony. Starting yesterday, she had whisked Su Yan away from the training base for a full makeover—salon treatments, hairstyling, and finally stuffing her into this excessively ladylike dress this morning. Beaming with pride, she accompanied Su Yan to the graduation ceremony.

Although they would need to wear uniforms during the actual ceremony, the moment Su Yan spotted Yan Fei at the school gate, she knew this was a blatant scheme. If it weren’t for the timely call from the city bureau, she wasn’t sure what outrageous thing she might have done facing Yan Fei’s gentle expression. After hanging up, she didn’t even agree to Zheng Hui’s persistent pleas for a photo with Yan Fei. Instead, she hitched up her skirt and bolted in her pink strappy sandals, vanishing in an instant.

Snapping back to the present, Su Yan noticed Jiang Li still driving silently ahead. She glanced down at her delicate high heels adorned with cute little bows and felt even more self-conscious, tugging at her skirt again and tucking her feet further back. Back in the military camp, she’d always gone for practicality—cropped hair, tank tops, shorts, and camouflage face paint as her only makeup. The thought made her press her lips together, the soft pink gloss making them look like ripe peaches.

Her restless fidgeting didn’t escape Jiang Li’s notice. Seeing her tug at her skirt for the umpteenth time in the rearview mirror, he finally spoke up calmly, “Earlier, Deputy Chief Xu mentioned I should swing by the training base to pick you up when I had time. How come you’re here today?”

“Um… Deputy Chief Xu said the Special Task Force is overwhelmed again, with cases piling up. So I figured coming a day earlier wouldn’t hurt.” Su Yan scratched her head, suddenly realizing her hair was loose. She casually gathered it into a ponytail with the elastic band around her wrist.

“That outfit today…” Jiang Li glanced at her again in the mirror, pausing as if searching for the right words. “Looks nice.” For a straight-laced, iron-willed bachelor who’d been single for nearly thirty years, this was practically a groundbreaking compliment.

Su Yan’s expression stiffened momentarily. Meeting his half-visible reflection in the mirror, she replied politely, “Thank you.”

Silence settled over the car again as they drove wordlessly back to the city bureau, heading straight for the Technical Brigade.

Fang Jiamao copied the video from the USB drive onto the computer, with Jiang Li seated beside him while Su Yan pulled up a chair slightly further back. As they waited for the transfer, Fang Jiamao warmly welcomed her official induction into the force: “Sis Yan, I always thought you were pretty, but after not seeing you for so long, you’ve gotten even prettier. The young guys at the bureau are lucky—they’ll probably be tripping over themselves to follow you around!”

Jiang Li shot a sidelong glance at Fang Jiamao’s beaming face but said nothing.

Su Yan could only respond politely, and soon the two of them were engaged in a lively conversation. Before long, the video finished copying. Fang Jiamao frowned as he began working, muttering while opening the footage: “After all, it’s a university girls’ dormitory, so there aren’t many surveillance cameras—only at the main entrance, stairwells, and the end of each hallway. And…” He paused the video casually, zooming in on a screenshot: “The quality of these cameras is embarrassingly poor. Hard to believe such low resolution still exists. Did the school recycle outdated equipment from their old campus?”

“According to Dang Yueyue’s roommates, around 1 PM the day before yesterday—before they left for class—Dang Yueyue was still resting in her dorm bed.” Jiang Li tapped the desk absentmindedly, his eyes fixed on the computer screens. “Tracking her movements shouldn’t be too difficult.”

The three fell silent, focusing intently on the footage playing at double speed. Suddenly, Jiang Li hit pause and pointed at a corner of the hallway surveillance with his pen: “Here.”

The image showed a girl in a pink bunny-eared onesie pajama, walking sluggishly with her head down, the hood covering her face entirely. From the footage alone, she did seem unwell.

“Is this Dang Yueyue?” Fang Jiamao rubbed his chin uncertainly. “Can’t see her face…” Moreover, the camera at the hallway’s end didn’t cover Dorm 318, making it impossible to tell where this person had come from.

“We saw a photo in their dorm—a group picture of Dang Yueyue with her three roommates.” Jiang Li resumed playback as the figure moved closer to the camera, though her face remained obscured. “All four were wearing similar pajamas, probably bought together. In the photo, Dang Yueyue was wearing this exact one.” Girls who got along well often did quirky things like this.

“But we can’t rule out the possibility that this isn’t Dang Yueyue,” Su Yan interjected.

“True. We’ll need some of Dang Yueyue’s usual videos for posture and gait comparisons,” Jiang Li agreed. The footage continued, and seconds later, the pink bunny onesie appeared in the dormitory entrance surveillance. She walked out, eventually leaving the camera’s range.

“Looks like we’ll need all the campus surveillance footage.” Jiang Li rewatched the clips featuring the pink bunny pajamas before standing. “Su Yan, stay here with Brother Fang and check if she returned after leaving. I’ll notify Cai Chengji to secure some of Dang Yueyue’s daily videos and coordinate with the school administration.” Reviewing the entire campus’s surveillance would be no small task—they might even have to work on-site.

“Understood, Team Leader Jiang,” Su Yan replied solemnly.

