[Extra Story: The Grand Case of the Previous Life]

September 3, 1996.

Today is the registration date for new students at Hongda.

School officially starts tomorrow.

Xiao Bing walked on the campus with his head down. The road was full of potholes after a rain shower, reflecting his thin face.

"Hello, teacher..." Suddenly a voice called out cautiously.

Xiao Bing looked up when he heard the voice and was suddenly stunned.

Standing in front of me was a girl with a ponytail, wearing a high school uniform that had been washed so much that it looked bleached, and carrying a badly worn old schoolbag.

The girl was holding a bag tightly in her arms, and her fair and clean face looked a little reserved.

"Excuse me, are you a teacher?" the girl asked tentatively.

Xiao Bing was dazed for a moment. This girl really looked like Teacher Xiao Lu.

"Well, I'm a teacher, what can I do for you, classmate?"

"Hello, teacher. I found a bag. Inside is my ID card, my admission letter, and..." the girl said, opening the bag to show Xiao Bing, "and some money."

Xiao Bing asked in surprise: "Where did you pick it up?"

Then he picked up the admission letter from the bag and took a look at it.

The girl explained the situation.

Xiao Bing murmured to himself: "Mo Youyou, majoring in financial management."

When Xiao Bing heard the girl say that Mo Youyou was in the same major as him, he asked in surprise, "Are you also a freshman in the class of 1996, majoring in Financial Management?"

The girl nodded: "Yes, teacher, my name is Lu Xiaoshuang."

"Lu Xiaoshuang..." Xiao Bing remembered the name, then showed Lu Xiaoshuang the way and told her that she could hand the things over to the new student registration office. If the other party called the police, they would contact the school.

After hearing this, Lu Xiaoshuang said "Thank you, teacher" to Xiao Bing, then pulled the strap of her schoolbag with her right thumb and left in the direction Xiao Bing pointed.

Xiao Bing walked forward a few steps and couldn't help but look back.

Lu Xiaoshuang's simple and energetic back looks very much like Dong Lu back then.

Xiao Bing's eyes moistened slightly and he sighed.

…

On the evening of March 21, 1997.

Food street.

Xiao Bing came out of the noodle shop carrying the packaged braised beef noodles.

This was only his second time coming to this store. A few days ago, several colleagues from the department brought him here.

He packed a bowl of braised beef noodles and took it back for Dong Lu, but he didn't expect that she actually liked it.

So today he thought of buying another one.

As soon as I came out of the noodle shop, I heard a loud quarrel coming from the barbecue restaurant next door.

He looked in the direction of the voice.

First, I saw a head of eye-catching white hair, and underneath was a rebellious young face.

Then, he saw a familiar figure, and the person hiding beside him and shivering was actually Lu Xiaoshuang.

Baimao kept yelling obscenities at Lu Xiaoshuang, and the owner and waiter of the barbecue restaurant stepped in and tried to calm things down.

But Xiao Bing discovered that Baimao's condition was obviously not right.

Seeing Baimao becoming more and more crazy, Xiao Bing's mind suddenly flashed through the image of Dong Lu, whose face was disfigured on the hospital bed.

He shuddered all over and rushed over. Before anyone could react, he grabbed Lu Xiaoshuang and ran away.

It was as if the person he was holding was not Lu Xiaoshuang, but Dong Lu of the past.

It was his regret that he couldn't stay by her side.

…

Monday, April 22nd.

Grand, large auditorium.

A banner was hung above the rostrum: 1997 Hongcheng University Spiritual Civilization Learning Conference.

There is also an eye-catching slogan below: Promote the style of teachers, set a new trend of civilization, and illuminate the road of educating people with the light of spirit.

"Comrades, the construction of spiritual civilization is not just a slogan, but the foundation that is integrated into the entire process of our teaching and educating people." The leader on the rostrum spoke passionately.

Xiao Bing, who was sitting below, saw the cold eyes of the people in the stands.

"This work is always ongoing. We need to maintain a sense of responsibility and keep a constant watchful eye on the issue. We need to sow the seeds of spiritual civilization more widely and nurture them stronger, so that they can become the deepest foundation for supporting the high-quality development of the school."

