Chapter 27: I Am Qu Tuotuo

The subsequent interrogation was more or less what Yu Dazhang expected.

Kong Lingjie was still playing dumb, slowly revealing bits of the case.

This time, Lu Zhongxin felt more confident and no longer rushed to solve the case.

He knew clearly that the complexity of this case had exceeded his capabilities.

Normally, he would report the situation and ask his superiors to reassemble a special task force.

Although this would affect his future career, he had no choice.

Lack of ability is lack of ability; no amount of grit can change that—it has nothing to do with effort.

But there was still a glimmer of hope.

Lu Zhongxin wanted Yu Dazhang to give it a try, and also to give himself a chance.

Six p.m.

Yu Dazhang stared at the surveillance screen showing Kong Lingjie, and a wave of drowsiness hit him.

“Aaaaaaaaaa~”

The long yawn drew sidelong glances from all the team members.

This fatty was even tearing up…

“Sorry, sorry~” Yu Dazhang waved apologetically:

“Fat people are just like this—easily sleepy.”

He knew today’s interrogation would yield nothing; his master and the suspect were doing the same thing… exhausting each other.

So Yu Dazhang was currently very relaxed.

There was another reason.

He could now be certain that this lifetime’s Lu Zhongxin would not commit suicide over this case.

If the clues ran dry and the real killer couldn’t be found, the case would become cold.

Solving it would be better—everyone on the task force could earn merit.

Either outcome would not lead to Lu Zhongxin’s suicide.

That’s enough; why even need a bicycle?

Once the goal was achieved, the mind naturally relaxed.

“You can go home,” one team member said to Yu Dazhang.

“That… wouldn’t be right.”

Yu Dazhang would rather nap here than leave.

He was the only newcomer on the task force; even for rotating breaks, he shouldn’t be the first to go.

“No problem,” another team member patted Yu Dazhang:

“You’ve worked hard all day—go home, rest up, we’ve got things covered here.”

The others immediately agreed.

“Go on, go on—if anything new comes up, we’ll call you.”

Yu Dazhang put on a hesitant expression, clearly unwilling to leave.

Two team members stepped forward, one pushing him toward the door, the other opening it.

“Go home early and sleep. If you think of a new breakthrough, write it down—or call us.”

“Then I…” Yu Dazhang stammered:

“Really going?”

“Bang!” The door slammed shut from inside.

Yu Dazhang blinked twice at the door.

Why so polite?

When did he become this popular?

He knew only that his own goal had been achieved, but the others didn’t see it that way.

Who in this task force didn’t join to solve the case?

The honor that was within reach was slipping farther away, and they might even lose face—anyone would be anxious.

So now, in their eyes, Yu Dazhang was the village’s… no, the entire team’s last hope.

This fatty can’t collapse—if he does, we’re all done for.

When Yu Dazhang got home, he was about to eat when his phone rang.

He thought it was the task force calling, but the caller ID showed an unfamiliar number.

Why couldn’t an unfamiliar number be from the task force?

Because the number was too flashy.

13…888888—the string of eights nearly blinded Yu Dazhang.

Just this number alone must be worth tens of thousands.

“Hello?” Yu Dazhang pressed answer, nerves fluttering.

“What are you doing? Just off work?”

A crisp, sweet voice, like a girl next door, came from the other end.

A woman?

Yu Dazhang froze for a moment, then realized:

“Wrong number.” He hung up, tossed the phone on the table, picked up his bowl, and muttered before eating:

“Is KTV competition really this fierce now? Even girls are calling to lure customers.”

Li Xuehe placed a bowl of soup on the table and asked casually:

“Who called just now?”

“Telemarketing,” Yu Dazhang replied vaguely, chopsticks darting to grab food.

Qu Family Villa.

Qu Tuotuo stared at her phone’s dead tone for a full minute before snapping back to reality.

“Scammer!”

She grabbed her newly bought Peppa Pig doll and punched its belly hard twice.

Immediately after, she brought the doll close and gently patted it, as if it were real.

She placed the doll back on the bedside table, then angrily picked up her phone again.

“Did he really hang up by mistake?”

She double-checked the number—she had dialed correctly.

Two possibilities.

Please… collect… 6…9…books…now…!

Either the number was made up, and she’d just called a stranger.

Or…

He didn’t recognize her voice… The more she thought about it, the more likely this seemed.

She’d wanted to call him during the day but feared disturbing his work.

After waiting all day, she finally waited until after work.

She’d rehearsed several opening lines, finally settling on the one that sounded most natural.

She should’ve just stated her name right away.

More than a week had passed since their police-citizen cooperation at People’s Park; Qu Tuotuo had been waiting for Yu Dazhang to come find her.

At the very least, she’d helped him catch a thief—shouldn’t he have come to thank her in person?

Fine, he had thanked her back then.

She’d asked for his contact info—didn’t he understand what that meant?

Or was it…

He never intended to see her again… The thought made her chest tighten.

Qu Tuotuo knew her looks—she’d known since middle school.

Boys in her class always sneaked glances at her, and she often found little notes in her desk, like love letters.

The content was childish and cringey~

She always ignored them.

Never replied, never told the teacher, just pretended she never saw them.

As she grew older, this happened more frequently, and she gradually became numb to it.

For this reason, she’d specifically learned self-defense abroad.

What else could she do? She was far from home—she had to learn to protect herself.

But her looks had failed to work on that bastard.

Why was she so certain?

Simple—if that fatty had truly seen her as a goddess, would he have kissed her without hesitation?!

Many liked her, but none dared to just kiss her.

Not one!

Unless he truly didn’t care about her at all.

To outsiders, Qu Tuotuo was a wealthy young lady who had returned from abroad and seen the world.

But in reality, she was traditional, conservative, and introverted, with hardly any friends at all.

Su Mi was the only person she could truly open up to.

She never imagined that upon returning to China, she would meet her lifelong rival.

Her prized self-defense skills served only as entertainment in front of that obese bastard.

“You think you can run after provoking me?” Qu Tuotuo glared at the Peppa Pig doll on the nightstand, furious.

“Dream on!”

She picked up her phone again and quickly typed a message.

Yu Dazhang, mid-meal, glanced at his phone on the table.

Got a message?

Nobody used text messages for communication even in 2014.

He tapped the screen with his chopsticks.

Again, that number…

Did they start promoting text messages?

No, he quickly noticed something was off.

In his past life, he often received spam calls.

But once he hung up or ignored them, they never called again.

He’d never seen anyone keep sending texts.

Could this really be for me? Yu Dazhang put down his chopsticks and opened the message.

It read:

I’m Qu Tuotuo. Call me back within five minutes, or else…

Or else what?!

Now she’s threatening me… Yu Dazhang’s head throbbed.

Miss, what did I ever do to you?

(End of chapter)