original sin
"Jiang Li!" The teammate raised his hand, and Jiang Li passed the ball to him with a fake move. After getting the ball, the teammate made a three-point layup and scored steadily.
Sweat and a smile appeared on Jiang Li's face. During the halftime break, he smiled and took the water thrown by his teammates. The programmer patted him and said, "Hey, there's someone over there watching you."
Jiang Li unscrewed the bottle cap and took a sip, then took out a new bottle of mineral water from the water tank and walked towards the people at the fence.
The bottle of water was handed to Chen An, who took it and said, "Thank you."
The two sat on a bench, and Chen An said, "You don't seem surprised at all that I came to see you."
Jiang Li said: "I saw you, you are a police officer."
Chen An was not wearing a police uniform today. In fact, he rarely wore a police uniform when he was on a mission.
He didn't know what Jiang Li based his judgment on, but for now his observation skills were pretty good.
Chen An said, "Then you should know why I'm here, right?"
Jiang Li said: "I know, because of that girl."
When Liu Hanxiao was mentioned, his mood became heavier. Chen An felt that he could get more information from him. He looked at the empty court and suggested, "Let's change places."
The gymnasium was quite cool and shady. At this time, everyone was in class except for the physical education class. Chen An sat on a plastic chair outside while he changed his clothes. Jiang Li came out and said, "I met Liu Hanxiao on the rooftop."
Chen An looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
"I'm a repeater. We used to go to the same school. The first time I met Liu Hanxiao was on the rooftop. I saved her from jumping off the building." Jiang Li lowered her head, her long eyelashes casting a shadow. "High school life is very stressful. No. 2 Middle School imitates Hengzhong in every way. It doesn't have Hengzhong's resources, but it has its own system. From the moment we enter the school, we feel like we've entered a prison, longing for the day we'll be released."
Chen An said, "You seem very dissatisfied with No. 2 Middle School."
Jiang Li sneered, "If you were satisfied, you wouldn't come to No. 1 Middle School to repeat your studies."
"Before graduation, the principal of No. 2 Middle School personally canvassed for votes, saying that students who wanted to repeat the year could choose to stay at No. 2 Middle School and promised to waive tuition fees. But it's different at No. 1 Middle School. To get in, you have to check your grades. If you score above the first-tier line, you can waive tuition. But the further you are from the first-tier line, the more tuition you have to pay. Even so, there are still a lot of students who failed the exam and paid 10,000 or 20,000 yuan a semester to repeat at No. 1 Middle School."
This can be confirmed by Liu Hanxiao's retaking of the No. 2 Middle School. Her family was not well off, so she would definitely choose a school with lower tuition fees.
Chen An asked, "Why did Liu Hanxiao jump off the building?"
Jiang Li said, "Why else? It's just stress." After a pause, he told some stories unknown to outsiders, "She's actually quite pitiful."
Chen An followed his words and asked, "What do you mean?"
Jiang Li said: "After that jump, she and I became friends. We often met on the rooftop, and she told me a lot about her family."
"She's been a left-behind child since she was little. Her parents worked away from home all year round, so she had to deal with everything on her own. Her parents never attended the parent-teacher meetings at school, always leaving her to explain things to her homeroom teacher. During the class division in her first year of high school, she didn't want to study liberal arts, so she auditioned for the music major and was accepted, but her parents forced her to give up. Of the 34 people in her class who applied, only four got in: two boys and two girls. The boys had all studied music, and she was one of the girls!"
Chen An understood what he meant. He felt sorry for Liu Hanxiao.
"I asked her if she had fought for it, and she said she had, and she even asked the music teacher to call her parents personally. But in the end, even the music teacher was persuaded to back out, and told her to focus on studying literature. I remember her parents seemed to come to the school and make a scene at that time."
"It was winter, and we were all in class when we heard an argument upstairs." Jiang Li explained the structure of No. 2 Middle School: the liberal arts classes were on the lower floors, and the art classes were on the upper floors. "Her parents were yelling at the music teacher and the dean, saying things like, 'Studying art is all about making money,' and accusing the school of forcing students into art. It was a really ugly scene. Some say Liu Hanxiao was there, crying, and her parents took her to the Academic Affairs Office to change her major."
Chen An had never heard of what he said from his friends in the cultural class.
"Later, she transferred to the liberal arts class, but we were never in the same class. She studied liberal arts, and I studied science." Jiang Li added, "Oh, yes, people in the liberal arts class are not allowed to communicate with those in the art class."
"Why?"
"Hmm..." Jiang Li was thinking about how to put it. "It's a natural barrier. The two roads don't interfere with each other."
Chen An said: "I thought you were going to say..."
Jiang Li was very perceptive. "Are you saying that we look down on each other?"
Chen An didn't say anything. Professional discrimination is common everywhere. No, it should be said that discrimination is common everywhere.
Jiang Li defended No. 2 Middle School, saying, "Aside from the disgusting system, everything else is fine. There's very little discrimination. Everyone's busy with the college entrance exams and doesn't have time for these things. If we don't communicate, there's nothing to talk about."
Chen An nodded. It was normal to forget these things over time if there was no communication.
