Time is the best tranquilizer.
Sorrow, fear, pain, excitement—all human emotions, like vibrant paintings, slowly fade with the passage of time.
Later, in the police report room, Fang Yuan recounted the horrific events of that night without showing any signs of panic. Instead, her words were clear and coherent, as if she were recounting someone else's story.
What she couldn't stand was the two officers recording her confession constantly interrupting her and asking her inexplicable questions.
For example, why did you chase Li Rong? How did you discover he was walking ahead of you? Why did Xu Yan go mad? And why did she ultimately murder you?
Fang Yuan's head was pounding.
The tone and expressions of the two officers' questions made it seem as if they were treating her as a suspect.
Her recollections were periodically interrupted by the two officers' stern questions. Fang Yuan had to explain her situation and her suspicions. It was clear they didn't believe her and kept pressing for evidence. Fang Yuan gritted her teeth in anger, mentally cursing "idiot, idiot" countless times.
After revising her statement several times, she finally finished it. She carefully reviewed it from beginning to end, confirming it was what she intended, and then signed and put her fingerprints on it.
At 10:20, Fang Yuan emerged from the dim report room. The golden sunlight shone brightly. Fang Yuan squinted her eyes and shouted out into the busy street, as if to expel the darkness within. Her homeroom teacher, Qin Yue, was waiting for her at the report room door, accompanied by three friends from girls' dormitory 441. Su Ya hadn't arrived.
"Fang Yuan, are you okay?" Qin Yue said, concerned, draping her coat over Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan shook her head. Although the sun was shining brightly outside, she felt a chill running through her bones, and she shuddered. Perhaps it was because she hadn't slept all night and was feeling a little weak.
Three girls gathered around her.
"Fang Yuan, are you hungry? Look what we brought you! Old duck soup. It's very nourishing." Tao Bing'er nudged Qin Yanping, who immediately unscrewed the thermos, revealing a steaming, fragrant aroma.
Xu Zhaodi poured a bowl and handed it to Fang Yuan, "Drink it while it's hot."
Fang Yuan's nose felt a little sore, but she said nothing more. She silently took Xu Zhaodi's old duck soup and drank it in one gulp. She hadn't eaten since last night and was indeed hungry.
After finishing the bowl of old duck soup, her stomach warmed, and she felt better, no longer shivering.
"Let's go, let's go back first." Qin Yue touched Fang Yuan's forehead lovingly, took her hand, and left the police station. A brand-new Passat sedan was parked outside the police station, having been specifically sent to pick up Qin Yue and the others.
The driver was a cheerful man in his thirties, well-maintained. He wore oversized sunglasses, yet exuded a sense of fashion and taste. In fact, his attire and demeanor betrayed his status as what one might call a successful individual.
Along the way, he told humorous jokes, making Qin Yue and the others laugh. Some of them were genuinely amusing. For example, a man had just received his salary when he was confronted by a robber. He begged the robber not to take his salary, as his wife wouldn't believe he hadn't turned it in because of the robbers. The robber replied that his wife wouldn't believe he hadn't stolen the money.
Fang Yuan knew that sometimes they were laughing deliberately; some of the jokes weren't really funny; they were just trying to amuse themselves. They were avoiding the issue of Xu Yan's fall, not even asking about her experience the night before.
Amidst laughter, the Passat arrived at Nanjiang Medical College and turned to the entrance of the girls' dormitory. After getting out of the car, on the stairs of the girls' dormitory, Tao Bing'er asked Qin Yue, "Teacher Qin, who is that driver to you?"
Qin Yue was surprised. "Why are you asking?"
Tao Bing'er made a face. "I noticed that driver had bad intentions towards you. He kept peeking at you through the rearview mirror."
Qin Yue asked back, "How did you find out? Were you constantly peeking at him from behind? Are you interested in him?"
Tao Bing'er curled her lips. "I'm not interested in old men like that. I think it's 100% likely..." Pursuing Teacher Qin's."
Qin Yanping also joined in. "Yeah, I noticed too. Teacher Qin used his car this time. Maybe he owes him a favor? It's not nice to owe a man a favor. Why not give him a chance? Let him take Teacher Qin out for dinner, and we'll be the ones to accompany him."
