I could say that as soon as I arrived at the police station, I realized that Building 29 truly had its own prestige.

Even though we reported to the police in the middle of the night, the two young officers at the front desk immediately changed expression when they saw us appear collectively, coming up to ask: “Has something happened?”

The nervousness on the young policemen’s faces was obvious. I guessed they might have already rehearsed the scene of collecting my corpse in their minds, so I subconsciously asked: “Did you guys also not expect I could survive until now?”

The young policeman was startled, but I had amused him: “Mr. Bai, don’t overthink it, really not… The higher-ups are taking Building 29’s matter very seriously now. The branch leadership said they’d send people to keep watch and won’t let anything happen to you.”

I hadn’t expected that without my knowledge, Building 29 had already become famous at the Public Security Bureau.

Speaking of all of Yu Jiang, you probably couldn’t find any other house even with a strong flashlight that was simultaneously famous at the Public Security Bureau and the crematorium. This prestige truly shocked me, and I couldn’t help asking: “Then why hasn’t anyone come to understand the situation with me until now? Were you waiting for me to report to the police?”

Hearing this, the young policeman was also somewhat helpless: “We also have our own case-handling procedures. After all, investigating every day when nothing has happened would also affect ordinary people’s business and daily life. But don’t worry, Mr. Bai – our captain has instructed that we must take your reports seriously, so whatever you’ve come for, please tell us all the circumstances truthfully.”

After that, all members of Huangliang Yimeng were invited into interrogation rooms one by one.

The two duty officers were extremely dedicated and responsible, asking questions starting from the very first day of opening until tonight. Just for me alone they recorded nearly forty minutes of testimony, Han Sha and Song Nanshi also had about half an hour each. By the time it got to He Jian, dawn was almost breaking.

Seeing that He Jian was already so tired his face had turned pale, the two duty officers didn’t force it. After they collected Song Nanshi’s video from me, they let us go back to rest first, saying they would report tonight’s events upward and send the video to the technical department for research. Once the case was officially opened, someone in charge from the branch would contact me soon.

At 5 AM, I sent a message in the customer group saying business would be suspended for a day. When I returned to Building 29 I was so exhausted I couldn’t lift even a pinky finger. I collapsed onto the floor mat and fell dead asleep in less than three seconds.

Normally, with my sleep quality, if no one disturbed me I could sleep straight through to the next day.

However, after sleeping less than five hours, I was woken by my phone vibrating.

Getting up, He Jian was no longer on the bed. I answered the phone with tremendous wake-up irritation, but before I could unleash any temper, Yang Ping’s urgent voice came from the other end: “Boss Bai, the police contacted me! They said Building 29’s matter is going to be officially investigated and reopened! They said you almost had an accident last night – are you alright now?”

After waking up, my neck still hurt terribly. Looking in the mirror, the strangulation marks from last night had turned purple. I sighed: “Still can’t die… it’s just that last night I almost got strangled to death trying to eat some chocolate. The police seem to think the previous cases were suspicious too, saying the higher-ups gave orders to reinvestigate everything together.”

“Then if Boss Bai is fine now, would it be convenient to open the door? The two police comrades and I are right at Building 29’s entrance. They said to avoid evidence loss, they need to come collect evidence from the scene as soon as possible.”

“Alright, I’ll be right there.”

How could I have expected the police uncles’ efficiency to be so high? I had originally wanted to at least tidy up a bit, but Xiao He was in the shower. With no choice, I could only hastily change clothes and go downstairs to let them in.

Along with Yang Ping came two plainclothes police officers who both looked quite young. Upon meeting me they efficiently introduced themselves – the man was called Chen Yuan, the woman Wang Wei, both criminal police from Shancheng Branch.

In just one night, those understanding the situation had changed from police station officers to criminal investigation team detectives. My heart couldn’t help but skip a beat as I carefully asked: “Has this… already been characterized? Is Building 29’s problem very big… extremely big?”

Yang Ping gratefully grabbed my arm: “Thanks to you, Boss Bai! With the video and evidence you provided, my sister’s case is finally going to be reinvestigated! They said after collecting evidence here they’ll go back and re-record testimony.”

I thought this matter ultimately had to thank the other people in this house. Just as Han Sha said, compared to the previous tenants, my biggest advantage was having more people. If there had only been me alone in this house last night, I might not have lived to report to police so quickly.

I asked the two criminal investigators: “Are you starting the search now? I still have three employees here who didn’t sleep last night. Let me call them all up first – this will also make it convenient for you to look at the house situation.”

Hearing this, Chen Yuan and Wang Wei smiled: “You go ahead first. We also need to wait for our deputy captain to arrive before we can start the procedures.”

I was surprised: “Deputy captain? Playing it this big?”

Wang Wei said seriously: “Of course. Your personal safety has been threatened, plus this house’s history – the bureau takes Building 29’s problems very seriously. Our deputy captain was supposed to be on leave, but he volunteered to come personally. You’ll understand when you meet him.”

Making a wage slave give up vacation to come over!

I was greatly shocked.

I hadn’t expected them to take it seriously to this degree. For me, having suffered in Building 29 for over a month, this was truly like timely rain after a long drought.

I couldn’t help asking a few more questions: “How old is your deputy captain? Is he married? Does he have children? I have lots of cakes in my shop. It’s hard on him to give up his vacation to come over – I can’t treat him too poorly. At least I can bring some cake for his children.”

Hearing this, both Chen Yuan and Wang Wei were startled, then simultaneously laughed. Chen Yuan said: “Boss, you don’t need to worry about it. Our deputy captain just turned thirty, just got divorced and has no children. This vacation was originally supposed to help him relax after the divorce, but he really is too devoted to work and can’t let go of this case, so he insisted on coming to take a look… Mr. Bai, you don’t need to spend money – this is our job anyway. I believe the deputy captain won’t mind either.”

