Chapter 13 Murder: Xie Shijin seemed to have died along with her...
Xie Shijin got off the train one stop early.
Carrying a cat carrier in one hand and holding the cat in the other, she squeezed off the bus just a second before the doors closed.
Ni Jiaqi was cursing in the car.
The little tabby cat shook its head and swayed, its tail tip brushing against his wrist, looking like it was in a great mood.
Xie Shijin's lowered eyelashes trembled slightly, and her voice was gentle: "So happy?"
Cheng Shiyun stretched lazily, her body limp like a long cat's limbs.
"Mimi".
Happy.
Ni Jiaqi's unhappiness makes her happy.
When they were little, Cheng Shiyun was bullied by Ni Jiaqi a lot, and now she can finally bully him back.
If people could become ghosts after they die, Cheng Shiyun would be the first one to be scared.
Ni Jiaqi is terrified of ghosts.
In the past, the movie channel would show "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio" at 6 pm. She would deliberately turn the volume up very high, and Ni Jiaqi would run to do his homework, hiding in his room and not even daring to come out to use the toilet.
The more she thought about it, the funnier it became. She meowed several times, but there was no sound above her head, only the sound of her footsteps on the sidewalk.
Xie Shijin kept walking forward, at a leisurely pace, until he stopped at a traffic light intersection.
Cheng Shiyun looked up at him.
So close.
She saw his clear Adam's apple bob up and down, his pale lips pressed straight, and a hint of listlessness in his expression.
Cheng Shiyun tilted her head: "Xie Shijin?"
Even after the red light turned green, he didn't leave.
The countdown ticked down his nerves.
A silent urging.
After a long while, he slowly spoke, his tone somewhat muffled: "...You're so happy because of Ni Jiaqi?"
Cheng Shiyun burst out laughing: "How could that be?"
She curled up in the boy's arms, looked at her two pink paws, took a big gulp, and said, "I even saw my parents!"
"The moment my mom called my nickname, I thought she recognized me."
During the few days after she returned as a cat, she stayed in the stairwell, and the caregiver would take Ran Hongyin downstairs for a walk every day.
She only dared to glance at it from afar, never getting that close.
Ran Hongyin reached out her hand.
I want to hug her.
She misses her father and mother very much.
"I almost pounced on it."
Cheng Shiyun said, "Fortunately, I managed to hold back."
Fortunately, she held back; otherwise, Ran Hongyin's allergic reaction would have caused her even more trouble.
Xie Shijin lowered his eyelashes, his chestnut brown eyes fixed on her.
The pedestrian crossing light turned red again.
The sound of the whistle entered his ear canal, causing a slight tinnitus and making him dizzy. At the same time, the feeling that had gripped his heart for countless nights returned, suffocating him and leaving him no room to breathe.
Every breath felt like a knife cutting through me.
He held back.
She refrained from telling Cheng Jinghua that the cat was Cheng Shiyun.
Cheng Shiyun is back.
He was holding her like that.
But he actually did.
I still can't help but be afraid of losing her.
The boy instinctively tightened his arms, adjusted his breathing, and then spoke again: "You turned into a cat, and you're not planning to tell him?"
"Who? Ni Jiaqi?" Cheng Shiyun's mustache twitched, she looked disgusted. "Why would I tell him? That big mouth of his."
Tomorrow, the whole world will know she turned into a cat.
Then, she would be taken away by the Chinese Academy of Sciences for research, and her body would be disemboweled—it was terrifying.
Just after Xie Shijin finished making fun of him, his phone rang.
Ni Jiaqi called, wanting another cat.
Xie Shijin didn't want to listen anymore after a couple of sentences, so he hung up and crossed the street with his cat in his arms.
Cheng Shiyun blinked twice slowly.
"That's not right..."
Ni Jiaqi was in the humanities class, and Xie Shijin was in the science class; they were not on the same floor.
Ni Jiaqi has a wide circle of friends, while Xie Shijin is aloof and taciturn. When did these two people with such different personalities begin to interact?
Thinking this way, Cheng Shiyun asked, "Xie Shijin, how do you know Ni Jiaqi?"
They not only knew each other, but seemed to be quite familiar with each other.
This road is so wide that you can't cross it in one traffic light, so you have to walk to the safety island.
Xie Shijin pursed his lips slightly and said in a low voice, "...We only met after you left."
oh?
Yeah?
Cheng Shiyun raised her little paw and slowly stroked her beard, her little face still tilted upwards.
There are two things in the world that cannot be looked at directly.
First, the sun; second, the kitten's eyes.
Little Tabby's pupils were round and bright, like two smooth mirrors, reflecting not only his face but also his unspeakable gaze.
The next second, a warm palm pressed down, and my vision went black.
Xie Shijin blindfolded her.
Amidst a light and pleasant scent, Cheng Shiyun felt the warmth of his palm and the slight trembling of his fingertips.
At Yichuan No. 7 Middle School, morning self-study starts at 7:00 AM, and the preparatory bell rings at 6:50 AM.
