Things became surreal. Tan Jia touched the back of her neck, which felt cold. Standing in the middle of the crowd, she listened to He Jianming mediating the situation, finally understanding the shocking affair of infidelity that had shaken the world.
The woman being mediated was a middle-aged woman named Luo Mei, her husband, Wang Yong, and her elder brother, Luo Zhiyong.
Five years ago, Luo Zhiyong, her elder brother, remarried a woman who could not bear children, named Mi Junfang.
At the beginning of their marriage, the couple's relationship was good. Mi Junfang was capable and hardworking, taking care of the household chores and children. Luo Zhiyong, though a bit weak, had a good temper, and they got along quite smoothly.
However, two years ago, Mi Junfang gained control over the family finances, and her true nature started to show. She neglected the children and ignored her husband, spending all her time playing mahjong and even saying she was going out to work.
But the neighbors all knew this was a lie. In reality, she had someone else, and she was notorious for being "come one, come all" at the mahjong tables.
Why was this so certain? Because people had seen her being affectionate with another man, and when she turned around to face Luo Zhiyong, she either hit or scolded him.
What was even more despicable was that she even got involved with her brother-in-law, Wang Yong, and had been caught in bed with him. It was said that Luo Zhiyong had caught them red-handed that day, and she wasn't even fully dressed when he saw them.
The matter caused quite a stir. Mi Junfang wanted a divorce and planned to run away with her first love. Luo Zhiyong didn't want to let her go and even knelt, pleading with her. He also begged Wang Yong to stop coming to their house.
Luo Mei, caught in the middle, was so furious she almost ended up in the hospital.
Her husband and her sister-in-law were involved with each other, and their child overheard the entire ordeal. She was determined to get a divorce.
However, Wang Yong didn't want that. Their child was doing well in school, and there was a possibility of a successful future. The cowardly Luo Zhiyong also persuaded her to stay, saying it wasn't that bad.
Luo Mei was stunned by these two shameless cowards, and she was finally driven to the hospital by her fury.
She had just been discharged in the past few days, and now it seemed that her shameless sister-in-law had run off with someone. Today, she called in a mediator, saying that she absolutely wanted a divorce and even to cut ties with her brother.
The onlookers wholeheartedly supported her decision, cursing Wang Yong in the harshest terms.
Mi Junfang, the woman with a red mole in the center of her forehead, had reportedly run off with her lover yesterday afternoon.
This was too coincidental.
Was this not a dream but some supernatural event?
"Does anyone have a photo of Mi Junfang?" Tan Jia asked casually, holding back her emotions. "I'd like to see if she's the same person I ran into on the road yesterday."
As she spoke, the onlookers gave her a once-over, and many of their gazes fell on her distinctive green wolf-tail hairstyle.
After a moment, they replied, "We don't have a photo, but we can describe her. She has short, permed hair that reaches her neck, tattooed eyebrows, a thin frame, and a very noticeable red mole in the center of her forehead. She likes to wear gold bracelets, and yesterday when she left, she was wearing a beige short coat."
Tan Jia recalled the dream from the night before. The night had been dark, and she couldn't see clearly, but if she wasn't mistaken, when she had grabbed the victim's neck, she felt the permed hair tips poking at her hand. The skin on the neck felt somewhat loose, suggesting the person was older. The red mole in the center of the forehead confirmed that the victim in her dream was most likely Mi Junfang.
That moment, the absurdity of it all made her heart race, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
Why did she dream of the scene of Mi Junfang's death?
Had Mi Junfang died?
Her scalp tightened as she asked the most vocal person at the door, "You said Mi Junfang ran off with someone yesterday afternoon? Is there anyone who can prove that?"
The crowd, already caught up in heated arguments, didn't care who was asking and quickly answered.
"Someone saw it. A man came to pick her up, dragging a suitcase, and they began to leave. Luo Zhiyong tried to stop them, but Wang Yong even ran out to help."
"I saw it too. The man was tall and skinny, looked a little younger, and seemed very rich. I don't know where he's from."
Many people confirmed they had seen Mi Junfang leaving the neighborhood with her lover.
What happened afterward? Did Mi Junfang successfully leave for another city with her lover, or, as in Tan Jia's dream, was she killed late at night in a field?
If she were killed, who could be the murderer?
After the mediation session ended, Tan Jia returned home alone, rushing upstairs to quickly check all the clothes and shoes she had worn over the past two days.
There was no visible dirt, no grass, and no bloodstains.
She sighed in relief, calming her fast-beating heart. Good. At least she could rule out the possibility of having sleepwalked out and killed someone.
Tan Jia put the clothes back, slowly sat down at the table, and began kneading dough, trying to calm herself and think through the situation carefully.
