S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 6 Chapter 54

The Culinary Murderer 06 – Intentional or Not

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Bai Ye and Zhao Jue arrived at the car dealership to collect the car. The manager seemed to be quite familiar with Bai Ye and came out personally to greet him.

Zhao Jue had absolutely no interest in cars and went straight to the lounge, found a comfortable sofa, and sat down to drink tea and watch TV.

The young woman in charge of hospitality in the lounge was unusually enthusiastic. While serving a fruit platter, she also began recommending all sorts of insurance plans to Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue was rather different from the average customer. Many people, upon hearing sales staff introduce insurance products, would instinctively shake their heads and wave their hands, signalling, "I just want some peace and quiet."

But not Zhao Jue. He looked at the product brochures with great interest, even asking the staff to describe everything in detail and try their best to sell it to him. He simply listened, as if he weren't a customer, but rather an examiner assessing the salesperson's abilities.

Before long, the conversation started to drift off-topic. After a few words about business, the staff began talking about various troubles in their own lives, completely forgetting about the insurance. One told Zhao Jue they had been bullied at school as a child, another spoke of being hurt by scumbags, others mentioned suffering from insomnia and frequent nightmares, difficulties handling interpersonal relationships, being targeted by their boss...

By the time Bai Ye pushed the door open and came in, the lounge had more or less turned into a large-scale psychological counselling centre.

Bai Ye sighed, quietly backed out, and decided to take another look at the new cars.

Zhao Jue was offering free psychological counselling to the young men and women struggling under the double burden of life and work. It was clear he'd had a satisfying meal earlier and was in an excellent mood.

After introducing the new cars, the manager asked Bai Ye whether he wanted to have a look at the new in-car drone model. Naturally, Bai Ye did.

Just as the manager took out the drone to give Bai Ye a demonstration, an employee suddenly came rushing over and tugged at the manager, pointing outside. "Manager, Xiaohong's going to jump off the building!"

"What?!" The manager jumped up and hurried out.

Holding the drone, Bai Ye stood there wondering just how likely it was to encounter a suicide attempt while picking up a car...

Soon, a crowd had gathered in front of the shop. The manager ran back, reported it to the police, and dashed upstairs in a panic.

In the lounge, the staff who had just been receiving counselling also got news of what was happening. Phones began ringing all over, some received messages, others got photos, and many of them rushed out.

Zhao Jue vaguely caught the words "cheating" and "jumping off a building," and asked with some curiosity, "What's going on?"

It seemed that quite a few of the staff knew what was going on, and they all began telling Zhao Jue the whole story.

It wasn't all that complicated. There was a sales assistant at the dealership named Guan Xiaohong, who had been dating her boyfriend since university. Their relationship had been going well, and they had even been planning to get married. But recently, she suddenly discovered that her boyfriend had been cheating on her all along, seeing several other women at the same time. On top of that, he had recently latched onto a wealthy older woman and was planning to marry her instead, breaking up with Guan Xiaohong.

Guan Xiaohong had been distressed about this for quite some time. She had already gone up to the roof a few times before, only to be spotted by colleagues and talked down. But her emotional state had remained unstable. In short, pretty much the whole dealership knew she'd ended up with a scumbag.

Not long after, both fire engines and police cars arrived outside. The firefighters were inflating a cushion by the door, and several officers were looking up towards the roof.

Zhao Jue came out of the lounge and saw Bai Ye still sitting at the table examining the drone, so he walked over and kicked one of the legs of his chair.

Bai Ye looked up at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue tilted his head towards the crowd at the entrance, as if asking – Why aren't you going to have a look at the drama?

Bai Ye put down the drone and glanced around, realising the showroom was completely empty – I want to buy the drone, but who’s going to ring it up for me?

Just then, the manager came rushing down the stairs.

At the entrance, two police officers and a firefighter also walked in.

The manager pointed upstairs and said the person was on the third floor. When the two officers looked up and saw Bai Ye, they spoke in unison, "Captain Bai..."

But as soon as they said it, they realised something wasn't quite right... That didn't seem to be him...

Bai Ye and Zhao Jue both looked up. One of the firefighters suddenly called out, "Great God!"

