Will I be able to see you tomorrow?

Xu Li has not shown up for the past few days.

The day Zhou Junchang came out was in the afternoon, right around lunchtime. The sky was a bit overcast, as if it was about to rain.

Ah Feng and Hu Hei picked up Zhou Junchang together.

Zhou Junchang hadn't taken good care of himself for many days, and stubble was sticking out around his mouth.

Zhou Junchang sat alone in the back seat, seemingly preparing to sleep.

Before falling asleep, Zhou Jun often asked, "Where is she?"

Both of them knew who he was asking about, but neither could say it for a moment.

If he knew that Xu Li had been staying in the house without eating or drinking for the past few days, they don't know how upset Zhou Junchang would be.

"She came out that night and has been at home ever since."

Ah Feng originally wanted to delve into this point and let Zhou Junchang know that Xu Li had been doing well these past few days, since she had been staying at home. However, Zhou Junchang also sensed that something was amiss.

"You've been at home the whole time?"

Ah Feng winked frantically at Hu Hei: "It's just at home, you two can just meet up by yourselves."

Hu Hei's eyes darted around, sensing the signal, and he changed the subject, saying, "The food inside must be terrible, let's have a good meal tonight."

"Um."

Seeing that Zhou Junchang was no longer pressing the issue, both of them breathed a sigh of relief. They had managed to keep it a secret for the time being. As for the truth, they would naturally find out when they met.

The three of them randomly chose a restaurant to eat at, but Zhou Junchang wasn't very interested and ate very little.

True, who would be in a good mood after spending a few days in the police station?

Then the three of them went back to Afeng's house. When they got to the door, Zhou Junchang didn't go in. He put his hands in his pockets and looked upstairs: "Is she there?"

Hu Hei asked, "Are you going up now?"

After thinking about it again, he realized that it was only a matter of time before the two of them met, so he nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead."

Watching Zhou Junchang's retreating figure, Afeng leaned close to Hu Hei's ear and whispered, "I have to say, Xu Li is really heartless. She hasn't asked about Junchang's situation at all these past few days."

Hu Hei shrugged. Who would know what happened between the two of them?

Zhou Jun went upstairs and knocked on the door, but there was no response.

Actually, Zhou Jun had already sent a message to Xu Li in the car. He knew that A Feng and Hu Hei were hiding something from him, and only he could know how Xu Li had been doing these past few days.

"Xu Li, it's me."

Zhou Junchang kept repeating the number, but there was still no response. He was starting to think that Xu Li wasn't home. Finally, Zhou Junchang dialed Xu Li's number and heard the phone ringing in the room.

The phone is still there, so the person should be here too.

I don't know how much time passed before the call was answered.

The air fell silent instantly. Zhou Junchang hadn't expected Xu Li to answer the phone, and he listened quietly to what she had to say.

...

"What's up?"

"I'm out."

Both of them spoke calmly.

"...Yes, I know."

...

How have you been these past few days?

Zhou Junchang hesitated to ask the question, for he had no idea how distressed and anxious he had been in the police station for the past few days. He had been unable to be by Xu Li's side immediately and had no contact with the outside world. He knew nothing about what had happened.

"fine."

Xu Li's words were devoid of emotion, but this was still different from usual. The usual Xu Li wouldn't be so obedient and docile, and wouldn't answer any question you asked.

Will I be able to see you tomorrow?

"..."

"Can you open the door?"

"Let's go back."

Xu Li really couldn't face Zhou Junchang. She received a message from him, but she didn't have the courage to open the door. She didn't know how to open it either, because she was afraid that if she saw him, she would be reminded of what happened that day.

That kind of thing is so terrifying, it makes you feel like you're suffocating.

Even for a fleeting moment, Xu Li did consider ending it all, but at that time she didn't even have the means to do so.

Something died that night.

If no one had appeared that night, if Zhou Junchang hadn't appeared, she really wouldn't have had the courage to live on.

But then, he appeared.

Just a second before the door was about to close, Zhou Junchang burst in.

He saved her, but she couldn't save him.

Even during the few days Zhou Jun was at the police station, Xu Li didn't have the courage to care about him.

Moreover, Xu Li was also afraid of other things. She was afraid that the communication between the various police stations would expose her and that she would be sent back to Linpu. She was afraid that he wouldn't even live to see Zhou Junchang come out. She was afraid that she wouldn't even have a proper goodbye with him...

Everything happened so suddenly. Just the day before, the two of them were sitting together drinking, but now, Xu Li doesn't even have the courage to face him.

Xu Li hated herself for this, hated her incompetence, for only ever bringing misfortune to others...

It was even more suffocating than that night.

That night was the beginning; Xu Li fled in a panic. But this night has reopened the wounds in Xu Li's heart, and has even implicated others.

