Time: 2013-10-24 10:00\Source: Internet\Author: Unknown\1 ATM Bank Murder Incident\ It was only early May, yet the freakish weather seemed cursed, with temperatures skyrocketing. Combined with the urban heat island effect, the entire city felt like it had been stuffed into a furnace. Haidong Qing got out of a taxi with the air conditioning blasting cold air and stood at the base of the Haide Building, immediately feeling a wave of heat hitting him.\ The online gaming company where Haidong Qing worked was located in the Haide Building, and he held the position of Technical Director. The company was currently busy discussing venture capital with an overseas firm. This was a critical moment, as Haidong Qing would soon travel to Beijing in a few days to introduce and demonstrate a newly developed online game to the Asia-Pacific president of the foreign company. However, Haidong Qing felt no nervousness at all because he had personally led the development of this game, which took three years to reach its current prototype. The technology he was proud of was the key to success, and he believed the overseas investors would definitely notice the game he developed.\ Before going to work at the company in the Haide Building, Haidong Qing planned to first withdraw some money from the automated ATM at the bank on the first floor. At the entrance of the self-service bank, he swiped his bank card in a slot, and the glass door opened automatically. There was no one inside. After taking the money, he swiped his card in another slot inside the self-service bank, and the glass door opened again. Just as he was about to leave, he saw several uniformed bank staff enter the self-service bank and hang a sign on the glass door: 'Out of Service.'\ Haidong Qing couldn't help but silently feel that his timing for withdrawing money had been perfect, but he still asked casually, 'What are you doing? Why is it out of service?' One of the bank staff told him that in order to allow customers to withdraw money more quickly, some minor internal modifications were being made to the bank's facilities. After leaving the self-service bank, Haidong Qing went to the company and immediately saw Xiao Qiu from the technical department walking over. Xiao Qiu was Haidong Qing's most prized assistant, and he would accompany him on the Beijing trip in three days.\ Xiao Qiu spoke to Haidong Qing informally: 'Director Hai, our tech team stayed up all night again finding bugs in the game. Don't you think we deserve a good cigarette as a reward?'\ Haidong Qing hurriedly replied with a smile, 'No problem, no problem.'He fished a hundred-yuan bill he had just taken out from his wallet, then added thirty yuan in change. "Let's buy a pack of Special Brew 35, my treat," he said. He knew that people who stayed up late preferred stronger cigarettes, and he himself only smoked Special Brew 35. But in the building's convenience store, these cigarettes sold for 130 yuan per pack. \ Xiao Qiu laughed: "You don't need to bring so much money. Walk thirty meters east from the building and you'll find a small alley. Go twenty meters in, and there's a newly opened small shop where a pack of Special Brew 35 sells for only ninety. They say it's smuggled, but definitely genuine." \ Xiao Qiu happily clutched the hundred-yuan bill and went downstairs, while Hai Dongqing walked into his office to test the game software again. \ After a busy morning, Hai Dongqing felt a bit hungry and decided to go to the first-floor restaurant of the building for something to eat. As soon as he stepped out, he saw a large crowd standing outside the self-service bank, poking and whispering, seemingly discussing something. \ Hai Dongqing's view passed over the crowd, and he saw that the entrance to the self-service bank was tightly closed. A yellow caution tape was stretched outside, and a few uniformed police officers were taking photos nearby. Suddenly, the automatic doors opened, and two officers came out carrying a stretcher covered with a white cloth. The crowd immediately erupted in murmurs. \ Hai Dongqing saw Xiao Qiu standing among the people and quickly asked what had happened. Xiao Qiu excitedly replied, "President Hai, this morning someone went to the ATM of the self-service bank to withdraw money. As it turned out, a robber followed him into the bank. This guy was somewhat clever; sensing something was wrong, he only withdrew a hundred yuan. But the robber insisted on taking it, and actually stabbed him to death. He stabbed him several times, and blood splattered everywhere! All for a hundred yuan! Can you imagine if that person felt content dying for only a hundred yuan?" Pushing through the crowd, Hai Dongqing looked toward the bank. Through the glass doors, he could see dark blood stains remaining on the walls and floor inside. Hai Dongqing couldn't help but think: if that murderer had come here during work hours, then the body being carried out on the stretcher under the white cloth would be his own. At the thought, a wave of nausea surged in his stomach, and his whole body started trembling uncontrollably.2 The Waitress Who Jumped Off the Building
Seeing the scene before him, Hai Dongqing completely lost his appetite. He returned to the company in a gloomy mood, still shaken, and continued working. However, the entire afternoon's work went poorly; the image of the stretcher being carried out of the self-service bank kept replaying in his mind.
