The Retrieval Response

The pale hospital room felt hermetically sealed by faux-porcelain molding within a space where the air had entirely stagnated. The ceiling pressed low, and the floor tiles seemed to ooze adhesive, trapping both human skin and souls alike.

Upon the hospital bed, a fragile Fang Qing recounted her experiences over the past three months.

“I met him at a cocktail party a long time ago. We only crossed paths once back then; we merely knew each other’s names and had no further interaction. Some time ago, we ran into each other again at a charity event, and he suddenly began to pursue me. Coincidentally, I was also considering marriage at the time, so I figured I would try to get to know him.”

“In the beginning, he was very good to me. He spoke in a way that made people feel comfortable, and he never made any inappropriate advances. On dates, he would drive to my house to pick me up, and when they were over, he would drive me back. But he would never enter the apartment; he always stayed downstairs, leaving only after he saw my lights turn on to confirm I was safe. Back then, I truly believed he was a very gentle marriage prospect.”

Her beautiful eyes stared at the pilling fibers of the cotton blanket, her tone sounding as though she were describing how gorgeous a bubble looked right before it burst.

Liu Huisheng asked: “When did you notice something was wrong with him?”

Fang Qing’s brow furrowed slightly. Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath and said:

“That day, he was working overtime, so I made some late-night supper to go visit him. But when I got there, I discovered…”

At 9:00 PM, the Changsen Real Estate company was entirely dark except for the light shining from the General Manager’s office. Flat-soled leather shoes walked to the edge of the door. Coming through the unlatched crack, however, was not the sound of rhythmic keyboard typing from working, but hysterical weeping.

Slender fingers pulled the door crack open by ten centimeters. Following the sound, a horrifying scene came into view—Guo Chong’an was pinning Xie Jia down, copulating by the floor-to-ceiling window like a primitive beast.

“You’ll have absolutely nothing once you leave me. Xiaojia, think it through clearly—when the time comes and everyone finds out you were my lover for two years, will anyone else be willing to be with you? Let alone resigning; your competence at work is inferior to even a vocational school graduate. Aside from me, who else could possibly tolerate you? Only I will love you, do you still not understand? Only me.”

Xie Jia’s hands were tied to the sofa, his body twisted into a grotesque, deformed posture as he endured this coupling.

To be precise, a r*pe.

As images comparable to nightmares flashed through her mind, Fang Qing squeezed her eyes shut tightly. After a long recovery break, she continued:

“I brought up breaking up with him. But from some unknown source, he managed to dig up my past.”

“What past?” Liu Huisheng asked.

“When I was in university, I was kidnapped. Later on, someone came to rescue me, and that was how I managed to escape. However, because my father possesses a modicum of fame within literary circles, a certain newspaper published the story… they even printed photos…”

Slap!

A stack of photographs was thrown onto the smooth marble desktop, sliding apart one after another under the momentum. In the photos, Fang Qing’s hands were bound behind her back as she lay amidst a chaotic pile of straw stalks, her hair wildly disheveled and her face caked in mud. Even though she was fully clothed in the images, the malicious rumors were more than enough for foul-minded people to fill in the blanks with all sorts of filthy scenarios.

Across from her, Guo Chong’an sat on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, dressed impeccably in a suit and looking thoroughly dignified, yet the words spilling from his mouth were repulsive and vile:

“They held you captive for an entire night and did absolutely nothing? I don’t buy it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You know exactly what I mean. Miss Fang, I have no intention of tearing open someone else’s scars; I simply want to remind you that Wengcheng is a very small place. Information travels fast without wings. Your entire family moved here from Huyang precisely to escape the rumors. If I accidentally let this slip out, the consequences would be severe, wouldn’t they?”

“What on earth do you want?”

“It’s very simple. Marry me and bear a child. Once the child is born, I will let you go. But before that, I need to verify whether your body is actually capable of bearing children.”

As the horrific memories flooded her mind, Fang Qing’s hand gripping the cotton blanket clenched so hard it convulsed, the light-blue veins bulging on the back of her hand twitching like earthworms.

Liu Huisheng watched her quietly. In that fleeting space, the thin hospital scrubs seemed like airtight plastic wrap, winding around Fang Qing layer by layer until she was bound tightly like a cocoon. Sensing a violent tug at her own heartstrings, Liu Huisheng stepped forward and pulled Fang Qing into her arms.

Having found a modicum of solace, Fang Qing’s emotions erupted entirely. She brokenly wailed out loud, sobbing:

“He took me to get examinations, completely unclothed… and then, he took photographs… I didn’t dare resist, and I didn’t dare tell my parents. Just like that, completely powerless, I became his s*ave.”

The agony accumulated over many days was finally released in a torrent of tears. After crying hard enough to empty out the contents of her stomach, Fang Qing’s mental state actually cleared up a bit.

Liu Huisheng and Zhao Yu assisted her back onto the hospital bed together and mixed a glass of honey water for her.

“Miss Fang, thank you for sharing this with us. Regarding these matters, Officer Zhao and I promise you that they will not be leaked to the outside world; they will only be utilized to crack this case. We will also keep our lips sealed tight around your parents.”

