Chapter 116

Chapter 116

Qin Song stared at the message, a sheen of cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.

He started calling Jingjing on WeChat voice, but she never picked up.

He returned to the hotel. The big-eyed owner was still sitting there just like last time, absorbed in a game on his iPad.

Qin Song rapped his knuckles on the counter. “Boss?”

Without looking up, the owner jabbed frantically at the screen and said, “One sec, one sec!”

At last, he lifted his head. “Hello. What’s up?”

Qin Song asked, “Where’s your daughter?”

The owner froze for a second. “Which daughter?”

“Wang Mengmeng.”

The moment Qin Song said the name, his heart began pounding. He was terrified the owner would look at him with grief in his eyes and say, “My daughter died last year.”

Instead, the owner only asked in confusion, “What’s your relationship with her? What do you need her for?”

“She was the one who stopped me on the street and brought me to this hotel. I have something I wanted to ask her.”

“Oh. She went out on a date with her boyfriend today. She’ll be back tonight. Why don’t you wait in your room?”

Qin Song pointed at the sofa in the lobby. “I’ll wait here.”

The owner nodded, then lowered his head and went back to playing on the iPad.

Qin Song wanted to ask him more, but in the end, he swallowed the words back down.

He wanted to ask Jingjing himself.

Qin Song sat uneasily on the sofa for half an hour before he couldn’t take it anymore and went back to his room.

He had already met Jingjing so many times. He had seen her tilt her head back to eat a popsicle, and he had even received the beer and razor she bought for him.

If Jingjing could run to the store and buy beer and a razor, that proved the store owner could see her.

The little boy at the pizza shop had even gone to eavesdrop on her and the man with glasses – that proved Jingjing could be seen and touched. She wasn’t a ghost.

But why was it such a coincidence? Why did she have the exact same name as the girl who had been murdered last year? And why had that girl been killed in the hotel Jingjing’s family owned?

Something so unlucky had happened in her family’s hotel. By all rights, she should have avoided bringing it up. She could have used any other excuse to lure in customers, but this girl had specifically built a lie around that incident.

No matter how Qin Song thought about it, he couldn’t make sense of it.

He had already been in a terrible mood. He had come to a new place hoping to recover and clear his head, but every single thing that happened here only made him feel more exhausted.

For a moment, he regretted going abroad. Here, he was utterly alone, without even one familiar friend.

Solitude did not make him feel at ease. It only made him suffer more.

He waited until evening, when Jingjing finally called him back on WeChat.

Qin Song answered at once. “Hello?”

Jingjing said, “What’s wrong, gege?”

“Are you back?”

“Mm-hmm. I’m almost at the hotel. What’s the matter?”

“I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

With that, he went down to the first-floor lobby to wait for Jingjing.

The owner was still playing a game on his iPad. It was as if he never got tired.

If Qin Song had been in a normal state of mind, he might have been curious enough to ask what game he was playing.

But right now, he had no room to think about such happy things. His mind was already filled to the brim with anxiety and fear.

When Jingjing reached the entrance, Qin Song hurried over to meet her.

She was wearing a white dress, with two tassel earrings hanging from her ears. She looked very pretty.

Qin Song got straight to the point. “Is your name Wang Mengmeng?”

Jingjing took the earbud out of her ear and said, “Yeah. I told you that when we first added each other on WeChat.”

The owner was checking in a couple at the counter. When he heard Jingjing speak, he looked up at the two of them.

Qin Song said, “I have something to ask you. Come upstairs with me.”

The owner spoke up. “Talk all you want, but why are you taking my daughter to your room?”

The couple checking in exchanged a glance, then both turned to look at Qin Song.

Embarrassed, Qin Song said, “That’s not what I meant. I just wanted to find somewhere convenient to talk to her.”

Jingjing said, “It’s fine, Dad. We’ll find a hallway to talk in. I won’t go into his room.”

The owner glanced at Qin Song. “When you’re done talking, send my daughter back down right away, got it? Make it quick.”

Qin Song nodded. He and Jingjing went up to the second floor, one after the other.

