Chapter 21 (1/2)

In Chapter 21 of The Youthful You Who Was So Beautiful, Chen Nian and Bei Ye begin their period of separation as the police begin to clamp down on investigations in relation to Wei Cai’s death. The greater the distance between the two of them, the more unlikely the police will discover their connection and the clues linking Wei Cai’s death to them. But, as Chen Nian senses the police getting one step closer to discovering the ‘truth’, she begins to break down and wonder – how long more is she able to hide her ‘involvement’ in Wei Cai’s death?

“Chen Nian?”

“Hmm?” Chen Nian appeared to be rather distracted; she continuously glanced at the blazing sunlight outside the window, and had to be constantly reminded by Zheng Yi and his fellow officers to redirect her attention back to them. Turning to them, she would gazed at them with her dark, black eyes, her clear and upright gaze seemingly a.s.serting that her words contained nothing but the truth.

“Do you hate Wei Cai?”

“I’m alright.”

“What do you mean by ‘alright’?”

“If you didn’t mention her, I would not, think about, this person.”

This answer left the police officers speechless, and Zheng Yi was at a momentary loss of words. Having answered the questions, Chen Nian turned her head towards the window once again. It was now 12:30PM. It was the hottest period of the day, the sunlight blazing down in its fiery glory, easily shattering the air into small, minuscule crystals.

Senior Yang persisted, “What about now? Now that you’ve been reminded of Wei Cai, do you hate her?”

Disrupted once again, Chen Nian turned her direction towards Senior Yang, “I’m alright.”

“Only ‘alright’?”

“I have, already forgotten, how she, looks like.” Chen Nian’s stutter seemed to have worsened.

Like the other officers, Senior Yang was momentarily stunned, and was unable to formulate an appropriate response.

In the deathly silence of the interrogation room, Chen Nian’s clear voice rang out, “I heard, that, the faces of those who died, who gradually, fade, from people’s memories. But those, who are still, alive, their faces would, always remain crystal, clear, in people’s memories, even if, they haven’t met, for many years.”

Zheng Yi appeared to be intrigued by Chen Nian’s comment, and seemed to ponder over her comment whilst the other police officers simply brushed it aside. All of a sudden, Senior Yang interrupted the conversation, “Where were you the day Wei Cai went missing?”

Chen Nian slowly raised her eyes, and gazed directly into Senior Yang’s eyes, “Which day?”

On realising that his usual tactic of catching suspects off guard through sudden interruption hadn’t worked on Chen Nian, Senior Yang sighed internally before continuing the conversation, “The day after you were bullied and humiliated by Wei Cai.”

“I was in school.” Chen Nian replied.

“Why didn’t you take medical leave?”

“I need to, revise. Time was, running out.”

The officers were incredulous at her answer; yet, there was nothing the police officers could say in response to her answer.

“You were in school the entire day?”

“Yes.”

There was no way Chen Nian could have lied about her presence in school – a simple trip to the school office would easily verify her alibi.

“Where were you at night?”

“I was at the movie theatre.”

“You went to watch a movie?” A glimmer of suspicion flashed in Senior Yang’s eyes. “You chose to watch a movie at that time? What about our revision? Did it suddenly become unimportant to you?”

In the face of Senior Yang’s aggressive and pointed questions, Chen Nian took her time to formulate her reply, “Because, it was …… a cla.s.sic movie.”

“You went to the movie theatres by yourself?”

“No.”

“Who did you go with?”

“My cla.s.smate.”

“What is the name of your cla.s.smate?”

“Li, Xiang.”

“Who suggested going to the movie theatres?” Zheng Yi interrupted the questioning.

“He did.” Chen Nian replied.

This was something that was extremely easy to verify as well. Once again, the group of police officers lapsed into a momentary silence. Exchanging meaningful glances with each other, the officers realised that they had no other questions for Chen Nian.

Senior Yang strode out of the interrogation room, and commented, “This young girl is simply too calm.”

Zheng Yi responded immediately, “What are you hinting at?”

“Nothing.” Senior Yang replied in a casual tone, “One’s demeanour and disposition is frequently influenced by one’s environment, one’s personality, and one’s experiences. More accurately, it is often influenced by encounters one recently experienced.”

Xiao Yao interjected, “This means, that Chen Nian’s overly calm disposition could be a result of her being in a state of extreme self-protection which she is unable to extricate herself from?”