Fang Qing nodded heavily. “Thank you.”

Liu Huisheng stated: “It’s our duty. As it stands now, the root cause that invited a murderous calamity upon Guo Chong’an should be precisely because of these deeds. Miss Fang, I have one final question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Aside from your parents, is there anyone else who cares about you exceptionally deeply? Someone who would be willing to… kill for you?”

Thud!

A tiny block fell over. At the end of a lengthy domino trail, it finally collided against a massive structure, bringing it crashing down into a pile of ruins.

That night, 1:00 AM.

Outside the inpatient building of the Wengcheng First People’s Hospital, an inconspicuous black private car sat parked by the roadside.

Knock, knock!

Slender fingers tapped against the car window, producing a crisp sound. The face reflected in the window film was cold, resolute, and sharp, looking in the dark night’s dim illumination like a black stone breaking through the morning mist atop a mountain peak.

Vroom—

The car window rolled down, allowing the reflected light to spill into the vehicle’s interior. Sitting in the passenger seat, Liu Huisheng pushed her sunglasses up to the top of her head. Her lightly made-up face wore a playful expression, the outer corners of her eyes curving upward as she looked at the person standing outside the window.

“Captain Zhao, what a coincidence.”

Zhao Yu exposed the truth without an ounce of mercy: “It’s no coincidence. I was looking for you.”

“Then let me suggest you upgrade your surveillance methods.”

“Oh? In what way?”

“Wearing sunglasses in the dead of night—aside from celebrities, only criminals do that.”

Liu Huisheng shrugged her shoulders and countered: “I could very well be a celebrity. To tell you the truth, back when I was in university, several talent scouts contacted me.”

Zhao Yu ignored her banter entirely and asked: “Where did the car come from?”

“Rented. One hundred and fifty a day—it’s not bad.”

“What did you rent it for?”

“You’re asking when you already know the answer. Want to come inside and sit for a while?”

Zhao Yu glanced toward the elevators; it was dead quiet with no one around. Thus, she walked around to the passenger side, opened the door, and slipped inside. A refreshing, cool breeze blew from the air conditioning vent directly onto her neck, quietly washing away the hot sweat.

Liu Huisheng reclined her seat back by one notch, picked up her milk tea to take a sip, and while chewing on the pearls, she inquired: “You also felt that Fang Qing was acting strange?”

Zhao Yu spoke bluntly: “I didn’t think she was strange, but I felt you were acting strange, so I followed you.”

Liu Huisheng smiled faintly. “And here I thought you had mastered micro-expression analysis. Turns out you just have me completely figured out.”

“Whenever you have something heavy on your mind, you scratch your index finger.”

“Scratch my index finger?”

“You curl your thumb inward and use your nail to pick at the pad of your index finger.”

“Captain Zhao keeps a rather meticulous eye on things, doesn’t she?”

“Because you accidentally scratched my hand once,” Zhao Yu pointed out unceremoniously.

Back then, their relationship had been in its sweetest phase. Liu Huisheng had been racking her brain over what gift to give for their 100th anniversary, subconsciously picking at her index finger. As she scratched on and on, she had accidentally caught Zhao Yu.

The sweet memories of the past injected a spoonful of sugar into their bitter lives, causing her mood to brighten instantly. Without waiting for Zhao Yu to prod further, Liu Huisheng took it upon herself to explain why she was waiting beneath Fang Qing’s inpatient building until the dead of night.

“The retrieval response,” she explained. “Meaning that following a mental brainstorm, right at the exact second the brain retrieves the answer, the physical body will experience a brief pause or freezing reaction.”

Zhao Yu tried to comprehend it. “I don’t quite get it.”

Liu Huisheng continued to break it down: “Think back to a time when you were in the middle of doing something, but you suddenly remembered that you forgot to lock the front door at home. Wouldn’t you suddenly freeze up and halt whatever work was in your hands? Or for instance, when you’re writing a report and can’t recall a specific English word, so you keep mulling over it—the exact second it pops into your head, in that flash of inspiration, doesn’t your body pause for a beat?”

This time, Zhao Yu understood. “Yes, indeed.” Then she recalled, “Back when you asked Fang Qing if there was anyone willing to commit murder for her, she paused for a brief moment.”

Liu Huisheng snapped her fingers. “Bingo. Therefore, Fang Qing had an answer in her heart right then, but in order to shield that person, she kept her mouth shut.”

“So, you figured she would go look for that person, which is why you’re staking her out?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Her body hasn’t fully recovered yet. Even if she intends to look for someone, she would surely wait until she is fully healed before making a move.”

“Captain Zhao, you’re being far too rational. Affection has always been a two-way street.”

“Meaning?”

“That person was willing to do absolutely anything for Fang Qing—going as far as committing murder. How could Fang Qing possibly remain completely unmoved?”

Just as she spoke, the chime of the elevator arriving echoed out. Emerging within the dim illumination was a solitary figure, her silhouette as thin as a sheet of paper, resembling a delicate flower that looked ready to shatter at the slightest gust of wind. She looked left and right, and after confirming that the coast was clear, she hurriedly started a private vehicle parked at the absolute rear of the parking lot—

Fang Qing was making her move.