After the owner finished checking in the couple, he still felt a little uneasy. He plugged in his iPad to charge, glanced twice toward the hotel entrance, then quietly headed for the staircase.
Qin Song and Jingjing went up to the second floor. He turned around and got straight to the point. “You lied to me again.”

Jingjing looked completely lost. “I… What did I lie to you about?”

Qin Song stared into her eyes. “Last time, you told me that murder case was something you made up, right?”

Jingjing said, “Yeah. I made it up.”

Qin Song said, “But today I heard that it was real.”

Jingjing shuddered. “Don’t scare me, gege. How could it be real?”

Qin Song said, “I heard there really was a murder here last summer. A man killed a woman in a hotel, but then the body disappeared. They still haven’t found it.”

Jingjing started to panic. She pressed both hands to her chest. “Gege, I swear I didn’t know about that. A missing body? I really didn’t know! If I had, how could I dare use something that scary as an excuse?”

Qin Song watched her expression.

After a long moment, he asked, “Do you know where that murder happened?”

Jingjing asked quietly, “Where?”

Qin Song pointed at the floor. “I heard it happened in this hotel. Your family’s hotel.”

Jingjing took a step back. “That’s complete nonsense! How could that be possible? If something like that happened, how would I not know?”

Qin Song said, “I also heard that the victim’s name was Wang Mengmeng.”

Jingjing grew a little angry. She dropped the hands pressed to her chest. “What exactly are you trying to say?”

Qin Song said, “I’m not trying to offend you on purpose. This is all what someone told me today.”

Jingjing said, “So you believe whatever people tell you? Are you saying I’m a dead person?”

With that, she grabbed Qin Song’s hand and forced it toward her face. “Come on, then. Touch it. Touch my face and see if it’s warm or cold…”

The moment he came into physical contact with Jingjing, Qin Song yanked his hand back as if startled. “Don’t touch me!”

Jingjing gave a cold laugh. “And here I was, running errands for you and buying you this and that. You called me so many times just to confirm some nonexistent supernatural event? And you’re even saying I’m the female lead of this supernatural event? With an imagination like that, why aren’t you off writing scripts? Why bother traveling at all?”

Qin Song watched her reaction. She really didn’t look like she was lying, and her hand had been warm.

He hesitated, then said, “I’m sorry. I haven’t been in a good state lately… My mind’s a mess. There are a lot of things I can’t tell are true or false anymore. When someone casually mentions something, I keep feeling like it’s a ghost story…”

Jingjing rolled her eyes at him. “Wouldn’t have guessed it. You’re actually into overthinking ghost stories.”

Qin Song shook his head helplessly.

Jingjing thought for a moment and said, “I can guarantee the thing you just mentioned never happened, but something kind of… how should I put it, kind of like a ghost story really did happen here. I don’t know if it counts. Anyway, I thought it was pretty scary.”

Qin Song looked at her wearily. “Go on.”

Jingjing said, “A few years ago, a little boy died here.”

Qin Song held his breath, his eyes fixed on Jingjing’s mouth.

She went on, “His family ran a restaurant on our street, and business was always pretty good. My parents and I even ate pizza at their place before. His parents knew mine too. We were all Chinese people who came here to do business, so we got along pretty well.”

Qin Song said, “You said his family… ran a pizza place?”

Jingjing nodded. “Yeah. Later, something happened to their family. It was really unfortunate.”

Qin Song asked, “What happened?”

Jingjing tried hard to recall. “I remember there was a supermarket across from their place, and the supermarket owner’s family had a kid too. Those two were always playing together out front. One time, they were riding a bike together, one carrying the other, and they got hit by a car in the middle of the road. More accurately, run over… It was horrible…”

Qin Song’s lips began to tremble slightly. He reached out with one hand to brace himself against the wall.

Jingjing was still looking up, thinking back. “It was really too tragic. If they were still alive, they’d probably almost be in high school by now.”

Qin Song asked, “How old were they when they died?”

Jingjing said, “Around ten, I guess. They were pretty young.”

Qin Song couldn’t speak.

