My upstairs neighbor got stabbed.

The cops investigated for over half a month and found absolutely nothing.

It wasn’t that there were no suspects.

It was that there were too many.

Half the neighborhood.

Speaking of my upstairs neighbor, I could talk about her for three days and three nights and still not finish.

Brutish, unreasonable, arrogant — every word you could use to describe a bully applied to her.

Oh, I should mention — she was a woman.

You meet bullies everywhere. Everyone has encountered them to some degree.

But my neighbor had every single toxic trait stacked on top of each other.

She owned a large dog. Registered, with all the proper permits.

She walked it off-leash. The dog barked at people, jumped on people, and she did nothing — just stood there watching quietly.

She’d wait until her dog finished its rampage, then leisurely stroll away with it, regardless of whether anyone had been frightened.

Almost everyone in the neighborhood suffered, but no one could do anything. Her dog had never actually bitten anyone.

But you can only walk by the river so many times before your shoes get wet.

Last month, that dog bit a five-year-old child.

The kid was with his grandmother, riding a balance bike in the neighborhood. For some reason, that day the dog charged straight at him and bit down. No one in the neighborhood dared to approach. Finally, the property management came with an electric baton, and only then did the dog release its grip. It had torn off one of the child’s arms — flesh and blood everywhere.

Instantly, the neighborhood group chat exploded. Everyone was furious.

This was unacceptable. Today the dog bites a child, tomorrow it could be an adult, the day after an elderly person.

Before, people turned a blind eye. Not anymore.

Residents organized a petition to the property management, demanding the dog be removed from the neighborhood.

The child’s family reported it to the police immediately.

We all assumed the police would handle it seriously — that this woman would go to jail and the dog would never appear in the neighborhood again. But a week later, she was back, walking the dog in the neighborhood. This time, on a leash.

We later learned she had paid the family two million yuan.

The family dropped the case.

Two million yuan bought an arm.

That was also when we learned why she never stopped her dog from barking at people or jumping on them.

Money.

Money solves everything.

The property management said their hands were tied — the dog was properly registered, all paperwork in order. They had no authority to force removal, only to offer gentlepersuasion.

I was bitten by a dog when I was little. I’m terrified of all dogs — Chihuahuas, cute breeds, doesn’t matter. I’m scared to death.

As luck would have it, on the very first day I moved into this neighborhood, I ran into that dog.

I was in the elevator, hands full of bags, a suitcase at my feet. The dog sauntered in and started circling me.

It was the first time I’d been this close to such a large dog. My scalp tingled, my whole body went rigid. I’m not exaggerating — I thought I was going to die right there in that elevator.

Then I heard a scoff.

I knew the dog’s owner could see my fear.

But she did nothing. She let her dog circle me, sniffing me all over.

She lived on the sixteenth floor. I was on the fifteenth.

I stared at the elevator numbers, climbing one floor at a time.

It felt like a century. Finally, my floor arrived. The doors opened and I bolted out.

The moment I got home, I collapsed on the floor.

I nearly scared myself to death.

From then on, every time I entered the elevator, I’d peek in to check if my neighbor and her dog were there. But the more you try to avoid something, the more you run into it.

That dog seemed especially fond of me. Every time it saw me, it would wag its tail and circle around me. Sometimes its owner would call it, but it wouldn’t listen — just kept circling, rubbing against me.

Once I couldn’t take it anymore and told the owner to control her dog. If she wouldn’t, someone else would do it for her.

She scoffed and looked at me — the kind of look you’d give garbage.

Then she ignored me completely.

The dog-biting incident ended quietly.

Everyone privately speculated about this woman’s background.

“Her family must be in government.”

“And high-ranking at that.”

“Don’t forget about those two million.”

“Even if not in government, she’s definitely wealthy.”

But there were dissenting voices in the group chat.

“If she’s really that rich and powerful, why would she live in our neighborhood? She’d be in a villa, or at least a high-end complex.”

“She probably has some money, but not that much.”

