Chapter Five: The Fifteen-Year-Old Mystery (2/3)
Soon, the interrogation of all the teachers and students of Art Design Class 3, Grade 20, began as well. Special emphasis was placed on questioning the occupants of Dorm 437, where Dong Qian had lived. He Shaobin and his assistant questioned each person individually, starting with Song Jialei.
"In your memory, when was the last time Dong Qian was in the dorm?"
"It should have been last Friday afternoon, around 3 or 4 o'clock. She was playing on her phone then, and I caught a glimpse of her screen — it was WeChat, she must have been chatting with someone."
"Chatting with whom?"
"I don't know, I couldn't see clearly. Afterward, once she finished chatting, she started putting on makeup and changing her clothes. She left the dorm around 5-something. I asked her where she was going, and she said she was having dinner with her boyfriend."
"Does she have a boyfriend?"
"Yes, she got together with him before the semester started. I met him once — brown hair, pretty handsome, good build too. He looked at least 178 cm tall, with muscles all defined on his arms."
"What's her boyfriend's name?"
"I don't know, she never said, and I never asked."
"Do you have his contact information?"
"No, I don't."
"Outside the dorm, when was the last time you saw Dong Qian?"
"Never again. After she left the dorm, I never saw her again. That night I ordered takeout for dinner, and went downstairs with Zhou Yingying to pick it up — I never left the dorm building."
"When was the last time you contacted Dong Qian?"
"Around the time the dorm curfew was approaching, I sent her a message asking if she was coming back that night. She didn't reply. And she never contacted me that day either."
"What does Dong Qian usually do in the dorm?"
"In the dorm she basically just eats, sleeps, plays games, does her makeup, changes clothes, or drinks. She used to smoke too, at first, but our roommate Su Shengcheng doesn't like the smell of secondhand smoke, so she could only smoke on the balcony, unless Su Shengcheng wasn't in the dorm — then she'd smoke a couple of cigarettes inside."
"Given Dong Qian's personality, would she really back down so easily for someone who refused to submit to her?"
"At first she wouldn't let it go — the two of them had a big fight over it. Whenever Dong Qian couldn't win an argument, she'd bring up her parents, so people wouldn't dare argue with her anymore. But Su Shengcheng wasn't scared of her at all — the one with nothing to lose fears no one. Su Shengcheng really is someone who doesn't care about consequences. If it came down to a real fight, Dong Qian definitely couldn't beat her, so Dong Qian had no choice but to give in."
"How is your relationship with Dong Qian's roommates?"
"Mine with her is pretty good. I was probably the first person in the class Dong Qian got to know — I was the first to arrive at the dorm on move-in day, and then she came. When she was setting up her bed, she didn't know how to tie the bed curtain, so I helped her with it. Then we had lunch together, and after that we became friends."
"Since you got along so well, how did you two spend your time in the dorm?"
"Well, we'd eat together, play games together for a while, chat and gossip together. Dong Qian really loved having fun, but I couldn't always keep her company — after all, my score was just barely enough to meet this university's minimum admission line, and I paid a huge sum of money to get in. How could I just waste that away?"
"What kind of person do you think Dong Qian was?"
"Not great, honestly. Dong Qian was the typical spoiled rich girl — hot-tempered, willful, vain, with basically no ability to fend for herself. Being around her always wore me out. Sometimes when she looked for me, I actually wanted to refuse. When she led us in bullying others... honestly... I wasn't happy about it. Dong Qian even said Ren Jingting was a whore, that she'd sold herself all the way into college — she was always saying vile, unbearable things about her."
"If you didn't want to do this, why didn't you refuse her?"
"I was forced into it too! What kind of person is Dong Qian? How could I dare provoke her — all I could do was try to please her."
"Regarding what she said about Ren Jingting being a whore, selling herself — is there any evidence for that?"
"No, at least not that I know of. Dong Qian was very generous with money, always treating me to good food and fun outings. Over the course of a month, I'd save a large chunk of my living expenses, and she never minded that at all. Sigh, now that she's dead, I won't get to spend her money for free anymore. And Ren Jingting... I really need to find a chance to properly apologize to her."
Next to be questioned was Zhou Yingying.
"In your memory, when was the last time Dong Qian was in the dorm?"
"Last Friday afternoon. She did her makeup and dressed herself up in the dorm, then went out. At the time Song Jialei asked her where she was going, and she said she was going to meet her boyfriend for dinner."
"Have you met her boyfriend?"
"A few times. Dong Qian invited me to eat with him, and I talked with the guy a bit too. The first time we had dinner, while Dong Qian went to the bathroom, I took the chance to ask him what his intentions toward Dong Qian were. He said he loved her very much, that meeting her was the luckiest thing that had ever happened to him in his life, that kind of sappy sweet talk. I asked how the two of them met. The guy looked a bit awkward and said it was at a bar. Also, they'd known each other even before Dong Qian started college."
"Isn't that guy a college student?"
"No, he's someone from outside the school."