After all, people need food; skipping a meal makes one hungry. By four in the afternoon, Hai Dongqing began to feel a strong discomfort in his stomach. He felt that he should go out and eat something. But at this time, it was a bit inconvenient. Were there any places still open to eat?
Seeing the troubled look on Hai Dongqing's face, Xiao Qiu hurried over. He told Hai Dongqing that a new café on the twelfth floor of the building opposite the company had recently opened, serving both Western-style dishes and coffee. The taste was good, prices were reasonable, and it was open twenty-four hours.
After hearing Xiao Qiu's recommendation, Hai Dongqing quickly went downstairs and arrived at the café.
Hai Dongqing, familiar with the routine, ordered his items. Just as he was about to get up to go to the restroom, he was unexpectedly bumped by a waitress, causing most of his coffee to spill onto the hem of his suit. Hai Dongqing frowned but looked up and saw that the waitress had long, black hair cascading over her shoulders, and she was quite attractive, so he thought to himself, "Forget it."
But the girl raised her eyebrows angrily and said, "How do you even walk? Whose coffee is this? You have to pay!" Hearing this, Hai Dongqing's face immediately changed. Irritated, he said, "I don't want to argue with you. Call your manager over." Suddenly, the waitress burst into tears, dropped her tray, and ran off.
At that moment, a man in a black suit, having heard the commotion, walked over and said to Hai Dongqing, "Hello, I am the manager here. May I ask what just happened?"
After the café manager learned the details, he repeatedly apologized to Hai Dongqing. The manager forced a VIP card into Hai Dongqing's hand and promised to severely scold the waitress. Hai Dongqing, not a particularly harsh person, accepted his apology with a wave of his hand.
Just after taking a few bites of his steak, Hai Dongqing received a call from Xiao Qiu, saying he had discovered some minor issues in the game software. Hai Dongqing quickly asked Xiao Qiu to come to the café. Before long, Xiao Qiu arrived carrying a large stack of documents. The two of them reviewed the plan several times, and upon confirming there were no mistakes, they prepared to return to the company.Just as he was stepping out of the café, Haidong Qing suddenly heard a "crash" sound from behind him, as if glass had shattered.
When he got down to the street, Haidong Qing finally noticed a crowd of people standing on the sidewalk below the café, along with some noisy murmuring. He looked up and saw that the glass wall facing the street of the café had a large crack. Before Haidong Qing could figure out what had happened, Xiao Qiu shoved documents and materials into his hands and said, "President Hai, I'll go take a look."
After a while, Xiao Qiu sprinted back, panting, and said loudly, "It's terrible! A waitress jumped off the building, and there's blood and brains all over the place. I heard she spilled coffee on a customer and was scolded by the manager, which drove her to commit suicide… It seems she worked at that café…"
Hearing this, Haidong Qing felt as if the world were spinning, and his mind went completely blank. The waitress at the café had actually killed herself because of his criticism? A living person, vanished just because of one complaint he had made. Haidong Qing kept blaming himself, thinking that dry cleaning a suit costs no more than twenty yuan, so why had he bothered to argue with the young girl? He didn't dare look at the crowd any longer and quickly pulled Xiao Qiu away from the street.
Back at the company, Haidong Qing could no longer concentrate on work, so he took a leave to go home. Weak and dazed, he got into a taxi. Shortly after departing, he received a call from his company's boss. The boss told Haidong Qing that the overseas investor had arrived in China early, and another competitor had already reached Beijing and was meeting with the investor. The boss instructed Haidong Qing to take the noon flight the next day to Beijing with Xiao Qiu to meet the investor.
Although Haidong Qing's mind was blank, he knew that this meeting was crucial to the survival of the company. He immediately focused all his energy and assured his boss that he would complete the task successfully.
Returning home, Haidong Qing's mind still wouldn't calm down, and he paced back and forth around the house. He didn't dare tell anyone about what happened and had to bury it deep inside himself. Haidong Qing also tried to reason with himself that filing a complaint was just a normal matter, and if anyone were to blame, it should be the manager who scolded the waitress.No matter what, this matter started because of him—a vibrant life had chosen to commit suicide because of him, which made him feel very sad and depressed.
