Chapter Ten: A Strange Death

One week later, Fu Yang was sleeping in his rented apartment when his phone suddenly rang.

Half-awake, he grabbed his phone without even looking at the screen. “Who is it? I’m taking a nap!”

On the other end, a flustered voice replied, “It’s me, Old Zhao.”

Old Zhao had been Fu Yang’s college roommate, and they’d gotten along fairly well. But after their freshman year, Old Zhao had moved out to an apartment complex right next to campus, so most of their contact since then had been online during their gaming sessions, or through QQ and WeChat. It had been ages since they’d spoken on the phone.

Fu Yang shook his head to clear the sleep away. “What’s going on? Why are you making a fuss at noon? Can’t a guy get some sleep? Don’t you know I’ve been working nights?”

He’d told his roommates he was working night shifts at the campus hospital—leaving out the real reason, of course, about appeasing a ghost, and just saying he needed the money.

“Gouzi’s girlfriend, Dudu, is dead! He’s completely lost it. You need to get back to the dorm right away.”

Then came the flat, mechanical tone of a disconnected call—Old Zhao had hung up.

What?!

It took Fu Yang several moments to recover from the shock of the bombshell.

During his freshman year, he had lived in the dorm with three other guys: Old Zhao, Gouzi, and Da Niu. They’d been pretty close, and their families were all doing reasonably well. They often ate and hung out together. Of the four, only Gouzi had a girlfriend—one he’d dated since high school. The rest were single.

Funny, thought Fu Yang, that the one nicknamed “Dog” wasn’t the single dog. That had annoyed him for a long time.

Dudu is dead?

Fu Yang couldn’t believe it. She was a cheerful and innocent girl, well-liked by the group. Sometimes she’d join their gatherings. How could someone so full of life be gone just like that?

He quickly pulled on some clothes, slammed the door behind him, and sprinted back to the dorm as if running a hundred-meter dash.

Bang.

He kicked open the door and shouted, “What happened?!”

The room was thick with smoke; Old Zhao, Gouzi, and Da Niu were all smoking. The floor was littered with cigarette butts and empty beer bottles—a scene of utter despair.

Gouzi’s eyes were red and swollen—he’d clearly been crying for a long time. When he heard Fu Yang’s voice, he looked up but then dropped his gaze, expressionless.

Fu Yang’s heart sank. Gouzi’s eyes were dull, filled with hopelessness.

He knew pressing Gouzi for details now would be pointless, so he slumped down beside them, twisted the cap off a bottle, took a long swig, then frowned at Old Zhao. “Tell me what happened.”

“Last night, Gouzi’s girlfriend Dudu didn’t return to her dorm. She stayed at the university’s guesthouse, and this morning she was found dead in her room…”

As Old Zhao recounted the story, Fu Yang pieced together what had happened.

It was the end of the semester, and pressure from classes had eased. The university had organized an exchange event with a partner school from Taiwan. Dozens of Taiwanese students had come to visit—really just to have fun—and a few volunteers were needed to help out. Dudu had been one of those volunteers.

They were all young, and after a week together, everyone had grown close. The farewell party the night before had run late, past eleven. The girls’ dorms were already locked by the time it ended. Dudu and about ten other volunteers had no choice but to stay at the university guesthouse with the Taiwanese students.

At around five in the morning, Dudu’s roommate—a girl from Taiwan—woke up to use the bathroom and discovered Dudu dead in bed.

She screamed in terror, bringing staff running, and the police were called.

When the police arrived, they sealed off the guesthouse. Gouzi and the others rushed over as soon as they heard, but were kept outside no matter how much they protested. All they got was a brief confirmation of Dudu’s identity from a stone-faced officer and the university counselor, after which the body was taken to the police station.

After hearing the whole story, Fu Yang felt lost. He frowned. “So since Dudu was found dead early this morning, no one has actually seen the body except the police?”

“The police and the vice president in charge saw her, but no one else. Not even Dudu’s department counselor was allowed in. They only confirmed her identity through photos and personal belongings.”

“So as of now, all we know for sure is that Dudu is dead. But as for how she died—suicide or murder—the condition of the body, or any other details, we know nothing?”

Old Zhao and Da Niu nodded. Gouzi seemed numb to the world, just drinking and smoking without a word.

Da Niu looked at Fu Yang. “Fu, of the four of us, you’re the bravest and the sharpest. Can you help Gouzi?”

At that moment, Gouzi seemed to snap back to life. He shot up from the floor, eyes bloodshot, and grabbed Fu Yang by the collar like a wild animal. “Brother! Help me! Please, help me!”

Old Zhao and Da Niu quickly pulled Gouzi back. “Calm down, man. Fu Yang’s here, we’ll figure something out together.”

Seeing Gouzi so broken, Fu Yang felt a pang of sadness. After all, they were close friends, and Gouzi’s girlfriend of so many years was gone—just like that. Not knowing anything about what happened would be unbearable for anyone.

Gouzi, eyes burning with grief, spoke slowly and clearly. “Dudu was always cheerful and optimistic. We were happy together—we were planning to get married after graduation. Now it’s all ruined… She would never have killed herself. Someone must have done this to her. I have to get justice for her!”

Fu Yang frowned deeply, his mind racing.

“Dudu died in the university guesthouse, and the first witness was her Taiwanese roommate. So, apart from the police, our only leads are the roommate and the guesthouse staff who responded that night.”

But how could they reach those two?

Fu Yang shared his idea, and Old Zhao and Da Niu agreed—it was worth a try. They all fell into thoughtful silence.

Suddenly Old Zhao slapped his thigh. “Wait! I just remembered—one of my younger classmates’ girlfriends was also a volunteer for the exchange event. She should know who Dudu’s roommate was that night.”

Fu Yang’s eyes lit up.

Perfect!

This gave them a real chance to contact the first person who found Dudu’s body. If they could just meet her, maybe they could get firsthand information.

The three of them discussed their plan. Since the police and university didn’t seem eager to reveal anything, they would investigate on their own. There was no way they were going to let their friend’s girlfriend die under such mysterious circumstances.