Chapter 14
Li Qingyao said, "Can you try to recall what was different about the day Zhang Xiyu died? Any aspect, any detail is fine."
Li Ziyan lowered her head and frowned.
Although it has been a year, that unforgettable day for her seems like it happened yesterday.
It was a cloudy day, the monthly exam results had just come out, and the atmosphere in the classroom was as quiet and tense as usual. Zhang Xiyu lay on the table, his head resting on his arms, his eyes staring straight ahead, empty and distracted.
Li Ziyan took a quick glance at her score and was secretly shocked. Even a poor student like her felt shocked by this score. She really didn't know how this guy had managed to move up by dozens of places at the end of last semester.
Li Ziyan sympathetically hooked her friend's neck and asked, "Why are you in such a bad state recently?"
"No." Zhang Xiyu said gloomily, "Just play your best."
Li Ziyan chuckled.
There won’t be too much distress in the world of poor students, because if you are distressed, the heavy disappointment from the whole world will be enough to make you lose the meaning of your existence in this world. So it’s better to remain numb from the beginning.
That day, Zhang Xiyu didn't listen to the class and didn't secretly play with his mobile phone. Sometimes when Li Ziyan talked to her, she seemed not to hear. Li Ziyan had a very strange feeling. Zhang Xiyu's eyes were clearly open, but he seemed to be half asleep and half awake.
Zhang Xiyu didn't go to eat lunch either. Li Ziyan asked, "Do you want me to bring it to you?" Zhang Xiyu covered her stomach and shook her head, "I have a stomachache."
Her face was indeed very pale. Li Ziyan asked, "Shall I accompany you to the infirmary?"
"Need not."
The first class in the afternoon is taught by our homeroom teacher Fang Chenyu. Perhaps because Zhang Xiyu performed so badly in this monthly exam, he was quickly called upon to answer questions.
Of course Zhang Xiyu couldn't answer it.
Fang Chenyu was very angry: "I just explained this knowledge point once. Zhang Xiyu, what on earth are you thinking about? If you don't want to study, don't come. Why sit in the classroom and waste each other's time!"
There was silence in the classroom and Zhang Xiyu smiled indifferently. This smile stimulated Fang Chenyu: "Stand outside!"
But this time, Zhang Xiyu did not stand until the end of the get out of class. After only ten minutes, she raised her hand outside the window and said, "Teacher Fang, I have a stomachache."
Fang Chenyu glared at her with a dark face.
Zhang Xiyu shouted, "My period hurts! I need to go to the bathroom!"
Many people lowered their heads and laughed.
After all, Fang Chenyu was a young male teacher. He couldn't bring himself to scold him. He waved his hands like he was shooing away a fly, and finally said "get out".
Zhang Xiyu nodded and said, "Just get out." Only a few students at the window heard this, not even Fang Chenyu.
That was also the last time Li Ziyan saw Zhang Xiyu.
Just as it got dark, during the first evening self-study session, Li Ziyan heard that someone had jumped off a building. When Fang Chenyu on the podium was hurriedly called away by a teacher, the whole class was in an uproar. Li Ziyan looked at the table next to her which had been empty for the whole afternoon, and suddenly felt a chill invade her whole body.
——
When Li Qingyao and Chen Pu walked out of No. 29 Middle School, it was already dark. Li Qingyao asked: "Going to the Physical Education University?" They had just called the Academic Affairs Office of the Physical Education University and confirmed that the boy was on campus.
Chen Pu said: "No hurry, let's eat first."
No. 29 Middle School and Sports University are only separated by a street. The two walked there and saw a row of snack shops and food stalls on the roadside. Chen Pu asked: "Is it okay to eat here?"
Li Qingyao: "It's reimbursed, right?"
Chen Pu: "...I'll treat you."
"How can that be so embarrassing?"
"Skewer or casserole?"
"string."
The two sat down at an empty table in front of a food stall. Chen Pu gracefully handed Li Qingyao a simple one-page menu. She ordered corn skewers, potato chips, smashed cucumbers and two skewers of meat. Chen Pu looked at it and muttered, "Nothing..." He added a pot of fish soup, a pile of meat, ordered a bottle of iced Coke, looked up and asked her, "Would you like a Coke?"
Li Qingyao shook his head.
"Order your own drink."
Li Qingyao looked at the menu and put it down again. There were only a few drinks on offer.
Chen Pu had already opened his disposable bowl and chopsticks, heated them up, looked at her, and said, "What do you want to drink? There's a convenience store next door."
Li Qingyao: "Just drink barley tea." Just as she was about to get up, Chen Pu had already stood up with no expression and walked towards the convenience store. After a while, he came back with a large bottle of 2L barley tea.
Li Qingyao was startled: "I can't finish it."
Chen Pu: "The 2-liter promotion is only 2 yuan more expensive than the 500-ml bottle. If you can't finish it, I'll carry it for you and you can drink it as water at night."
Li Qingyao: “…Oh.”
After he sat down, he no longer looked at her. He held the iced cola in one hand, drank it slowly, and looked at the cars on the road. Behind him was the hustle and bustle of traffic, the light bulbs of the food stalls were a soft goose yellow, and in the dim light, his grey T-shirt made the lines of his shoulders and back look very hard, like a solitary mountain.
