out of control

Jiang Qing opened her mouth, but couldn't breathe any oxygen.

She tried to open her eyes wide, but tears as big as beans fell uncontrollably, and the misty light blurred her vision.

As she lost her strength, the force that was holding her tightly suddenly disappeared, leaving her alone to fall to the ground.

Jiang Qing stretched out her hand, trying to grab something, but it was empty.

The night outside the window was pitch black, just as it had been a moment ago, like a monstrous beast poised to devour anyone at any moment. The curtains fluttered in the wind, and a wisp of gauze brushed the cheek of a kneeling girl, instantly waking her from her unconscious tears.

The water droplets fell to the ground one after another, splashing out transparent little flowers.

The girl staggered to her feet and searched everywhere. Trembling, she picked up the worn recorder and her fingertips touched the buttons.

Press it, press it and you can go back.

If she pressed it, she could save her senior.

Was it an accident? Or did someone kill the senior?

Why did the murderer do this?

Will she be able to save her senior after she returns? Can she go back to the time before her senior was killed?

No, no, the girl grabbed her hair, Jiang Qing, calm down.

She slapped her head hard, which was so noisy that it made her headache splitting.

If you can do it, you definitely can.

You are all she has.

Keep your head up, take a deep breath, calm down, you have to calm down.

A gust of cool wind rushed into her lungs, and Jiang Qing coughed heart-wrenchingly, in so much pain that she felt as if she was coughing out all her internal organs.

In a trance, there was a knock on the door.

It was like a knock on her wildly beating heart. She even felt that her internal organs were running too fast and the alarm was constantly buzzing. She felt so overloaded and burned that she almost fainted.

"Ahem...who...is it?" she asked breathlessly.

There was silence outside the door for a moment, and after a long time, the sound was heard again.

"It's me," the man said, "Lin Nanyan."

The boy's familiar calm voice sounded. It was obviously not far away, but now it seemed to be transmitted to Jiang Qing's ears across thousands of mountains and rivers. She clenched her hands and tried to get up.

Lin Nanyan stood in front of the familiar gate, his eyelids drooping, waiting quietly.

The clattering sound of footsteps came quickly from far away and was almost within reach.

The door rang, he looked up, and a warm body stumbled into his arms.

First the girl whimpered, and then gradually turned into wailing, and the surging tears left a large dark mark on his chest.

The tears were so hot that they burned Lin Nanyan's heart through his skin.

There was a hint of red at the corners of his eyes. He put his big hand on the girl's head, patted her back gently, and helped her calm down.

"Senior...Senior...is dead..."

"She's dead...dead."

The girl sobbed uncontrollably. She kept asking, as if she was asking Lin Nanyan, or as if she was asking herself.

"How could she die?"

Lin Nanyan's hand paused, then he hugged the girl tighter. His eyes were sore and the pain made them red.

There was no light in the room, and it was shrouded in darkness. Only the moonlight filtered through the unclosed window in the corridor, casting a cold glow on the two people hugging each other tightly.

Jiang Qing sat on the sofa, hugging her legs, staring at Lin Nanyan.

The boy lit a tiny night light and placed it in front of her, then walked into the kitchen. The sound of running water began and then stopped. He brought out the hot water and put it in her hand.

"Have a drink."

The transparent glass wall is dotted with tiny, round water droplets, which are fine, dense, and countless.

Jiang Qing's gaze moved away from the cup and slowly fell on the boy in front of her.

No, it should be a man.

After not seeing him for nine years, he has changed a lot.

The eyebrows and eyes are more profound, the jaw angle is clear, the fleshiness is reduced after the skin and flesh are connected, and the turning angle is clear. There is a hint of blue in the bottom of the man's eyes, which makes him look more mature and charming.

At this moment, he was facing away from the night light, with half of his face hidden in the darkness, which made his nose look taller and his features more three-dimensional.

Perhaps because she had just seen the teenage version of him before, facing the man who had suddenly grown up, Jiang Qing suddenly came to her senses. She couldn't help but feel a sense of alienation towards the man.

He was not the boy she knew.

"What's wrong?"

The girl's eyes gradually became unfamiliar, and Lin Nanyan felt inexplicably uneasy.

Jiang Qing examined the man in front of her. She put down her water cup, which made a slight noise when it collided with the glass on the coffee table. She asked, "Why are you here?"

Lin Nanyan's eyes swept across the coffee table, he tilted his head and lowered his eyes, his voice low.

"Senior Jiang Qing passed away, didn't she?"

Jiang Qing's hands around her knees tightened, she pursed her lips and said nothing.

"Jiang Jiang," he suddenly called her name, "you've worked hard."

This was the first time Jiang Qing realized that people can shed so many tears that it seems they can never stop.

Tears fell silently, but she didn't dare to blink. She spoke carefully, as if she was afraid of waking something up.

"Lin Nanyan, are you going back too?"

The man reached out to wipe the girl's tears. His hands were shaking, and red bloodshot was spreading in his eyes. He nodded.

Jiang Qing suddenly sat up and hugged the man in front of her, all her courage disappeared in an instant.

"What do you think I should do?"

It turns out that she is not alone, and there is someone walking with her.

"What are we going to do?"