"That's all I have to say."

As soon as he finished speaking, the people below began to applaud.

Liu Baoguo, sitting in the center of the rostrum, took the microphone and said earnestly, "Let us thank President Chen for his profound speech. All of us teachers should learn from him and his outstanding performance in promoting spiritual civilization."

Chen Gengyun, who was standing aside, smiled humbly and waved his hand.

Then, Liu Baoguo gave an emotional summary for more than half an hour, and this long and boring meeting finally ended.

The leader on the stage left the stage in high spirits.

The teachers in the audience stood up and walked towards the door with tired looks.

Xiao Bing looked at the huge crowd in front of him and stood there without moving. He left only after most of the people had left.

When I was about to reach the door, I suddenly caught a glimpse of something on the ground beside me.

When I walked over and took a look, it seemed to be a photo with the back facing up.

He bent down to pick it up, and found a few lines of French written on it.

And it was a few lines of hymn.

He smiled, turned the photo over, but suddenly froze.

The photo was actually taken of Lu Xiaoshuang.

He couldn't help but look around, and there were not many people in the auditorium.

He looked at the photo of Lu Xiaoshuang with a bright smile, but his heart slowly sank.

Because this photo looks like it was taken secretly.

Xiao Bing suddenly had a bad feeling.

It was as if a wild beast bared its fangs in the darkness.

He calmly put the photo into his pocket, then walked out of the auditorium door against the light.

…

April 30th, 11:00 am

Xiao Bing rode his bicycle hurriedly from Daguan Street into the alleys of the old city.

There was a Labor Day performance in the afternoon. He was the instructor of the department's performance program, but when he went out this morning, he actually forgot his script.

He is a man who takes things very seriously, and he doesn't want to make any mistakes in his afternoon performance.

I parked my bike, took out my key to open the door, went into the house and closed the door.

Then he went into the inner room and saw the script on the desk at a glance.

He shouted towards the basement entrance: "Lulu, it's me, I forgot something."

Ever since Dong Lu was burned, he never called her Teacher Xiaolu again.

Because he shouted at her once inadvertently, Dong Lu's emotions broke down and she lost control and started to hurt herself.

At that time he didn't know that Dong Lu had become mentally ill.

After saying that, he turned around and walked out with the script.

When he reached the door of the inner room, he suddenly stopped and looked at the entrance to the basement.

Then he walked over and opened the entrance by picking at the edge.

But it was pitch black inside and there was no one there.

Xiao Bing sighed. He knew it was Dong Lu's true personality, so he ran out again.

Xiao Bing knew why Dong Lu's original personality was so determined to run away. She wanted to find the man who set her on fire from this vast crowd.

But it's not that easy. He has been searching in Hongda for so many years, but still found nothing.

If it wasn't for finding clues about that man, why would he endure and stay in Hongda?

But she didn't dare to stop Dong Lu, for fear of irritating her.

Fortunately, Director Sun said that as long as Dong Lu takes the medicine regularly and there is no special stimulation, she is still safe.

Thinking of the special excitement, he couldn't help but sigh.

More than a week ago, he picked up a photo of Lu Xiaoshuang.

After returning home, I forgot about it and the photo fell out when I was getting something. Dong Lu saw it and picked it up.

Dong Lu looked at the photo, then at the poem on the back. Before he could explain, she suddenly became ill.

She tore the photo to pieces in a fit of rage, thinking that he had changed his mind and fallen in love with someone who looked very similar to her when she was intact.

She became ill and could not hear a word of his explanation. She even said some horrifying words.

But Xiao Bing knew that was not Dong Lu's original intention. It was a cry caused by the endless pain that made her unrecognizable.

So he held her tightly and comforted her until she slowly calmed down.

He would never fall in love with someone else, because there was only one Dong Lu in the world, no matter what she became.

From that day on, he followed Director Sun's instructions to increase the dosage of the medicine one week after the onset of the disease.

His condition stabilized later, but he still had to go out every night to look for it.

