Chapter 35

"Is this the place?" Old Zhou glanced at me, his expression somewhat doubtful. Although Zhao Ying was no longer in this world, her youthful and beautiful, clean appearance left a deep impression on both Old Zhou and me. It was hard to imagine that she was born here.

We didn’t mean to look down on this kind of 'slum,' but it always felt like the people here were somewhat cold, distant, and even guarded. Despite Zhao Ying no longer being human, we didn’t sense this from her. So, living in such an environment, not only Old Zhou but even I wasn’t very sure.

Thinking this, I took the piece of paper with the address from Old Zhou’s hand. Although the writing on the paper had been somewhat blurred by Old Zhou’s sweat, it was clearly written: this was the place.

No mistake, I pinched the paper in my hand and gave Old Zhou a confirming look.

But in the next moment, Old Zhou and I were faced with another problem. We had found Zhao Ying’s home, but what identity should we use to go to her house and find the clues we needed? On that day, Zhao Ying, in a hurry, had only said, "Go to my house."

"Or, we could say we are her classmates?" Old Zhou had inquired about Zhao Ying’s private information. She was indeed a college student, currently in her third year, with good grades and a scholarship for postgraduate studies.

It was quite lamentable that she passed away at such a young age. Strangely, her body was sent to the medical school as a teaching cadaver less than three days after her death, and something unusual had happened.

Thinking about this, I couldn’t help but frown and said to Old Zhou, "With your weathered appearance, you can’t really pass as a classmate. How about saying you are a staff member from the school, here to pay respects to her family?" As I spoke, I took out my wallet and counted out a thousand yuan. In the year 2000, this amount wasn’t much, but it wasn’t insignificant as a condolence payment.

"Is that okay?" Old Zhou understood my meaning and also took out his wallet, counting out 500 yuan and adding it to the stack in my hand. He then said somewhat embarrassedly, "I’m not as wealthy as you, and I’ve used up most of my money this month."

I didn’t say anything. I knew Old Zhou well; his family was relatively well-off, and he earned a decent income compared to his peers, so he didn’t have much concept of money. He was basically a pleasure-seeking spender.

But he was very kind, and it was clear that he suddenly felt sympathy for Zhao Ying’s situation.

After a brief discussion, Old Zhou and I headed towards Zhao Ying’s house. We didn’t need to rehearse our lines; our默契 (rapport) was enough.

Old Zhou knocked on the door. Compared to me, Old Zhou looked more approachable because he was good at socializing and often smiled. I, on the other hand, had a somewhat distant demeanor when facing strangers. It wasn’t that I was cold, but rather that I wasn’t good at socializing and was even somewhat shy, so I used a cold demeanor to cover it up.

"Is anyone home? Is anyone there?" It wasn’t clear if no one was really home, but after Old Zhou had been knocking for almost a minute, there was still no response from inside.

But since we had come this far, we weren’t willing to give up easily, so we continued knocking. At this moment, a woman from the nearby shanty area came out, stood by the door, and poked her head out to look at us.

I felt a bit awkward under her gaze and turned my head coldly. Old Zhou, however, smiled warmly and said, "Sister, is this Zhao Ying’s home?"

The people here generally had a certain wariness of strangers, but perhaps Old Zhou’s respectful "sister" made the woman feel at ease. She replied in a relatively friendly manner, "Yes, it is. Who are you? Don’t you know that Zhao Ying has already..."

At this moment, Old Zhou appropriately showed a bit of sadness, but it wasn’t an act. He said, "Yes, we know that Zhao Ying has passed away. We are from the student council at her school. We came to pay our respects and offer condolences to her family."

"Oh, oh, oh, I was just saying that you two look like decent people, not like bad guys. The school is thoughtful to send people to visit. You are also considerate. Our area hasn’t been peaceful for the past couple of years, so we are a bit wary of strangers. If I had known you were here to pay respects, I would have helped you find someone." As she spoke, the middle-aged woman came out of her house quite enthusiastically.

She didn’t knock on the door like Old Zhou and I did. Instead, she went to the window of the shack next to Zhao Ying’s house and knocked hard, shouting, "Grandma Wen, Grandma Wen, don’t sleep. Someone is looking for you. Get up and open the door."

