Chapter 1

On a summer afternoon in 2010, inside a commercial residential complex, a man wearing a baseball cap and a blue T-shirt looked around cautiously.

Subsequently, he pulled a tool resembling a thin wire from his bag and skillfully fiddled with the door lock in front of him for a few moments. "Click!" A faint sound rang out, and the door lock opened in response.

The man smiled smugly, quickly retracted the tool, took a pair of shoe covers from his bag, looked left and right cautiously, then gently pushed the door open and slipped inside.

Ten minutes later, he ran out with a panicked expression, his pants zipper conspicuously wide open, looking exceptionally disheveled!

———

Zizhen City, Nanjiang Province.

June 21st, a sweltering afternoon.

Ge Manli, an actress with the song and dance troupe who had just performed "Rouge" for the provincial delegation leaders at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, was drenched in sweat. For someone like her with mysophobia, this was undoubtedly a form of torture.

At this moment, the bathtub newly installed at home by her husband, Ren Jiahe, seemed to be beckoning to her; her heart had already flown back home. Moreover, deep down, she was quite repulsed by this type of performance-style dancing.

Consequently, citing discomfort from sweating, she proposed going home to wash up. The troupe leader, Fu Tuan, knowing her mysophobia and habit of bathing, and given her active cooperation in today's performance, arranged for the driver, Xiao Liu, to take her home in the troupe's Passat.

Ge Manli's husband, Ren Jiahe, happened to be on a business trip to Yiling City, over two hundred kilometers away, that day. She decided not to return to the troupe, intending to take a bath, then meet her best friend, Yang Liu, for some shopping, and finally enjoy dinner out.

Ge Manli lived in a two-bedroom apartment on the third floor of Fenglin Garden, the best location in the Jiangdong District. This complex was adjacent to the commercial center of Jiangdong and even all of Zizhen City, bustling with people coming and going every day!

Entering the house, she took out her phone, casually placed her bag on the cabinet by the door, kicked off her high heels nonchalantly, and walked toward the bathroom while shedding the light purple dress she was wearing...

Before long, the sound of splashing water came from the bathroom.

More than twenty minutes later, accompanied by a faint scent of jasmine, Ge Manli's soft humming drifted from the bathroom:

"From the past to the present, never to return,

Red fallen leaves buried long in the dust,

The beginning and the end never change..." She loved this song very much, feeling pity and moved countless times by the tortuous and regrettable love between Zhi Zunbao and Zixia!

She especially loved Zixia's line, "He is a world-renowned hero; one day he will come to marry me riding on colorful auspicious clouds!" Whenever she hummed this song, while feeling melancholy for Zhi Zunbao and Zixia, she also secretly felt incomparably happy for her own luck.

She felt she had met the world-renowned hero of her life—Ren Jiahe. He was sunny, handsome, considerate, and wealthy; most importantly, he was completely submissive to her, making other women in the troupe, married or unmarried, envious.

Soaking in a scented bath, humming "A Lifetime of Love," and thinking of her perfect husband, the unpleasantness from the meal just now vanished like smoke!

——————

June 21st, just before dawn, habitual thief Shu Jiaqing had already arrived early at the alley of the old residential complex opposite Fenglin Garden. From this position, he could clearly see the main gate of Fenglin Garden.

At 5:30, he saw that tall, handsome man drag a suitcase out of the complex gate and hail a taxi heading west; he deduced that was the direction to the train station.

Shu Jiaqing rubbed his nose with satisfaction; the few days of preparation had finally not been in vain. He only needed to wait a little longer, wait for that beautiful woman to leave, and he could go back to rest.

After several days of observation, he discovered that although the complex appeared to have strict management, between 3:00 PM and 5:00 PM, the security guards all huddled in the air-conditioned room, and there was almost no one to be seen in the vast complex, which provided him with an excellent opportunity to commit the crime.

At 3:25 PM, he parked his electric scooter in front of a small park more than 300 meters away from Fenglin Garden, noting that the camera there had been broken for a long time. Shouldering his black canvas bag and pulling his cap brim down, he walked toward Fenglin Garden.

At 3:33 PM, Shu Jiaqing arrived at the door of Room 301, Unit 2, Building 3. After observing left and right, he fished a thin wire from his bag and opened the door lock in just about 30 seconds. After entering, he looked around, saw that the living room was empty, and turned to gently close the main door.

At the moment he turned, the words "Industrial and Trade Appliance Repair" on the back of his blue T-shirt indicated he seemed to be an appliance repairman. After closing the door, he took a pair of disposable shoe covers from his bag and skillfully put them on his shoes, while his hands had been wearing a pair of cotton gloves before entering.

Finding the living room empty, he intended to check the two bedrooms and the kitchen/bathroom. Although he had seen the male host travel far away that morning and the hostess also go to her unit, years of professional habit reminded him that caution leads to longevity.

However, two white high heels in different positions in the living room and a light purple dress outside the bathroom door alerted him. There was clearly someone at home! It was that beautiful woman who could dance!

Why was she at home? Shu Jiaqing was startled. As a professional thief, combined with the experience of several years in prison, he knew well the huge difference between the owner being home and not being home.

Just as he was preparing to withdraw, his gaze was attracted by a black bra on the purple dress. At that moment, he felt his adrenaline surge sharply, and the woman's graceful figure lingered in his mind. He couldn't help but walk to the bathroom door, slowly squat down, grab the bra on the ground with his trembling right hand, his heart racing, his face flushed. The bra was brought directly to his nose, the body scent left by the owner intoxicating him; he imagined the beauty behind the glass door, unable to control himself any longer...

Just then, a loud "Bang!" came from behind the bathroom door, and this sudden sound instantly sobered Shu Jiaqing. He hurriedly dropped the clothes in his hand and turned to flee, only to see the bedroom door facing the living room suddenly open.

The afternoon sun was bright, and he clearly saw a black shadow flash across the bedroom or even the balcony. Who was it? Could that noble and beautiful woman be at home... Shu Jiaqing's mind was filled with filthy thoughts, and some erotic scenes kept emerging.

—————

June 21st, 17:32, the Jiangdong District Public Security Bureau received a police report instruction from the city's 110 command center, stating that a female corpse had been discovered in Room 301, Unit 2, Building 3 of the Fenglin Garden complex within its jurisdiction.

After receiving the instruction, Captain Gu Changzheng of the Criminal Police Brigade immediately led the criminal police officers to rush to the scene. The reporter was city TV station reporter Yang Liu, and the deceased was her best friend—Ge Manli, a dancer with the Zizhen City Song and Dance Troupe.