“Maybe she’s someone’s kept mistress.”

“If it were my kid who got bitten, I’d fight her to the end even if she offered me ten million.”

“People like her need to be dealt with. Scum of society. A cancer.”

“She treats the neighborhood’s public spaces like her own backyard.”

The group cheered in agreement.

Yeah. Two million yuan to buy off an arm.

But that line — “maybe she’s someone’s kept mistress” — caught my attention.

This woman seemed to live alone. I’d never seen her with anyone else, never seen her go to work. But delivery orders came to her door frequently.

A single woman, living alone, rarely going out except to walk the dog.

Could she really be someone’s second wife, kept in our neighborhood?

The day she died, the group chat erupted with celebration at first.

“I said this woman was so arrogant, sooner or later she’d get what’s coming to her.”

“Exactly. Evil deeds catch up with you.”

“Finally, the neighborhood can have some peace.”

Then someone in the group asked:

“That huge dog is gone too, and the owner is dead. Doesn’t that scare anyone?”

“What’s scary about that? It just proves the killer knew exactly who to blame.”

“It’s simple — the dog knew the killer. The killer took the dog with them.”

“Then the killer probably isn’t from our neighborhood, right?”

That last sentence shut everyone up.

Even though everyone was glad the neighbor was dead, the fact that a murderer lived in the same neighborhood was terrifying.

Today they kill someone over a dog. Tomorrow, what if something else doesn’t go their way?

And the dog was gone too.

After that, no one dared to speak in the group chat.

No one knew if the killer was someone on their contact list.

No one knew if the things they’d said in the group would be seen by the killer, making them a target.

Most importantly, the police still hadn’t found the killer.

The killer had murdered cleanly, leaving not a single trace.

Someone had once shared a photo of the dead neighbor in the group — a knife stuck in her chest, a pool of blood on the floor. Nothing else. No signs of struggle, no forced entry.

Just an ordinary woman living alone, lying in a pool of blood, a knife in her chest.

None of this had anything to do with me. Like everyone else, I was just a spectator.

But now it was different.

She was dead.

And the police had come to me.

So here the police were again, knocking on my door for another round of questioning.

This was the third time.

“Did you hear the dog barking around one a.m. on July eighteenth?”

I shook my head.

“Did you hear any unusual sounds from upstairs?”

I shook my head again.

“Officer Wang, you’ve asked me this several times already. I really didn’t hear anything. I was fast asleep by that hour. You could ask me a hundred more times and I still wouldn’t know.”

I knew why the police kept pressing. The neighbor’s dog hadn’t been killed — it was still alive and well. If a stranger had entered to commit murder that night, the dog would never have stayed quiet.

A dog that size barking would have been impossible for us downstairs not to hear.

But the strange thing was, I genuinely hadn’t heard a thing that night.

“So you’re suggesting the killer was someone the dog knew?” Officer Wang asked casually.

I waved my hands quickly.

“I just said I didn’t hear the dog bark. How would I know whether the dog knew the killer or not?”

Officer Wang asked a few more of the same questions as before.

“Did the deceased have a lot of enemies in the neighborhood?”

“Probably. Mainly because of that dog — it was terrifying, always jumping on people. Anyone would be scared. And it bit off a child’s arm before.”

“Oh? So you’re implying the family has the biggest suspicion?”

I felt like Officer Wang was trying to lead me. Do all cops just talk like this?

“I’m just telling you what I know.”

Actually, that family wasn’t very suspicious. First, after the incident, they took the money and moved away — they’d even sold their apartment. I couldn’t imagine why they’d come back to kill.

Second, if they were the killers, they’d be the prime suspects. The police would look at them first. They wouldn’t be that stupid.

“Have you seen her with anyone else?” Officer Wang continued.

“No.”

I paused, then asked:

“Why don’t you consider it a suicide?”

I was genuinely curious. Why did everyone immediately assume murder? Suicide was certainly possible.

“Don’t ask about things that don’t concern you.”