Because he had to go to Beijing the next day, Haidong Qing couldn't stay up late as usual. To get a good sleep, he had to drink a whole bottle of red wine. Even so, when he lay in bed, he tossed and turned all night without sleeping. When he finally fell asleep, he dreamt alternately of a stretcher covered with a white cloth being carried out of an ATM and a disheveled coffee shop waitress with blood streaming from her eyes coming to claim his life.
Early the next morning, Haidong Qing came to the company with dark circles under his eyes and saw Xiao Qiu already waiting there. Haidong Qing wanted to go to the company's finance department to get his travel expenses, but unexpectedly found that the finance staff hadn't arrived yet. He hurriedly called his boss, who was already in Beijing. The boss yawned over the phone and said, "Ah, I forgot to have her work overtime. Old Hai, you cover it first and just report it when you get back."
Haidong Qing hung up and said to Xiao Qiu, "Let's go, if others rest we work, and we even have to pay upfront ourselves! Come on, come with me to get the money."
As soon as he finished speaking, fear immediately flashed in Xiao Qiu's eyes: "Boss Hai, you go get the money alone…"
"What's wrong?" Haidong Qing asked quickly. Xiao Qiu said, "Someone just died at the downstairs ATM yesterday morning, I really don't dare to go there to get money."
"What's there to be afraid of!" Haidong Qing's expression darkened slightly. He told Xiao Qiu that today's morning newspaper had already published the news—the person who killed the withdrawer had been caught, and the security camera at the ATM yesterday had completely recorded the killer's actions and even captured his facial features.
"Moreover," Haidong Qing added, "even if you don't dare to go to that ATM, there are plenty of other street ATMs where we can get money."
After hearing this, Xiao Qiu finally mustered the courage to go downstairs with Haidong Qing. Their flight was at 1:00 PM, so they had to get the money in the morning. When they arrived on the first floor, there was no one at the downstairs ATM, as everyone seemed to think the place was unlucky.
But the other ATMs on the street were different; lines had formed in front of all the machines. They went through ATMs on several nearby streets, but either the money had been withdrawn, or the machines were malfunctioning.
Haidong Qing looked at his watch; it was already past ten.If he didn't head to the airport immediately, it would be too late. Helplessly shrugging his shoulders, he said to Xiao Qiu, “Looks like we only have the option of withdrawing cash from the self-service bank downstairs at the company.”
Xiao Qiu immediately protested, “No, I'd rather quit than go to that bank where someone just died.” Haidongqing had no choice but to say to Xiao Qiu, “How about this: I'll go get the money, and you just wait outside the self-service bank.” Only then did Xiao Qiu reluctantly follow Haidongqing to the self-service bank downstairs.
The self-service bank, hidden behind the lobby's partition wall, did not feel any brighter despite the approaching midday sun. Haidongqing swiped his bank card, and only then did the two old glass doors slowly open, as if pulling back a curtain. As the glass doors opened, they trembled and made a sound similar to moaning. Haidongqing hesitated for a few seconds and carefully peered inside. Fortunately, he did not see the terrifying remnants of the '6E0000' color tone on the walls and floor—a tone in the design software Ph-t-Sh-p used as a color code for drawing blood.
Haidongqing took a deep breath, tightly clenched the card in his hand, and mustered up the courage to enter the bank; he didn't want to lose face in front of Xiao Qiu. His forehead was covered in sweat, and as he struggled to move his heavy legs and finally inserted the bank card into the ATM, he realized that his fingers had turned a ghostly gray. He knew his complexion looked no better.
The card went into the ATM, but after a long while, the screen still showed no response. Just as Haidongqing grew anxious, a line of text suddenly appeared on the screen: “This machine is temporarily unable to process your card. Please contact your card issuer.” Pulling out the card that had been returned, he was surprised to find it was his café VIP card—yet he didn't know how it had opened the self-service bank door earlier.
“Maybe after opening the door, I habitually put the card back in my wallet, and then got it mixed up when I dug it out at the ATM,” Haidongqing reassured himself internally. But even he found it hard to believe that explanation.
