fascinating little stories

That night, I received a call from my girlfriend, who playfully ordered me to go out and date her right away.

But she was already dead, having died in a car accident four years ago. When I received the call, it was the anniversary of her death.

On July 14, 2018, my flight was delayed due to weather reasons and landed at three in the morning.

As soon as I turned on my cell phone, I received a call from my senior brother, who told me to come to Baoshan Hospital right away!

I said what’s wrong, please explain it clearly first.

“Xiaoyu,” he said, “Xiaoyu is in trouble.”

My ears started ringing and my head started to ache.

That day was the third anniversary of my relationship with Qiu Xiaoyu. If the plane had not been delayed, I would have proposed to her at midnight.

I saw her in the hospital at 4:30 in the morning.

Covered with white cloth, the exposed skin was pale, and the hands felt cold and hard when clenched.

It doesn’t look like Xiaoyu’s hand at all.

But the autopsy report clearly stated that Qiu Xiaoyu died in a car accident at the intersection of Qinghe Road and Wenshuo Road at 6:10 pm.

“It was a truck. The driver was driving while fatigued and didn’t slow down… Li Tong!” My senior brother suddenly grabbed my hand tightly.

And my hand was about to lift the white cloth covering Xiaoyu’s face.

I said, “Let go.”

“Li Tong, you’d better… not look.”

I choked and said, “Let go.”

He stopped stopping me.

I slowly lifted the white cloth.

She was still very beautiful, with gentle features, just like when she lay in bed every morning.

But there seems to be a wound on the neck.

The wound was extending downwards, getting deeper and deeper, and bigger and bigger! Her entire body…

Totally destroyed.

I knelt on the ground.

My heart felt like it was pierced by a knife. My eyes hurt, but there were no tears, and my mouth couldn’t make a sound.

“Did you forget our anniversary? You have to make it up to me tomorrow.”

I know this is an auditory hallucination because this is the content of the WeChat message Xiaoyu sent me.

The last WeChat message in my life.

All the stories between her and me ended with such an insignificant sentence…

Suddenly my throat tightened and I vomited large mouthfuls of gastric juice.

01

“Drowsy driving? Fuck your fatigue driving!”

I shouted in the police station, if my senior brother hadn’t been holding me from behind, I would have smashed everything there.

“Mr. Li, I understand how you feel now, but please…”

“You understand your mother! You let me see the murderer, now!”

“no.”

“This is murder, are you blind?”

“Mr. Li, there is indeed no evidence to prove that he premeditated the murder. So… this is fatigue driving.”

“You bastard…”

“What did you say?”

“I said you bastard!” I broke away from my senior brother’s hand and pointed at the police officer’s nose, “You know everything! You lied to me, you bastard!”

Suddenly, the police officer rushed over and grabbed my hand, pushed me to the ground in an instant, and pressed his knee against my neck.

He challenged, “Say it again?”

“You fucking… bastard!”

After saying this, I heard the sound of my joints cracking and I could no longer breathe.

I felt my hands being handcuffed behind my back.

“You insulted a public official. I will now detain you according to the law.”

After saying that, he still had no intention of letting go.

The whole body’s strength was still on my neck until I fainted.

I know I shouldn’t be impulsive, at least not at this critical juncture.

But I clearly saw that when the police officer said the words “fatigue driving”…

Laughing.

Before I fainted, I became more and more certain.

This police officer, and this whole thing, is not clean.

02

After being detained, I did not stop investigating and appealing.

But the strange thing is that all the information from that year has “disappeared”.

The surveillance camera at the intersection where the accident occurred was broken, and the vehicle involved in the accident was scrapped and destroyed. Until four years later, I couldn’t even find the name of the driver.

Once when we were drinking, my senior brother told me not to continue. “It’s been four years. You have aged ten years in these four years.”

“Brother, this is strange. Xiaoyu was murdered…”

“And then? Can you find out the truth?”

“So you’re not going to check it?” I asked him. “So you’re not going to check it? So you’re not going to check it?”

I slammed the table, “So you’re not going to investigate anymore?!”

That night, I returned home and looked at everything in the house. It was still the same as when she was alive.

I felt more and more upset and wanted to cry, but I felt that if I cried to death, no one would comfort me.

Suddenly, a cell phone rang in a corner.

It wasn’t my cell phone ringtone, but it was familiar.

I ignored it, but it kept ringing and ringing.

I felt a little annoyed, so I got up and searched around, and finally found the source of the sound in a box under the bed.

It’s an iPhone 7.

That’s an old phone that I haven’t used for at least three years. Is there still power?

I picked up the phone and discovered that the name on the caller ID was…

Qiu Xiaoyu.

03

“Hello?” I answered the phone.

“Eh? Why not ‘dear’?”

I was stunned.

The voice belongs to Xiaoyu. When she answers the phone, she calls “Dear”. This rule is also Xiaoyu’s.

“Hello? Honey, are you saying something?” the voice on the other end urged.

“Who are you?”

“Hahaha, you are sick. I am your goddess!”

There’s no mistaking her playful tone!

“Li Tong, you can help me lie later…” She continued to talk to herself, “Hey, wait a minute, I have a call.”

With a beep, the phone was hung up.

I paused for a while and quickly checked the phone.

2% of the battery.

No SIM card.

No signal.

There is only one recent call:

Qiu Xiaoyu.

I called back with my iPhone 7, but found that the phone couldn’t make calls because there was no SIM card.

When I called Xiaoyu’s number with my current phone, no one answered, just like in the past four years. Her SIM card had long been put away by me, along with many of her belongings…

Suddenly, the iPhone 7 rang again.

I picked up the phone and plugged in the power cord.

“Hello?”

“Li Tong, have you gotten off the plane?”

“Get off the plane?”

“Yes, the flight back from Shanghai, weren’t you late?”

“Xiaoyu, where are you…”

“I’m at the Detrick Pharmaceuticals cocktail party.”

04

My girlfriend, Qiu Xiaoyu, is a well-known journalist.

On July 14, 2018, my team and I were flying back to Shenzhen after a seminar in Shanghai.

And she was attending a press conference of the pharmaceutical company where my senior brother worked.

After the press conference, she was invited to attend the cocktail party as a reporter.

After leaving the party, she had a car accident at 18:40.

I will never forget this information.

“Xiaoyu, you… I mean, today, what day is it?”

On the phone, I asked the most important question.

“Pfft… Today is our anniversary, how dare you forget it!”

“What year?”

“Third year.”

“So, it’s 2018?”

“What’s wrong with you? Did you drink on the plane?”

“Xiaoyu, I’m in…2022.”

05

When I heard the date she was on, my whole body was shaking.

I wanted to tell her right away that I missed her so much and that these past four years had been a living hell for me.

But I forced myself to stay calm.

Because I realized that July 14, 2018 was the date of her death.

And this phone call across time and space may be able to save her.

My mind was still confused, and Xiaoyu spoke again, but this time, her tone was completely different.

“Oh, you got off the plane! I missed me, and I missed you, but your brother wouldn’t let me go!”

She suddenly raised her voice, and it was obvious that she was speaking to another person.

I immediately understood what she meant by “tell a lie for me”.

My senior brother won’t let her go?

My senior brother is with her?

“Let my senior brother answer the phone.” I said, seeming to have understood the general idea.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, and then my senior brother’s voice came.

“Hey Li Tong, with such a severe thunderstorm, is the plane on time?”

“Yeah, let Xiaoyu go first. I want to treat her to a big dinner on our anniversary.”

The senior brother was silent for a moment.

“Li Tong, your voice sounds so haggard…”

Then, the phone was snatched away by Xiaoyu.

“Okay, thanks dear, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Don’t hang up yet, don’t go…”

“Oh, I have something urgent to tell you later, be good.”

“Qingshan Road! Don’t go to the intersection of Qingshan Road and Wenshuo Road, or you’ll get into an accident!”

I yelled, but she hung up.

