Chapter 290: Drunkard

"Yes, that nanny was doing a good job. A while ago, the employer suddenly said they didn't need her anymore, without saying why. That lady was furious. Fortunately, I heard she found a new job in the Baishui Residential District," the nanny chattered on.

"It seems you are in contact?" Qi Fei asked. "We would like to see her."

Qi Fei walked out of the Huantai Residential District again. When passing by the entrance of a real estate agency, he suddenly stopped and stood watching the property information at the door.

"What's wrong, Brother Fei? Do you want to buy a house in this district?" Wu Shanqiu asked, puzzled.

Qi Fei pointed to the information above and said: "Do these two houses look familiar?"

Wu Shanqiu followed Qi Fei's finger and immediately discovered the anomaly: "Eh? Aren't these the floors above and below Ma Ziqiang's house? What a coincidence that they are both for sale?"

Qi Fei walked into the agency. With the real estate market currently sluggish, several sales agents were sitting at their desks chatting idly.

Qi Fei asked about the situation of the two properties for sale. Seeing that it was the police, a man who looked like the store manager answered: "These two houses were initially intended for rent, but since they were hard to rent out, they were changed to for sale."

"Do they belong to the same person?" Qi Fei asked.

"No."

"Then why are they both being sold?"

"I heard it from the owners. Previously, both families lived there themselves, but their neighbor—oh, the one where someone died two days ago—was really too noisy at night. When they went to communicate with them, the attitude was particularly bad. They couldn't stand it, so they simply moved away. Later, when renting, it was the same problem. After tenants moved in, they couldn't sleep well at night, and they all wanted to terminate the lease after just a few days. These two landlords felt it was troublesome, so they simply listed them for sale with me. However, the market is not good now, and I don't think they will sell anytime soon."

"Ha, how noisy must it have been to force people to sell such good houses?" Wu Shanqiu wondered.

"That's simple; just ask the two landlords," Qi Fei said.

Because they were at the real estate agency, they had no trouble contacting the two people.

First, they dialed the one downstairs. A man's voice came from the other end. Upon hearing that they were inquiring about Ma Ziqiang's family, the man seemed reserved: "I saw in the owner's group that this man surnamed Ma is dead, right? Then I have nothing to say."

"Do you have a conflict with Ma Ziqiang?" Qi Fei asked.

"No conflict. What conflict could there be? I wouldn't dare have a conflict," the man said, clearly emotional. "I moved away months ago. There's nothing to say."

"I heard that Ma Ziqiang's house was very noisy at night. Did you report this to the property management?" Qi Fei continued to ask.

"The property management wouldn't dare manage their family's affairs. Because of Ma Ziqiang, the security guards have been changed several times. The new security guards heard that managing their family's affairs would lead to losing their jobs, so how would they dare to manage it seriously? If I had any other way, would I have sold the house?"

"Hmm? What is their background that the property management changes staff just like that?" Qi Fei asked curiously.

"No background. It's just that this Ma Ziqiang has the ability to make the security guards hit him every time. If a security guard hits an owner, they have to be fired, right?"

"Why would the security guards hit him?"

"Ma Ziqiang just has that ability to make people so angry they want to take action. I learned that once, so I knew there was no way around it. When you meet such a person, you can only consider yourself unlucky. I'm not short of that little money; I'll just stay away from petty people."

This person's evaluation of Ma Ziqiang was unexpected, completely different from the person described by Ma Ziqiang's friends. Qi Fei asked with interest: "Can you be more specific?"

"About a year ago, I moved to Huantai Residential District. At first, I met Ma Ziqiang in the elevator a few times, and the impression was not bad; he was quite polite. But in the middle of the night, there were always footsteps upstairs. I didn't know what they were walking around for without sleeping. This sound happened every day. I thought this family worked the night shift, so I didn't care much. As a result, one time they started knocking on things—thump, thump, thump. I really couldn't stand the noise, so I went upstairs and knocked on his door. Ma Ziqiang came out, reeking of alcohol. I reasoned with him, but he said, 'Who are you to manage me?' and called me a 'poor ghost who bought a house with a mortgage.' Hehe, I remembered chatting with him in the elevator before, saying it was a mortgage. He remembered, which means he wasn't completely drunk; he's just scum," the owner said indignantly.

In the Baishui Residential District, Qi Fei and the others met Ma Ziqiang's former nanny.

Unlike the stereotypical nanny, the woman in front of them was about the same age as Song Yun and dressed quite fashionably.

"I am Gong Juan. I heard the employer had an incident?" the nanny asked, but she was not surprised.

"Yes, Ma Ziqiang is dead. We want to understand the situation in his home," Qi Fei asked.

"Uh, they were quite good to me." Although she said so, Gong Juan's eyes dodged, which did not escape Qi Fei's eyes.

"I heard you were suddenly fired. Why was that?" Qi Fei asked, knowing the answer.

Gong Juan became angry: "I don't know either! At that time, the lady of the house suddenly told me not to work anymore. I asked if there was anything she was dissatisfied with, but she wouldn't say. Later, she gave me an extra month's salary, so I couldn't say anything. I thought they had found a better nanny, but later I heard they didn't find a new one. Everyone knows their family is hard to work for. If I weren't a person who could endure hardship, I wouldn't have persisted for more than half a year. Even so, they fired me!"

The nanny complained chattering on. Qi Fei sensed something: "We learned that this family is quite good. You said their family is notoriously hard to work for. Where exactly is it hard?"

Gong Juan shook her head: "In our line of work, what haven't we seen? Many families look decent on the outside, but what they are like behind closed doors, only they know. However, I have integrity and won't gossip about other people's family affairs."

"We are investigating a case. Tell us everything you know."

"These are just trivial family matters and have nothing to do with you police handling the case."

"I guess Ma Ziqiang and Song Yun's relationship is average?" Qi Fei said. "I've been to their house a few times. The doors have been replaced with new ones, there are many dents on the floor from throwing things, and anti-collision strips have been added to the furniture, with scratch marks on them. Those traces were left at different times. Replacing one door is normal, but they replaced almost all the bedroom doors, which means they were deliberately damaged. This shows that they argued very frequently. Am I right?"

Following Qi Fei's analysis, Gong Juan's face changed, as if she were being gripped by unpleasant memories. She sighed: "This employer is good at everything, except that he drinks heavily. Once he's drunk, he starts making trouble..." ===== CHAPTER 291 =====