Chapter 51: Mom, I'm Home

"How is it a scam? My business has always been based on mutual consent. Besides, when have I ever failed to calculate correctly? It's their good fortune to meet a master like me, isn't it?" Zhong Kui said righteously, completely ignoring Qi Fei's protest, and asked back, "Do you want to know who came to find me or not?"

Clues are greater than anything else, so Qi Fei's attitude had to soften: "Fine, tell me what you discovered first."

Zhong Kui wore a look of success and then said: "After everyone dispersed, I wandered around the Guiyue Apartment. I originally wanted to see if there was any place that matched the small alley Xiao You described. As a result, when I returned downstairs, I met an old lady who lives in Room 202 of this apartment building."

"The old lady in Room 202?"

"Yes, didn't you go door-to-door asking about the situation? Did she tell you anything at all?" Zhong Kui said with a grin.

Qi Fei remembered; that was an eighty-something-year-old woman living alone, one of the few residents who told them she had no conflicts with Yue Fengsheng: "What? Did she hide something?"

"I wouldn't say hide. From her perspective, this matter had nothing to do with the case, but she wanted to ask me about another matter. Because I told them I was a fortune teller, she encountered a strange thing herself during this period and said she wanted me to help. I saw she was alone and quite pitiful, so I gave her a discount and provided some in-home service."

"Service? Heh." Qi Fei expressed considerable helplessness regarding Zhong Kui's wording. She was clearly taking the opportunity to make money; even taking money from an old lady of that age was truly excessive.

"It is service. The people in Sanwu Town don't get this treatment; I'm lowering my price entirely for the sake of your police station." Zhong Kui said this as if she were deliberately trying to anger Qi Fei.

Qi Fei waved his hand perfunctorily: "Fine, fine, just hurry up and tell me what this has to do with Yue Fengsheng's case!"

"You want to know? Then come with me, listen for yourself, and save yourself from always thinking I'm talking nonsense." Zhong Kui said, turning and walking outside.

Qi Fei couldn't stand her way of leading him by the nose, but no matter how angry he was, he had no choice but to follow her back to Guiyue Apartment to investigate.

They soon returned to the old apartment building.

This apartment building, built in the last century, didn't even have a decent doorman, let alone surveillance facilities.

This brought great difficulty to Qi Fei and his team's investigation.

Zhong Kui went straight to the second floor and knocked on the door of Room 202.

The old lady who opened the door looked younger than Qi Fei had expected. Like He Zhixin and his wife, she looked well-maintained and was not the kind of senile old person.

As soon as she saw Zhong Kui, she immediately welcomed her in kindly: "Great Immortal, you're back!"

Then she politely invited the two into the house: "Sorry, I'm the only one at home, and I don't have the habit of turning on the lights." The dim environment combined with the old lady's aged voice always made people feel a bit strange.

"Hmm, do you remember our agreement? You have to tell this police officer what you told me."

"Will he really believe it?" The old lady looked at Qi Fei, hesitating.

"He will," Zhong Kui answered firmly.

Qi Fei leaned close to Zhong Kui and muttered in her ear: "What did you agree on?"

"What else could it be? An agreement on something I'm good at." Zhong Kui shrugged and pulled him directly toward the living room: "Listen carefully in a moment."

"My name is Chen Liangdi, and I've lived here for over forty years. I'll state first: although I'm old, I'm not senile. Everything I say next is true. The Great Immortal can testify for me." Chen Liangdi's train of thought was very clear.

To relieve her of her mental burden, Qi Fei had to go against his will and echo what Zhong Kui had just said: "Auntie, don't worry, our Nan City Police Bureau is very open-minded. You can say anything, no matter how bizarre, and see if there's anything we can help with." When he said the word "bizarre," Qi Fei deliberately emphasized his tone and looked at Zhong Kui.

Hearing him say this, Chen Liangdi said very solemnly: "My son is back."

When Qi Fei heard this, he thought, what kind of thing is this, and then smiled: "That's great."

"He died twenty years ago." Chen Liangdi's second sentence plunged the whole room into an awkward silence.

Zhong Kui muttered beside Qi Fei: "Great, my foot."

Qi Fei gritted his teeth and whispered to Zhong Kui: "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Zhong Kui smiled at Chen Liangdi and said: "Chen Liangdi, continue, Officer Qi is listening carefully!"

She actually called the old lady by her full name; it was truly impolite.

But for some reason, Chen Liangdi had complete trust in Zhong Kui, even showing extra respect, and was even happy because they were willing to listen to her strange thoughts. She then beckoned to Qi Fei: "Come, come, I'll take you to see my son's room."

As she spoke, she turned and walked tremblingly toward a bedroom.

This old house didn't have high ceilings to begin with, and combined with the lush trees outside that had grown over the years, it looked gloomy even in broad daylight.

The bedroom door was opened with a "creak."

Inside, there was a neatly made bed, old-fashioned patterned pillows and quilts, an alarm clock, stationery, a desk lamp, a tape recorder, and even an antique desktop computer. The plastic casing had already turned yellow, but it had been wiped spotless.

Qi Fei felt as if he had traveled through time, back to the millennium. It was as if the owner of this bedroom would return at any moment, press the tape recorder to listen to the songs on the cassette, and open the computer to start chatting on the first generation of QQ...

"When I was young, I was busy with work and had my child late. I only had one son, but unfortunately, he died before he could get married..." Chen Liangdi's voice was incomparably sad, echoing in this room. "It's been twenty years. I clean this room every day, thinking while I clean, if only my son could come back. Perhaps heaven pities me, this lonely old woman."

"Recently, when I came in, I found this quilt had been opened, just like before. He never liked folding the quilt after getting up, and I often scolded him while helping him fold it."

"The day he left, I sat by this bed for a long time, thinking in my heart that I would never have the chance to fold the quilt for him again."

"But he is back!"

"When I touched the quilt with my hand, it was still warm, just like before. He must have gone out after waking up!"

"Aren't you worried that a stranger broke into your house?" Qi Fei didn't believe this theory.

"Come, come, come... I have clearer evidence." As Chen Liangdi spoke, she fumbled for a long while and turned on that antique computer. The three of them waited for a long time before the computer finally booted up. When the screen lit up, the desktop was white, with four large black characters written on it: Mom, I'm home. ===== CHAPTER 52 =====