Old Zhou and I looked at her with a questioning expression. Once she no longer had her guard up, she was quite straightforward. She said to us, "This is her grandmother. She has poor hearing and is sleeping at home. We can only call her through the window; she won’t hear the door. Poor Zhao Ying, now that she’s gone, her grandmother has no one to take care of her. Her parents and younger brother are no help. Her parents just play mahjong, and since Zhao Ying’s passing, they play day and night, owing money to others. Her younger brother hangs out with unsavory people and even carries a knife. Zhao Ying used to educate him."

Once the middle-aged woman started talking, she didn’t stop. But Old Zhou and I didn’t show any impatience. Instead, we learned more about Zhao Ying’s life and felt that she must have been a very good person, as her neighbors spoke so highly of her.

Additionally, we felt that she was even more pitiful than we had imagined. Her fate seemed to have been changing for the better, but this only made us more determined to help Zhao Ying.

However, we, as two men, were somewhat careless. While we sympathized with Zhao Ying, we missed an important clue at the time: the area had been unstable for the past couple of years. If we had noticed this clue...

But this was just a "what if." Life doesn’t have many "what ifs."

"Speaking of which, when Zhao Ying was around, this alley was much cleaner. She used to clean it often when she went to school. What a pity. I feel so sad for her," the middle-aged woman said, her eyes welling up with tears. It was clear that she had a deep affection for Zhao Ying.

Old Zhou and I also showed a somber expression. According to Zhao Ying, her main regret wasn’t that her body had been desecrated, but that she died without knowing who had cruelly harmed her and why.

I thought of the dense crowd of wronged souls and clenched my fists in my belt, just as I had the night before. If my abilities could be used at this moment, I would take it upon myself to bring the culprit to justice.

While we were silent, the middle-aged woman was surprised that there was still no response from inside the house. She was about to call out again when a frail voice finally came from inside: "Who is it?"

"Grandma Wen, it’s someone from Zhao Ying’s school. They came to pay their respects. Open the door quickly. They are not bad people," the middle-aged woman said, still glancing at Old Zhou and me, somewhat uneasy.

Hearing that it was someone from Zhao Ying’s school, the voice inside the house paused for a moment before saying, "Oh, I’ll come, I’ll come."

The elderly person’s movements were slow, and Old Zhou and I waited at the door for about a minute before the door finally opened. As soon as the door opened, a damp, musty smell hit us.

"Oh, Grandma Wen, how long have Zhao Ying’s parents been gone?" The middle-aged woman rushed into the house before we could see who opened the door. Old Zhou and I understood her intention; she was probably worried that we might mistreat the elderly.

The middle-aged woman had a good heart, unlike her previous cold demeanor. I was thinking about her throwing trash around when I finally saw a frail, white-haired old woman standing at the door, struggling to stand. I instinctively supported her.

"Old lady, take your time."

"Good, good," the old woman’s response was slow, and she didn’t seem to be very wary of Old Zhou and me. I helped her into the house, feeling a bit sad. It wasn’t just sympathy, but seeing her dirty clothes and matted hair, it was clear that she hadn’t been taken care of for a long time.

After helping the old woman sit down, I looked around the house and noticed how messy it was. Uneaten food, clutter, clothes thrown everywhere, spider webs in the corners, and a musty smell.

"Zhao Ying’s parents are truly heartless. Even if they are sad about their daughter’s passing, they can’t just abandon the old lady. If I hadn’t been bringing her meals for the past few days, she would have starved to death at home," the enthusiastic middle-aged woman scolded, and Old Zhou’s eyes were already a bit red.

I turned to look at the wall, where there was a photo of Zhao Ying, smiling brightly. I squinted and suddenly hesitated, not speaking immediately. The photo had a layer of black aura, indicating that the deceased had a grievance.

This had nothing to do with Zhao Ying’s ghost, which seemed unable to return here. But what was the grievance?

At this moment, I heard the old woman’s weak sobs. I saw that it was Zhao Ying’s grandmother crying. Was it because of the mention of Zhao Ying?