Haidongqing took the bank card out of his wallet again; this time, he couldn't afford to make a mistake. The ATM allowed a maximum withdrawal of 2,000 yuan each time, and 5,000 yuan per day. After entering his password, Haidongqing pressed the number 2,000, and a few seconds later, a stack of cash came out of the slot at the bottom of the screen.When Haidongqing was about to bend down to take the money, suddenly there was a 'bang,' and the screen went black. Could it be a power outage? Haidongqing worried that the money in the cash slot would be swallowed back by the ATM automatically, so he quickly reached out to grab it. Just at that moment, the screen suddenly lit up, and a blurry face of a woman appeared on it—it was the waitress from the café! The waitress stared fixedly at Haidongqing and said in a faint voice, 'Give me back my life... give me back my life...' As she spoke, two streams of murky blood flowed from her eyes.
Haidongqing was instantly terrified. He grabbed the money that had come out of the slot and wanted to turn and run, but he found that the money was stuck in the slot and he couldn't move it at all. In a panic, he used a little more force with his hands, and finally managed to pull the money out, but because he had used too much strength, all the bills flew into the air.
In a moment of daze, the café waitress on the screen disappeared, replaced by the normal ATM interface, and Haidongqing's bank card was ejected from the card slot. Haidongqing hurriedly grabbed his bank card and picked up the scattered red 100-yuan bills, and ran out of the self-service bank as if fleeing. Outside the bank, Haidongqing saw Xiao Qiu concentrating on playing a mobile game, completely unaware of the terrifying scene that had just occurred in the ATM. Haidongqing counted the money he had just taken out and realized there were actually twenty-one 100-yuan bills in his hand—there was an extra bill in the ATM?!
Haidongqing put the twenty-one 100-yuan bills into his wallet, walked over to Xiao Qiu, and found that Xiao Qiu was not playing a game but watching a short video on his phone. Xiao Qiu was using the latest multimedia phone, which could both make calls and record and watch videos.
When Xiao Qiu looked up and saw Haidongqing, his face immediately showed fear. He handed the phone to Haidongqing and said tremblingly, 'President Hai, I'm just a worker and an only child. Can I not go to Beijing? I don't want to die too soon…'
Haidongqing took the phone in puzzlement and stared at the screen playing the video file—on the screen, Haidongqing had opened the door of the self-service bank and then hesitated before walking in. Xiao Qiu must have recorded this when he was bored; everything had been captured very faithfully.At this moment, Hai Dongqing's hand suddenly began to tremble. He saw in the footage that near the ATM inside the doorway, there seemed to be a faint, almost imperceptible shadow, gently waving at him. Then he walked in, following the shadow's gesture to stand in front of the ATM, inserted his bank card, and the footage shook violently. When it finally stabilized, the shadow became even clearer—its limbs could even be distinguished—it was the waitress who had committed suicide in the café! She was standing next to him, seemingly laughing triumphantly! As he reached in to take the money, she also reached her hand in…
The short video ended here. Hai Dongqing's gaze became dazed and unfocused. If it weren't for Xiao Qiu supporting him from the side, he would probably have collapsed at the entrance of the building.
4 The Ghost Money Incident
"Let's cancel the trip, don't go to Beijing…" Xiao Qiu said with a trembling voice. "Surely a female ghost has attached itself to you."
Hai Dongqing nodded gloomily, but this trip to Beijing was crucial to the survival of the company. If he didn't go, how could he report to the company's boss? He decided to call his boss.
On the phone, the boss, a former soldier, immediately flew into a rage upon hearing Hai Dongqing's words. Hai Dongqing hurriedly described the strange events of the past two days: first, in the café, he had complained about the waitress, which resulted in her jumping off the building and committing suicide; then, he saw the ghostly figure of the same waitress at the recently deceased person's ATM.
"Old Hai…" There was a pause on the phone before the boss slowly said, "You didn't do anything wrong by complaining about the waitress. If anyone is to blame, it's the girl's own inability to handle pressure. Even if she hadn't jumped because of your complaint, she might have done so due to complaints from other customers. Don't blame yourself too much. As for the recording Xiao Qiu captured, the building is in the city center, with many people passing by. Capturing a reflection on the glass door is perfectly normal. Besides, it's so hot, you understand the concept of a mirage, right?"
Perhaps the boss was right. But even if what was captured was a reflection, he still couldn't explain why it resembled the waitress. Remember, she had already committed suicide by jumping off the building.
Xiao Qiu helped the dazed Hai Dongqing to sit on a bench next to the building, handed him a Trueness 35 cigarette for him to light up, and then said, "Mr. Hai, I'll go buy you a bottle of water."After Xiao Qiu left, Hai Dongqing silently smoked a cigarette. Five minutes later, he finished it and then, trembling, reached into his pocket to get another one. At this moment, his mind was already filled with fear; probably only when smoking could he slightly ease the tension and stress in his heart.
