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The crowd was growing larger, and the square was filled with people. Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "They're coming, they're coming!" Everyone hurriedly looked over to see two rows of dashing Flag Bearers, dressed in uniform military attire, wearing pristine white gloves, standing tall and proud. Their movements were synchronized as they held the national flag and marched in precise steps toward the flag-raising platform.
The solemn and sacred moment had finally arrived. Accompanied by the stirring March of the Volunteers, the vibrant Five-Star Red Flag slowly rose, greeting the first rays of sunlight like the dawn breaking in the East.
"...We are united as one, advancing through enemy fire, forward, forward, forward!" As the national anthem came to a halt and the flag reached its highest point, Bai Tang felt moisture at the corners of her eyes. She turned to look around; she was not alone—most people had tears in their eyes. In such a solemn moment, being a member of Huaxia would surely evoke feelings of pride and emotion.
As the crowd gradually dispersed, half of them left the square while the other half remained to enjoy other attractions. Bai Tang followed the flow of people up to the top of the Anmen Gate, overlooking the square. Then she paid her respects at the Monument to the People's Heroes for those who sacrificed their lives for Huaxia before taking a stroll through the National Museum. This museum is known for being the largest single-structure museum in terms of area in the world and one of the richest in terms of Huaxia's cultural relics. Its overall scale ranks among the top in global museums and it is also one of the most popular museums for tourists worldwide.
The sun was already high in the sky when Bai Tang bought a bottle of water and decided to return to her hotel for lunch and a nap. However, she hadn't even reached her hotel when she found the road blocked due to police activity. Not wanting to take a detour, Bai Tang leaned against the roadside to wait for the police to leave before continuing her journey. Then she spotted Tian Yuan and Zhu Xu.
"You should go to a temple and pray to get rid of your bad luck," Tian Yuan suggested to Bai Tang. What kind of luck was this? Three murders had occurred in Beijing, and she had encountered two of them.
"Forget it." She practiced Cultivation, which could be considered Daoist; how could she seek blessings from Buddhism?
"Are this time's victims related to the previous two?" Bai Tang asked.
"Yes! This is a serial murder case," Tian Yuan replied.
Bai Tang inquired, "Are there any connections between the three victims?"
Tian Yuan responded, "Aside from their similar methods of death, there is no connection between them."
Rubbing her face, Tian Yuan continued, "The backgrounds and social circles of these three victims have no similarities at all; I can't think of any reason why the murderer would target them."
"Perhaps the murderer is psychologically disturbed and just randomly selects targets when they feel like killing; these three victims were just unlucky enough to be caught," Bai Tang speculated.
"Who knows!" Tian Yuan said. "Are you heading back to your hotel now? Let me escort you through the restricted area."
"It's noon; I'm going back for lunch. Would you like to join me? My treat," Bai Tang invited.
Tian Yuan: "No, I still have to work with Lao Zhu. A boxed lunch is enough for me. How about we have dinner together instead?"
Bai Tang: "Unfortunately, I have things to do in the afternoon and evening."
"Then let's do it next time."
"Okay, call me when you have time."
After having a steak for lunch and enjoying a nice nap, Bai Tang walked out of the hotel Main Gate at four in the afternoon. She called Ye Xiang, who was at work and wouldn't be home until six, but his girlfriend's company was close to home, so she could arrive by a quarter past five.
"Just wait at my place for a bit; we can have dinner together," Ye Xiang said on the phone. Although they weren't particularly close, they were acquaintances. Since they met in a foreign city and Ye Xiang had asked Bai Tang for help, he naturally wanted to treat her well. He had instructed his girlfriend to buy a bunch of vegetables and cooked dishes from the supermarket—he had just taken out a loan to buy a house and didn't have extra money to take Bai Tang out to eat, so he could only host her at home, claiming that home-cooked meals were more sincere.
Looking at the time on her phone, Bai Tang decided against taking a taxi or subway and opted to experience what it was like for an ordinary white-collar worker in Beijing to take the bus. However, since it wasn't rush hour yet, she missed out on the feeling of being packed like sardines. Still, she enjoyed the experience of transferring buses. Ye Xiang lived outside the third ring road, and by the time Bai Tang arrived at his doorstep, it was already five-thirty. She had wasted an hour and a half on the road.
With a ring of the bell, the Main Gate opened. Ye Xiang's girlfriend Mo Xinyu showed a hint of wariness upon seeing Bai Tang, but still friendly let her into the house.
"Ye Xiang is still on his way; you can sit for a while and watch some Television," Mo Xinyu led Bai Tang to sit on the sofa in the Living Room, where snacks like Apple, sunflower seeds, peanuts, and candies were laid out on the coffee table.
"Help yourself to whatever you want. What would you like to drink? Tea, coffee, or soda?" Mo Xinyu warmly welcomed Bai Tang, fully embodying the role of a gracious host. "We only have oolong tea; the coffee is instant. We do have more varieties of soda—there's cola, Sprite, orange juice with pulp, and soy milk. Which one would you like?"
"Cola will be fine." Bai Tang couldn't help but find it amusing that she was being treated as a rival by Mo Xinyu, despite having no connection with Ye Xiang. If she were truly a rival, would Ye Xiang allow her to come over so casually?
