The principal's confession and "unfinished homework"
The police quickly tracked down Wang Jianguo, who had retired and was living in a suburban nursing home. When Qi Chen and Lu Ye found him with the account books and evidence, he was sitting in the yard basking in the sun. His hair had turned completely white, his back hunched, and he was holding an old photo—a group photo from Qiming Middle School. In the photo, he was wearing a suit, standing among Lin Wanqiu and the students, smiling brightly, a stark contrast to his current, aged self.
"You're here...for school matters, right?" Wang Jianguo's voice was hoarse. The moment he saw the account book, his hand trembled violently, and the photo fell to the ground. "I knew this day would come sooner or later."
Lu Ye and Qi Chen sat across from him. Sunlight filtered through the leaves onto the account book, revealing the signatures clearly. "Do you remember Teacher Lin Wanqiu and Xiaoyu?" Qi Chen asked softly, his tone calm, without accusation.
Wang Jianguo's tears suddenly fell. He wiped them with his sleeves, his voice choked with sobs: "I remember...how could I not remember? Wanqiu is a good teacher, Xiaoyu is a good child, it's me who harmed them..."
He slowly recounted the events of that year—in 1999, the school was raising 5,000 yuan in donations for a new building. He had run up gambling debts and, in a moment of confusion, embezzled the money, thinking he'd return it when he got his salary the following month. But before he could repay it, the donation was discovered, and the principal tasked him with investigating who had stolen the money. Fearing his guilt would be exposed, he pointed the finger at Lin Wanqiu—because she was the teacher in charge of the donations and the only one with access to the money.
"I fabricated evidence, saying she stole the money, and even told other teachers and students that she'd run away with it." Wang Jianguo's voice was getting lower and lower. "Wanqiu came to confront me, and I locked her in the archives and told her to 'reflect.' When I went to see her the next day, she was... dead. In her hand, she was clutching a fragment of the account book with 'Restore my innocence' written on it..."
"Where's Xiaoyu?" Lu Ye couldn't help but ask, his voice trembling.
"Xiaoyu was Wanqiu's student. He didn't believe Wanqiu stole the money and kept looking for evidence." Wang Jianguo's tears flowed even harder. "He found the archives and saw the evidence I forged. I was afraid he would tell others, so I pushed him. He hit his head on the toilet and bled a lot... I hid his body under the tiles and told others that he had transferred to another school..."
He has been living in guilt these years. After retirement, he hid in a nursing home, just to get away from everything in the past. But every night he would dream of Lin Wanqiu and Xiaoyu, and dream that they asked him "Why did you frame me?" and "Why did you kill me?"
"I know I was wrong," Wang Jianguo knelt on the ground and kowtowed to Qi Chen and Lu Ye. "I am willing to surrender myself and pay compensation. I only ask that you tell Wanqiu and Xiaoyu that I was wrong and I feel sorry for them..."
Qi Chen helped him up and said softly, "You should tell them in person and go to their graves to repent."
The police quickly took Wang Jianguo into custody, where he confessed to all his crimes, including misappropriation of donations, framing Lin Wanqiu, and manslaughtering Xiaoyu. The court sentenced him to ten years in prison, but he did not appeal. Before going to prison, he requested that Qi Chen and Lu Ye take him to Qiming Middle School to kowtow at the graves of Lin Wanqiu and Xiaoyu.
That day, Lu Ye and Qi Chen brought Wang Jianguo to the flagpole. The red chalk on the tombstone was still there, though its color had faded. Wang Jianguo knelt before the grave and kowtowed three times. Tears fell to the ground, soaking the soil. "Wanqiu, Xiaoyu, I was wrong. I'm sorry... I will reform myself in prison and atone for my sins..."
Just then, a gust of wind blew, and the weeds beside the flagpole swayed gently, as if in response. Wang Jianguo stood up, bowed deeply to the tombstone, and then followed the police away.
"Can his confession bring peace to Teacher Lin and Xiaoyu?" Lu Ye asked.
Qi Chen nodded: "Yes, they didn't want revenge, they wanted innocence and justice. Now, they have got it."
When leaving Kaiming Middle School, Lu Ye suddenly remembered the last words in Xiaoyu's diary: "Teacher Lin, I will help you find evidence, don't abandon me..." He looked back at the tombstone and said silently in his heart: "Xiaoyu, you did it. You helped Teacher Lin clear the injustice. You can go together."
On the way back, Qi Chen received a call from Chen Zhe, whom he had helped before. He said that when he was sorting out his grandmother's belongings recently, he found an old photo. There was a woman in a cheongsam in the photo, and the teaching building of Qiming Middle School was behind her. He thought it might be related to Lin Wanqiu, and wanted Qi Chen and Lu Ye to help take a look.
The two immediately rushed to Chen Zhe's house. When they saw the photo, Lu Ye and Qi Chen were stunned - the woman in the photo was Lin Wanqiu. She was wearing a cheongsam and holding a red chalk in her hand. Next to her stood a little girl who looked like Chen Zhe's grandmother when she was young.
"My grandmother said that she and Teacher Lin were classmates. When Teacher Lin was wrongly accused, she refused to believe it and even went to the school to look for evidence, but couldn't find any," Chen Zhe said. "My grandmother asked me to give you the photos, saying that if you can help clear Teacher Lin's name, she'll be at peace."
Lu Ye took the photo and felt warm in his heart - it turned out that after all these years, someone still remembered Lin Wanqiu and remembered her as a good teacher. He placed the photo in front of Lin Wanqiu's grave and said softly, "Teacher Lin, look, there are still people who remember you. You are not alone."
As the days go by, the story of Qiming Middle School is gradually forgotten, but Lu Ye and Qi Chen will never forget it - the female teacher holding the red chalk, the student who sacrificed himself to help the teacher find evidence, and those obsessions that were resolved, all became the most precious part of their memories.
In the following days, they went to more places with obsessions - abandoned old houses, deserted cemeteries, closed hospitals. Each time they encountered different wronged souls and different obsessions, but each time, they were able to find clues to help the wronged souls resolve their obsessions and let them rest in peace.
Lu Ye gradually became braver and no longer as scared as he was at the beginning. He learned to observe clues, understand the pain of the wronged souls, and learn how to help them in his own way. Qi Chen also changed. He was no longer as cold as before. He would occasionally smile at Lu Ye, pat his shoulder when Lu Ye was scared, and be happy with him when he found a clue.
Their journey continues, with more wronged souls waiting for them to help and more obsessions waiting for them to resolve. But Lu Ye knows that as long as Qi Chen is by his side, no matter how horrific the scene or how difficult the obsession, they can face it together and resolve it together.
Because they know that behind every obsession is a story waiting to be heard, and in the heart of every wronged soul lies a pain that longs to be understood. Their mission is to listen to these stories, understand their pain, and help them find their way home.
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