“Yes.” Senior Yang nodded gravely. The officers had only questioned Chen Nian about her whereabouts before Wei Cai’s disappearance out of convenience – after all, Chen Nian was already in the police station to shed light on the bullying Wei Cai inflicted on her. Based on Chen Nian’s responses, Chen Nian didn’t appear to be involved in Wei Cai’s disappearance. “In any event, do remember verify Chen Nian’s answers with Chen Nian’s teachers and that boy named Li Xiang. We need to ensure that she isn’t lying. — Separately, with respect to the group of 23 suspects, we need to think of further means to shrink the suspect pool.” Having instructed his group of officers, Senior Yang headed back to his office.

Zheng Yi remained rooted on the spot. After some time, he turned back towards the interrogation room, and opened the door. Chen Nian remained seated in her original spot, her gaze fixated on the bright beams of sunlight s.h.i.+ning outside the window. The cup of water in front of her remained untouched.

It was such a hot and humid day. It was impossible for Chen Nian not to feel thirsty.

Zheng Yi gently rapped on the door. “Chen Nian, you may take your leave now.” Zheng Yi led Chen Nian to the canteen, where the two of them had their lunch. Zheng Yi specially bought a bottle of water for Chen Nian. On receiving the bottle, Chen Nian immediately opened the bottle cap, easily downing half the bottle in a single shot.

After lunch, Zheng Yi walked Chen Nian home.

“Chen Nian.” Zheng Yi spoke her, the his tone careful and gentle.

“Yes?”

“You can always talk to me about things that are troubling you.”

“Nothing’s troubling me.” Chen Nian shook her head.

Glancing at Chen Nian’s lowered head, wisps of melancholy wormed their way into Zheng Yi’s heart. Ultimately, however, Zheng Yi kept his mouth shut, and didn’t pursue the point – instead, he simply reminded her to remain focused on revision for the upcoming examinations. Chen Nian nodded her head in response.

As Chen Nian ascended the stairwell to her home, she suddenly remembered that Bei Ye had taken the keys to her home. However, on reaching her home, she discovered that her keys were inserted in the keyhole of her gate. Ah, if Bei Ye dared to leave her keys in such an open area, it necessarily meant that Bei Ye was somewhere nearby, watching over her.

Upon coming to this realisation, Chen Nian immediately raised her head and began looking around frantically for Bei Ye. However, he was nowhere to be found.

The bright rays of the summer sun trickled down onto the city, its glow causing the entire city to glimmer like fish scales. The bright sunlight pierced Chen Nian’s eyes, and she unwillingly lowered her eyes and rubbed them gently. In that very moment, her heart ached terribly, and she pursed her lips together in a grimace. After some time, a sense of serene calm returned to her heart, and she opened the door and entered her home.

Her books had all been returned to their original spots, along with her clothes. She could no longer return to Bei Ye’s place. The both of them had to be strangers from this point forth.

There were two huge shopping bags placed on her table. The two bags were filled with vegetables, groceries, noodles and innumerable snacks. Chen Nian strode over to the refrigerator and jerked it open – in the fridge, freshly bought fruits, milk, fruit juice and frozen dumplings lay in neat rows. Her bed and the electric fan had also been cleaned.

Chen Nian turned on the electric fan and opened the windows in her bedroom. Innumerable trees and buildings stood erect outsider her window. With the windows wide open, Chen Nian gently lay down on her bed and gazed at the scenery outside. Gradually, Chen Nian felt a sense of security settling over her, and she fell asleep.

After all, there would always be someone out there, watching over her.

On waking up from her afternoon nap, Chen Nian went to the fridge and grabbed a cold drink, along with some grapes. Having ate the grapes, she made her way to school. Just before she entered the school compound, however, she turned back, casting a final glance behind her before stepping into the compound.

Bei Ye stood upright at the end of the road leading up to Chen Nian’s school compound, patiently waiting for her to enter her school compound. On seeing Chen Nian turn back to glance at him, Bei Ye let out a deep sigh before turning and leaving.

Chen Nian’s journey to school was no longer fraught with danger as it was in the past, but it had long become his habit to trail behind her, guarding her every step to school and protecting her from harm. And before he even realised it, it had already transformed into his hope, the highlight of his day.

Just then, Bei Ye received a call from Da Kang inviting him to head out to play. Initially, Bei Ye wanted to reject Da Kang’s invitation, but decided to invite Da Kang to his home after some thought.