Xiao Bing looked at the time and thought that as long as she didn't hurt anyone, it would be fine.

After closing the door to the inner room, he glanced at the outer room.

Suddenly, he found that a knife was missing from the knife rack.

He was startled, and the words Dong Lu said when she had an attack that night immediately popped into his mind.

Xiao Bing was horrified and immediately went out and rode his bike to Hongda.

"Lulu, please don't do anything stupid, please don't!"

…

May 1st, evening.

Jianghai Mansion, Villa No. 17.

Chen Gengyun, wrapped in a bath towel, touched his bald head and walked out of the bathroom.

He went into the bedroom and closed the door.

On the bed, Xu Liu lay flat on her back, her eyes seductive as she hooked her finger at Chen Gengyun: "Dean, I made a mistake, can you punish me?"

Chen Gengyun calculated the time to take the small blue pill, pulled off the bath towel from his waist, and walked over with a lewd smile.

For a moment, spring light suddenly appeared.

When the passion reached its peak, Xu Liu moaned and asked, "You... promised me before... when will you send me abroad?"

Chen Gengyun panted heavily: "It will be done in two days...I promise!"

The ecstatic expression on Xu Liu's face immediately turned unhappy, "It always takes two days."

Chen Gengyun did not answer, but just kept working hard.

Suddenly, Xu Liu whispered something in his ear, which made Chen Gengyun's blood run cold.

"Dean Chen, I'm pregnant."

…

May 3rd.

Fan Tianyou called Chen Gengyun early in the morning because today was his mother Fan Chunyu's birthday.

He wanted to have dinner with Chen Gengyun in the evening and buy a cake.

He and his mother had never celebrated their birthdays or blown out birthday candles in their lives.

Later, he met Chen Gengyun and became rich, but he still never celebrated his birthday.

Because he felt that if he had not been born and had not come into this world, Fan Chunyu's life might have been different.

At least he can find someone to marry in Changfeng Ridge instead of having to carry around a bastard like himself as a burden.

So he didn't want to celebrate his own birthday, and Chen Gengyun had never thought of celebrating it for himself.

He even suspected that Chen Gengyun didn't remember his birthday at all.

But today, he wanted Chen Gengyun to celebrate his mother's birthday. He knew that even until her death, his mother would still have a little expectation for this man in her heart.

But Chen Gengyun did not answer his call.

He thought the other party was busy and didn't see it.

I called several more times, but no one answered.

He didn't know that at this moment Chen Gengyun was planning to get rid of Xu Liu.

So, when it was almost time to get off work, he went to Licheng Building to find Chen Gengyun.

But Chen Gengyun was not in the office.

He was about to turn around and go downstairs, but when he turned the corner he ran into someone at the stairs.

The other person was startled. He took one look and blurted out, "Dad."

Chen Gengyun's face changed instantly and he looked around nervously. Fortunately, there was no one around.

"What are you doing here?" Chen Gengyun asked in a low voice.

"I called you and you didn't answer..."

"Let's talk in the office." Chen Gengyun pulled him into the office.

As soon as he closed the door, he said dissatisfiedly: "Didn't I tell you not to come directly to me in school!"

"I wanted to..."

Hearing the words "Today is my mother's birthday," before Fan Tianyou could finish, Chen Gengyun sullenly shook his hands and asked, "Is it because of this?"

Fan Tianyou was stunned. Looking at the other person's expression, he knew the answer.

His face instantly fell, and he said coldly: "Sorry to bother you, Dean Chen!"

After saying that, he slammed the door and left.

After taking two steps, I heard the sound of a cup being smashed in the room, and I could faintly hear Chen Gengyun's angry curse: "Fan Chunyu, how long are you going to haunt me?"

Fan Tianyou, who was in the corridor, heard the sound of his teeth chattering.

…

"Hello, our new store has opened and we are having an event now."

"You can still take a look."

On the busy street, Lu Xiaoshuang was wearing a colorful hat and a pair of exaggerated clown glasses on her nose. She was holding a stack of flyers in her hand and distributing them to passers-by.