I’m sure I didn’t finish my last sentence when she hung up.

I wanted to slap myself for not telling her this right away. Besides, she seemed very anxious, and I wondered if she would take my reminder seriously.

For the next ten minutes or so, I couldn’t contact Xiaoyu.

Those ten minutes were extremely unbearable.

The sky was overcast, the rain was pouring down, and behind the clouds, a thunderstorm was brewing.

I kept staring at the time.

18:29

18:30

18:31

If that time and space are synchronized with this place, then soon, Xiaoyu will die…

etc!

Inadvertently, I suddenly glanced at a piece of paper on the table.

It was placed together with the old cell phone, and I also found Xiaoyu’s autopsy report.

A flash of lightning struck outside the window, illuminating the entire room.

I clearly saw the words on the autopsy report slowly changing.

The words “Died in a car accident” disappeared.

Instead:

“At 19:10, he was attacked by bandits, seriously injured, and died of excessive bleeding.”

The cause of Xiaoyu’s death has changed.

Thunder roared and exploded in the air.

06

“How did you know? Li Tong, how did you know there would be a car accident!?”

1. Qiu Xiaoyu

01

My name is Qiu Xiaoyu, and I’m an investigative reporter.

In May 2018, I found that a batch of hepatitis B vaccine for newborns produced by Detrick Pharmaceuticals was not compliant. It was highly cardiotoxic and caused an excessively high proportion of adverse reactions and deaths.

More than two hundred cases!

This batch of vaccines is still being produced, transported and vaccinated.

Many people knew about this before me.

But no one reported it.

Why? Because Detrick is a US-listed company with a market value of over 10 billion.

There is a saying among journalists: Get to the bottom of disputes between neighbors, and don’t even touch the shady dealings of capitalists.

But, I can’t tolerate any grain of sand in my eyes.

No matter how disgusting the things are, no matter how big or small, I can’t stand it when I see them.

On July 14, 2018, Detrick Pharmaceuticals held a press conference for its new chronic disease drug. Gao Lei, the pharmaceutical company’s marketing director and my boyfriend’s senior, insisted that I attend.

I knew that Detrick Pharmaceuticals already knew what I was investigating and was trying to get close to me.

I didn’t ask any pointed questions at the meeting.

It’s not that I’m giving you face, it’s because I’m waiting for a report.

The authoritative drug testing report from Professor Sun’s team at the University of Traditional Chinese Medicine will prove that the vaccine is killing people.

Killing newborns.

But the report has not arrived yet.

At the cocktail party after the press conference, I couldn’t help myself and wanted to go directly to Professor Sun’s laboratory.

But Gao Lei and a group of medical representatives under him, all holding glasses of wine, wanted to “chat about family matters” with me.

There was no other choice, so I called my boyfriend Li Tong and asked for cover.

“My dear, you will help me tell a lie later…”

At this moment, another call came in.

It’s Professor Sun.

“Hey, wait a minute, I have a call.”

I hung up Li Tong’s call and answered Professor Sun’s.

“Ms. Qiu, your investigation is correct. Detrick Pharmaceuticals… is committing murder and robbery.”

“Professor Sun, where are you? I’ll be there right away.”

“Hurry up. This is a big deal. Don’t tell anyone.”

I called Li Tong again, used his excuse to escape from the party, and then immediately drove to Professor Sun’s residence.

It rained heavily that day, with continuous thunder.

The car was on Qingshan Road when suddenly a lightning bolt struck and broke a tree next to me…

I suddenly had a bad feeling.

Only then did I remember that when I hung up the phone with my boyfriend, I seemed to hear him say to me loudly, “Qingshan Road and Wenshuo Road are like this and like that.”

But at that time, the phone was far away from my ear and I couldn’t hear it clearly.

Qingshan Road, Wenshuo Road…

The car was still moving forward, and at an intersection, the green light began to flash.

I was in a hurry, so I stepped on the accelerator immediately, but suddenly I saw the words “Wenshuo Road” on the road sign.

Is this the intersection of Qingshan Road and Wenshuo Road?

“…at the junction…car accident!”

I suddenly remembered the last few notes of the phone call and instinctively slammed on the brakes.

Just then, a huge truck whizzed past my car.

It was so close that it scraped the car’s bumper and sent sparks across the front of the car.

The truck stopped not far away, and the driver stuck his head out and glanced at me.

There was no apology or fear in that look.

On the contrary, it is full of evil.

02

After the truck drove away, I calmed down and then remembered the phone call from my husband.

Did he know that I would have a car accident?

But I didn’t have time to think about it. Time was urgent, so I stepped on the accelerator again and rushed towards Professor Sun’s villa.

When he arrived at his door, the thunderstorm got even worse.

Ring the doorbell and the door opens.

Professor Sun invited me to sit in the hall and made me a cup of tea.

“Reporter Qiu, please wait here for a moment. I will go downstairs and copy the detailed report for you.”

“Is the report not ready yet?”

I was a little confused. He was obviously very anxious on the phone.

“The laboratory is outside the country, so transmission is a bit troublesome…”

He smiled apologetically and walked slowly towards the basement.

I took a sip of tea and finally stopped being anxious.

Only then did I remember to call Li Tong again.

But as soon as the call was connected, he asked me anxiously, “You’re all right, right? You escaped the car accident, didn’t you?”

I was stunned by the question.

03

“Speak up, Tama! You escaped a car accident!”

“How did you know? Li Tong, how did you know there would be a car accident?”

“It’s good, it’s good! Xiaoyu, tell me first, where are you now and what are you doing?”

His voice was still anxious.

“Why…why are you asking this all of a sudden?”

“Someone wants to kill you, Xiaoyu, someone wants to kill you!”

I paused and instinctively thought that I shouldn’t involve him in this matter!

“Hahaha, how could it be…” I forced a smile.

“Qiu Xiaoyu, stop hiding things from me!” His tone suddenly became very serious.

“You called me by my full name…”

“Stop pretending,” he interrupted me, “You’ve been playing the role of a good girlfriend very well in the past few years, but I always knew that outside, you acted very crazy.”

How could he say such a thing?

“Qiu Xiaoyu, what I’m going to say next is very important, so listen carefully. You…you will die in the attack of the bandits at around 19:10.”

“ah?”

“I don’t know the details, but this is what your autopsy report says.”

“Li Tong, what are you talking about…”

“I’m saying, you’re going to die, and you’re going to die very soon. Because this phone call travels through time and space!” He spoke very quickly, but every word was serious. “You’re in 2018, but you’re communicating with me in 2022. Do you understand? I’m in the future! My time and space…”

At this point, he suddenly stopped for a long while.

“Li Tong, you talk, I’m listening.”

“In my time and space, you have been dead for four years.”

silence.

“Please…” He was choking when he spoke again, “Xiaoyu, please, believe me.”

I checked my phone and saw that it was just past 7pm.

Outside the window, the rain was pouring down and the thunder was getting louder.

I went over everything in my mind, and suddenly, a chill ran down my spine.

I covered my mouth and the receiver with my hands and said in a very low voice,

“Li Tong, so… I’m already in the trap.”

04

As I said that, I quietly walked to the stairs of the basement, squatted down, and tried to spy on Professor Sun’s whereabouts through the slight angle between the stairs and the basement ceiling.

But through the gap, I saw a man in a black raincoat standing behind Professor Sun.

He covered Professor Sun’s mouth with one hand, and with the other hand, holding a knife, he stabbed it into Professor Sun’s lower back.

Professor Sun struggled.

And all the noises were drowned out by the raging thunder and rain outside the window.

I clenched my teeth and tried hard not to scream.

Li Tong didn’t lie to me.

I’m going to die here, I’m really going to die here!

I stood up and walked away from the stairs, breathing heavily and silently.

Tears were already flowing out of my eyes involuntarily, and I quickly raised my hand to wipe them away.

I know now is not the time to cry.