However, Bai Liu had said before that if I encountered police responsible for this case, I must treat them well. After all, if I wanted to continue doing business in the future, properly resolving Building 29’s past problems was essential.

I persisted: “What about him personally? I’m not operating today anyway, and rather than waste cakes that won’t sell, why don’t you take them back to the station to share? Consider it my thanks for your willingness to take Building 29 seriously.”

“This…”

Chen Yuan was still hesitating when Wang Wei smiled: “When our deputy captain arrives, you can speak directly with him. For now we’re just waiting anyway – first call up all the shop employees, then we’ll probably need to systematically search this entire house.”

Thinking of how that thing had mysteriously disappeared last night, I also very much wanted to turn Building 29 upside down and shake it out. I went upstairs to wake Han Sha and Song Nanshi. Just then the sound of water in the bathroom stopped, and I knocked on the door: “Xiao He, police are here to search the house. Hurry down when you’re ready.”

“Got it, Boss.”

He Jian was young after all – after just four hours of sleep, taking a shower had eliminated the fatigue from his voice.

I thought last night’s events probably scared him quite badly too, bathing this long, so I didn’t rush him, saying: “Tidy up the bathroom properly. They’ll definitely focus on looking here later – don’t leave it all wet.”

Finally Building 29’s problems were seeing some hopeful dawn. Half anxious and half excited, while waiting downstairs I didn’t forget to cut cake for the two officers, asking curiously: “So the branch has long noticed something wrong with Building 29?”

Before sweets, all people are equal. Even Public Security Bureau officers looked exactly like young white-collar workers queuing at bubble tea shops when happily eating cake.

Wang Wei took small bites of cheesecake, saying: “Never has any house in our jurisdiction had four fatal accidents happen one after another… The deputy captain was previously transferred from another unit, has handled many dangerous major cases, has rich work experience and a keen nose – he’s long sensed there might be problems here.”

After gnawing through three peachwood swords, Chen Yuan’s expression also relaxed considerably: “Our deputy captain is good in every way, just really too much of a workaholic. As soon as he transferred over he noticed this house, had long said we should reinvestigate, but at the time it had already been characterized as accidents. The original house owner already felt this house couldn’t be sold and was afraid our investigation would make him lose even more money, so he refused to let us search thoroughly no matter what. That’s why it dragged on until now.”

The more I listened, the more puzzled I became.

This meant police had long suspected Building 29’s accidents were man-made, but since Building 29 later changed owners, logically police should have been able to contact me long ago.

After all, unlike the previous owner, I actually lived inside.

Compared to preserving value, I obviously wanted to preserve my life more.

After hesitating, I couldn’t help asking: “Then after this house was sold to me, why didn’t you contact me? I suffered for a long time, always waiting for the People’s Police to come save me.”

At this moment, Han Sha, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly interjected coolly: “Don’t talk nonsense. How do you know they didn’t contact you?”

…Huh?

Before I could react, the anxious Yang Ping couldn’t wait any longer: “Is your deputy captain delayed by something? Should we call to check?”

“Uh… probably not?”

After Chen Yuan spoke, Yang Ping seemed to sense his awkwardness and said helplessly: “Right, he’s your deputy captain – it’s inappropriate for you to rush him. How about I call instead? Give me a phone number and I’ll contact him?”

Chen Yuan and Wang Wei exchanged glances, as if reaching some consensus. Wang Wei said helplessly: “Our deputy captain usually has his own planning for work – we don’t know what he’s busy with. We won’t rush him. Mr. Yang, please contact him.”

Wang Wei then gave a phone number. I don’t know why, but as Yang Ping input it, I kept feeling this string of numbers sounded inexplicably familiar.

“Then I’ll call.”

Yang Ping’s heart was full of his sister’s case. Without another word he dialed out. In an instant, the entire first floor became completely quiet. Wang Wei and Chen Yuan both stopped eating cake, their expressions looking somewhat strange – you could say tense, but not quite.

Having run business outside for years, Yang Ping’s phone volume was particularly loud. Even standing two meters away, I could hear the dial tone coming from the receiver.

No one answered.

I guessed the other party was probably driving and was about to advise Yang Ping to wait and try again later. However, just then, along with the sound of a door opening upstairs, a loud phone ringtone also rang out.

“No answer. I’ll try again. Speaking of which, what’s your deputy captain’s surname?”

Yang Ping spoke while already hanging up the call. Almost simultaneously, the phone ringtone upstairs stopped abruptly, then rang again one second later.

This time, someone answered.

“Please wait a moment, I’ll be right there.”

A young man’s voice came through Yang Ping’s phone – this was way beyond the level of familiar.

My eyes instantly widened like copper bells as I jerked my head up to look. A voice that completely overlapped with the phone came from five meters away.

He Jian had slicked back all his damp hair, changed into a black short-sleeved cardigan and jeans, holding a phone as he stood on the stairs.

“I just finished showering.”

He Jian smiled at me – a very mature smile. In split seconds, I was completely paralyzed.

Bai Yang.exe has stopped working.

He Jian walked down two more steps, his face still showing an expression I’d never seen before. He hung up the phone and pulled out a police badge from his pocket, presenting it before me. It read Yu Jiang City Shancheng Branch Criminal Investigation Team.

I stared at him blankly. He Jian extended his hand to me.

“Mr. Bai, let me reintroduce myself. I’m He Jianqiu, deputy captain of Shancheng Criminal Investigation Team’s First Squad… From now on, I’ll be in charge of Building 29’s case.”