Some people waved at her, some would reach out to take it and have a look, and occasionally someone would take it, take a look, and then throw it away.

Although she was standing on a crowded street, the street lights above her head only illuminated her solitary figure.

She covered her stomach and felt a little hungry. She thought about buying two steamed buns to fill her stomach after distributing all the flyers.

Just now when she passed by, she saw peach cakes being sold on the street. They smelled so good that she wanted to buy two pieces to take home for her grandma.

At 8:30 in the evening, all the flyers were finally distributed, and Lu Xiaoshuang went to her boss to collect her salary.

She saw this new store opening a few days ago when she was looking for a part-time job. She wanted a job distributing flyers. Although it was a one-time job, she could get one dollar and one ten-thousand-dollar an hour.

She carefully put the money she earned from distributing flyers and two peach cakes in her bag, and then rode her shabby 28-inch bicycle back to her grandmother's house.

As she was riding, a staggering figure suddenly appeared from the side of the road. She was unable to dodge and was bumped into.

She immediately and nimbly jumped off the bike, steadying herself and the bike so as not to fall.

The other party fell directly to the ground with his limbs spread out, and the things he was holding also fell to the ground. The cake fell out of the box and fell on the road, and the white cream was particularly abrupt in the dark night.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, are you okay?" Lu Xiaoshuang stopped her bicycle and hurried over to help the other person. As soon as she got close, she smelled alcohol.

When the other person looked up, she shouted in surprise, "Professor Fan?"

Fan Tianyou, who was originally in a depressed mood, was stunned when he saw her: "Lu Xiaoshuang?"

…

A little after one in the morning, Chen Gengyun was awakened by the shrill ringing of his Nokia phone.

He picked up his phone and looked at it, and suddenly he was furious.

He pressed the call button hard and shouted angrily: "Fan Tianyou, are you sick? Don't you see what time it is?"

Fan Tianyou on the other end of the phone said in a trembling voice: "Dad... I killed someone."

In the talent apartment, Chen Gengyun looked at Lu Xiaoshuang lying motionless on the ground and asked with gritted teeth, "What the hell did you do?"

"I had a few drinks and bumped into her on the road. I... I pretended to sprain my ankle and tricked her into giving me a ride back."

"After I sent her there, she wanted to leave... I wanted her to stay with me, so I lied to her and said it was my birthday and she had broken the birthday cake... She relented..."

Chen Gengyun said with disdain: "You f*cking want to rape her?"

Fan Tianyou was clearly mentally unstable and said a little excitedly, "No, I just wanted to hug her, seriously! I swear! But then she started to scream, so I covered her mouth tightly with my hand."

"I told her I didn't mean to hurt her. I just wanted her to hug me, like my mom did when I was a kid. I really didn't mean to hurt her..."

Seeing that Fan Tianyou was getting more and more excited, Chen Gengyun slapped him hard and said, "Calm down!"

Fan Tianyou was stunned by the slap and said blankly, "When I let go...she was already motionless."

"Did anyone see her bring you back?"

Fan Tianyou shook his head.

Chen Gengyun looked at Lu Xiaoshuang on the ground, then at Fan Tianyou's crotch.

He didn't believe the reasons given by Fan Tianyou, and he concluded that Fan Tianyou must have raped and murdered him.

The body cannot be discarded at will. He heard that the province was preparing to build a DNA laboratory.

"Go get a new sheet, wrap the body, and load it into the car."

Fan Tianyou asked: "Where... where are we going?"

"Jianghai Mansion."

…

In the bathroom on the second floor of Jianghai Mansion, Lu Xiaoshuang was lying in the bathtub.

Chen Gengyun, who was naked and only wearing a pair of underwear, squatted next to the bathtub. His clothes were in the bedroom. He didn't want to get them dirty when he dismembered the body.

He asked Fan Tianyou to take off his clothes as well, and then went to the kitchen downstairs to get a few knives.

He looked at Lu Xiaoshuang in the bathtub and understood why Fan Tianyou did this. This girl looked like Dong Lu from that year.