The girl's grip grew stronger and stronger, as if she wanted to melt the man in front of her into her bones and blood, never to be separated again.

"Let go...let go," Lin Nanyan patted the girl's hand that was tightening around his neck, "I can't breathe."

Jiang Qing squeezed hard again before letting go. She watched Lin Nanyue suddenly stretch out his hand, and the man's head naturally moved closer.

Putting his hands on his hair and ruffling it, a fresh chicken feather style was instantly created, which looked even more weird with Lin Nanyan's mature face.

Jiang Qing burst into laughter in an instant. It was still the familiar tone, familiar actions, and familiar person.

It’s great that he is still the same Big Dog Lin.

Lin Nanyan glanced at her sideways: "Is it okay?"

"Okay." Jiang Qing replied seriously.

After this fight, her fluctuating heartbeat finally settled down. Her detective brain went online, trying to find some clues.

"Senior Jiang Qing must have been murdered," she said.

"Look, when I left, she was sitting with other people, and I even said hello to her. She was fine at that time and responded to me naturally."

"But in that short time since we left, she suddenly..." Jiang Qing paused, forcing herself to recall the scene, "fell right in front of us."

"That wasn't an accident. Senior sister must have been pushed down from a high place." She said with certainty.

"Did you notice anything unusual at the time, like unusual people, unusual movements, or anything like that?" she asked, turning to him. "You covered my eyes, so I didn't see anything afterwards."

Lin Nanyan's hands, placed beside his legs, trembled imperceptibly. He recalled carefully and said, "I was also frightened at the time and didn't have time to observe my surroundings."

"That's right, anyone would be slow to react in such a short time." Jiang Qing's tone became low.

The room fell silent for a moment.

"At that time, the senior seemed to be looking at us." Jiang Qing suddenly said coldly.

Lin Nanyan: "No, it's an illusion."

Jiang Qing looked up and asked him, "Really?"

"No." Lin Nanyan said firmly. He looked at Jiang Qing, "By the way, you are close to the senior sister. Have you noticed anything unusual around her?"

Jiang Qing fell into deep thought. "Everything was normal on the day we went hiking in Aoki Park."

Lin Nanyan: "Not just that day, the murderer might have quietly ambushed nearby without us knowing. Does she usually have any enemies?"

"No, Senior is kind to others, how could she have a grudge against me..." Jiang Qing suddenly remembered something and looked up, "That boy!"

"It must be him!" She gritted her teeth. "He did it."

"You might not know this, but one day when I went to see Senior Sister Jiang Qing, a boy and she had an argument. Afterwards, I asked her, and she said she owed that boy money," Jiang Qing said, her voice gradually becoming sharper as she became increasingly emotional. "Do you think it was him? He didn't get the money, so he held a grudge and secretly followed her and took the opportunity to push her down."

"Jiang Jiang, calm down first," Lin Nanyan held the girl's shoulders, "Let's take it slow."

"How can I stay calm?!" Jiang Qing suddenly shouted.

"Tell me how to calm down?"

"She's dead!"

"Die right before my eyes!"

"She was talking to me peacefully just a second ago. I told her I'd be back soon," Jiang Qing collapsed, covering her face with her hands. Tears flowed through her fingers like a broken chain, clattering to the ground. "She promised me, and she even smiled at me."

“I just went to the bathroom, turned around and boom, I was gone,” she murmured. “Boom, I was gone.”

"Why did I have to leave at that time? Why couldn't I just stay with her?"

"She was smiling at me," Jiang Qing began to scratch herself, "I shouldn't have gone, I shouldn't have..."

"Jiang Qing!"

The man suddenly called her. She raised her eyes and looked at the person in front of her with red eyes. Jiang Qing couldn't even see the misty face clearly.

"Are you calling me," she tilted her head and smiled, "or her?"

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have left. If I had stayed where I was, nothing would have happened to my senior sister." Lin Nanyan clenched her hand. "It's my fault."

"No," Jiang Qing kept shaking her head in denial. "It's not your fault. Mei Yan, Song Shuang, Wang Huaqing, and Chen Heng were there too. Everyone was still there. How could it be your fault? Don't take the blame on yourself."

"Then why is it your fault?" Lin Nanyan asked.

Jiang Qing stopped shaking her head, blinked, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"If Meiyan, Song Shuang, Wang Huacheng, and Chen Heng are all innocent," Lin Nanyan stared into her eyes, his voice hoarse, "why is it only your fault? Tell me, Jiang Jiang."

"I'm sorry." After a moment of silence, Jiang Qing suddenly said.

She pushed back her messy hair and hurriedly tidied her appearance.

"I'm kind of out of control."

"I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry."

Lin Nanyan couldn't help but raise his head, take a deep breath, and suppress his turbulent emotions.

He reached out and put the hair that was scattered on the girl's face behind her ears, and gently placed his fingertips on the blush at the corner of the girl's eyes.

"Jiang Jiang, have you ever thought about why your senior's student ID was cancelled?" His voice was so soft, almost whispering, "In the past, before we even returned."

"Why?" Jiang Qing looked up blankly, her brain had stopped working.

"Because she died before."

"And we just happened to witness the moment of her death."