"When I'm not around, remember to lock the door tightly."
Note: It's very melodramatic.
...Back view
"Thank you, I'll be going now."
Although he said he would leave, he didn't let go of her hand.
The young man glanced at the tightly clenched hand, carefully examined the blood on Fang Chengyin's tiger's mouth, and laughed, "There's a limit to playing fast and fast. If you knock over your neighbor's fruit stand, don't you have to pay for it?"
Fang Chengyin was still somewhat dazed, managing to squeeze out a sliver of clarity from his panic.
The surrounding light seemed to brighten considerably, and the person in front of me became clearly visible.
Looking at his peers, he was unshaven, with a white towel around his neck and a plaid shirt tied around his waist. His bright eyes were mixed with a gentle smile, but he always seemed like an outcast squeezed out of this cramped place.
Fang Chengyin had never met him before: "I'm sorry, I will make a full refund later."
I apologized and withdrew my hand, but the other person didn't let go.
Fang Chengyin looked at him with a puzzled expression. The young man smiled, withdrew his hand, and continued chasing after him.
After this little incident, the murderer had already disappeared into the winding alleyways, so they had no choice but to return the way they came.
The vendors were picking up the fruit that had rolled all over the ground. When they saw him, they all stopped what they were doing and stared at him. Their gazes were not hostile, but they were all so uniform that they made people feel uncomfortable.
He strode past, saying, "My name is Fang Chengyin, a sophomore economics student at Hongrui University. I'll come to make compensation later!"
The vendors looked away after hearing this and continued with their unfinished work, which was both unusual and strange.
Fang Chengyin didn't have time to think about it in detail.
The moment he ran out of the alley, the intense morning light blinded him, and his body, propelled by inertia, bumped into a fruit cart parked at the alley entrance. He reached out to steady it, but the cart had already been steadied by another force.
"Watch your step." A pleasant voice with a hint of laughter.
Fang Chengyin opened his eyes and saw the young man from before.
Repeatedly, the coincidences are excessive.
But the other party hadn't done anything wrong. "Sorry, I have some urgent business to attend to."
The young man stopped him and said, "Let's exchange contact information."
Fang Chengyin turned around.
The young man handed over paper and pen: "Otherwise, we won't know where to get compensation."
Fang Chengyin glanced at him a few times, took a few steps forward to grab a pen and paper, and casually hopped onto his fruit cart: "Please take me to Flower Kindergarten!"
The young man laughed: "You really know how to hitch a ride. Buckle up."
"Sit tight" means the car is going at maximum speed. Fang Chengyin was almost thrown off, but luckily two boxes of big apples rolled over and stopped his feet.
The loudspeaker began to blare, "Apples! Sweet, big apples!"
Fang Chengyin felt extremely dizzy and his temper flared up. "Can you turn it off?!"
"Okay!" The young man was friendly like a guest, but also had the cunning face of a precocious businessman.
Fang Chengyin quickly wrote down his personal information and handed it forward.
The young man took it. "You're a college student from Hongruisdu?"
Fang Chengyin did not reply.
·
They arrived at the kindergarten quickly, where parents had already picked up their children, and the criminal investigators from Yanyang were busy at work.
It was a summer morning, but the light was rather dim.
Yellow police tape was wrapped around a nearby street lamp, with a police-specific slipknot still remaining at the point of wrapping—this knotting method allows the police tape to tighten automatically when stressed, but at this moment it was strangely tied into a star shape.
The young man parked his fruit cart to the side, and as if sensing something was wrong, he walked over side by side with Fang Chengyin and quickly squeezed into the inner circle.
"Please make way!"
The kindergarten teacher's body was carried out. As it passed Fang Chengyin, her right hand suddenly slipped off the white cloth, a cherry blossom petal held between her curled index and middle fingers. The cartoon watch on her wrist had its dial cracked into black flocculent material, and the second hand was stuck at 8:25, vibrating violently.
Fang Chengyin's pupils contracted...
Before he could examine it closely, the forensic doctor had already hurriedly covered the white sheet with a hand, and his eyes were covered by a hand.
Don't look.
A soft voice sounded in my ear.
Fang Chengyin turned his head and met the young man's deep eyes.
At the same time, the black flocculent material detached from the watch and burst open upon contact with the air, turning into star-like specks of light. One of them landed on the warning line, scorching the yellow warning line with a charred "郅" character.
"It seems like they don't want us to see this."
Fang Chengyin followed the young man's gaze to the other side of the cordon, where yellow talismans were placed around the pool of blood in the middle of the playground.
The police officer reminded, "Please leave if you are not a member of the public."
Fang Chengyin turned around in a daze, only to bump into a man. He quickly took a step back, and a hand gently wrapped around his lower back.
A glance back revealed a young man, his gaze fixed intently on the man.
Fang Chengyin quickly turned around. The man was dressed in Taoist robes and wore a spirit bone necklace around his neck. He was a spirit bone master.
Spirit masters, sorcerers who specialize in suppressing evil spirits, are rare in modern scientific society.
Bone Master: "Are you a murderer?"
Fang Chengyin did not understand the meaning behind his words.
