My First Love is a Genius Profiler - Chapter 7

Hu Bingyu pushed the door open, and in an instant, warm light filled the entire living room.

Shen Anyan followed behind her, curiously examining the unfamiliar yet familiar space. She had visited in high school, and everything before her seemed to have not changed much.

A few simple ink wash paintings hung on the wall, and the bookshelf was neatly organized with various books on criminal investigation records and detective novels. Among them, two books titled Fatal Visit in the corner were particularly striking. She had a strong impression of this novel series because the damned author had stopped updating it, leaving the killer’s method in the third book still unsolved.

“You read this too?” Shen Anyan casually picked up a book.

“Yes, Siqi recommended it. The author seems to be Fang Qin, a former profiler for the SOI.”

“Ah! Then why did she stop updating?” Shen Anyan was suddenly unable to understand. She was shocked that the author was her senior, but leaving a plot hole unfilled was still a heinous crime.

“They say she was in a car accident, and her mental capacity was affected.”

Shen Anyan sighed and silently placed the book back in its original position. Life is full of unpredictable changes, and behind an unknown truth, there are always stories that evoke a sigh of regret.

“Anyan, you’ll sleep in the guest room,” Hu Bingyu said, pointing to a door at the end of the corridor. “The bathroom is on the left. If you need anything, just tell me.”

Shen Anyan nodded, dragging her suitcase toward the guest room.

She pushed the door open and found that the room, although not large, was warmly decorated. The bed was covered with a light blue quilt, the curtains were a soft beige, and a small desk was placed in the corner.

“Thank you,” Shen Anyan turned to Hu Bingyu and smiled gently. “The environment here is lovely.”

“Don’t mention it. After all, you’re only staying here to protect me, right?” Hu Bingyu shrugged, a hint of teasing in her tone.

Shen Anyan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately chose silence. She knew there were still too many unspoken things between her and Hu Bingyu, too much time to make up for.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Hu Bingyu said, turning to leave. “You should rest early too; we still have to investigate the case tomorrow.”

Shen Anyan watched Hu Bingyu’s back disappear behind the bathroom door, a ripple stirring in her heart. She slowly walked back to the guest room and began to organize her luggage. When she took out a worn notebook from her bag, her fingers involuntarily paused.

This was her diary from many years ago, recording every detail of her acquaintance and romance with Hu Bingyu, as well as her fear and guilt toward Shen Simiao. Shen Anyan gently opened the diary, her gaze falling on one page:

“Today, I saw new scars on my sister again. I know Dad hit her again, but I can’t do anything. I’m so scared, afraid that one day my sister will completely break down, afraid that one day I will become like that too…”

Shen Anyan closed the diary and took a deep breath. She understood that she had to face the past, whether it was her debt to Hu Bingyu or her guilt toward Shen Simiao. But at this moment, the case was the most important thing.

She took out her laptop and began to organize the day’s investigation results. China Unicom, the router, the commonalities among the three victims… these clues constantly intertwined in her mind. She felt like she had touched the edge of the truth, yet was always just a little bit short.

Just as Shen Anyan was deep in thought, a knock on the door interrupted her concentration.

“Come in.”

“You’re not asleep yet?” Hu Bingyu gently pushed the door open. Water was still dripping from her hair, and she was wrapped in a loose bathrobe.

“No, I’m organizing today’s clues. I always feel like we overlooked something important,” Shen Anyan replied.

“Are you thinking about the China Unicom and router issues?” Hu Bingyu slowly walked to Shen Anyan’s side, leaning in to look at the computer screen.

“I always feel like there’s a problem here. All three victims were China Unicom users, and all had complained about network issues. The first victim often holds very important significance to a serial killer…”

Hu Bingyu nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right, that is very strange. We can go to China Unicom again tomorrow and see if we can find more clues.”

Shen Anyan looked up at Hu Bingyu, suddenly realizing how close they were. She could smell the faint scent of Hu Bingyu’s shower gel and see the flush on her face after bathing.

Their eyes met, and in the circulating gaze, both became quiet at the same time. Their heartbeats kept accelerating, and a subtle atmosphere permeated the air.

“That…” Both spoke simultaneously, then stopped at the same time.

“You go first.”

“Bingyu, can we still be like before?”

“No, Anyan, you’re wrong. The past is the past. I’m talking about starting over. We could become lovers, or we could just be friends.” Hu Bingyu shook her head, smiling as she interrupted Shen Anyan’s words.

Her answer made Shen Anyan’s heart tremble. She instantly understood that eight years had already drawn a deep chasm between them. The sweet memories of the past now only held a faint lingering warmth.

“I understand… Thank you for giving me this chance.” She nodded lightly, her voice somewhat hoarse.

Seeing her disappointed expression, Hu Bingyu felt a pang of guilt. She was only trying to tease Shen Anyan. After all, she had cried a lot over the past eight years, and just when she was about to give up, the other person reappeared and said her sister was coming to kill her. Such a situation was truly unreasonable.

“Anyan,” Hu Bingyu gently held Shen Anyan’s hand, her cheeks slightly flushed. “If we solve this case, we can try dating once…”

Hearing this, the corner of Shen Anyan’s mouth couldn’t help but turn up. “Okay, then let’s work hard together to solve the case and start over, Officer Hu!”

The next morning, a faint beam of light shone into the room through a gap in the curtains. Shen Anyan rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat up. After waking up fully, she quickly washed up and changed into a lightweight down jacket.

When she came to the living room, she found Hu Bingyu already busy in the kitchen. The air was filled with the aroma of coffee and fried eggs, which was very appetizing.

“Good morning. I hope you don’t mind,” Hu Bingyu said, coming out of the kitchen with two plates of simple breakfast.