“Oh.”

As he was leaving, Officer Wang told me he’d be back if he had more questions.

“I’ll cooperate for sure.”

Actually, I was suffering inside. I just lived downstairs from her — I wasn’t her guardian. Why did they keep coming to question me?

As I walked Officer Wang to the door, I ran into my neighbor across the hall, also seeing a cop out.

We exchanged a look and a helpless smile.

After the police left, my male neighbor across the hall said:

“So unlucky. A perfectly good day off, ruined. They keep coming every day, asking the same things.”

“Tell me about it.”

Then he leaned in close and asked:

“Did you really not hear a single sound that night?”

“Really didn’t. It was late at night, I was already asleep, had to work the next day.”

He looked around, then whispered:

“Actually, I heard the dog bark once that night. Just once, and then nothing.”

“Then why didn’t you tell the police?” I asked quickly.

“I’m not going to bring that on myself. If I tell them, they’ll ask me what I was doing, what time I heard it — it’ll never end.”

I nodded. He had a point.

“Besides, if the killer is from our neighborhood and finds out I heard something, wouldn’t they...”

He made a throat-slitting gesture.

“Don’t talk like that.” I stopped him immediately.

“Even though I’m not sure if it’s someone from our neighborhood, I can say for certain the dog knew the killer. Otherwise it wouldn’t have barked just once and stopped. That dog usually barks at everyone for a long time.”

“Do you think it could be a crime of passion? Everyone’s saying she was some rich businessman’s mistress, kept in our neighborhood.”

I used to think only women gossiped. Turns out men do too.

“Crime of passion? If he didn’t want to keep her anymore, he could just let her go. Why kill her?” I asked, confused.

“Because this woman knew some secret of the man’s.”

Nonsense.

Seeing I didn’t respond, he continued:

“Did you buy or rent this place?”

“Rent.” I answered honestly.

The neighborhood wasn’t high-end, but it wasn’t bad either. It was fine to live in.

“If I were you, I’d move out. Someone died upstairs, and the cops keep showing up. Why stay? I can’t move — my family bought this place. Unless I sell it, and I can’t sell it now. Her death is going to drag down the whole building’s value. So unlucky.”

“Tell me about it. I just paid six months’ rent. If I move now, I lose my deposit.”

“What’s a deposit? Sleeping under a place where someone died — aren’t you afraid of ghosts pressing on you? You’re a girl, you’ve got some nerve.”

His words woke me up.

“You’ve got a point.”

My neighbor looked pleased with himself and continued:

“I heard killers like to return to the scene of the crime. I’m planning to move to my mom’s place soon too. Would be unlucky to run into the killer.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

After chatting with my neighbor, I went back inside and started looking for apartments. I needed to move out as soon as possible.

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

I thought it was my male neighbor again. After all, I didn’t know anyone else in this neighborhood.

This guy was so familiar, so chatty. He said his name was Wu Jian. Might as well call him Wu Jian-tan — “endless chatter.”

I opened the door with an impatient face, only to find no one there.

As I was wondering, I spotted an envelope on the floor.

I opened it and immediately ran out.

Both elevators were still on the first and eighth floors, unmoving. Whoever left the envelope must have taken the stairs.

I rushed downstairs. From the fifteenth floor to the ground floor, all the way to the building entrance — not a soul in sight.

Damn it. If I find out who...

I looked carefully at the photo inside the envelope.

A photo of the neighbor’s dog crouching at my feet.

I tore the photo to pieces.

That stupid dog.

As stupid as ever.

I really had been bitten by a dog when I was little. I’d always had a shadow about dogs. No matter how far away, just seeing one made me shake.

My mom, to help me overcome this fear, decided to tackle the problem at its source.

So she bought me a dog.

The dog was tiny at first.

But even that small, it couldn’t ease my fear.

The first time I found a dog in the house, I collapsed at the doorway, refusing to go in. I sat there for two hours before my mom dragged me inside.

