My House of Horrors

“You know this man?” Captain Yan saw something on the change to Chen Ge’s expression.

“Last night, it rained heavily. One of my employees was stranded at the bus stop with Jia Ming’s wife. He called me for help, so I called a taxi to go fetch them and helped take Jia Ming’s wife home. That was how I met the man.” Jia Ming’s situation was rather unique, and he was related to the last bus on Route 104, so Chen Ge did not go into detail. Instead, he quickly changed the topic. “Can I see the information on Jia Ming?”

Captain Yan passed his phone to Chen Ge. It not only had Jia Ming’s phone but also his work history and the comments that his employers had for him. “Jia Ming once came to the station due to an altercation with a client, so we have his information in our system.”

Chen Ge accepted Captain Yan’s phone. Jia Ming was just over thirty this year. He had arrived in Jiujiang around ten years ago, and he had done many jobs in the past, but none of them had lasted long. However, the reason for his dismissals were not because he was not good nor because he had problematic personality. In contrast, Jia Ming, who had just arrived in Jiujiang, was honest and hard-working. His only weakness was that he was too stubborn.

The young Jia Ming was similar to Xiao Gu in a way, a straight shooter who did not know how to adapt. Because of that, he would accidentally offend people. When he was sent to the police station, technically speaking, the fault did not lie with him. At the time, both he and his wife worked at an insurance company. One of the clients got into car accident, and the family demanded a settlement. However, based on the report of the accident, the client got into accident because he was driving under influence. Because of that, the company could reject the settlement.

Jia Ming followed the company’s rules closely, but the client’s family did not understand that. They would call daily to scold and insult him. In the end, they called people to create a fight at the insurance company. The client’s family came from power. The manager closed the door and hid in his office. He tossed Jia Ming out to be the scapegoat. After he was beaten up and humiliated, out of self-defense, Jia Ming grabbed the scissors on the table and accidentally slashed the client.

That was when things had gone from bad to worse. The wound was very light, but the client called the police immediately. The police came to mediate, but it failed. The client would not rest until Jia Ming was arrested. The injury on the client was not serious, but the family refused to let it go. The company refused to compensate them, so this dragged on. The worst victim of all this was none other than Jia Ming.

To save him from the police station, Jia Ming’s wife, Huang Ling, practically travelled to the station daily. After he left the station, Jia Ming quit his job out of anger. After that, Jia Ming’s working life dropped into a weird cycle. He kept looking for work and kept quitting. He hated human interaction and became increasingly resistant to human conversation.

The misery did not stop there. Jia Ming got into a car accident and broke one of his legs. Since then, he had remained cooped up at home and refused to go out for work anymore. The information provided by police gave Chen Ge a fuller understanding of Jia Ming. Before he dealt with the ghosts, even though Jia Ming’s life was not perfect, at least he had good morals and would not do something like child kidnapping.

“Did something go wrong? Why would the buyer select Jia Ming’s home as the address?” Chen Ge returned the phone to Captain Yan. He was not defending Jia Ming; he was merely viewing this from an objective view. “Could this be a coincidence? At the time, Ming Yang Residence was still under construction, and few people stayed at the place. Could it be that the buyer just needed a random place to complete the transaction?”

“It’s hard to say. Tomorrow, we will send someone to follow up on this case.” Captain Yan put away his phone and led Chen Ge and Lee Zheng outside. When they were at the door, they saw an officer holding a bag of sweets as he headed to Ma Fu’s cell.

“You guys even feed the criminal sweets?” As it was Chen Ge’s first time at a prison, he thought that this was the place’s rules.

“Why would we be so free?” the officer answered casually. “After Ma Fu recovers from his mania, he will ask for sweet. If we refuse, he will try to peel his skin off. After experiencing that a few times, everyone on duty now keeps several bags of sweets in the office just in case.”

“Sweets can help with his symptoms?” Chen Ge thought about it and realized it probably had something to do with Ma Fu’s past. Perhaps the children in his body were asking for sweets. After taking another step, the phone in Chen Ge’s pocket suddenly rang. “Huang Ling? Why would she call me at a time like this?”

“Your friend?” Captain Yan thought the name was familiar like he had seen it somewhere before.

Chen Ge shook his head. “She’s Jia Ming’s wife. The woman I dropped at her place with my employee last night.”

“Why would she call you?” Lee Zheng asked.

“Perhaps just to thank me?” Chen Ge accepted the call before Captain Yan and Lee Zheng. “Hello? How can I help you?”

“Are you Chen Ge? Last night, did you call a taxi to head to Eastern Jiujiang?” An unfamiliar male voice came from the phone.

“I did call a taxi to Eastern Jiujiang last night. What’s wrong?” Chen Ge thought the man’s voice was very unfamiliar. He had not heard it before.

“We’ve finally got you. I’m calling from Eastern Jiujiang’s police station. Please come over to us immediately!” The man on the phone was tough and loud. Even Captain Yan and Lee Zheng could hear him.

“You have to give me a reason for summoning me, right?” Chen Ge felt this was strange. He had been honest lately. Why would Eastern Jiujiang’s police station summon him?

“You need us to remind you what you have done? Get over here now to assist the investigation!” Chen Ge planned to visit Ming Yang Residence that night, and he did not want to waste time. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. I’m now at the prison, and this is not somewhere that I can leave just like that.”

“The prison?” The officer did not expect such an answer from Chen Ge. “Okay, then you tell the people to call the prison director, Director Wang. No matter what, you have to come tonight.”

“The prison director is not Director Wang but Director Bai.” Captain Yan already recognized the person on the phone. He took Chen Ge’s phone and said, “Tian Lei, this is Ol’ Yan from the branch station. Chen Ge is now with me, what crime has he committed?”

“Captain Yan‽” The man on the phone-startled, and his tone softened plenty. “Last night, when it was almost dawn, there was a taxi driver that called us saying he was abducted. He was supposed to be in Western Jiujiang, but when he woke up, he was in Eastern Jiujiang. The camera and driving record were all ruined, and we suspect that the culprit is someone antisocial but with high intelligence. After a brief investigation, we suspect the culprit is Chen Ge.”

“Where are you getting all this information? Don’t randomly accuse people without a clear investigation. This should be a misunderstanding. I’ll bring him there with me in a bit.” After hanging up, Captain Yan returned the phone to Chen Ge.

“Captain Yan, what happened?” Lee Zheng asked softly. He was quite good with Chen Ge.

“It was a call from Eastern Jiujiang police station.” Captain Yan’s expression was weird as he turned to look at Chen Ge. “A few days ago, Ol’ Lee complained to me that work at Western Jiujiang was too harsh, and he wanted to transfer to Eastern Jiujiang.”