Author: 长洱 / Chang’er

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 9

Lin Chen was awakened by the sound of someone knocking on the window.

Outside stood a cleaning auntie wearing a yellow poncho. He got up and opened the window, only to hear the auntie angrily say, “Xiao* Lin, do you have the key to Yanqing’s toolshed?”

*Little/small (小) When used in front of a name, it’s an affectionate/friendly way to call someone who’s usually younger than you.

Lin Chen shook his head. Suddenly remembering something, he asked, “Isn’t the school closed today?”

“Even if it is, the boss didn’t give us a day off.” The auntie leaned against her long broom. “It’s hard sweeping floors day and night.”

Lin Chen was keenly aware of the abnormality here. Why would a cleaning auntie come to ask him for the key to Yu Yanqing’s toolshed?

With this in mind, he asked, “Who asked you to ask me for the key to Yu Yanqing’s toolshed?”

“Oh, it’s because you have such a good relationship,” the auntie said with a smile. Seeing as how he was young and good-looking, she couldn’t help but joke, “She resigned and said she left the key to you. Don’t you have it? Well, who doesn’t know? She usually runs to you whenever she needs something…”

The old auntie was still chattering, but Lin Chen suddenly had a bad feeling.

Yu Yanqing resigned but didn’t return the keys but said she gave them to him?

But he didn’t get any keys. If this was the case, the logistics department would need to break through the door.

So, what was behind the door?

“The key may be with me, but I have to look for it. Please go and clean other places first, okay?” Lin Chen bowed slightly. After finishing his conversation with the auntie, he turned around and returned to his bedside, took out his phone, and called Xing Conglian’s number.

…….

When Xing Conglian arrived, Lin Chen was alone. He was leaning on the door to the basement entrance, apparently guarding it alone for a while now.

Seeing a forensic officer and doctor following Xing Conglian, Lin Chen nodded, stood up straight, and moved out of the way.

There was only a dim light on in the stairwell, which made his face gloomy, even a bit sad.

As a criminal investigator, Xing Conglian could of course smell the abnormal fishy stench in the air. His expression darkened. He put on gloves and opened the door to the basement. The strong smell of blood choked everyone.

The criminal officer, who was used to dealing with this kind of scene, had to block off the cordon according to regulation. With all the lights on, it created a dazzling effect that made the dark underground space look like day.

Damaged desks, dilapidated beds, and textbooks were scattered about. Every item in the basement was illuminated clearly—even the dust was covered by a layer of brilliance.

At the end of the entire space, there was a closed, ochre-colored wooden door.

The police officer found the master key and asked Xing Conglian for his instructions.

Xing Conglian glanced at Lin Chen, took the key, and walked to the wooden door.

Opening it was a simple matter. All he needed to do was insert the key into the keyhole, turn it gently, and with a click, the door would open. Yet Xing Conglian found that this seemingly simple task was one of the most difficult and bitter things to do in the world.

The smell of blood drifted out along the crack of the door.

He put his hand on the door panel, glanced at Lin Chen again, and said, “You know, this means you’ll become a suspect.”

The light of the flashlight illuminated the entire room, showing a haunting scene.

The small toolshed was stacked with countless tools, mops, pruning equipment, large shears, hoes, broken plant roots, and all kinds of debris from being stacked on top of each other, all forming a dirty and thick background.

Yu Yanqing’s naked body was squatting in the corner. Her body had countless fine wounds and there was blood sprayed in every corner of the room, as if numerous scarlet earthworms were wriggling around, sucking out all traces of life.

In her hand was a small knife, commonly found in a student’s pencil case. The handle was light blue, and the blade had blood caked on it.

Despite being experienced at seeing such grisly scenes, even the police officer was speechless. He could hardly handle the sight. The scene was so quiet that the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.

The first thing that made a sound was the click of a shutter, followed by a flash. The forensic officer squatted down to take photos of the scene from different angles.

Then the forensic scientist walked in and laid Yu Yanqing down. His actions had an indescribably slow solemnity.

No one spoke.

At the moment when Yu Yanqing’s body was laid down, a handful of fine sand was exposed in her stiff fingers.

Fine, white, and delicate, like countless aphids swarming away.

Xing Conglian grabbed Lin Chen and dragged him out of the basement.

Typhoon season was always strange. The rainstorm had stopped at some point, and the sky looked so low that it seemed it would fall at any moment.

Xing Conglian pushed Lin Chen onto a bench in front of a lush camphor tree.

He took a bottle of mineral water from the trunk of his car, stuffed it into Lin Chen’s hand, and then sat down by his side.

As a criminal police officer, he knew very well that, apart from gods, there were only murderers who could foretell life and death. He was pretty sure that Lin Chen wasn’t the murderer, so the question was, what role did Lin Chen play in these incidents?

“I’m not the murderer.” Lin Chen unscrewed the bottle cap and spoke solemnly while keeping his voice calm.