“Li Tong…”

I called out softly, and at the same time retreated back to the hall step by step, trying my best to calm myself and stop shaking too violently.

“Li Tong, Professor Sun… was killed…”

“Got it,” he sighed, “So, you are already at that Professor Sun’s house.”

“yes.”

“Where are you?”

“hall……”

“Where is the murderer?”

“basement……”

“Good, you’re relatively safe there.”

“Wha…what?”

“According to the report, you died in the villa’s neighborhood, outdoors.” His voice was calm and reassuring. “So, although it’s ridiculous… I think it would be easier for you to survive if you stayed in the villa.”

“You mean, I won’t run away?”

“Trust me, I won’t run away.”

I took a deep breath and seemed to calm down a lot. “Tell me, what should I do?”

Suddenly, all the lights in the house went out.

That man turned off the power!

“Where are you, girl!?”

A sharp shout came from the basement.

05

“Now run to the door, open the door to the first floor, and take off your shoes…”

As soon as the door opened, the sound of wind and rain became several times louder, and the sound of my bare feet was immediately drowned out.

I realized that doing this would make the murderer think that I had escaped from the villa.

“…Then turn back and go up to the second floor master bedroom as quickly as possible. Tell me when you get there!”

I turned back immediately without stopping, but as soon as I stepped onto the stairs, the gangster in black had already walked up from the basement stairs.

I immediately curled up in the corner, not daring to move.

When he walked onto the hall, he immediately looked towards the gate of the villa, leaving me in his blind spot.

He just stood there.

At that moment, I was less than two meters away from his back.

I covered my mouth and pressed the screen of my phone tightly against my clothes, not daring to let out even a single light, and secretly turned the volume of my phone to the lowest level.

He held the knife and glanced left and right.

At that moment, I knew very clearly that his peripheral vision had swept over me, but the villa was too dark, and the place where I was hiding was almost completely dark.

After three or two extremely long seconds, he finally walked quickly to the door and rushed into the rain.

I didn’t dare to stay and immediately ran up to the master bedroom on the left side of the second floor.

“Li Tong, I’m here.”

After saying that, I let out a breath and realized that my body was covered in sweat.

“Okay, now go to the bedside table. There is a medicine box inside. On the second layer of the medicine box are several unopened 20 ml syringes.”

“Found it,” I did as he said, taking the syringe in my hand, “There are many ampoules, which one should I take?”

“Pull out 20 ml of air.”

I was stunned for a moment and said, okay.

“Then, you turn on the shower in the master bedroom. When the criminal returns to the villa, he will understand that you are deliberately leading him to search this bedroom, so his attention will most likely be on the other room on the second floor. And you…”

“I should go up a few more stairs, hide by the handrail, and wait for him to reach the second-floor landing before piercing his carotid artery and injecting all the air in the needle.”

2. Li Tong

01

Xiaoyu never asked me why I knew what Professor Sun’s house looked like, nor did she ask me whether I was sure about this plan.

This may be the tacit understanding that has been reached over the past three years.

In fact, before Xiaoyu called me for the second time, I had already arrived at Professor Sun’s home based on the autopsy report.

In 2022, the house still remains the same, probably because someone died there and it has been empty.

I broke the glass, rushed in, and walked around the place.

The ornaments on the TV cabinet, the bottles on the wine cabinet…

The most reliable weapon is a kitchen knife. However, with the sharpness of the knife and Xiaoyu’s strength, it is impossible to inflict an effective wound.

Then, I discovered the syringe!

In the bedside table of the master bedroom on the second floor, there were unopened 20 ml syringes and some emergency medicines. These were obviously precautions taken by Professor Sun, who lived alone, to prevent sudden illnesses such as myocardial infarction.

And this syringe is much more useful than a knife!

Compared with a knife blade, a needle is easier to penetrate the skin, and the length of the needle tube is only about the width of a palm, which makes it easy to quickly inject medicine.

If you want to use this thing to kill someone, you don’t need any drugs, just inject air into the human body.

If Xiaoyu could pierce the carotid artery, a few dozen milliliters of air would be fatal. Even if it was off target, the air embolism would be enough to cause severe pain and cause the murderer to lose his ability to move.

But after Xiaoyu turned on the shower head on the second floor, I couldn’t help but let my imagination run wild on this side of time and space…

Is this the best method? Not necessarily. There are indeed lower-risk methods, but they are not as effective.

Can’t we let her escape? Yes, but there are more unknowns outside the villa!

What if she died here?

If she died here, died in my plan.

I committed suicide to accompany her.

Anyway, these four years without her were far less comfortable than death.

“Li Tong…”

I heard Xiaoyu calling me softly on the other end of the phone.

“Stop talking, he’s coming.”

“Just one word, you won’t have a chance to say it later,” she actually returned to her playful tone.

“Then tell me quickly.”

“I like you so much…”

02

“Shh!” She suddenly asked me to be quiet, and then she remained quiet. A few seconds later, I heard the heavy footsteps of leather shoes.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The footsteps were getting louder and closer.

Faintly, I heard the slight sound of Xiaoyu’s fingers gripping the needle.

Suddenly there was a loud thunder, surprisingly, coming from outside the window and from the cell phone at the same time.

The thunder rumbled for several seconds.

Then, outside the window and on the phone, everything fell silent.

However, a few cracks appeared faintly on the handrail of the stairs.

Those were signs of a struggle.

After a while, I asked tremblingly, “Xiaoyu? Are you okay?”

And there was a burst of laughter coming from the phone.

Gloomy and weird.

“She’s not here. I’m the only one here.”

2. Qiu Xiaoyu

01

The murderer’s footsteps were getting closer and closer, but I found that I was no longer trembling.

I know that Li Tong’s plan is extremely risky.

However, in these years as an investigative reporter, I have done too many risky things.

The murderer walked slowly and steadily, and seemed to have become more cautious after realizing that I did not escape from the villa.

I quickly reviewed all the plans in my mind and rehearsed my sneak attack over and over again.

After a while, I heard his footsteps and he had already reached the platform on the second floor. He did not move in a hurry and stood there for a longer time.

Suddenly there was a flash of lightning, illuminating the entire room.

His back was reflected on the distant wall, and the shadow swayed violently.

He is in…

Stab the hiding place behind the handrail of the stairs with the dagger.

02

“…The criminal has returned to the villa. He knows that you are deliberately leading him to search this bedroom, so his attention will most likely be on the other room on the second floor. And you…”

“I should go up a few more stairs, hide by the handrail, wait for him to reach the second-floor landing, pierce his carotid artery, and inject all the air in the needle.”

“etc……”

“how?”

“You can’t hide by the handrail.”

“Why?”

“If you are a weak woman, it’s okay to hide here.”

“Yes, I am.”

“But just now, you tricked the murderer by opening the door of the villa. In his eyes, you are no longer a weak woman, but an opponent with planning ability.”

“Honey, what do you want to say?”

“I can’t hide here. I have to think the other way around and hide in…”

“The most dangerous place, you asked me to hide in the bathroom.”

“The risk is huge.”

“Yeah, but I like it.”

He fell silent. At this moment, comfort became unnecessary.

But I still spoke, “Li Tong…”

“Stop talking, he’s coming.”

“Just one word, you won’t have the chance to say it later.”

“Then tell me quickly.”

“I like you so much…”

He paused.

“Me too.”

03

Li Tong’s prediction was correct. This time, the murderer first stabbed at the hiding place behind the stair railing.

That was the nearest cover to him.

Then he followed the sound of the showerhead and walked into the bedroom.

“Xiaoyu, are you okay?”

Li Tong’s voice came from the phone. At this time, the phone was placed on the bed in the master bedroom.

The murderer picked up the phone and replied, “She’s not here. It’s just me here.”

He fell into the trap.

This phone call is used to delay time.

I was hiding in the bathroom at this time, and I had everything ready:

The shower head sprayed water that had been boiled in the tank long ago; the floor was covered with slippery tiles covered with a huge amount of shower gel.