"What does that guy look like?"
"Pretty average looking, quite thin, a little pale in complexion, but he really knows how to dress himself up. The first time I saw him, he'd dyed his hair silver-white and was wearing casual clothes. The second time I saw him, he'd dyed his hair brown, was wearing a suit, and had on gold-framed glasses. I asked Dong Qian what she liked about him. She said maybe it was because they were from the same hometown — they're both from Zhumadian, Henan."
"When was the most recent time you saw that guy?"
"That was also the Sunday before last."
"Do you know that guy's name?"
"I think it was Wei Ying — the 'Wei' from Wei Zhongxian, and 'Ying' meaning clever/bright."
"Do you have a photo of him or his contact information?"
"I have a photo, I took it for them. But no contact information."
"Leave the photo with us later."
"Okay, sure."
"When was the last time you contacted Dong Qian?"
"Around the time of the dorm curfew, I gave her a call, but she didn't pick up."
"Outside the dorm, when was the last time you saw Dong Qian?"
"Never again. That afternoon after class, Dong Qian, Song Jialei and I went back to the dorm together, and after that I never left the dorm again. We ordered takeout for dinner, and Song Jialei and I went downstairs together to pick it up."
"What does Dong Qian usually do in the dorm?"
"She often watches celebrity variety shows, especially ones featuring Wu Yifan — we're both fans of Wu Yifan, so we often watched together."
"How is your relationship with Dong Qian's roommates?"
"Very good, since we share the same idol. When we have free time, we even go to KTV together and sing Wu Yifan's songs."
"In your view, how did the other roommates get along with Dong Qian?"
"Song Jialei and I both got along fine with Dong Qian, but there's also Su Shengcheng — those two didn't get along. A few days after the semester started, they had a fight over the smoking issue, and after that they rarely spoke to each other — the kind that just left each other alone. Because of that, Song Jialei and I were also just so-so with Su Shengcheng."
"What kind of person do you think Dong Qian was?"
"Dong Qian, huh. Honestly, I don't really have strong feelings about her, she just embodies all of human nature's flaws — vain, bullies the weak and fears the strong, idle all day with nothing to do. Even though we both liked Wu Yifan, aside from that we really had nothing else in common. She changed her mind about things very quickly, only ever liking something for a while. I'm very devoted though — I've liked Wu Yifan since elementary school, and I'll keep liking him forever."
"How did you tell that she changed her mind quickly?"
"She clearly had a boyfriend but still flirted with other men, relying on her family's money to have absolutely no shame. Right at the start of the semester she'd made a date with a guy in our class, and then set her sights on someone else. Oh right, it seems... it seems she'd even taken a liking to Ren Jingting's boyfriend. I heard her mention it before, saying that guy was really handsome and that she'd find some way to get him — really shameless."
The last one questioned was Su Shengcheng.
"In your memory, when was the last time Dong Qian was in the dorm?"
"Last Wednesday. After class, the three of them stayed in the dorm the whole afternoon, and just after 5 o'clock, Dong Qian went out."
"When was the last time you contacted Dong Qian?"
"I never had any contact with her at all, I don't even have her contact info."
"Outside the dorm, when was the last time you saw Dong Qian?"
"Not long after she left, I went downstairs too — staying in the dorm all day is boring, so I'd go to the library or the Innovation Park. That day, I saw Dong Qian on the way, walking right past me, touching up her lipstick using a mirror as she walked."
"What time did you see her?"
"I'd just had dinner around that time. The library opens at 6:00 in the evening, so it must have been between 5:50 and 6:00."
"What does Dong Qian usually do in the dorm?"
"What else could she do? Every day, besides eating and sleeping, it's just playing games, dressing up, and chasing celebrities. Same routine every day — I never once heard the sound of her flipping through a book."
"How is your relationship with Dong Qian's roommates?"
"Not great. I'm a transfer/social recruitment student, I enrolled after military training ended, and I was also the last one to move into the dorm. By the time I arrived, the three of them were already as close as sisters. I never really talked much with them after that. Birds of a feather flock together after all — as long as they don't affect me, it's fine. On my third day there, we had a fight over her smoking, and after that she never provoked me on her own initiative again."
"What kind of person do you think Dong Qian was?"
"In my opinion, she was disgusting to the extreme — didn't study, just wasted her days, and bullied others on top of it. Honestly, I looked down on her. But I didn't want to become like her just to deal with her — I couldn't lose my own decency because of her."
"What's your opinion on her death?"
"Just think of it as the world having one fewer person, that's all. Just like if Du Fu were still alive, the world would have one more person. Everyone else will go on living their lives just the same. As for the Dong family's huge fortune, no need to worry — there'll be no shortage of people to inherit it."
The interrogation lasted the whole afternoon, and it wasn't until dusk began to fall that the teachers and students of this class were finally sent back to school. Afterward, He Shaobin looked at the thick stack of transcripts in front of him and suddenly felt a wave of irritation and unease.