After that, at school and on the road, I’d drag out my time as long as possible. Whenever my mom wasn’t home, I’d lock the dog in a small room.

What changed my feelings about the dog was one time when it was circling around me and I accidentally kicked it. After realizing what I’d done, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. But that stupid dog just whimpered twice, then wagged its tail and circled me again.

After I kicked it several more times with no reaction — just circling me, like it was trying to please me — I knew this dog was a bit dumb.

When I left it, it hadn’t grown this big yet.

I never expected that when I saw it again, it had grown so large. But it was still the same — stupid. Seeing me, it circled around me. And now someone with ulterior motives had taken a photo.

I glued the torn photo back together and looked at it again and again.

I tried to figure out who could have taken this photo. It didn’t show my face — only my back. But the photographer definitely knew me. Otherwise, why send me the photo?

In the photo, I was sitting on the fire escape stairs, and that stupid dog was crouching beside me.

To take this photo, the person must have been on a floor above where I was sitting. That meant above the fifteenth floor — either the sixteenth floor resident or the seventeenth floor resident.

No, wait. Residents of the entire building were suspects.

After all, people in this building often went to the rooftop to dry clothes. Taking the stairs down wasn’t unheard of.

But who would be so bored as to take this photo? And I hadn’t noticed anyone at the time.

Just as I was lost in thought, a rapid knock on the door startled me again.

My heart jumped.

Worried it was the same person returning, I tiptoed quickly to the door and yanked it open.

There was my male neighbor, hand raised in surprise.

“Holy crap, did you see? The group... the group...”

He was extremely agitated, incoherent.

I looked at him, bewildered, having no idea why he was so excited.

“Someone in the group just leaked that the upstairs female neighbor was the kept mistress of a local tycoon.”

Seeing my indifference, he said with frustration:

“The developer of our neighborhood is him — Nie Zhenggang.”

“Holy crap, maybe he’s even been to our neighborhood.”

I immediately pulled out my phone to check. My neighborhood group chat had no messages at all.

“I don’t see anything.”

My neighbor glanced at my phone and said:

“That’s our building’s group. Let me add you to the big group — the big group doesn’t have any renters, only homeowners. Let me add you on WeChat.”

Soon I was in the big group.

Unfortunately, after I joined, the person who leaked the info stopped talking.

Only discussion messages from the group remained.

“Did you know Nie Zhenggang’s original wife died in May? The key point is — she jumped off a building. Suicide.”

“She was probably driven to it by this woman.”

“Impossible. Wives of men at that level are always generous. No one believes a man of that status doesn’t have mistresses.”

“Now it’s getting interesting. I originally thought this woman was killed by neighborhood residents over the dog. Looks like that’s not the case.”

“More and more interesting.”

My neighbor beside me said excitedly:

“Do you think Nie Zhenggang could be the killer? It’s definitely him. The dog barked once that night — probably because it recognized someone familiar. Nie Zhenggang is a man, strong, and this woman had no guard up. That’s how she was killed so easily.”

“What you say makes sense, but what’s the motive? No need to take on a murder charge over a woman, right?”

“True. With that much money, he could hire a killer. Why do it himself?”

I nodded. That made sense.

Then my neighbor nudged me again.

“Look at the group.”

“I heard Nie Zhenggang has a daughter abroad.”

“Don’t all rich people’s kids study abroad? What’s so special about that?”

“Exactly.”

“Then didn’t she come back for her mother’s funeral?”

“Doesn’t seem like it. I just searched for photos from Nie Zhenggang’s funeral for his ex-wife — didn’t see his daughter.”

“Another ungrateful child.”

Looking at these messages, I thought for a moment and said to my neighbor:

“Isn’t it bad to discuss other people like this?”

“What’s bad about it? Chinese people love gossiping. It’s for fun.”

“This is spreading rumors.”

“Not that serious. By the way, have you found a suitable place yet? If not, I can introduce you to some...”

“No need, no need. I’ll look myself.”

After thanking my neighbor, I went back to my room.

