Chapter 43: The Female Driver

“What’s going on?” The moment Yan Xue heard Congo describe this person as ‘quite interesting,’ she immediately perked up.

“I figured that since we’re relying mostly on mutual identification to confirm who attended the gathering, the number of people we can verify is quite limited. Using the neighborhood’s surveillance cameras isn’t very effective either—after all, with all those elaborate costumes and heavy makeup, it’s hard to make out any real features. Even if some faces are recognizable, as long as they have no criminal record, their identity can’t be confirmed. We need to explore other avenues. Considering that residential area is about a street or two away from a district densely packed with restaurants, bars, and entertainment venues, it’s likely that patrols there would be intensified at night, with occasional checkpoints for drunk driving checks and the like.”

“The party broke up quite late that night, and there were so many people in outlandish costumes and heavy makeup walking the streets. If a patrol car passed by, it’s entirely possible they would stop people for routine questioning. That way, we might uncover information we haven’t yet confirmed!” Yan Xue found this approach promising. “Did they find anything?”

Congo nodded and recounted what he had learned from the traffic police squad.

On the night Bai Yueni was murdered, since it was a weekend, the traffic police routinely set up checkpoints for drunk driving near a crossroads adjacent to Lin Zhen’s residential complex. This spot was precisely between the dining hub Congo had mentioned and the residential area. The officers on duty that night remembered the groups of people leaving the masquerade party vividly. Because these people appeared intermittently, patrols in the area were intensified to prevent any drunken disturbances.

However, none of those clad in extravagant costumes and makeup were found to have any infractions. Most were seen stumbling to hail taxis or waiting for ride-hailing cars, while some staggered their way to the subway station. Very few drove themselves.

There was one vehicle, though, that caught the traffic police's attention. When signaled to slow down and stop for an alcohol test, rather than complying immediately, it switched lanes as if trying to evade the checkpoint.

The officers promptly stopped the car and saw through the window a female driver, heavily made-up and wearing a headpiece resembling peacock feathers, clearly someone from that party.

Suspecting something was amiss, the police knocked on the window, signaling her to roll it down, present her ID, and cooperate with the breathalyzer test. She remained motionless, gripping the steering wheel tightly, as if she hadn’t heard them.

Unable to get her cooperation, the officers pulled open the driver’s door. Fortunately, it wasn’t locked from the inside, and the door opened easily. Inside, the woman’s face was pale, her whole body trembling uncontrollably despite the cold night. She was dressed lightly yet sweating profusely. No matter what they asked, she stared blankly ahead, as if spiritless and unable to answer.

Seeing this, the experienced officers grew wary. They suspected it wasn’t just a simple case of drunk driving but possibly drug use. They took no chances, impounded her vehicle, and brought her in for further testing. They were prepared to hand her over to the specialized department handling such cases, but the results shocked them—the tests came back completely normal.

Not only were the drug tests negative, but the alcohol test also showed she was completely sober.

The officers found this puzzling and attributed her strange behavior to a medical condition. They asked if she felt unwell and whether she needed urgent medical treatment.

After undergoing urine and blood tests, the woman seemed somewhat relieved, no longer trembling as before. She told the police she suffered from hypoglycemia, which explained the cold sweats and shaking. She insisted she was fine now, didn’t require hospital treatment, and, since it was already late, just wanted to go home and rest.

With no evidence of intoxication or drug use, and her condition stabilized, the police let her go. The driver left in her car without issue.

Having finished recounting this, Congo looked at Yan Xue, awaiting her reaction.

“Did the traffic police mention whether they gave her anything to eat before the tests?” Yan Xue asked.

“I confirmed that—they didn’t. As soon as they noticed something unusual, they took her away immediately. There was no time to give her anything,” Congo replied, as if anticipating this question.

“That’s exactly the problem!” Yan Xue slapped her palm. “A person with hypoglycemia in such a near-collapse state means it was serious. If you don’t promptly give sugar to raise blood glucose, you’re basically waiting for a medical emergency! How could they subject her to blood tests and analyses and then find nothing wrong? It doesn’t add up.”

“In my opinion, she wasn’t hypoglycemic at all. She must have done something wrong and got nervous when the police stopped her. She couldn’t run, so she started trembling from guilt. Then, when she realized the police were just checking for drunk or drugged driving—not whatever she feared—she calmed down and left as soon as she could.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. That’s why I obtained her personal info,” Congo said, pulling out his notebook and handing it to Yan Xue. “I saw her outfit on the police bodycam footage—the same dress and peacock feather decoration I recognized from the elevator surveillance when we were screening footage earlier.”

“Good. Do you remember roughly when you saw her in the footage?” Yan Xue asked.

“Yes, leave it to me. Here’s her name and ID number. You can look her up. I have a feeling this time we’re onto something,” Congo said, tapping the information in his notebook.