Around 6:30, Cheng Shiyun and Ni Jiaqi would emerge from the teachers' apartment one after the other.
On rainy days, they would share the same umbrella.
Ni Jiaqi deliberately splashed water on her face, and the girl threw a water cup at him, twisted his arm, and called him a lunatic.
School ends at 9:30 pm. Occasionally, Ni Jiaqi would help her carry her schoolbag, but more often he would just throw his own schoolbag to her and sneak off to an internet cafe.
They were... his childhood sweethearts, whom he tried his best to deny but could not hide the truth of.
...
This was the first time he and Ni Jiaqi had officially met.
It was at the Municipal Public Security Bureau.
He was taken away by the police right after evening self-study get out of class that day.
The new traffic law, which came into effect in May 2016, is cracking down hard. The driver's hit-and-run was egregious, and the victim was a minor. The Municipal Public Security Bureau took the case very seriously, sending extra personnel and reviewing surveillance footage from several surrounding streets. They eventually found several car models and asked him to identify them.
Pushing open the glass door, I was greeted by a burst of arguing.
The boy at the desk had tears in his eyes and analyzed in a hoarse voice: "Aunt Ran called Cheng Shiyun at 9:30, 9:31, and 9:34 PM. The witness said the car accident happened at 9:37 PM. Why didn't Cheng Shiyun answer any of those calls?!"
There are only two possibilities: either she didn't hear it, or she heard it but couldn't answer.
"She's either unconscious or has run away..."
The more he talked, the more horrified he became, and the more he broke down.
Finally, he slammed his fist on the table and hysterically yelled at the police, "This is not an accident, it's murder! Murder!"
Everyone looked over.
Yang Shengnan pressed on his shoulder: "Little boy, calm down..."
Ni Jiaqi shook off her hand: "Who the hell is a kid? Don't touch me! Get away!"
“The two possibilities you mentioned are just your speculations,” Yang Shengnan tried to reason with him. “Speculations cannot be used as evidence. None of us know the true situation at the time, and we cannot determine the nature of the case based on speculations…”
"What evidence do we need when the person is dead!" Ni Jiaqi interrupted her. "Arrest all those driving white cars and silver cars! Arrest them..."
Regardless of how disheveled he looked, Ni Jiaqi covered his face and burst into tears.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a tall figure standing at the doorway.
The person was wearing a light-colored school uniform, and one shoulder was soaked by the rain, leaving a water stain.
Ni Jiaqi, as if grasping at the last straw, rushed over and grabbed Xie Shijin by the collar, his bloodshot eyes meeting Xie's: "You're the witness?"
Before he could speak, Ni Jiaqi shook his collar forcefully and cursed him in a fit of rage: "Weren't you the top student in the grade? Didn't you say you were right by the roadside? How come you couldn't even see what a car looked like!"
"You can't recognize anything? Are you blind?!"
Outside, the wind howled and the rain poured down relentlessly, covering the sky and the earth.
Xie Shijin stood still, letting the other person hit him.
His body was swaying precariously.
My heart was pounding.
The world is teetering on the brink of collapse.
His black hair was wet, and rainwater streamed down his pale cheeks, chilling him to the bone.
For the first time in his life, he hated his own eyes so much.
*
After all that fuss, it was already noon.
After Xie Shijin finished unpacking the admission notice, he went to the kitchen to heat up some goat milk.
The notification letter was placed on the dining table, and Cheng Shiyun looked at it over and over again.
Wow, Tsinghua!
Ah, Tsinghua!
She also really wants to go to university.
If she hadn't had that accident, she'd probably be excitedly unpacking her acceptance letter, posting pictures and bragging about it on social media. Cheng Jinghua and Ran Hongyin would be calling their relatives to share the good news and treating them to dinner…
...That was the day she had longed for most in the past sixteen years.
Once so close, now unattainable.
The milk in the pot was bubbling slightly, and a faint milky aroma was already wafting in the air.
Turn off the heat, pour the warm goat milk into a bowl, and then soak a handful of cat food in it.
Xie Shijin walked out of the kitchen: "Cheng Shiyun, dinner is ready."
"Meow!" Here I come!
The milk was at the perfect temperature, and the cat food was just the right consistency; Cheng Shiyun's whiskers were covered in milk stains from eating.
After eating until she was half full, Cheng Shiyun noticed that Xie Shijin had been watching her, so she very modestly wiped her mouth with her little cat paw.
"Xie Shijin, aren't you going to eat?"
She didn't seem to have seen Xie Shijin eat.
Xie Shijin paused for a moment, and the burning sensation in his stomach that he had previously deliberately ignored resurfaced silently. It was a long, lingering, and agonizing burning.
His hand, hanging by his side, unconsciously clenched, then he raised it without making a sound and pressed it against his uncomfortable stomach. He looked at Cheng Shiyun and said, "Eat, wait until you finish eating."
Cheng Shiyun wiped her mouth again and asked sincerely, "You think... I'll stuff myself to death, right?"