Suddenly, he was horrified to find that Lu Xiaoshuang's eyeballs moved slightly under her eyelids in the bathtub.

He was startled, then stretched out his right index finger and touched it under Lu Xiaoshuang's nose.

There was even a faint breath!

After hesitating for only half a second, Chen Gengyun covered Lu Xiaoshuang's mouth and nose tightly with his right hand.

…

August 16, 1997.

Haicheng Airport, international flight boarding gate.

Xu Liu, with a beaming smile on her face, hugged Chen Gengyun and kissed him, saying "I love you", then dragged her luggage into the security check without looking back.

Chen Gengyun stood there motionless, waiting until Xu Liu's back completely disappeared, then he turned and left with an expressionless face.

After the Hongda case occurred, the task force entered Hongda and investigated for three months.

Fortunately, he arranged a sufficient alibi for Fan Tianyou. In addition, Fan Tianyou had little contact with Lu Xiaoshuang outside of class, so he successfully avoided the investigation of the task force with his alibi.

But this also caused him to not dare to touch Xu Liu again, because Xu Liu and Lu Xiaoshuang were roommates and were also within the scope of the first batch of core investigations.

In addition, Xu Liu took the opportunity to press him step by step, and finally he had no choice but to pay the price and use the research institute's project funds to send Xu Liu abroad.

Only if Xu Liu is no longer in the country will this time bomb not explode.

As for what will happen after he gets out, he has already thought about it. After a period of time, he will gradually cut off Xu Liu's living expenses.

She is just a little girl and can't survive long in a foreign country. Just let her fend for herself.

The real troublemaker is Fan Tianyou.

He has made up his mind; Fan Tianyou must die!

He has used trusted connections to get a colorless and odorless heavy metal.

He wanted to slowly and quietly eliminate the last threat to himself.

…

It was an October weekend in 1999.

afternoon.

Dong Lu was hiding in the basement of Xiao Bing's house and reading a book when she suddenly heard a loud thud from above.

Her heart suddenly skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition enveloped her.

She quickly crawled out of the basement, then ran out of the inner room and saw Xiao Bing lying on the floor in the outer room.

"What's wrong with you?" Dong Lu asked nervously.

She turned Xiao Bing over and found that his face was pale, his right hand was tightly clutching his chest, and he looked extremely painful.

"Teacher Xiao, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me." Dong Lu shouted in panic, tears falling like pearls from a broken string.

But Xiao Bing just groaned in pain and couldn't say a word.

Dong Lu looked at Xiao Bing and then at the door while crying.

Gritting her teeth, she opened the door and rushed out without hesitation, shouting, "Someone help us..."

The strong afternoon sun outside the door covered Xiao Bing like a quilt.

…

In the ward, a white quilt covered Xiao Bing.

He closed his eyes and his temples were already gray.

Opposite the ward is the nurse's station, and the time on the electronic display screen above is May 4, 2020.

Next to Xiao Bing's bed, Dong Lu, wearing a hat, was peeling an apple. She was not wearing glasses, gloves or a mask. She looked like a normal person.

Ever since that afternoon when she rushed out of that door to save Xiao Bing, she has never concealed her scars again.

After twenty years, she has become accustomed to the strange looks from strangers.

But that doesn't matter.

The aunt on the bed next door was browsing her phone when suddenly a piece of news caught Xiao Bing's attention.

"Dear viewers, we've discovered the true identity of the scavenger who went viral online. Although unconscious, he went viral because he could compose modern poetry and was filmed and uploaded online. According to feedback from Hongcheng University, they've confirmed that the man is retired professor Chen Gengyun."

Xiao Bing opened his eyes, looked at Dong Lu, and was about to say something.

Dong Lu brought him the peeled apple and said calmly, "It's all in the past. Life is just like that. It's enough for me to accompany you until you grow old."

Xiao Bing took a bite of the apple and smiled.

"I'll go downstairs to get the list and see if the money I paid is enough." Dong Lu pounded his waist and stood up and said.

Looking at her back as she walked out of the ward, Xiao Bing sighed.

