Amidst the mournful music, Ruan Chen still felt as if it were all a dream.
She felt her soul being ripped out, suspended in mid-air in the mourning hall, numbly staring at the photo of the kind-smiling old man, and equally numbly staring at herself below with red and swollen eyes, before walking to the portrait and bowing three times.
This world is so unreal.
How can seeing someone you clearly met yesterday, or having a long talk with them just a dozen hours ago, be considered a life-or-death separation?
Ruan Chen's lips moved, but she couldn't utter a single word.
She thought to herself, "I haven't even figured out how to answer you yet, why are you leaving in such a hurry?"
She put down the bouquet of flowers in her arms, turned around and walked through the crowd, and saw the people from the Municipal Bureau at the door.
She didn't recognize any of the police officers who came, and Ruan Chen felt that she probably didn't care. She just walked past them indifferently, brushing past them, intending to go to the side of the road to hail a taxi to go home.
All she wants now is to lock herself in her bedroom and sleep soundly until the world returns to normal when she wakes up.
Ruan Chen saw Nan Jing waving at her from the roadside. She slowly dragged her heavy steps toward him, and at that moment, her visual cells belatedly processed the case file information she had inadvertently glimpsed from the policeman's hand, dutifully transmitting it to her brain cells.
Ruan Chen abruptly stopped, her feet still trying to move forward, but her upper body had already received the signal to return.
So he fell to the ground, looking awkward and embarrassed.
Nan Jing sighed inwardly at the child, then quickly came over to help Ruan Chen.
Ruan Chen had already gotten up on his own, turned around and ran towards the policeman, reaching out to grab the case file from his hand.
"Hey, what's wrong with you, kid?"
Other school leaders, education bureau officials, and Feng Shuang's mother—Feng Yuankai's daughter-in-law—stood around the police.
The police officer reached out to stop Ruan Chen, but she was too fast; in the blink of an eye, the case file was in her hands—fortunately, it wasn't something that needed to be kept secret.
"Ruan Chen, right?" A leader recognized her and frowned. "We understand your grief, but you can't help with this matter, so don't make things worse. The final outcome of Principal Feng's case will be announced on the school's official website in a few days."
Ruan Chen ignored him, but still politely waited for him to finish speaking, and then went straight to the police and gave them her citizen identification number, "I suggest you check my information in your internal system."
Half a minute later, the police officer looked at the feedback results on the device in his hand, and his attitude towards Ruan Chen changed significantly.
This is Director Lü's informant, who also serves as an advisor to the Municipal Bureau.
They're way too young.
However, the information couldn't be faked, and the police began to proactively explain the case to Ruan Chen, "The driver called the police immediately; it was the other truck driver who was driving under the influence..."
Ruan Chen had already read the first two pages of the case analysis and turned directly to the page with the crime scene photos—the same page she had just brushed past, the one the wind had whipped up.
She pointed to the briefcase in the passenger seat of the photo. A thick white book was peeking out from one corner of the bag. It was such a small corner that if you didn't look closely, you might mistake it for the reflection of the zipper.
She asked, "Has this document been found?"
Nan Jing, panting, ran up behind Ruan Chen, flashed his ID, and introduced himself as Feng Yuankai's friend.
His gaze, along with that of everyone else, was fixed on the spot where Ruan Chen's finger had landed.
"Excuse me, are you mistaken? There are documents here. This looks like a reflection from a zipper on a bag?"
"No, I think this is a book, and it looks like it has a white cover."
The police officer's expression became hesitant and uncertain. "Is this a document? We found this bag at the scene, but there wasn't a single document with a white cover. Is it reflective?"
Ruan Chen sighed wearily and said softly, "Bring me the original image, I'll work on the details."
A moment later, the photo, which Ruan Chen had subtly adjusted, appeared on the instrument. This time it was clear that it was indeed a white-covered document.
"Ruan Chen, what is this document?" Nan Jing was the first to realize the root of the problem.
Ruan Chen glanced around at everyone, then slightly turned to the side and stood on tiptoe to whisper her judgment to Nan Jing.
Nan Jing's face was extremely ugly. He dragged Ruan Chen straight out of the crowd and said, "The people I brought today are all reliable. You take care of the important business first, and I'll deal with the police."
The police officer panicked and gave chase, asking Ruan Chen, "Young man, do you have any leads? Do you think this accident is related to the missing document?"
Nan Jing released Ruan Chen's hand. Realizing how things were going, the men he brought quickly surrounded Ruan Chen, protecting her in the center, and hurried away.
Nan Jing then told the police, "She has more important things to do. I'll handle the details and related leads with you."
He naturally exuded the authority of a superior, making people afraid to harbor any thoughts of rebellion.
Under the protection of several people, Ruan Chen returned to the car. As soon as she got in, she turned off her phone, turned on her computer, and remained silent with her lips tightly pressed together.
The car wasn't moving. The people Nan Jing brought were very perceptive, silently guarding the area around the car and watching people come and go warily. The temperature inside the car was just right, the air conditioning was on silent, and the only sound was the clicking of Ruan Chen's computer.
Around lunchtime, someone brought a meal to the car, but Ruan Chen didn't even look up, seemingly not feeling hungry at all. Her fingers flew across the keyboard, almost leaving afterimages.
After the food cooled down, it was taken away. Someone took a bottle of warm water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Ruan Chen.
Ruan Chen finally raised her hand, took the bottle, and drank most of it in one gulp, her eyes never leaving the screen the whole time.
It wasn't until it got dark outside that Ruan Chen finally let out a long breath, rubbed her sore eyes, and shook her aching hands.
She closed her laptop, opened the car door, got out, and basked in the cool, refreshing night breeze.
She just typed out the contents of the patent she had read yesterday word for word, and even summarized the technical innovations and improvement ideas of the patent in the process.
Only then did she have the time and the peace of mind to think about everything that had happened that day.
She slowly squatted down against the car door, and the group of people kept a safe distance and did not disturb her.
Feng Yuankai is dead. It was a car accident. The other party was driving under the influence of alcohol. The groundbreaking patent he showed Ruan Chen just last night has disappeared.
Ruan Chen didn't believe that the two things were unrelated.
Even Nan Jing, after learning the contents of the document, immediately concluded that it was premeditated murder.
Ruan Chen scratched at the floor tiles, her fingernails aching from the effort. She thought to herself, "Yesterday at this time, I was still haggling with Feng Yuankai."
Feng Yuankai wanted to take on that heavy burden.
At that time, Ruan Chen was still full of thoughts of escaping and making excuses.
Who would have thought that it would become his last wish?
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