Seeing the photo on the table, I picked it up, looked at it, and tore it to pieces again. This time it couldn’t be pieced back together.

In the afternoon, while I was taking a nap, the knocking started again.

Screw it. I don’t care anymore. Let whoever wants to knock, knock.

But the knocking kept going, louder and louder.

I got out of bed furiously and opened the door.

A group of police officers stood outside. Officer Wang, at the front, showed his badge.

“Miss Xie, please cooperate with us and come to the station.”

Haunting me like a ghost.

As I was taken away, my male neighbor stood at his doorway, looking bewildered and at a loss.

Sigh. Finally got to know a warm-hearted neighbor.

In the interrogation room, Officer Wang and his assistant sat across from me.

“I’ve said it many times. I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Miss Xie, you’ve concealed a lot of things, which makes us suspicious.”

“What have I concealed?”

“Your father is Nie Zhenggang.”

What a huge joke.

“Did you ever ask me who my father is? You never asked. How can you say I concealed it? Am I supposed to tell everyone I meet that my father is Nie Zhenggang? They’d just think I’m crazy.”

In middle school, when I told others my dad was Nie Zhenggang, my classmates said I had problems. Their strongest rebuttal was:

“Then why don’t you have the surname Nie?”

Yes, I took my mother’s surname.

My name is Xie Wenjun, not Nie Wenjun.

“The deceased was your father’s mistress. We found that after you returned to the country, you moved in right below her. You dare say all of this is a coincidence?”

“You don’t think I killed her, do you?”

“You have the strongest motive.”

“Please. My father has so many mistresses. If I killed every one of them, what would I be? A serial killer?”

“You’re saying you didn’t know your upstairs neighbor was your father’s mistress?”

“I didn’t know. Maybe it’s a coincidence. You know, it’s a big world with all sorts of strange things.”

“So you didn’t know her either?”

“Didn’t know her.”

Officer Wang across from me was clearly unsatisfied with my answer.

He frowned, then whispered something to his assistant. The assistant took out a phone and played a video.

The moment I saw the video, I knew I was done for.

The video showed me arguing with the female neighbor.

“You argued during the day, and she died that night. How do you explain that?”

How should I know!

I was baffled too.

When I found out she was dead, I was extremely surprised.

That day, I had gone to her to ask for my mom’s dog back. She refused, saying it was given to her by my dad. I was so angry I argued with her a few sentences.

It was also the first time I’d had a face-to-face dispute with any of my father’s mistresses.

When I found the female neighbor and identified myself, she was surprised at first. Then, like all mistresses, she was quite arrogant. Probably all of my dad’s mistresses knew that my mom and I weren’t favored.

Since I was little, I knew my dad had many women. He was often not home. At first, my mom would cry frequently. Later, she realized I was quite smart and good at studying, and her focus shifted.

At first, I also longed for my father’s companionship like she did. I studied desperately, thinking it would earn his respect. It didn’t. After all, no matter how well I studied, in his eyes I’d still end up working for bosses like him. Especially since I was a girl.

Why didn’t my mom have another child?

Because she was weak. She couldn’t get pregnant again.

As for whether my dad had illegitimate children outside, I’d asked my mom about it.

She said no.

If she said no, then no. Even though I didn’t quite believe it.

In my junior year, my mom encouraged me to apply for graduate school abroad.

“Look at rich people’s kids — which ones don’t go abroad? Going abroad broadens your horizons. Once you’re there, you might not want to come back.”

“How is that possible?”

I thought my mom was funny. If I didn’t come back, what about her? Leave her alone in China?

“If I go abroad, it’s only if you come with me. We’ve never been separated since I was born. Could you bear to send me alone?”

“Fine, fine. Mom can’t bear it. You go first. Mom will arrange things here and come over.”

After I went abroad, less than half a year later, my mom died.

My dad didn’t tell me about my mom’s death. A friend from back home told me.

They said my dad claimed my mom drank too much and fell from a building.