The people around turned to look in curiosity – Across from them are clearly two handsome guys, where’s the auntie? (Angel: 大神, or dàshén, is used to refer to Zhao Jue, while the similar sounding 大婶, or dàshěn, is auntie.)

That firefighter was pointing at Zhao Jue. As it happened, he had been a subordinate of Qin Ou back when he'd worked as a firefighter, and they had a very good relationship. Qin Ou was beloved by everyone, always a super social expert. His former colleagues at the fire station were still very fond of him and often asked about SCI. Their only impression of Zhao Jue and the others was – Great God, always so mysterious.

The manager also seemed familiar with Bai Ye. Now, in a state of desperation, he looked over pleadingly – Old friend, give us a hand!

Zhao Jue and Bai Ye had no choice but to follow him out for a look.

The dealership had three floors in total. The lower two were designed as a large showroom space, with very high ceilings. The third floor was the administrative level, full of offices, and above that was a rooftop terrace.

All in all, the height of the three floors was equivalent to an ordinary five- or six-storey building. If a person were to jump, they would almost certainly die.

There was only a half-metre-high railing on the rooftop, and just outside the railing ran a narrow stone ledge, about thirty centimetres wide.

At that moment, a woman dressed in the dealership's uniform was standing on the narrow ledge on the eastern side of the rooftop, outside the railing.

Looking up from the ground, she appeared delicate and frail, the kind who looked as if a gust of wind could blow her away. Now she was swaying unsteadily on the rooftop edge, and the sight made one's heart leap into one's throat.

The girl was clutching the railing with one hand, looking down as she wept. Down below, the firefighters had already inflated a bright yellow air cushion, but its range didn't cover the entire rooftop. If the girl were to move around the corner to the western side, the cushion wouldn't be underneath her any more.

The manager had already gone up to the rooftop with two officers and was trying to talk Xiaohong down.

Xiaohong, now sobbing, kept saying that "Zhang Wei" had to come and explain things properly, otherwise, even if she died and became a ghost, she wouldn't let him off.

Bai Ye glanced at Zhao Jue and asked, "Do you want to go up and talk to her?"

Zhao Jue, hands in his pockets, looked up at the woman threatening to jump and couldn't help muttering, "There are so many Zhang Weis in the country, why not just pick another one..."

Bai Ye thought maybe it was best not to let him go up and say anything...

In this day and age, with the rise of social media, there are far too many people broadcasting "drama" online. Soon, a growing crowd had gathered, including plenty of influencers with live-streaming gear. It was rapidly turning into a social hot spot.

Quite a few of Xiaohong's colleagues had already been interviewed. Many were close friends, all of them furiously condemning the scumbag for being heartless and abandoning her. Very quickly, netizens across the internet were joining in to denounce the unfaithful Zhang Wei. It was looking like her ex-boyfriend was headed straight for social death.

The police and fire departments were focused solely on saving her, but the spot Xiaohong had chosen wasn't ideal. After a detailed assessment, the firefighters concluded that unless someone could fly, there was simply no way to approach her.

What's more, Guan Xiaohong wasn't listening to persuasion, whether gentle or firm. She was determined to see her unfaithful boyfriend, otherwise, she'd jump.

Bai Ye suddenly felt that Zhao Jue's earlier remark had made a fair point. Why bother, can't you just switch to someone better?

Bai Ye glanced at Zhao Jue and saw that he was now looking up at Guan Xiaohong, who was emotionally agitated on the rooftop, his expression thoughtful.

At that moment, a car sped up and came to a screeching halt. A slightly chubby man wearing glasses jumped out of the car and shouted, "Xiaohong! Xiaohong, don't jump!"

Several of the dealership staff recognised him at once and exclaimed – That's him, that's Zhang Wei.

The moment the ex-boyfriend arrived, the scene grew even more chaotic, and the officers took charge of escorting Zhang Wei upstairs.

Bai Ye and Zhao Jue were standing by the entrance.

As Zhang Wei walked past them, Zhao Jue suddenly spoke. "I'd advise you not to go up there."

Zhang Wei paused and glanced at Zhao Jue. He was clearly flustered and wasn't sure whether this stranger was talking to him.

