Chapter 61 After the Disappearance

Hey, how dare you threaten me? Xu Qi looked at the gleaming, braised-meat-grease-stained shaving knife in Bao Furong's hand without a shred of fear. Pointing at Bao Furong's nose, she retorted, I wasn't raised to be easily scared. You have no logic, so are you going to resort to violence just because you've lost the argument?

Tossing her head of dark, glossy hair with a slight tilt, Xu Qi continued, If you have the guts, use that knife then!

Bao Furong never knew how to admit defeat, and a vicious thought bloomed in her mind: If I get rid of you, Wu Zhenri will be mine. The only reason he won't marry me is because you are standing in my way like a stumbling block. Today, I'm going to kick this stumbling block away once and for all. Let's see if you still dare to act all high and mighty in front of me!

With a murderous look contorting her face, Bao Furong roared, You stinking wretch, it's still not too late to regret this! Divorce Wu Zhenri immediately of your own accord, and I might spare you. Otherwise, tomorrow will be your first anniversary.

Xu Qi suddenly threw back her head and laughed heartily, retorting, I haven't earned the title of stinking wretch, so you can take that back for yourself. As for me divorcing Wu Zhenri, keep on dreaming!

No sooner had the words left her mouth than a maddened Bao Furong lunged forward and thrust the knife directly into Xu Qi's left neck. Only the hilt remained visible, gripped tightly in Bao Furong's hand.

Consumed by a murderous frenzy, Bao Furong shoved the hilt hard before dragging it back out. Xu Qi managed a few sharp, hoarse cries of "Murder! Help!" before her voice slowly faded into a weak whisper.

Amidst all this, Bao Furong felt a burning sensation of pain on her face—as it turned out, right as she delivered the stab, Xu Qi had landed a heavy slap across her face.

As Bao Furong pulled the shaving knife from the wound, blood spurted from Xu Qi's neck like a high fountain, splashing crimson across the walls, table, and floor.

Staggering a few steps, Xu Qi collapsed heavily to the ground, convulsed a couple of times, and then went entirely still. Her eyes remained wide open, filled with the resentment of an unjust death.

Wiping the spatters of blood from her face, Bao Furong refused to look at the terrified appearance of the dead woman—especially those wide-open eyes, which seemed to deliberately avoid shooting their arrows of hatred straight into her.

By now, the entire braised food shop was saturated with a nauseating smell of blood. Bao Furong felt as though she might vomit, but she couldn't afford to. She hurriedly reached out to check the door panels and crossbar of the shop, terrified that they might not be tightly secured and that neighbors, townspeople, or passersby might hear something or peek through the gaps. With neurotic vigilance, she inspected everything, convincing herself that her crime remained completely unknown and airtight.

Before dealing with the corpse, she frantically emptied a bottle of spare Florida water, spraying the entire room where the crime took place to mask or dilute the foul stench.

The next morning during lesson planning, Xu Qi's chemistry preparation desk in the general office of the Mutian Town Middle School administrative building sat empty, though the other teachers paid little attention. According to the regular schedule, however, Xu Qi was supposed to teach two chemistry classes that morning—her first and fourth periods. The school typically scheduled only four classes in the morning, leading straight into lunchtime once they concluded.

When the bell rang that morning, the students in Class 1, Grade 1 sat neatly in their seats, waiting for Ms. Xu to deliver the new unit's lesson. After waiting for about ten minutes without sight of her, the students began to murmur in confusion about what could be happening.

The class monitor, Hu Jie, left the classroom and hurried to the general office in the administrative building, only to find it empty of her presence. He asked a few teachers who were preparing lessons without morning classes whether they had seen Ms. Xu. Most shook their heads, saying they hadn't seen her, and added that they hadn't spotted her entering the office at all that morning.

One teacher took out a mobile phone and dialed Xu Qi's number, only to hear the automated response that she was out of service area. A second attempt yielded the exact same result.

The teacher grew somewhat alert and said to Hu Jie, Do you know where Ms. Xu's dormitory is? You'd better go look for her there.

Hu Jie said he knew and immediately left the office for the first unit, fourth floor of the faculty dormitory building. He had been there once before to deliver chemistry assignment notebooks, but his memory was a bit hazy as to whether her room was on the left or the right. Since both sides had their doors shut, he had no choice but to knock loudly on the doors of both sides and call out Ms. Xu's name at the top of his lungs...

After shouting several times with no response, he concluded that Ms. Xu was not in her dormitory and headed downstairs. Looking back up, he noticed that on the balcony of the left-hand dormitory on the fourth floor of this unit, a dark red top—one Ms. Xu frequently wore to the podium—was hanging on a clothesline. Hu Jie recognized it well. He turned back toward that balcony and shouted "Ms. Xu!" at the top of his lungs several more times, but still received no reply.

Hu Jie returned to the general office and reported the situation to the teacher. The teacher immediately called the principal, Ma Songlin, and asked, Ms. Xu didn't come to teach her classes this morning. Did she ask for leave from you?

Ma Songlin replied over the phone, She didn't ask me for leave at all. I have no idea. The teacher then informed him that Xu Qi's phone couldn't be reached either and was turned off.