After a long time, there was movement outside the door; Zhou Junchang must have left.

Looking at the tightly closed doors, Xu Li finally couldn't hold back her tears, which fell to the floor like heavy raindrops in a downpour.

Xu Li's hand trembled as she reached for the doorknob, but then, as if afraid of touching something, she fell at the doorway.

In fact, Zhou Junchang was always outside. At first, he leaned against the door, and in the middle of the night, he sat on the stairs, waiting quietly like that.

He could clearly hear the crying coming from the room, intermittent, one cry after another.

Zhou Junchang had no idea how Xu Li had gotten through the past few days. The sound of her crying made his heart ache, but he couldn't comfort her. He knew that if they made a sound, Xu Li would only feel worse. All he could do at that moment was to stand quietly by her side, separated by a wall, listening and keeping her company.

——

**

Duan Ruiming saw Fei Li's parents on the street outside the police station.

The two men were both under fifty years old, but because of Fei Li's incident, they looked much older, with very noticeable gray hair at their temples.

The two people squatted by the roadside, but this time they didn't go in for a long time.

Actually, they weren't just squatting by the roadside this time; they had done it every time before because they needed to mentally prepare themselves for a long time before going in.

The man squatted by the roadside smoking, while the woman wore a thick scarf and had her hands inside her sleeves.

Perhaps no one could remain unmoved upon seeing such a scene.

Duan Ruiming was no exception.

However, Xu Li was on the opposite side.

The woman in the distance, facing her, naturally spotted Duan Ruiming. Her shrill voice echoed through the empty street: "Officer Duan!"

He was eventually spotted, and Duan Ruiming walked over.

The woman's name was Song Mei. She had the typical features of a southerner, with small features. Even with some wrinkles, she was still very pretty.

The man lowered his head, took one last deep drag of his cigarette, and finally stubbed it out on the trash can lid.

The man looked honest and usually didn't talk much when he came to the police station; he just stayed with Song Mei.

Upon seeing Duan Ruiming, the man respectfully greeted him.

Duan Ruiming nodded in response: "Why don't you come in and sit down?"

In truth, they were never really welcomed when they came to the police station. Others might understand the pain of losing a son, but they couldn't accept their extreme and unreasonable approach.

But in reality, it's often impossible to truly empathize. The case made no progress, and they didn't understand the law; they only knew to seek justice for their son in the simplest and most brutal way, even if it meant facing cold stares and enduring great pain.

Song Mei became somewhat agitated upon seeing the police, and immediately began wiping away tears: "My son has such a hard life. He watches all his classmates go to university and go to other places, while my son is all alone..."

"The incident has already happened, and we have been searching for clues. Rest assured, we will give you a satisfactory answer."

“Just a few days ago I went back to my parents’ house and saw Xiaoli’s former classmate, I think her name was Xu Li or something. If my son were still alive, he would probably be a college student now…”

Upon hearing Xu Li's name, Duan Ruiming was startled.

What?

They saw Xu Li, so how did Xu Li react?

Does this matter have anything to do with Xu Li? Or how much does it have to do with her?

If they actually saw Xu Li, did they notice anything different?

Will they suspect Xu Li?

Duan Ruiming swallowed hard, feeling a tightness in his chest: "You've seen Xu Li..."

“We used to be classmates, so why do they act like they’ve seen a ghost when they see me… They won’t even look at me… My son…”

Duan Ruiming watched them quietly, becoming more and more certain of the doubts that had been lingering in his heart.

To some extent, Fei Li's situation is indeed related to Xu Li.

Duan Ruiming knew that Xu Li was never this afraid of people, but he was unwilling to believe it.

After Fei Li's parents left, Duan Ruiming was unable to calm down for a long time. He could even feel the blood in his veins pumping with each heartbeat.

Did they notice anything unusual about Xu Li? Probably not. They had only seen Xu Li once at a parent-teacher conference, which was also the time they happened to run into Duan Ruiming.

Who could have imagined that something like this would happen? Their connection was far more complex than something that could end with just a simple meeting.

But things have become far too complicated; someone wanted this to happen.

Duan Ruiming stood in the darkness, exhaling a deep breath, his heart heavy with countless burdens, yet he didn't know how to resolve them.

Back when he was at the police academy, his teachers said that being a police officer is a very stressful job, and they also told them many ways to be consistent with themselves. But practice is practice, and theory is theory. Sometimes the two are not exactly the same, and sometimes they are completely different.

All those methods flashed through Duan Ruiming's mind one by one, but after thinking for a long time, he still couldn't find a suitable solution.

Perhaps from the very beginning, Duan Ruiming shouldn't have let Xu Li leave.