Chapter 6: The Orphan (2/4)

Time returns to the present. Dong Qian's corpse still lay in the freezer. One morning, Mrs. Dong got up and sat before her dressing table, looking at the two large dark circles reflected in the mirror. Just then, the family's housekeeper walked over to her carrying a package.

"Ma'am, this was found at the gate of the complex. I think it must be for you."

The package had no tracking number, only a label pasted on it reading: For Mrs. Dong, wife of Dong Lixin.

Mrs. Dong was puzzled, and immediately called the housekeeper to bring scissors to open the package. Inside was a cellphone. Mrs. Dong recognized at a glance that it was Dong Lixin's phone, and the battery was full. She turned it on, and right away saw a message from someone named "Chen Yufang." Below the text message was a photo of an ultrasound report.

After just a glance, Mrs. Dong understood everything.

What Zheng Huiwen hadn't expected was that after she saw Yang Yue that day, she had actually run into Mu Ningxiang on her way downstairs. That night, sometime after nine o'clock, Mu Ningxiang had come to the Qunying Teaching Building again. Around her neck hung a peach-wood pendant carved with her zodiac animal. Just as she was standing downstairs, hesitating over whether to go up, a figure suddenly walked past in front of her. It wasn't very dark yet at the time, and Mu Ningxiang felt that the person seemed to be Zheng Huiwen. Puzzled, she quietly watched the dark figure go upstairs. She also heard the conversation between two people upstairs, and the more she listened, the less she understood. Just as she was racking her brain trying to figure it out, footsteps sounded in the stairwell — Zheng Huiwen was coming down. Mu Ningxiang hurriedly stepped out and called to her: "Sister Huiwen."

Zheng Huiwen turned around in surprise, and seeing it was Mu Ningxiang, asked: "Ningxiang? What a coincidence. Did your class only just end so late?"

"Sister Huiwen, all the classrooms above the second floor of this building are abandoned. What were you doing up there?"

"I was just going to take a look." Zheng Huiwen instinctively tried to brush it off.

"That's impossible. I heard you talking to someone."

Zheng Huiwen hastily covered her mouth. "Shh — keep your voice down. How much did you hear?"

Mu Ningxiang nodded. Zheng Huiwen then lowered her hand and said calmly, "Tell me, what exactly did you hear just now?"

Mu Ningxiang said tentatively, "Actually, you two didn't say much. I just heard... that Principal Dong Lixin killed two people fifteen years ago."

"Since you already know, keep it buried in your heart and don't go talking nonsense. Whether or not Dong Lixin has killed anyone, if he finds out you know, you'll be in real trouble."

"I know," Mu Ningxiang said, a little frightened, grabbing Zheng Huiwen's hand. "I definitely won't go around telling anyone. Sister Huiwen, don't worry."

"Alright, don't be scared. Just pretend you never heard anything. Come on, let's go back to the dorm and rest."

"But... Sister Huiwen, was what you two were just saying true?" Mu Ningxiang lowered her voice even further. "Did Dong Lixin really kill someone?"

"I don't know."

"Sister Huiwen, murder is a serious crime. And you're a law student too — a murderer running free for fifteen years, isn't that terrifying?"

"Ningxiang, don't get worked up. Since someone has entrusted me to investigate this case, the truth has to come out fully before any conclusion can be drawn. I'm studying law, so what I understand best is speaking based on facts and evidence. Alright, go back and sleep. This has nothing to do with you after all — just pretend you don't know. If you're really curious about something, send me a message, but don't mention it to anyone else, understand?" Zheng Huiwen's face darkened for a moment. "If someone could kill fifteen years ago, then fifteen years later they'd show no mercy either. You need to protect yourself well, because knowing certain things won't necessarily do you any good."

"I know, Sister Huiwen. Don't worry about me — I'm just worried about you."

"It's fine. I'm not one to throw my life away carelessly. I'll figure out how to handle this and try my best to protect myself. Go back and sleep now."

"Okay, let's go back together then."

"Mm, let's go."

The two girls walked back arm in arm, both tacitly avoiding the subject the whole way.

Soon, Zheng Huiwen had worked out a plan, and had also arranged things with Mu Ningxiang, whose curiosity really was quite strong — she always came out on her own initiative to tag along. That day was a Saturday, students didn't have many classes, and only a few teachers on duty remained at the school. The two of them went to the academic affairs office, where Zheng Huiwen, using the excuse that she was a classmate of Dong Qian's, obtained the files for Class 3, Art Design, Class of 2020. As soon as she got them, she went to the poetry club's activity room to study them. This class had 34 students in total, and the homeroom teacher's name was Li Enliang, a teacher with ten years of teaching experience who had joined Jiangzhu University in 2013, but without a permanent staff position — he should have been a contract teacher. At the same time, Li Enliang went to the academic affairs office to remove Dong Qian from the roster, only to learn that the files had already been taken by someone.

After Zheng Huiwen finished reading the materials, her eyes flicked back and forth, and she said briskly, "Ningxiang, go call Ren Jingting out for me. I have something to ask her."

"Okay."

Mu Ningxiang did as told without hesitation. Before long, Ren Jingting arrived at the activity room, but they found her looking anxious, her face haggard, her eyes clearly having been crying. After asking around, they learned that her boyfriend Ren Jie had been taken away by the police that very morning on suspicion of involvement in the case. Both of them were shocked, but they still comforted her while asking questions. They also learned that Ren Jingting had long been bullied by Dong Qian in class, and it was only after Ren Jie began protecting her that the two of them started dating. It seemed Ren Jingting truly loved Ren Jie, and she couldn't stop crying because of it.

Just then, Zheng Huiwen's phone rang. It showed an unfamiliar number. The person on the other end asked, "Hello, is this Zheng Huiwen?"

"Speaking. May I ask who this is?"

"Police."

"What?"

"I'm in the meeting hall on the fourth floor of the Administration Building. Come here right away — there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?"

"You'll find out when you get here."

Zheng Huiwen could only leave Mu Ningxiang to continue comforting Ren Jingting while she went out first. Ren Jingting, choking back sobs, asked Mu Ningxiang: "Ningxiang, do you think Ren Jie and I are a good match? Are we suited to be together like this?"

Mu Ningxiang naturally chose to say kind words: "I think you're a great match. Although I haven't interacted with Ren Jie much, I feel he's a pretty good person, and he's worthy of you."

But this only made Ren Jingting cry even harder.

"Don't cry. You two are just having a small separation, that's all. Parting is just to come together better later, isn't it?"

"It's impossible between him and me."

"Why do you say that? Did he betray you?"

Ren Jingting raised her head, her eyes red and swollen, and said flatly, "Ren Jie isn't my boyfriend at all. He's my biological older brother."

"What?!"

Mu Ningxiang froze, utterly shocked, wondering if she had misheard or if Ren Jingting had misspoken. For a moment, she simply couldn't process it.