But for some reason, he rummaged through all his pockets and couldn't find his cigarettes anywhere. So he stood up and walked to the nearest small shop. To his surprise, when he inquired, the shop was out of the Techun 35 brand cigarettes. Hai Dongqing only liked smoking that brand and was unwilling to switch; out of helplessness, he went to several shops farther away to buy cigarettes. Strangely, every shop was out of Techun 35—when a person is unlucky, even drinking a sip of cold water gets stuck in their teeth.
Hai Dongqing suddenly remembered that Xiao Qiu had once mentioned a newly opened small shop in the back alley of the building. It was relatively secluded, so maybe they still had some Techun 35 left. Soon, he found the shop, and the cigarettes he wanted were displayed in a prominent position. Hai Dongqing took a hundred yuan out of his wallet and said to the shop owner, "Give me a pack of Techun 35."
The shop owner smiled politely and accepted the money, but then his friendly expression suddenly changed. He angrily yelled, "What do you mean? How could you do such a thing? Explain yourself, or I'll call the police! No money? Using hell bank notes?" Hai Dongqing was stunned. Looking at the bill the shop owner was holding, he felt a chill in his heart—what the owner had wasn't a hundred-yuan note; he was holding a red hell bank note!
Hai Dongqing's face turned ashen. He recalled that when withdrawing money at the ATM, he had accidentally taken out an extra red hundred-yuan note. Could it be that the extra one was a hell bank note? Could that dead waitress really be haunting him, seeking revenge? Terrified, sweat beads appeared all over his forehead. He hurriedly apologized, exchanged the note for real money, didn't even take the cigarettes, and ran off in a staggered rush without looking back.
Back on the bench in front of the building, Hai Dongqing saw Xiao Qiu holding a bottle of mineral water, looking around. At that moment, Hai Dongqing's phone rang again. He saw that the call was from his boss.The boss spoke on the phone in a booming voice, saying that if Hai Dongqing could get to Beijing on time and close this business deal, the company could pay off his unfinished mortgage on his house all at once as a reward. If Hai Dongqing didn't come to Beijing, then he should leave immediately and never appear in the company again.
Hearing this, Hai Dongqing had to weigh the consequences. The duplex he bought in the bustling city still had over 800,000 yuan in mortgage payments owed to the bank. If the boss was willing to pay it off, that would be a huge sum. With a generous reward, there must be a brave person. Hai Dongqing took a deep breath, walked up to Xiao Qiu, and said, "Let's go, let's take a taxi to the airport, there's still time."
Xiao Qiu said in shock, "President Hai, aren't you afraid of the vengeful female ghost?"
Hai Dongqing shuddered, but he quickly concealed his fear and said, "Maybe the ghost won't be able to follow me in this city. Perhaps if I go to Beijing, she won't be able to come and harm me..." But even he didn't dare to believe this reasoning.
Hailing a taxi, Hai Dongqing pulled the pale-faced Xiao Qiu into the car. The taxi swiftly headed toward the airport...
### 5. Thoughts Triggered by a Single Hair
Because of the strange events of the morning, Hai Dongqing was still shaken on the plane. He had no appetite and declined the lunch brought by the flight attendant, then closed his eyes to try to sleep. But as soon as he closed his eyes, he saw hazy images of the waitress's resentful eyes, the ghostly figures captured on Xiao Qiu's phone, and the red ghost money.
Hai Dongqing only woke up when the plane was about to reach Beijing. In the restroom, he splashed his face harshly with cold water, finally regaining some color.
After passing the security exit, Hai Dongqing immediately saw the boss standing outside.
The boss exclaimed loudly upon seeing him, "What's wrong with you? You look terrible. Did you run into something supernatural?"
Hai Dongqing disguised his feelings and said, "I'm fine, just had no appetite and didn't eat on the plane. Now I actually feel a bit hungry."
The boss laughed and said, "Xiao Qiu, you've been to Beijing before. Take Director Hai to find a place to eat. I'll go back to the hotel to get ready; tonight we're meeting with overseas venture capitalists."