"Make yourself at home! I still need to go cook," Mo Xinyu continued to display her role as a diligent hostess as she entered the Kitchen wearing an apron.
Bai Tang took a sip of her cola to suppress any inappropriate laughter. She glanced around Ye Xiang's place; it was just a one-bedroom apartment—after all, this was Beijing where housing prices were exorbitant; it was impressive that Ye Xiang could afford such a place. Maybe in ten or twenty years when he earned more, he could upgrade to a two or three-bedroom apartment. The furniture was arranged very tightly, making the space feel even smaller and somewhat stifling. The bedroom door was closed, so she couldn't see inside; however, the kitchen had an open design with large glass panels replacing the wall between the Living Room and Kitchen, allowing visibility from one room to another.
As she watched Mo Xinyu put roasted chicken, ham, fried ribbon fish, braised pig's trotters, stewed pork with preserved vegetables, and steamed spare ribs into the microwave—the only dish she made herself was stir-fried greens—Bai Tang thought that this woman might not be someone who could manage daily life well. She doubted that Aunt Liu would be pleased with this daughter-in-law. Although Mo Xinyu had been dating Ye Xiang since college, he had never brought her home to meet his parents. Both Aunt Liu and her husband had long been dissatisfied with this situation—during New Year’s celebrations, if Ye Xiang wasn’t spending time with his girlfriend in Beijing, he would go to her family’s place for New Year’s celebrations instead of coming home for several years now; this left both parents feeling quite resentful.
After waiting for nearly an hour, Ye Xiang returned home and had a not-so-delicious dinner. Bai Tang then said her goodbyes. Ye Xiang quickly took out the items he had prepared for his parents, which included several boxes of nutritional supplements and some local specialties from the capital.
"Sending so many nutritional supplements is not as good as going home to see Aunt Liu and the others yourself. How many years has it been since you last went home?" Bai Tang asked Ye Xiang.
"Wasn't I busy? My career is at a rising stage, and I can't take a long vacation," Ye Xiang defended himself.
"What about during the Spring Festival? That's a seven-day holiday. Transportation is convenient now; unlike before when time was wasted on the road, nowadays it only takes you a short time, leaving six days to spend with your parents." Bai Tang, recalling Aunt Liu's sadness whenever she mentioned her son, scolded him angrily.
"Big sister, haven't you heard of 'overtime'? The pay for working during the Spring Festival is three times the usual rate. I need to work hard to earn money to pay off my mortgage! Let's wait two years; once I've paid off the loan, I'll go home to see my parents."
"Excuses. You have time to accompany your girlfriend to her home but no time to return to City D?"
"Isn't Mo Xinyu's home close to the capital? Just over a hundred kilometers, it takes less than three hours round trip. City D is over two thousand kilometers away!" Ye Xiang protested.
"If you truly cared, would two thousand kilometers really be a problem?" Bai Tang waved down a taxi, placed her things inside, and got in herself. Before closing the door, she deliberately left him with a saying: "The tree wishes to be still, but the wind does not cease; the child wishes to care for their parents, but the parents do not wait." She told him to think it over.
She closed the door, instructing the driver to start driving, and blew a cloud of smoke in Ye Xiang's face.
"The girl was right! Nowadays, young people are so busy that they can't go home. Leaving their parents both missing and worrying about them is really unfilial," the driver agreed.
"Heh." Bai Tang smiled. Seeing that the driver looked to be only in his forties, it was clear he wasn't lamenting because of his own children; he must have had similar experiences with his own elders that left him feeling reflective.
"If I had brought my mother here to take care of her back then, she wouldn't have passed away so soon."
Indeed.
Bai Tang didn't know how to comfort the suddenly sentimental Driver, but fortunately, Driver quickly composed himself. Because of Bai Tang's words, Driver had a good impression of her and talked non-stop along the way, sharing many interesting stories with Bai Tang. As a result, time flew by for Bai Tang, and before she knew it, they had arrived at the hotel after just a few anecdotes.
Before they even entered the Main Gate of the hotel, Bai Tang saw Chen Jianguo walking out from inside, followed by several subordinates. Among them was a man in a light-colored suit, standing out amidst the blue and black uniforms.
"Bai Tang!" Chen Jianguo greeted first.
"Captain Chen, have you caught the suspect?" Bai Tang carefully observed the suspect. He was just over thirty years old, with regular features and an elite appearance, showing no signs of being a pervert or a criminal. However, "you can't judge a book by its cover"; just because someone looks elite doesn't mean they can't be a murderer.
"We can't be sure yet, but this person is the prime suspect," Chen Jianguo replied. "We need to head back to take his statement; we’ll be on our way."
"Okay, goodbye." Bai Tang stepped aside to let Chen Jianguo pass.
A wallet fell from the suspect's pocket and rolled over to Bai Tang's side. She picked it up and noticed a photo inside; the woman smiling radiantly in the picture was none other than Ling Xin.
Chen Jianguo returned to Bai Tang's side, and she handed him the wallet, asking, "Can I ask what the suspect's name is?"
"His name is Ma Congyun, from Magic City."
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