"Why did you go to see Zhou Fuyuan and the others this afternoon?"
Jiang Li looked away and said, "Just ask about Liu Hanxiao and see if I can help."
"Help?" Chen An carefully observed his reaction. "You should call the police."
Jiang Li tried to get away with it by making jokes, and laughed awkwardly, "You're here, aren't you?"
His answer made Chen An frown. Jiang Li seemed to be covered with a layer of mist, making it difficult to see through him.
"Then why did you go to the rooftop?"
Jiang Li was stunned. He thought Chen An would continue to ask about Liu Hanxiao. He concealed his feelings with a smile, "The rooftop has a beautiful view, it's a good place to relax."
The man didn't say anything, but Jiang Li could feel his gaze all the time. He didn't let him go until the class bell rang. "Call me if you have anything." He took out a business card and put it in his school uniform pocket.
In the upscale residential complex, the girl had been home for three days. He Lili held her phone tightly, waiting for a call to come in. When the phone vibrated, she immediately picked it up, "Yi Tian, what should I do! That, that woman is real..."
The person opposite interrupted her, "What are you thinking? Don't scare yourself. We have nothing to do with her. No matter what, it won't be traced back to us."
Hearing him say that, He Lili felt a little relieved. "Then when are we going back to school? The college entrance examination is coming soon."
Yi Tian thought for a moment and said, "Tomorrow, I'll go back with you." Before hanging up, he reminded her, "Don't show your fear. That woman has nothing to do with us. After we get through this period and the college entrance examination, everyone will leave and this matter will be over."
He Lili has been dreaming these past two days, dreaming about that hazy rainy night when nothing could be seen clearly.
"But, but I've been having dreams lately..."
Yi Tian was annoyed and yelled, "It's all because of you. If you hadn't mentioned the abandoned teaching building, would we have met! Okay, don't think too much, we don't even know who she is, let alone the police, this matter has nothing to do with us! What is this called, an unprovoked disaster! Don't go out and talk nonsense! The college entrance examination is coming soon, it's better to get through this critical moment!"
After saying that, she hung up the phone. He Lili was holding the phone. The sound of the door opening startled her. When her parents came in, they saw her looking uneasy. "What's wrong, Lili?"
He Lili forced a smile and said, "It's okay."
County Public Security Bureau
Xie Hongfei projected the information collected by the team members onto the screen. "Captain Chen, this is the detailed information we have collected on Liu Hanxiao's family."
"Liu Hanxiao was born in the countryside. Her parents worked away from home for many years, and she was raised by her grandmother. We also discovered that Liu Hanxiao's parents' relationship had long since broken down, registering for divorce a year ago. However, Liu Hanxiao seems unaware of her parents' divorce, likely wanting to wait until after the college entrance exam to tell her."
"Neither party seemed to care much about Liu Hanxiao's death. Her mother had found a new home in the past year, and her father had taken a leisurely job outside and rarely sent money."
Chen An quickly pictured a lonely girl who depended on her grandmother for support. "Where is her hometown?"
Xie Hongfei said, "Xia'an Town." He put away the information. "That's all I know about Liu Hanxiao. I've been investigating for two days, and it seems she doesn't have any enemies. Her relationships seem very transparent and simple. I can't imagine who would kill her."
The discussion room was silent for a moment, and then Officer Xiao Liu said to Chen An, "Captain Chen, this is Jiang Li's information."
Xie Hongfei raised his eyes and glanced, "Jiang Li?"
Chen An told him, "I went to No. 2 Middle School today and happened to see him asking Liu Hanxiao's friends about Liu Hanxiao, so I asked him about Liu Hanxiao."
As he looked over the information, he said, "Liu Hanxiao's mental state doesn't seem very good. She's a repeater. Jiang Li said she once tried to commit suicide by jumping off a building when she was a freshman. He also told me that Liu Hanxiao's parents had pressured her into giving up her preferred major."
Xie Hongfei nodded.
Chen An focused his attention on these pages of information.
Jiang Li, 18 years old, was a repeater at No. 1 Middle School. His father beat his mother to death and was sentenced to prison. After his release, he worked as a truck driver. During one delivery, he was involved in a car accident and died despite rescue efforts.
Xiao Liu added, "Jiang Li was fifteen when his father died, already a grown-up child. Many welfare homes wouldn't accept him, and Jiang Li himself refused to go. However, the government gives him a monthly living allowance, and he now lives alone in a deep alley in the old city."
Policewoman Xu Jie lamented, "So pitiful."
Xiao Liu also nodded. "But he has very good grades and is top of his grade in the science class."
Xu Jie asked, "Didn't he do well in the exam last year? Why did he repeat the year?"
Xiao Liu checked his grades and said, "He did very well last year as well. He was the only one from No. 2 Middle School who got into Huaqing University."
Xu Jie was shocked. "You've already been admitted to Huaqing University, why would you repeat the year?"
Xiao Liu also felt strange, "I don't know, maybe... I don't want to go?"
Chen An stared at the report. There were no fewer suspicious points about Jiang Li than about Liu Hanxiao.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
