Incineration

The IV bottle was empty and the nurse came to remove the needle. The woman on the recliner seemed to have fainted again. The man was tall and thin, and there were some stains on his trouser legs when he rushed over.

He got closer and closer, stopped in front of the woman, then bent down, picked her up, and walked out step by step.

The taxi was driving very slowly on the rainy night. At dawn, there were still a bunch of people stuck on the overpass. The driver smoked a cigarette, squinted his eyes and looked at the long queue of people in front of him, turned on the radio, and after the buzzing sound, there was a late-night radio station.

"It's four o'clock Beijing time now. The road is difficult to travel on rainy days. It seems that the Tiangang Bridge has been blocked for a long time. But it doesn't matter. Xiaochun will accompany everyone on this rainy night." The host's calm and gentle voice soothed the anxious crowd late at night. Even the driver in the front row put out his cigarette, turned off the engine and listened to her quietly.

"Next, let's answer the next call together."

After a series of electric sounds, a girl's voice came from the radio, speaking with a bit of timidity, "Hello?"

"Hello, what's your name?" The female anchor answered naturally with a smile on her face.

"My name is... Lan Xin. I came up to the microphone today to tell a secret that I've kept in my heart for a long time. I guess it's like I'm just sharing it."

"Okay, we're listening."

"I'm a graduate student and just graduated this summer. The school I attend is quite famous locally, but their graduate laboratory is extremely shabby, with a few patinated beakers and test tubes, and not even a few alcohol lamps. My advisor also exploits students like crazy, not only withholding our grants but also taking female students to various dinners to obtain high research funding." The woman's breathing on the other end of the phone gradually became unstable. "When choosing an advisor in the spring, some junior students asked me if my advisor could be selected. I... I lied to ensure a smooth graduation and said a lot of good things about my advisor."

"Oh, so you feel guilty about lying to your juniors, right?"

"Yes... After all, I knew exactly what kind of situation they would face after entering, but I still lied."

The girl's voice trembled slightly, and the female anchor asked with concern: "Did something happen over there? It sounds like you're not in a good condition."

"No, no." The girl held up her phone. There was another phone on the bed with messages constantly popping up. She bit her lower lip, tremblingly picked it up and unlocked it, then regrouped, "I just feel guilty."

"I see. Since your instructor is so evil, you could report him to the school, the Education Bureau, or the public security organs. You could expose him while ensuring your own safety. What do you think?"

"...Yes, I think so." The girl took a deep breath, not knowing who she was answering. "I, I will."

After the call was hung up, the female anchor said some summary words while looking at the severed connection. Coincidentally, the Tiangang Bridge was open to traffic again, and the city life went on as usual as if the call had never happened.

Passing by the living room, the fragrance drifted faintly in the air. Chen An saw the coat taken off on the back of the chair at a glance, and then suddenly picked it up and threw it into the washing machine.

Jiang Li walked around but couldn't find his coat. He asked in confusion, "Where's my coat?"

"I'll wash it for you." Chen An came out of the room and poured water.

Jiang Li opened his mouth and was about to say something but was interrupted by a message on his phone.

It’s Li Ziyang.

"Why is this guy not sleeping so late?"

After a second or two, I realized where this guy got his WeChat from.

Li Ziyang: [Please eat some melon.]

Later, he thought that Li Ziyan lived in the same dormitory with him, so it was not surprising that he sent him a WeChat message. He clicked on it and it sent him a PDF that took up a lot of memory.

Jiang Li opened the document while wiping his hair.

They all had their hair cut short upon entering the police academy, but Jiang Li's hair grew faster, especially in the front. Water dripped onto the screen, and after half a minute of loading, it opened to a 180-page document. "What is this?"

He sat down, his eyes fixed on the screen, his attention completely absorbed by the big red words, and he didn't even notice when Chen An took the towel.

Chen An was helping him wipe his hair. Jiang Li tilted his head back and blinked, then held up his phone in front of him. A large red headline appeared in his eyes: "Eleven students jointly wrote a letter to sue their tutor Huang Fuhong for academic fraud."

Chen An frowned and said nothing.