What a joke. An enormous joke. My mom never drank.

How could she have fallen from a building while drunk?

I bought a ticket and returned immediately.

I still remember when I left for abroad, my mom stayed with me at the airport all the way until I went through the gate. But when I came back, the airport was empty — just me.

If I had known that going abroad would mean my mom’s death, I would never have left in this lifetime.

Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as foreseeing the future.

My mom was dead.

Officer Wang saw I wasn’t speaking and sighed: “If you turn yourself in, we might be able to give you leniency. The surveillance shows you arguing during the day and she died that night. You can’t escape this.”

“Officer Wang, you say the police classified my mom’s death as suicide in one night. My upstairs neighbor — you’ve been investigating for half a month. Why don’t you classify that as suicide?”

Officer Wang clearly didn’t expect me to say that.

“Your mother’s case wasn’t under my responsibility.”

“Oh? So Officer Wang is saying the officer in charge of my mom’s case was irresponsible?”

“You need to trust the police’s judgment.”

“Oh, really? Then I say I didn’t kill anyone — why don’t you believe me?”

Officer Wang looked at me helplessly:

“Police work is based on evidence. We don’t arrest people randomly. You have the strongest motive. That dog was one you raised before. If you were the killer, it wouldn’t have barked. That also explains why none of the neighbors above, below, or beside heard the dog.”

“Do you have evidence that I killed her?”

“Not yet...”

“You have no evidence that I killed anyone. It’s all speculation. The police also can’t prove my mom committed suicide, but you just did nothing.”

“Ms. Xie, if you’re this uncooperative, we...”

“I have evidence.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have evidence proving I didn’t kill anyone.”

After I said that, the assistant beside Officer Wang left.

A moment later, he came back and whispered something in Officer Wang’s ear.

Officer Wang looked at me with a complicated expression. I smiled.

Soon, I was released.

As I was leaving, I playfully said to Officer Wang:

“Next time, don’t arrest people so casually. Be careful — I might sue you. You know my dad has a team of lawyers.”

I had surveillance cameras installed in my home.

The footage showed that I went into my room to sleep at ten that night and came out at seven the next morning. I hadn’t left once in between. There was absolutely no way I could have gone upstairs to kill anyone.

After leaving the police station, I looked at the chat messages in the neighborhood group and sighed. I knew it would be like this.

“Holy crap, Nie Zhenggang’s daughter lives in our neighborhood.”

“Our neighborhood is going to be famous.”

“Daughter and mistress living on floors above and below.”

“So she killed her dad’s mistress?”

“Definitely. Otherwise why would the police arrest her?”

“Probably not. Her dad has plenty of mistresses. No need.”

I nodded.

Not necessary.

I didn’t kill her.

I moved below her entirely because of that stupid dog, and because I didn’t know where else to go.

I couldn’t go back. If I went back, my dad would know I’d returned to the country. I still wanted to investigate how my mom died.

As for how I found the dog — when I was little, my mom was afraid the dog would get lost or stolen, so she put a tracker in its collar.

If the dog had been taken by one of my dad’s other mistresses, I would have moved to that mistress’s place.

So you see, I didn’t move here because of my dad’s mistress. I moved here because of that stupid dog.

Wherever the dog was, that’s where I was.

The day that unknown person took the photo, I was looking for something on the dog.

Actually, on the day my mom died, she sent me a text.

She asked if I was still afraid of dogs, if I remembered the dog we had at home.

She told me not to be afraid of dogs anymore. Dogs are my most loyal companions.

She also sent me a photo of the dog.

“She’s very big now. Don’t be afraid when you see her.”

“I show her your photo every day.”

When I saw that the little dog I remembered had grown so large, I was shocked.

“How did she get so big? Mom, what do you feed her every day!”

After returning to pay respects to my mom, I started looking for the dog. I found it quickly. Probably because my mom showed it my photo, or because I’d raised it for a while, or because it had a good memory — when it saw me, its eyes lit up and it kept circling around me.