Xiao Qiu nodded and told Hai Dongqing that there was a Chaozhou restaurant with good food not far from the airport.Under Xiao Qiu's guidance, Hai Dongqing arrived at that Chaozhou eatery. While Xiao Qiu was ordering, Hai Dongqing took out a stick of particularly strong Sanwu points, then idly wandered around. When his gaze fell on a seat by the window near the entrance, Hai Dongqing saw someone sitting there, and his heart instantly froze—there sat a woman in white with long hair, staring at Hai Dongqing with wide eyes. She was the woman who had jumped to her death because of Hai Dongqing's complaint!
Terrified, Hai Dongqing grabbed Xiao Qiu's arm and, pointing at the woman in white by the door, shouted in fear, 'Look, she's there!'
Xiao Qiu turned to glance but said calmly, 'Boss Hai, there's no one there. Are you seeing things?'
What? Xiao Qiu couldn't see the woman? Could it really be a ghost? Even after escaping to Beijing, she had still followed him like a lingering spirit?
The ghostly woman, in Hai Dongqing's horrified sight, slowly stood up, gracefully and delicately walking toward the door. Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly looked back at Hai Dongqing and said softly, 'Tonight, I will come to find you in the negotiation room…' Then she floated away.
Shivering all over, Hai Dongqing asked Xiao Qiu, 'You really didn't see the woman in white?' Xiao Qiu shook his head and said, 'Boss Hai, there are only the two of us in this eatery now. Where's this woman in white? You must be too nervous and haven't eaten, so you're imagining things.'
'Maybe that's true…' Hai Dongqing muttered. 'But I heard her say she would come to the negotiation tonight…'
Xiao Qiu jumped up and exclaimed loudly, 'Oh my god, the ghost really is coming! Let's not go to negotiate with the foreign merchants tonight! I don't want to die there!'
Hai Dongqing sighed and said nothing. At that moment, a bald-headed male waiter brought over the dishes Xiao Qiu had ordered. This eatery was quite unique; all the male waiters had shaved heads.
Hai Dongqing's stomach growled. Though he didn't have much appetite, he still mechanically ate the food. After a few bites, he felt something thin and soft wrap around his tongue. Spitting it out, he saw that it was a strand of hair.He was already in a bad mood, and now seeing hair in his mouth immediately made him furious.
Haidong Qing waved his hand, and the bald waiter immediately ran over. Haidong Qing pointed to the hair in the dish and said unhappily, "What's going on? Why is there hair in your food?"
The waiter looked at the hair, touched his shiny bald head, and said, "Sir, all the chefs and waiters at Ala Eatery are bald. This hair definitely didn't come from here. Maybe it fell out of your own head while you were eating and drifted into the dish…"
Haidong Qing looked at the hair and thought to himself that it really wasn't the cook's or waiter's fault. Perhaps it was really because he had been too tense in the past few days, causing hormonal imbalance and hair loss. So he could only wave for the bald waiter to leave. However, he no longer had an appetite to continue eating, instead staring intently at the hair in the dish, saying nothing.
Xiao Qiu looked at Haidong Qing in surprise and asked, "President Hai, what's wrong with you?"
Haidong Qing said, "Xiao Qiu, don't disturb me. Let me think clearly, organize my thoughts, and consider how to phrase things for tonight's negotiation."
"Ah?! You're still going to negotiate tonight?" Xiao Qiu asked, shivering all over. "Aren't you afraid that ghost will come for your life? I want to live, you want to die!"
"It's fine!" Haidong Qing said coldly. "You don't need to meet the foreign businessmen tonight; I'll go alone. Even if a ghost really comes for a life, it's mine alone."
Haidong Qing took out a red 100-yuan bill from his wallet and placed it on the table, saying, "This money won't turn into ghost money again, unless the cashier at this eatery can perform magic."
6 Truth Revealed, Shadows Dispelled
Back at the hotel, the boss had already prepared all the materials. When the boss asked Haidong Qing if he had any requests, Haidong Qing smiled and said, "Boss, I have only one request: after the negotiation is over, you can let me make a decision for the company."
The boss asked curiously, "What decision?" But Haidong Qing just smiled without answering.
That night's negotiation went very smoothly. The overseas venture capitalists were very satisfied with Haidong Qing's online game software and initially agreed to a high investment. During the negotiation, no life-seeking ghost appeared.After seeing off the foreign businessmen, the boss happily high-fived Haidongqing in celebration. The boss asked, "Didn't you say there was a decision to make? Hurry up and tell me what it is." Haidongqing said seriously, "Let's announce it after I go back inside and see Xiaoqiu."