Bang!

He kicked open the bathroom door and strode in.

I quickly pointed the shower head at his face. He howled violently and dodged instinctively, finally slipping and hitting his right arm on the edge of the toilet with a real dull sound.

It must have been painful, but he still held the dagger tightly.

There is no other way. We can’t miss this only opportunity!

I pounced on him and straddled his waist.

Only in this way can I ensure that he can’t avoid my needle!

The sound of the flesh being pierced was very slight.

But I heard it.

In an instant, his left hand, which had not hit me, grabbed my wrist, but the air in my syringe had already pierced the right side of his neck.

20 ml, carotid artery.

He stared at me blankly with a sinister look in his eyes.

But when I slowly stood up, he was unable to move.

“The amount of air I injected is not much. It will only cause temporary paralysis, obstruction of breathing and circulation, and headache, but you will survive.”

I snatched the knife from his shaking hands and left the bathroom.

“Wait for the police.”

04

“I’m sorry, they forced me to… bring you here. But the report… is still there.”

When I ran to the basement, Professor Sun was still breathing, but he had lost too much blood and was obviously unable to hold on.

After saying the last sentence, he slowly raised his hand and pointed to the ceiling.

“I got the drug test data!” I was very excited when I called Li Tong. “Li Tong, with these, Detrick Pharmaceuticals will definitely go bankrupt!”

“Li Tong?” But there was silence on the other end. “Speak?”

“Your autopsy report has changed.”

“It’s okay. We can avoid anything if we work together.”

“I mean… this whole piece of paper has changed.” He seemed to be trying hard not to let his voice tremble, “Now it has become a missing person certificate with the official seal of the police station. Xiaoyu, if it is missing, there is no specific time of death…”

Although I was prepared, I still felt a huge sense of depression in my heart when I heard his words.

“Well…it’s okay, Li Tong, it’s not certain yet. I’m not dead yet, am I?”

“Go to the police station now and let the police protect you.”

“I’ve called the police, they’re on their way.”

“No, you go to the police station on your own initiative, the sooner the better!”

He’s so cute when he’s anxious.

So I walked out of the basement and prepared to drive to the police station.

But as soon as I went out, I found that in the distance, several black Mercedes-Benz drove into the main gate of the community.

I knew in my heart that it was a minion of Detrick Pharmaceuticals.

In the villa area in the wilderness, they were actually faster than the police and the ambulance.

They finally stopped holding back.

05

“By the way, Li Tong, can you help me check if Detrick Pharmaceuticals went bankrupt in your time and space?”

“No.”

“Don’t be so quick to answer me. Why don’t you check it out?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on Detrick’s message, Jade, it’s still there.”

“Is that so?”

“And the market value is twice as high as it was three years ago.”

“That is to say, the test report in my hand has not been reported at all.”

“Xiaoyu, now is not the time to talk about this, you need to go to the police station as soon as possible!”

“Li Tong, I can’t escape.”

Detrick has deployed such a large number of troops, so there is no point in running away.

After all, what I have in my hand is just a phone call from the future, not a pistol.

I sat on the sofa in the living room of the villa and waited quietly.

“What do you mean by can’t escape? What do you mean?” Li Tong asked.

“Li Tong, let’s chat for a while. Finally, chat for a while.”

He was silent for a long time.

“good.”

06

“What will 2022 look like?”

“A lot of things have happened. The international situation is very chaotic, but we are quite stable, especially…”

“I don’t want to hear that. I want to hear what happened to you.”

“I… nothing happened to me?”

“Are you married?”

“Hi, no.”

“Then you must have a new girlfriend! How is she? Is she prettier than me?”

“What are you talking about…”

“Tell me! Who of us is prettier?”

“I don’t have a new girlfriend.”

“Four years, and not one?”

“No.”

“Hahaha what’s up? Can’t you forget me?”

“yes.”

“…”

“Tama?”

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“oh.”

“Do you regret confessing to me back then?”

“ah?”

“I regret confessing to you.”

“I confessed my love to you? It was that day when you woke up in the morning and called me ‘dear’.”

“Don’t give me that! You confessed your feelings at 5am the night before!”

“You must have dreamed about it!”

“You don’t admit it, you regret it.”

“What do you mean by denying it? That’s not the case at all.”

“You just regret it! Don’t you?”

“What do you regret?”

“I regret being with me. I regret being with someone like me. It’s gone in an instant.”

“I won’t regret it…”

“I don’t believe it!”

“Tsk, believe it or not.”

The cars had already driven to the main entrance of the villa one by one.

I know that I have less and less time.

“Li Tong, I actually really want to spend my whole life with you.”

“I want to, too.”

“I don’t like children, but if I’m with you, it’s not impossible to have one…”

“It’s okay if you don’t give birth.”

“Giving birth is so much fun. I’ve even thought of a name for it.”

After all the cars stopped, many tall and strong men in black suits got out.

In the rain, their ranks were dark and dense.

Is it ridiculous? A company with a market value of 10 billion yuan hired a dozen 1.9-meter-tall thugs just to deal with me.

“How about this, the boy will be called Zixuan, and the girl will be called Zixuan.”

“Xiaoyu, there must be tens of thousands of people with the same name as you in the whole country.”

“Li Tong, can you say it again?”

“But I think it’s good! Yes, I think it’s very good and has a lot of connotation!”

I was amused by him.

“I won’t argue with you anymore. Bye.”

“They are coming?”

“yes.”

“Xiaoyu, I…”

“Li Tong,” I interrupted him, “I like you so much.”

After saying that, I hung up the phone and deleted all records about him.

The lock of the villa’s door made a sound of twisting gears.

Those people quickly filed in, blocking the only light, like a group of ghosts seeking revenge.

3. Li Tong

The moment Xiaoyu hung up the phone, suddenly, the scenery around her changed completely.

The wall paint began to fade and fall off in patches.

All the furniture began to turn into ashes, spreading and disappearing into thin air.

After a dozen seconds, the interior of the entire villa was covered in scorched earth and looked dilapidated.

Then, the load-bearing walls of the villa began to crack and disintegrate.

Huge chunks of rock fell from the ceiling.

I quickly ran out the door, and then I heard a huge boom behind me.

The villa became a ruin.

I froze in place, and soon realized that this was done by Detrick Company, in a new timeline.

In the new timeline, they killed Professor Sun, destroyed the entire villa, and destroyed all evidence.

And Xiaoyu…

I lost Qiu Xiaoyu again.

I stood there for a long time. The rain fell on my body, but I no longer felt cold.

My mind is blank at this moment.

I wanted to recall what Xiaoyu looked like, but discovered sadly that I hadn’t seen her for four years.

This phone call was like a dream.

A dream that gave me hope, but cruelly made me lose her again!

Why do you want to have this dream?

The sound of sirens, coming from far away and getting closer, interrupted my thoughts.

Two police cars stopped in front of me.

Then, several policemen quickly got out of the car, rushed over, and before I could react, they pinned me down, handcuffed my hands behind my back, and put handcuffs on me.

I knew the last person who got off the car. He was the policeman who beat me in the police station.

At this time, he had a higher official position. He was holding an umbrella, smoking a cigarette, and looking at me jokingly from a distance.

“Li Tong, four years ago, I really didn’t doubt you.”

He had a ferocious look on his face.

“It was you who really killed Qiu Xiaoyu!”

01

I was framed.

What’s even scarier is that my conversation with Xiaoyu changed the timeline.

And regarding the new timeline, I have no memory of anything.

It was not until the police took my file that I realized I had become a member of Detrick Company.

Date of employment: June 2018. Two months before Qiu Xiaoyu’s death.

I became a member of the enemy! ?

This record is obviously forged, but if a forged record remains for four years, it will naturally become true.

The police officer threw a few photos at me.

Xiaoyu was lying in the bathtub, fast asleep, just like she always did when she fell asleep while watching TV shows. But she was naked, covered with horrific scars, the wound on her wrist was so deep that the bone was visible, and the blood dyed the whole pool red.