Jiang Li began to quickly look through the document. This document was a joint report by eleven graduate students in biological sciences. It listed Huang Fuhong's exploitation of students during their graduate studies and his instructions to tamper with data. Every single thing, every experiment and every paper output was explained in detail, which was shocking to read.

It turns out that even in seemingly rigorous scientific areas, there is such a hypocritical side. No wonder so many students who aspire to go to college lose their brilliance when they arrive at a real university. It seems that what they do is not much brighter than his.

【Explode! 】

[This happened last year. It was done by the senior students from the previous class. It was so bad that they killed the instructor!]

Jiang Li started typing.

[Don't schools usually cover up when something goes wrong? How did you get this document?]

Li Ziyang showed off immediately as if he was waiting for him to ask.

[I have my connections. Huang Fuhong was suspended last year, and this document disappeared for a while. Now that new students have come in, it's been circulated again.]

[This incident is well-known throughout Qu'an University! ]

Jiang Li lazily typed a word, "Oh".

【Why aren’t you asleep yet? 】

You don't either.

[There's an event at Huachao Cinema tomorrow. Will you come? ]

【No, I don’t have time.】

【Why? 】

[I don't want to go. I'm going to sleep now.]

Then quickly exit WeChat.

After Chen An finished wiping his hair, he saw that he was still sitting there. He patted him and said, "Are you not going to sleep yet?"

He was clearly drowsy in the car, but after a shower he felt refreshed. He insisted on showing him the medals he had painstakingly brought back from school. He spread out all kinds of medals on the bed. Upon closer inspection, there were all kinds of awards: first place in the sprint, first place in the obstacle race, third place in the climbing competition...

Just one week was equivalent to their special training, which made me sigh that it's really not easy for students nowadays. However, the training effect is still very obvious. For example, when I took a photo of him just now, I could feel that the muscles in Jiang Li's arms have become tighter. Of course, no matter how Jiang Li protects himself, he can't avoid getting a tan.

"There's a little fat kid in our dorm. His name is weak and he's weak too. He always lags behind in training. I bet he'll drop out of school within a month."

Jiang Li counted the medals and remembered Fan Wenxun crying in the dormitory after the week's settlement, so he gave him a medal to comfort him.

Jiang Li propped up his head. "He's quite pitiful, actually. He applied to the wrong school and fainted at least ten times in his first week... I'd say he should cut his losses now. The more he goes on, the more tired he'll be. If he gives up later, all those months of hardship will be in vain."

Chen An helped him put away the medal and placed it on the bookshelf at the back. "How do you know he can't persevere? What if he does persevere?"

Jiang Li got excited and wanted to make a bet with him.

"What's the bet?"

Jiang Li thought about it, "The loser must unconditionally satisfy the other party for one thing!"

"One month?" Chen An confirmed the betting time again.

Jiang Li nodded, "Yes! Just one month!"

From the very beginning, he didn't think that Fan Wenxun could finish police school safely. It might be okay for other schools, but it would definitely not be easy for a top university like Nancheng Public University.

"OK."

On the first night back from vacation, no matter how he urged Jiang Li, he wouldn't sleep. He was as excited as the noisy melon seeds in the living room. He almost wondered if this guy had become a nocturnal animal.

"If you don't sleep now, it will be dawn."

Jiang Li glanced out the window and grinned, "It's okay, I'm not going to work."

"But I have to go to work!"

Chen An looked at the person who was pulling his clothes and said helplessly.

Jiang Li signaled with his eyes, "There's a bed right here. I'll watch you sleep."

Jiang Li keenly noticed that Chen An's eyes had changed. He loosened his clothes and whispered, "I was just kidding. Good night." Then he buried his head in the quilt and lay down pretending to be dead.

A few minutes later, the other person lay down and his trick was successful again.

Even so, Jiang Li pretended to be aggrieved and said, "I'm not very good at getting along with people. I don't know anyone at school well. I barely talk to anyone in a week. I came back for two days just to find someone to keep me company."

After saying that, Jiang Li turned over with his back to him, and soon he was embraced from behind.

He really softened his heart.

Chen An tucked the quilt in for him and said, "Okay, go to sleep."

He clearly saw through Jiang Li, but he could only indulge her. What he thought was care for her seemed to be gradually sliding towards another unknown direction.

Their relationship became more... indescribable.