Few could face such scrutiny and still make such straightforward statements.

“When the park incident happened, you were at the police station, so of course you’re not the murderer,” Xing Conglian said.

“If you believe me, then you believe that I’m not Yu Yanqing’s murderer.” Lin Chen raised his head and took a sip of water.

This was the second time Lin Chen said, “If you believe me”. Xing Conglian’s thought was, ‘Of course I still believe you.’

But there were some things that couldn’t be said and some that needed to be asked clearly.

“Why?” Xing Conglian asked.

“Remember that letter?”

“Nn.”

“She wrote, ‘My dear, I can finally face death calmly’, I… finally…” Lin Chen stared at Xing Conglian with cold eyes. “Think about it. When would someone use such words?”

“I finally ate crayfish. I finally drank cold beer…” Xing Conglian replied honestly.

“This is an indication of a state that has been completed or is about to be completed and contains a feeling of extreme urgency.”

Xing Conglian nodded, indicating he understood what Lin Chen meant.

But even if Yu Yanqing had decided to die when she wrote that letter, it didn’t mean Yu Yanqing wasn’t the murderer who tampered with the still rings and killed the young man.

There was no logical connection between the two.

Xing Conglian paused and suddenly thought of one possibility. “Could it be she was forced?”

Lin Chen shook his head. “All her words are in first person, which shows that she was self-aware when she wrote this letter…” Lin Chen’s tone was unusually gentle, as if he was speaking from nostalgia. “She had also written some letters to me before. Compared with the last letter before her death, they were the same handwriting. You know, if Yu Yanqing was under duress, then her mood swings would’ve been strong and there would have been trembles in her writing, creating a messy font. However, I didn’t find this.”

Xing Conglian ruffled his head, creating a mess of his hair. “What the hell is this girl thinking? Is everything she writes so cold?”

“I have only read some of these letters. The rest, I think, can be regarded as belongings of the deceased and can be handed over to the police.”

Lin Chen was a little sad.

When he received those letters, he never actually thought about what to do with them one day.

Perhaps when he quit his job, he would leave those letters behind, but handing over all the thoughts of a girl to the police was probably their saddest destination.

He returned to the dorms to pick up the letters and saw someone was waiting for him.

It was three men in suits. They were so neatly dressed that even their leather shoes were meticulously polished, and all had solemn looks on their faces.

Lin Chen had seen two of them on the bulletin board throughout the school. One was the school principal, and the other was a member of the board of directors. The last person was someone Lin Chen had known for a long time.

Many times, whenever he was awakened by a knock on the door in his dorm or residence, it was that person that was standing there.

“Hello, Mr. Butler.” Lin Chen stood still in front of his small dorm and bowed slightly, greeting the tall, thin man standing at the front.

In this day and age, those who could afford a housekeeper must be rich, and if they could afford a silver-haired, noble butler, they must be top-tier rich.

Therefore, when such a rich man’s butler stood in front of a shabby school and a simple dorm, he seemed quite out of place.

As if choked by dust, like all villains in the movies, before opening his mouth, Chen Ping coughed gently.

He lowered his head, a little condescendingly, looking at the young man in front of him.

The butler actually admired Lin Chen very much. How to put this. As the Chen family’s butler, he knew too many secrets. Naturally, he knew very well what this young man had done and what kind of paranoid maniac his master was.

Just like the grass under the strong wind, a young man who could survive openly under endless oppression was somewhat remarkable.

But he was a professional. The Chen family had given him an annual salary equivalent to that of any corporate executive. His existence was to solve all kinds of trouble for his master, which, of course, included looking for trouble.

So he drove hundreds of miles to Hongjing, found the people connected to the Chen family, and turned to the directors of Hongjing’s No. 3 Primary School and made a request.

Few people could refuse the request made by the Chen family, not to mention that it was such a trivial request.

Fire one of the school’s dorm managers.

In fact, this trivial matter didn’t require the school principal and director to come forward. He didn’t even need to meet with Lin Chen.

Coincidentally, when they were about to leave, someone rushed to the principal’s office. The man said that a body had been found in the school and that a dorm manager named Lin Chen had called the police.

“Lin Chen, is it? You’re fired,” the principal said, with his head held high.

“Why?” Lin Chen turned to look at the noble butler and the condescending principal.

“Look at the pandemonium you made of the dorms! There’s a corpse hidden in it! Is this not your responsibility? You even called the police!” The principal’s voice was so loud that the entire building could hear him.

“Oh, okay.”

In the face of the principal’s roaring, a faint voice sounded immediately afterwards, like clear flowing water.

The principal was taken aback. He didn’t expect that a young dorm manager would agree so bluntly. Saying it was too dismissive was a massive understatement.

Just when he wanted to respond, another voice that was even more glib and dismissive came from behind the dorm manager.

“Principal~ Do tell, are you dissatisfied with the work of us police officers?”

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