Chapter 17 (2/2)

“Is that person……you friend?”

“Not anymore.”

Bei Ye held her hand gently, before slowly tightening his grip. She too, gradually tightened her grip, the strength of the two youths tying them together tightly. Slowly traversing the wild plains, the two youths walked on in silence. Certain things were best left unsaid.

The red string continued to hang around his right wrist. It was a meaningless object, but because of his love, it became very precious to him.

Slowly, he tightened his grip on her.

However, ultimately, he had no choice but to loosen his grip on her. They had reached the main road, and could no longer stroll alongside each other.

When it was time to cross the road, Chen Nian waited at the curb for the light to turn green, whilst Bei Ye waited beneath the shade of the tree, five metres away from her. Chen Nian felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning back, she discovered Zheng Yi standing right behind her. Instinctively, Chen Nian wanted to glance at Bei Ye’s direction, but she didn’t.

“Officer Zheng……”

“Chen Nian,” Zheng Yi smiled gently, “Why are you running about in the afternoon?” As he had previously sent Chen Nian to and fro from school, he knew that Chen Nian often stayed in the school compounds during afternoon break.

Chen Nian replied, “I……I return home sometimes during afternoon break.”

“Ah, sprawling on your desk mustn’t be very comfortable.” The light turned green. Jabbing his chin in the direction of the road, Zheng Yi continued, “Let’s go.”

Chen Nian followed him, her heart pounding in her chest as an uneasy sensation crawled up her spine. After some time, she asked carefully, “Why……are you……in the area?”

“Oh, I came to look for you. I didn’t expect to see you here, I thought you were in school!”

“Why are you looking for me?”

As a car made a sharp right turn and cut into Chen Nian’s path, Zheng Yi pulled Chen Nian’s arm and tugged her backwards. Her skin was slightly cool. Within moments, she had freed herself from his grasp. Hazily sensing a barrier between the two of them, Zheng Yi simply accounted for it by a.s.suming that it was because the two of them hadn’t met for a long time, and that she was suffering from a lot of stress in school. Reigniting the conversation, he asked, “Graduation exams are nearing, aren’t they? How’s your preparation? Have you been well?”

“Same…old.”

“Yes, just tackle the examinations head on with a calm and collected heart.” After some time, Zheng Yi reminded Chen Nian, “In the future, go home early as soon as possible, and try not to head to isolated places alone.”

Ah. Zheng Yi finally started on his main point.

Chen Nian nodded, “Our teacher…already reminded us to be careful.”

“That’s good to hear.” Zheng Yi nodded his head. Lowering his head, Zheng Yi mulled for some time before continuing, “Try to stay away from boys your age, and don’t be so quick to trust them. More importantly, don’t go into a boy’s home alone. If you ever encounter a dangerous situation, stay calm, and don’t agitate the other party.”

Chen Nian’s heart tightened. With a guilty conscience, she regarded Zheng Yi warily. Does he know about Bei Ye’s existence? Speedily collecting her thoughts, Chen Nian overturned her initial suspicions – based on what Zheng Yi said, it seemed that the police had managed to lock down a suspect pool.

Raising her head, Chen Nian was about to enquire further when she realized that her questions concerned confidential information which Zheng Yi would be unable to divulge. Shutting her mouth, she lowered her head and continued walking.

On reaching the entrance of the school, Zheng Yi paused, “Could you wait for a moment?” Jogging to the convenience store, he bought an ice-cream for Chen Nian. Chen Nian accepted the ice-cream, the iciness helping to soothe her warm palm. Zheng Yi broke into a bright smile, and encouraged her, “All the best for your studies. I’ll be slightly busier during this period of time, so I wouldn’t be able to drop by often. I’ll treat you to a meal when examinations end!”

Chen Nian responded, “Sure.”

Zheng Yi left. When Chen Nian gazed at his retreating back, she spotted Bei Ye in the distance.

He was standing erect beneath the plane tree, the broken streams of sunlight s.h.i.+ning on him through the leaves of the plane tree.

Chen Nian stood on the steps of the school entrance, her ice-cream in her hand. She couldn’t go over to him; neither could he come over to her.

After casting a single glance at Chen Nian, Bei Ye turned and left. It was as though he had never been present. A stream of broken sunlight continued to illuminate him gently.

Chen Nian returned to school.

As the time for cla.s.s neared, the entire cla.s.sroom began buzzing in surprise. Somehow, various students had received news that the ident.i.ty of the corpse discovered in the muddy bank near the river had been ascertained.

It was Wei Cai.

Zeng Hao’s eyes were extremely bright as she blabbered to Chen Nian, “Finally! She went down to accompany Xiao Die. — Oh, that’s not right. Xiao Die must have gone to Heaven but Wei Cai would definitely be in h.e.l.l.”

There wasn’t a single person that feared a dead person; thus, one would be able to express one’s hatred and unhappiness without fear of any backlash.

As Xiao Mi had been sighing the entire afternoon, Chen Nian enquired, “Are you alright?”

Xiao Mi replied glumly, “I’m slightly troubled.”