The spirit master glanced at the young man behind Fang Chengyin, then looked back at Fang Chengyin and said with a smile, "Don't linger around here; ghosts and monsters have no eyes."
After saying that, he got into the ambulance and drove away.
The criminal investigation team leader walked over: "Hello, I am Zhang Weike, the team leader of the first team of Yanyang Criminal Investigation Bureau. I heard that you witnessed and tracked the suspect."
The person before me has deep-set eyebrows and bright eyes, and a gentle and kind personality.
"Yes," Fang Chengyin replied.
"Please take a statement. Who is this person next to you?" Zhang Weike asked the young man.
The young man spoke first: "I am his creditor."
Fang Chengyin quickly explained, "I just knocked over this man's fruit stand."
Zhang Weike: "Then please both of you give your statements."
·
After giving his statement, Fang Chengyin left the scene.
After walking past two corners, I collapsed to the ground, the image of that figure in the alley lingering in my mind.
He has seen it countless times in his dreams over the past five years.
Could it be him?
His father, his missing biological father?
They've been out of touch for five years, and now they've suddenly reappeared?
It couldn't be him!
But……
The moment he took off his fisherman's hat, he clearly recognized himself...
"Do you know the murderer?"
Fang Chengyin looked up and saw a young man with a calm smile on his face: "It seems I misunderstood."
Fang Chengyin looked at him suspiciously, but didn't see anything unusual about him.
The young man continued, "Remember to pay me back."
Fang Chengyin was somewhat displeased: "I will compensate according to the date on the note! If not, feel free to bother me!"
He said those words and got up to leave.
The young man called out to him again: "Do you know how much you need to pay in compensation?"
Fang Chengyin: "Calculate the price according to the market price, and then please send it to me!"
The young man smiled and said, "Then, see you again."
As Fang Chengyin watched the fruit cart drive away, he regretted it. He had just paid last month's accommodation fee and was now penniless.
The accommodation fees at Hongruisi are high, and my previous roommate has moved out. If I can't find a new roommate, I may have to sleep on the streets.
Thinking of this, Fang Chengyin took out his phone in frustration, only to find that there was blood smeared on the web of his hand.
He wiped it; there was no wound, but the stinging pain persisted.
·
Tinglian Villa District.
Song Zixin sat in the living room, still wearing her haute couture dress. She had been escorted away immediately after the murder at the kindergarten.
Sitting in the one-way glass car, the manager was surrounded by crazy fans, and it took him quite a while to finally drive onto the main road.
Human lives were taken away later, yet they still thought about chasing stars, and the root of the problem was themselves.
Five years have passed, and I feel like a newly minted canary.
"Yanyang News Flash: Latest developments in the kindergarten teacher's death case. The suspect's silhouette has been identified. Given the extremely heinous nature of his actions and the severe harm he poses to society, this information is now being released to the public. If the face looks familiar, please call the Yanyang Criminal Investigation Bureau's case service hotline..."
The screen switched, revealing a picture of a fleeing figure from behind. The suspect in the photo was dressed in all black, wearing a baseball cap, and his profile was captured as he passed a corner.
Song Zixin was taken aback.
Realizing it belatedly, he rubbed his forehead and chuckled self-deprecatingly, "How could it possibly be you?"
Five years, traveling all over China.
Sometimes, when she's tired, she regrets late at night, wondering if her acting skills could have reached a higher level if she hadn't retired. Faced with this unexpected situation today, could she calmly guide or angrily rebuke her fans with "Human life is at stake, chasing stars comes second"?
Five years have taken so much from her.
Now that you're acting so timidly, are your fans starting to feel something's wrong and begin to be disappointed?
"Are you a murderer?"
The harsh words assaulted her ears. Song Zixin looked up and saw Fang Chengyin on the screen, as well as a spirit bone master.
She knew him; his name was Yang Yuzan, and he was an expert in divination.
Many celebrities know him; when their careers are going badly, they ask him to tell their fortunes, and things quickly turn around for them.
He had approached me before, but I had given up on staying in the entertainment industry and declined.
After that, he disappeared from the entertainment industry.
Five years have passed, why would he say these things to Cheng Yin?
Song Zixin quickly took out her phone; the contact name was "Yinyin".
The call was quickly connected. Song Zixin took the remote control, tuned to the picture of the suspect's back, and then pressed pause.
The call connected, and the voice on the other end asked, "Mom? Did you get home safely?"
Song Zixin picked up the cushion. "Hmm, where is it now?"
"Almost home."
Okay, be careful.
After that sentence, both of them hesitated to speak, but in the end, Song Zixin hung up the phone first and went upstairs to change her clothes.
The haute couture gowns they wore were a gift from the brand. They all thought the press conference would be a complete success and were full of expectations that Song Zixin's endorsement would once again make them a fortune.
Unfortunately, the kindergarten teacher's death completely overshadowed everything related to Song Zixin.
Song Zixin herself seems to have lost her former drive. Will her artwork, which has been refined over the years, eventually lose its luster?
She picked up a casual outfit. Since choosing to be a housewife, she has never worn aprons or loungewear, feeling that it would be giving up on herself. So she wears casual suits, as this is the only way to remind herself that she is still young.
Song Zixin looked at the head of the bed; the wedding photo had accumulated a lot of dust.