Chapter 57: Restless Youth

2022-05-20

Happy families all have their similarities, but each unhappy family is miserable in its own way.

The three of them each chose to end their own lives in ways that felt true to themselves. Some slipped away quietly and with dignity, while others made a bold exit, turning their deaths into a crimson rose blooming for others.

“Do you think this suicide case is linked to the other two?” Gu Chen paced around the room.

I nodded and said, “Yes, they’re connected. That calligraphy brush is missing.”

As I spoke, I pointed to a delicate brush holder—clear evidence that a brush had once been kept there. That brush had been Li Zhinan’s weapon as well as a piece of his past. Still, ending a life because of heartbreak seemed more tragic than necessary.

Gu Chen stopped pacing and rested his hand on his chin. “But tell me, why would the killer do this? Convince people to take their own lives, then steal their most treasured possessions?”

“Calling them a killer doesn’t quite fit,” I said, scratching my head. “Don’t you find it odd how easily we can guess their reasons for suicide? With Yiman Wang, it took some effort, but thinking back, the clues were there. Just like with Li Zhinan, we could figure it out from his diary.”

Tugging at my hair, I added, “Most people would hide their diary in a drawer, yet when we walked in, his notebook was right out in plain sight, like it was left for us on purpose.”

“Do you think there’s some sort of message behind that?” Guan Zengbin jumped in.

I nodded firmly and said, “Don’t you think the suicides are trying to cover for the person who visited them? They’re afraid of dragging that—well, let’s just call him the killer for now—dragging that person into things. Unlike Gao Rui, they weren’t as careful; after all, they’re not teachers.”

Guan Zengbin let out a sigh. “It’s strange. Someone convinces them to die and then they, in turn, protect that person. What sort of bond is that?”

“Could it be hypnosis?” Gu Chen scratched his head.

“Is that even possible?” I turned to Guan Zengbin.

Shrugging, Guan Zengbin replied, “I won’t say it’s impossible. It’s just that people who strong rarely exist. Across the whole country, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who can hypnotize so deeply that people end up dying. It normally takes a lot of subtle suggestion and time. We all know Gao Rui, but is there anyone here who could actually pull that off?”

I scratched my head. Hypnosis always seemed pretty mysterious—way beyond me. Whether someone could actually pull it off was anybody’s guess.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Xiao Liu, calling with news.

“What is it, Liu?” I answered. “Did you find something?”

“We found out who stole the cyanide,” said Xiao Liu. “Come over here.”

Facing the group of middle schoolers in front of me, I felt a tangled mess of emotions. It turned out it wasn’t a teacher who stole the cyanide, but a bunch of students. Xiao Liu took my suggestion and realized since the teacher angle was a dead end, maybe looking at the students would be more revealing.

Sure enough, after investigating, several students came into Xiao Liu’s sight. Following a simple round of questioning, one of them finally spilled the truth.

There were five eighth graders involved in the potassium cyanide theft—three boys and two girls, all around fourteen or fifteen. They hardly looked like kids who could talk someone into suicide.

While Xiao Liu questioned them in a classroom, the rest of us got info on their personalities from their teachers.

These kids weren’t in the same class, but since they all came from single-parent families, they’d banded together to hang out.

The group’s ringleader was Li Taida. Look at him closely, and you’d see every sign of rebellion. His uniform covered in goth-inspired graffiti—skulls, monsters, and all sorts—made him stand out from the crowd.

Another boy, Wang Erming, was tall, thin and kept a constant scowl, looking downright unapproachable. Then there was Zhou Guo, who looked timid and nervous—the first to confess about what they’d done.

Among the girls, one, Lin Rou, was as goth as Li Taida. The other, Zhang Xue, looked more innocent and cute by comparison.

But to be fair, these kids were only better behaved when compared to each other. According to their teachers, they were the wild ones—always arguing with teachers, playing pranks, fighting or getting in trouble over early romances. Anything ‘bad kids’ did, they did.

“I knew it. You can’t control kids like these—they were bound to get into trouble eventually,” a few teachers whispered from the corner.