There were three possibilities now:
It was just a random dream with no connection to Mi Junfang's real situation.
Mi Junfang had indeed died, and last night, while she was dreaming, she was murdered. The killer could have been the lover, or someone else.
It was a precognitive dream, and Mi Junfang was still alive, but she would be murdered later that night or some time afterward.
Now, she needed to confirm whether Mi Junfang was still alive.
How could she confirm it? If it were the third possibility, she couldn't stop what was going to happen because she didn't know the crime scene or the identity of the lover.
She spent two hours continuing to knead the dough, trying to suppress her unease, all the while thinking deeply. Unknowingly, she shaped the dough into the image of a middle-aged woman lying on the ground, with red dough giving the impression of blood and flesh being torn apart.
Blood and flesh torn apart. She gritted her teeth, recalling the face of the victim being crushed in her dream.
He Jianming suddenly knocked on the door, startling her so much that she almost flattened the dough face she had made. A cold sweat broke out on her back.
"Dinner's ready," He Jianming said, not noticing her discomfort. His gaze fell on the dough sculpture. "Is that a spoon? A red watermelon spoon? How cute."
Tan Jia's expression cracked for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure.
…
The next day, Tan Jia sat on her uncle He Jianming's small electric scooter again and went to Luo Mei's home.
Wang Yong and Luo Mei had both reached a consensus on divorce, but there were still disputes over the children's custody. Moreover, things at Luo Zhiyong's home were even more complicated, so they also needed to visit there.
They didn't expect to run into a drama as soon as they reached the building.
Luo Zhiyong, crying helplessly, begged his brother-in-law and sister not to divorce. As he became emotional, he even slapped himself.
"It's all my fault for marrying poorly. I've dragged you all down. Xiao Jun and Xiao Xiao are still young. If I lose them, I'll have no face to meet our parents!"
At over fifty, his hair was streaked with gray, his eyes were cloudy, and his skin was tanned. Seeing him cry like that was truly pitiful.
Luo Mei also cried, cursing him for being weak while scolding him for being too kind. The crowd tried to mediate.
Only Tan Jia remained, frowning in suspicion as she carefully observed the Luo family.
The onlookers were angry but couldn't bear to keep scolding when they saw Luo Zhiyong's pitiful state, and their words softened. Just then, a voice shouted from the crowd.
"How can this be tolerated? Luo Mei, call your sister-in-law back and make them get a divorce! With this kind of scandal, the whole family's reputation is ruined!"
The voice was from a relative of the Luo family, who had heard some gossip and was now so agitated that they seemed ready to slap Luo Zhiyong.
Tan Jia took a few steps back, pretending not to have stirred up the situation, as they pressed Luo Zhiyong to dial his phone.
He Jianming stopped them, trying to mediate, "It's better if both parties are present so that we can resolve the conflict in time."
Luo Mei, indignant, shouted, "She won't pick up!"
Luo Zhiyong continued crying, "Forget it, forget it. Her heart's not in this family anymore. Let her live her own life."
Tan Jia, pretending to be an angry onlooker, shouted, "Call again!"
Luo Zhiyong, with tears and snot running down his face, looked through his teary eyes at the crowd. All he saw was a green-haired tail under a baseball cap.
The crowd was incensed by Tan Jia's shout, urging him to call again. He repeated the process several times, but the phone just rang and rang, and no one picked up.
"She knows she's too ashamed to pick up," Luo Mei spat angrily.
It wasn't that she was too ashamed.
Tan Jia's heart sank. Pretending to be angry, she asked the surrounding people, "What time did she leave yesterday? If it's been long enough, she might have already left the province."
The crowd, eager to gossip, answered her questions.
"About one o'clock, right? We had just finished lunch. Luo Zhiyong was behind, trying to stop her. Mi Junfang, in front, was shamelessly holding hands with that man!"
"Luo Zhiyong chased them for quite a distance, but he came back crying alone in the afternoon. His son had to go to our restaurant to pick up some dishes."
Luo Zhiyong came back in the afternoon, but in Tan Jia's dream, Mi Junfang was killed at night.
If Mi Junfang was indeed dead, Luo Zhiyong's suspicion could temporarily be ruled out, but her investigation would need to focus on their whereabouts yesterday.
But from 1 PM yesterday to now, Mi Junfang had been missing for less than 24 hours, and there wasn't enough evidence to believe that she had been murdered. Therefore, the police wouldn't initiate a case.
Tan Jia was thinking about how to get the investigation started when, unexpectedly, the next morning, Mi Junfang's body was discovered in a rural water reservoir on the outskirts of town.
The municipal criminal investigation team took over the case and quickly sealed off the scene.