But honestly, seeing such a big dog, I was still involuntarily afraid.

At first, I didn’t know my mom had hidden something in the dog’s collar. But the dog kept pawing at the collar, which made me suspicious.

The collar was custom-made by my mom. She’d said at the time that you could hide something small inside.

Sure enough, I felt around and found something. After I took it out, the dog became obedient — crouching at my feet, motionless.

That was the moment the unknown person took the photo.

That also explained why I didn’t notice anyone taking pictures — I was too absorbed in my own thoughts.

Inside was a bank account number.

My mom had left me money. Enough to last a lifetime.

I squatted outside the police station for a while, and then my dad’s car arrived.

After I got in the car, the first thing my dad said was:

“Go back tomorrow. Who told you to run back in the middle of your studies?”

“If I hadn’t come back, how would I know my mom was dead?”

“Your mom told me not to tell you.”

“Bullshit.”

“Xie Wenjun, who taught you to curse? Is that how your mom raised you?”

It was better if he didn’t mention my mom. Once he did, I was furious.

“She’s dead. A child with no father and no mother — of course I curse.”

My dad sighed and said:

“Believe me, your mom really jumped on her own.”

I didn’t speak.

“By the way, did your mom ever give you anything?”

I became alert. I didn’t know what he meant by this question.

“What thing?”

“Did your mom leave you anything...”

“Do you think that’s possible? I didn’t even know my mom was dead. I didn’t even see her one last time. What could she have left me?”

Suddenly I laughed.

“Actually, no. My mom did leave me something.”

“What? Can I see it?” My dad said urgently.

“It’s that dog. Didn’t you give it to your mistress? Nie Zhenggang, I despise you. My mom is dead, and you disgust her by giving her dog to your mistress. When she was alive, you cheated everywhere. Now she’s dead, and you won’t even let her rest.”

“If it weren’t for me, that dog would have been gone who knows where. You should thank me. Your mom raising such a big dog — I don’t even know what she was thinking.”

“Dad, did you have her killed?”

“Who?” My dad looked at me, confused.

“Your mistress.”

“You think I killed your mom, and now you think I killed her too. In your eyes, am I a serial killer?”

“Aren’t you?”

I saw loneliness and disappointment in my dad’s eyes.

“Whether you believe it or not, I didn’t kill your mom or her. I swear — killing her would have no meaning for me.”

That was strange.

I didn’t kill her.

My dad didn’t kill her.

So who did?

I asked my dad to take me back to the neighborhood.

“You’re not coming home?”

I thought for a moment and said:

“I’ll go pack my things.”

When I got back home, I found Wu Jian sitting at my door.

He stood up immediately when he saw me.

“Are you okay?”

I shook my head.

Seeing him wanting to speak but holding back, I smiled:

“Ask whatever you want to ask.”

“You’re really Nie Zhenggang’s daughter?”

I nodded.

Then he pointed upstairs.

“Then she...?”

“I really didn’t kill her. I have surveillance footage at home to prove it.”

He was stunned for a moment, then immediately said:

“I knew it couldn’t have been you.”

Suddenly he looked awkward, embarrassed:

“I have a favor to ask you. I know I’m being shameless, but your dad is Nie Zhenggang — someone I could never meet in my entire life.”

I said helplessly:

“Go ahead. What favor?”

“I have a photo of your dad at home. Could you get him to sign it?”

“Sure.”

He was thrilled, ushering me in:

“Wait here. I’ll go get the photo.”

I stood at the door waiting, looking at the layout of his place. It was similar to my rented apartment — one facing west, one facing east.

Like most guys’ places, it was messy.

Just then, I saw something sticking out from the corner of the sofa. A golden ring.

I tiptoed closer to look. It was a dog tag.

Suddenly Wu Jian came out, excited:

“Found it. This photo.”

I grabbed the photo and said apologetically:

“I need to use the bathroom urgently. I’ll go in first. I’ll give it back when my dad has signed it.”