“How could I mind?” Shen Anyan took the plate with a smile and slowly enjoyed the meal.

“Oh, right, Sister Chen Xi just said they found the IP address of that strange number,” Hu Bingyu looked at Shen Anyan, a smile playing on her lips. “Guess where the address is?”

“Stop keeping me in suspense. How could I guess something like that?” Shen Anyan twitched her mouth helplessly. She was a profiler, not a fortune teller.

“It’s inside the Jiang City China Unicom building! How about that for a surprise clue?”

Shen Anyan’s brow suddenly furrowed. This clue was indeed surprising—so surprising that she was speechless. If the real killer was in the China Unicom company, they should be well aware of virtual numbers and that the police could lock down the IP address using technical means.

“All three victims were Unicom users. Two of them were on the ‘red list,’ and the third victim, Li Mei, intended to port her number out and was also insulted by a virtual number with the IP address of the Unicom building. Maybe she was also on the ‘red list,’ meaning the killer is hiding inside China Unicom.”

After the two met up with Wang Li at the Criminal Investigation Center, they decided to go to the local China Unicom building together.

In the police car, Shen Anyan continuously sorted through the case’s context. All current suspicions pointed to China Unicom. Was the killer really hiding there? She couldn’t be completely sure, but if she could meet the killer, she was confident she could tell at a glance.

After the group arrived at the Unicom building and got out of the car, they faced a tall black and red building. Two elderly security guards stood at the entrance. Seeing them in plain clothes, the guards stopped them.

They quickly presented their relevant IDs and search warrant. Seeing this, the security guards immediately called the company’s senior management. A moment later, a middle-aged man who introduced himself as the General Manager of the Jiang City China Unicom Branch came down.

“Are you Captain Wang Li from the phone call just now?” The man smiled warmly and extended his hand to Wang Li.

“Yes, General Manager Qu. We need to check the information of all employees in your company responsible for handling customer complaints and network maintenance. Especially those employees who have had contact with the three users: Ma Ming, Yang Bifang, and Li Mei,” Wang Li said to the man.

Soon, General Manager Qu led the group to the Unicom company’s Complaint Processing Center on the 11th floor via elevator. The moment the elevator doors opened, the area was noisy. Dozens of customer service representatives wearing headsets were sitting in the cubicles.

“Hello, this is Customer Service Representative XX. I’m happy to serve you!”

“Sir, that’s not the case. Please let me explain…”

“Damn, what an idiot…”

“The damned thing…”

Cursing sounds were constantly heard at the scene. The customer service representatives spoke softly when they put on their headsets but cursed profusely when they took them off…

After Hu Bingyu accessed the Unicom backend system, she verified Li Mei’s information, and sure enough, she was also a “red list” user. About ten minutes later, Unicom’s HR department provided all the employee records. Shen Anyan and Hu Bingyu carefully reviewed every file, hoping to find a breakthrough, but after a long time of searching, they couldn’t find a male employee who had contacted all three victims.

Just then, a plump woman burst into the office. The woman had a faint red birthmark on her eyebrow and slightly upturned eyes, giving her a unique, indescribable charm.

“Officer Hu, you’re here?” The woman greeted Hu Bingyu warmly as soon as she saw her.

“Are you Tang Yu, the customer service representative from last time?” Hu Bingyu distinctly remembered the woman because of her unique appearance. This woman named Tang Yu had contact records with two of the victims during the previous investigation, including Li Mei.

“Yes, Officer. What a coincidence. I just heard from HR that another user died, apparently named Li Mei.” Tang Yu paused, a difficult-to-fathom smile appearing in the corner of her eye. “This woman cursed my entire family a few days ago, and now she’s dead. Don’t you think that’s karma?”

Tang Yu’s smile sent a shiver down Shen Anyan’s spine, as she had seen the same expression on Shen Simiao’s face.

“This is a murder case. No matter how vicious their words were, they didn’t deserve to die,” Hu Bingyu countered.

“But everyone here hopes those scum would die. Keep up the good work, Officer Hu. I hope you find the killer soon.” Tang Yu slowly left with a smile.

“Bingyu, that woman is very dangerous. Although she doesn’t fit my profile, she is an extremely dangerous person,” Shen Anyan whispered into Hu Bingyu’s ear. “That’s the kind of smile a typical psychopath would have.”

“But this woman’s file is very clean, even a bit tragic. Her previous two husbands both died in accidents,” Hu Bingyu carefully flipped through Tang Yu’s file. “By the way, her current husband, Zhang Hao, is also a China Unicom employee.”

“He’s also a Unicom employee? Let’s see his file.”

Hu Bingyu frowned and quickly clicked on Zhang Hao’s file. Suddenly, her hand stopped, her eyes fixed on one line of text.

“Anyan, look at this!” She pointed to a passage in the file. “Zhang Hao is a technician responsible for network maintenance, and he was previously in the special forces, discharged and then transferred to China Unicom.”

Shen Anyan leaned in to look. The man in the photo was 178 cm tall, relatively thin, and had a plain appearance, like an ordinary person one might see anywhere on the street. But his sharp, hook-like eyes made Shen Anyan’s heart tighten.

“We have always overlooked the possibility that the killer’s contact was not direct, but indirect. All three victims insulted Tang Yu and her family,” Shen Anyan murmured.

“Are you saying the killer is Zhang Hao?” Hu Bingyu whispered.

“Hmm… Notify Captain Wang to detain Zhang Hao. We still haven’t found the murder weapon. Based on the cutting marks, the fruit knife the killer used has not changed. I speculate that the tool for the crime is still likely at his house,” Shen Anyan analyzed in detail.