Chapter 151: Fang Xiaoqi

2022-05-20

After saying that, Guan Zengbin added, “I just checked, and from the looks of it, she’s probably been holding it in for a while.”

I nodded in agreement.

Guan Zengbin spoke again. “That unbearable secret she couldn’t tell anyone—it might not even be what we think. Who knows?”

We left the autopsy room and quickly found the phone number for the principal of Yumu City No. 2 High School. When we got through, the principal thought we were some parent calling with New Year’s greetings, so he sounded cheerful. But when I told him we had found the body of a drowning victim, and that it had been identified as a student from Yumu City No. 2 High School, his disbelief was obvious—he had to confirm it three times.

But with just the name ‘Xiaoqi,’ the principal couldn’t be sure which student it was. So, that night, on New Year’s Eve, a photo was sent to every homeroom teacher at Yumu City No. 2 High School. Guan Zengbin picked the least disturbing photo he could find, but even then, it was still shocking.

Xiaoqi’s entire face had been shattered—there wasn’t really a ‘better’ angle. I couldn’t imagine how the homeroom teachers must have felt seeing that photo at a time like this. Barely half an hour later, the principal called us back.

It seemed the principal was pretty efficient; he’d already figured out which class Xiaoqi belonged to. But it was too complicated to explain over the phone, so he asked us to come to the school to meet. Gu Chen drove us straight to Yumu City No. 2 High School.

When we arrived, the principal was already waiting by the school’s main gate.

We got out of the car, and after a brief greeting, he led us inside. In the office building, there was a single room lit up, and that’s the door we pushed open. Inside, we saw a woman who looked about twenty-five or six.

She was pacing back and forth in the small office, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead—clearly on edge.

When she spotted us, she hurriedly said, “Principal.”

The principal was a man in his fifties, much more composed than the young teacher. He waved for her to settle herself, then asked, “This student—is she from your class? What’s her name? Who are her parents? Have you notified them?”

The young teacher was flustered and nowhere near as calm. “I—I don’t know what to do. That photo… it was just so awful, too frightening. How could Fang Xiaoqi end up like this? What could have happened to her?”

So, the girl who had committed suicide was called Fang Xiaoqi.

I said, “Take a deep breath. Just answer my questions and we’ll get through this.”

The woman nodded and sat down in the chair.

“What’s your name?” I started with something simple.

“I’m Wang Lulu,” she replied.

I nodded, then asked, “Can you say for certain that the girl is Fang Xiaoqi?”

Wang Lulu nodded forcefully. “Yes, this is definitely Fang Xiaoqi. Even though she looks like that now, she’s still my student—and I’d never mistake her.”

With Wang Lulu calming down a little, I pressed on. “What about Fang Xiaoqi’s academic performance?”

“Fang Xiaoqi has always been a good student,” Wang Lulu said. “She regularly ranks in the top five of her class, and she had a good shot at getting into a top university. But how could things have ended up like this? What really happened to her?”

I didn’t answer and instead asked, “Did Fang Xiaoqi have a boyfriend?”

“A boyfriend?” Wang Lulu paused to think, then said, “I’ve never seen any sign of that. Xiaoqi barely ever talked, and she didn’t have many close friends either.”

If Xiaoqi didn’t have a boyfriend, then that probably wasn’t related. Still, I wasn’t sure Wang Lulu’s take was the whole truth. Sometimes, girls who are quiet and reserved are more likely to confide in or develop feelings for someone secretly.

“Let’s try contacting Fang Xiaoqi’s family,” I said. “She’s been missing for over four hours by now—her family must be getting desperate.”

Wang Lulu hurriedly started dialing her family’s number, but several minutes passed and nobody picked up.

I frowned and asked, “What’s happening?”

Wang Lulu glanced at me, then the phone, looking confused. “I don’t understand. Her parents aren’t answering.”

Why couldn’t we reach her parents?

“Is the line busy,” I asked, “or is no one picking up at all?”

Wang Lulu replied, “It’s not busy, there’s just no answer.”

I furrowed my brow and tugged at my hair. This was supposed to be a time for family, and yet no one was picking up from Xiaoqi’s house. If her family was already calling around looking for her, that would make sense.

But if they weren’t answering, they could be missing vital updates. Were they deliberately ignoring the calls, or was the phone not with them? Or maybe they just assumed an unknown number meant a scam call?

Something wasn’t right. A sixteen-year-old girl had jumped into the river to end her life, and her family wasn’t answering the phone.

Was there something else going on?

I was silent for a moment, then asked, “Do you know where Fang Xiaoqi’s family lives?”

Wang Lulu shook her head. “I don’t know. To be honest, with high schoolers, I don’t usually get that involved. I never needed to call her parents before, and Xiaoqi never caused trouble. Today was actually my first time trying to reach them…”

The principal seemed irritated. He said, “I know a lot of you younger teachers like to act more like friends to your students. But there are some things you should always know—where they live, what their family situation is. It really helps us understand and educate them.”

Wang Lulu’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears, making it hard to scold her.

I stepped in. “This isn’t a huge problem. One of Fang Xiaoqi’s close friends has a name with ‘Yu’ in it. If we contact that student’s parents, maybe we can get Xiaoqi’s address through them.”

“Right,” Wang Lulu quickly scrolled through her contacts. “Just a second.”

“Found it!” she said. “Mo Yu has a mobile phone.”

I nodded. “Call her.”

Wang Lulu dialed, and this time, the call was picked up almost instantly.

“Mo Yu? Do you know Fang Xiaoqi’s address?” Wang Lulu didn’t waste any time.

The call had been put on speaker, and Mo Yu’s voice came through, “Happy New Year, Ms. Wang! What’s up?”

Wang Lulu sounded anxious, “Mo Yu, something’s come up and I need to find Fang Xiaoqi but she doesn’t have a phone and her family isn’t answering. You and Xiaoqi are closest in your class—do you know her home address?”

Mo Yu could hear the urgency and quickly agreed. “I know it, I’ll send it to you.”

Shortly after, Fang Xiaoqi’s home address arrived.

I wrote it down and told the principal and Wang Lulu, “We’ll need to visit Fang Xiaoqi’s home. How do you want to handle it?”

The principal said, “I drove here too, and as the principal, I have to go. She was our student, after all.”

We didn’t waste any more time and drove toward Fang Xiaoqi’s home.

In the car, Gu Chen said, “I have a bad feeling about this case.”

I nodded. “Me too.”

Gu Chen continued, “Think about it—it’s New Year’s Eve, and a girl leaves home without a word. Wouldn’t her parents notice, or at least ask? From what we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t seem like they did.”

Guan Zengbin chimed in, “Rainbow Bridge is pretty far from her house. Why would she go all the way there to kill herself?”

I thought for a bit. “It’s almost certain this was a suicide. The distance—maybe she wandered there while hesitating, or maybe she chose the spot on purpose to keep her family from seeing her final moments.”

Everyone nodded.

I went on, “But the real question is why she chose to end her life.”

Gu Chen shook his head. “Usually, once we confirm suicide, the case is closed.”

I nodded. “That’s right, but if we sense something’s off, we have the responsibility to look deeper. A young girl, full of promise, killing herself on this holiday—that alone deserves a real investigation.”

An hour later.

Gu Chen checked the GPS. “Just ahead—we’re here.”

It was a narrow alleyway, too small for the car. We had no choice but to get out and walk.

There was none of the usual Spring Festival cheer in the alley—not a single lantern was hung.

As we reached the end, a black, heavy-looking door loomed before us.