Yan Xue immediately began verifying the driver’s details through the ID number. Based on her initial hunch, this woman was likely someone who had crossed paths with Bai Yueni during their early schooling years. After all, those years were the harshest and most toxic period of Bai Yueni’s upbringing; compared to the more restrained college and work phases, it was easier then to make enemies who might cause such trouble.

However, as Yan Xue’s investigation progressed, she was surprised. She had expected to quickly find a connection between this woman—named Tong Jingyun—and Bai Yueni, but discovered that throughout their schooling, the two had never attended the same institutions at any point. They studied in two different county towns, each belonging to distinct prefecture-level cities, more than two hours apart by car, with no overlap whatsoever.

Yan Xue paused, then quickly adjusted her approach and dove back into her work. Meanwhile, Congo, relying on his memory, swiftly extracted relevant video clips and gestured to Yan Xue to confirm if the person in the footage was indeed the same driver.

Yan Xue leaned in to watch two video segments. The first, by its timestamp, showed Tong Jingyun arriving at the party with several others. She was very slender—perhaps too slender. She wore a spaghetti-strap dress that flared out near her hips, accentuating her waistline. On her head was the same peacock feather headdress seen in the police footage. Her makeup looked more refined here.

The second clip was from the departure, just after midnight. Tong Jingyun left with six or seven others, most of whom appeared quite drunk, some barely able to stand inside the elevator.

Throughout, Tong Jingyun kept her head bowed, seemingly trying to avoid the camera. But since everyone around her was intoxicated and unsteady, her behavior didn’t stand out unless closely observed.

At one point, someone stumbled into her, nearly knocking her off balance. In a panic, she glanced up at the camera, which caught her face clearly.

In that moment, she looked just as disheveled as in the police footage: her makeup smudged, eyes anxious. She quickly lowered her head again and didn’t raise it until they exited the elevator.

“That’s definitely Tong Jingyun who was stopped that night. She attended Bai Yueni’s masquerade party—100% confirmed,” Congo said smugly, raising an eyebrow at Yan Xue. “Not bad memory, huh?”

“Your memory is impressive, no doubt. But the problem remains that Tong Jingyun’s school records don’t connect with Bai Yueni at all,” Yan Xue shared her findings. “I just checked her household registration, and here’s an interesting point: Tong Jingyun’s registered domicile is actually not far from Bai Yueni’s.”

“If it were just a mismatch between household registration and school location, that’d be understandable—studying away from home isn’t uncommon. But Tong Jingyun attended school in the same place from first grade through high school. Yet her parents never had records of living elsewhere, no household moves, no residence permits from other locations. Her grandparents on both sides remain registered and living there. She has no immediate family registered anywhere else.”

“So Tong Jingyun and Bai Yueni share the same county origin but spent their school years apart, making any intersection hard to find. That’s why I dug deeper into the details,” Yan Xue said.

“Details are key. Found anything noteworthy?”

“Indeed, a few things.” Yan Xue recalled a piece of information she had noted. “According to her school records, Tong Jingyun dropped out for two years during the first year of high school, then re-enrolled to start first year again.”

“Based on enrollment years, she should be two years ahead of Bai Yueni. But because of the dropout and restart, she’d be 26 years old now. Yet her household registration lists her as only 24.”

“Has she ever used another name?” Congo guessed, catching the implication.

Yan Xue smiled. “I knew you’d think of that! Tong Jingyun did have a former name—Tong Jingfei. Does that ring any bells?”

“Cousin? Academic identity swap?” Congo reacted quickly. “I’ll keep digging into Tong Jingyun’s background. Didn’t you contact Bai Yueni’s homeroom teacher before? Call again. Ask if there were any students who dropped out mid-term—not transfers, but actual dropouts.”

“Don’t worry, I’ve got this,” Yan Xue nodded and immediately called Bai Yueni’s high school homeroom teacher.

After several calls, Yan Xue reached the teacher, who confirmed there was indeed a girl in their class who dropped out during the first semester of first year high school. The teacher recalled that the student seemed to have suffered some psychological trauma and that the school had advised the parents to apply for a leave of absence so the girl could get treatment and return later, but the parents refused to cooperate. The teacher didn’t know the exact cause of the trauma, only that communication with the parents had broken down, and the student ultimately withdrew.

The student’s name was Tong Jingfei—the same former name as Tong Jingyun, the driver whose ID they had confirmed.

Yan Xue then reached out to Bai Yueni’s former classmates, asking if any remembered a Tong Jingfei. After some effort, a classmate recalled briefly attending school with her in first year. Though her name was almost forgotten, the classmate vividly remembered why she left school.

“I remember Tong Jingfei in high school—she was dark-skinned and chubby. Well, maybe not that dark, just not fair-skinned, but definitely chubby. Her skin wasn’t great; she had acne and wasn’t very attractive. Later, she offended Bai Yueni and got scolded so badly that she ended up transferring schools,” the classmate recalled clearly.