Gu Chen didn’t think that was fair. “I say these kids are impressive—they’ve got real personalities. They beat those bookworms who do nothing but study. Wu, what do you think?”

I let out a sigh. “Just because I’m bad at English, math, Chinese, physics and biology, you think I’m one of you? Truth is, I’m the bookworm you talk about, just a bit lopsided in my grades.”

“They’re all from single-parent families,” Guan Zengbin muttered quietly, watching them through the glass. “No one at home has time to keep them in line.”

I shook my head, disagreeing. “I’m an orphan too, aren’t I? I turned out okay. A person’s character comes from within—circumstance only shapes you so much. I’ve seen good people thrive in the worst places, and rotten ones come out of homes that seem perfect.”

“So maybe there’s good and bad among them. Let’s go find out,” I said.

We pushed open the door, and all eyes in the room turned to us.

From Xiao Liu, we finally learned the whole story.

They were all in eighth grade. During a chemistry lab, Li Taida announced he wanted to steal something dangerous. After hearing this, Zhao Erming knew potassium cyanide was deadly—just a bit could be fatal and fast.

But Li Taida and Zhao Erming had no idea what potassium cyanide’s chemical formula even was, so they approached a third—Lin Rou. She knew her way around chemistry formulas, but this kind of poison was always kept locked away.

That’s where Zhang Xue came in. Not that she had the key herself, but the boy who did—the timid Zhou Guo—had a crush on her, and he happened to be the class’ chemistry rep.

Part of the chemistry rep’s job was to clean up after labs. By the rules, a teacher should’ve stayed behind, but since the experiments weren’t considered risky, teachers would often leave the class rep to lock up.

And because of that, Zhou Guo got his hands on the key.

Even the most timid person can be brave when inspired.

That inspiration for Zhou Guo was none other than Zhang Xue. All it took was a word from her, and he agreed.

So, on an ordinary afternoon, Zhou Guo used the spare key to open the lab. They took a piece of potassium cyanide and locked the door behind them. No one noticed a thing.

Surveillance was the least of their concerns. They didn’t even realize there weren’t cameras in the middle school building. To them, it wasn’t a big deal. We just assumed the thief knew the school inside and out. The students saw it as no major thing.

Afterward, Zhou Guo handed the potassium cyanide to Zhang Xue, and she passed it along to Li Taida and the others.

That’s really all there was to it—just a group of kids acting out.

Looking at these fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds, I asked gently, “Don’t be afraid. Just answer my questions honestly. So, in the end, where did all that potassium cyanide go?”

Zhou Guo burst into tears. “I don’t know! I just gave it to them. I never used it myself!”

I got the feeling Xiao Liu had already given these kids quite a fright. It’s no wonder—they’d be nervous facing adults like us. Still, Zhou Guo was especially timid. I’d barely started questioning, and he was already crying.

Guan Zengbin hurried over to comfort him, so I looked to the others.

Zhao Erming let out a cold snort. “We split it up and each took some. I heard this stuff was really toxic, so I tried it out on a stray dog. I mixed it into water and gave it to the dog. Sure enough, it died pretty quickly.”

His face didn’t change as he spoke, like killing a dog was nothing special. I frowned—is he the kind of kid who’d use poison on a person?

“What happened to the dog?” I asked. “If some shady shopkeeper picked it up, you know what could happen, right?”

Zhao Erming just laughed. “What’s the big deal? Worst-case, someone eats it and dies. So what?”

Seeing his careless attitude, I felt my anger rise.

“Xiao Liu, send someone with him. Make sure he finds that dog’s body,” I said.

“I’m not going,” Zhao Erming shot back.

“Say that again?” Gu Chen shot to his feet, his face twisted with rage—like a leopard ready to pounce. The expression startled even me.

Zhao Erming’s lips twitched, but he didn’t push back. He just left.

“What about you?” I looked at Li Taida.

Li Taida was silent for a long time. Finally, he grinned, almost pleased with himself. “To tell you the truth, I killed someone.”