Ma Songlin's tone on the phone turned tight and urgent: We must find a way to contact her. The teacher replied, I have no more ways. With that, he hung up and told Hu Jie, Go back to your classroom for now; the school will arrange a substitute teacher.

Shortly after, Principal Ma Songlin rushed over and temporarily assigned another teacher to take over the chemistry class for Class 1, Grade 1.

He also dispatched two school security guards to the fourth floor, left-hand entrance of the faculty dormitory building where Xu Qi lived. They knocked on the door and called out for Ms. Xu, but there was not a peep of movement inside.

One of the security guards suggested, Let's pry the door open! Ma Songlin said, Hold on. He then made a phone call instructing a teacher to go to Xu Qi's family home in Mutian Village to check.

Half an hour later, word came back: Xu Qi was neither at her husband's family home nor her parents' home, and upon calling her husband, Wu Zhenri, they learned she was not with him either.

Both Xu Qi's maternal and marital families grew frantic, warning that if their daughter or daughter-in-law suffered any mishap, the school would be held responsible. Hearing this over the phone, Ma Songlin felt both baffled and anxious.

Standing alongside Ma Songlin, the two security guards discussed that it would be best to pry open Xu Qi's dormitory door to verify whether she was inside or not.

Thinking it over, Ma Songlin said no. Realizing the severity of the situation, he immediately dialed 110 to report that Xu Qi, a high school chemistry teacher at Mutian Town Middle School, was missing and could not be found anywhere. Her dormitory door was the only place left unchecked, and they had no idea if she was inside—though if she was, something might have gone terribly wrong.

Within ten minutes, a police car drove through the school gates, following the route prescribed by Ma Songlin's call, and parked in the courtyard in front of the faculty dormitory building.

Three police officers stepped out of the vehicle. One of them, looking sharp and professional, was well-versed in lock-picking. He inserted a key into the keyhole, rattled it left and right a few times, and the door sprang open.

The three officers entered in single file, thoroughly searching the living room, dining room, bedroom, bathroom, and balcony, but found no one. One officer asked Ma Songlin when Xu Qi had gone missing. Ma Songlin replied, Yesterday afternoon, she was still working in the general office of the administrative building. She might have gone missing sometime last night.

Who has she been associating with recently? an officer asked while taking notes.

As for that, I'm not entirely sure. There are too many teachers in the school, and this falls under her personal life, so I didn't pay attention—nor could I—since nothing like a teacher going missing has ever happened at this school before, Ma Songlin answered truthfully.

At last, the three officers closed the door as they left, instructing Ma Songlin to keep an eye out for any developments, report any clues immediately to the public security organs, and actively assist in solving the case.

Just before the police inspected Xu Qi's dormitory, Wu Zhenri—who was far away in the northwest visiting former coworkers at an internship factory—suddenly received a call from someone back home saying that his wife, Xu Qi, was missing. Initially skeptical, he pulled out his phone and dialed Xu Qi's number, only to find it unreachable. Repeated calls met the same mechanical, repetitive prompt: the subscriber you have dialed cannot be reached.

Growing somewhat anxious, his thoughts drifted to the last phone call Xu Qi had made to him the previous evening, which had left the deepest impression and the most suspicion. Less than a minute after hanging up with Xu Qi, he had received a call from Bao Furong demanding, Who was that wild woman you were just talking to on the phone?

From this, he could deduce that Bao Furong had caught him talking to Xu Qi and flown into a jealous rage. Wu Zhenri hadn't known how to answer the accusation, which was why he had simply hung up.

Ordinarily, he wouldn't have wanted to drag Bao Furong into matters concerning Xu Qi, preferring to keep the two entirely separate. But now that Xu Qi was missing, he didn't hesitate to dial Bao Furong's mobile phone. After a long stretch with no answer, just as he was growing frustrated and ready to give up, the other end connected. It was Bao Furong's voice: What is it?

Wu Zhenri cut straight to the point: I got a call from home saying Xu Qi is missing, and her phone is turned off when I call. Do you know what happened to her?

There was silence on the other end for several seconds before Wu Zhenri repeated the question. Only then did Bao Furong reply: How should I know? I don't even know her.

The wild woman you mentioned on the phone yesterday evening was Xu Qi, which proves you've seen her. Wu Zhenri broke through the pretense, continuing, You were right there and noticed when I answered Xu Qi's call. Otherwise, why would you have called me back the very second my conversation with her ended?

It was just a coincidence. Bao Furong on the other end of the line was clearly covering up, her tone turning stiff as she said, Xu Qi is missing, what does that have to do with me?

Just as Wu Zhenri was about to press for more details, Bao Furong hung up. When Wu Zhenri thought to call her back, his phone rang instead. Glancing at the screen, he saw an unfamiliar number and wondered if Xu Qi had borrowed someone else's phone to call him. He quickly answered, Hello, who is this?

I am a police officer from the Mutian Town Police Station. Are you Wu Zhenri? a strange male voice asked over the phone.

Yes! Is something the matter? Guessing it must be about Xu Qi's disappearance, Wu Zhenri proved correct when the police officer commanded in an almost authoritative tone, You need to hurry back immediately and cooperate with us in locating your missing wife, Xu Qi.

Understood, Wu Zhenri replied, feeling the stone in his heart grow even heavier.