Chapter 119: The Murder on the Stage (1/2)

Ever since we met Professor Li, Dali became seriously lovestruck and had completely forgotten the heartbreak he suffered after learning that Xia Mengmeng had started to date another guy. He would spend whole days in the library reading a bunch of psychology books.

“I wonder if you’d start learning how to cook if you fall in love with a girl who works in the cafeteria,” I teased.

“You mock me,” he answered, “but it’s true that two people bond with each other much more easily when there is a common language. Just like how you and Xiaotao-jiejie bond over murder cases!”

But Xiaotao and I aren’t exactly together, I lamented. I then warned him, “I don’t think you have a chance with Professor Li, though. Why don’t you just give up?”

“No way!” he shouted, shaking his fist in the air. “What’s the point of living if one can’t dream?”

A few days later, Dali read Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams and became very annoying indeed. Every morning, he would wake us up and jump on our beds insisting on interpreting our dreams.

“Come on, dude! Tell me what you dreamt of last night!”

“I dreamt that I was Superman,” I said.

“Superman? Hmm… Superman wears a red cape… The color red is a symbol of desire… That means you were having a sexual dream!”

“I also dreamt that the dorm warden came to check our room,” I added.

“The dorm warden symbolizes your mother, which shows that you have an Oedipus complex.”

“Fuck off!” I kicked him off my bed. He then went on to harass our two roommates, interpreting any kind of dream they had into a sexual dream. We were all sick of him, but there was no way to get rid of Dali.

Apart from pestering us, he would also send emails to Professor Li to ask her questions regarding psychology. This was the one thing about Dali that I was most impressed with. No matter how slim a chance he had, he was never afraid of approaching the person he liked and trying his luck.

Before, we’d be dragging our feet to get to the drama club, wishing we could be anywhere else. But now, Dali would get dressed hours before and we’d arrive there half an hour before anyone else. I asked Dali, wouldn’t it be better if you just lived in the club room?

Dali did all that so he could catch a glimpse of the beautiful professor as many times as possible. But to be honest, I’d been feeling really awkward and uncomfortable in the drama club due to the attention I got after that incident with Professor Li. The club members started to treat me as if I was a rare genius and they’d pester me to show them my deduction skills all day long.

I regretted not being strong enough to endure people’s scorn. I secretly vowed that this would be the last time I showed my skills in front of other people without a good reason ever again.

Soon after, it was already the end of October, and the drama festival was upon us. Professor Li personally came to watch our performance to support us. She told us that it didn’t matter if we won the prize, as long as we gave it our best.

It would be our turn to take the stage soon. The emcee announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, please enjoy the next performance from the drama club—Romeo and Juliet!”

“Just relax,” Professor Li encouraged us. “Pretend that it’s just another day of rehearsing.”

“Okay, everyone! Get ready!” shouted Zhang Yan. Everyone then went on stage, leaving only me, Dali and Professor Li backstage.

To help Dali, I decided to leave him alone with Professor Li. I excused myself and went to the restroom, then wandered about in the corridors. Halfway through the performance, there was a sound of hurried footsteps of someone wearing high heels. I turned around and saw that it was Professor Li.

“Why are you here all alone?” she asked me.

“Is there something wrong, Professor?” I asked her. Being so close to a beautiful woman like her made me feel very nervous.

“Our Romeo forgot the prop knife that he was supposed to carry with him,” she answered. “Would it be too much to ask you to give it to him? It’s not easy for me to rush out there since I’m in high heels.”

“Leave it to me, Professor.” I took the knife from her, and felt like I’d seen it somewhere before. It turned out to be the bladeless knife that Ye Shiwen had dropped at the haunted mansion weeks ago.

Her fingers lingered on the back of my hand when I took the knife from her. I was sure that it was intentional. I looked at her, and saw that she was blushing. She smiled and asked me, “I didn’t tell you how my right eye got blind, did I?”

“Um…” I stuttered. “I should hurry and get this knife to Ye Shiwen now.”