I am already over fifty years old, and I am afraid I will never be able to tell Dong Lu the truth in this lifetime.

Downstairs in the inpatient building, Dong Lu checked the bill on the machine.

Suddenly, a soft and cute voice behind me asked, "Grandma, are you an angel?"

Dong Lu was stunned and looked back. A cute little girl of four or five years old in a skirt was looking at her.

"Little boy, are you asking me?" Dong Lu asked doubtfully.

The little girl blinked her big eyes and nodded.

Dong Lu squatted down curiously and asked, "Why do you ask that? Don't you think grandma looks a little scary?"

The little girl shook her head, and her curly ponytail swayed a bit.

Then she raised her left hand, revealing a large burn on her arm, and said seriously, "My mother told me that this was left by an angel who was burned by the sun when he came to earth, so anyone with this burn on their body is an angel."

Dong Lu was stunned for a moment.

The little girl said in a baby voice, "I want to know if my mother lied to me."

Tears streamed down Dong Lu's cheeks. She shook her head and said, "Little boy, your mother didn't lie to you. You are the little angel who came to earth."

At this time, the young woman holding the receipt and mobile phone shouted over here: "Xiao Shuang, let's go, let's go see grandma."

The little girl named Xiaoshuang waved to Dong Lu, then skipped back to her mother, holding her hand and saying happily, "Mom, you didn't lie to me. I really am an angel."

Dong Lu looked at the little girl's figure and suddenly felt familiar, as if she saw an old friend she had never met.

In the hall, someone suddenly shouted, "Mom, Mom."

Then, another voice came: "Zhang Qiuxia!"

"Hey, hey, hey, over here." A white-haired old lady walked towards a middle-aged man. "What are you yelling about in a public place? You're a police officer."

"Comrade Zhang Qiuxia, you're amazing! You can even go chat with people just because I pay you a fee, right?"

"Even when I'm sick, I still don't stop."

…

"Zhou Yi."

Chen Yan handed a letter to Zhou Yi.

"This is?"

Zhou Yi saw that the envelope was full of English words.

"It's the foreign university recommendation letter that Chen Gengyun wrote to Xu Liu on the 27th," Chen Yan said. "Xu Liu is really stupid. How could a letter like that be sent abroad by surface mail? It's been returned. I didn't find it in Chen Gengyun's office because it was in the mail room after it was returned, and I didn't pick it up."

Zhou Yi took out the letter paper from the open envelope and found that the words on it were indeed beautifully written.

But the dense English text gave him a headache.

"Brother Yan, my English is not good, so just take a look at it."

Having said that, Zhou Yi still took a look.

Suddenly, he saw the only Chinese name in the letter: Xu Liu.

Next to Xu Liu's name, there is another English name: Michel Xu.

Zhou Yi was stunned for a moment, and suddenly a string of memories rushed into his mind.

Michelle Xu?

This English name is not as common as Linda Amy. At least in the 1990s, not many Chinese people would give themselves such an English name.

Zhou Yi couldn't be sure whether this Michelle Xu was the person in his memory in his previous life.

In his previous life, he saw a news report about an academic spy.

This woman's name is Xu Qiulu, and her English name is Michelle Xu. She was a government-sponsored student in her early years. During her studies abroad, she used her beauty and tricks to hook up with many professors. She used multiple marriages and divorces to accumulate wealth and academic resume, and finally transformed herself into a beautiful professor who returned to China.

But in fact, this woman had long been infiltrated and subverted by foreign forces. The core purpose of her return to China was actually to steal our country's academic secrets for foreign forces.

Finally, he was cracked by the National Security Bureau and brought to justice.

Xu Qiulu is also known as the academic Daji on the Internet.

Zhou Yi had seen a photo of this woman on his phone. Her face was full of high-tech and hyaluronic acid.

He looked at the letter in his hand with some astonishment.

I wonder if the academic Daji in the previous life was Xu Liu after she had plastic surgery and changed her name.

"What's wrong? Any other discoveries?" Chen Yan asked.

Zhou Yi put away the letter and shook his head, saying, "No, it's all over."