Jingjing said, “The little brother from the pizza place was very sensible. He would help watch the shop, and he helped customers order and pay too. He was really good at math and never made mistakes with the bills. Back then, he did his homework in the shop every day, and whenever I went there, he’d even treat me to a free bottle of Coke…”
Qin Song’s face grew paler and paler. Weakly, he waved Jingjing off. “It’s getting late. I want to rest. You should head downstairs.”

Jingjing eyed him warily, then suddenly asked, “Is there… something wrong with your head?”

Qin Song found the question completely out of nowhere.

He had clearly said he wasn’t feeling well. If you said that to a normal person, they would usually ask, “What’s wrong?” or “Are you okay?”

He didn’t want to bother with Jingjing’s rude comment, so he silently turned and went back into his room.

After Qin Song’s door closed, the owner slipped out from around the corner of the hallway.

Jingjing jumped when she saw him. “Dad! What are you doing here?”

The owner said, “I was worried about you! That guy insisted on dragging you upstairs. As your father, of course I had to come see what he was up to!”

Jingjing patted her chest. “Dad, you heard what he was saying just now, right?”

The owner nodded. “I heard. He’s seriously sick in the head.”

Jingjing asked, “When did you come up? How much did you hear?”

The owner said, “I heard him trying to scare you, saying some little boy from the pizza place died a few years ago, got run over together with a kid from the supermarket. He even said the kid was sensible and knew how to keep accounts… The way he talked, you’d think he’d been living here for years. Damn it, he’s only been here a few days!”

Jingjing nodded hard. “Exactly, Dad! I was scared to death! First he told me he heard there was a murder here and that the victim had the same name as me. I explained for ages, and then all of a sudden he started talking about some little boy from the pizza place dying years ago… Then as he was talking, he suddenly said he didn’t feel well and wanted to rest.”

The owner said, “Right. Then I heard you ask if there was something wrong with his head.”

Jingjing said, “There definitely is. He’s mentally ill. God, what rotten luck. How did I end up bringing a lunatic in off the street?”

The owner said, “Sweetheart, even if you think he’s sick, you can’t just say it to his face. At least your dad was here this time. If I hadn’t been, and you made him angry enough to lose it, what would you do if he hit you?”

Jingjing looped her arm through the owner’s as they walked back. “Okay, okay, Dad. I know…”

Inside the pizza place, a woman was organizing the day’s receipts on the computer.

As the little boy packed his schoolbag, he asked quietly, “Mom, do you have a minute?”

The woman nodded. “Mm. Go ahead.”

The little boy hesitated, set his schoolbag on a stool, then ran over to the counter.

“Mom, I met someone really scary.”

The woman let go of the mouse and looked at him seriously. “Don’t be scared, sweetheart. Who bullied you?”

The little boy shook his head. “It wasn’t exactly bullying. He even treated me to a Coke today…”

The woman said angrily, “A Coke? Didn’t I tell you not to drink anything strangers give you?”

The little boy hurriedly explained, “No, Mom, it was a Coke from our own shop!”

The woman frowned. “He came to our store?”

The little boy said, “Yes. It’s that uncle who’s been coming here to eat every day these past few days.”

The woman asked, “The one with the crew cut, who sits by the window every day?”

The little boy nodded. “That’s him!”

The woman quickly asked, “What did he do to you?”

The little boy said, “He didn’t hurt me. At first, he gave me money and asked me to eavesdrop on two people for him. I thought he was a little mysterious, but still a normal person. But later, I realized…”

The woman asked, “Realized what?”

The little boy said, “I think he’s a murderer.”

The woman’s voice shot up in shock. “What did you say?”

The little boy gave a forceful “shh” and lowered his voice. “Mom, today he told me that he got into an argument with a woman in a hotel room. He hit her on the head with something heavy and killed her… He also said the police would definitely never find the woman’s body, because the body ran away on its own…”

The woman sucked in a cold breath.

She thought carefully about what her son had said, then comforted him. “Sweetheart, listen to me. This man may not necessarily be a murderer. Murderers don’t go around admitting they’re murderers. But he is definitely mentally ill. Starting tomorrow, I’ll stay in the shop every day. You don’t come here anymore. Go home after school and do your homework. Don’t have any more contact with him!”

The little boy nodded fearfully.