Zhao Jue glanced at him and added, "If you go up, you might not come back down..."

After saying that, Zhao Jue felt that wasn't quite the right way to put it. "I mean, you won't be walking back down..."

But Zhang Wei didn't respond. He hadn't even heard him finish speaking before he followed the officers upstairs.

Zhao Jue shook his head. Next to him, Bai Ye looked puzzled – What do you mean by that?

Zhao Jue let out a sigh, glanced around, and looked back up at the rooftop. He seemed to be hesitating over whether or not to get involved in this mess.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wei had already reached the rooftop. The man was quite the performer. Like a tearful soap opera, he knelt on the ground, swore to the heavens, and begged for forgiveness. A bunch of live-streaming influencers downstairs were desperate to send up a drone to film the whole thing in three hundred sixty degrees, because from the ground, they couldn't see anything.

Then, it seemed Guan Xiaohong had been moved. She looked around as though considering how to climb back inside the railing.

Zhang Wei walked over to her and reached out to pull her back. The two of them moved westward along the platform.

Zhao Jue, who had been hesitating, raised an eyebrow as he saw this and let out a low "Oh?"

Downstairs, the firefighters responsible for the rescue were becoming anxious – they were moving outside the range of the air cushion!

Zhang Wei reached the edge of the railing and stretched out a hand to the trembling Guan Xiaohong.

Guan Xiaohong moved a few steps further west and reached out to grab his hand...

Just when everyone thought the crisis was more or less over, a sudden cry of alarm erupted from the crowd.

No one knew how it happened, but the couple on the rooftop, hand in hand, suddenly fell.

In the blink of an eye, the pair plummeted. Guan Xiaohong landed on the air cushion, while Zhang Wei hit the concrete ground outside it.

Blood splattered across the scene, and screams erupted from the crowd.

Guan Xiaohong wasn't injured, but the moment the firefighters pulled her off the air cushion and she saw the corpse on the ground nearby, she completely broke down.

The crowd gathered in layers, several people deep. One could hear Guan Xiaohong's shrieks and sobs from within, heart-wrenching and piercing.

The onlookers reacted in all sorts of ways: some sighed, some were excited, some empathised and cried along.

Zhao Jue stood on the outskirts of the crowd and shook his head. Bai Ye looked at him – It really was true, if he went up, he wasn't walking back down...

Zhao Jue rolled his eyes towards the sky and said, with a hint of regret, "Ai, it's a pity. The two of them would've made a good pair, now someone else, someone innocent, is bound to suffer because of it."

Bai Ye had the sense that there was more behind Zhao Jue's words.

By this time, Guan Xiaohong seemed to have fainted from the shock. The manager and the officers helped her to the hospital. A ring of live-streamers had formed around the ambulance, and the officers hurried to maintain order and secure the scene.

Bai Ye reckoned he probably wouldn't be picking up his car today...

As the crowd gradually dispersed, Bai Ye was just about to suggest to Zhao Jue that they come back another day to collect the car.

But Zhao Jue was staring off in a particular direction.

Bai Ye followed his gaze, which was towards a group of firefighters packing up their equipment.

The firefighters were all quite young, with baby faces, and looked especially downcast. The one who had called Zhao Jue "Great God" earlier was crying, saying that if they'd positioned the air cushion better, they could have saved both of them.

Zhao Jue stared at the group of kids for a moment, then turned and gestured to Bai Ye to head back.

But after a few steps, he stopped again and turned to glance back.

Bai Ye looked at him with a bit of confusion – What are you doing?

Zhao Jue seemed rather conflicted. He thought for about ten seconds, then finally clicked his tongue, turned back, and walked over to the group of disheartened firefighters.

Zhao Jue poked the kid who had called out to him earlier and said, "No matter where the cushion was placed, saving even one person is the best possible outcome today."

The firefighters looked at one another in confusion.

One of them, slightly older, perhaps their team leader, seemed to catch the meaning behind Zhao Jue's words. He murmured thoughtfully, "So it really wasn't just my imagination..."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 12, 2025 by Angel

Edited: July 30, 2025 by Angel