Jiang Li turned and walked out of the Technical Brigade’s office. She and Fang Jiamao then stared intently at the surveillance footage. It wasn’t an easy task—after nearly four hours from afternoon until dark, they still hadn’t spotted the image of the pink rabbit pajamas returning to the dormitory.

Logically, it shouldn’t be like this. Since the person was wearing pajamas, it was clear they hadn’t intended to go far. How could they have left and never returned?

Fang Jiamao glanced at the darkening sky outside and stretched. “Su Yan, let’s grab a bite to eat? This job isn’t something we can finish in one go.” As he spoke, he stood up, muttering, “Just two days of peace, and now we’re back to working around the clock again!”

“I’ll pass, Brother Fang,” Su Yan replied apologetically. “I got called in on short notice today and wasn’t prepared. Look at what I’m wearing—it’s not really suitable for work… I’ll head back later to check in with Team Leader Jiang and go home tonight to change.”

“Right, right, go home and change!” Fang Jiamao waved exaggeratedly. “Look at me—I’m not used to seeing you here all of a sudden. You know, you should have Team Leader Jiang arrange a dormitory for you at the bureau. There’s a building right behind our compound—it’d be convenient for situations like this when you can’t go home.” He wasn’t exaggerating. Once you stepped through the doors of the Criminal Investigation Division, you basically said goodbye to normal nights out.

“Honestly, a young girl like you shouldn’t be doing criminal investigation work. What were you thinking…? You’ll regret it within two years.”

Su Yan just smiled and waved before leaving the Technical Brigade and heading straight for the Special Task Force office. As soon as she entered, she noticed Cai Chengji and Xiang Yang were also there, looking like they’d just returned.

Jiang Li glanced up at her and motioned for Cai Chengji to continue.

“This afternoon, we found Dang Yueyue’s hometown friend in a residential area called Jingtian near the university district. She’s a junior in the Software College named… Wang Yang. According to her account, Dang Yueyue hadn’t contacted her in the past two days, nor had she stayed at her rented place.”

“But there’s one noteworthy detail,” Xiang Yang added. “Wang Yang recalled that Dang Yueyue had indeed been acting a bit off recently. She’d mentioned having some minor relationship troubles—an unknown person had been pursuing her, constantly sending flowers and gifts to her class and dorm. Despite her repeated rejections, the person wouldn’t stop, and it was really bothering her.”

“Wang Yang said Dang Yueyue had even stayed with her at the rented place for over a week to avoid this pursuer.”

“I think we can’t rule out this ‘admirer’ as a suspect just yet,” Cai Chengji analyzed. “Given their age, young men and women can sometimes act irrationally due to emotional impulses.” He pointed out that in recent years, crimes among university students stemming from relationship issues had been rising steadily—this wasn’t an isolated case.

“At this point, it’s possible Dang Yueyue’s case isn’t strongly connected to the previous two disappearances,” Xiang Yang also voiced his opinion.

After listening to the two of them, Jiang Li showed no particular expression on his face. Instead, he turned to Su Yan, who had been standing nearby attentively listening to their conversation. “Any findings from the surveillance footage?”  

Su Yan shook her head. “The figure suspected to be Dang Yueyue never returned through the dormitory entrance after leaving. Moreover, she was wearing pajamas when she went out, clearly not planning to go far.” This suggested that something unforeseen might have happened during her absence.  

“Send the footage to the Technical Brigade later and have Fang Jiamao run an image comparison. The bureau has also communicated with the school, and they’ve agreed to let the police operate on campus—mainly to review the surveillance recordings from the past two days in the monitoring room, so we can trace Dang Yueyue’s movements on the day she disappeared.” After giving these instructions, Jiang Li glanced back at Su Yan. “You should head home for tonight and get some rest.”  

The other three acknowledged his words. Cai Chengji and Xiang Yang turned to attend to other tasks, while Su Yan remained standing, stealing another glance at the man. Jiang Li was actually quite good-looking—even now, he was considered an unattainable flower in Nan City’s police circles. However, his perpetually expressionless face had warded off many admirers. Perhaps due to frequent frowning, the crease between his brows was noticeably deep.  

Having outlined the next steps for the team, he sank back into thought, gripping a pen as he sketched numerous lines on the blank paper before him.  

Su Yan narrowed her eyes and slightly craned her neck, finally making out the content on the paper—a capital letter Q.  

Q.  

Fragmented memories surged violently in her mind. Her breathing hitched, and just then, Jiang Li seemed to sense something, abruptly turning to look at her.  

Though her heart was in turmoil, her expression remained perfectly composed, her smile unwavering. Her voice betrayed no emotion as she said, “If there’s nothing else, Team Leader Jiang, I’ll take my leave.” She gestured toward the door as she spoke.  

Jiang Li nodded.  

Once she received his acknowledgment, Su Yan turned and strode quickly out of the office. Only after entering the hallway did she finally exhale the suffocating tension in her chest. Yet, confirming the reason for Jiang Li’s unusual behavior brought her no joy.  

Evil Eradication Operation. Target Q.  

So, she wasn’t the only one still haunted by it after all…