Volume 1 Beginning of Summer Chapter 1 Transcript
" What is your relationship with Liang Hao?"
"I'm his landlord."
“When did he start renting your house?”
"It was probably in March last year. The previous tenant moved out and returned to his hometown before the Chinese New Year. It was the off-season before and after the Chinese New Year, so the house was vacant for a while. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, I hired a aunt to clean the place and then put the house up online."
"How long has he been signed with you?"
"The contract was signed for one year, with three months' payment and one month's deposit. After the year was up, I raised his rent by 200 yuan. It was originally 1,500 yuan a month, but now it is 1,700 yuan a month. We didn't re-sign it. We agreed that if he didn't want to rent it, he just had to tell me one month in advance and I would return his deposit."
"How did he pay the rent to you?"
"WeChat me. They will take care of the water and electricity bills themselves. Occasionally, if something breaks or the water pipe is blocked, they will call me and I will go check it out."
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"Let me think about it. About a month ago, the person who lived in the room next to him, Xiao Zou who just left, wanted to apply for a residence permit, so I went to write a certificate for him."
"Did he behave in any unusual way at that time?"
"Just said hello. I went there in the evening, around 8 or 9 o'clock. He had just come back from get off work. Xiao Zou and I were in the living room. After chatting for a few words, he went back to his room."
"What did you talk about?"
"We talked about housing prices for a while. The housing prices in my neighborhood have increased a lot recently."
"What is his relationship with another tenant, Zou Zhichao?"
"Xiao Zou just moved in this year and has only lived here for over two months. I haven't noticed any conflicts between them."
"Anything else to add?"
"there is none left."
“Is the above statement true?”
"true."
"Please check the transcript to see if it is consistent with what you said?"
Jiang You took the transcript from Ji Feng and quickly glanced through it. "Yes, the same."
"Okay," Ji Feng took back the transcript, "You can go first."
Jiang You stood up, walked out of the recording room, walked along the corridor, crossed the hall, and walked out of the building.
The hot midday sun beat down on his head and shoulders.
Walking through the green belt, out of the gate of Yushui Police Station, crossing the intersection, and reaching the street corner, Jiang You stopped.
He fished out a green candy box from his pocket, pushed open the opening of the box with his thumb, shook it, poured out two mints, and put them in his mouth.
At nine o'clock this morning, Jiang You received a notice asking him to go to the Yushui Police Station to give a statement.
His tenant, Liang Hao, jumped from the 37th floor of Xinwan Building at 3 a.m. yesterday. At 4 a.m., sanitation workers found Liang Hao's body.
Before receiving the notification, Jiang You knew about this through his circle of friends .
Someone anonymously revealed that Liang Hao committed suicide because of excessive overtime, high pressure, conflicts with his boss, and depression. It is said that on the night of Liang Hao's suicide, he had stayed up for three consecutive nights for a new project.
For a while, programmers' overtime became a hot topic, sparking a heated discussion on WeChat Moments, Weibo, and Zhihu. His workplace, Xiaozha Technology Co., Ltd., became the target of public criticism. The social media account of his department leader, Li Jia, was also exposed, and the overwhelming questioning and abuse forced Li Jia to close the private message and comment functions.
Some conspiracy theorists participated in the deduction and analysis of the incident. They argued that Li Jia and Liang Hao had a dispute because Li Jia wanted to snatch the credit from Liang Hao, and during the dispute, Li Jia pushed Liang Hao down the stairs.
Some kindhearted netizens started to organize donations, while others with legal backgrounds began to analyze how Liang Hao's family could seek compensation from Xiaozha Company.
One after another, push notifications with different angles and entry points, but with equally shocking and eye-catching titles, occupied various content platforms.
The coolness of the mint spreads in the mouth, diluting the heat.
Jiang You looked towards the Xinwan Building not far away . The sunlight reflected from the glass curtain wall pierced his eyes. He raised his hand and covered his forehead with it.
In a trance, it seemed that a black dot passed by above the Xinwan Building.
Jiang You squinted his eyes, and when he looked again, there was nothing on the top of the building except a few thin clouds dyed golden by the sun. He lowered his head and thought for a while, then turned a corner and walked towards Lanxinyuan, the community where Liang Hao rented.
On the pointed corner of the roof of Xinwan Building, there stood a girl with long black hair, wearing a white shirt, a dark blue suspender skirt, and a ribbon of the same color tied around her collar.
In her hands she held a wooden machete.
The strong wind from the roof blew her hair and skirt.
Lanxinyuan is very close to Xinwan Building, about 20 minutes' walk away. It is a resettlement community. Jiang You has three houses there, one large one and two small ones, all of which are rented out, leaving only one room empty as a backup.
Usually, he lives in the store.
The name of the shop is Chongwu, located on Wenhua Street next to Wenfeng Park, and it sells postcards. After customers choose postcards and stamps, they will agree with him on a certain day to send them out, and then wait to receive the words written to themselves by their past selves one day in the future.
He has rental income and also owns the shop.
He sleeps until noon every day, goes to the store next door to eat a bowl of noodles or rice, then goes to the park for a walk, and then comes back to open the store. Compared with programmers who work overtime and have high salaries, he can be said to have retired in advance.
Half an hour later, Jiang You walked to the apartment building where Liang Hao rented and climbed to the fifth floor.
The door was not closed and was ajar.
Jiang You pushed the door and walked in.
Hearing the noise, a man with gray hair and a hunched body walked out of the room.
He looked at Jiang You with some confusion.
"I'm Liang Hao's landlord," Jiang You introduced himself, "Just call me Xiao Jiang. You are Liang Hao's parents, right?"
The man nodded.
Liang's mother followed Liang's father out of the room.
He walked unsteadily and looked haggard.
"Xiao Jiang..." Father Liang opened his mouth but didn't know what to say.
Jiang You walked into the living room. The floor was a little dirty, and there were seven or eight plastic chairs of different colors.
At this time, the door was pushed open again . Jiang You turned around and saw a young woman with a plain face, short hair, wearing a light yellow T-shirt and dark jeans walked in. She was holding a black bag in her hand. After seeing Jiang You, she was obviously stunned, raised her head, and looked through Jiang You's shoulder to Liang's father and mother.
"He is Haozi's landlord." said Liang's mother.
"Oh, oh oh..." Xiao Chen glanced at Jiang You, "I'm here to help..."
"Xiao Chen has been helping us run," Liang's mother said. She wiped her eyes and sighed, "We don't know where to go or who to find..."
Xiao Chen walked to Liang's mother, pulled out two chairs, placed them next to Liang's father and mother, and helped them sit down.
"I'll pour you a glass of water." Xiao Chen said.
She walked into the kitchen.
There were several packs of instant noodles and a bag of disposable cups on the kitchen counter. Xiao Chen took out four cups.
"What is your relationship with Liang Hao?"
Xiao Chen raised her head and saw Jiang You standing behind her.
The kitchen door was closed.