Li Qingyao realized that he was nothing like the cold and arrogant alpine snow lotus in the police academy as described by Li Jincheng.
He is now just an old detective living a quiet life, and he even compares the milliliters of discounted drinks.
"In the past... did you and my brother also live like this today, day after day?" she asked.
Get up early and go to bed late, busy and working hard. Listen to many stories of strangers and open your eyes to see the purest and dirtiest things in the world.
Chen Pu put down the Coke and looked up at her.
Perhaps it was the gentle night scene behind her that made him feel that the girl looked much more normal than she did during the day. She was quiet and peaceful, and there was even sincerity in her eyes.
"Almost. But..." He paused, "My relationship with him is different. No one has a better understanding than us."
Li Qingyao continued in a soft and gentle voice: "I am his sister, and we are related by blood. Maybe you and I, just like you and him, have a natural tacit understanding."
Chen Pu looked down at his arm and a layer of tiny goose bumps appeared on his body.
At this time, the waiter brought the pot and skewers. Li Qingyao looked up and said thank you in a sweet and decent voice.
It was as if the person who had just had an intermittent fit of insanity was not her.
The two of them ate in silence for a while. Chen Pu had finished his Coke and poured himself a cup of barley tea, drinking it tastelessly. He looked up and saw Li Qingyao biting the skewer of meat delicately, revealing his thin, white and neat teeth. There were only five or six skewers in front of her. After taking a few bites, she would use her slender white fingers to pick up a tissue and wipe her mouth. She was as clean as a fairy.
Chen Pu felt that he hadn't drunk any alcohol, so why did he feel so angry when he saw her sitting in the bustling street? He thought it must be because she was Li Jincheng's sister, so she was no different from his own sister. That's why he is so disappointed in someone.
"Li Qingyao, what are you feeling awkward about all day long?" he asked.
Li Qingyao was holding a string of corn kernels and looked up at him.
There seemed to be a cold black mist in his eyes. One hand was placed on the table, and the other arm was hanging down on his thigh. One shoulder was slightly slumped, and he held his head high, but his aura was domineering.
"When your brother got into trouble, you were still taking the college entrance exam. We police officers are responsible, and I am your brother. You don't have to force yourself to live this kind of life."
Li Qingyao smiled, his smile was mocking and cold: "Chen Pu, don't just blame me, you are the one who is awkward, right? It's been seven years, why don't you give up? It's time to change someone to guard it."
Chen Pu shook his head: "I'm not competing."
Li Qingyao was stunned for a moment. She looked into his eyes and saw sincerity and openness. She understood that he really didn't think he was competing, he was just doing what he wanted to do.
"Chen Pu!" someone shouted. The two turned around and saw a man in a police uniform and a wide-brimmed hat striding towards them.
Chen Pu smiled, waved at him, and said, "I didn't wait for you. I don't know when you can finish. Order your own food."
The policeman said, "What are you waiting for? There's no need to order more dishes. I think there are plenty of them." He sat down at the empty seat at the table and looked at Li Qingyao.
Chen Pu said, "Newcomer, Li Qingyao." He glanced at Li Qingyao and said, "Call him Brother Zhu. He was also involved in the investigation of Zhang Xiyu's case last year. He has been on missions all day today and only has time now."
Li Qingyao understood. No wonder Chen Pu wanted to eat first and then investigate the case. He wanted to wait for him. She gave him her signature smile: "Hello, Brother Zhu!" and poured him a cup of tea.
"Hey, thank you." Brother Zhu took the cup quickly. "How's the investigation going? I heard that it was a teacher who committed suicide?"
Chen Pu raised his glass, and the three of them clinked their glasses. He took a sip and said, "Let's have tea instead of wine. Thank you for coming all the way here today. I'll treat you to a drink another day. The results of the investigation are still unclear."
Brother Zhu nodded, picked up the skewer of butter, ate it in one gulp, and asked, "What do you want to know about Zhang Xiyu's case?"
Chen Pu: "I want to hear you talk about Sun Haochen."
Sun Haochen is the boy from the Sports University.
Brother Zhu nodded. "He was Zhang Xiyu's boyfriend, a sophomore at the Sports University, and should be a junior now. He had nothing to do with Zhang Xiyu's death. They broke up half a month before Zhang Xiyu jumped off the building. During that time, he was in Wuhan for training, and the two had no contact. It was considered a good breakup. So we only asked briefly at the time."
Chen Pu picked up the cup of barley tea, looked at it under the light, and asked, "Does Zhang Xiyu have other boyfriends or lovers?"
Brother Zhu shook his head: "Probably not. We checked her phone during that period and found no emotional entanglement with anyone else. No one around her reported it either."
"Brother Zhu, was there no autopsy at that time?" Li Qingyao asked.
"No, she committed suicide by jumping off a building. The evidence is irrefutable. Her parents did not want their child's body to be destroyed and did not agree to an autopsy. We also had no reason to do one. In addition, the investigation was very stressful at the time. The school... you know, the Education Bureau also wanted to calm things down as soon as possible. Since there were no obvious doubts, we closed the case after the family agreed."
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