Kittens, especially those under three months old, have an underdeveloped digestive system. If they eat too much at once, they can die from overeating.
She's not a real cat, so she doesn't need anyone to supervise her.
"?"
Xie Shijin twitched the corner of her mouth slightly, denying it: "No. I don't think so."
"Then go eat, don't worry about me."
Xie Shijin said, "You finish eating first."
"This is such a big bowl, it will take me at least half an hour to finish it." Cheng Shiyun urged him, "I told you not to worry about me, you should go now."
Watching her eat so intently, she felt embarrassed to even eat heartily.
When she was a human, she was very ladylike, eating only small bites, and her lips would only be slightly dirty after a meal. But after turning into a kitten, she would eat herself all over her face every time! How embarrassing!
Although Xie Shijin temporarily adopted her—buying her a cat bed and cat food and taking her to the vet, it could be considered adoption.
But... but if Xie Shijin hadn't wanted to die, she wouldn't have wanted anyone to know she had turned into a cat.
Becoming a cat is not good at all. She can't go home, she will go hungry if she can't find food, and she will get sick.
A kitten like her, if she catches a minor cold and no one takes care of her, she'll just die in a flash.
She didn't really want Xie Shijin to manage her.
Because of how you look at it.
She's just a burden.
Xie Shijin didn't know what she was thinking, but the little tabby's face was full of expressions.
In ancient times, Sun Quan encouraged students to study; now, a kitten urges students to eat.
Xie Shijin said, "I'm not very hungry, and..."
"How can you not be hungry if you haven't eaten anything?" Cheng Shiyun retorted.
He hadn't finished speaking when he said, "And... you're using my bowl."
Cheng Shiyun: "..."
Xie Shijin looked at her, raising an eyebrow slightly.
We don't usually have many guests at home, so we don't prepare many bowls. Yesterday, we even broke one.
Oh... I see.
Cheng Shiyun urged him to hurry up and finish his meal so as not to delay others from eating.
She buried her head in the bowl and heard a very soft laugh above her, clear and gentle like melting snow. It was a very pleasant sound, but Cheng Shiyun was too embarrassed to look up.
After she finished eating, Xie Shijin washed the dishes and made himself a simple bowl of noodles with a few green vegetables. The old lady downstairs had insisted on giving him these when he picked up his admission notice that morning, saying they were homegrown and pesticide-free.
Cheng Shiyun squatted on the stove, watching him wash vegetables and cook noodles. His movements were fluid and graceful. She exclaimed in surprise, "You can cook?"
Xie Shijin nodded: "Yes."
If he doesn't cook, he won't get any food.
Cheng Shiyun felt she had asked a pointless question. Xie Shijin was the only one living in his family now; even if he had money, he couldn't eat out every meal.
Xie Shijin ate very politely, slowly and deliberately, chewing each bite carefully.
Unlike Ni Jiaqi, who seems to be haunted by a ghost while eating.
After finishing the noodles, Xie Shijin put away the bowls and chopsticks.
In the kitchen, the sound of rushing water was like white noise.
Cheng Shiyun didn't follow. She yawned and felt sleepy.
Eating and sleeping are the most important things in a cat's life!
Xie Shijin went out in the afternoon and bought two new bowls. Cheng Shiyun didn't use his bowls for dinner that night.
Cheng Shiyun slept all afternoon, but couldn't fall asleep at night.
No wonder dog owners walk their dogs every day. They stay home all day, eating and sleeping, without expending any energy, and then destroy the house at night.
Cheng Shiyun really wants to tear down the house right now, but she's holding back.
Because this is not her home after all.
In the middle of the night, as Cheng Shiyun resisted the urge to scratch the furniture for the nth time and to jump around and do parkour for the n+1th time, she heard the sound of the bedroom doorknob turning.
Just a second before she closed her eyes, she saw Xie Shijin press down the doorknob, rush out the door, his steps hurried yet cautious.
Crack—
Xie Shijin locked the bathroom door from the inside, cutting off all sight of those inside and outside.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of him vomiting, suppressed and forced, came from the bathroom.
I vomited once in the afternoon, and I didn't eat much in the evening either, so I vomited it all up now.
After cleaning up the mess, Xie Shijin scooped up a handful of cool water and washed her face.
Large droplets of water slid down his chin and splashed onto the porcelain surface of the sink.
He looked up at himself in the mirror. His face was deathly pale, and on his neck, the blue veins stood out clearly, like thin vines wrapped around his bones.
A faint ray of light peeked through the crack in the door, casting a swaying, thin shadow.
Cheng Shiyun felt a pang of pain in her heart as she looked at the figure.
Every time she tries to reassure herself that everything is getting better, reality reminds her of that again.
Her death brought Xie Shijin immense pain.
A torrential downpour.
A sudden car accident...
Xie Shijin seemed to be following her as well.
...we all died together.
A note from the author:
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Actually, this is a sweet story, really, really! [Lower-eared rabbit head]
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