“Is it because of Wei Cai?”

“Yes.” Xiao Mi nodded, “Even though she was detestable, somehow, I do feel a sense of pity for her now. As much as I disliked her, I’d rather she be alive than dead.”

Conversely, Chen Nian couldn’t figure out what she truly felt about Wei Cai, and she had no idea whether it was better for Wei Cai to be alive or dead. In front of Xiao Mi, Chen Nian was overcome with a deep sense of shame and hopelessness – although the two of them were best friends, there were ultimately some things that separated the two of them, and she had absolutely no idea how to cross that barrier and confess everything to Xiao Mi.

“I don’t understand this world.” Xiao Mi finally concluded dejectedly. When Hu Xiao Die had committed suicide, she had said the exact same thing in her bewilderment and confusion.

As Xiao Mi wasn’t feeling rather down, she went to the washroom to wash up whilst Chen Nian returned to the cla.s.sroom; upon reaching the cla.s.sroom, Xu Miao came over and sat on Hu Xiao Die’s seat before turning back to look at Chen Nian, “Wei Cai gave me a call on the day she went missing.”

Chen Nian gazed at her emotionlessly.

Xu Miao sighed, “She told me about what happened to you, and that she was going to meet you at the hill behind the school building. She invited me to “admire” your fl.u.s.tered and panicked state, and tried to convince me that since she was going to meet you during Physical Education cla.s.s, my parents wouldn’t be able to discover even if I had gone.”

Chen Nian continued staring at Xu Miao, her expression frozen in place.

“I didn’t want to continue being like Wei Cai, so I rejected her. In the past, I used to think that bullying people was a “cool” and “fun” thing to do – but having thought about it carefully, I realised that it was a really stupid thing to do.”

Chen Nian said, “Thankfully, you didn’t go.”

Xu Miao felt rather awkward and embarra.s.sed, “Nowadays, I get disciplined by my dad and mum every single day. I’m ashamed whenever I think back on what I did in the past. But Chen Nian, that day, when you met Wei Cai, she didn’t bully you any further, did she?”

In her eyes, Chen Nian was simply a weak and helpless creature that could only ever be the target of bullying. The thought that Chen Nian was a suspect didn’t even cross her mind.

The vivd image of Wei Cai’s taunting and proud expression as she displayed the video in front of her flashed across her eyes. That day, Wei Cai had insulted her, threatened her, and frightened her, claiming that the bad luck and bullying that she had suffered thus far would continue to be inflicted upon her. Gently shaking her head, Chen Nian answered calmly, “No, she didn’t.”

“Oh.” Xiao Miao closed the distance between her and Chen Nian, and whispered to her, “Don’t tell anyone else that you met Wei Cai in private that day. Otherwise, you’d have to sit through countless interrogation sessions. If that’s the case, you wouldn’t have any time to study and prepare for the graduation exams.”

Chen Nian nodded her head.

However, the news of Wei Cai’s death was like a winged dove, and had already spread through the entire school compound within half a day. When Chen Nian left the cla.s.sroom for Physical Education cla.s.s, she overheard the younger students discussing the matter animatedly.

“Hey, have you ever watched the American drama series ‘Criminal Minds‘?”

“No, is it any good?”

“It’s super good, go look for it on the Internet! Let me tell you – Wei Cai is the breaking point for the serial rapist. The raincoat man has now further evolved in his criminal ways – from now on, whenever he a.s.saults females s.e.xually, he would definitely murder them after the deed.”

“Ah? Is that really true? You aren’t fibbing, are you?”

“It’s true! The television serials all say so. The sense of excitement he feels whenever he rapes the females is no longer sufficient to satisfy his perverted desires. Now that he’s murdered a person, it’s like opening a Pandora’s box – he would only be able to feel satisfaction and happiness by continually murdering more and more people.”

“That’s so scary!! But you’re really amazing, you could totally be an expert in the future!”

“But of course – that’s my ambition.”

Many students were in the midst of discussing Wei Cai’s death.

However, before night could even descend, some students had already begun to playfully light the candles in various cla.s.srooms. Increasingly, more and more youths began joining in and lighting the numerous candles. They hopped around playfully, laughing and jumping, their boisterous mood seemingly infectious as an increasing number of students began to chatter and buzz in excitement. Finally, the discipline master stepped in to chide the students when the lighted candles nearly caused a fire hazard. As such, the prayer event was cancelled.

Sometimes, Chen Nian truly felt,

That school was, in actuality, an odd and unique zoo, where every single youth was like a flower, a blade of gra.s.s, or even a tree. Some youths were beautiful, whilst others were ugly; some youths alternated between being beautiful at times, and ugly during other times;

They were like kudzus and pine trees, always competing with each other for sunlight and rainwater, struggling to survive at the expense of the other; they were like lichens and moss, both requiring the other’s help to achieve a common benefit; but more often than not, they were like trees and shrubs, each managing to find a location each is comfortable with, and each minding his or her own business.

And for those who were unable to survive school – how could they ever expect to survive society at large?