When he saw Xiaoqiu, Haidongqing finally told the boss, "The decision I am making is to fire a business spy for the company—Xiaoqiu!"
Xiaoqiu jumped up as if on fire: "President Hai, on what basis can you say I am a business spy?"
Haidongqing said coldly, "It wasn't until I had lunch at the Chaozhou Café this afternoon that I figured everything out. Your goal was to help our competitor, making me think I saw a female ghost and making me afraid to meet with overseas investors. Unfortunately, you accidentally gave yourselves away."
Haidongqing's deduction was as follows: When he went to the café for a meal, Xiaoqiu deliberately arranged for her female accomplice to bump into Haidongqing, spilling coffee on his suit and triggering an argument. Another accomplice, disguised as the café manager, immediately appeared and told Haidongqing that they would handle the waitress. When he went downstairs, the group gathered outside were naturally their accomplices, with the purpose of making Haidongqing believe that his complaint had caused the waitress to commit suicide by jumping out the window. Haidongqing then went to the ATM at a self-service bank, which had already been tampered with by Xiaoqiu's group. When they saw Haidongqing entering the bank, they activated a program that displayed an image of the waitress with bleeding eyes on the ATM screen, threatening vengeance. Don't forget, Xiaoqiu is also an IT expert, so creating such a program isn't very difficult. And the morning before work yesterday, when Haidongqing went to the bank to withdraw money, he happened to see a few uniformed people modifying the equipment and temporarily suspending bank operations; these must have been the ones tampering with the ATM.
As for the ghost image captured by Xiaoqiu's phone, needless to say, it was just a reflection on the glass door. At that moment, the woman in white was standing outside the bank, waving, and had Xiaoqiu record it.
The small shop in the back alley must also have been run by one of Xiaoqiu's accomplices. When Haidongqing smoked his first cigarette outside the building, Xiaoqiu secretly took the cigarette from his pocket, and using the excuse of buying bottled water, went and cleared out all the top-shelf cigarettes from several nearby small stores. As a result, Haidongqing had no choice but to buy cigarettes from the small shop in the back alley.When the small shop owner took the money handed over by Haidong Qing, he immediately used a very quick trick to exchange it for a piece of joss paper. Any person with a basic knowledge of magic could successfully carry out such a trick. And the extra one-hundred-yuan bill that Haidong Qing received when collecting the money must have been slipped in from the gap of the ATM by someone while he was bending down to pick the money up. Perhaps it was the woman in white, because at that moment she happened to be standing outside the door waving her hand, allowing Xiao Qiu to film so-called supernatural footage.
Upon arriving in Beijing, at that Chaozhou eatery, Xiao Qiu deliberately pretended not to notice the woman in white again, making Haidong Qing believe he had seen a murderous ghost. The woman in white, when leaving the eatery, also uttered a sentence threatening to come after him during his negotiations. Her purpose was to make Haidong Qing abandon his decision to meet with the foreign businessmen.
After hearing Haidong Qing, Xiao Qiu's face turned ashen.
The boss sternly asked, "Xiao Qiu, did you really do this?"
Xiao Qiu trembled all over and sorrowfully answered, "President Hai, you are correct. Anyway, your negotiations are over, and our plan has failed, so I can confess: your guess is completely accurate. It's as if you were standing beside and watching us act. Can you tell me exactly what gave us away?"
Haidong Qing smiled and said, "It was the hair in the Chaozhou eatery that revealed you."
"Hair?!"
Yes, that hair! When the bald waiter at the eatery said that, to prevent hair from falling into the food, all their chefs and waiters shaved their heads, it reminded Haidong Qing of the first time he saw that woman in white at the café.
All waitresses are supposed to tie their hair up or put it into a ponytail at the back, especially in higher-end Western restaurants and cafés. But that waitress let her jet-black hair flow freely over her shoulders.
"Xiao Qiu, have you ever seen a waitress like that?" Haidong Qing asked, brimming with a smile.
Xiao Qiu had no reply, and could only pack his luggage and silently leave the hotel room.
The boss patted Haidong Qing on the shoulder, saying, "Old Hai, I really didn't realize you were this impressive."
Haidong Qing said, "Actually, it's not that I'm so impressive. I just always believed that there are no ghosts in this world. The real ghosts are hidden in people's hearts."The human heart is the scariest ghost!