“Three years ago, reporter Qiu Xiaoyu disappeared and you came to the police station. I said we had opened a case, but there were no traces left and it was difficult to investigate. At that time, you scolded me in the police station, do you remember?” The detective held a cigarette in his mouth and pointed to his left cheek, “You also punched me.”

“I remember you dodged me.”

“No, you’re fast.”

“I didn’t kill Xiaoyu.”

“Fuck you Li Tong, you’re so fucking disgusting!”

He flicked the cigarette directly at my face. “When you reported the case, you acted so infatuated, scolding me and crying, and making a scene at the police station! All the female police officers in the team begged me not to pursue criminal responsibility for assaulting a police officer. Now I understand that everything you did was just to deliberately sell us loopholes!”

“I’ll say it again, I didn’t kill Xiaoyu.”

“Your flaw is great! No criminal dares to attack the police, and no criminal dares to be as arrogant as you. So all of us assumed that you were innocent. When we led the team to search your house, no one took it seriously and just went through the motions! Now I understand that you relied on this flaw to cover up the truth! It’s been four years now, and all the evidence, as well as Qiu Xiaoyu’s body, have been completely destroyed by you!”

“Fuck you! Are you fucking deaf? I didn’t kill Xiaoyu!”

“Who killed him?” He slammed the table. “Tell me!”

He roared fiercely, and I suddenly realized that I could not say anything except pale denial.

I have no memory of this timeline, about the four years after Qiu Xiaoyu’s death!

“Do you really think we’re arresting you without finding anything?” The policeman smiled and patted my shoulder. “If you don’t want to tell me, I’ll tell you for you.”

“In March 2018, there was a vaccine incident involving Detrick. It was said that some babies in third- and fourth-tier cities died as a result of the incident. But the news was suppressed at the time. Detrick was an American company with a market value of tens of billions. No one dared to touch it, except your girlfriend Qiu Xiaoyu…”

“So, in May 2018, she started investigating Detrick. She was 25 years old at the time, and she was crazy and didn’t know how to hide it. Soon, all the top management of Detrick knew about it. But strangely, Detrick didn’t touch Qiu Xiaoyu, but in June, they invited you to be their senior research consultant for new drugs for chronic diseases…”

“You were only 29 years old at the time and were not qualified to be a senior consultant. Why did they choose you? A month later, on July 14, Qiu Xiaoyu disappeared. Of course, it was not a disappearance, but a murder!”

“At 3 a.m. on July 15, 2018, you got off the plane and killed two people in total, Professor Sun from the Medical University and your girlfriend Qiu Xiaoyu. You beat Qiu Xiaoyu for a long time, and at the end, you cut her wrists and put her in the bathtub. The water temperature of the bathtub would affect the forensic corpse spot detection, and you tried to disguise it as a suicide scene…”

“But you soon realized that you couldn’t explain the injuries on her body. You realized that the only way to really cover up everything was to remove all traces, including the body! So you dismembered Qiu Xiaoyu’s body, dumped it, cleaned up your apartment, and did it so beautifully that the police couldn’t find any clues!”

“Then, on July 16, 2018, we met. You staged a scene of attacking a police officer, using another violation of the law to cover up your heinous crime!”

“It’s been four years, Li Tong. This case has weighed on my mind for four years. Finally, I found this photo in the old hard drive you threw away. New creation date July 15, 2018. Li Tong, who would hide a photo of a corpse in a computer for four years? Four whole years!?”

He came close to me, his eyes almost turned red, as if he wanted to eat me in one bite, “Only the murderer.”

This is the only means of criminal investigation for the police, using evidence to deduce the facts of the crime.

At the same time, give the suspect the greatest pressure.

He did a great job. All the evidence was used properly, the timing was accurate, and the motives were clear.

Also, the emotions are on point.

But……

“Officer Zhou Yezhou, do I have a flaw?”

He was stunned for a moment, “What did you say?”

I laughed because I discovered something very useful from his interrogation performance:

He is not Detrick’s man, not at all.

“Officer Zhou, I have been investigating Qiu Xiaoyu’s death for the past four years. For this purpose, I have read a lot of books on criminal investigation.”

“Really? So what about my reasoning?”

“Very interesting, but you and I both know that these inferences are just inducements.”

“Why do you think so?” He stood up, lit a new cigarette, and looked at me with interest.

“Officer Zhou, you know very well that the authenticity of that evidence is questionable. The photos and my employment records were all found by you recently. The story you pieced together with this kind of evidence cannot directly solve the case. It can only be used to trick me into revealing flaws.”

“Trick you?” He chuckled. “Why should I?”

“Because I am indeed a suspect, and if you want to believe me, you must prove that I have no flaws under your interrogation.”

He smoked a cigarette and stopped talking.

“Officer Zhou, you want to take down Detrick too, right?”

silence.

There was a long silence.

Then, I saw him turn around, turn off the DV camera that had been facing me, pick up a chair, lean it against the door at an angle, and jam the back of the chair against the door handle.

This is a very common action in the police force.

Block the door and then beat the suspect.

Sure enough, after the door was stuck, hurried footsteps were heard in the corridor, followed by violent knocks on the door.

They shouted Zhou Ye’s name and warned him not to use violence.

But he ignored me, walked straight towards me, held my head, and slammed it on the interrogation table.

With a bang, I felt dizzy.

“Li Tong, do you take me for a fool?!” Officer Zhou yelled.

Bang!

My head banged against the interrogation table again.

This time it was more precise. I felt a sharp pain in my nose bridge instantly, and then the pain spread to my entire brain.

I instinctively tilted my head back, blood gushing out of my nose in large streams. It hurt so much that I couldn’t speak or even breathe.

Officer Zhou walked up to me, grabbed my face with his big hands, put his palms on my nose, and pushed down hard.

This time, the pain felt like needles, hundreds of needles.

I screamed in pain, but my hands were handcuffed to the table and I couldn’t fight back.

After more than ten seconds, he finally stopped.

I gasped for breath and watched the blood stain my entire chest.

He warned loudly, “Li Tong, confess quickly, otherwise, I love beating people!”

As he said that, he grabbed my hair again and was about to slam me against the table.

“I’ll tell you!” I yelled. “I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you everything!”

“What? What should you have said!” he demanded loudly.

“Speaking of the place where the corpse was hidden, Qiu Xiaoyu’s corpse was hidden.”

02

At one o’clock in the morning on July 15, 2022, I was taken to the suburbs of Shenzhen.

The police car stopped outside the wild forest. Zhou Ye and two auxiliary police officers escorted me into the wild forest and found an open space.

“Here?”

“It’s right here.”

“dig.”

After Zhou Ye finished speaking, two auxiliary police officers took two shovels and started digging the ground at 1:30 in the morning.

But after half an hour, they only dug up several half-meter deep pits and found nothing.

“Are you really fucking sure?”

“It’s definitely not wrong.”

“Both brothers are half dead, where are their bodies?”

The two auxiliary policemen were so tired that they could not even straighten their backs, while Zhou Ye, who was standing beside them, nudged me secretly with his elbow, then took two steps forward, leaving his back to me.

“You two are not good enough? Do you practice physical fitness regularly?”

I knew he was telling me to run away now.

“Are you sure you’ve thought this through? If you do this, you’ll become a fugitive.”

This was the warning Zhou Ye gave me in the interrogation room.

“Think about it, this is my only chance.”

03

“Officer Zhou, you want to take down Detrick too, right?”

In the interrogation room, after I asked this question, Zhou Ye was silent for more than ten seconds.

Then he used his body to block the DV camera and asked me in a very soft voice.

“Why should I trust you? Why should I trust you?”

He repeated his question.

I pointed to the photo on the table.

“Qiu Xiaoyu.” I whispered to him, “I have all the survey data of Qiu Xiaoyu.”

“Survey data?”

“right.”

“To the police, to me.”