Back home, I locked the door immediately and called Officer Wang with trembling hands.

The dog tag I’d just seen was clearly from that stupid dog.

The tag and the collar were both custom-made by my mom. I’d attached them myself.

And now they were in Wu Jian’s home.

No wonder I was wondering how that stupid dog could have vanished without a trace — no one saw anything, the tracker went dead, even the police couldn’t find it. He had taken it.

So he killed my dad’s mistress?

What about the dog?

Was it dead too?

Just then, the knocking started again. Officer Wang?

I stood up trembling and looked through the peephole. Instead, I saw another eye — round, unblinking.

I squatted down in terror.

“Miss Nie, Miss Nie, are you there?”

We’d exchanged names before. I’d clearly said my name was Xie Wenjun. But now he automatically called me Miss Nie.

I gripped the photo tightly and asked calmly:

“What is it?”

“I have something I want to tell you.”

“Can it wait? I want to take a shower first.”

After what felt like a century, I heard commotion outside.

“Miss Xie, it’s Officer Wang. Open the door.”

Thank God. The police were finally here.

The next time I saw Officer Wang was in my own home.

“Miss Xie, this time I’m here to thank you for providing the clue. The killer has confessed.”

“Why did he kill?”

Honestly, I didn’t quite understand the man’s motive. They didn’t even know each other.

“For money.”

“What?”

It turned out that at first, the man just thought this was a woman who owned an expensive dog — she had a little money, that was all.

Then her dog bit someone and she pulled out two million yuan on the spot. His mind started working.

This wasn’t ordinary wealth. An expensive dog, two million, and the woman’s arrogant demeanor — this was a rich person.

“That simple?”

Officer Wang nodded.

“He said he didn’t plan to kill at first. He just wanted to get some money. But the woman said she had no money — not a single cent. In a fit of rage, he stabbed her.”

“Then why didn’t the dog bark?”

“He said that when he was staking out the place, he took a photo of you with the dog. He figured the dog was familiar with you, so he put dog poison on the photo and threw it in the hallway. The dog licked the photo, sure enough.”

“Is the dog dead?” I asked immediately.

“No, no. He sold it. We’ve already found out where.”

Thank goodness. Thank goodness.

As Officer Wang was leaving, he asked me:

“Your mother’s case — if you feel...”

I cut him off immediately.

“No need.”

Officer Wang was surprised.

“My dad already told me.”

The night I went home, my dad and I had a talk.

He told me my mom had been sick. The king of cancers.

“After your mom was diagnosed, she didn’t want you to know. That’s why she sent you abroad. When you were in middle school, I wanted to send you abroad. Your mom said it was impossible — unless she was dead. Her words came true.”

“You know this disease is extremely painful in its final stages. Your mom was hospitalized at first, then she refused. I stayed with her during that time. That night, I came back late from something. Your mom was probably in too much pain. She drank and jumped, ending her own life.”

Hearing my dad’s words, I didn’t believe any of it.

Before I went abroad, my mom was perfectly fine. Not a single sign of illness.

“That’s the truth.”

“Whether you believe it or not.”

As I saw Officer Wang out, I asked him to help me find the dog.

“I’ll try.”

I nodded.

Half a month later, at the airport.

“You’re really taking this dog with you?”

I nodded.

Before I left, my dad seemed a bit reluctant — but only just a little:

“Your mom really didn’t leave you anything?”

I pointed to the dog circling beside me.

“She did. This dog.”

That night, I thought about it for a long time. Why did I ask her to return my dog? I should have just taken it.

It was my dog from the start. Why did I need her permission?

I shouldn’t have reasoned with shameless women like that.

That morning, I went upstairs. The female neighbor’s door was open. The dog was gone.

She was lying on the ground, blood everywhere.

I didn’t know if she was dead.

But when she saw me, there was a tiny light in her eyes. Then I turned and left.

At the final check-in, I hugged my dad and whispered in his ear:

“Dad, take care of yourself.”

（The End）