Qin Yue was left in a state of confusion by the two little girls' comments. She feigned anger and said, "You two little girls, all you do is flirt and talk, not focus on your studies. Be careful you'll have to repeat the make-up exam!"
As they spoke, the five of them reached the girls' dormitory 441 and opened the door.
Before Fang Yuan entered, a limping black cat approached, meowing affectionately at her. Fang Yuan didn't feel like paying attention to it. She asked Xu Zhaodi to pour it some duck bone soup, then went into the bedroom, lay on her bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
Ever since Xu Yan's fall to her death, her heart had been heavy, oppressive, and uncomfortable. She was inextricably linked to Xu Yan's death.
Qin Yue quietly walked in, closed the bedroom door, sat down next to Fang Yuan, and whispered, "Fang Yuan, don't overthink it. Get some rest first. We'll talk about it after you wake up."
Fang Yuan sighed, "I can't sleep."
Yes, she was very sleepy and wanted to sleep, but she wanted to know what happened yesterday even more.
"What about Li Rong? How is he?"
"Li Rong?" Qin Yue had questioned Li Rong at the police station and had a general understanding of the case. "He's fine. He went back an hour before you gave your statement."
"But..." Fang Yuan kept saying "but" for a long time, but the next words just wouldn't come out. She didn't know how to express her suspicions about Li Rong. In fact, she had no evidence to support her suspicions. Besides, the expression on Li Rong's face when he met her for the second time last night was too real to be fake.
"But, you said you saw him lead you to the basement of the Red Mansion?" Qin Yue said it for her.
"Yes, does he have the key to the Red Mansion's basement?"
"He does have the key, but..." Qin Yue hesitated.
"But what?"
"But, at least four of Li Rong's roommates confirmed that he was in the dorm from 10:35 to 11:00, after lights out, and never left."
Fang Yuan finally understood why the officer recording her statement had been looking at her with suspicion. With a one-to-four ratio, the police naturally believed Li Rong's classmates.
"Could they be lying?"
Qin Yue shook her head. "The police asked four people to describe what happened after Li Rong returned, and then compared their accounts. They found that their descriptions matched each other. It couldn't be fabricated."
Fang Yuan was speechless. In this situation, no one would believe her.
But she did see Li Rong, and it was he who led her into the Red Mansion's basement. She remembered clearly that Li Rong was wearing a white jacket that night, and it was precisely because of its striking color that she was able to track him.
Could it be that she had seen it wrong? Or was the person who had led her there not Li Rong at all? Or perhaps, was he not a human at all?!
She remembered the words Li Rong had repeated to Xu Yan's corpse: "It's her, she's back!"
Who was "her"? Couldn't he be referring to Xu Yan?
If it was Xu Yan, why would he keep muttering to himself? Unless, he was referring to—Cheng Li!
Fang Yuan shuddered. For some reason, the thought of Cheng Li made her nervous. She couldn't forget the gruesome photo of Cheng Li's corpse she had seen on the BBS.
Also, what was the meaning of Xu Yan's dying smile?
Fang Yuan's head was splitting. Everything was so confusing and chaotic. "Don't think about it. Get some sleep. We'll talk about it after you wake up." Qin Yue caressed Fang Yuan's cold cheek lovingly, then tucked her in and left.
As Qin Yue opened the bedroom door and prepared to leave, Fang Yuan suddenly called out, "Teacher Qin, I have another question!"
Qin Yue frowned. "What's the question?"
Fang Yuan blinked. "Is the driver who just brought us back your boyfriend?"
Qin Yue smiled wryly. She hadn't expected Fang Yuan to ask that.
"No!" Qin Yue answered firmly. After a moment's thought, she added, "He's just one of the candidates. I'm sure you'll be satisfied now. Get some sleep."
Qin Yue closed the door gently as she left. The bedroom finally fell silent. Fang Yuan lay on the comfortable, soft bed, her whole body relaxed, as if gently swaying on the surface of a calm lake. She hadn't slept for over twenty hours and was terribly sleepy. Her eyelids grew heavy, and soon she was drifting off to sleep.