“It’s not in my hands, it’s in Detrick’s hands.”

“Detrick is not destroyed?”

“They don’t know they have that data, so I’m going to take it back. Anyway, you don’t dare to touch Detrick.”

“You dare?”

“I dare you.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to live.”

He pondered for a long time.

“Let’s perform a scene, Mr. Li. I’ve turned off the video recording and will perform a scene under the hidden surveillance.”

He turned around, pressed the DV button, and blocked the door handle with a chair.

“Maybe it will be a little painful.” His voice became soft for the first time.

I said, “I’m not afraid of death.”

“Are you sure you’ve thought this through? If you do this, you’ll become a fugitive.”

“Think about it, this is my only chance.”

“The only chance to take down Detrick?”

“The only chance to avenge Tama.”

04

In the open space in the wild forest, I turned around suddenly and ran desperately.

After running for more than ten steps, I heard Zhou Ye yelling behind me, “Fuck! Chase!”

I didn’t look back.

I knew that Zhou Ye would not try his best to catch up, and the other two auxiliary police officers had exhausted their energy.

This open space was only 300 meters away from the police car. Within this distance, there was no reason for the two auxiliary police officers to catch up with me.

I rushed to the police car, got into the driver’s seat, turned the key left in the lock, and started the car.

While an auxiliary police officer held the door handle, I started the car smoothly and drove away.

After driving onto the main road, I found the key left by Zhou Ye on the cushion in the back seat, removed the handcuffs, stepped on the accelerator to 120, and drove towards Taizi Road.

There is a nightclub there, where Gao Lei would linger until the early morning every night.

There is only one person who could put the blame on me so completely, and that’s my senior brother and friend of ten years – Gao Lei.

05

When Gao Lei was found, he was having a secret meeting with another young girl in the toilet cubicle of a nightclub.

“Take off one piece of clothing and buy an Hermès. How about that?”

I heard his voice through the door, and I could no longer contain my anger from the entire night.

I kicked the door open, pointed at the girl, and said, “Get lost.”

“Brother, why are you here?” Gao Lei was holding up his trousers, still drunk.

I closed the door, locked it, pulled out at least one meter of toilet paper from the paper box next to me, and rolled it up in my hand.

“Open your mouth,” I said.

“Brother, what happened?”

I lost my last bit of patience, raised my hands, pinched his cheeks, stuffed the roll of toilet paper into his mouth, then pulled out a police knife from my waist and stabbed it into his thigh.

He let out a muffled cry and struggled with his hands.

“Don’t move, don’t move.” I reminded.

He didn’t listen and continued to struggle. I became more and more annoyed, so I pulled out the knife and stabbed the same wound again.

Pull it out again and stab it again.

The fifth time, I felt a hard resistance from the blade. It was his leg bone.

“Don’t move, okay, brother, don’t move.”

His face was covered with snot and tears, but he finally obeyed.

“I’m afraid you’ll ask for help, so I can only do this.” I wiped his tears, “Look at me, look at me!”

“I’m going to ask you a question, and you either nod or shake your head, understand?”

He nodded vigorously.

“If you lie to me, you’ll have more than just this leg. Do you understand?”

He paused for a moment and nodded again.

“Okay, let me ask you a simple question first. You tampered with my hard drive.”

He stared at me, his tears flowed even more violently, but he didn’t dare to move his head.

“Don’t be afraid, brother. This is the easiest question.”

His head remained motionless.

So, I twisted the blade in my hand 45 degrees counterclockwise on his leg.

“My hard drive! Did you tamper with it? Answer me!”

He twitched for a long time and finally nodded.

“Very good, brother. Very good.”

“Let’s get to the point now.”

“Qiu Xiaoyu, did you kill him?”

4. Midnight

01-Qiu Xiaoyu

“Please, tell me where the data is!”

I poured water on my body and added a lot of salt.

Every wound on his body burned anew under the stimulation of the water.

I gritted my teeth until it hurt as much as my body, but I still couldn’t stop screaming.

Of course, there was no way to answer Gao Lei’s question.

“Xiaoyu!” He held my face in his hands, “I’m helping you, do you understand?”

They took me back to Detrick’s building.

But this time, it wasn’t a peaceful reception.

It’s a private laboratory on the top floor, where they can do anything.

“Xiaoyu, tell me where the data is, I’ll go and beg the president to let you live! I don’t want to let Li Tong down!”

“Gao Lei…”

“What do you want to say? Just say it.”

“What time is it now?”

“It’s three o’clock, Xiaoyu, you’ve been hard for six hours. If you continue like this, you’ll die.”

“It’s three o’clock, so Li Tong should have gotten off the plane. He also said he had a surprise for me today, what do you think it is?”

Gao Lei’s expression changed, and he seemed to finally become impatient.

He stood up, took a few steps back, and waved to the men in black behind him.

Those guys came up and changed their tactics.

There were several electric batons, as long as forearms, with electric arcs on the top constantly jumping and making violent crackling sounds.

“Xiaoyu, I’m just doing something for someone else.”

After saying that, Gao Lei turned his back.

Finally, the arc exploded in me.

The pain was as if several iron rods were piercing my body.

I don’t know how long they pressed the button, but it felt like every second seemed as long as a year.

long time.

After a long, long time, in the only small piece of clear vision I had, I saw Gao Lei waving his hand.

The shock stopped.

But my muscles were still twitching involuntarily, and my screams were completely mute, very unpleasant to the ear. After a while, I finally collapsed, watching my tears and blood fall drop by drop.

I must be so ugly now…

But fortunately, Li Tong will only remember how beautiful I am.

“Xiaoyu, you can’t hold on! Tell me, where are the data?”

I was sobbing and had no strength to speak.

He was right, I couldn’t hold on for much longer.

Gao Lei waited for a while, then became impatient and waved his hand again. The men in black approached again, and the electric batons emitted a dazzling light.

“Stop.”

Suddenly the door of the laboratory opened and a middle-aged man walked in.

“How can you treat Miss Qiu like this?”

02-Li Tong

Gao Lei shook his head desperately and whimpered.

“I understand. You didn’t kill Xiaoyu, but you didn’t do it.”

His movements stopped.

“Gao Lei, you were there when she died, right?”

He nodded slowly.

“She…did not die in Professor Sun’s villa.”

He nodded.

“She died in your company.”

He nodded.

“And her death, Professor Sun’s death, was naturally the order of your boss.”

He nodded.

“Your boss ordered you to bring Xiaoyu back to the company and interrogate her in person.”

He nodded.

“So, Xiaoyu, did he kill him personally?”

He was stunned for a moment and nodded.

I closed my eyes.

Getting this answer was like seeing Xiaoyu die in front of me.

03-Qiu Xiaoyu

“Reporter Qiu Xiaoyu, we finally meet.”

Detrick’s president, Yanagi Ishii, draped a suit over me.

“Besides vaccines, what else are you investigating about Detrick? How many people are investigating this matter at Shannan Weekly, to which you belong?”

“Also, where is that data?”

He moved a chair and sat opposite me.

“Reporter Qiu Xiaoyu, rest assured. If you cooperate, I can pay a huge amount of hush money and guarantee your personal safety and that of your family.”

“Are you bragging?” I endured the severe pain in my body and forced a smile. “Detrick is not your company, it’s an American company. All the decisions, including the preparation of inferior vaccines and the assassination of Professor Sun, were instructed by your American master. If you don’t handle this matter well and lose the money of American shareholders, you will most likely be transferred to South Asia or Africa by your master. Can you guarantee my safety?”

I couldn’t help laughing, but it instantly hurt the wound on my body. “Mr. Liu Shicheng, what can you promise?”

He leaned back in his chair, his hands folded across his chest, his body rising and falling with his breathing.

“Qiu Xiaoyu, I told you I could guarantee the safety of you and your family, but you didn’t believe me.” He took out his cell phone and put it on his lap. “What if I told you I could kill you and your family?”

At this moment, his cell phone rang.

He answered it and turned on the amplifier.

“Boss Liu, we can do things anytime.”

“Where have you been?”

“No. 43, Xuefu Road, Xijiang District, Ninghang City, Jinfuyuan Community, Building 6, Unit 2, 1004.”

“Oh, so we’re at Miss Qiu’s hometown?”

“How dare you touch my parents!” I yelled.

Liu Shicheng ignored me and asked again on the phone, “What are you going to do?”

“We just cut off the surveillance in this building. We will then pick the lock to enter the door and cut the gas hose. Everything can be done in five minutes.”

Liu Shicheng’s eyes were full of pride. “Wait for my order.”

He hung up the phone, “Reporter Qiu Xiaoyu, can you tell me now?”

I was shaking all over, and after a long pause, I said, “Okay, I can say it.”

“Very good.”

“But do we need so many people present?”

Liu Shicheng raised his hand and asked Gao Lei and his men to leave the laboratory.

I glanced at the ropes that bound me, “Is this how you want to cooperate with me?”

He smiled, stood up, and untied the ropes on me.

I slowly opened my mouth and said, “Your company Detrick is not just about vaccines. Baby skin care products contain glucocorticoids, health supplements contain antihypertensive drugs, and kidney disease drugs are too toxic to the liver. You have a lot of other things to do.”

04-Li Tong

I suddenly pulled out the knife from Gao Lei’s leg and put it against his throat.

Then, he pulled the toilet paper out of his mouth.

“Is it your boss who killed Qiu Xiaoyu?”

“What else?” Gao Lei cried, “Except for Americans like him, do you think we really dare to kill people?”

“Where is he?”

Gao Lei stared at me, “You can’t beat him, brother…”

“Stop calling me brother! Your boss! Where is Detrick’s boss!?”

Suddenly, the door behind me was kicked open again.

“Looking for me?”

Then, I received a blow to the back of my head that seemed to shatter my skull.

I fell to the ground, and in a trance I saw a middle-aged man squatting in front of me, playing with my knife. “I didn’t expect you to be so ruthless.”

“Liu Shi City?” I asked.

“Dr. Li Tong, I’ve been monitoring you for four years. Why did you just think of looking for me?”

In a small laboratory on the top floor of the Detrick Building.

They tied me to a chair, and Liu Shicheng told me, “Yes, I killed Qiu Xiaoyu, but before that, we played with her for six hours.”

He placed an iPad in front of me, opened a video, and turned up the brightness and volume to maximum.

That was the video of Qiu Xiaoyu being tortured into confessing.

The screams, cries, and sounds of electric shocks could not be avoided even if you closed your eyes.

I struggled like crazy, the rope left bloody marks on my body. I wanted to curse, but they had already covered my mouth.

The video lasted for more than an hour, and my anger almost exhausted me.

Then, Liu Shicheng took a claw hammer.

“Dr. Li, I know you are angry now, but this is exactly what I want. You will soon find that no matter how angry you are, you can’t fight us.”

“I’m not in a hurry to ask you, but I will destroy all your will. When you are desperate, you will naturally tell me where the data is!”

He asked his men to hold my hands, then pointed at the back of my hands and raised my arms high.

Bones shattered and muscles disintegrated.

The blood was lifted up by the hammer head, floating in the air and then falling down.

Clean, decisive, and without hesitation.

I know why Xiaoyu did that. I know why she was willing to sacrifice her life to keep holding on to Detrick.

These people are demons.

05-Qiu Xiaoyu

“Your company Detrick is not just about vaccines. Baby skin care products contain glucocorticoids, health supplements contain antihypertensive drugs, kidney disease drugs are too toxic to the liver, and you have a lot of other things to do.”

“Very well, that’s what I want. I can pay for it, but you have to shut up.”

“Of course I could keep my mouth shut, but I only looked into vaccines. I was talking about other people’s research.”

“Who is investigating?”

“We don’t know. Our industry is highly competitive, and their investigations are kept very confidential.”

“So what you just said…”

“I heard it from others, but judging from your expression, are these things true?”

“Qiu Xiaoyu, are you kidding me?”

“I’m not kidding you. I do know a lot of things, but we need to talk slowly.”

“What do you know? Tell me everything.”

“I know a lot, like… you.”

“I?”

“Your origin, your past, your heart.”

“Qiu Xiaoyu, have you checked me?”

“You were born in Hong Kong. Your father died early. Your mother was introduced to an American man and married him. In the 1990s, everyone thought that the United States was a paradise, but when you arrived, you realized that the American was just a blue-collar worker. You lived across the street from the black community. You were bullied by white people and black people, and you were often abused by your stepfather at night.”

“Qiu Xiaoyu, you shouldn’t say these things.”

“But you were very smart. You got into a good university with a full scholarship. Later, you joined Detrick Pharmaceuticals and returned to China to become the head of the South China region. Suddenly, you became a top person.”

“Qiu Xiaoyu, you are the best investigative reporter I have ever seen and the sexiest woman I have ever seen. But if you don’t shut up…”

“You wanted to earn enough money to bring your mother back home, so you bought two villas in Shenzhen. But when everything was ready, your mother committed suicide in New York.”

He was stunned for a moment, then suddenly grabbed my neck, lifted me up, and pressed me onto the laboratory table behind him.

“Qiu Xiaoyu! How dare you humiliate me!”

He yelled, finally losing his temper.

The timing is perfect.

I grabbed the alcohol lamp on the laboratory table and smashed it on his head.

His eyes were irritated by the alcohol and he raised his hand to wipe them.

Taking advantage of this slight gap, I grabbed a piece of the alcohol lamp and stabbed it directly into Liu Shicheng’s neck.

But he reacted incredibly quickly, and just as his neck was scratched with a trace of blood, he immediately grabbed my wrist and twisted it 180 degrees.

The moment my wrist broke, he had already grabbed the sharp fragment in his hand. He raised his hand swiftly and cut my neck.

Sharp pain, fleeting.

I felt a warm current gushing out from my neck, taking away all my strength in an instant.

06-Li Tong

“How’s it going, Dr. Li?”

After the back of his right hand rotted away, Liu Shicheng stopped hammering. His whole body was soaked in sweat and his exquisite hairstyle was completely messy.

He pulled the cloth away from my mouth.

“Where is Qiu Xiaoyu’s survey data from four years ago? Tell me.”

I was shaking from the pain, so he slapped me twice in the face.

“Dr. Li? Where is the data?”

I looked at his crazy expression and said, “I suddenly understood something.”

“What?”

“You’re scared of Xiaoyu. You’re terribly scared.”

He stared at me, his eyes narrowed, “Are you mocking me?”

“No, I want to tell you that I’m not Jade. I can tell you where that thing is right now. But I have one condition.”

07—Qiu Xiaoyu

Seeing the blood on my neck, Liu Shicheng took two steps back in fear.

“You…you just want to die.” He said tremblingly.

Yes, I just want to die.

After Liu Shicheng became rich, he learned self-defense for many years. When I angered him, I had already thought about using his instinctive counterattack to end myself.

Of course, if his self-defense skills are too poor, I will also find new opportunities to commit suicide, but it is difficult to do so.

I just want to die.

Only by dying here can the people of Detrick rest in peace, and my family and Li Tong be truly free from trouble.

And this is the only way for me to get the data out.

08-Li Tong

“That’s right! Dr. Li! It’s wise to put forward conditions. Do you want money or a house?”

“I’ll tell you where the data is, and you tell me where Xiaoyu is.”

“What did you say?”

“Where is Xiaoyu’s…body buried?”

He was stunned for a moment, “Is it important?”

“I wanted to marry her, but you killed her. Now, I want to be buried with her. Tell me, is it important or not!?”

09-Qiu Xiaoyu

“Call an ambulance, call an ambulance!” Liu Shicheng shouted, “Qiu Xiaoyu, you can’t die! Tell me…”

Liu Shicheng knelt beside me and kept yelling.

But I couldn’t hear clearly. A black tide surged around my vision, slowly approaching the center, and I felt more and more sleepy.

Finally, I fell into complete darkness, with only some distant sounds remaining in my mind.

“When I come back, I’ll give you a big surprise.”

That was the promise he made to me when he said goodbye before flying off to a seminar a few days ago.

“You won’t regret it, believe it or not.”

That’s what he said to me in the future.

“Be my girlfriend.”

It was a confession to me late at night a few years ago.

Li Tong, I like you so much.

10-Li Tong

“What are you laughing at? Dr. Li, is it funny?”

“So that’s where it is. You buried her there.” I laughed. “That artificial lake. I rowed a boat with her there.”

“Okay, now tell me where the data is.”

“You just told me.”

“I just told you?”

“Yes. The data has been in Qiu Xiaoyu’s body all along. She swallowed the USB drive before leaving Professor Sun’s villa.”

Liu Shicheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly shouted, “Everyone, go find the body!”

“It’s too late, Mr. Liu. You can’t be faster than the police.”

“You…you installed a bug? Impossible! I searched you!”

“It’s not on me,” I pointed at Gao Lei, who had just bandaged his thigh, “It’s on my senior brother. I just happened to hit him when I was beating him.”

The laboratory door was slammed open.

Several policemen broke in, and Zhou Ye was the last one to enter with a cigarette in his mouth and a cool attitude.

“Liu Shicheng, you’re fucked!”

The police raised their guns, and no one dared to resist at all under the gunpoint.

After everyone was handcuffed, Zhou Ye untied my ropes.

He said he couldn’t tell, you are really trying hard, go to the hospital quickly.

I asked if you could lend me another handcuff.

“what?”

“I heard that beating someone with handcuffs hurts.”

“It hurts? If it hurts, then you’ll have to use a claw hammer. Don’t hit me to death, or it will be considered excessive self-defense.”

11-Li Tong

That day, a total of three policemen helped me hold down Liu Shicheng, breaking several of his ribs, right wrist, and left tibia.

Later Zhou Ye stopped me from continuing, saying that at least he should be able to appear in court on crutches.

I know that’s an excuse. He’s afraid that I won’t be able to control myself and kill him someday.

5. Early morning

01-Li Tong

At 4:30 in the morning, Zhou Ye received a call from his colleagues saying that Xiaoyu’s body had been salvaged from the green belt by the lake. The forensic doctor directly took out the USB flash drive at the scene. Because it was fully wrapped in aluminum alloy, the contents inside were almost intact.

Zhou Ye asked me if I wanted to go and take a look at the scene.

I can’t say. I’ve seen her dead body once and I don’t want to see it again.

“She probably doesn’t want me to see her like that.”

He then took me to the hospital to treat my wounds and then sent me back to my residence.

On the way, he asked why he suddenly got a clue four years later.

I said, you won’t believe it, Qiu Xiaoyu told me.

He said, I believe it.

When we left, he saluted me.

02-Li Tong

When I returned home, I saw Qiu Xiaoyu’s belongings still scattered on the ground, so I endured the pain all over my body and sorted them out.

Put everything away, and finally, the phone.

Just as it was when I first dug it out at dusk.

2% of the battery.

No SIM card.

No signal.

It’s like nothing has changed.

But in fact, everything has changed.

I didn’t charge it anymore and just put it in the box with the lid closed.

The heavy rain stopped.

A miracle has happened, but I still couldn’t save her.

The wound on my hand was stinging; it turned out that the bandage was soaked with tears.

bite

The notification tone of text messages.

No matter who it is, I don’t want to care about it now.

But……

bite

This is the text message alert from that old phone!

Is it still receiving information?

Apart from her, whose information could it be…

02-Qiu Xiaoyu’s message (July 15, 2015)

“Insomnia. You must be asleep at this hour. But I have something to tell you.”

“Well, forget it. I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed if I tell you. Actually, you’re pretty stupid, Li Tong. Okay, just have a good sleep. See you this weekend.”

03-Qiu Xiaoyu (2015)

After sending the second text message, I slapped my head twice.

So shameful.

I even sent him a text message! ?

Honestly, isn’t it obvious what I’m doing?

His surname is Li, so he asked me out for three consecutive weekends, and I showed up for three consecutive weeks!

And every time I put on a facial mask the night before, and get up early in the morning to wash my hair and put on makeup!

It’s not easy for me!

In the end he just didn’t confess his feelings. Isn’t that awesome? He just asked me out but didn’t confess his feelings.

But if he doesn’t confess, I’ll also suffer from insomnia. What’s the plot?

I also…sent this kind of text message.

shame!

What’s the difference between this and just saying “I like you”?

Wait a minute…

Why don’t you just tell him “I like you”?

Just call and talk now.

But……

It’s five in the morning, is he asleep?

Just go to sleep and tell me when you wake up!

4. 2015—2022

“Hello?”

“Oh my god, Li Tong, you answered the phone? You’re still awake!?”

“No.”

“That’s great. Li Tong, I want to tell you something now, something very serious!”

“Let me speak first.”

“ah?”

“Qiu Xiaoyu, I like you.”

“I’ll go.”

“Qiu Xiaoyu, I’m a dumb, straight man. Sometimes I can’t even tell if you’re wearing makeup or not, and sometimes I can’t tell if you’re angry or not… I know I should have expressed it a long time ago, but I was always afraid of being rejected by you. You’re so beautiful, the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I liked you the first time I saw you, but until today, I still feel like I don’t deserve to be liked by you.”

“You call this… dumb?”

“I have been thinking about this for a long time, but I have never dared to tell you.”

“Can’t bear it now?”

“Yeah, I missed you so much.”

“You’ve only been away from me for a few hours.”

“Yeah, I just left you for a few hours.”

05-Li Tong

At that moment, I finally understood why Qiu Xiaoyu always told me that I was the one who confessed to her first.

It turns out that the one who confessed to her was me in 2022.

I finally realized that it wasn’t the thunderstorm on July 14 that caused the phone to fail.

But, it’s my longing for her.

6. 2015—2022

“Be my girlfriend.”

“good.”

7. 2015—2022

“But Li Tong, your voice…are you crying?”

“Ah? No.”

“Hahahaha, you’re a grown man and you’re crying while confessing your love!?”

“Really not.”

“I don’t believe it!”

“Believe it or not.”

“Since we’re in a relationship, let’s make a rule. From now on, when you call me, you have to call me ‘dear’ first.”

“No problem dear.”

“Be good.”

“But I also have a rule.”

“you say.”

“If one day you want to secretly investigate the pharmaceutical industry…”

“Li Tong, how did you know?”

“If you encounter a malicious incident at a large pharmaceutical company, remember that I can provide test data, my institution is authoritative enough, and I am smarter than those old professors. Most importantly, I will always stand by you.”

“Why…are you suddenly talking about this?”

“Remember what I said today, please, honey.”

07-Li Tong

We talked for a long time again.

Finally, she said she would call me as soon as she woke up, and we said goodbye to each other many times before hanging up the phone.

This is how we started…

This time, I didn’t tell her that I was from the future, and I didn’t tell her about death.

Because I know very clearly that no matter how hard I try or how seriously I try to change history, there is no guarantee that Xiaoyu will come back.

If I really can’t save her, at least don’t destroy her happiness at that time.

Finally, I slumped down on the ground. Although the chances were slim, I still couldn’t help but look forward to the slightest change in the things before my eyes.

Just like every time the timeline is modified.

But, for a long, long time…

The whole house was in deathly silence.

Wait until the sky turns slightly red and the light slowly pours into the house.

Suddenly, I heard faintly a cry.

A baby cries.

That’s not an auditory hallucination.

Because the crying was gradually becoming clearer and brighter with the light in the distance.

“Husband!” I heard Xiaoyu shouting.

“Where are you, husband?”

“Your Zixuan is making trouble again!”